Soccer America Archives

According to various reports, D.C. United is close to finalizing a deal that would bring Argentine legend Juan Sebastian Veron to Major League Soccer next year. However, the story of Veron’s possible signing is a tale of two takes. Soccer pundit Ives Galarcep is excited at the prospect of Seba in America, and while Ian […]

Arsenal to Become Billionaire Club

The Guardian’s Matt Scott says that Arsenal FC effectively became “a billion-pound football club” Tuesday when Uzbeki Alisher Usmanov bought an additional 3.13 percent of the club for $40 million, bringing his total stake in Arsenal to 21 percent. The purchase means that the billionaire is now Arsenal’s second largest shareholder, behind Danny Fiszman, who […]

Streaking BYU holds its breath against Pacific

by Paul KennedySeptember 18, 2007

[MONDAY ACTION] Katie Larkin‘s goal with 15 minutes remaining gave BYU a 1-0 victory over Pacific — the third time in six games the Cougars, ranked No. 16 in the Soccer America Women’s Top 25, have won, 1-0, on a Larkin goal. The junior’s goal was her fourth game-winning goal for BYU, which is 5-0-1. Goalie Erika Woodbury, BYU’s career shutout record holder, has yet to concede a goal this season and leads the nation with a 0.00 goals-against average after six starts

Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week

Senior forward Sherron Manswell, whose two goals less than four minutes apart gave Boston College a 2-0 win over then-No. 6 Maryland in their Atlantic Coast Conference opener, is the Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week for games played Sept. 11-16.

Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week

Virginia senior Shannon Foley, who tied a career-high for points with her two-goal, one-assist performance in a 4-0 win over ranked Colorado, is the Soccer America Women’s Player of the Week for games played Sept. 10-16.

Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week

William & Mary goalkeeper Meghan Walker and Oklahoma State’s Swedish star, Yolanda Odenyo, who helped their teams record major upsets over North Carolina and Notre Dame, respectively, were among the players named to the Soccer America Women’s Team of the Week for games played Sept. 10-16.

Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week

A trio of West Coast forwards — Conor Chinn (San Francisco), Kevin Forrest (Washington) and Maxwell Griffin (UCLA) — who led their respective teams to a pair of tournament wins over the weekend were named to the Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week for games played Sept. 10-16.

Luciano Emilio is front-runner for MLS honors

by Ridge MahoneySeptember 18, 2007

Kudos to MLS for adding a new award category this year, a prize of far more interest to fans than the internally driven Executive of the Year and the like. (Incidentally, for filling nearly every seat for the entire season at BMO Field, Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment is the hands-down choice. Well done. Runner-up is that ticket-seller extraordinaire, David Beckham.)

The Newcomer of the Year is open to all players who joined the league in 2007. It is not restricted in any away — as is the Rookie of the Year Award to first-year professionals — and is an obvious adjunct to the league’s adoption of the Designated Player option. So important have some newcomers been to their teams this season they deserve serious mention as MVP candidates as well.

U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy kicks off with Depot showcase

U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy is set to debut competition with the inaugural Fall Showcase Weekend Oct. 6-8 at the National Training Center in Carson, Calif. Forty teams from 20 elite clubs will participate in the three-day event, which includes teams at the U-16 and U-18 age groups.

Prinz passes Akers as all-time Women’s World Cup scoring leader

by Paul KennedySeptember 18, 2007

Birgit Prinz became the all-time scoring leader in the Women’s World Cup when she scored her 13th goal in Germany’s 2-0 victory over Japan Monday in Hangzhou. England claimed second place ahead of Japan on goal difference thanks to its 6-1 win over Argentina in Chengdu. Former Seton Hall and WUSA and W-League star Kelly Smith scored twice to give her four goals and a share of the tournament scoring lead. England, which is making its first appearance in the Women’s World Cup in 12 years, will now meet the Group B winner. Germany will face the Group B runner-up.

Santos stays undefeated with tie

[AMERICANS IN MEXICO] Santos Laguna tied, 1-1, at Monterrey to remain undefeated in the Mexican Apertura season after eight games, all of which have seen New Mexico product Edgar Castillo go the full 90. Texas product Sonny Guadarrama entered the game for Santos in the 88th minute for his second appearance of the season. Californian Jesus Padilla made his fifth appearance in Chivas Guadalajara’s 1-0 win over Cruz Azul, coming on as a 64th minute sub.

