Soccer America Archives

Todd Shepard Houston, Texas. Why doesn’t MLS consider putting teams in Libertadores Cup? Ridge Mahoney: The reasons are many. These are the most relevant: First of all, the South American confederation — which runs the competition — would not be interested. It added Mexican teams a few years ago mainly because the value of TV […]

Soccer America MagazineÆs MLS Team of the Week from games played April 26-30. Goalkeeper Mark Simpson (1) D.C. United Defenders Brian Dunseth (1) New England Lubos Kubik (1) Chicago Mike Petke (2) MetroStars Midfielders Marco Etcheverry (1) D.C. United Steve Ralston (1) Tampa Bay Carlos Valderrama (2) Tampa Bay Peter Nowak (1) Chicago Forwards Ante […]

Olympic hopeful laughs off comparisons his play confirms The comparisons, Adin Brown says, are ridiculous, and he wants to set the record straight: No, he is not the second coming of Kasey Keller. (For one thing, the U.S. Olympic qualifying team’s star goalkeeper is bigger at 6-foot-5, possesses greater technical capacity and is – says […]

Bruce Arena, U.S. men’s national team head coach USA outlook: We are very excited about the Nike U.S. Cup this year, playing three outstanding teams in what I feel are three great venues in the Unites States: RFK in Washington, D.C., Foxboro Stadium and Giants Stadium in New Jersey. I think these are venues that […]

The following is an update on how the 16-team field for the 2000 Olympics men’s soccer tournament shapes up. The draw will be held June 3 in Sydney. HOST (1). Australia, the host country, is the only team with an automatic berth into the Olympic men’s soccer tournament. ASIA (3). South Korea (6-0-1) and Japan […]

The following is an update on how the 16-team field for the 2000 Olympics men’s soccer tournament shapes up. The draw will be held June 3 in Sydney. HOST (1). Australia, the host country, is the only team with an automatic berth into the Olympic men’s soccer tournament. ASIA (3). South Korea (6-0-1) and Japan […]

U.S. head coach April Heinrichs has named 14 veterans of the 1999 Women’s World Cup championship team to her roster for the NIKE U.S. Women’s Cup 2000 tournament to be held on May 5 and 7 at Civic Stadium in Portland, Oregon. Leading the way is midfielder Kristine Lilly, who is just two games away […]

Omar Salem Morton Grove, Ill. I was just reading the article about the teams that qualified for the Olympics and it said that England does not compete in the Olympics. Can you tell me why that is? Mike Woitalla: England is, strictly speaking, not a nation. It is the most populous political division of the […]

Players and coaches have been quick to point out inconsistencies in the officiating of MLS matches this season, yet rarely do they put the onus on themselves to clean up the game. Thirteen red cards had already been issued this season through 35 games ù an average of 0.37 per game. That’s five percent higher […]

The United States and Honduras, both already having qualified for Sydney 2000 by virtue of their semifinal wins, over Guatemala and Mexico, respectively, met in the TFC (Concacaf) final April 30 in Hershey, Pa.. The Hondurans prevailed, 2-1. The scoring sequences: 12th Minute: A corner kick from left side, the ball goes long to John […]

The U.S. under-17 boy’s national team fell to Scotland on penalty kicks, 3-0, to finish sixth at the Ballymena Tournament in Northern Ireland on April 29. The U.S. U-17s out-shot Scotland 14-1 during the course of the 0-0 game. Earlier, the USA beat Northern Ireland (1-0) and the Netherlands (3-0) but fell to Austria (0-3) […]

Meola: ‘We have so many things’ After missing most of the 1999 season because of a knee injury, keeper Tony Meola has helped Kansas City get off to a 3-0-1 start. SOCCER AMERICA: Was there any point during your time with the Metros you felt the team was headed in the right direction? TONY MEOLA: […]

The U.S. men’s national team’s road to the 2002 World Cup in Japan and Korea began to map itself out today with the CONCACAF World Cup qualifying semifinal round draw conducted this afternoon at FIFA’s headquarters in Zurich, Switzerland. As one of three seeds in the CONCACAF region (also known as the Football Confederation), the […]

