Category: Story

He didnÆt play a single game for his club team, Bayer Leverkusen, in the 2001-2002 season, but Frankie Hejduk made the U.S. World Cup squad. He followed up with a surprise start at left back — replacing the regular at that position, David Regis — and provided a creditable performance against Portugal. Frankie Hejduk, U.S. […]

During his daily press briefing on Saturday in Seoul, U.S. coach Bruce Arena discussed refereeing, USA-Korea relations, Frankie HejdukÆs move to left back — and more. Bruce Arena On the injury situation of Earnie Stewart and Claudio Reyna: ''Again, as IÆve said, it is day-to-day, to see how they improve every day. IÆm very pleased […]

Sunday, June 9 in Miyagi (2:30 am ET) Group G: MEXICO (1-0-0, 3 pts.) vs. ECUADOR (0-0-1, 0 pts.) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Univision 2:30 am ET; Tape, Telefutura, 10 am ET/PT) Croatia's stunning win over Italy complicates things for Mexico. The Tri will need to get a result against both Ecuador and Italy in its […]

Sunday, June 9 in Yokohama (7:30 am ET) Group H; JAPAN (0-1-0, 1 pt.) vs. RUSSIA (1-0-0, 3 pts.) (TV: Live, ESPN, Univision 7:30 am ET; Tape, Telefutura, 3 pm ET/PT) The pressure will be all on the Japanese to get a win despite the support of a packed house at Yokohama International Stadium. Japan […]

Sunday, June 9 in Incheon (5 am ET) Group C: COSTA RICA (1-0-0, 3 pts.) vs. TURKEY (0-0-1, 0 pts.) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Univision 5 am ET; Tape, Telefutura, 12:30 pm ET/PT) The Ticos can clinch a berth in the second round with a win over Turkey. The one question mark in the Costa Rican […]

Saturday, June 8 (4:00 pm ET) WASHINGTON (2-4-2, 8 points) at PHILADELPHIA (5-1-1, 16 points) (TV: PAX) Key Players Out: Washington – M Bai Jie (L MCL strain); Philadelphia – M Kelly Smith (ACL tear-R), F Rakel Karvelsson (ACL tear-R). Referee: Erich Simmons. Saturday, June 8 (7:00 pm ET) CAROLINA (4-1-2, 14 points) at BOSTON […]

Saturday, June 8 (4:00 pm ET) CHICAGO (5-3-2, 17 points) at LOS ANGELES (4-4-2, 14 points) (TV: ESPN2) Key Players Out: Chicago – M Chris Armas (torn ACL-R), M Sergi Daniv (turf toe-R), F Aleksey Korol (bursitis-left knee), D Evan Whitfield (ACL tear-L), M Jason Moore (appendicitis), F Hristo Stoitchkov (MCL sprain-R), F Josh Wolff […]

GROUP F: Sweden ends Nigeria's streak (2-1) * Nigeria, having hoped to reached the second round in its third straight World Cup appearances, saw its hopes end with a 2-1 loss to the Swedes. * Henrik Larsson scored both Swedish goals in their comeback win. He ran onto a defense-splitting through ball from Fredrik Ljungberg […]

GROUP F June 2 in Saitama England 1 Sweden 1. Goals: Campbell 24; Alexandersson 59. England — Seaman, Mills, Ashley Cole, Ferdinand, Campbell, Beckham (Dyer, 64), Scholes, Hargreaves, Heskey, Vassell (Joe Cole, 74), Owen. Yellow card: Campbell 12. Sweden — Hedman, Mellberg, Mjallby, Jakobsson, Lucic, Linderoth, Alexandersson, Ljungberg, Magnus Svensson (Anders Svensson 56), Allback (Andreas […]

On Friday, during his daily press conference, U.S. coach Bruce Arena provided an injury update, looked back on the great win over Portugal, looked forward to MondayÆs match with South Korea — and more: Bruce Arena, U.S. coach On his options if Earnie Stewart is not fit for the game against Korea: ''Our options would […]

The USA win over Portugal, shown at 5 am ET/2 am PT, set a record for the largest audience to watch a soccer game on ESPN2. According to Nielsen Media Research, 998,000 households tuned in. The Associated Press reported that Spanish-language Univision is drawing significantly more viewers for World Cup games than ESPN and ESPN2. […]

By Ridge Mahoney in Seoul Sometime late Wednesday night, a few hours after the United States stunned Portugal, 3-2, an Argentina-England ticket fell to second on the first-round list, at least in South Korea. Even before that game — which was played in Sapporo, Japan — went into the books 1-0 to England, Red Devil […]

