There’s no arguing that three of the biggest stories in American soccer this year (the overnight success of the Seattle Sounders, the acceptance of expansion bids in Portland and Vancouver, and the improbable run of the Puerto Rico Islanders through CONCACAF) have all come courtesy of the United Soccer Leagues’ First Division, so it’s no […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Blanco burst fans the flames in Chicago
The elements seem to be in place for Chicago to make its first MLS Cup appearance since 2003, yet how the head coach deals with his superstar could tilt the season one way or the other.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
UEFA Cup Results
The two German teams (Hamburg and Werder Bremen) and two Ukrainian teams (Shakhtar Donetsk and Dynamo Kiev) have the edge after the first legs of the UEFA Cup quarterfinals. For all the results and goal scorers …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Week 3: Boston and Washington open at home
[WPS] All the Women’s Professional Soccer action is on the East Coast this weekend with home openers for Boston and Washington and Sky Blue FC’s second game at TD Bank Park. For a look at Saturday’s games …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Manchester United’s ticking time bomb
[SIGN OF THE TIMES] Despite record revenues of $371 million, Manchester United’s parent company, Red Football Joint Venture, suffered pre-tax losses of $65.6 million in 2007-08 in part because of interest payments on loans its owners are unable to restructure in the current economic environment.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Week 4: Seattle goes for four in a row
[MLS PREDICTIONS] The expansion Seattle Sounders FC should make it four wins in four games, but will their shutout streak continue? The first SuperClasico pits unbeaten and untied Chivas USA against the struggling Galaxy at the HDC. For all of Soccer America’s predictions, as well as TV viewing information, and to see how we fared last week …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Bye, bye, D.C. United?
[MLS] D.C. United’s future in Washington does not look bright. Following another setback in its effort get a stadium project off the ground, MLS Commissioner Don Garber told the Washington Post’s Soccer Insider that the team will be moved if it can’t get a deal done soon.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“We no doubt will end up considering venues, stadiums, that don’t exist today. Not in the same way that some of the other countries bidding are, because they’re talking about building venues for the World Cup, but given the turnover with top NFL stadiums and top university stadiums that are likely to be built between now and 2018 and 2022, we think that eminently possible.”
— Sunil Gulati, president of U.S. Soccer and chairman of the USA Bid Committee, on the list of stadiums the USA is looking at for the 2018 or 2022 World Cups growing from an initial list of 70.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Lampard: Treble ‘Still Up For Grabs’
“Everything is still up for grabs, even though we are behind in the league. This performance [against Liverpool] just sets the tone for the rest of the season and who knows what can happen in the league and FA Cup now. It’s just important we keep the standard we showed against Liverpool. When people see […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Ironman Marsch Becomes 6th Member of MLS ‘300 Club’
“I think when I break my career up into segments, it’s almost perfect for me to go D.C., then Chicago, and then Chivas. In D.C., I was a rookie and I came in off the bench and I was learning what it was about to be a pro. Then came Chicago and I was on […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Osorio Says Yes to Idea of Coaching U.S.
