“We like for the continent’s most important competition to be respected with the best players. [The USA] opted to send a team with some players who aren’t their regulars. That doesn’t please us.”
— Eduardo Deluca, the general secretary of the South American confederation [CONMEBOL] on the USA sending a “B” team to the Copa America, where the USA lost its first two games while being outscored 7-2. Deluca said CONMEBOL does hope for hopes for continued U.S. participation in the tournament. (AP)
[REGION III FINALS] The Dallas Texans once again dominated the US Youth Soccer Region III Championships. Last year, they captured six regional titles. This year, four Texan teams went home with trophies. The U-19 Texans boys are defending national champions in their age group. The three girls champions are the U-15 and U-16 Texans, both regional champions in 2006, and the U-17 team. Two other Texans teams finished second in Wednesday’s finals in Oklahoma City, Okla. Nine of the 12 teams advancing to the US Youth Soccer National Championships in Frisco, Texas, July 24-29 at Pizza Hut Park, hail from Texas. Rounding out the championship mix were two teams from North Carolina (CASL U-19 girls and U-14 boys) and one from Georgia (Atlanta Fire United).
Thursday’s Portugal-Mexico game on ESPNU and Galavision shapes up as one of the best first-round games at the Under-20 World Cup. For the complete Under-20 World Cup schedule …
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The USA has no chance of advancing to the second round of the Copa America when it meets Colombia on Thursday in Barquisimeto, Venezuela (TeleFutura, GolTV-English, 6:30 pm ET). Yet a case can be argued that sending this pool of U.S. players, many of whom had just a handful of caps if they had any at all, has already attained something. This group is not only a feeder group to the national team, it is also the foundation of the next Olympic team. Would Drew Moor otherwise be even a candidate at right back? Hasn’t this tournament sharpened the wits and talents of Ricardo Clark? Did his dismal appearance as a sub against Argentina consign Eddie Gaven to the nether regions of the player pool? What does the promising yet maddening showing of Justin Mapp mean in the short run as well as long-term?
Japan and Nigeria became the first teams to clinch berths in the round of 16 of the Under-20 World Cup when they both won their second straight Group F games with wins over Costa Rica (1-0) and Scotland (2-0 on a pair of goals by captain Ezekiel Bala), respectively, on Wednesday in Victoria, B.C. European champion Spain survived a scare to beat Zambia, 2-1, in Group B action. In other game in Burnaby, Edison Cavani of Italian club Palermo scored to give Uruguay a 1-0 win over Jordan.
Mexico and Chile played to a 0-0 tie Wednesday at the Copa America — a result that suited both teams nicely and had fans fuming in Puerto la Cruz, Venezuela. The tie clinched first place for Mexico in Group B and put Chile through to the quarterfinals as one of the two best third-place teams. It also eliminated the USA and Colombia, which can only finish with three points if one beats the other in their Group C finale in Thursday. Brazil finished second in Group B with a 1-0 win over Ecuador on Robinho’s fourth goal of the tournament.
The USA closes out its stay a the Copa America on Thursday when it faces Colombia. For the complete Copa America TV schedule …
[VIDEO] American goalkeeper Adin Brown scored on a header off a corner kick in stoppage time to earn his Norwegian club Aalesund a 2-2 tie with Rosenborg.
A consortium led by former Fire player Frank Klopas is just one of two groups seriously interested in buying the Fire from the Anschutz Entertainment Group, says a source close to the discussions being held. Of the two groups, the out-of-town group not fronted by Klopas has been performing due diligence for a couple of months, examining financial documents at the team and league level.
Five games on Independence Day and a Thursday night ESPN2 matchup gives every MLS team except New England a slice of midweek action. Of course, why would the Revolution, of all teams, play at home on Independence Day? Ridge Mahoney previews the action …
Robb Rolfing, who played for the Sioux Falls SpitFire of USL’s Premier Development League in 2001, was killed last weekend by enemy small arms fire while serving as a special forces engineer. Staff Sgt. Rolfing, 29, was an original member of the inaugural SpitFire team and also played soccer at Vassar College.
[LIST] U.S. Soccer coaches will be selecting qualified clubs for the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Clubs on a rolling basis until Aug. 1. The first 31 clubs accepted to the academy represent 16 states and the District of Columbia.
