Real Salt Lake’s Kyle Beckerman is a cool, laid-back figure off the field, but “a monster” on it, writes Randy Davis. Away from soccer, the dreadlocked surfer strums an acoustic guitar like the archetypal dude without a care, but when he plays “he gets carried away with adrenaline and has the yellow cards to show […]
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
SCOREBOARD: Soccer American Women’s Top 25
There is a full slate of action over Labor Day weekend, including nine matchups involving Top 25 teams. For this week’s Soccer American Women’s Top 25 results and schedules …
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
MORNING BRIEFING: Longhorn stars fire away
Texas Longhorn defenders Stephanie Logterman and Kasey Moore are firing on all cylinders. AND: Young Aggies take on familiar foe.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
TELEVISION: Big Ten Network kicks off men’s coverage
The Big Ten Network will kick off its 2008 men’s soccer coverage on Sunday when Indiana hosts Akron at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. Ten regular-season games will be broadcast this fall.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
SCOREBOARD: Soccer America Men’s Top 25
[UPDATES] The NCAA Division I men’s season began Friday with 20 teams in the Soccer America Top 25 in action. A late rally gave No. 4 Maryland a 2-1 win over No. 11 UCLA at the Home Depot Center, while No. 10 Notre Dame fell to No. 12 Akron, 3-0, at the adidas/IU Credit Union Classic. Three Top 25 teams have lost to unranked teams. No. 5 Sabta Clara lost at Loyola (Ill.), 2-1, on Saturday. No. 15 UMass fell to Holy Cross, 1-0, while No. 18 Virginia fell to St. John’s by the same score on Friday. For all the Top 25 schedules and results ….
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
UPDATE: Reyering moves to gridiron
This should have been Yannick Reyering‘s fourth season on the Virginia men’s soccer team, but because of his participation with German club VfL Osnabrueck the NCAA took away one year of eligibility. Instead, he joined the Virginia football team, for which he should debut as its placekicker on Saturday against USC at sold-out Scott Stadium.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
MORNING BRIEFING: High-scoring Wake begins defense
High-scoring Wake Forest begins the defense of its NCAA Division I men’s title when it faces Virginia Commonwealth in the Carolina Nike Classic in Chapel Hill. The Deacons return their top seven scorers, including Preseason All-Americans Marcus Tracy and Cody Arnoux
Posted inSoccer on TV., Story
Soccer on TV
A busy Friday includes the Super Cup clash between Champions League winner Manchester United and UEFA Cup champ Zenit St. Petersburg. The full slate of MLS action this weekend starts on Friday, and Fox Soccer Channel’s men’s college coverage opens with a UCLA-Maryland clash. Italian Serie A and Spain’s La Liga kick off this weekend.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
When old friends meet
He’s just one piece of the puzzle, yet what the playoff picture looks like at the end of the season is sure to be framed around forward Scott Sealy and many players like him.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Jozy set to take off on Yellow Submarine
[SPAIN] With three key attacking players — including Italian-American Giuseppe Rossi — injured, Villarreal’s offseason signings — notably Jozy Altidore — will play an important role in its attack when La Liga opens this week.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS Weekend Action: Arena’s Second Game
[TV] Action starts on Friday, when Colorado – in Coach Gary Smith‘s second game — hosts Real Salt Lake. Smith, like Galaxy coach Bruce Arena, lost in his debut. … Arena’s Los Angeles travels to New England on Saturday. … New York vs. D.C. United is crucial to both teams’ playoff hopes. … Nigerian Emmanuel Ekpo, the first MLS player to win an Olympic medal, rejoins the Columbus Crew, which travels to Dallas. … Kansas City and San Jose meet for the first time this season. … Chivas USA hosts Toronto FC … and on Sunday Chicago, which has the league’s best road record, is guest to two-time defending champ Houston. For TV info on this weekend’s MLS action …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Chinese government cracks down on wisecracks
[OFF THE POST] The International Herald Tribune reports that China’s Propaganda Department has ordered Chinese media to stop bashing China’s men’s soccer team, which exited in the first round in the Olympics. It also had two players ejected: one for kicking an opponent in the groin and the other for throwing an elbow. While even China’s captain mocked the team — “We play soccer like the Brazilians play Ping-Pong” – the Chinese press has criticized it to such an extent that the Central Propaganda Department reportedly “demanded that the press not overly quip or sneer at the Chinese men’s soccer team.”
