CARSON, Calif. -- With a goal and two assists from Landon Donovan, the Los Angeles Galaxy blitzed Chivas USA early on their way to a 3-1 victory in the first Super Clasico of 2007 on Saturday night at The Home Depot Center.
Donovan became the 11th player in MLS history to reach 50 goals and 50 assists in his career, scoring his first and setting up one as the Galaxy hit for two goals in the opening 17 minutes. Kevin Harmse scored his first MLS goal, which proved to be the game winner, and Cobi Jones added a late insurance goal, answering the lone Chivas USA goal from Claudio Suarez.
The Galaxy dominated possession right out of the gate, completely controlling the game for the opening 10 minutes. Chivas USA barely made it out of their half in that time frame, and in the eighth minute, the early pressure paid off for Los Angeles, the home side on the night.
Kyle
Martino sent a cross into the area from the left flank. As Chivas 'keeper Brad Guzan came off his line to collect the ball, Suarez stepped in front to head it clear. The mix-up proved to be deadly as Suarez nodded the ball right into the path of Donovan, who made no mistake with a gaping net in front of him.
The early goal seemed to wake up the Chivas attack, which put together a flurry of chances in front of the Galaxy goal just minutes later. It started with a bouncing ball in the Galaxy penalty area, which Alex Zotinca tracked down at the back post and fired from point-blank range. But Ante Jazic was there to deflect the ball over the crossbar for a corner kick.
Chivas played a short corner on the ensuing free kick, and worked the ball to the top of the penalty area where Amado Guevara was waiting. The Honduras international blasted a wicked shot to the near post, forcing a Joe Cannon to punch the ball wide for another corner.
That corner kick was
sent into the area where it found the head of Zotinca. Zotinca got off a powerful header earmarked for the back of the net but for yet another save from Cannon.
But the Galaxy raced back to the other end, and the second goal was soon to follow. Harmse, making his first MLS start, worked a clever one-two with Donovan. Harmse's speed and Donovan's perfectly weighted pass allowed the Canadian international to slip in behind the Chivas defense, and in alone on Guzan, Harmse tucked a low shot in at the near post to double the Galaxy advantage.
The Galaxy continued to press, and nearly got a third goal in the 22nd minute. Chris Albright worked his way forward from his right back spot to join the attack. Albright sent a ball in along the turf to the penalty spot where rookie Robbie Findley met the cross, but slipped as he shot the ball, sending his effort straight at Guzan.
Chivas USA's last good chance of the half came a few minutes later. Harmse found
himself defending inside his own 18 and had a clearing attempt broken up. The ball wound up on the foot of Jonathan Bornstein, whose shot from 20 years skipped just past the upright.
Los Angeles came out of the dressing room with the two-goal lead, but weren't looking to pack it in and defend. The second half opened up with both sides going end-to-end.
In the 53rd minute Maykel Galindo was the beneficiary of an advantage call, and he got off a shot from the top of the restraining arc. Galindo got plenty of power on his effort, forcing a diving save from Cannon. Galindo got to his own rebound but could manage only a weak follow-up effort that Cannon easily collected.
Chivas pulled a goal back in the 63rd minute. From a corner kick, the ball pinged around the area where Francisco Mendoza headed the ball across the goalmouth to Razov, who banged a header off the upright. Los Angeles failed to clear, and Suarez made up for his earlier blunder, tucking the
ball into the side netting after Jesse Marsch fired it goalward.
Los Angeles tried to respond quickly, and Donovan won a free kick on the right flank. He then curled in a dangerous ball to the edge of the six that handcuffed the Chivas defense. Nate Jaqua pounced on the loose ball for the Galaxy, but his shot from was deflected out for a corner.
Chivas nearly equalized in the 74th minute. Razov picked out substitute Laurent Merlin with a ball over the Galaxy back line and the Frenchman hit a first time volley, but his shot went straight into the arms of Cannon.
Four minutes later the Galaxy would retake their two-goal lead from a quick counterattack. Albright jarred the ball loose in midfield, and Donovan picked up the loose ball and it was off to the races. He hurdled a tackle by Lawson Vaughn, then picked out a streaking Jones with a nice through pass along the ground. Jones took a touch then buried a shot past Guzan.
