Soccer America Archives

[COLLEGE] North Carolina, the 2008 NCAA Division I runner-up, is ranked No. 1 in the Soccer America Men’s Preseason Top 25, as selected by its editors. The selection gives the ACC a clean sweep of the Soccer America preseason rankings. The Carolina women were also No. 1. The rest of the top five consists of Akron, St. John’s Indiana and Wake Forest. For the complete Soccer America Women’s Preseason Top 25 rankings …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Brad Friedel returned to Anfield to face Liverpool, the club at which he started his English Premier League career 12 years ago, and helped Aston Villa earn a 3-1 win over the Reds. The victory, the first of the league season for struggling Villa, was revenge for a 5-0 loss at Anfield in March.

[COLLEGE] Defending champion North Carolina left no doubt who is the team to beat in 2009, scoring three times in the first 13 minutes and pummeling No. 3 UCLA, 7-2, Saturday. No. 2 Stanford almost matched the Heels’ output in Honolulu Sunday night, beating up on Hawaii, 6-2. The weekend’s big surprise was then-No. 15 San Diego’s 2-1 loss at unfancied Cal State Bakersfield. For this week’s Top 25 rankings and all the weekend Top 25 results and goal scorers …

[USL] The Portland Timbers became the first team to clinch a playoff berth in the US: First Division with a 3-1 win over Miami FC that extended its unbeaten streak to 23 games and their winning streak to five. The Richmond Kickers will host the Charlotte Eagles for the USL Second Division championship Saturday (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, delay, 11 pm ET) after they won 1-0 decisions in the semifinals.

The arrival of veteran Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal was intended to bring some order that was supposedly lacking at Bayern Munich during Juergen Klinsmann‘s short tenure, but the German giant lost, 2-1, to Mainz, leaving it with two points in three games. Defending champion Inter Milan was held to a 1-1 tie by promoted Bari — about to be bought by American Timothy Barton — in its Italian league opener. For the international league results and standings …

New England improved its playoff chances with a 3-1 win over Real Salt Lake thanks to Kheli Dube‘s hat trick. The win moved the Revs into a tie for seventh place overall with Toronto FC and Colorado and has two games and one game in hand on them. Chivas USA won, 2-0, over Toronto FC in Jesus Padilla‘s debut and moved into a tie for third place with slumping Seattle in the Western Conference — and fifth place in the league-wide standings. For all MLS game summaries, standings and leading scorers …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Michael Bradley and Steve Cherundolo, who had been quarantined by their German clubs because of U.S. teammate Landon Donovan‘s bout with swine flu, returned to action with mixed results. In France, Charlie Davies had another solid outing. For a wrapup of U.S. players in foreign leagues. …

[ENGLAND] In his enthusiasm over his club’s best start in 39 years, you can forgive Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp for forgetting that he recently signed 6-foot-7 Peter Crouch. After Spurs’ 2-1 win at West Ham gave it three straight wins and first place in the Premier League, he waxed poetic about his “tiny lads,” who form what he called the smallest frontline in the world. Read also about the horrifying attack on West Ham defender Calum Davenport, garbage-man William Gallas and Arsenal’s new Patrick Vieira, as well as surprise Burnley …

[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] The Chicago Fire staged a dramatic comeback. A hat trick in New England created sweet revenge for the Revs. In D.C.,David Beckham and the Galaxy served up a stalemate. Richie Williams celebrated a return to interim coaching with the Red Bulls. It’s only getting worse for the Wizards. A Chivas USA midfielder finally found the goal again. Seattle’s tie at Houston included a miss for the blooper reels.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] After a week of tweeting his frustrations about being stuck in New York, U.S. teenager Jozy Altidore put them behind him and made his English Premier League debut a little more than 24 hours after arriving in England. And quite a debut it was … With his first touch of the ball for Hull City, Jozy Altidore lifted a nifty lob over Bolton Wanderers defender Zat Knight into the path of Algerian Kamel Ghilas, who scored to give the Tigers a 1-0 win on Saturday. In the half hour he was on the field, Altidore had three clear chances but could not score.

[LOS ANGELES-SKY BLUE FC REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Editor in Chief Paul Kennedy grades the players in Saturday’s Women’s Professional Soccer championship won by Sky Blue FC over Los Angeles, 1-0.

[WPS] Women’s Professional Soccer’s unique playoff format will certainly spark a lot of debate in the postseason, but there’s no doubt who was the best team in the playoffs. Sky Blue FC won its third game in eight days — all on the road — with a 1-0 win over the Los Angeles Sol Saturday to complete its improbable run to the league championship.