[GOLD CUP PREVIEW] Two decades ago, the U.S. team beat Canada, 3-0, in an Olympic qualifying match and began to shed the label of underdogs. In the Gold Cup semifinals Thursday at Soldier Field in Chicago, it will be the Canadians seeking an upset. From Chicago, Ridge Mahoney previews the semifinal clash that airs on Fox Soccer Channel and Telefutura at 7 pm ET. …
Category: Story
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Chicago Fire fires Coach Dave Sarachan
The Chicago Fire, which won just one game in its last eight outings, has fired Coach Dave Sarachan. Denis Hamlett, an assistant coach for Chicago for 10 seasons, takes over as interim head. Sarachan coached the Fire since 2003, when the Fire finished MLS runner-up. The Fire missed the playoffs once during Sarachan’s four full seasons in charge, in 2004. It was eliminated last year in the quarterfinals on penalty kicks by New England. Sarachan guided the Fire to U.S. Open Cup titles in 2003 and 2006. “I don’t think this was a fair time to assess [Sarachan],” Chicago captain Chris Armas told the Chicago Tribune . “Why even re-sign him at the end of [last] year in the first place? He should have been given the year to get things back on track. We have injuries and guys at the national team camp. Our core group has been gone.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
2007 Gold Cup Television Schedule
The Gold Cup moves into the semifinals with two games on Thursday. The USA meets Canada at 7 pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel and TeleFutura followed by Mexico against surprise Guadeloupe on TeleFutura at 10 om ET …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
UEFA U-21 championship semifinal decided after 16-round shootout
The host Netherlands advanced to the final of the UEFA Under-21 Championship on Wednesday after beating England, 13-12, in a shootout that lasted 16 rounds, Heerenveen’s Gianni Zuiverloon converted the winning penalty in the shootout that took place after the two teams played to a 1-1 tie. Dutch goalkeeper Boy Waterman made three fine penalty saves before England’s Anton Ferdinand hit the top of the bar with his spot kick, setting up Zuiverloon’s decisive shot. The 25 goals in the shootout were a record for a UEFA competition.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Inter in Financial Probe
An Italian commission has accused Inter Milan of inflating certain transfer fees between 2003 and 2005, saying the Serie A champion would have been financially insolvent before the 2005-06 season had it not made the illegal move. The commission accused Inter of failing to show “losses connected to the fictitious capital gains” which “would not […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Lalas Blazes MLS PR Trail
L.A. Galaxy President Alexi Lalas is certainly doing his part: less than a month before David Beckham’s arrival, Lalas is everywhere, doing his best to feed the hype. In an interview with The Sun, Lalas moves away from the Premiership “delusion,” focusing instead on the merits of MLS. “I challenge anybody that says a player […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Boca Victory is no Foregone Conclusion
By most accounts, Boca Juniors already has the 2007 Copa Libertadores wrapped up: leading 3-0 after the first leg, Boca travels to Porto Alegre, Brazil, to face Gremio, a team that hasn’t managed to score more than three goals in any of its 13 matches in the tournament thus far. And surely, the great Boca […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Guadeloupe: Supplying the French National Team for Decades
The Boston Globe’s Frank Dell’Apa has a great story about Guadeloupe, the Gold Cup’s surprise package this year. However, if you take a look at the tiny French Caribbean nation’s past, then perhaps it’s not so surprising to see Guadeloupe in the Cold Cup semifinals. The following French national team players have Guadeloupe heritage: Pascal […]
Posted inSoccer Business Insider, Story
Maximize your worth to sponsors
Not too many moons ago, the idea of a youth soccer club having over 3,000 member/participants was, for many, both incredulous and overwhelming. Nowadays, however, such a size is commonplace, and there are now clubs whose headcount exceeds even the 10,000 threshold.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Three California clubs take two titles apiece at U.S. Club Soccer regionals