Jones tried to repay the
favor moments later on another counterattack. This time Jones was the recipient of a great pass over the top of the Chivas defense, and raced in on goal. He peeked up and saw Donovan making a run to the near post, but the cross was just a bit too close to Guzan who plucked the ball out of the air.
That sealed the win for the Galaxy, who couldn't have picked a better opponent against whom to end their scoring drought. The Galaxy have now defeated their in-stadium rivals eight times in 10 games in all competitions.
David Beckham is featured in this NFL Network commercial which aired prominently during the NFL Super Bowl. Video now on the Project site, http://sdmlsproject.com
The Designated Player Rule, also nicknamed "the Beckham Rule", is the name used for a rule change in the salary cap regulations of Major League Soccer, implemented for the first time for the 2007 season.
The rule allows each of the MLS franchises to sign one player that would be considered outside of the teams' salary cap, allowing U.S. and Canadian teams to compete for star players in the international soccer market. For each such designated player, $400,000 would be initially charged to the salary cap, with any remaining salary toward the player being imposed on the individual owner.
There will initially be one designated player slot available to each team in the league. A team can trade their designated player slot; however, no team can have more than two. If a team uses both of their slots, $325,000 will be counted towards the salary cap for the second player. The rule will apply for three years, until
the end of the 2009 MLS season, when its future will be reviewed.
It is informally named after soccer star David Beckham, in anticipation of MLS teams signing lucrative deals with internationally recognized players of Beckham's caliber. As it turned out, Beckham was indeed the first player to be signed under this rule, signing a lucrative contract with the Los Angeles Galaxy for $50 million in direct salary and a possibility of over $250 million total for five years. The second player signed under this rule was an American playing in the EPL, the 2002 and 2006 World Cup USMNT captain Claudio Reyna, who will come over the pond from Manchester City to join New York Red Bulls.
The USA is 6-0-1 in seven home games against Mexico this decade, outscoring their rival 11-0.
The USA’s current 7-game unbeaten streak at home against Mexico is NOT the longest
in team history. From Oct. 3, 1976 to April 20, 1997, the United States went eight games without a loss against Mexico (4-0-4, 14 GF, 6 GA).
Mexico has not scored a goal in the United States in 663 minutes (which is a span of eight games and seven
consecutive shutouts).
Since 1990, the U.S. is 10-7-7 in 24 games against Mexico, which includes a dominating 9-3-5 record in the United States (and a 1-0-1 record in neutral venues).
Bruce Arena lost his first two games against Mexico back in 1999, including a 1-0 overtime thriller in Mexico City in the semifinals of the FIFA Confederations Cup. The two previous U.S. coaches (Bora Milutinovic in 1991 and Steve Sampson in 1995) each won their first games against Mexico. New USMNT coach Bob Bradley now heads up his 2nd match.
The USA won the first ever match between the two nations in 1934, a one-game World Cup qualifier in Italy to decide who would represent CONCACAF in the '34 World Cup.
David Beckham is featured in this NFL Network commercial which aired prominently during Sunday's Super Bowl. Video now on official site, http://www.nfl.com/nflnetwork/home
NEW YORK - Major League Soccer, together with its national television partners - ABC, ESPN, Univision, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports en Español and HDNet - today unveiled its 2007 regular season schedule. In the League's 12th season, each of the 13 clubs will play 30 regular season games, for a total of 195 matches from April 7 to Oct. 21. The season kicks
off April 7, live on ABC at 3:30 p.m. ET, when four-time MLS champion D.C. United visit the Colorado Rapids in their brand new stadium, Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The 2007 season will conclude on Sunday, Nov. 18 with MLS Cup 2007, live on ABC from RFK Stadium in Washington D.C. at noon ET.
The 2007 MLS season will feature the most comprehensive national television schedule in League history, with a total of 113 live matches. Fans will find it easier than ever to follow their favorite teams and players as each of the four national broadcast networks has anchored its live broadcasts on a certain night of the week, providing destination viewing for all sports fans. Throughout the season ESPN2 will broadcast "MLS Primetime Thursdays," while Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports en Español and HDNet will each air an MLS match on Saturdays. Univision's family of networks, which includes TeleFutura and Galavisión, will air MLS matches on Sundays.
