Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has said he fears that foreign takeovers of English clubs will erode the role of managers in the Premier League. At the same time, he disputes that English teams are following the mainland European model of employing directors of football with the responsibility of finding new players. “I am scared […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Mets Still After An MLS Team
The New York Mets are still interested in buying a Major League Soccer team once they’ve completed their new $600 million Citi Field stadium, according to David Howard, the team’s executive vice president for business. “We’re not resting,” Howard told Bloomberg Radio in a segment to be aired Sept. 13. “Before even Citi Field […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Keane: Jack Warner’s A Clown
FIFA Vice President and “special advisor” to the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation Jack Warner may have picked the wrong opponent when he sent a letter to Sunderland manager Roy Keane earlier this week accusing him of “callous disregard” for small soccer nations. The former Manchester United and Ireland captain is not known for backing […]
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
Weekend action starts Friday evening with USL and men’s college games. European leagues return to action after last weekend’s break for World Cup qualifying. There are five MLS games on Saturday and one on Sunday.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
A Vote for Schmid
The scintillating form of Guillermo Barros Schelotto the past two months has vaulted the Crew midfielder into the rarified air of those serious MVP candidates, yet with him likely to sit out this week’s game against Toronto FC at BMO Field, his coach and his teammates get a rare chance to show what they can do without him.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Beckham accepts limited role with England
David Beckham said he doesn’t expect to play every game for England and that he’s comfortable with that. On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder was an 84th minute sub in England’s 4-1 win over Croatia in World Cup qualifying while his replacement, 19-year-old Theo Walcott, scored a hat trick.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Revs’ rout puts them back on track
[MLS] Three of the goals came very late in the match, yet in dispatching Chivas USA, 4-0, Thursday night at Gillette Stadium the Revs reminded everyone that potential MVP Shalrie Joseph isn’t their only player worthy of seasonal honors and terrible results last week were probably an aberration. Steve Ralston, playing as a second forward in tandem with Taylor Twellman, scored one goal and assisted on two others. Twellman, Khano Smith and Jeff Larentowicz each notched a goal apiece as New England rang up its biggest win of the season after losing by the same score to Joe Public FC in the CONCACAF Champions’ League and Columbus in MLS play.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USA breaks for a month after perfect start
The USA’s 3-0 win over Trinidad & Tobago on Wednesday gave it a perfect start in the first half of Concacaf’s semifinal round of qualifying and broke national team records for shutouts and consecutive World Cup qualifying wins.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS TV Schedule
The Columbus Crew takes a four-game win streak and the league’s best record to Toronto. … Coach Bruce Arena, still looking for his first win with Los Angeles, faces off with his former apprentice Curt Onalfo in Kansas City. … FC Dallas, which has lost three of its last four matches, plays at D.C. United. … Real Salt Lake and the New York Red Bulls meet for the first time this season. … San Jose, on an eight-game unbeaten streak, hosts defending champ Houston. … On Sunday, Colorado welcomes Chicago. … For the weekend’s MLS action on TV, standings, and leading scorers. …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Jamaica dumps Rene Simoes
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Rene Simoes won’t be leading Jamaica’s Reggae Boyz to the World Cup finals for a second time. Only three games into the semifinal round of qualifying for South Africa 2010, the Brazilian has been fired.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Hitzfeld Vows Fightback After Luxembourg Humiliation
Switzerland coach Ottmar Hitzfeld has led two teams to the European Cup, but on Wednesday experienced the “bitter embarrassment” of being in charge of only the third ever country to lose to Luxembourg in a World Cup qualifier, and the first on home soil. “Now is the time for the team to pull together and […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
South African Boss: Critics Are ‘Idiots’
Although 2010 World Cup host South Africa has failed to qualify for the next African Cup of Nations, people who criticize the South African Football Association’s development program are “idiots,” says SAFA’s CEO Raymond Hack.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
English FA To Report Racist Chanting
