“When you throw yourself into that kind of tackle, there’s a chance you’re going to get sent off. He’s been in enough rodeos [to know that].”
— Galaxy coach Bruce Arena on the David Beckham‘s red card in a 2-0 loss to Seattle. (Los Angeles Times)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Bad weekend for keepers; Dempsey gets good bounce
[AMERICANS ABROAD] It was a bad weekend of American goalkeepers in Europe, but Clint Dempsey created a goal for Fulham (in peculiar fashion). Besides Charlie Davies‘ two strikes in France, Michael Orozco hit the net in Mexico. In Germany, U.S. internationals were “quarantined” because of Landon Donovan‘s swine flu problem. How Americans fared in foreign leagues …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
A new low for Beckham [VIDEO]
[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] David Beckham followed up his lackluster performances and fan confrontations with an ejection that the Seattle Sounders took advantage of to down the Galaxy, 2-0, ending Los Angeles’ six-game undefeated streak. Beckham was just one of many who were ejected last weekend. …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Big weekend for London clubs
[ENGLAND] The Premier League’s five London teams all won on the opening weekend of play. The biggest win was by Arsenal, which buried Tim Howard‘s Everton, 6-1, showing it hardly missed its high-scoring striker Emmanuel Adebayor sold (along with Gunner defender Kolo Toure) to Manchester City.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
First-place Timbers extend streak to 22 games
[USL-1] It was a very productive road trip for the Portland Timbers. They beat Montreal (1-0) and Rochester (4-1) to open up a four-point lead at the top of the USL First Division and extend their league record unbeaten streak to 22 games.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Charlie Davies scores twice [VIDEO]
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Three days after scoring for the USA against Mexico at Azteca Stadium, Charlie Davies scored twice for Sochaux — his first two goals in France’s Ligue 1 — in a 3-2 loss to defending champion Bordeaux. In his second appearance, Davies came off the bench at halftime.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
ESPN2 airs EPL for first time in more than a decade
[TELEVISION WATCH] Soccer fans surfing their television dial on Saturday morning were surprised to find Chelsea playing Hull City (with Jozy Altidore not suited up) in English Premier League action on ESPN2, which will air one match each Saturday and 12 Monday afternoon games as part of a package of 48 live broadcasts this season.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Rampone’s moves pay off perfectly for Sky Blue FC
[WPS] In only her third game as player-coach of Sky Blue FC, U.S. national team captain Christine Rampone showed off her coaching talent, shaking up the Sky Blue’s lineup for its first-round playoff game at Washington. She had leading scorer Natasha Kai on bench at the start of the game, but Kai and another sub, the little-used Brazilian Francielle, came on to score and lead the New Jersey team past the Freedom, 2-1.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
International Results
Dutch coach Louis Van Gaal hasn’t exactly gotten off to a great start at Bayern Munich. Bayern’s 1-1 tie with visiting Werder Bremen was its second tie in two games … Rangers and Celtic both won on opening day in Scotland … For all the weekend action abroad …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS Results
Seattle moved back into second place in the Western Conference with its 2-0 win at Los Angeles. Meanwhile, D.C. United dropped to ninth place in the overall standings, behind Toronto FC and Chivas USA when Toronto beat D.C., 2-0, and Chivas won by the same score at New York. For all the weekend summaries, standings and leading scorers …
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
The leniency of English referees
LONDON — The first games of the new EPL season have been played. The scorelines are in, implacable and unarguable; along with them come dozens of coaches’ statements, which are anything but unarguable.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
EPL in 2009-10: ‘Far More Than Fergie vs. Rafa’
With ESPN picking up the UK rights to broadcast the English Premiership for the 2009-10 season, perhaps it's only fair that we let ESPN Soccernet senior editor John Brewin and fellow "experts" to express their opinions and post their predictions about all things EPL as the eagerly-awaited campaign kicks off tomorrow. With the new season […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Frei Earning Elders’ Respect in Toronto
Count 23-year-old Toronto goalkeeper Stefen Frei as one of the few athletes these days who is happy to have stayed in school. "I know it's very important to be confident in goal and I decided I wanted to stay one more year (in school) and get that confidence," said Frei, who opted out of the […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Soccer Hall of Fame to Close?
File under: say it ain't so. According to the Oneonta Daily Star, "losing the National Soccer Hall of Fame's Oneonta facility is a possibility as the organization confronts continuing financial problems." Although there isn't a timeline on any decision by the Hall's Board of Directors, president and CEO Jonathan Ullman acknowledged, "how we operate here […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Vagenas, Schmid Ready For Galaxy Reunion
No, the story about Saturday's match between the Galaxy and Sounders FC isn't all about David Beckham or Freddie Ljungberg or Landon Donovan's bout with swine flu. Part of what will be interesting to watch is the return to the Home Depot Center for veteran Seattle midfielder Pete Vagenas, a Galaxy veteran of nine years, […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
The Art of Subsitution
"Throwing on a substitute in a soccer game can be like throwing dice: You win some, you lose some," writes the New York Times' Rob Hughes, but "the gambles Wednesday in World Cup qualifiers and friendly games alike provided some career-changing benefits" as well as dramatic victories, with Mexican coach Javier Aguirre being "the biggest […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
The Good, The Bad and The Ugly of U.S. Summer
While the Summer of Soccer was a huge victory for the sport in America, unfortunately for the U.S. men’s national team and all its highs in South Africa, it ends with a pretty low low and “the bitter taste of yet another loss to Mexico at Estadio Azteca.” SI.com’s Jonah Freeman looks at what has […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Mexico Grabs Momentum Back in Border Rivalry
As much as domestic soccer fans might not want to admit it, what is clear coming out of Wednesday's wince-worthy letdown, coupled with the 5-0 Gold Cup catastrophe, is that whatever psychological edge the USA once had over its border rivals during these last several years is all but gone. "Beating the Americans in consecutive […]
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Rooting for Two-Boys …
MEN’S NEWS … The annual Hermann Trophy Watch List came out, and Creighton’s Byron Dacy achieved a first by earning a fourth listing. He’s a fifth-year senior, having red-shirted in 2007 with an ACL tear.
* The player we’re pulling for: UAB senior Two-Boys Gumede. Full name: Two-Boys Gladstone Gumede. South African-born. Came to the United States on an exchange program and played for Javanon in Louisville. Also missed the 2007 season … he returned home to see his ill mother and grandmother for the first time in six years and South African authorities, he says, then wouldn’t allow him to leave.
* Look for men’s conference polls next week.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Stanford gets Pac-10 nod over UCLA
WOMEN’S NEWS … Soccer America’s College Soccer Reporter is back on its daily (Monday-Friday) schedule for the 2009 college season.
* The women’s conference polls are out. But before we forget …
* Here’s the schedule for the release of Soccer America’s Preseason Top 25 rankings and All-Americans in Soccer America Daily:
— Women’s Preseason Top 25: Tuesday;
— Women’s Preseason All-Americans: Wednesday;
— Men’s Preseason Top 25: Aug. 25
— Men’s Preseason All-Americans: Aug. 26.
* Here’s how women’s coaches see things in some major conferences …
* PAC-10. UCLA won its fourth straight conference title — perfect at 9-0-0 — and advanced to the College Cup for the sixth straight year, but Stanford gets the nod (by two points) in the preseason poll.
Elsewhere, no real surprises …
* ACC. It’s unanimous: defending national champion North Carolina, winner of 20 of 22 conference titles.
* BIG EAST. Notre Dame and West Virginia get to nod to win their respective divisions.
* BIG TEN. Coaches picked Penn State (with freshman sensation Christine Nairn) to win a record 12th straight title.
* BIG 12. Texas A&M (with two goalies, Kristin Arnold and Kelly Dyer, on the preseason all-Big 12 team) and Missouri tied for first.
* WCC. Portland (with no national team conflicts — for once) is picked to repeat.
Click here for the preseason conference rankings and all-conference teams …
* For the fifth consecutive season, the NSCAA College Game of the Week will appear on Fox Soccer Channel: eight women’s and 12 men’s matches. West Coast fans will like these women’s matchups: Oct. 30 — UCLA-USC, Nov. 1 — Santa Clara-Portland, Nov. 8 — Stanford-California.
* Sad news for Duke’s Ashley Rape. The 2008 Freshman All-American re-tore the same ACL she injured last season and had surgery on Friday. She will miss the 2009 season.
* It was the Irish over the Irish Tuesday night in Indianapolis. Ellen Jantsch gave Notre Dame a 1-0 exhibition victory over the touring Ireland national team before a crowd of approximately 2,000 fans at Kuntz Stadium.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
KC’s debuts new coach; Vital home tests for TFC, RSL
[MLS PREDICTIONS] Toronto FC and D.C. United meet at BMO Field after being roughed up by Real Madrid, the surging Galaxy hosts the reeling Sounders, Real Salt Lake welcomes Houston to Rio Tinto Stadium for the first time, and Kansas City plays its first game with interim head coach Peter Vermes in charge at home against Chicago. For all of Soccer America’s predictions, as well as TV viewing information, and to see how Ridge Mahoney fared so far this season …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Missing stars impact Freedom-Sky Blue FC opener
[WPS PLAYOFFS] . The Washington Freedom is favored against visiting Sky Blue FC Saturday when Women’s Professional Soccer kicks off its unique playoff format (TV: Fox Sports Net, live, 4 pm ET). The Freedom has beaten Sky Blue twice and tied it once this season but will be without French star Sonia Bompastor, who has joined the Bleues to prepare for the UEFA Women’s Championship. A bigger loss than Bompastor for Washington could be central defender Anita Asante for Sky Blue FC. Asante has left to join England in training for Finland ’09.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Dempsey re-signs with Fulham for big money
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Clint Dempsey, who joined the EPL club from the New England Revolution, has signed a new contract with Fulham through the summer of 2013. The 26-year-old has scored 14 goals in 81 Premier League games and was tied for the team scoring lead last season with seven.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Biggest English Premier League deals
[TRANSFER WATCH] It’s been a relatively quiet summer on the English Premier League transfer market. The spender has been Manchester City, which has been involved in five of the 10 biggest deals involving EPL buyers. City has spent $155 million on summer signings and the transfer market is not yet closed.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Arsenal player offers shirt refunds
[OFF THE POST] Arsenal’s Danish forward Nicklas Bendtner changed his number from 26 to his lucky number 52 – and is offering to reimburse fans who bought replica jerseys with his old number.