Soccer America Archives

As expected the MLS’s Washington D.C. United has named University of Virginia coach Bruce Arena Jan. 3 as its head coach for its inaugural campaign. Arena, who also will serve as the coach of the 1996 U.S. men’s Olympic team, is leaving Virginia after 18 years at the helm of the Cavaliers. He led Virginia […]

The New York/New York MetroStars have picked a familiar face to New York area soccer fans as their head coach. The MLS club named Eddie Firmani, coach of the NASL’s Cosmos from 1977-1979 and again in 1984, Jan. 3 to lead the club during its first campaign. At the same time, the MetroStars were assigned […]

A pair of international players, Zimbabwe striker Vitalis Takawira and Uruguayan Washington Rodriguez, head the list of ten new player signings announced by MLS deputy commissioner Sunil Gulati Dec. 28 Takawira, nicknamed “Digital” for the precision of his dribbiling, has spent six years with Dynamos FC of Harare, and led the Zimbabwe First Division in […]

The Colorado MLS franchise has turned to NASL veteran Bob Houghton as its head coach. Many are the players who deny their careers are ending, and facing such a harsh reality at an age most players hit their prime is particularly onerous. Carlos Alberto Parreira turned to training in his mid-20s, and in 1970, at […]

The following are the players invited to the MLS Player Combine in Irvine, Calif, Jan. 5-15, with their most recent club affiliation where known: MLS Signees Goalkeepers — Khalil Azmi (New Hampshire, USISL), Jeff Causey (Richmond, USISL), Mark Dougherty (Hawaii, USISL), Jeff Duback (Charlotte), Pat Harrington (Buffalo, NPSL), Kurt Kelley, David Kramer (Monterey Bay, USISL), […]

The MLS player pool now contains nine players from the 1994 U.S. World Cup team, as well as six other players — two Mexicans, two Nigerians, one Bolivian and one Moroccan — who took part at USA ’94. Goalkeepers PlayerAgeCountry1995 club Khalil Azmi31MoroccoNew Hampshire (USISL) Jorge Campos28MexicoAtlante (Mexico) Mark Dodd30USAColorado (A-League) Jeff Duback31USACharlotte (USISL) Pat […]

As expected, Colombian star Carlos Valderrama has been allocated to the Tampa Bay Mutiny by MLS. Valderrama, the 1987 and 1993 South American Player of the Year, is the first player signed by the Mutiny. Other players rumored to possibly be headed to the Florida team are Valderrama’s long-time Colombian teammate, Leonel Alvarez, and U.S. […]

Colombian Leonel Alvarez has signed to play in Major League Soccer, joining longtime midfield partner Carlos Valderrama in the first-year U.S. league. The hard-working midfielder was one of 15 players signed by MLS on the eve of its first Player Combine, scheduled to begin Jan. 5 in Irvine, Calif. Alvarez, who currently plays for Colombian […]

MLS coaches and general managers will be looking at more than 200 players at its inaugural Player Combine Jan. 5-15 at UC Irvine in Irvine, Calif. They will be on hand to evaluate talent for the league’s player draft, tentatively set for Feb. 6-7 in New York. Players will be split into two groups, taking […]

The New York/New Jersey MetroStars have named Old Dominion head coach Ralph Perez as its assistant. Perez, who will serve under Eddie Firmani, spent the last six years with the Monarchs. He worked as an assistant coach on the 1990 U.S. World Cup team. Perez, 44, was born in the Bronx and raised in Brentwood, […]

Major League Soccer will conduct its first Player Draft Feb. 6-7 in the Astor Room at the Inter-Continental Hotel (111 E. 48th Street) in New York. The draft will start at 1:00 pm ET Feb. 16. The teams will pick players signed by MLS over 16 rounds. By draft day, MLS hopes to have about […]

As expected, U.S. national team star Eric Wynalda has been allocated by MLS to the San Jose Clash. Wynalda, who has spent the last four years in Germany with Saarbruecken and Bochum, became the all-time U.S. national team leading scorer with 22 goals when he scored a tournament-high four goals at the Gold Cup. Wynalda, […]

The following are additional players who attended the MLS Player Combine in Irvine, Calif., after the release of the preliminary list of participants: Week 1 Ted Chronopoulos (D, Loma Linda, Claif.), Michael Collins (M, Hicksville, N.Y.), Alejandro Escalante (D, Bolivia), Said Fazlagic (D, Bosnia-Herzegovina), Charley Marshall (M, La Jolla, Calif.), Jimmy Obleda (F, Orange, Calif.), […]