Also for the first time
in League history, every regular season game will be televised, either through national or regional broadcasts. The entire MLS schedule, including individual team schedules, is available at www.MLSnet.com.
A linchpin of this year's television schedule is "MLS Primetime Thursdays" on ESPN2, consisting of 29 live broadcasts, including three MLS Cup Playoff matches and the 2007 Sierra Mist MLS All-Star Game on July 19 at Dick's Sporting Goods Park. The MLS All-Stars will take on Celtic FC of Scotland in a 2.5-hour programming window. The April 12 and Oct. 18 MLS Primetime Thursday broadcasts will also feature an extra 30 minutes of coverage, as will the two ABC broadcasts and the three playoff games on ESPN2. An additional MLS broadcast on the ESPN networks will be determined at a later date.
MLS action returns to the Univision family of networks in 2007 with 25 Sunday broadcasts, 22 on TeleFutura and three on Galavisión during the regular season. Viewers will
note that the Sunday lineup focuses on the MLS teams from the largest Hispanic markets in the United States. Playoff games that will air on the Univision networks will be announced at a later date.
Fox Soccer Channel will broadcast 28 regular season games, each one in a three-hour programming window entitled "MLS Saturday on FSC." Fox Soccer Channel's on-site coverage will include MLS's first-ever 30-minute pre-game show and 30-minute post-game show; all Fox Soccer Channel MLS games will also air in Spanish in two-hour programming windows on sister network Fox Sports en Español, the largest Spanish-language all-sports network in the U.S. The two Fox networks also will carry three MLS Cup Playoff games.
HDNet, the first all-high definition national television network, begins its fifth season of MLS coverage in HD, airing 31 regular season games in high-definition, 27 of them on Saturday nights. HDNet's coverage will extend into the playoffs, with specific
games to be announced at a later date.
With Toronto FC joining the Eastern Conference as the first MLS team based outside the United States, each MLS team will play two games against the other 12 teams, one home, one away, accounting for 24 games of the season. The remaining six games are played against intra-conference foes.
Newcastle, England - Newcastle have completed the signing of United States National Team defender Oguchi Onyewu.
The signing of the 24-year-old is a loan with the English Premiership side until the end of the season with the Magpies having the option of making the transfer permanent at the conclusion of the season.
Newcastle, currently 12th in the Premiership standings after 24 fixtures, hopes the
physical presence of the 6-4, 210-pound Onyewu will vastly improve a defense that has given up 32 goals this season.
It's that time of year again. Relive the greatest moments from 2006 with U.S. Soccer's "Best of..." Awards. Choose the goals, players, photographs and highlights that made 2006 a memorable soccer year. Go to http://www.ussoccer.com to participate now...
Sunday crowd was obviously there to see World Player of the Year Ronaldinho & his FC Barcelona play the Mexican League Chivas team (final score 1-1), and also got this MLS match- Chivas USA and New England Revoilution as 1st part of the 2fer...
In front of the largest crowd ever to see a regular season Major League Soccer game, Chivas USA and the New England Revolution traded goals early over a six-minute span before settling for a 1-1 draw Sunday.
Played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum as part of a doubleheader with a friendly matching FC Barcelona and Mexico's CD Guadalajara (Chivas), the game was played before a crowd of 92,650. Chivas USA have now played in front of two of the three largest regular-season crowds in MLS history, playing in front of 88,816 last Aug. 10 at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum in the "Doble Super Clasico" that also included a match between CD
Guadalajara and Club America. (MLSNet.com)
Gostaria de convidá-lo a visitar o blog esportivo MLSNET Brasil (http://mlsnet.blogspot.com/). Nele, são publicadas as principais notícias do Campeonato americano de futebol, a Major League Soccer (MLS). O destaque do dia é o resumo da sexta rodada do Campeonato.
