England travels to the Caribbean this weekend to play in an exhibition match marking the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation’s centenary. The English FA has admitted that the trip will be a loss-maker, but it’s prepared to sacrifice both money and its players’ time as it seeks CONCACAF General Secretary Jack Warner’s support for its […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Crew Fans Tone It Down For Open Cup
The Columbus Crew beat Real Salt Lake, 2-0, Tuesday to make it through the first qualifying round of the U.S. Open Cup. But the fans were under almost as much scrutiny as the game after a YouTube clip from the Crew’s weekend loss at home to New England highlighted a racial slur yelled from the […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Seattle Lands $20 Million Microsoft Deal
The Seattle Sounders won’t join Major League Soccer until next year, but they’ve already secured Microsoft as a corporate sponsor, and will have the words Xbox 360 LIVE across the front of their shirts, writes Matthew Futterman. Under the terms of the deal, to be announced Wednesday, Microsoft will pay the Sounders roughly $4 million […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“We only seriously considered [Portugal coach Luiz Felipe] Scolari and [Manchester City’s Sven-Goran] Eriksson. We’ve sorted out the details with Eriksson, and we are about to confirm him.”
— Mexican soccer federation President Justino Compean indicates that former England national team coach, the Swede Sven-Goran Eriksson, who most recently coached Manchester City, will be Hugo Sanchez‘s successor as head coach of El Tri. (Ticker)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Ike Kuhns earns media award
[HALL OF FAME] Veteran Newark Star-Ledger sportswriter Ike Kuhns has been selected to receive the 2008 Colin Jose Media Award and will be honored during the National Soccer Hall of Fame’s Induction 2008 Weekend Aug. 1-3 in Oneonta, N.Y.
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Soccer Job Openings
[EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES] Soccer America provides the latest on employment opportunities for soccer-related positions, They include college coaching opportunities, as well as opportunities in pro soccer, youth soccer, the soccer industry and television.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Sleepless night for France coach Domenech
[EURO ’08 COUNTDOWN] Tuesday was the final day for players to impress European national team coaches before they must cut their rosters for the European Championship down to 23 players on Wednesday. No player made a better case for himself than Bafetimbi Gomis, who scored two spectacular goals in his international debut to help France beat Ecuador, 2-0.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Costly win for Toronto at Montreal
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Canadian qualifying play for the new Concacaf Champions League opened Tuesday at Stade Saputo, the new home of the Montreal Impact, where Toronto FC defeated the USL-1 club, 1-0, on Puerto Rican defender Marco Velez‘s goal off a cross from Frenchman Laurent Robert in the 72nd minute.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Altitude ban provisionally shelved
[FIFA] The controversial ban on international matches played at high altitude has been provisionally shelved by FIFA’s executive committee.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Women’s league adds Philadelphia for 2010
[WPS] Women’s Professional Soccer, the new women’s pro league, announced plans to add a team in Philadelphia in 2010. It hopes to play in the new soccer stadium expected to open in Chester, Pa., in 2010, the same year an MLS Philadelphia expansion team will begin play.
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Shuffling forward(s)
When the USA faces England at Wembley Stadium on Wednesday (TV: ESPN Classic, live, 3 p.m. ET, Galavision, 7 p.m. ET/PT), the players up top must step up. U.S. coach Bob Bradley at the very least must find a suitable attacking companion for Landon Donovan (or a tandem to free Donovan to play elsewhere) for the rugged schedule ahead over the next 18 months, and the Wembley game will give him a chance to evaluate the form of his European-based forwards.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Knee injury ends Osborne’s Olympic dream
[OLYMPIC COUNTDOWN] Leslie Osborne, a key midfielder for the U.S. women’s national team, is out of contention for a berth on the Olympic team after tearing the anterior cruciate ligament in her left knee during training last Thursday at The Home Depot Center, in Carson, Calif.