[YOUTH] U.S. Soccer’s Development Academy, which is accepting applications from youth clubs through the end of July for its inaugural season, has added 10 more teams, including the youth clubs of MLS’s D.C. United, Chicago Fire and Red Bull New York, and USL’s Richmond Kickers. Those additions, plus the Colorado Rush, Potomac Soccer (Md.), Real Colorado (Colorado), Richmond Strikers (Va.), VA Rush Soccer Club (Va.) and Washington Premier FC raised the number of accepted clubs to 31.
[VIDEO] A Freddy Adu hat trick, two excellent goals by Danny Szetela, and a nice finish from Jozy Altidore destroyed Poland, 6-1, and moved the USA atop Group D with four points in the U-20 World Cup.
“First off let me say how thrilled I am to be involved with the Brigade. The Brigade has the right vision of success and if it’s about making soccer better and doing it the right way, I’m in.”
— Eric Wynalda, 38, who’s coming out of retirement to play for the Bakersfield Brigade of the USL’s Premier Development League. The veteran of three World Cups, whose last MLS season was 2001, is set to make his Brigade debut Saturday against the LA Storm.
Defending champion Argentina matched the USA on Tuesday, scoring six goals in a 6-0 victory over Panama at the Under-20 World Cup. Brazil, the 2007 South American champion, recovered from a stunning 1-0 loss to Poland in its first game to beat South Korea, 3-2.
The Under-20 World Cup continues on July 4 with four games in Victoria and Burnaby. All four games will be televised on ESPN360.com (broadband) and Costa Rica-Japan will be shown on Fox Sports en Espanol. For the complete Under-20 World Cup schedule …
The USA will be cheering for Mexico to beat Chile or Ecuador to beat Brazil on Wednesday to remain alive at the Copa America. For the complete Copa America TV schedule …
Venezuela, Uruguay and Peru joined Mexico, Argentina and Paraguay in the quarterfinals of the Copa America when they finished 1-2-3 in Group A. Venezuela clinched the Group A title and a place in the quarterfinals — for the first time in Copa America history — when it held Uruguay to a 0-0 tie Tuesday in the final group match. Striker Claudio Pizarro‘s second goal of the game with five minutes remaining gave 10-man Peru a 2-2 tie with Bolivia in the first game, in which D.C. United’s Jaime Moreno scored his second goal of the tournament.
[NORDIC CUP ROSTER] Coach Bill Irwin named 18 players who will represent the USA in Vassa, Finland, at the 2007 Nordic Cup, being held from July 18-24.
The U.S. roster features numerous college stars and others who have completed their college eligibility and are playing in the W-League or WPSL.
New Jersey’s PDA, Pennsylvania’s FC Delco and the Baltimore Casa Mia Bays all had two boys teams crowned champions on Tuesday at the US Youth Soccer Region I Championships. On the girls side, Virginia led all state associations with four champions: VSA Heat (U-12), McLean Freedom (U-16), Richmond Strikers Elite (U-17) and PWSI Cardinals (U-19). PDA added a third Region I title when it won the U-15 girls crown. For complete Region I results and goalscorers …
Its big guns may not be there, but a familiar story is brewing for the USA at the 2007 Copa America: its performances are better than the score line would indicate, but soccer’s a zero-sum game and the final score is all that matters. The USA may have dominated midfield, won the majority of 50-50s […]
The sacking of Coach Fabio Capello at Real Madrid causes Paul Gardner of the New York Sun to revisit an old issue: what’s a contract to a big club, anyways? Years ago, after being fired just three months into his new job, Atletico Madrid coach Alfio Basile (who’s now in charge of Argentina) explained: “My […]
As expected, Sheffield United lost its legal dispute with the English Premier League and West Ham United over the Carlos Tevez affair. The Blades, relegated on the last day of the EPL season nearly two months ago, had two claims dismissed by a sports tribunal, both regarding the legality of Carlos Tevez’s appearances for West […]
The Fernando Torres-Liverpool deal is being sewn up as we speak, according to the Guardian. The Atletico striker cut short his vacation in Polynesia to head to Liverpool to complete a medical exam, which he passed. The Atletico striker will now join Liverpool for $53 million, pending issuance of a work permit. Luis Garcia has […]
