Longtime AYSO leader Burton Haimes, who served seven years as national president and 12 years as chairman of the board, and Cherie Tucker, who has been active at all levels of AYSO for more than 35 years, were inducted into the AYSO Hall of Fame.
Category: Story
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Did the Bleeding Make a Difference?
Are too many MLS games being decided by bizarre, or outright bad, disciplinary decisions on and off the field?
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Tim Howard Aims for Second FA Cup win
Goalkeeper Tim Howard thinks an FA Cup final win with Everton on Saturday would feel even better than the one he enjoyed with Manchester United five years ago. Howard became the first American to win the FA Cup when his United team routed lower-league Millwall 3-0 in the 2004 final. But that was just one […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
D.C. United to Play Real Madrid
D.C. United announced Thursday that it will play a friendly match against Real Madrid on Aug. 9 at FedEx Field in Maryland. The match represents a rematch for the two squads, who played out a compelling 1-1 draw at Qwest Field in Seattle three years ago, entertaining a record-breaking crowd of 66,830. “A capacity crowd […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
League Will Investigate Portsmouth Takeover
The Premier League is preparing to use Sulaiman Al-Fahim's takeover of Portsmouth as a test case for its strengthened fit-and-proper-persons rule, a policy due for introduction next week. Al-Fahim, a charismatic Dubai property investor, declared that he would conduct the takeover using his "Al Fahim Asia Associates" instrument, which he described as being "structured like […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Everton Boss Angry With FA Cup Ticket Distribution
Everton manager David Moyes has criticized the English FA for what he feels is an uneven allocation of tickets for the FA Cup final. On Saturday Everton will face Chelsea at Wembley, which seats 90,000 spectators. Supporters of the two clubs have been issued with 50,000 tickets, 25,000 apiece, while the remaining 40,000 tickets belong […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Real to Make ‘Spectacular’ Push for Cristiano Ronaldo
After Cristiano Ronaldo admitted uncertainty about his future at Manchester United, Real Madrid's likely future president Florentino Perez has suggested that the club will make a strong push for the superstar. "He's a player that would be very good if he came to Real Madrid," Perez is quoted as saying by Sky Sports. "What I […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Pumas Take 1-0 Edge in Clausura
In wet conditions, Pumas took a 1-0 lead over Pachuca in the first leg of the Clausura championship. In the first half, Dante Lopez collected an errant clearance from the Pachuca goalkeeper and slotted home to give Pumas a 1-0 lead that it preserved in the second half. The two rivals will face off again […]
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
American goalkeeper Tim Howard lines up for Everton against Chelsea on Saturday in the FA Cup final. In USL action, Carolina hosts Cleveland on Friday. On Sunday, WPS takes center stage as Sky Blue FC meet the Boston Breakers. The weekend’s seven MLS games include defending champion Columbus’ clash with Seattle, now led by Sigi Schmid, the Crew’s title-winning coach. The second-leg of the Mexican league final is on Sunday, when Pachuca, with American Jose Francisco Torres, tries to overcome a 1-0 deficit against UNAM Pumas.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Sawyers out at Sky Blue FC
[WPS] It’s official: Ian Sawyers is out as Sky Blue’s coach and general manager. Kelly Lindsey will be in charge for Sky Blue’s first game at Rutgers’ Yurcak Field on Sunday. Elsewhere, Saint Louis and Washington both take four-game unbeaten streaks into weekend play as the pack tries to close the gap on runaway leader Los Angeles. For a look at all the weekend action …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Barcelona-Man United final sets viewing records
[TELEVISION] Wednesday’s UEFA Champions League final between Barcelona and Manchester United broadcast live on ESPN was the highest-rated and most-watched UEFA telecast in U.S. cable television history, attracting an average of 1,066,000 homes for a 1.1 rating. That represented an increase of almost 34 percent over the previous record set last year when Man United beat Chelsea in the UEFA Champions League final. Wednesday’s game was the last on the ESPN networks before the Champions League moves to the Fox family of networks in 2009-10.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Chivas USA signs youth team product
[MLS] Chivas USA signed Cesar Zamora, an 18-year-old midfielder from Sylmar, Calif., and a product of the Chivas USA youth program, to a Developmental Contract. Zamora is the third player the club has promoted to the first team roster from its youth ranks.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Ticos call up Segares for U.S. match
[COSTA RICA] Gonzalo Segares of the Chicago Fire and former MLS players Andy Herron and Michael Umana are among the players who have called up for Costa Rica’s World Cup 2010 qualifier against the USA Wednesday at Saprissa Stadium in San Jose.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Big guns available for Chicago game
[HONDURAS] Former Los Angeles Galaxy striker Carlos Pavon and Carlos Costly, who combined for the three goals that neat Mexico, 3-1, in March and cost Tri coach Sven Goran Eriksson his job, will lead Honduras when the Catrachos face the USA June 6 in World Cup qualifying. MLS players in the Catrachos’ squad are Roger Espinoza and Amado Guevara.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Tim Howard eyes second FA Cup title
[AMERICANS ABROAD] U.S. keeper Tim Howard hopes to win a second FA Cup when he lines up for Everton on Saturday (TV: 10 am ET, Setanta Sports USA) against Chelsea. In 2004, Howard became the first American to win the FA Cup when he helped Manchester United beat Millwall, 3-0.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Pachuca falls in first leg
[AMERICANS ABROAD] U.S. midfielder Jose Francisco Torres went the full 90 for Pachuca in a 1-0 loss to UNAM Pumas in the first-leg of the Mexican Clausura 2009 final. Pachuca hosts the second leg on Sunday (TV: 8 pm ET, Telefutura).
