Soccer America Archives

CHINA LEGITIMATE FAVORITE. The 1996 Olympic silver medalist deserves favorite status behind the host, a fact underscored by two 2-1 wins over the United States in 1999, when it also dropped a tight 2-1 match to the Americans. Moreover, the Chinese split a pair of friendlies with Germany in Germany. OPPONENTS WILL CHASE SUN. China’s […]

NORWAY INJURY TAKES LEADER. Norway should encounter few problems conquering the tournament’s easiest group. The loss to injury of Gro Espeseth will be felt later in the tournament. Espeseth, a physical marker, was the team’s inspirational leader, having started for Norway in China ’91 and winning the Silver Ball as the second-best player in Sweden […]

GERMANY THE EXPERIENCE FACTOR. Germany created its women’s national team in 1982, but the female side of the sport celebrated its breakthrough in 1989, when Germany’s European Championship semifinal win over Italy drew higher TV ratings than a Steffi Graf tennis match and its final win over Norway garnered nationwide press attention. A women’s Bundesliga […]

DENMARK DANES STUMBLE INTO USA. Early on, the experienced Europeans looked like the obvious choice to be the No. 2 team in Group A and advance to the quarterfinals. North Korea didn’t even qualify for either previous World Cup, and Nigeria was winless in both. The Danes – sixth in 1991 and seventh in 1995 […]

Earl Howard Medfield, Mass. During the USA-Argentina match on several occasions the U.S. defense was caught very flat. Was the intent to play strict man-to-man, or was Fraser supposed to be sweeping? If the U.S. is to be successful in International play who will direct that defense? I thought Kirovski played a great match and […]

SA Consensus USA ’99 Champion: USA Runner-up: China Third place: Norway Fourth place: Germany MVP: Mia Hamm (USA) Leading scorer: Tiffeny Milbrett (USA) Pete Bailey 1. USA 2. Norway 3. China 4. Germany MVP: Mia Hamm (USA) Leading scorer: Tiffeny Milbrett (USA) Comments Record crowds at Stanford and the Rose Bowl should help to will […]

First Round June 16 in Chico, Calif. Chico Rooks (D3) 2 Spokane Shadow (PDL) 3 (OT). Goals: Orellana 19, Munoz 63; Rose 39, Berto 73, Cosner 108. Chico — Martini, Freeman (Hernandez, 80), Weiszmann, Munoz, Biason, Ternero (Eagleston, 70), Gwin (Murray, 96), Aluelais, Higley, Orellana, Stuart. Spokane — Mullen, Houck, Marks, Saunders (Hogenhout, 70), Hampton, […]

Group A USA 1 Briana Scurry 07/09/71 2 Lorrie Fair 05/08/78 3 Christie Pearce 24/06/75 4 Carla Overbeck 09/05/69 5 Tiffany Roberts 05/05/77 6 Brandi Chastain 21/07/68 7 Sara Whalen 28/04/76 8 Shannon Macmillan 07/10/74 9 Mia Hamm 17/03/72 10 Michelle Akers 01/02/66 11 Julie Foudy 23/01/71 12 Cindy Parlow 08/05/78 13 Kristine Lilly 22/07/71 […]

June 16 in Rochester, N.Y. Rochester Rhinos (A-League) 1 MetroStars (MLS) 1 (MetroStars win shootout, 2-0). Goals: Tilley (Demmin) 53; Kalonji (Chung) 65. Rochester — Andracki (Onstad, 46), Restrepo, Demmin, Hardy, Schweitzer (Daligcon, 46), Mercik (Mulcahy, 63), Dietrich, Zavala, Sedgewick (Miller, 30), Hetrick (Kirmse, 46), Tilley. MetroStars — Howard (Ammann, 46), Petke, Knight, Walsh, Corrales, […]

While fighting a disease that can make routine chores unbearable, Michelle Akers continues giving world-class performances for the United States, whose title hopes depend on her midfield mastery. It’s no accident that Michelle Akers’ primary battles most of the past decade have not been fought on the soccer field. That’s what she believes, that there’s […]

Anything less than the title will be considered a failure for the Americans. And though they have the talent, experience and home-field edge to deserve favorite status, no one’s saying it’ll be easy. They don’t need a World Cup to determine the planet’s best women’s soccer team. The evidence, as it were, is overwhelming, and […]

Mauricio Solis, a regular on the Costa Rican national team and a veteran of the English Premier League, has been acquired by the San Jose Clash. “Mauricio Solis will be a wonderful addition to our squad,” San Jose GM Lynne Meterparel said. “All four of our international spots are now filled, and with Mauirico, Ronald […]