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Father and son team up in Peru
[OFF THE POST] Juan Carlos Bazalar and his son, Alonso, played together in midfield for Cienciano in its 3-2 win over Juan Aurich in the Peruvian First Division on Sunday. The 40-year-old Juan Carlos has played for the Peruvian national team, including appearances at last year’s Copa America. Alonso, 18, represented Peru at the 2007 U-17 World Cup and is considered one the nation’s top prospects.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Ethics Chief Steers Clear Of FIFA Congress
FIFA’s congress, which opens in Sydney on Thursday, “will make North Korea’s politburo look like a hothouse of democratic debate and dissent,” reports investigative journalist Andrew Jennings. Furthermore, one crucial member will be missing — Lord Sebastian Coe, the chairman of FIFA’s Ethics Committee. “I can’t see his name on the guest list,” writes Jennings, […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Pride The Barrier To Mourinho’s Chelsea Return
In the wake of Chelsea’s dismissal of manager Avram Grant, talk surfaced over the long weekend about a dramatic return to Chelsea for Jose Mourinho. In the words of Kevin McCarra, this is a man who “is already among the elite, with his peak years possibly still before him [and]… nicely rested after an eight-month […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Time To Police The Streamers?
Throwing streamers on to the field started as a fad to add some color to Major League Soccer’s fanscape, but it may be getting out of hand, writes Frank Dell’Apa, who feels that policing may be needed to prevent a player from getting hurt. At the Columbus Crew this past Saturday, New England’s Steve […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Midfield Discipline Key To U.S. Road Streak
The U.S. national team begins Wednesday “perhaps the most daunting stretch of friendly games” it has ever undertaken, writes Jeff Carlisle. Playing England at Wembley is followed by a trip to Spain June 4, then the home game against Argentina at Giants Stadium four days later. The three encounters “should reveal much about the team’s […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Casing MLS’s Next Generation Of Designated Players
The highlight appeal of David Beckham’s 70-yard goal against Kansas City at the weekend add one more reason why the Designated Player rule is working so well for Major League Soccer, writes Greg Lalas. “Beckham’s goal will be shown all over the world,” he says, “which, as a colleague pointed out, ‘is why he’s […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Parity, playoffs beguile best of MLS
Fans in Chicago, Columbus and New England should be warned. Their teams are playing with fire, and no pun is intended.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USL’s Islanders advance in Caribbean qualifying
[CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] The USL-1’s Puerto Rico Islanders moved one step closer to reaching the Concacaf Champions League, which begins play this summer, when it held Trinidad & Tobago’s San Juan Jabloteh to a 0-0 tie on Saturday and won their Caribbean qualifying series, 1-0, on aggregate.
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Castillo’s Santos reaches final; Vidal’s Indios win promotion
[AMERICANS ABROAD] New Mexican Edgar Castillo started for Santos in a 2-2 tie with Monterrey that gave it a 3-2 aggregate tie and moved it into the finals of Mexico’s Torneo Clausura. Dallas product Marco Vidal started for Indios Saturday in a 2-2 tie with Leon that gave them a 3-2 victory on aggregate and clinched Mexico’s Premier A (second level) title.
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Krieger wins European title
[AMERICANS ABROAD] U.S. international Ali Kreiger started for FFC Frankfurt on Saturday when it beat Umea of Sweden, 3-2, to win the UEFA Women’s Cup, 4-3, on aggregate before a UEFA women’s record crowd of 27,640.
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Chelsea’s managerial candidates
[ENGLAND] Barcelona’s Frank Rijkaard, Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini, Russia coach Guus Hiddink and Manchester City manager Sven-Goran Eriksson are among the names being mentioned as possible candidates to replace Israeli Avram Grant, who was fired as manager of Chelsea on Saturday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“Anybody who writes about their fans being the best in the league has never been here because it’s not even close.”
— D.C. United President Kevin Payne on suggestions that Toronto FC’s BMO Field has surpassed RFK for the best atmosphere in MLS. (Washington Post)
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USL-1 Results
The Charleston Battery won its fifth straight game with a 2-0 win over Atlanta and hold a four-point lead in the USL First Division. Randi Patterson scored for the fifth straight game and Aaron King added a goal. For all the USL results and goal scorers …