The English FA will report racist abuse leveled by Croatian fans at striker Emile Heskey to soccer’s world governing body FIFA.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
The Unpredictable Germans
During past qualification campaigns, German teams used to grind out unspectacular results against mediocre countries, writes Juergen Schmieder. Wednesday’s exciting 3-3 draw in Finland was a reflection of the changed times — no one knows what to expect from the Germans any more. “Against clearly weaker teams like Poland [Euro 2008] or Belgium [first […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Dynamo’s New Approach On Second ‘Homecoming’
The first time this season that the Houston Dynamo returned to the franchise’s previous home in San Jose, the players were perhaps more focused on the occasion than the soccer. “It was supposed to be a special night for many Dynamo players who either grew up in the San Jose area or through the years […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
England Suddenly Good Again
It only takes a second to score a goal, the Nottingham Forest manager Brian Clough used to say. And it only takes a single game to restore a team’s international reputation, judging by the reaction to England’s 4-1 road win in Croatia Wednesday. Nothing prior to the performance had suggested that England would show […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Blatter To Assess World Cup Preparations
FIFA president Sepp Blatter will travel to South Africa later this month to inspect the country’s 2010 World Cup facilities, soccer’s global governing body announced Thursday. It said he would spend four days in the country from September 14-17 “to get a first-hand impression of the progress of the preparations for next year’s Confederations Cup […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Forbes: More MLS Teams Move Into Profit
It’s nigh impossible to get figures out of Major League Soccer on which teams are earning a profit and which are not. All thanks then to Forbes Magazine for an independent review of the league’s finances. On the whole it presents an optimistic picture of a burgeoning league, especially for those teams with a home […]
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
For all Shapes and Sizes
This past Saturday, as I stood on the sidelines of my daughter’s soccer game, it struck me: I was looking at a group of 9-year-olds of all sizes. Some, like my daughter, are tiny spitfires of energy. Others have already hit a growth spurt and are nearly my height (all of 5-foot-5). But while there is no uniformity in height, they all have one thing in common: they are all relatively thin.
Posted inYouth Soccer Reporter, Youth What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“Some parents said their child didn’t get enough playing time. There were complaints from coaches about some mouthy players, some girls who I’m going to have to talk to.”
— Diana Presta, commissioner of the Mission Viejo (Calif.) League, one of the nation’s largest AYSO leagues with more than 3,000 players, on the extent to which parents went to contact her during last Saturday’s opening day. Between 8:30 a.m. and 9:45 a.m., while she refereed the game, Presta received 24 e-mails, eight voice messages and a couple of text messages from parents. (Orange County Register)
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
Illinois league joins U.S. Club Soccer
U.S. Club Soccer has announced a sanctioning agreement with the Northern Illinois Soccer League, which currently serves over 12,000 players in 86 Chicago-area communities.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
POLLS: NSCAA/adidas High School Girls Rankings
The Pennington School, the top-ranked team in the first NSCAA/adidas high school girls national rankings of the fall, traveled to Maryland, where it beat St. John’s (D.C.), 6-2, and Bishop O’Connell (Va.), 4-1, at the McDonogh (Md.) Invitational. For the complete Top 25 …
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
POLLS: NSCAA/adidas High School Boys Rankings
Rockhurst is ranked No. 1 in the first NSCAA/adidas high school boys national rankings of the fall. The Missouri school got two goals from all-state midfielder Alex Sweetin in a 3-0 victory over Shawnee Mission West to open the 2008 season. For the complete Top 25 …
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
RISING STAR: Red Bulls’ Dylan Mencia
Dylan Mencia drives two and a half hours each way from his home in Pennsylvania to practice with the New York Red Bulls academy team. The high school junior capped his his 2007-08 season with the Red Bulls by scoring in their 3-1 win over Inter Milan’s Serie A U-17 championship team.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Reporter
South American teams call up U.S.-based U-17 girls
Surprise South American champion Colombia has called up three U.S.-based players and runner-up Brazil has brought in one player for training camps that begin this week to prepare for the Under-17 Girls World Cup being held later this fall in New Zealand.