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Schmid leads Sounders against former team
[MLS PREDICTIONS] Former Crew coach Sigi Schmid leads the Sounders against Columbus in a match to be presented on Fox Soccer Channel (Saturday, 10:30 p.m. ET), and is just one of five interconference tussles to be played on Weekend 11. Chicago (21 points) has widened its Eastern Conference lead and hosts Dallas Sunday on TeleFutura (3 p.m. ET), Kansas City travels to Los Angeles, Toronto is in Houston, and cellar-dweller New York winds up a four-game homestand against Colorado. The all-Western Conference matchup is in San Jose, where the last-place Quakes take on RSL, whose own playoff quest has stalled. This weekend’s Eastern showdown is at Gillette Stadium, where the Revs host a D.C. United team it led at RFK last month until a miraculous header by Ben Olsen in stoppage time pulled out a 1-1 tie. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney breaks down all the weekend action.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS’s best serve up a thriller
[MLS] A clasico turned into a bit of a fiasco Thursday night at Home Depot Center, where amid a blizzard of yellow cards and penalty kicks, Chivas USA squandered a 2-1 lead and lost to Chicago, 3-2, in a showdown of conference leaders.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Philadelphia Hires Peter Nowak as Head Coach
The Philadelphia Union, MLS’s newest expansion team, will introduce Peter Nowak as its first head coach at a press conference on Friday, sources told Soccer By Ives on Wednesday. Nowak, the only man to ever win an MLS Cup as a player and head coach, will leave his post as U.S. national team assistant coach […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Portsmouth Sold to Al-Fahim
Sacha Gaydamak, the owner of Portsmouth, has agreed to sell the club to Dubai-born businessman Sulaiman Al-Fahim. Al-Fahim brokered the buyout of Manchester City last August for the Abu Dhabi United Group, an investment vehicle owned by Sheikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the billionaire member of the Abu Dhabi royal family. Al-Fahim said last […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Pachuca Back in Title Hunt
After grabbing titles like two-for-one specials in 2006 and 2007 – winning the Clausura and Copa Sudamericana titles in 2006, then the 2007 Clausura, Concacaf Champions League crown and SuperLiga title – Pachuca hit a dry spell. Struggles in the league translated to tournament struggles. But the club is back in the throes of a […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Ferguson Criticizes Defense, Praises Barcelona Possession
Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson lamented his team's unusually slack defending against Barcelona: "In our best performances this season we have defended very well, but the defending was shoddy. "The first goal didn't help. It gave them the opportunity to keep possession. We didn't plan to lose a goal early and we didn't deal with […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Sunderland Releases Yorke
Sunderland released former Manchester United striker Dwight Yorke on Thursday. The Trinidad & Tobago international, 37, started just four league games last season. Yorke was one of seven players not offered new contracts by the club that narrowly avoided relegation.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Franklin To Miss Most of Season
Sean Franklin, the 2008 MLS Rookie of the Year, is set to miss between four and six months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn right hamstring tendon. The Los Angeles Galaxy right back suffered the injury during the Galaxy's 1-1 tie vs. Columbus on May 17. He underwent successful surgery on Tuesday.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Barcelona’s approach to youth development
Two years ago, while visiting Spain, I looked into to its approach to youth development. Since then, Spain has won the 2008 European Championship and Barcelona won the 2009 UEFA Champions League.