Newcastle owner Mike Ashley is desperate to sell the club after it dropped out of the Premier League. The sports store millionaire has seemingly accepted he will suffer a huge loss on his investment in the northeast club after spending a reported $370 million. The Magpies issued an official statement setting a price as Keith […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Dynamo Academy Getting Worldwide Interest
Elvin-King Ibe flew 8,000 miles to pursue a dream. He and his family flew to Houston from Johannesburg, South Africa, so that Ibe could take part in this week's Dynamo Elite Camp along with 300 other campers. If he makes the cut at the end of the week, he'll begin training to be part of […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Hiddink Says He’ll ‘Be Back’ to Premier League
Guus Hiddink declared that he wants to manage a Premier League club again in the future but admitted that it won’t necessarily be Chelsea, here he had a run on an interim basis last season. “I will be back,” the former Australia, South Korea and Netherlands boss told English daily The Sunday Mirror . “Chelsea […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Kaka Officially Unofficially Signed
Reports in the Spanish press indicate that Real Madrid will officially present Kaka as one of its own on June 30, after the Confederations Cup and if he passes a medical this week. Although reports in Italy state that a conclusive decision will not happen until Monday night, Spanish newspaper Marca state that the move […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Ricardo Clark shines in midfield
[USA-HONDURAS REPORT CARD] Soccer America’s Ridge Mahoney grades the U.S. players and comments on their performance in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Honduras in Chicago.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Bradley gathers foreign legion
[CONFEDERATIONS CUP] For his 23-man roster to face Italy, Brazil and Egypt at the World Cup rehearsal in South Africa next week, Coach Bob Bradley has selected five MLS players, 17 European-based men, and Jose Francisco Torres of the Mexican league. The roster includes players who ply their trade in 11 different nations.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
How the USA coped with the Catrachos
[WORLD CUP QUALIFYING] The margin of victory might have been more, or there could have been no margin at all, as both the USA and Honduras came within whiskers of making plays that would have changed the result. Three days after their 3-1 loss at Costa Rica, the Americans proved that they could come back from an early goal.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Aztex survive quick red card
[USL-1] Rarer than a first-minute goal is a first-minute red card, but the Austin Aztex recovered from the rapid dismissal of Michael Callahan for a late tackle on a Charleston player and earned a 1-1 tie with the undefeated Battery on Sunday.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Sol doubles lead on closest rival
[WPS] The inaugural Women’s Professional Soccer race is a runaway. The first-place Los Angeles Sol has double the point total of its closest rival after its 3-1 win over Washington left it with a 12-point lead over the second-place Freedom. The Sol, which got two goals from the league’s top scorer, Frenchwoman Camille Abily, is the only team in the league with a winning record (7-1-3) and positive goal difference (plus-11).
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Twellman returns in style; another red-card gallery [VIDEO]
[MLS WINNERS & LOSERS] After being sidelined for all but 65 minutes of the 2009 season, Taylor Twellman hit the field on Sunday and made some history. Last year’s MVP indicated he’s even hotter this year. It was a bad week for the coach most likely to get the sack. And the red cards flew again around the league, including an ejection for a knee to the groin.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
New coach, another loss for Mexico
[HEXAGONAL] Javier Aguirre tried to reassure Mexico’s nervous supporters after his second stint as the Tri’s national team coach began with a 2-1 loss at El Salvador. Only Trinidad & Tobago’s 3-2 loss at home to leader Costa Rica kept Mexico from sinking to last place in Concacaf’s World Cup 2010 qualifying competition. It should be noted, though, the Tri was in worse shape eight years when Aguirre revived Mexico’s struggling national team and led it to the World Cup finals.
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
First four teams qualify for finals
[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] The Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea became the first teams to join host South Africa at next year’s World Cup finals when they clinched berths on Saturday. South Korea returns to the seventh straight time, the Netherlands qualified for the finals for the sixth straight time, and Japan made it four in a row. Australia was playing in Asian qualifying for the first time. For a look at all the qualifying action in Europe, Asia, South America and Africa …
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They’re Saying
“It was a little bit of, ‘Here we go again.’ But it was a good response from the team.”