"A sexta rodada da Major League Soccer marcou o adeus dos onze jogadores norte-americanos que foram convocados por Bruce Arena e que vão vestir a camisa da seleção no Mundial de Alemanha. Estes jogadores estarão concentrados em Cary, Carolina do Norte a partir de 10 de maio e partirão para Hamburgo, Alemanha nos primeiros dias de junho. A data de reincorporação aos seus clubes depende do desempenho dos Estados Unidos na Copa do Mundo.
Para o atacante do Houston Dynamo, Brian Ching, a despedida não poderia ocorrer de forma melhor já que anotou um dos gols na vitória de sua equipe diante do FC Dallas e levou o troféu de Melhor Jogador do Mês de abril. Já Landon Donovan e Chris Albright marcham para Mundial e deixam seu clube - Los Angeles Galaxy - com um certo sabor amargo depois de não poderem evitar a goleada de 4 a 0 frente ao New England Revolution.
Gostaria de convidá-los a visitar o Blog Esportivo MLS NET Brasil. O grande destaque do dia é a convocação dos 23 jogadores dos Estados Unidos para a Copa do Mundo.
A lista completa dos jogadores convocados por Bruce Arena para representar os Estados Unidos no Mundial da Alemanha e as informações completas sobre a sobre a MLS estão no Blog MLSNET Brasil.
http://mlsnet.blogspot.com/
O técnico da seleção dos Estados Unidos, Bruce Arena, acabou com a dúvida dos torcedores dos Estados Unidos e revelou os nomes dos 23 jogadores que levará à Copa do Mundo da Alemanha. O anuncio foi feito hoje à tarde no noticiário esportivo SportsCenter, da ESPN dos Estados Unidos. Os primeiros nomes a serem revelados foram dos meio campistas encabeçados pelo jogador do Los Angeles Galaxy, Landon Donovan. Junto com Donovan, estarão Clint Dempsey, do New England Revolution; e Ben Olsen, do D.C. United, que debutaram na Copa do Mundo; além deles, estarão os veteranos do Mundial da Coréia e Japão Claudio Reyna, do Manchester City (Inglaterra), John O'Brien, de Chivas USA, Pablo Mastroeni, de los Colorado Rapids y DaMarcus Beasley, ex-Chicago Fire e que atualmente está no PSV Eindhoven de Holanda. A lista dos jogadores do meio de campo se completa com o ex- D.C. United e agora no Reading FC da Inglaterra Bobby Convey, que jogará seu primeiro Mundial.
Depois foram divulgados os nomes dos atacantes. O primeiro a ser anunciado foi o veterano do Fulham, da Inglaterra, Brian McBride, o novato do Kansas City Wizards, Eddie Johnson, que estará com seu companheiro de equipe Josh Wolff. O grupo de atacante se completa com o hawaiano do Houston Dynamo, Brian Ching, artilheiro da atual temporada da Major League Soccer.
Para a linha defensiva, Arena levará quatro debutantes de Copas do Mundo. Carlos Bocanegra, do Fulham (Inglaterra), Jimmy Conrad, do Kansas City Wizards, Cory Gibbs, do ADO Den Haag da Holanda e Oguchi Onyewu, do Standard de Liège (Bélgica), se somarão os veteranos da seleção Steve Cherundolo, do Hannover 96 da Alemanha; Frankie Hejduk, lateral do Columbus Crew; Eddie Lewis, do Leeds United da Inglaterra; e Eddie Pope, do Real Salt Lake.
Por fim, o técnico revelou os nomes dos três goleiros. O arco dos Estados Unidos será defendido por Kasey Keller, do Borussia Monchengladbach (Alemanha); Marcus Hahnemann, do Reading FC da Inglaterra; e Tim Howard, do Manchester United (Inglaterra).
Reyna e Keller são os jogadores que disputaram mais Copas do Mundo. Os dois completarão seu quarto Mundial. Reyna esteve nos mundiais de 1994, 1998 e 2002, enquanto Keller esteve em 1990, 1998 e 2002. McBride, Hejduk e Pope completam seu terceiro mundial consecutivo.
