Soccer America Archives

Four U.S. national team players joined Mexican clubs for the second half of the 1994-95 season. The quartet of Americans who went south in January could not have picked a more exciting time: The Mexican league is experiencing a renaissance. After being banned from the 1990 World Cup — its U-20 team fielded overage players […]

At the grand old age of 27, Marcelo Balboa joins the 100 club. Only 25 players have ever attained 100 caps in their careers, and Balboa is the first American to join the illustrious group, celebrating his 100th appearance with the tying goal against Nigeria. 100 caps ‘I was surprised to be the first one’ […]

100 caps by the numbers 11: The number of goals Balboa has scored in his 100 games. 20: The age when Balboa won his first game, against Guatemala. 23: The number of games Balboa missed when he was out with a knee injury in 1993. 25: The number of players in the 100-cap club, as […]

Marcelo Balboa scored in Leon’s 3-2 win over UNAM Pumas in the Mexican First Division Sept. 2, three days after playing in the FIFA World All-Star Game in Tokyo. “It was a long way to go for one game,” said Balboa, the most capped player in U.S. history, “but it was worth it. It was […]

Mike Sorber, the midfielder from Missouri, has found a spot with the club that launched the careers of Mexican internationals Hugo Sanchez, Luis Garcia and Jorge Campos. After three full games in the Mexican First Division, Mike Sorber hasn’t scored yet. But his teammates — and opponents — already appreciate his hard shot. During his […]

The U.S. duo of Mike Lapper and Brian McBride is contributing to VfL Wolfsburg’s best season in history. It was well below freezing, but Wolfsburg players didn’t seem to mind. They took off their shirts and threw them into crowd and joined hands and took a bow. Later they danced half naked through hallways singing, […]

Position: Defender. Height: 6-0. Weight: 172. Birthdate: Sept. 28, 1970. Birthplace: Redondo Beach, Calif. College: UCLA. Titles: NCAA Division I (1990). Awards: All-America (1991). First cap: South Korea (1991). First goal: Moldova (1994). Titles: Pan American Games (1991). World Championships: Olympic Games (1992). College YearTeamGPGAP 1988UCLA21237 1989UCLA23419 1990UCLA4102 1991UCLA22317 WSL YearTeamGPGAP 1988L.A. Heat3000 1989L.A. Heat13215 […]

It’s been red-ball time in Germany. Snow on the fields means the ball must be bright, or TV cameras lose it. Joe-Max Moore, though raised in Oklahoma and Southern California, has been coping fine. Moore has found his scoring touch, but his German Second Division club is struggling to find the winning ways that can […]

Marcelo Balboa is doing all he can to get Leon into the Mexican league playoffs, but he may have gone too far when he tried playing goalkeeper. Tigres vs. Leon on April 9 should have marked an encounter between longtime U.S. teammates Tab Ramos and Marcelo Balboa. Ramos couldn’t play because of a knee injury. […]

After serving the U.S. national team program for almost a decade, Mike Burns now also has a club — Viborg IF in the Danish Super League. Only Mike Burns has been on a U.S. roster for every world championship. It started in 1987, at the U-17 World Cup in Canada. In 1989, he helped the […]

Last-minute drama brought an end to Mike Sorber’s Mexican championship dreams — at least for this year. Within four days, U.S, midfielder Mike Sorber played two games in front of 192,000 fans and came within seconds of reaching the Mexican league semifinals. Pumas, the youngest squad to reach the playoffs, hoped goalkeeper Jorge Campos and […]

Position: Midfielder. Height: 5-10. Weight: 165. Birthdate: May 14, 1971. Birthplace: St. Louis. College: St. Louis University. First cap: CIS (1992). First goal: Canada (1992). Titles: U.S. Cup (1995). World Championships: World Cup (1994). College YearTeamGPGAP 1989St. Louis14000 1990St. Louis25248 1991St. Louis2441725 1992St. Louis237822 Mexico YearTeamGPGAP 94-95UNAM–0–– 95-96UNAM–––– U.S. national team YearTeamGPGAP 1992USA121–– 1993USA150–– 1994USA181–– […]