— U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra on the USA giving up an early goal against Honduras as it did against Costa Rica. But against Honduras, the Americans came back for a 2-1 win, with Bocanegra scoring the gamewinner. (Washington Post)
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS Results
Wins by Columbus and New England created a four-way tie with Kansas City and Toronto FC for third place in the Eastern Conference. With only its second win (in 12 games), Los Angeles moved to within two points of third place in the Western Conference. For all the game summaries, standings, leading scorers and this week’s schedule …
Posted inSoccerTalk with Paul Gardner, Story
Phony Hysteria over U.S. World Cup Quest
It would seem that, with the USA’s 2-1 victory over Honduras on Saturday, sanity and justice and decency and common sense have returned to the soccer world.
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
Can Conor Casey boost U.S. strike force?
Conor Casey had nothing to say on the subject when asked a few weeks ago if he'd heard from U.S. coach Bob Bradley about a recall. "To be honest, I'm not thinking about that," said the bald, burly, bad-ass forward who ended a six-year stint in Germany last summer to sign with MLS. "I'm just […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Enticing matchups in South America
South America's marathon qualifying tournament reaches game-day 13 (out of 18) this weekend and is highlighted by Brazil's trip to Uruguay on Saturday. The two nations have seven World Cup and 22 South American titles between them and their every meeting recalls the famous Uruguay upset of Brazil, the Maracanazo, in which the Uruguayans snatched […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
England looks for sixth straight win
England aims for its sixth straight in Group 6 World Cup qualifying when it faces Kazakhstan in Almaty on Saturday. And England coach Fabio Capello has brushed off suggestions that fatigue could affect his players, who flew over 3,500 miles to the far eastern end of Europe for the game after a tough domestic season […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
U.S. loss recalls ‘bad old days’
New York Times columnist George Vecsey calls the USA 3-1 loss to Costa Rica on Wednesday “a throwback to the bad old days of two decades ago, when the national team often looked pitiful on the road in the Americas, to say nothing of Europe.” Now the Americans need to bounce back against Honduras on […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Red Bull Pacheco eyes win over Mexico
The New York Red Bulls defender Alfredo Pacheco, 26, is on national team duty for El Salvador and believes his team can beat Mexico on Saturday even though El Salvador has picked up only two points from its first three games in the final round of World Cup qualifying. "I'm not satisfied," Pacheco. "We've not […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
England fan shot for singing
An England fan was shot in a bar in the former Soviet republic of Kyrgyzstan, where he had stopped en route to neighboring Kazakhstan, where England plays a World Cup qualifier on Saturday. As he and friends sang England fan songs in the bar, a local told them to shut up. When they ignored him, […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Netherlands can book World Cup spot
The Netherlands can become the first European team to clinch a place at the 2010 World Cup if it beats Iceland in Reykjavik in one of the 14 qualifiers in Europe on Saturday. The Netherlands has a near full-strength team for the game. Only midfielders Wesley Sneijder and Ibrahim Afellay are missing for the Group […]
Posted inSection 2 Around the Net, Story
Jay Heaps to hit 300
New England defender Jay Heaps, a 32-year-old, 11-year veteran, will play in his 300th MLS game when he takes the field against the New York Red Bulls on Sunday. Heaps will become the ninth player to reach that milestone. He recently became the first the first Revs player to log more than 20,000 minutes (20,349 […]
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
OBITUARY: Randy Smith (1948-2009)
Former NBA star Randy Smith, one of the most famous athletes to excel at college soccer, died of a heart attack Thursday at his home in Norwich, Conn. College soccer did not have much of a following in 1970 when Smith earned All-Americans honors at Buffalo State, but he was so good that fans came just to see him.
Posted inCollege Soccer Reporter, Story
Women’s Division I Coaching Changes
The number of women’s programs changing coaches has been less than usual. Spring hirings include Cal assistant Brian Zwaschka at Fresno State and veteran coach Dave Poggi at Nichols State. For all the Division I women’s coaching moves …