Soccer America Archives

[MLS] With ties in its first two games, one at home and one on the road, one could give defending champion Columbus some benefit of the doubt.  But after a 4-1 thrashing inflicted by Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium Thursday, there may be some cause for doubting the Crew’s ability to defend that title.

[WPS] Women’s Professional Soccer moves into full gear with three games over the weekend. Marta’s drawing power will be put to the test when Los Angeles travels to Sky Blue FC. Chicago travels across Illinois to face St. Louis on the campus of SIU-Edwardsville, while FC Gold Pride hosts Boston in the WPS Game of the Week on FSC. For a look at this week’s games …

[MEXICO] Mexico hiring the Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, who had only modest success during a six-year stint as England coach, never made a lot of sense. But just how disastrous an appointment it was went beyond predictions. After Wednesday’s 3-1 loss at Honduras, which marked El Tri’s sixth loss under Eriksson in 13 games, he was finally fired.

[GOLD CUP] The longest and most expansive Gold Cup in history kicks off July 3 with a doubleheader — Canada-Jamaica and Costa Rica-El Salvador — at the Home Depot Center. The 12-team Concacaf event will be played in 13 cities — more than any other regional championship ever — over 21 days — including a week’s gap between group play and the quarterfinals — making it the longest Gold Cup ever. For the complete schedule …

[GOLD CUP] The USA opens play at the 2009 Gold Cup on July 4 against Grenada at Qwest Field in Seattle. It also faces Honduras in Washington, D.C., on July 8 and Haiti at Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, Mass., on July 11. The Honduras match comes a little more than a month after the USA faces the Catrachos in World Cup 2010 qualifying in Chicago. The Gold Cup follows a busy June for the USA, which is also playing at the Confederations Cup in South Africa. For a look at the three U.S. opponents …

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING-ASIA] Australia moved to within one point of clinching a berth in the World Cup finals with a 2-0 win over Uzbekistan. South Korea took over the lead in Group B with a 1-0 victory over North Korea.

[TEAM OF THE WEEK] Several first-year players, including Seattle stars Oswaldo Alvarez and Fredy Montero and New England rookie Darrius Barnes, had big games. For Soccer America’s MLS Team of the Week for Week 2 …

[PREDICTIONS] It’s hard to imagine the defending champion to be winless after three games yet RSL will be pumped up for its home opener and so will the fans. Still, the Crew’s experience will carve out a point.

[USA-TRINIDAD & TOBAGO REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players and comments on their performance in Wednesday’s 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago.

[USA-TRINIDAD & TOBAGO] Along with praise for hat-trick hero Jozy Altidore and three-assist man Landon Donovan, credit is due is all around for a spirited, determined cast of U.S. players who took command early and rarely let their grip slip while beating Trinidad & Tobago, 3-0, Wednesday in Nashville.

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING-SOUTH AMERICA] Wonder why there’s so much controversy about playing international matches at high altitude? Four days after Diego Maradona‘s Argentina looked like world beaters in a 4-0 victory over Venezuela, it traveled to La Paz, at almost 11,000 feet above sea level, and got hammered by Bolivia, 6-1. The irony: Maradona had backed Bolivia’s campaign to get FIFA’s ban on matches at high altitude lifted.

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING-EUROPE] Spain, England and the Netherlands remained the only teams with perfect records at the midway point of World Cup 2010 qualifying in Europe. Northern Ireland held on its surprise lead in Group 3, while Ireland got a late goal from Robbie Keane to earn a 1-1 tie at Italy. The Czech Republic slumped to a 2-1 loss at home to Slovakia. For more on European action and all the results, goalscorers and standings …

[HEXAGONAL] Honduras did it again. For the fourth time in the last four World Cup qualifying cycles, the Catrachos beat Mexico in San Pedro Sula. They got two goals from Carlos Costly and one from the former Los Angeles Galaxy striker Carlos Pavon and defeated the reeling Tri, 3-1. The result propelled Honduras into third place and dropped Mexico into fourth. Costa Rica claimed second behind the first-place USA thanks to a 1-0 win over El Salvador.

[USL-1] For many years, there’s been talk of a second pro team joining the Red Bulls (nés MetroStars) in New York. It won’t be a second MLS team but a USL-1 team set to play at Hofstra University in 2010.