[U.S. CLUB REGIONAL CHAMPIONS] Three clubs won a pair of titles at US Club Soccer’s National Cup VI Region H championships in Modesto, Calif. Mustang claimed the Super Group Girls U17 and Premier Boys U14 championships, while California Rush Nike triumphed in the Super Group Girls U16 and Premier Boys U16 divisions and Portuguese Athletic Club was victorious in the Super Group Boys U12 and Premier Girls U12 brackets. Four teams repeated as regional champions: Santa Rosa United’s U15 Super Group Boys, Mount Hamilton Lobitos’ U17 Super Group Boys, San Juan Spirits’ U13 Super Group Girls and USA 17 Academy’s U14 Super Group Girls. Winners from each of the eight regionals advance to the 2007 National Cup VI Finals later this summer in Greensboro, N.C., and Burlington, N.C. For complete list of regional champions …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Arsenal FC and four other U-18 boys teams go 2-0 at Region IV championships
[REGION IV SCORES] Three-time defending national champion Arsenal FC was one of five teams to win their first two games in the under-18 boys division at the US Youth Soccer Region IV Championships at the Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex and the Kellogg Zaher Sports Complex in Las Vegas, Nev. Arsenal FC, based in Alta Loma, Calif., beat Washington champion Emerald City FC Green, 3-0, thanks to goals by former U.S. U-17 resident Ryan Peterman, Cal recruit Davis Paul and an Emerald own goal. Also 2-0 were hometown favorite LV Premier, Real of Hawaii, San Diego Surf White and Colorado Nike Rush. For Region Day II scores …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
AC Milan and Inter tussle over Honduran Suazo
[TRANSFER TALK] Honduran David Suazo, arguably the best striker ever to come out of Central America, is involved in a tug-of-war between Italian clubs AC Milan and Inter Milan. Days after the 27-year-old Suazo was reported to have joined Serie A champion Inter from Cagliari, AC Milan said it had signed Suazo.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Policewomen to ref pro games in Germany
[PHOTO] Bibiana Steinhaus, described by the German press as a pretty blond policewoman, is poised to become the first woman to referee in German men’s professional soccer. The 28-year-old, whose latest day-job assignment was shielding the G-8 Summit from anti-globalization protesters in Rostock, was promoted by the German soccer federation to the Second Division after six years of refereeing the men’s third division. Only two percent of Germany’s 80,000 referees are female. The only other female referee in German men’s pro soccer was Gertrud Gebhard, who lasted two games as a lineswoman in 1995.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Crew looks to tighten D against KC
[TV PREVIEW] Two teams coming off six-goal games last weekend figure to tighten things up, so there might be a repeat of their May 5 meeting (1-0). Jose Burciaga slalomed through the Crew to score the only goal of the game in the 90th minute to end a Crew three-game shutout streak. That was also the game in which Ricardo Virtuoso’s shoulder cracked the jaw of Wizards defender Jimmy Conrad and Guillermo Barros Schelotto debuted for the Crew. Columbus is a much different team than it was then, which it showed last week by rallying from two goals down to snatch a 3-3 tie with the Revs at Gillette Stadium.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Lalas as the Anti-Beckham
David Beckham and L.A. Galaxy President Alexi Lalas make quite a pair: on the one hand you have a PR-friendly global superstar who just might be the king of understatement, and on the other, you have a loose-lipped, loudmouth of a soccer executive (in a convivial sort of way) who oozes exaggeration with every word. […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Don Garber Interview
In an exclusive interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, MLS Commissioner Don Garber casts a calm figure, discussing everything from David Beckham to the improvement of the product on the field to the ultimate direction of the league. So far, he says, the formula is working: broadcast deals are coming the league’s way, so are […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
It Gets Tougher from Here for the USA
The consensus on the U.S. national team’s 2-1 quarterfinal win against Panama is that an uncomfortably frantic final six minutes marred what should have been an easy win. Coach Bob Bradley suggested that the lapse in concentration that led to Panama’s goal showed an immaturity that has to be stamped out if the U.S. hopes […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Beckham Receives Fitting Panegyric in Spain
