Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Penalty kick fireworks in MLS

by Ridge Mahoney

[REF WATCH] Aside from perhaps the brandishing of a red card, no incident triggers more hot disputes than the shrill trilling of the referee’s whistle as he points to the penalty spot. Yet more often than not, the defending team has been guilty of lax tackling or lazy marking prior to the alleged foul that prompted the spot kick. Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney reviews the six penalty kicks called in last week’s MLS action. …

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

FC Dallas reaches Open Cup quarterfinals

by Soccer America

FC Dallas prevailed in a penalty-kick tiebreaker after a 1-1 tie against Atlanta Silverbacks of USL-1 in U.S. Open Cup third round play on Monday. Carlos Ruiz opened the scoring for Dallas in the second half, but Daniel Antoniuk equalized four minutes later. Dallas played with a man advantage for the final eight minutes of regulation and 30 minutes of overtime after Antoniuk was ejected. In the quarterfinals, Dallas faces the winner of Tuesday’s Houston Dynamo-Charleston Battery clash. Ruiz’s strike was his first since an MLS regular-season game April 12.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Swiss star Dickenmann tops W-League scoring charts

by Soccer America

[W-LEAGUE RESULTS] Swiss international Lara Dickenmann, who plays for Ohio State, scored in the Jersey Sky Blue’s 2-0 win over the New Jersey Wildcats and had both goals in the Sky Blue’s 3-2 loss to Washington and took over the W-League scoring lead with 11 goals. U.S. international Danesha Adams, who plays for UCLA, has 10 goals for the Cleveland Internationals in five games to share second place with Ali Andrzejeski of the Washington Freedom. For U.S. star Tiffeny Milbrett has nine goals for the Vancouver Whitecaps to tie Jennifer Parsons of the Richmond Kickers Destiny. For complete W-League results and goalscorers …

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

MLS international TV rights go for $2 million

by Soccer America

Soccer United Marketing (SUM) has secured $2 million in international TV rights fees for this rest of this season’s MLS and SuperLiga games. The arrival of David Beckham and Mexican star Cuauhtemoc Blanco to MLS drove deals with Mexican broadcasters Cadena Tres and TeleVisa, and ESPN International and ART, a North African and Middle Eastern distribution company. According to Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, SUM also hopes to finalize deals with broadcasters in South Korea and Japan in the next 45 days.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying

What They’re Saying

by Soccer America

“Certain teams complain about not having facilities, not having a stadium. We have everything here. These fans, they want this team to win. They want a championship team. We could do it, and we’re not doing it.”

— Colorado Rapids forward Herculez Gomez, whose team has scored once in its last six games. The Rapids’ 1-0 home loss to New York on Sunday extended their winless streak to eight games and they’ve won just twice in their new stadium, Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. (Denver Post)

Posted inSoccer on TV., Story

Soccer on TV

by Soccer America

This week’s Copa America action kicks off Tuesday with Brazil’s semifinal clash against Uruguay (Univision & Gol TV). At the U-20 World Cup, the red-hot USA faces Uruguay in the round of 16 on Wednesday (ESPNU & Galavision).

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Mexico Transformed

by Soccer America

Hugo Sanchez’s men on Sunday showed that Mexico’s 2-0 victory over defending Copa America champ Brazil in its opening game was no fluke with a 6-0 demolition of Paraguay — a team regarded by many as the third-best in South America. Indeed, a comprehensive series of performances at this year’s championship has left sportswriters across […]

Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story

Real Names Schuster as Coach

by Soccer America

As expected, Spanish champion Real Madrid on Monday named former Getafe coach Bernd Schuster as the club’s new head coach. Schuster’s appointment paves the way for an influx of new signings at the Bernabeu, which will likely be headed by the arrival of Chelsea’s Arjen Robben and, maybe, AC Milan’s Kaka. Schuster’s succession of former […]

Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying

What They’re Saying

by Soccer America

“We all knew that Freddy was a talented kid and I felt that he was ready to wear the captain’s armband and take on a leadership role with this team. I couldn’t be happier with the way he has dealt with these circumstances. He had a superb performance against Poland and today, beyond his skill he always showed his desire, his heart. Great players succeed at the highest level and today was a great game for him, and he took the rest of the team with him today.”

— U.S. U-20 coach Thomas Rongen after Freddy Adu played on his second straight phenomenal game for the USA at the U-20 World Cup, leading it past Brazil, 2-1.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Matt Jordan fractures jaw in collision with Montreal teammate

by Soccer America

[USL RESULTS] Former MLS goalie Matt Jordan suffered a fractured jaw in a collision with teammate Simon Gatti in the first half of the Montreal Impact’s USL First Division game against Carolina. In a physical game that saw Impact defender Andres Arango and Carolina forward Anthony Maher red carded in the 9th minute, Montreal came back from a two-goal deficit to tie the RailHawks, 2-2, on a pair of Charles Gbeke goals two minutes apart in the second half. The game drew more than 8,000 fans in Sherbrooke. Another Ivory Coast product, Hamed Diallo, scored two goals to lead Rochester past Carolina, 2-1, on Friday night and earn a share of the First Division lead with Vancouver, which lost at Atlanta, 2-0, on goals by Warren Ukah. For complete USL results and goalscorers …

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

All four Copa America quarterfinals are blowouts

by Paul Kennedy

The four semifinalists breezed into the final week of play at the Copa America by beating their opponents by a margin of 20-1 in the quarterfinals. Mexico produced the most one-sided victory, clobbering Paraguay, 6-0. Argentina routed Peru, 4-0, on Sunday with all four goals coming in the second half — two from playmaker Juan Roman Riquelme. On Saturday, Uruguay ended host Venezuela’s dream to reaching the semifinals for the first time with a 4-1 win in the weekend’s only close game. The Celeste led by only a goal until it added two goals in the final three minutes. Brazil thumped Chile, 6-1, to silence the critics of Coach Dunga for his defensive tactics in the first stage of the competition.

Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story

Canada bombs at the Under-20 World Cup

by Paul Kennedy

Host Canada was ignominiously dumped from the Under-20 World Cup when it lost to Congo, 2-0, for its third straight shutout loss of the competition. Canada is the first host team in the 30-year history of the U-20 competition not to score a goal. All four African entrants and all four South American teams advanced to the U-20 World Cup. Scotland — winless in all three games — was the only European team not to advance.

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