Soccer America Archives

The 14-year-old United Systems of Independent Soccer Leagues, which brought professional soccer and high level amateur soccer to small and medium sized markets and serves as a major support system for Major League Soccer, has a new name: United Soccer Leagues. Commissioner Francisco Marcos, who founded the organization in 1986 as a modest five-team indoor […]

U.S. national team coach Bruce Arena has named an 18-player roster that will travel to Bolivia to face that country in a friendly Jan. 24 in Santa Cruz. The U.S. men completed their training camp in Florida by downing the Bayer Leverkusen reserves 3-1. Roy Lassiter, Brian McBride and Joe-Max Moore (on a penalty) scored […]

Two MLS teams have swapped Project-40 players, with Columbus gaining promising goalkeeper Matt Napoleon from Miami for left-footed defender Tim Sahaydak. Assigned to the Crew last week after a year and a half of rehabilitating his anterior cruciate ligament (right knee), Sahaydak joins Alen Kozic and Carlos Parra as the Fusion’s third active Project-40 player. […]

U.S. women’s national team forward Mia Hamm has won the 1998 Chevrolet/U.S. Soccer Female Athlete of the Year award. The annual award, based on competing and excelling at the highest level of soccer offered by U.S. Soccer for the calendar year, was presented today in Orlando, Fla. The awards, accolades and broken records just keep […]

BRUCE ARENA On what to accomplish with the Jan. 24 game against Bolivia: “I think things are going well. We’re still in a feeling out process, with me getting to know the players and the players getting to know me. Overall, we’re trying to simply increase our competitiveness. We’re not concerned totally in the result, […]

U.S. national team and Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder Cobi Joneshas been named the 1998 recipient of the Chevrolet/U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year award. The annual award, based on competing and excelling at the highest level of soccer offered by U.S. Soccer for the calendar year, was presented in Orlando, Fla. Jones earned the […]

D.C. United has acquired former University of Virginia star Brian Bates from the Dallas Burn in exchange for conditional draft picks. In exchange for Bates, Dallas will receive up to two of United’s picks in the upcoming college and supplemental drafts. D.C. currently holds four picks in the college draft, two in the second round […]

Kenya Brown College Park, Md. Peter Schmeichel has said that he will quit Manchester United at the end of the season. Now talk of United’s next goalkeeper has already begun to heat up. Top of the list is Mark Bosnich (Aston Villa), who is a free agent at the end of the season. I know […]

Project-40 defender Tim Sahaydak has been assigned to the Columbus Crew as the club’s third Project-40 player. Sahaydak, who joined Project-40 in April, 1997 as one of pioneers, was not assigned to a team earlier due to his recovery from his second anterior cruciate ligament surgery. Sahaydak, a member of the U.S. youth national teams […]

Erin Baxter (Florida) senior ò midfielder Crunching tackler was NCAA champÆs heart and soul. Mandy Clemens (Santa Clara) junior ò forward Had best season in Æ98 (16 goals, 16 assists). Kim Engesser (Nebraska) senior ò forward 61 points in Æ98 makes her HuskersÆ all-time leader (116). Lorrie Fair (North Carolina) junior ò defender U.S. star […]

Keith Beach (Maryland) senior ò midfielder Set up 14 goals for Terrapins, who reached semifinals. Carlos Bocanegra (UCLA) sophomore ò defender Steady defender also provided offense for Bruins. Adin Brown (William & Mary) junior ò goalkeeper Primary reason the Tribe advanced to second round. Nick Garcia (Indiana) sophomore ò defender Sacrificed offense to seal the […]

San Jose Clash forward Eric Wynalda, the United States’ all-time leading goal scorer, has been loaned to Mexican First Division club Leon for the upcoming Torneo Verano. The striker will return to MLS at the season’s conclusion in May. “This is a very good opportunity for Eric,” said MLS Deputy Commissioner Sunil Gulati. “He will […]