Saturday, June 8 in Seogwipo (7:30 am ET) Group C: BRAZIL (1-0-0, 3 pts.) vs. CHINA (0-0-1, 0 pts.) (TV: Live, ESPN, Univision 7:30 am ET; Tape, Telefutura, 3 pm ET/PT) The giant Anderson Polga for Edmilson is the only expected change for Brazil, which should ease into the second round after having struggled to […]

Saturday, June 8 in Ibaraki (5 am ET) Group H: ITALY (1-0-0, 3 pts.) vs. CROATIA (0-0-1, 0 pt.) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Univision 5 am ET; Tape, Telefutura, 12:30 pm ET/PT) Italy will add a third striker. Filippo Inzaghi joins Christian Vieri (two goals against Ecuador) and Francesco Totti. After a disappointing performance against Mexico, […]

Saturday, June 8 in Daegu (2:30 am ET) Group C: SOUTH AFRICA (0-1-0, 1 pt.) vs. SLOVENIA (0-0-1, 0 pts.) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Univision 2:30 am ET; Tape, Telefutura, 10 am ET/PT) South Africa will put itself in position to advance to the second round with a win over Slovenia, which in turn will be […]

MLS has suspended Los Angeles Galaxy forward Carlos Ruiz for one game and fined him $500 and for striking Colorado midfielder Wes Hart last Saturday. The incident, not noticed by the officials, was made by the league after studying televised replays. Los Angeles head coach Sigi Scmid has also been fined $500 for approaching referee […]

GROUP E: Cameroon ousts Saudis (1-0) * Following its embarrassing 8-0 loss to Germany, Saudi Arabia regained some pride by falling only 1-0 to Cameroon. The Saudis even managed scoring chances. They are, however, the first team of the tournament to be eliminated from contention to reach the second round. * The result means that […]

BrazilÆs Rivaldo, fined $7,350 by FIFA for acting as if Hakan Unsal kicked the ball in his face — it hit him in the torso — says he wonÆt play-act again. ''It's true that the ball didn't hit me in the face, but I was not the aggressor,'' he said. … Zlatko Zahovic, Slovenia's top […]

By Ridge Mahoney in Seoul Since all-time leading U.S. scorer Eric Wynalda faded out of the national team pool, several forwards have vied for the title of America's top striker. Clint Mathis' ascendancy with the Metros and the national team has yielded cover-boy treatment by Sports Illustrated. Young sensation Landon Donovan returned from Germany to […]

Friday, June 7 in Kobe (2:30 am ET) Group F: SWEDEN (0-1-0, 1 pt.) vs. NIGERIA (0-0-1, 0 pts.) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Univision 2:30 am ET; Tape, Telefutura, 10 am ET/PT) Sweden is riding high after a great second-half performance in its 1-1 tie with England. Nigeria was not expected to beat Argentina, but the […]

Friday, June 7 in Jeonju (5 am ET) Group B: SPAIN (1-0-0, 3 pts.) vs. PARAGUAY (0-1-0, 1 pts.) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Univision 5 am ET; Tape, Telefutura, 12:30 pm ET/PT) Spain will be out for revenge. Four years ago, a 0-0 tie with Paraguay cost the Spaniards a spot in the second round. Fernando […]

Friday, June 7 in Sapporo (7:30 am ET) GROUP F: ARGENTINA (1-0-0, 3 pts.) vs. ENGLAND (0-1-0, 1 pt.) (TV: Live, ESPN2, Univision 7:30 am ET; Tape, Telefutura, 3 pm ET/PT) The most-anticipated match of the first round takes place at the Sapporo Dome. Both teams might make changes on their left side. The only […]

By Paul Kennedy in Seoul Daegu suddenly becomes the place to be Monday afternoon: South Korea-USA, the meeting of the surprise leaders of Group D. The U.S. players and coaching staff tried to put the big win over Portugal quickly behind them. Coach Bruce Arena said he was in bed by 11 o'clock. ''You've got […]

Press conference quotes following the USAÆs 3-2 win over Portugal on June 5: Bruce Arena. U.S. coach ''I think this victory will grab the attention of a lot of people in the United States. However, this World Cup is not over. We've got to prepare for Korea, and our goal is to win that game.'' […]

U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena talked with Soccer America after the 3-2 win over Portugal. He didn't appear to be surprised at most of what went right for the U.S. Nor was he fazed when circumstances started to go against the Americans' favor in the second half. Interview by Paul Kennedy SOCCER AMERICA: It […]