Soccer America Archives

Goalkeepers Ahmadreza Abedzadeh (Pirouzi) At 32, one of the teamÆs veterans. Emotional keeper with a penchant for theatrics. Nima Nakisa (Pirouzi) Will one day replace Abedzadeh at Pirouzi and with the national team. Parviz Boroumand (Esteghlal Tehran) Will serve as a backup. Defenders Mohammad Khakpour (Bahman) The most experienced player in the back, having played […]

RESULTS June 13 Group D Nigeria 3 Spain 2 Group E Mexico 3 South Korea 1 Netherlands 0 Belgium 0 STANDINGS Group A Team GP W T L GF GA P Brazil 1 1 0 0 2 1 3 Morocco 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 Norway 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 […]

U.S. arrives in Paris After a train ride from Lyon, the U.S. World Cup team arrived in Paris this evening. They were greeted at the station by family members and other American supporters. Tentative schedule in Paris Note: all times local. Sunday, June 14 12:00 p.m. Light training at Parc des Prince OPEN to the […]

June 13 in St. Denis Netherlands 0 Belgium 0. Netherlands — Van Der Sar, Winter, Stam, F. De Boer, Numan, Cocu, R. De Boer (Jonk, 79), Overmars, Seedorf (Zenden, 65), Kluivert, Hasselbaink (Bergkamp, 65). Belgium — De Wilde, Crasson (Deflandre, 22), Staelens, Verstraeten, Borkelmans, Van Der Elst, Clement, Wilmots, Boffin, Nilis, Oliveira (L.Mpenza, 59). Yellow […]

June 13 in Nantes Nigeria 3 Spain 2. Goals: Adepoju 25, Lawal 73, Oliseh 78; Hierro 21, Raul 47. Nigeria — Rufai, Oparaku (Yekini, 70), West, Okechukwu, Babayaro, Ikpeba (Babangida, 83), Oliseh, Lawal (Okpara, 90), Okocha, Adepoju, George. Spain — Zubizaretta, Ferrer (Amor, 46), Alkorta, Sergi, Ivan Campo, Nadal (Celades, 77), Hierro, Enrique, Raul, Alfonso […]

Results June 13 MetroStars 3 Miami 1 Columbus 3 D.C. United 4 (SO) Standings EASTERN GP W L P GF GA D.C. United 17 13 4 29 41 28 MetroStars 14 8 6 22 25 24 Columbus 14 7 7 21 27 21 Miami 15 5 10 11 13 32 New England 12 4 8 […]

The 1998 A-League All-Star game will take place July 2 in Hershey, Pa. at 8:15 p.m. and will feature 18 of the league’s top players taking on the Hershey Wildcats. The Wildcats are in first place in the Atlantic Division and sport a 6-3 record. The all-star team was selected by a vote of the […]

STEVE SAMPSON On the team’s arrival into Paris: “We are extremely happy to be here. Pizay [the team’s training site north of Lyon] served its purpose, and today coming off the train and being greeted by family and supporters with American flags, we are anxious to experience this World Cup. Nothing will distract us for […]

SA Senior Editor Mike Woitalla reports that Eric Wynalda will be the likely starter up front for the USA when it faces Germany in its opening World Cup match on June 15 in Paris. Although U.S. coach Steve Sampson would not specify who his starting lineup was at the Americans’ press conference in Paris, he […]

ARGENTINA ON A ROLL. The hot pick at the moment to win the World Cup is Argentina. After a slow start in the marathon South American qualifying tournament, Daniel Passarella's team finished strong, winning five straight at one point to clinch its seventh consecutive berth in the finals. It's won all but one of its […]

The Mexico press can be harsh on the national team. The big action, though is reserved for the TV, where Bora Milutinovic was the victim of the battle for network supremacy. Being a part of the Mexico national team can be stressful, to say the least. This is a country where media coverage of soccer […]

Expectations for Bora Milutinovic are higher than ever as he enters his fourth consecutive World Cup. None of his previous teams have had as much talent as the Nigerians. Bora Milutinovic is speeding down the road somewhere in Switzerland. It's two days after his Nigerian team lost 3-0 to Yugoslavia. In two weeks he'll be […]

NETHERLANDS PRESSURE OFF. For once, the Dutch don't enter the World Cup as one of the favorites – which is the way they probably like it. No European country has produced a succession of great talent like the Dutch have in the past 15 years – from Ruud Gullit, Marco Van Basten and Frank Rijkaard […]

