[U.S. WOMEN] The first U.S. women’s national team camp of the year will mark comebacks for several players, most notably forward Abby Wambach, who will be seeing her first national team action since suffering a broken leg against Brazil on Aug. 21, 2008, in the final match before the Olympic Games. Former University of Portland star Megan Rapinoe continues her comeback after major knee injuries in successive college seasons, while her former Pilot teammate, Angie Wonzuk, and defenders Jill Oakes and Kendall Fletcher get call-backs after extended absences.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
NSCAA/adidas High School National Rankings
[SPAIN] Bad weather played havoc with league action across Europe — games were postponed in England and France — and Atletico Madrid’s La Liga match against Athletic Bilbao in March was stopped when Atletico fans bombarded Athletic goalie Gorka Iraizoz with snowballs.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
New regional league to be launched
[ENGLAND] Manchester United’s 3-0 win over Chelsea on Sunday left United only five points behind leader Liverpool with two games in hand and plunged Chelsea into a crisis of confidence.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Sacramento clubs rally to support paralyzed player
[ITALY] A day after Coach Carlo Ancelotti said he wouldn’t start, David Beckham made a surprise appearance in AC Milan’s starting lineup and played 89 minutes in its 2-2 tie at Roma.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Evansville Memorial sweeps prep coaching honors
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Landon Donovan saw his first game action for Bayern Munich in a 3-2 friendly win over Dubai’s Al Jazeera SC on Saturday. Donovan’s 90-minute performance drew positive reviews from the German press, including the headlines “Donovan Makes Klinsmann Happy” (Rheinische Post) and “Donovan Shoots Half-Goal in Debut” (Bild).
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Tab Ramos earns regional coaching awards
Over the weekend, Stoke tied Liverpool in the English Premier League, while in Spain Valencia tied Villarreal in La Liga. All four teams ended up with one point each. Statistical equality, then — but any similarity in these games starts and stops right there.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Friedel academy changes focus
MLS’s SuperDraft will be televised on Thursday. There’s FA Cup third-round replays on Tuesday and Wednesday, and midweek Copa del Rey (Spain) and Coppa Italia action. Various European leagues are in action during the weekend.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
La Volpe Out At Monterrey
Boca Raton (Fla.) boys and Aliso Niguel (Calif.) girls are ranked No. 1 in the first NSCAA/adidas High School National Rankings of the winter season. For all the rankings …
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Villarreal: Jozy Altidore Not For Sale
MLS’s Red Bull New York is among the clubs that will enter teams in the first of U.S. Club Soccer’s regional leagues, the Northeast Pre-Academy League for U-14 and U-15 boys set to kick off in February.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Wake Star Tracy Set To Join Denmark’s Aalborg
Sacramento youth clubs are rallying in support of the Sierra Soccer Club’s Cassy Rowe, a 16-year-old midfielder who was paralyzed in a freak accident during a game last summer.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Gazidis Has Support of Wenger And Garber
Evansville (Ind.) Memorial High School had both its coaches — girls coach Angie Lensing and boys coach Bill Vieth — earn NSCAA/adidas Regional Coach of the Year honors in the High School Private/Parochial division. For all finalists for the National Coach of the Year awards …
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Lalas Fears For Beckham’s Galaxy Future
Former U.S. national team star Tab Ramos is among the coaches who have been named NSCAA/adidas Regional Coaches of the Year. Ramos was named the East Region Boys Coach of the Year for his efforts with the NJSA 04 Gunners, the 2008 U.S. Youth Soccer under-14 national champions. For all the boys and girls regional winners …
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
Alexi Lalas, who was president of the Los Angeles Galaxy when David Beckham signed with the MLS club, says the English star’s loan move to AC Milan will benefit him but it could hurt the Galaxy. Lalas, who left the Galaxy during the 2008 season, feels Beckham’s stint at San Siro could change his view […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Beckham may debut for AC Milan Sunday
Brad Friedel‘s Premier Soccer Academies, the nation’s only soccer-only private residency program, has teamed up with Ohio’s Cleveland Alliance Soccer Association to form two U.S. Soccer Development Academy teams (U-16 and U-18) in a move that signals the end of its ambitious residency program.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Combine flawed but still vital
