Argentina successfully defended its Under-20 World Cup title and won for the sixth time when it defeated the Czech Republic, 2-1, on Sunday in Toronto. The Czechs took the lead in the second half on a fine goal by Martin Fenin, but the Argentines recovered thanks to goals by Sergio Aguero, the tournament’s MVP and top scorer, and Mauro Zarate. Aguero scored off a through ball from playmaker Ever Banega, and Zarate beat Czech keeper Radek Petr to the near post with a fierce shot from the edge of the area in the 86th minute.
Category: Story
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Argentina’s Aguero sweeps top honors at Under-20 World Cup
[UNDER-20 WORLD CUP AWARDS] Like fellow Argentine Lionel Messi, Sergio Aguero is small in stature but a big-time player. The 5-foot-7 Aguero followed in the footsteps of Messi and swept MVP and top scorer honors at the Under-20 World Cup.
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Friedel and Califf earn wins in Intertoto Cup
Americans Brad Friedel (Blackburn Rovers), Danny Califf (AaA Aalborg) and Charlie Davies (Hammarby) were in action as the Intertoto Cup, Europe’s summer competition that serves as qualifying for the UEFA Cup, moved into the third round. Blackburn and Aalborg both won on the road, while Hammarby tied Dutch club Utrecht, 0-0, at home. For complete Intertoto Cup results …
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Charleston ends Portland’s seven-game USL-1 winning streak
Former Portland Timber forward Byron Alvarez helped the Charleston Battery end USL First Division leader Portland’s seven-game winning streak as the Timbers fell 2-0 to the Battery Sunday night at Blackbaud Stadium. The Richmond Kickers became the first team to clinch a playoff berth in the USL-2. For complete results and goalscorers …
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The Beckham Era Begins
He debuted. He played. He didn’t get hurt, or at least, didn’t apparently injure himself any further. Now what? Now that Chelsea won, and the Galaxy lost, and David Beckham has been officially presented in a match of that hoary 1-0 scoreline, can American soccer resume normal behavior?
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Blanco scores in Fire debut; RSL beats Everton
Saturday’s Galaxy-Chelsea game wasn’t the only international friendly played over the weekend in the United States. Tigres of Mexico won the World Series of Football with a 3-0 win over Suwon Blue Wings of South Korea in the first game of the doubleheader with the Galaxy-Chelsea game at the Home Depot Center. Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored in his Chicago Fire debut as the MLS club tie Scottish champion Celtic, 1-1, before 15,719 fans. Playing without Freddy Adu, rumored to headed to Benfica of Portugal, Real Salt Lake beat Everton of England, 2-0, before 12,221 fans. Mexico international Israel Lopez scored twice on free kicks to give Cruz Azul of Mexico a 3-1 win over Libertadores Cup champion Boca Juniors in the final of the inaugural Copa Panamericana in Glendale, Ariz.
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Iraq victory at Asian Cup touches off wild celebrations back home
Iraq, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia moved into the semifinals of the Asian Cup with wins over the weekend. Captain Younis Mahmoud scored twice to give Iraq a 2-0 win over upstart Vietnam and advance to the semifinals of the Asian Cup for the first time since 1976. Iraqis of all backgrounds took to the streets to celebrate the victory by the team of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish players. Three people were killed and 25 others injured by stray bullets in Baghdad.
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Revs & Dynamo serve up a barn-burner
New England and Houston, leaders of the MLS’s East and West conferences, played to a 3-3 tie at New England in a game that saw Houston’s 746-minute shutout streak come to an end. John Wolyniec headed home the winner in the New York Red Bulls’ 1-0 win over D.C. United after Jozy Altidore nodded on a Claudio Reyna free kick. Argentine Guillermo Barros Schelotto scored twice as Columbus downed Toronto FC. Colorado, winless since late May, enjoyed a 2-2 tie with Kansas City.
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Soccer on TV
Weekend action kicks off Friday evening with USL-1 action from Puerto Rico, which hosts San Francisco-based California Victory. Los Angeles faces Chelsea on Saturday is supposed to be David Beckham‘s Galaxy debut, but the England star may sit it out or be limited to a brief appearance because of an ankle injury. On Sunday, MLS regular-season action returns from the All-Star break with four games. Also on Sunday, Argentina takes on the Czech Republic in the U-20 World Cup final.
