Soccer America Archives

[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS] A day after losing star Kenny Cooper, who signed with German second division club 1860 Munich, FC Dallas exploded for a 6-0 rout of the Kansas City Wizards that featured four goals by Jeff Cunningham and two by Brazilian David Ferreira. After the best of his four goals, Cunningham, who has scored seven goals in his last four games, ran to the stands to beat on a fan’s drum.

[BARCELONA TOUR] Major League Soccer had a lot to be excited about Saturday’s Los Angeles Galaxy-Barcelona friendly at the Rose Bowl won by the Spanish champions, 2-1. The game drew a crowd of 93,137 — the largest ever for a game involving an MLS team and the largest U.S. crowd since the 1994 World Cup — and it featured a superb goal by David Beckham on a patented free kick — No. 1 on ESPN Sports Center’s top 10 plays of the day. Despite boos from the crowd throughout much of the game, Beckham said afterwards he intended to return next season for a fourth season with the Galaxy.

Columbus and Chicago stayed 1-2, separated by one point in the Eastern Conference, with wins over the weekend. Houston opened up a six-point lead in the Western Conference thanks to its 4-3 win over D.C. United and Seattle’s 4-0 loss at San Jose on Sunday. For all the game summaries, conference standings and leading scorers …

[WPS] Referee Jose Carlos Rivero decision to eject Boston Breakers defender Alex Scott for her studs-up tackle — a clear red-card offense — on Washington’s French international, Sonia Bompastor, five minutes into Wednesday’s game didn’t sit well with Boston coach Tony DiCicco, who for the second time this year ripped the Women’s Professional Soccer refereeing after the game.

[BARCELONA TOUR] In a summer highlighted by huge crowds across the country for international matches, the biggest crowd of the summer should turn out Saturday at the Rose Bowl, where the Los Angeles Galaxy hosts European champion Barcelona on the first game of the Spanish club’s three-game West Coast tour (TV: Fox Soccer Channel, live, 11 pm ET). In addition to the stars from last season’s triple championship team, newly acquired Zlatan Ibrahimovic will be in Pasadena for his second game in two weeks and Mexican teenager Jonathan Dos Santos is in the traveling squad.

[MLS PREDICTIONS] The Galaxy takes the week off to play some Spanish team (Barcelona by name), giving several Western Conference foes opportunity to move up at its expense. Also off this week are Chivas USA and New York. So bunched are the Eastern Conference’s top teams that third-place D.C. United could take over the lead by winning, or drop to eighth overall by losing in Houston. The Revs can tie fourth-place Toronto by beating TFC at Gillette, and Chicago could go on top by handling RSL at home. For all of Soccer America’s predictions, as well as TV viewing information, and to see how Ridge Mahoney fared so far this season …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Four days after being in goal for the USA in its 5-0 loss to Mexico in the Gold Cup final, Troy Perkins was back in action, this time playing for Norwegian club in in its 2-1 loss at Greek club PAOK in the first leg of the third round of qualifying for the new Europa League. Of the four Americans in action on Thursday, the star was Californian Ryan Guy, who assisted on the winning goal in Irish club St. Patrick’s 1-0 win at Russian club Krylya Sovetov.

[PDL] The Premier Development League has moved into the quarterfinals with a pair of games set for Friday in Des Moines, Iowa, and Laredo, Texas. The quarterfinalists represent the fourth division summer league’s dynamic blend of the new and the old, including teams affiliated with the Chicago Fire, Burnley and the IMG Academies, a first-year team from the Puget Sound area and a Southern California team that had its first player signed by an English Premier League club.

[OFF THE POST] Aston Villa coach Martin O’Neill was ejected for thrusting the ball into the chest of an Atlante player during the Peace Cup in Malaga. 4thegame.com speculated that O’Neill may have come into the game angry because the tournament program listed his name Martin O’Leary.