“I would love to. As I always expressed in the past, I am very thankful to this country. It’s the country that gave me the opportunity to go to school, to get my education through a scholarship. Now if one day I am considered, that would be an honor. My kids were born here. We […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Buzzards Swarming at Bayern After Barca Blowout
Things went from bad to worse to abysmal for Juergen Klinsmann and Co. on Wednesday, and all in a matter of just minutes. Allowing four goals to Barcelona in a first half was just part of what led German legend Franz Beckenbauer to call the lopsided loss “without a doubt the worst football Bayern have […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Zizou: Perez the Right Man For Real Madrid
Having Zinedine Zidane in your camp makes it all but automatic to get elected to a Presidential position within soccer, but especially is he’s considering being your running mate. And so things are looking locked up for candidate Florentino Perez in his bid to return to the top spot at Real Madrid, a post he […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Champions League Back to Its Old, Exciting Self
If the UEFA Champions League was ever in a so-called slump after previous years have produced somewhat predictable all-English finals, after “two breathtaking nights and four captivating games have been played out between eight fearless and talented teams,” writes Goal.com’s Sulmann Ahmad, all is back to being right in the world of European soccer elite. […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Mexican Clubs Still the Class of CONCACAF
Mexico’s national team might be a mess at the moment, but the quality of their professional league remains mostly unmatched in the region, as Cruz Azul and Atlante used home-field advantage in the semifinals’ second leg to advance to the CONCACAF Champions League final, making it “yet another all-Mexican showpiece, the third in the last […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Chivas Gets Good Game From Two Newcomers
Fans around the league might be surprised to see Chivas USA atop the Western Conference (and the league, for that matter) with a perfect 3-0-0 record, but the real surprise is that they’ve been able to stay undefeated without a select few of players “that many assumed would make all the difference for the Red-and-White […]
Posted inStory, World Cup Watch
USA has plenty of choices for World Cup
Most of the 11 bidders for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup will be happy to show FIFA in concrete or on paper the minimum of 12 stadiums seating 40,000 or more fans. The USA Bid Committee has set the minimum capacity at 50,000 seats and come up with 70 stadiums it has targeted in the initial step of outlining the bid process and criteria for venue selection for public officials and stadium operators.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USA Bid Committee targets huge stadiums
[WORLD CUP 2018/2022] The World Cup in Lincoln, Neb., or at Green Bay’s famed Lambeau Field? They might be long shots for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup, but they were among the 44 stadiums with a capacity of 70,000 or more the USA Bid Committee has identified on its initial list of stadiums. For the complete list of 70 stadiums identified …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Bora returns to coach at Confederations Cup
[IRAQ] Former U.S. national team coach Bora Milutinovic, 64, will coach Asian champion Iraq — the eighth national team he has coached — at this year’s Confederations Cup in South Africa.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Maturana quits T&T’s Soca Warriors
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] The coaches of both teams the USA has beaten in the Hexagonal are gone. Less than a week after Trinidad & Tobago’s 3-0 loss to the USA in Nashville, Francisco Maturana quit as the Soca Warriors coach. Maturana’s departure follows the firing of Mexico’s Sven Goran Eriksson a week ago.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Celebrations in Cancun
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Rafael Marquez Lugo‘s penalty kick in the fourth minute of stoppage time gave Atlante a 3-1 victory over Mexican rival Santos Laguna on Wednesday and a 4-3 win on aggregate that sent the Cancun team to the Concacaf Champions League final against Cruz Azul.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Ivanovic makes most of rare chance
[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Serbian defender Branislav Ivanovic — so anonymous that he didn’t play a game for Chelsea last season — was the unlikely hero of a memorable Liverpool-Chelsea showdown, scoring two goals on headers to give the visiting Blues a 3-1 win in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League quarterfinal series.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Barca is the team to beat
[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Barcelona very much looks like the favorite to win the 2009 UEFA Champions League after putting on a superb show against Bayern Munich on Wednesday. The German champion looked helpless in face of the Barca onslaught and fell, 4-0, with all four goals coming in the first half.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Red Bulls’ revamping is far from done
[MLS] The start of the season doesn’t end the process of altering and adjusting MLS rosters. In New York, master tinkerer Juan Carlos Osorio will probably unveil one new player this weekend when the Red Bulls host Houston and might give another his first start, with another signing still awaiting the receipt of his international transfer certificate at MLS offices.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“The crowds are different, more involved than the old Sounders crowds of the 1970s. They feel more middle class. Soccer in this area used to be an almost elitist sport. Now it feels as if it belongs to everyone.”
— Columnist Steve Kelley on the success of MLS’s Seattle Sounders FC, who have already announced their third straight sellout for Saturday’s game against Kansas City at Qwest Field (and have less than 1,000 tickets remaining for their next two homes games). (Seattle Times)