Landon Donovan‘s chances of playing time at Bayern Munich could get a boost as General Manager Uli Hoeness says Lukas Podolski is likely to be sold to his former club, FC Cologne. Hoeness believes Podolski is set to return once the “finer details” of the deal have negotiated. A deal could be reached before the […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Morelia joins Pachuca in finals
Former Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe has parted ways with Monterrey a week before the start of the second half of the Mexican league season. Monterrey was the former Argentine international’s third club since the 2006 World Cup. He had short stints in Argentina with Boca Juniors and Velez Sarsfield. The outspoken La Volpe ran […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Marta’s expected signing boost for new league
Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini has nixed talk of a move by Jozy Altidore to Everton on loan, saying the 19-year-old American is needed for the second half of La Liga campaign. “The squad is prepared for the battles of the second part of the season,” said Pellegrini. ”I have demanded the continuity of Altidore within […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Davino is happy to be home
Wake Forest could soon open an alumni club in Denmark. After Jeremiah White, who plays for Aarhus, and Michael Parkhurst, who signed with FC Nordsjaellan this winter from the New England Revolution, the Danish newspaper Ekstrabladet reports that Marcus Tracy is about the sign with Aalborg. Tracy, a finalist for the 2008 Hermann Trophy, is […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Offseason MLS Player Moves
What has Ivan Gazidis, the former MLS deputy commissioner, gotten himself in for in joining Arsenal as its chief executive? He arrives during the January transfer window — an important time for the Gunners, who need help after a shaky start to the English Premier League. Gazidis has the confidence, though, of Arsenal manager Arsene […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
[ITALY] AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti says David Beckham is “still not in form” but that the Los Angeles Galaxy loan player could see Italian Serie A action Sunday when the Rossoneri take on Roma (TV: 2:30 pm ET, Fox Soccer Channel & Fox Sports en Espanol).
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Parents Seeing The Big Picture
Real Madrid, once the world’s greatest club, once a classy example to everyone of how to play soccer with style seems to me to be in danger of becoming the club that everyone loves to hate.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Rummenigge: Podolski Deal Close
[MLS] If so many MLS coaches spend so much of their time scouting college players, why do they all show up at the MLS Combine, which begins Saturday in Fort Lauderdale? Well, every year, a Chris Rolfe (University of Dayton) or Geoff Cameron (Rhode Island) is on display and turns out to be pretty good. There might be a junior college kid (Pasadena CC) like current Kansas City Wizard forward Yura Movsisyan, and there will certainly be a slew of seniors who’ve played for top-notch programs like Maryland, Indiana, Wake Forest, UCLA, etc. Even if you’ve seen a team play a game or two, you can’t always get a good read on everybody.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Europe Good For Davies
[INTERLIGA] Morelia cranked up its wheezing attack just in time to earn a spot in the Interliga finals by beating group winner Pachuca and getting some help from Toluca to edge through in second place. The final day of play in Group A at Home Depot Center Thursday produced a pair of attacking displays from teams desperately needing goals to advance. Morelia beat Pachuca, 3-0, and wound up in second place when Toluca knocked off UAG, 2-0, to eliminate the Tecos from advancing, which they would have done with a win.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Go On Bob, Say Something Interesting
[WPS] With a week to go before the Women’s Professional League’s draft of college players, to be held Jan. 16 at the NSCAA Convention in St. Louis, only four foreign players whose negotiating rights were obtained by WPS teams have signed to play in the 2009 season, but women’s soccer brightest star, Marta, is expected to sign with the Los Angeles Sol, perhaps as soon as Monday when the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year is announced in Zurich.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Former Juve GM Moggi Jailed
[MEXICO] Most European clubs approach the January transfer window cautiously, but in Mexico, where the league championship is split into two seasons, clubs shuffle their rosters during the second transfer window. At Puebla, which is in danger of being relegated at the end of the 2009 Torneo Clausura, former FC Dallas defender Duilio Davino is the club’s ninth signing. In a back-handed slap at MLS, the 32-year-old Davino, one of the biggest Mexican flops in MLS history, said he was glad to be back home.