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“It’s more than 30 years down the road now so I can tell you. It was in a match between my team, Nancy, and Nantes in 1975 — and I was happy to do it. I also did it once in another match, but I cannot remember which one. But that was all. Never again.”
— UEFA president Michel Platini admits that he took a dive or two during his illustrious playing career. Platini said his plan to experiment with five officials at a youth tournament later this year is intended to make it harder for players to simulate being fouled. (Reuters)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USA names 20-man squad for Cuba, T&T
[WORLD CUP 2010] U.S. coach Bob Bradley has named a 20-man roster for qualifying games against Cuba Sept. 6 in Havana and Trinidad & Tobago Sept. 10 in Bridgeview, Ill. Included is 22-year-old Mexico-based defender Michael Orozco, now famous for his 3rd-minute red card in the USA’s loss to Nigeria at the Olympics. Absent again is Kenny Cooper while fellow striker Eddie Johnson returns.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Ronaldinho and the Brazilians
[ITALY] AC Milan’s signing of Brazilian star Ronaldinho was the big signing of the summer in Italy, but each of the five Serie A title favorites spent big on a Brazilian. Here’s a look at the players who could play key roles in the race for the Scudetto that begins this weekend …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Califf own goal shatters Midtjylland dream
[AMERICANS ABROAD] An own goal by Dan Califf shattered Danish club Midtjylland’s dream of a monumental upset of Manchester City in the UEFA Cup. Three other Americans, Carlos Bocanegra, Ryan Guy and Brad Friedel, all started for teams that advanced to the first round, which takes place Sept. 18 and Oct. 2.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Torres scores for Pachuca
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Texan Jose Francisco Torres scored the first goal for Pachuca in its 2-0 victory over Puebla, its first win in six games in the Mexican First Division’s Torneo Apertura.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MAKING A LIST: UEFA Champions League Draw
Twelve former European champions are entered in the group phase of the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League, which begins Sept. 16-17.
Posted inStory, Youth Soccer Insider
Dealing with sideline abuse
Brian Hall became a referee at age 13. He earned his FIFA badge at age 31, officiated at a World Cup and numerous major international tournaments, and earned MLS’s Referee of the Year honor four times. But most teens who take up refereeing don’t last very long.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
League Cup Roundup
A summary of Wednesday’s action in round two of England’s League Cup, with wins for Fulham and West Ham United.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Goalkeeper’s Escape From Dictatorship Into Philosophy
John Turnbull tells the extraordinary story of Claudio Tamburrini, a goalkeeper with Argentine second division side Almagro in the 1970s who was abducted by the military authorities, only to escape and become a philosophy professor in Sweden.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
UEFA Champions League Draw
Celtic gets another shot at Man. United in the group stage of the UEFA Champions League, whose draw took place Thursday in Monaco.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Serie A ‘A Retirement Home
When Italian players such as Gianluca Vialli and Gianfranco Zola started moving to the English Premier League in the mid-1990s, their compatriots dismissed the EPL “as a retirement home for ageing footballers or a get-rich-quick scheme for those who lacked ambition,” writes Oliver Kay. With a change in the balance of power and money there […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Dallas Dispute ‘Resolved’
FC Dallas midfielder Andre Rocha was not happy at being substituted out of Saturday’s game at the Kansas City Wizards, and refused to sit on the bench after coach Schellas Hyndman withdrew him in the game’s 66th minute for rookie Bruno Guarda. Rocha missed training Monday (it’s not clear if he was suspended or AWOL), […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
‘We Were Wrong About Blanco’
There were many skeptics who thought that Cuauhtemoc Blanco would not cut it in MLS when he arrived to play for the Chicago Fire a year ago, and Bernardo Fallas admits that he was one of them. Now he’s happy to concede that he was wrong on all counts — about Blanco being too old, […]