Category: Story

Retired women’s soccer icon Mia Hamm gave birth to twin girls late on Tuesday. Her husband, Los Dodgers first baseman Nomar Garciaparra, was in flight from Florida when the babies were born and was on speaker phone with Hamm during the delivery.

Mexico beat Ecuador, 4-2, in Oakland, Calif., in front of 47,416 fans in game that was sold two weeks ago. Francisco Palencia, who spent last season with Chivas USA and is now with UNAM Pumas, opened the scoring 29 seconds into the game. Ecuador took a 2-1 lead on goals by Carlos Tenorio and Giovanni […]

After getting shut out in its last three Euro 2008 qualifiers, England finally found the net against Andorra, a nation in the middle of Spain whose entire population could fit into Wembley stadium. The 3-0 win on second-half goals by Steven Gerrard, who struck twice, and David Nugent, puts England in a three-way tie for […]

By Ridge Mahoney SOCCER AMERICA REPORT CARD (1=low; 5=average; 10-high) RATING PLAYER (CLUB CAPS/GOALS) STARTERS: 5 Kasey Keller (Borussia M’Gladbach GER 97/0) 6 Frank Simek (Sheffield Wednesday ENG 1/0) 5 Jay DeMerit (Watford ENG 1/0) 5 Jim Conrad (Kansas City 21/1) 5 Jonathan Spector (West Ham ENG 5/0) 4 Clint Dempsey (Fulham/ENG 26/6) 6 Michael […]

By Ridge Mahoney A younger, less experienced U.S. team than the one that beat Ecuador, 3-1, Sunday battered futilely against a Guatemalan wall and came away with a 0-0 draw at Pizza Hut Park in Frisco, Texas. Alternately forging up the flanks and hitting long balls into the heart of the Guatemalan defense, the U.S. […]

“I think it was a good learning experience, particularly for our younger players. It’s a different kind of game, one that they need to see, because we all understand that we are going to see these kinds of games in qualifying. At times tonight it seemed like we were afraid to make a mistake.” — […]

By Ridge Mahoney There’s something bizarre happening in Dallas. By replacing a Finn, an Irishman and an American with a Colombian and an Argentine, among other changes, Coach Steve Morrow has already transformed the identity of his team. Effective yet predictable is out, stylish and unorthodox is in. “I want us to play more one-touch […]

The U.S. U-20 national team’s game on Wednesday against Haiti will be broadcast live on U.S. Soccer’s Web site at 6:15 p.m. ET at http://www.ussoccer.com/sights/liveStream.jsp.html. Coach Thomas Rongen‘s U-20 squad includes young pros Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Chris Seitz and Danny Szetela. On Monday, the U-20s beat SMU, 3-2, on two goals by Sampdoria (Italian […]

By Mike Woitalla Chelsea has banned three fans, including two who were arrested during an FA Cup game with Tottenham Hotspur, for throwing celery stalks onto the field. The culprits had ignored a warning from the club to keep their celery at home. “Anyone who attempts to bring celery into Stamford Bridge could be refused […]

By Ridge Mahoney Will this be the final, last, drop-dead chance that Eddie Johnson gets to get back on the beam for the national team? He has a good track record against Guatemala, against which he scored last year in a 4-0 rout as well as in a World Cup qualifier in 2005. The match […]

“I went through a lot last year. The last thing I [needed was] getting e-mails from a coach that ‘you’re not starting anymore.’” — Veteran goalkeeper Tony Meola, who is not on an MLS roster but hasn’t announced his retirement yet, reveals his disappointment in how (via e-mail) New York Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena […]