Last season, MLS averaged 2.62 goals per game, its lowest besides the 2.61 its teams mustered in 2004. Fans are seeing even fewer goals in early going of the 2007 season. The first 26 games have an average of 2.27 goals. Kansas City leads the league in scoring, having notched nine goals in its first four games for a 2.25 average. New England’s Taylor Twellman leads the league in scoring with four strikes in four games, followed by Eddie Johnson, who’s notched three goals, which exceeds his output of the 2006 season.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
AMERICANS ABROAD: Castillo and Orozco meet in Mexico ‘repechaje’
New Mexico product Edgar Castillo, 19, was a 55th-minute sub for Santos Laguna as it fell at home, 1-0, to San Luis in the first leg of the Mexican repechaje, the preliminary playoff round of the Clausura 2007. Californian Michael Orozco, 21, came on for San Luis in the 86th minute.
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Goalkeeper follies in Scotland & Brazil
[VIDEO]. Aberdeen’s Darren Mackie scored without immediately realizing it in last Saturday’s Scottish Premier League 3-0 win over Kilmarnock because, while he was walking back down field, Kilmarnock keeper Alan Combe hurled the ball into the back of Mackie’s head, from which it rebounded 8 yards into the back of the net. Matching Combe’s in the super blunder was Cruzeiro goalie Fabio. After giving up the third goal in a 4-0 loss against in the Brazilian derby against Atletico Mineiro, Fabio was walking back to his goal area to fetch the ball. But his teammates had kicked off with a different ball. Fabio didn’t notice an Atletico player had intercepted the new ball until he saw the shot blaze past him and into the goal [VIDEO]. An angry Fabio then picked both balls out of the net.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“I thought I might do 45 minutes but ended up doing the full 90. It was quite a hot day but I felt OK at the end, and the next day I was able to do a bit of gardening in the greenhouse. Both teams acted like perfect gentlemen, and they just got on with it. They were very polite and respectful.”
— Antony Warren, an 82-year-old retired referee who was lured out of the stands at a Gwynedd League game in Wales to replace the assigned referee, who suffered a pregame injury. Warren borrowed referee gear and his 78-year-old wife kept time. (BBC)
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OFF THE POST: World Cup sparked German baby boom
Germany has one of the world’s lowest birthrates (1.37 children per woman compared to about 2.1 in the USA). The German government’s recent efforts to promote procreation have included offering one-year paid maternity leave to working mothers. But the most effective population booster so far appears to have been hosting the 2006 World Cup: nine months later birthrates in parts of the country increased by nearly 30 percent compared to last year at the same time. The newborns have dubbed the “Klinsi Generation.”
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U.S. U-17s beat Canada, 2-1, to edge closer to World Cup berth
The USA remained perfect at the CONCACAF Under-17 qualifying tournament in Kingston, Jamaica, with a 2-1 victory over Canada on Wednesday night, setting the stage for the possibility of clinching a berth at the 2007 Under-17 World Cup on Friday night.
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Milan-Liverpool, championship ledger
AC Milan and Liverpool, who meet in the final of the UEFA Champions League on May 23 in Athens, have a long history of success in Europe. Before they met in the 2005 final, they had won a combined 11 European Cup titles in 14 appearances in the final. Milan’s six championships rank second behind only Real Madrid’s nine. Liverpool’s come-from-behind victory over Milan in Istanbul was the Reds’ fifth title in six appearances in the final.
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Forza Milan!
AC Milan put on a display of attacking soccer reminiscent of the great Milan teams of the late 1980s and early 1990s and crushed Manchester United, 3-0, on Wednesday night to advance to the UEFA Champions League final. All but forgotten as a European contender after last season’s Calciopoli scandal left it reeling, Milan was far the better team over the two legs of its 5-3 aggregate victory over United, which had been the toast of Europe for its 7-1 demolition of Italian club Roma in the quarterfinals. Milan moved into the final against Liverpool on May 23 in Athens, which will be a rematch of the 2005 final in which Milan blew a 3-0 halftime lead and lost to Liverpool on penalty kicks.
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
MLS Expansions: Northwest is Next
Where or where will MLS go next? League commissioner Don Garber is touring the nation in search of the destinations for its next set of expansion teams. Local dailies across the country are reporting talks between MLS and investors in various cities, including Philadelphia, Atlanta, the Bay Area, Cleveland, Miami, St. Louis, Portland and Seattle. […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Beasley Faces Uncertain Future
In 2005, DaMarcus Beasley became the first U.S. international to play in a Champions League semifinal with the Dutch club PSV Eindhoven; he was also the club’s leading scorer in the competition with four goals. Now, two injury-hit seasons later, Beasley is faced with the prospect of having to find a new club at season’s […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Blatter Insists South Africa Will Host in 2010
Two days after revealing FIFA’s backup plan for South Africa 2010 on BBC television, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has come out insisting that the 2010 World Cup would be staged in South Africa. “It will take place in South Africa … I have no doubts,” he said, adding, “The plan B is South Africa, plan […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Chelsea, Mourinho Deserved to Lose
If there is a consensus among British sports writers following Chelsea’s Champions League exit at Anfield Tuesday night, it’s that the better team won despite the outcome being decided by penalties. Yet after the match, a defiant, sour-faced, sore-losing Jose Mourinho accused Liverpool of playing for penalties. “Chelsea tried to win it in 90 minutes,” […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Reina Robbed During CL Semi
It was a mixed night for Liverpool hero Pepe Reina. After the 24-year-old Spanish goalkeeper guided his team to the Champions League final with two fantastic saves in a penalty kick shootout, Reina returned home to find his house had been robbed. Among the missing items, were a Bang & Olufsen entertainment system, some jewelry, […]
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Lots of bathrooms for the Beverly Hill Beckhams
[PHOTOS] Los Angeles Galaxy-bound David Beckham, who turns 32 today, and wife Victoria have reportedly purchased a six-bedroom, nine-bathroom house in Beverly Hills for $22 million. People magazine reported that the Beckhams, who have children age 8, 4, and 2, “had struggled to find a home in Los Angeles as sellers raised prices when they learned the famous couple were interested.”