Major League Soccer announced the following rosters of players participating at its first player combine for a pair of matches against the U.S. under-23 team Jan. 10 in Irvine, Calif. Game 1 Roster Goalies — Jim Adams, Victor Nogueira, Pat Harrington. Defenders — Erik Imler, Matt Knowles, Jim McGeough, Ed Puskarich, Tom Soehn. Midfielders — […]

MLS has allocated three more players headlined by Bolivian star Marco Etcheverry, who, as expected, will play for D.C. United. Former Indiana midfielder Brian Maisonneuve goes to the Columbus Crew while Zimbabwean striker Vitalis “Digital” Takawira will don a Kansas City Wiz uniform. Etcheverry, nicknamed “El Diablo” for his colorful style and aggressive play, comes […]

T Dates: Feb. 6-7 Site: Intercontinental Hotel, New York. Format: Conference call. Sixteen rounds, eight on each day. Drafting order:Draw held shortly before the draft. Based on allocations, each team will be “weighted,” as is done in the NBA lottery. The team judged strongest in allocations will receive the lowest chance of selected first. Local […]

MLS seeks managed growth Of the 30 or so journalists gathered Aug. 16 in the Cypress Room of the Century Park Hotel, four were Anglo. Of the three players on the dais, all were Hispanic. That’s the reality of launching Major League Soccer in Los Angeles. Yes, the big news was the announcement of Mexican […]

MLS coaches and general managers are preparing for grueling hours at the league player draft. As they sift and sort through the stacks of documents pertaining to the Major Soccer League draft, coaches and general managers will be most cognizant of the cap. Not cap as in international appearance, but the salary cap, which the […]

Soccer America presents its position-by-position look at the top prospects for the MLS’s first player draft, scheduled for Feb. 6-7 in New York. Factors to consider in ranking the players included a player’s ability and experience and where he fits within the salary cap. The rankings include all players who are expected to have signed […]

Despite an up-and-down season that has seen it record seven of its 12 wins via the shootout, the expansion Atlanta Ruckus has shown enough to please South African owner Johnny Imerman. Defensive lapses forced the team to play catch-up all night. Individual efforts kept the game close. The heat was stifling. An opponent’s shot rolled […]

Last year, the Seattle Sounders scored four goals in the semifinals, but they weren’t enough to avoid elimination. This year, one goal proved enough to lead the second-year team into the A-League finals. A goal by 37-year-old Gary Heale in the 80th minute gave Seattle a 1-0 win over Vancouver in the first game of […]

The following is the 1996 A-League schedule: April 27 — Seattle-Vancouver. May 10 — Rochester-New York. May 11 — Seattle-Colorado. May 17 — Atlanta-Montreal, Colorado-Seattle. May 18 — New York-Rochester. May 24 — Montreal-New York, Colorado-Atlanta. May 25 — Vancouver-Seattle. May 26 — New York-Atlanta. May 31 — Rochester-Seattle. June 1 — Atlanta-New York. June […]

* unconfirmed. Columbus PlayerCountryLast Club Brian BlisssUSACarl-Zeiss-Jena (Germany) Doctor KhumaloSouth AfricaKaiser Chiefs (South Africa) *Brian MaisonneuveUSAIndiana Univ. Adrian PazUruguayIpswich Town (England) Head coach: Timo Liekoski. Assistant coach: Tom Fitzgerald. New England PlayerCountryLast Club Mike BurnsUSAViborg (Denmark) Giuseppe GalderisiItalyPadova (Italy) Alexi LalasUSAPadova (Italy) Jim St. AndreUSANew York (A-League) Head coach: Frank Stapleton. Assistant coach: Ron McEachen. […]

Flurry of allocations before draft MLS announced several more allocations as the countdown to the draft continued, bringing the total number of players signed to 39. Each of the 10 MLS teams, except for Colorado, has now been assigned its full allotment of four allocated players. The Rapids will announce their fourth player Feb. 6 […]

TeamStart DateSite Los AngelesMarch 1Rose Bowl San JoseMarch 1San Jose State (South campus) ColoradoMarch 4Mile High Stadium DallasMarch 4Green Hill Academy MetroStarsMarch 5Giants Stadium bubble Tampa BayMarch 5Tampa Stadium Kansas City WizMarch 5UM-Kansas City ColumbusMarch 6Soccer First at SportsOhio New EnglandMarch 6Foxoboro Stadium bubble WashingtonMarch 8Del Mar (Calif.) Polo Grounds