Ernie Stewart On Germany: “I don’t think they (Germany) have many weaknesses. The only thing is that if we can keep it tied up as long as possible, they’ll start panicking because they have to play Yugoslavia next.” On the strengths of the U.S. team: “Our strengths are discipline and organization. We can wear teams […]

June 11 in Foxboro, Mass. New England (MLS) 1 Benfica (Portugal) 2. Goals: Rocha (Gorter) 53; Sanchez 78, Sanchez 87. New England — Causey, McKinley, Michallik, Chronopoulos (Dunseth, 46), Motajo (Goulooze, 62), Baba (Van Saun, 46), Gorter (Mohammed, 56), Nakhid (McLaughlin, 74), Pareja (Keegan, 59), Torres (Rocha, 46), Diaz Arce. Benfica — Preud’homme, Basto (Luis […]

Trip to Lyon Canceled The U.S. World Cup team had their planned excursion into the downtown area of Lyon canceled today because of a farmers’ strike in the small French city. The U.S. players had been looking forward to the trip to take some time and enjoy the nuances of the city, but because the […]

June 12 in Marseilles France 3 South Africa 0. Goal: Dugarry 34, own goal 77, Henry 90. France — Barthez, Thuram, Blanc, Desailly, Lizarazu, Deschamps, Petit (Boghossian, 73), Zidane, Djorkaeff (Trezeguet, 82), Guivarc’h (Dugarry, 27), Henry. South Africa — Vonk, Jackson, Mnguni, Issa, Fish, Radebe, Nyathi, Augustine (Mkhalele, 57), Fortune, McCarthy (Bartlett, 88), Masinga. Yellow […]

June 11 in Arlington Heights, Ill. Chicago Stingers (D3 Pro) 8 Wisla (USASA) 0. Goals: Carver (Richardson) 7, Acres (pen.) 20, Hamnett (Carver) 39, Acres (Richardson) 44, Acres (Richardson) 50, Verning 52, Wywrot (pen.) 69, Carver (Wywrot) 89. Chicago — lineup n/a. Wisla — lineup n/a. Att.: n/a.

June 12 in Montpellier Bulgaria 0 Paraguay 0. Bulgaria — Zdravkov, Ivanov, Kishishev, Petkov, Yankov, Balakov, Iliev (Borimirov, 80), Nankov, Yordanov, Penev (Kostadinov, 69), Stoichkov Paraguay — Chilavert, Ayala, Gamarra, Sarabia, Acuna, Benitez, Enciso, Morales (Caniza, 43), Paredes, Campos (Yegros, 81), Cardozo (Ramirez, 71) Yellow cards: Bulgaria — Nankov 28, Stoichkov 45, Ivanov 72; Paraguay […]

RESULTS June 12 Group C Denmark 1 Saudi Arabia 0 France 3 South Africa 0 Group D Bulgaria 0 Paraguay 0 STANDINGS Group A Team GP W T L GF GA P Brazil 1 1 0 0 2 1 3 Morocco 1 0 1 0 2 2 1 Norway 1 0 1 0 2 2 […]

SPAIN THE TIME IS RIGHT? Spain, for all its power at the club level, has never done much in the World Cup. Its best showing came in 1950 when it finished fourth – out of four teams in the round-robin group that determined the champion. This is the year, though, when Spaniards believe Javier Clemente's […]

Zinedine Zidane has been called the 'prototype of the 21st-century player,' evoking references at Juventus to the greatest of all French playmakers, Michel Platini. Like Spain playing in Barcelona or Italy competing in Naples, France opening its World Cup campaign in Marseilles is an adventure into hostile territory. Fickle Marseilles fans could turn on the […]

FRANCE AIME NOT WELL LIKED. Aime Jacquet, the French coach, can't do anything right. He led France to the semifinals of the 1996 European Championship – the first time France had gotten that far in a tournament – and he was blasted for fielding a boring team. He held off announcing his 22-man squad for […]

Sampson says Europe doesn’t respect U.S. The U.S. World Cup team is underrated in the eyes of European soccer nations and rightfully so, according to U.S. head coach Steve Sampson. “In Europe, they have no respect for the U.S.,” Sampson said, “and quite frankly, we have not earned it. “We have earned respect in Latin […]

In a move that should bolster one the league’s lowest-scoring offense, MLS has allocated Brazilian forward Paulinho McLaren to the Miami Fusion. Paulinho, 34, has made four appearances for Brazil and has played for a number of top Brazilian clubs, including Santos, Portuguesa, Cruzeiro and Fluminense, as well as with Porto of the Portuguese First […]