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Rossi Demand Wanes as Tevez Draws Closer to United
Barely three weeks ago, reports from Italy were linking Serie A’s biggest clubs to 21-year-old Italian-American starlet Giuseppe Rossi, who had put in a sterling loan spell at Parma in the second half of last season to help the Italian giant stave off relegation. But demand for the Manchester United striker has died down now […]
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Totti Retires from Italy
Italy striker Francesco Totti on Friday said he was retiring from international competition. The 2006 World Cup winner announced his decision during a news conference on Friday, citing “various physical reasons.” The AS Roma captain had surgery on his left ankle last year, and said it can no longer support playing for both club and […]
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MLS All-Star Coach Nicol Hits Back at Critics
New England Revolution coach Steve Nicol hit out at critics over the level of play in Major League Soccer Thursday night after coaching the league’s All-Stars to a 2-0 victory over Scottish champion Celtic. “First of all, if you look at the people that are probably criticizing and having a go, they probably don’t know […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
It’s Blanco’s Debut, Too
It’s a weekend of coming-out parties for Major League Soccer’s two most famous acquisitions. On the one hand, you have David Beckham, who’s listed as “doubtful” for Saturday’s clash between the L.A. Galaxy and Chelsea — you can bet that ESPN and MLS are desperate for him to get 10 minutes on national television — […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Becks’ ESPN Buzzkill; Rumors at RSL, FCD
If he makes any appearance at all, David Beckham’s L.A. Galaxy debut against Chelsea, says SI.com’s Grant Wahl, will most likely be a “token appearance” because ESPN was planning a “blowout Beckham extravaganza,” featuring 19 cameras, including one just for Becks and one for his celebrity pals. Coverage on Saturday begins with a Beckham special […]
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UEFA Champions League, First Round, First Leg Results
Qualifying for the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League began with the first leg of the first-round series on Wednesday. The 32-team field for the group stage will be completed after three rounds of qualifying in July and August.
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Argentina routs unhappy Chile, 3-0, in Under-20 World Cup semifinals
Argentina moved closer to defending its Under-20 World Cup title when it beat Chile, 3-0, in their semifinal on Thursday in Toronto. Argentina, which meets the Czech Republic in the final, got goals from Angel Di Maria, Claudio Yacob and Maximiliano Moralez. Chile had two players sent off and fought with police and security officers after the game. One member of the Chilean delegation was subdued by taser during the brawl.
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Posh special on NBC takes time slot
NBC’s special “Victoria Beckham: Coming to America” won its time slot, according to Nielsen overnights, and beat out the previous week’s programming in the same time slot. The Monday show averaged a 2.2 adults 18-49 rating for 8-9 pm, 16 percent better than NBC’s summer-to-date primetime average of 1.9.
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Univision’s coverage of Mexico-Argentina beats out ESPN’s Home-Run Derby audience
Univision’s coverage of the Mexico-Argentina semifinal match from the Copa America on July 11 attracted 6.9 million viewers to rank 26th among all programming for the week on broadcast television. The viewership of the Mexico-Argentina game beat out the 6.8 million viewers who tuned in two nights earlier on ESPN to watch the Home Run Derby in San Francisco.
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UEFA Cup First Round, First Leg Results
Qualifying for the 2007-08 UEFA Cup began with the first leg of the first-round series on Thursday. The shock result was Andorran club Santa Coloma’s 1-0 win over Maccabi Tel Aviv of Israel.
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MLS conference leaders, archrivals clash on Sunday
[TV PREVIEW] Los Angeles faces Chelsea on Saturday 8:30 pm ET (ESPN & Telefutura) in what is supposed to be David Beckham’s Galaxy debut, but the England star may sit it out or be limited to a brief appearance because of an ankle injury. On Sunday, MLS regular season action returns from the All-Star break with three games televised on the MLS Direct Kick Package, including the clash of conference leaders New England and Houston at 4 pm ET. Columbus meets Toronto FC at 5 pm ET, and Kansas City faces Colorado 8 pm ET. Archrivals New York and D.C. United meet on Telefutura at 5 pm ET.
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Colombians lead MLS All-Stars to convincing win over Celtic
The news regarding David Beckham is that there is no news, so the world can wait a little longer to learn if he will play Saturday against Chelsea, and MLS officials can savor a fourth straight victory by its all-stars against a foreign team. Colombians Juan Pablo Angel, who was named MVP, and Juan Toja scored excellent goals and Dwayne DeRosario dominated midfield as the MLS All-Stars beat Glasgow Celtic, 2-0, at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. DeRosario put through Angel to evade Celtic FC keeper Artur Boruc, whose herioics kept the game close, and stroke his shot into an empty net. Toja pounced on a partially blocked free kick to fire past Boruc from close range.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
All-Stars Shouldn’t Fear Celtic
Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers says MLS is on to something in ditching the East vs West All-Star format in favor of inviting the world’s best teams to compete against its players. It’s a pro-marketing and pro-competition move in the sense that both sides have an incentive to win: MLS wants to shirk its reputation as […]
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Rapids’ Say Angel as Good as Becks
If you ask Colorado Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo, New York Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel is every bit as good as David Beckham. “Beckham brings the whole package with Hollywood fame, but you take away the goals Angel has scored and [the Red Bulls] are at the bottom of the table,” Clavijo says. “I […]
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New-Look RSL Given International Test
A somewhat new-look Real Salt Lake stepped onto its new practice field for the first time on Wednesday. With the return of U.S. U-20 stars Freddy Adu, Chris Seitz and Nathan Sturgis — who’s barely had a chance to train with RSL since arriving with Robbie Findley on June 21– and the addition of defensive […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
FIFA Mulls Amalgamation in Parts of Europe
FIFA is considering amalgamating the leagues of certain countries in Eastern and Central Europe. As the Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson says, it’s a bold idea, but one fraught with difficulty. Wilson, who supports the idea, sat in on a FIFA conference about amalgamation, but was unaware of “how many problems become apparent as soon as you […]