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OFF THE POST: Lights on, lights out for clubhouse thief
A burglar without the foresight to bring a flashlight broke into the stadium clubhouse of German amateur club Germania Freund at 3 am. He flipped the first light switch he could find, which turned on the stadium floodlights. Local residents, realizing a game at that hour was unlikely, called the authorities, who made the arrest.
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Liverpool again overcomes Chelsea to reach Champions League final
Liverpool defeated Chelsea, 4-1, Tuesday night on penalty kicks to reach the Champions League final for the second time in three seasons. Two years ago, the Reds beat Chelsea, 1-0, at home for a 1-0 aggregate victory en route to their fifth title in Europe’s most important competition, This time, both teams won, 1-0, at home, with the Reds’ 1-0 win on Tuesday setting the stage for the decisive shootout before a vocal Anfield crowd in rare form.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Singing
“Wise, Wise, whatever have you done? You’ve taken Leeds to Division One. You won’t win a cup, you won’t win a shield, your biggest game will be Huddersfield.”
— A chant, to the tune of “Lord of the Dance,” from fans of English second-tier club Barnsley directed Leeds coach Dennis Wise. Leeds United, for which American Eddie Lewis plays in midfield, will be relegated to England’s third tier (Division One) unless it wins its last game of the season against Derby on Sunday by eight goals and Hull loses. (BBC)
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U.S. U-17 opponents raid youth ranks for players
Three of the U.S. opponents at the CONCACAF Under-17 qualifying tournament in Jamaica have American products on their roster. Canada, which faces the USA Wednesday night at 5 pm CT in Kingston, has 16-year-old defender Drew Beckie, who took up soccer at the age of 4 after moving from Canada and plays for Real Colorado. Several other players in Canada’s U-17 pool are American-based while Trinidad & Tobago and Jamaica also have a U.S. connection.
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Libertadores Cup Preview
[TV PREVIEW] Four months after quitting as Boca Juniors coach, Ricardo La Volpe returns to La Bombonera Wednesday night as coach of Velez Sarsfield for the first leg of their Libertadores Cup round-of-16 series. Mexican clubs Toluca, Necaxa and Club America have both signed reinforcements for the knockout phase. Brazilian club Santos can break the Libertadores Cup record of eight straight wins it now shares with Vasco da Gama if it beats Caracas FC in Venezuela.
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Man. United looks to make European history
[TV PREVIEW] Manchester United looks to set up the first all-English final in the UEFA Champions League when it faces AC Milan Wednesday in the second leg of the semifinals at the San Siro. United carries a 3-2 lead into the game and is riding high after a 4-2 comeback win over Everton on Saturday that all but clinched the English Premier League title.
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The good, the bad and the ugly of MLS’s Month 1
The good, the bad and the ugly marked the first month of MLS play in 2007. Two new stadiums staged their first matches, harsh weather curtailed attendances in some cities, and the two teams picked by many to reach MLS Cup 2007 staggered out of the gate. So what’s wrong with preseason favorites D.C. United and Houston, and how’d the Red Bulls get hot?
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
CL Final Would Complete Milan Comeback
In the wake of what's been an awful season for Italian soccer since the national team lifted the World Cup last July, AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said Tuesday that a win in Wednesday's Champions League semifinal against Manchester United would complete the club and the nation's comeback. Indeed, a place in the Champions League […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Zidane to LA? No Chance, Says Yallop
There is “no chance” of Zinedine Zidane joining David Beckham at the Los Angeles Galaxy, Coach Frank Yallop tells Andrea Canales of L.A. Soccer News. The rumors have resurfaced time and again that the former World and European Player of the Year would make his way to Major League Soccer to rejoin his former Real […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Size and Strength Send Brazilians into Libertadores Second Round
It’s no coincidence that five of the 16 teams that qualified for the Copa Libertadores second round are Brazilian, writes Tim Vickery of SI.com. Brazilian teams have dominated the South American competition over the last few years, and aside from the shock first-round exit of Internacional, last year’s champion, things have gone according to plan […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Saviola: Barca Lied to Me
It’s hard to know why Barcelona coach Franck Rijkaard has relegated little Javier Saviola to the bench — and in some cases, the stands — yet again. The Argentine striker’s goals all but carried Barcelona during its goal-scoring crisis in January and February, when both Leo Messi and Samuel Eto’o were injured. Now that they’re […]