It’s a funny thing, perhaps, that David Beckham “in spite of winning so little, leaves Spain having won so much respect — from journalists, fans, dressing room heavyweights … and even from the manager who once vowed to never pick him again,” The Guardian’s Jack Rashleigh points out. Indeed, the praise Becks has received in […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Univision’s broadcast of Thursday’s Mexico-Panama game delivers
Univision has been showing Mexico’s Gold Cup games for a reason. Rather than diverting the Tri’s first four matches to Galavision or TeleFutura, Univision aired them live. In the case of last Thursday’s primetime showing of Mexico-Panama, the game did a 20.1 household rating in the NHTI (Hispanic homes), delivering 2,343,000 Hispanic homes and 4,374,000 Hispanic persons 2+ for each average minute. Most impressive was the Gold Cup group match’s appeal to men 18-49. In that all-important demographic, the game drew 1,959,000 viewers, more than any other television program that evening on any U.S. TV network.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Arsenal FC opens with big win at Region IV championships
[REGION IV SCORES] Arsenal FC of Southern California continued its quest for a fourth straight national title in its age group with an 8-0 win over Utah’s Impact Black in the U-18 boys division on the opening day of play at the US Youth Soccer Region IV (West) Championships at the Bettye Wilson Soccer Complex and the Kellogg Zaher Sport Complex in Las Vegas, Nev. In one of the first upsets of the competition, local club LV Premier beat Cal South’s Valley United Blast, 2-0, in the U-15 boys division. The Blast has won the Region IV championships the past three years and won the national championship last year. For Region IV scores from Day 1 games .
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Piranhas remain unbeaten in inaugural PDL season
[PDL RESULTS] One of the surprises of the 2007 PDL season has been the Hampton Roads Piranhas (7-0-1), who shut out the Richmond Kickers Future, 1-0, on Sunday at the Virginia Beach Sportsplex for eighth shutout in eight games. York College junior Andrew Wheeler scored in the 75th minute for his team-high eighth goal of the season. Former U.S. U-17 residency camper Evan Newton, who now plays for Old Dominion, earned the shutout for Hampton Roads, which leads the Mid Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference by four points over the Virginia Legacy. For complete PDL results and goalscorers …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
W-League’s Lightning strikes twice against Ft. Wayne
[W-LEAGUE RESULTS] The Minnesota Lightning improved to 5-0-0 with two wins over Ft. Wayne (2-0 and 4-0) in 48 hours. Former Kansas University star Caroline Smith and Sarah Oligney, the former Horizon League Player of the Year at Wisconsin-Green Bay, scored in the 2-0 win over the Fever. Rising Northwestern senior Kelsey Hans and Smith both scored twice in the 4-0 win, which was played as part of a doubleheader with the USL-1 Thunder. For complete W-League results and goalscorers …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Real Madrid and Barcelona, what’s next?
After a thrilling La Liga campaign in which Real Madrid edged Barcelona for the title, presidents of both clubs were quickly forced to turn to the future. Madrid president Ramon Calderon must decide what to do with Coach Fabio Capello. Barcelona president Joan Laporta said his club will undergo an overhaul during the offseason. For all the details on the possible moves Real and Barca will make …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS finally delivers goalfests
[VIDEO] Concerns about goalscoring in MLS were allayed somewhat in a high-scoring weekend (27 goals in six games), as excellent finishes punished errors, some large, some small. All goals, many say, stem from errors, but mistakes this season seem to be more costly, and forwards last weekend were especially efficient on breakaways. Are teams punishing defensive errors more ruthlessly?
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS STATS: Attendance hits 1 million mark
MLS’s Week 11 games drew crowds of more than 20,000 in Columbus, D.C., and Toronto as the season’s attendance surpassed the 1 million mark. The 72 games so far have drawn 1,107,199 fans for a 15,378 per game average. The three games that drew the 20,000-plus crowds all featured at least four goals, while the 19,225 at the Home Depot Center for Los Angeles’ clash with Real Salt Lake enjoyed a 3-2 home-team win. For complete MLS statistics …