Category: Story

[MAKING A LIST] Mexico’s pro ranks are an increasingly important feeder for the U.S. national team program. Fourteen Americans played in Mexico’s top two pro leagues in 2008-09. They included First Division players Jose Francisco Torres and Michael Orozco, who have played on the national team in World Cup qualifying, and Jose Gonzalez, who spent time this season with Potros Chetumal in the Second Division and has been called up to next week’s U-20 camp in Sarasota, Fla.

Free-lance writer Dan Woog shares a memory of Julio Mazzei, who died on Sunday at the age of 78. Mazzei was best known as Pele’s adviser during his New York Cosmos and later coached the Cosmos to the 1982 North American Soccer League title.

[GERMANY] Out of the doghouse since Jupp Heynckes replaced Juergen Klinsmann as Bayern Munich coach, Lukas Podolski scored one goal and set up Luca Toni and Franck Ribery as Bayern beat Bayer Leverkusen and kept pace with Wolfsburg in the sizzling Bundesliga race.

[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Atlante won the inaugural Concacaf Champions League Tuesday when it tied fellow Mexican club Cruz Azul, 0-0, in the second leg of the final in Cancun to win, 2-0, on aggregate. The game marked the end of the season for Atlante and Cruz Azul. Both teams finished last in their group in the Torneo Clausura and did not qualify for the playoffs.

[USL TEAMS OF THE WEEK] Hunter Gilstrap, whose spectacular work in goal earned the Cleveland City Stars a 0-0 tie with the Portland Timbers and their first point in their USL-1 debut season,  and Bermuda’s Nigel Burgess, who posted nine saves in a 1-0 win over Richmond for the Hogges’ first win ever over the Kickers, earned the USL First Division and Second Division Player of the Week honors, respectively. For the USL-1 and USL-2 Teams of the Week …

[OFF THE POST] A thief stole thousands of dollars of cash and valuables from the house of Everton’s Steven Pienaar while he was busy playing against Tottenham Hotspur on Saturday. Piennar is the 16th English Premier League player whose house was targeted in recent years while on club duty, according to British media reports.

[U.S. UNDER-23 WOMEN] The U.S. under-23 women’s national team will face Ireland’s women’s national team on Wednesday in Dublin and Northern Ireland’s women’s national team in Belfast on Wednesday. For the U.S. roster …

[MLS] Philadelphia, MLS’s 16th team, will be named the Union. The team name is a reference to the original thirteen colonies, while the colors of navy blue and gold are a throwback to the uniforms of the American Continental Army.

[MLS] Unless it brings in another goalkeeper, FC Dallas will be playing Ray Burse in goal for at least the next month. Regular goalie Dario Sala, who sat out most of April after undergoing surgery to repair the meniscus in his left knee, is projected to miss the next four to six weeks to recover from bone bruising detected in that same knee by an MRI exam.

[ENGLAND] With English clubs having run up debts of 3 billion pounds ($4.56 billion), the Premier League has proposed tough measures to curb abuses and bolster transparency.

Brazilian Julio Mazzei, best known as Pele‘s adviser during his New York Cosmos and later the coach of the Cosmos when they won the 1982 North American Soccer League title, died Sunday at the age of 78 in Santos.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Portuguese Vitoria Guimaraes club has signed 23-year-old American Kamani Hill to a three-year contract as its first reinforcement for the 2009-10 season. The former UCLA forward signed a contract with current Bundesliga leader Wolfsburg in 2006, made his debut in early 2007 but was relegated to the German club’s second team and no longer figured in its plans.