Midfielder Tony Sanneh has agreed to a deal with German Bundesliga club Hertha Berlin and will be leaving D.C. United. “Tony will certainly be greatly missed,” said D.C. United GM Kevin Payne. “He’s been a very important part for us since joining the club early in the 1996 season. Aside from the goals he’s scored […]

The Tampa Bay Mutiny has filled one of their two allocated positions for 1999 by receiving Costa Rican forward Alejandro Sequeira from Major League Soccer. Sequeira, 23, has signed a multi-year contract with MLS. In keeping with league policy, no terms of the agreement will be revealed. MLS allocated Sequeira to the Mutiny at the […]

Praise is being heaped on U.S. national team head coach Bruce Arena for his pronouncement that a player must be performing well at his club to register on the coach’s radar screen. This outlook brings the U.S. up to speed with the rest of the world, and should sharpen play in MLS. For the past […]

In a new partnership that will heighten the tournament’s awareness with its core audience and expand the network’s support of women’s sports, the 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup Organizing Committee has announced that Lifetime Television has became a Media Partner for the third world championship of women’s soccer. The centerpiece of the sponsorship will be […]

U.S. women’s U-18 national team coach and former George Washington head coach Shannon Cirovski has been named the new coach of the Maryland women’s soccer program. She replaces Alan Kirkup, who resigned to take over the women’s program at Arkansas. Cirovski will join her husband, Sasho, on the Maryland athletic staff. Sasho Cirovski has been […]

FEATURES U.S. Stars On The Move! — Or Maybe Not By Ridge Mahoney Bruce Arena: The View From Within Interviews by Duncan Irving Bolivia To Test Its Youngsters By Amparo Simon NSCAA: Once A Year, The Legends Wear Red Aprons By Dan Woog Laurie Whitsel: ‘We’re Here For All Coaches’ Interview by Dan Woog Coming […]

The U.S. men’s U-23 national team and the U.S. men’s U-20 national team began their San Diego training camps last week with an impressive 1-1 draw on Jan. 7. The tenacious match was played with bragging rights in mind, and ended even courtesy of goals by Carlos Bocanegra (U-20s) and Joey DiGiamarino (U-23s). The U-23s […]

The San Jose Clash have named Lynne Meterparel Business Manager and Owners Representative and Renato Capobianco Director of Soccer. Meterparel will oversee the day-to-day business activities of the organization, while Capobianco will be responsible for all on-field operations for the Clash. Meterparel, who previously served as the Director of Crowd Building for the Revolution, led […]

The U.S. women’s national team will face Finland on Saturday, Feb. 27 at the University of Florida in Gainesville. The game, which will be carried live on ESPN2, kicks off at 4 p.m. (ET). The match is the first full international for the U.S. women in Gainesville and marks the homecoming of NCAA women’s soccer […]

The 1999 FIFA Women’s World Cup has sold more than 200,000 tickets for the tournament. With still over five months left until the first match of USA ’99 on June 19, 1999 at Giants Stadium, the Organizing Committee has sold enough tickets for an average per date crowd of 12,000. More than 25,000 tickets have […]

Chicago Fire defender Lubos Kubik, the 1998 BIC MLS Defender of the Year, has signed a multi-year contract with Major League Soccer that should keep him with the Fire into the next century. “This is great news,” said Fire GM Peter Wilt. “Lubos was an important part of our championship season last year and one […]

MasterCard International, Official Sponsor of Major League Soccer since the league’s inception in 1996, has agreed to renew its commitment to MLS as an Official Sponsor through the 2002 season. “We are delighted that MasterCard has agreed to continue its relationship with MLS,” said MLS Executive Vice President Randy Bernstein. “As one of our valuable […]

New England Revolution midfielder Imad Baba has been added to the U.S. national team roster and is currently training with the squad at its camp in Orlando, Fla. Baba, 24, was a member of Bruce Arena’s 1996 U.S. Olympic Team, and has been a staple in the New England lineup. Brian Maisonneuve, another one of […]