Cherundolo, Donovan, Lewis, Beasley, O'Brien, Mastroeni e Wolff estiveram no último Mundial, quando a equipe chegou as quartas de final onde foram eliminados pela Alemanha. No total, Arena terá 11 debutantes em Copas do Mundo.
Arena também anunciou uma lista alternativa de jogadores, caso tenha que fazer mudanças. Integram essa lista os goleiros Tony Meola (New York Red Bulls) e Matt Reis (New England Revolution); os defensores Chris Albright (Los Angeles Galaxy), Gregg Berhalter (Energie Cottbus) e Todd Dunivant (Los Angeles Galaxy); os meio campistas Chris Armas (Chicago Fire), Chris Klein (Real Salt Lake), Pat Noonan (New England Revolution), Steve Ralston (New England Revolution) e Kerry Zavagnin (Kansas City Wizards); e os atacantes Conor Casey (FSV Mainz - ALE), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire) e Taylor Twellman (New England Revolution).
A lista completa dos jogadores convocados por Bruce Arena para representar os Estados Unidos no Mundial da Alemanha e as informações completas sobre a sobre a MLS estão no Blog MLSNET Brasil.
http://mlsnet.blogspot.com/
Gostaria de convidá-lo a visitar o blog esportivo MLSNET Brasil (http://mlsnet.blogspot.com/). Nele, são publicadas as principais notícias do Campeonato americano de futebol, a Major League Soccer (MLS). O destaque do dia é o resumo da quarta rodada do Campeonato.
"A quarta semana da temporada 2006 da Major League Soccer reduziu o número de equipes invictas a duas depois que o New York Red Bulls e o Kansas City Wizards foram derrotados por D.C. United e FC Dallas, curiosamente os dois times que se mantêm sem derrotas, e que se enfrentam no próximo sábado, no RFK Stadium da capital. D.C. United e FC Dallas lideram suas respectivas Conferências com 10 pontos."
Folks,
I am a Brazilian soccer fan and I'd like to invite you to know a new
sports blog about MLS. It's the MLSNET Brasil
http://mlsnet.blogspot.com, the first blog about MLS in Portuguese.
There, I write and translate the most important news about the
championship. The MLS is one of the most professional events in the
world.
I hope your visit and your comments.
Thanks for the attention,
Mlsnet Brasil
http://mlsnet.blogspot.com/
A full update on the MLS expansion and San Diego's standing follows, but first here are notes on the latest team names for Major League Soccer's new season, which begins two weeks from this coming Saturday, April 1st (ABC, ESPN-2, FSW, FSC).
HOUSTON DYNAMO - Only weeks after the Houston franchise was officially dubbed "Houston 1836" (after year of city's founding), chosen by fans' online votes, team management made an internal decision to change the moniker to DYNAMO.
This was due to the local Houston controversy, which never subsided, over the dual historical significance of that year among Latinos and Mexican nationals. 1836 was also the year of the Alamo and other battles which resulted in independence FROM
Mexico (further resulting in founding of cities like Houston). SO MANY locals of Mexican descent in Houston complained that the team finally relented and renamed.
RED BULL NEW YORK - With the players themselves affectionately dubbed "the
New York Red Bulls", the official team name comes from last week's purchase of the MetroStars by the Austrian beverage makers. This is the team who has selected Poway HS alum and 2006 Number One pick (in the MLS SuperDraft) Marvell Wynne.
New York is included in the name for the first time officially since the 2000 season (they had been called NY/NJ MetroStars), though the team will continue to play in New Jersey for the time being at the MetroStars former home, Giants Stadium. The team's new stadium, which will be co-financed by partners including Red Bull, with AEG (who co-built STAPLES Center and HOME DEPOT Center),
will also stand
in New Jersey, but the team's official name will remain RED BULL NEW YORK.
Expansion News Update:
The city of Toronto, Ontario, with NHL Maple Leafs owners as business partners, will build a new soccer-specific stadium complex there, and will host the first-ever MLS franchise in Canada. They were already named as the league's 13th team back in November 2005. A 14th team will join them for the 12th MLS season in 2007.