More than three years after it was first awarded to the United States, the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup, the third world championship of women’s soccer, will get underway this Saturday, June 19, with matches at Giants Stadium in East Rutherford, N.J., and Spartan Stadium in San Jose, Calif. With more than 450,000 tickets sold […]

The following is a brief overview of Major League Soccer games on television this week: Date Matchup Kickoff (ET) Television June 16 New England at Columbus 7:30 p.m. Fox Sports New England June 16 D.C. United at Dallas 8:30 p.m. NO TV June 19 New England at Tampa Bay 7:00 p.m. Fox Sports New England […]

Chicago Fire — M Diego Gutierrez (back spasms) and F Frankie Klopas (strained groin) are probable; D Andrew Lewis (strained hamstring) is questionable. Colorado Rapids — D Marcelo Balboa (strained hamstring), D Jason Bent (turf toe) D David Vaudreuil (strained groin) and M/F Paul Bravo (sprained ankle) are probable; M Joey DiGiamarino (lacerated foot) is […]

FEATURES Bruce Arena Still Rules In The Capital By Duncan Irving Women’s World Cup ’99: Denmark Feels At Home By Dean Caparaz Three’s Company For Dallas Colombians By Amparo Simon Senor Gol Makes Immediate Impact By Fred J. Robledo Mulrooney Gets Some Rookie Seasoning By Cam Inman Tampa Savors A Strong Dose Of Garlick By […]

Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann (2) Colorado Defenders Jason Bent (1) Colorado Diego Sonora (2) D.C. United John Doyle (1) San Jose Midfielders Ben Olsen (2) D.C. United Roy Myers (1) Los Angeles Richie Williams (1) D.C. United Simon Elliott (1) Los Angeles Forwards Johnny Torres (2) New England Jorge Dely Valdes (1) Colorado Jaime Moreno (3) […]

Portuguese League club Benfica has been replaced by English Premier League club Aston Villa in the inaugural Gotham Cup at Giants Stadium on July 23 & 25. Benfica withdrew earlier from the Gotham Cup field at the request of its new coach, Jupp Heynckes, who has made other preseason plans for his club this summer. […]

Fusion and MetroStars scramble to get off the scrapheap Tangled together like two rusted rattletraps that have collided at an intersection, the MetroStars and Miami Fusion are throwing off sparks as they careen down the street. They are inexorably linked, these two MLS eyesores, through mismanagement, personnel swaps and ineptitude. The owner of one team […]

Never before has a female team sport received so much attention and interest as the third Women’s World Cup. The way the world looks at women’s sports will never be same after this summer’s tournament. It will be the Americans, Norwegians and Chinese, one might expect, battling for supremacy this summer in what organizers promise […]

Watching the U.S. women playing in front of good crowds and signing autographs for admiring fans these past few years reflects what they encountered during the first Women’s World Championship (it wasn’t the World Cup then) in 1991. They were besieged by adoring Chinese fans at nearly every training session, and Carin Jennings Gabarra was […]

STANDINGS Eastern Conference Northeast GP W L GF GA P Long Island 9 7 2 17 10 30 Rochester 8 7 1 16 8 29 Boston 10 6 4 17 8 28 Staten Island 8 5 3 13 7 23 Pittsburgh 9 4 5 18 13 19 Connecticut 11 3 8 9 21 14 Lehigh […]

The following are quotes from U.S. Soccer’s June 15 media teleconference with U.S. women’s national team coach Tony DiCicco, U.S. goalkeeper Briana Scurry and U.S. midfielder Kristine Lilly. Tony DiCicco On Nigeria’s 4-3 exhibition win versus China Saturday: “I wasn’t that surprised. Maybe it surprised a lot of media. I knew Nigeria would be very […]

W-1 STANDINGS Northern GP W L GF GA P NJ Stallions 7 6 1 24 7 25 Long Island 8 5 3 16 8 25 Maryland 6 5 1 19 3 24 Boston 7 4 3 11 9 16 Laval 6 3 3 11 13 14 Delaware 5 0 5 1 16 0 Southern GP […]

Tampa Bay and Colorado worked out a trade on June 15 that sends midfielder Guillermo Jara to the Rapids and defender Steve Trittschuh to the Mutiny. Jara, 25, joined the Mutiny in 1998 after more than two seasons with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He has appeared in ten games this season, recording one assist. A […]