Within 10 minutes, the U.S. U-23s established their superiority over Guatemala, taking a 2-0 lead that would lead to a 4-0 win and a ticket to the Olympic tournament. John O’Brien opened the scoring just 44 seconds into the match with a 20-yard rocket. (1-0) In the eighth minute, Josh Wolff finished off a rebound […]

The U.S. under-17 boys team beat England on penalty kicks, 5-3, and will now play the winner of the Netherlands-Scotland match in the fifth-place game of the Ballymena Tournament in Northern Ireland. The United States had tied England, 2-2, on two goals from Ed Johnson. The USA had finished second in their group. The week-long […]

Joseph Ramos Providence, R.I. What does it take to become a professional soccer player? Mike Woitalla: Your question reminds me of the old joke: A tourist is walking down a New York street and stops a man to ask, ôExcuse me. Could you tell me how to get to Carnegie Hall?ö ôSure,ö says the man. […]

Tony DiCicco will run the soccer side of the Women’s United Soccer Association, at least until a permanent boss is found. The proposed women’s professional league named the former U.S. women’s national team coach as its acting commissioner and named Lee Berke its acting president. Berke had been the senior vice president of marketing for […]

Champions choose WUSA ù with or without approval As U.S. Soccer officials work feverishly behind the scenes to broker some sort of agreement between the primary entities competing to helm a Division I professional women’s soccer league, the country’s most celebrated players ù those who stand to benefit most greatly from next year’s expected start-up […]

The United StatesÆ trip to Moscow resulted in a 2-0 friendly game loss to Russia on a pair of second-half goals. The USA outshot the host country, 14-8. April 26 at Dynamo Stadium in Moscow Russia 2 United States 0. Goals: Titov 63, Karpin 92+. USA — Keller, Hejduk (West, 88), Fraser, Berhalter, Regis, Jones, […]

SUMMARY April 25 in Hershey, Pa. USA 0 Canada 0. USA — Howard, Cherundolo, Dunseth, McCarty (Califf, 72), Corrales, Thorrington, Vagenas (Winters, 64), O’Brien, Olsen, Casey, Albright (Wolff, 64). Canada — Franks, Skinner, McKenna, Clarke, McCauley (cameorn, 65), Hastings, Bent, Aristodemo (Bernier, 88), Kindel, DeRosario, Stalteri. Red cards: USA — Dunseth 45; Canada — Kindel […]

Soccer America MagazineÆs MLS Team of the Week from games played April 19 & 22. Goalkeeper Kevin Hartman (1) Los Angeles Defenders Marcelo Balboa (2) Colorado Peter Vermes (1) Kansas City Jamie Clark (1) San Jose Midfielders Matt McKeon (1) Kansas City Richard Mulrooney (1) San Jose Dario Brose (1) San Jose Danny Pena (1) […]

Stadium options and personnel changes will set future course A month into the 2000 season, the Fire finally got a chance to play at home, and in beating Miami 1-0 on April 15 it shut down its opponent with a rigid defense. The Fire captured the double in 1998 with a stifling defense and opportunistic […]

Opening Comments by MLS Executive Vice President Ivan Gazidis “Once again I have no comment with respect to where we are with the signing of a Mexican player for Los Angeles. Those talks are still progressing on a number of different fronts. We are also announcing the signing of what I consider to be one […]

Player of the Week Honduran native Saul Martinez made a big first impression for his new club and earned the A-LeagueÆs Player of the Week award in the process, netting a pair of late goals to give the Hampton Roads Mariners a 2-0 victory over Richmond in their season opener. With both teams battling through […]

The all-important semifinal pairings are set: USA-Guatemala and Mexico-Honduras in Hershey, Pa., April 28 for berths at Sydney 2000. The United States won Group D with a 0-0 tie against Canada. The Americans and Canada rarely threatened in the first half until a fractious exchange saw both teams have a player sent off just before […]