Position: Defender/Midfielder. Height: 5-9. Weight: 165. Birthdate: May 14, 1970. Birthplace: Marlboro, Mass. College: Hartwick. Awards: All-America (1990, 1991). First cap: Canada (1992). Titles: Pan American Games (1991), U.S. Cup (1995). World Championships: Olympic Games (1992), U-20 World Cup (1989), U-17 World Cup (1987). College YearTeamGPGAP 1988Hartwick19146 1989Hartwick14135 1990Hartwick20146 1991Hartwick202812 Denmark YearTeamGPGAP 95-96Viborg–––– U.S. national […]

With a semifinal spot at stake, the Mexico-U.S rivalry yielded few sparks, but did produce a superb showing by Brad Friedel. The Uruguayan newspapers nicknamed the Mexicans the tequila team, but when they met the U.S. in the quarterfinal July 17 they had as much bite as warm milk. The U.S., for its part, offered […]

Who says the U.S. can’t get a result? A tie was all the U.S. needed to win U.S. Cup ’95, and it got it after surviving a late Colombian flurry. Ah, the goalless draw. Supposedly the scourge of soccer, it rings like a death knell every time the subject is brought up in America. The […]

“The job of coaching the national team is difficult enough without having to worry about all the different levels underneath.” Success at U.S. Cup ’95 and Copa America jostled U.S. Soccer into hiring interim national team coach Steve Sampson to the full-time, permanent position. SOCCER AMERICA: When you took the interim position, you said you’d […]

What’s behind the success of U.S. goalkeepers in England? By Joe Boyle and Simon Kuper in London “A breed of their own, and crazy,” is the considered opinion of Ian Evans, coach at Millwall FC, a soccer club tucked away southeast London. Evans could have been talking about some of Millwall’s supporters, some of whom […]

Mixed Report Cards More Americans were playing abroad than ever before this past season, though their fortunes were often tied to those of small or struggling clubs. Soccer America’s editors present 1994-95 season-ending report cards on the U.S. players with national team experience who were on the first-team rosters of pro clubs abroad. Grades are […]

Head coach Steve Sampson notched his first international win as the U.S. unveiled a potent attack in the opening game of U.S. Cup ’95. Inferring profound meaning from one match result is a whimsical pursuit. Its unique dynamics imbue soccer with aberrant scorelines — many of which soon reveal themselves to be nothing more than […]

Position: Defender. Height: 6-1. Weight: 175. Birthdate: Aug. 1, 1973. Birthplace: Englewood, N.J. College: North Carolina. Awards: All-America (1992, 1993). First cap: Saudi Arabia (1994). World Championships: Under-20 World Cup (1993). College YearTeamGPGAP 1991North Carolina22124 1992North Carolina155212 1993North Carolina217620 Netherlands YearTeamGPGAP 94-95Zwolle–––– 95-96Zwolle–––– U.S. national team YearTeamGPGAP 1994USA10–– 1995USA10–– TotalUSA20––

“There’s millionaires over there — all they do is be these experts on soccer and appear on these shows Monday through Sunday.” Padova 95-96 ‘A selling team’ Padova is and has been a selling team — they sell their players and they make a lot of money on selling players. You look through the league […]

U.S. midfielder John Harkes looks set to join one of two Premier League clubs from Derby County. A long-awaited transfer is nearing fruition for John Harkes. The U.S. midfielder, who left the Premier League for First Division club Derby County two years ago, expects a return to the top flight sometime this month. Derby has […]

Position: Midfielder. Height: 5-11. Weight: 165. Birthdate: March 8, 1967. Birthplace: Kearny, N.J. College: Virginia. Awards: MAC Award (1987), All-America (1986, 1987). First cap: Canada (1987). First goal: South Korea (1989). Titles: U.S. Cup (1992, 1995), English League Cup (1991). World Championships: World Cup (1990, 1994), Olympic Games (1988). College YearTeamGPGAP 1985Virginia18248 1986Virginia219723 1987Virginia2115434 ASL […]

U.S. international Frank Klopas has a found a new club in his birthplace. If one is to play in the Greek First Division, Athens is the place to be. It is home to seven clubs, including the big three (Panathinaikos, Olympiakos and AEK) that dominate the domestic championships and occasionally score an upset in European […]

The spring of 1995 has been an important one in the life of John Harkes. Respectability and responsibility have come to Derby County and U.S. midfielder John Harkes this year. Respectability has come on the field, where Derby, which spent much of the season in the lower reaches of the First Division, clawed its way […]