UEFA Champions League Record Book

[MAKING A LIST] Real Madrid’s Raul enters the 2007-08 UEFA Champions League as the record holder in games played and goals. For the all-time leaders …

AC Milan opens European defense against Freddy-less Benfica

by Paul KennedySeptember 18, 2007

[MARQUEE MATCHUP] AC Milan begins the defense of its UEFA Champions League title at home on Tuesday against Portuguese club Benfica. American Freddy Adu isn’t in the Benfica traveling party to San Siro, where Milan will look to regain its form after a lackluster start to the 2007-08 season (one win and two ties in Serie A).

UEFA Champions League TV Schedule

The group stage of the UEFA Champions League kicks off with live and delayed coverage of Tuesday’s matches on ESPN2, ESPN Deportes and Setanta Sports USA. There is also live pay-per-view coverage as well as Internet viewing on ESPN360.com.

Michael Bradley scores first Eredivisie goal

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Midfielder Michael Bradley scored his first goal for his Dutch First Division squad since joining Heereveen in the middle of the 2005-06 season. The 20-year-old scored the final goal of a 5-2 win at Excelsior on Saturday and assisted on his team’s second goal, the 2-2 equalizer.

Soccer America Daily, What They're Saying

What They’re Saying

“This is not new. I’ve been thinking about it since I took over. In my opinion, our green is confusing with the field – as grass is green. It looks like there are fewer players on the field. … With the color change, I think we’ll have the impression of having 12 or 13 players on the field.”

— Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez announces the Mexican national team will ditch its signature green jerseys and will wear white shirts for home games and red for road matches. (Ticker)

Galaxy to head Down Under

The Associated Press reports that the Los Angeles Galaxy will travel to Australia and New Zealand for exhibition games against Sydney FC on Nov. 27 and the Wellington Phoenix in early December. David Beckham is expected to have recovered from his knee and ankle injuries by then.

Feilhaber makes EPL debut

[AMERICANS IN ENGLAND] Benny Feilhaber made his English Premier League debut on Monday as an 80th minute sub for Derby County in a 1-0 win over Newcastle. Feilhaber, 22, joined Derby from Bundesliga club Hamburg SV in the offseason but was prevented from an earlier debut because of delays in his visa processing. The win was Derby’s first of the season and moved it out of last place.

Tim Howard recovering from hand injury

[CORRECTION] American goalkeeper Tim Howard did not play in Everton’s 1-0 loss to Manchester United last weekend, as reported in Monday’s Daily. Howard dislocated a finger in 58th minute of the USA’s 4-2 loss to Brazil Sept. 9. He managed to play the rest of the game but was deemed unfit upon his return to his English Premier League club. German keeper Stefan Wessels started for Everton in Howard’s place.

England Blows Past Argentina and into WWC Quarters

England strolled through to the quarterfinals of the Women’s World Cup with its biggest win in a significant tournament. Kelly Smith, the former Seton Hall and WUSA and W-League star, scored two more goals, celebrating with more discretion this time, to join Birgit Prinz and Marta, FIFA’s most recent world players of the year, with […]

Barca’s ‘Galactico’ Problem

It looks like Barcelona has inherited Real Madrid’s “galactico” problem, suggests Phil Ball of ESPN Soccernet. A lineup containing Ronaldinho, Leo Messi, Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o, Deco and the emerging Mexican starlet Giovanni Dos Santos might just have one ego too many, as evidenced by the noticeable lack of cohesion from Barca’s disgruntled superstars at […]

Is the MLS Expansion ‘Un-American’?

A BigSoccer blogger who goes by the name VioletCrown wonders if Major League Soccer is becoming “un-American” in its quest for on-field quality and commercial success. He writes: “With all the talk on expansion threads of ‘MLS is becoming like the NASL, expanding too fast. I find it interesting that no-one has expressed any concern […]

L.A. Defense Collapses, Again, in Loss to Houston

Frank Yallop’s former team gave his current one a comprehensive rollover at the Home Depot Center on Sunday, becoming the first team in the West to clinch a playoff spot. Defending MLS champ Houston Dynamo, once the San Jose Earthquakes under Yallop, dominated the last third of an otherwise closely contested game, winning, 3-1, to […]

Interview: Chivas’ CEO Has a Marketing Past

By now the problems of Chivas USA, which currently has the fourth best record in MLS (but with games in hand), are well-documented: the strategy of borrowing the brand name of one of Mexico’s most storied teams has backfired, offending some Chivas de Guadalajara fans while marginalizing those who don’t support the Mexican club, or […]

Soccer on TV., Story

Soccer on TV