San Jose CA will have stadium issues to work out, but assuming they can do that soon, they could field a new branded Earthquakes team in 2007 or 2008. Other cities on the fast track to MLS franchises are Philadelphia PA (the only metro area larger than San Diego still without a team), Atlanta GA, Tulsa OK, and the two current frontrunners to be included in teams 14-16, Milwaukee WI and
Cleveland OH. Milwaukee has the most popular MISL team this season, and a successful outdoor version of the Wave, too. Cleveland would like to have the third MLS in-state rivalry, competing with Columbus Crew (club team of USMNT defender, Cardiff's Frankie Hejduk). Both of those city governments are likely to share in their MLS plans.
San Diego will need to concentrate on vying for the 17th or 18th spots, and this is why our public Project Phase, as well as our website (which debuted on MLS Cup Championship day 16 weeks ago), was dubbed Target:2010. While this IS realistic, it is by no means assured that we'd have a team in place by then, even in the best of circumstances. We are in the process of setting up our first official public meetings and workshops, and expect to meet with several local city and tribal councils through this spring, summer, and beyond. We are
happy to see that so many numerous localities have expressed initial interest in hosting our region's MLS team, so we have full confidence that San Diego WILL have their own MLS franchise.. and soon.
We invite all of you to get involved and support our common cause in any way.
Thank you for all of you interest and support shown during the first 15 weeks of our website's existence: Numbers of visitors have far surpassed our expectations.
We DO aim high: Now we know there are SO MANY MORE of you out there with
the same desire, so we know the community together WILL reach OUR GOAL !
RED BULL PURCHASES METROSTARS AND INVESTS IN SOCCER-SPECIFIC STADIUM
World's Leading Energy Drink Re-brands Team Red Bull New York
NEW YORK (Thursday, March 9, 2006) - Red Bull Company Limited, the Austrian company that produces the world's leading energy drink, today finalized an agreement to purchase the MetroStars of Major League Soccer and partner with AEG on the construction of the team's soccer-specific stadium in Harrison, New
Jersey.With the purchase, the team will be re-branded as "Red Bull New York", including a new logo, uniforms and team colors to take effect immediately.
Red Bull's agreement with AEG, the team's former investor-operator, was approved by the MLS Board of Governors today, and includes the two companies joining together to invest in the custom-built stadium for the team in Harrison. As part of the agreement, Red Bull also purchased naming rights to the soccer-specific stadium.Red Bull will have a 50 percent ownership stake in the facility, and AEG will remain responsible for constructing, managing and booking the venue.
"The addition of Red Bull into our group of owners is a landmark moment for Major League Soccer and for all Tri-State area soccer fans," MLS Commissioner Don Garber said. "Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz brings international credibility and proven, innovative marketing expertise to Major League Soccer.His presence on the MLS Board of Governors
provides another authentic, avid soccer fan to our diversifying set of investors."
Red Bull New York's team emblem, unveiled today on www.newyorkredbulls.com, features two bulls charging toward a soccer ball. The team opens its 2006 campaign on Sunday, April 2 against D.C. United at RFK Stadium (5 p.m. ET). The team's home opener at Giants Stadium is Saturday, April 8 against the New England Revolution (7:30 p.m.).The Red Bull New York uniforms will be unveiled soon.
With Red Bull's eastern regional offices located in Hoboken, N.J., its commitment to the metropolitan New York area team suits both the company and Major League Soccer. In recent years, Red Bull has increased its investment in professional sports, including NASCAR, extreme sports and Formula One auto racing. In professional soccer, it has transformed Red Bull Salzburg into one of Austria's leading first division clubs by signing impact players and using innovative
marketing to increase attendance.
Soccer comes from the shortening of the word Association.
Association ->Assoc. Assocer -> Person pertaining/belonging to (a) Football association. Assocer -> Soccer.
Soccer came to mean the sport itself, not only a participant.
The term was used in England first, and still is used there today, alongside football and "footie".
American football, on the other hand, did not derive its name (by copying) from soccer-football, but was named after the actual ball used, the "football" taken from rugby, which is still the same unique shape and size
today.
So... short story, when someone argues with you that the word soccer is an "Americanism", you can tell them how wrong they are...
Have fun!!
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