Most people in the US who follow soccer closely know that the U.S. Under-17 residency program in Bradenton, Florida has produced many of the best players in American soccer. They have seen the likes of Jozy Altidore, Freddy Adu and many other noteable names that are either in MLS or in Europe. U.S. Under-17 head coach [. Click to continue reading...

Eh.. Sort of. It's time for the U.S. Open Cup Final... the NIT of American soccer... the Carling Cup of American soccer... the oldest continuously... yada yada yada. Sigh. It's not the final everyone wanted to be in at the beginning of the year. But DC's there now and it's the Charleston Battery of the USL D1 awaiting [. Click to continue reading...

Tonight, United has a chance to add its twelfth major title to the trophy case that sits outside the D.C. United offices when it takes on the Charleston Battery in the U.S. Open Cup final at RFK Stadium. The club has prided itself on a championship tradition from the very beginning and tonight provides an opportunity to further distance United as the winningest team in American soccer history.

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I just finished the new DVD from Major League Soccer and A&E Home Video titled, Game Breakers: The Stars of Major League Soccer and I've got to tell ya, I was quite impressed.

The DVD was just released on August 26th and so – like Kramer in Seinfeld – that practically makes me the premier! Click to continue reading...

New England, the best team supposedly in MLS, got beat by a team called Joe Public F.C. (no joke!), a side from Trinidad and Tobago.

Hopefully they were playing reserves.

Chivas USA didn't do much better, losing 2-0 to Tauro F.C., the Panamanian champs. Puerto Rico got a point, but I'm not sure how much credit the U. Click to continue reading...

Whilst thumbing through The Ball is Round: A Global History of Soccer in bed the other night, I wondered to myself "when is someone going to do the first book about Becks in America?". With Europe's bookshelves already rammed full of books about our David it was only a matter of time before someone got in the act over on this side of world. Click to continue reading...

Count me in as excited about the new CONCACAF Champions League. More meaningful international games for more MLS clubs is a good thing for American soccer, in my opinion.

Cue the theme...



Sorry, I don't know if CONCACAF has their own swank theme yet. Click to continue reading...

GOLTV EXCLUSIVELY DELIVERS LA LIGA SOCCER SEASON OPENERS LIVE FROM SPAIN ON AUGUST 31 North American Soccer Fans Score with Live 2008-09 Season Kickoff Coverage of Real Madrid vs. Deportivo and FC Barcelona vs. Numancia MIAMI, FL – August 25, 2008 – GolTV , the only live bilingual channel delivering 24/7 soccer, will air the much-anticipated La Liga [. Click to continue reading...

Like many American soccer fans, I appreciate college soccer for what it really is - unwatchable slop. But, occasionally great players come out of said slop including guys like Brian McBride, Maurice Edu, Taylor Twellman, and Brad Guzan. This fall, I am going to attend a few college matches to take a look at some [. Click to continue reading...

Good morning to ya. I'm sitting here reading my morning emails and an Outlook reminder has just popped up telling me to set the DVR to record the opening matches of CONCACAF Champions League, which begins tomorrow night. So when I get home tonight and grab the remote to set up the recording I will hear my missus say something to the effect of "another week, another tournament. Click to continue reading...

Nick at We Want Rapidman felt the Colorado Rapids, with new coach Gary Smith at the helm, would be fired up and ready to play at RFK Stadium against DC United. Unfortunately that wasn't the case with the Rapids losing 3-0.

View From The Couch takes a look back at the Clavijo Era. Note that the talk on the street was that Clavijo was a coach in name only.

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Here's a nice write-up from Merrill in American Soccer News.  It will, indeed, be interesting to see how the WPS shapes the look of US Soccer in the years to come.  As for Merrill ... philosophy professor, eh?  Nice. Next up for the WPS?  WPS Teams submit U.S. WNT Player preferences to the League Tuesday, September 02, [. Click to continue reading...

United States international Michael Bradley is currently attracting the interest of three English clubs. With Celtic also hot on his heels, Dutch club Heerenveen has stated that Bradley is available for transfer at the right price. Bradley is fresh off of the Olympics and is returning to Europe today. Click to continue reading...

I've been sitting on this photo since the last week of last season. That was that pivotal "winner makes the playoffs" match between LA & Chicago that was one of the high points of 2007. Just like a the final episode of Six Feet Under it had drama & closure and it left you wanting more. But due to the curse of FIFA dates, stadium availabilities etc. Click to continue reading...

Photo from Reuters

Mexico was fortunate to escape with a 2-1 win at Azteca tonight over a Honduran side filled with quality. Honduras played some quality football and was unfortunate not to secure at minimum a point as Mexico despite being out thought and flustered much of the night used two Pavel Pardo goals in a three minute span late in the match to escape.

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Everyone in Women's Professional Soccer is pulling for a US victory tomorrow both from a patriotic and a business perspective.

The prevailing thought is that a return to a world championship, if not world dominance, would provide a good kick start for WPS.

A gold medal for the US would certainly provide a boost for the League for all the obvious reasons, but i think it's also important to recognize that the League benefits if Brazil wins. Click to continue reading...

[With apologies to Jeff Foxworthy, not that he'd know what "soccer" is.]

• If your gym has seventy-five TVs, but none of them are showing the Olympic semifinal between Argentina and Brazil, you might be an American soccer fan
• If your official Olympic broadcaster relegates the matchup between these world superpowers of football to cable-only MSNBC instead of the primary NBC affiliate, you might be an American soccer fan
• If the primary channel of your official Olympic broadcaster is filling airtime with fricking Matt Lauer and Al Roker dorking around pretending to be fricking rhythmic gymnasts during that same semifinal, you might be an American soccer fan
• If the cable-only carrier of this game breaks in - during play - to show MOTHERFLIPPIN @*#$& SASSAFRASSIN ^@#*% RACKIN FRACKIN #!

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Looking to turn around their 2008 season, the Los Angeles Galaxy have turned to former U.S. Men's National Team coach Bruce Arena, who was unveiled as the team's new head coach and general manager on Monday. He will fill the roles of recently departed former GM Alexi Lalas and head coach Ruud Gullit, who left the team exactly one week ago. Click to continue reading...

Check out this link showing the who's who of American Soccer. You-know-who is at the top but you might be surprised at who makes up the rest of the best paid in the land. Cool site too, well worth adding to your favorites list to keep tabs on all things MLS. Click to continue reading...

It's a really tough situation for the Atlanta Silverbacks. They've been playing host to Macoumba Kandji over the last 2 seasons, one of the most exciting young prospects in American soccer. He's raw, but he has been a force in the USL-D1 since he joined the first time late last season. It was only a matter of time before he started attracting attention from bigger clubs. Click to continue reading...

Romeo bends it like Beckham

David Beckham's five year old son is following in his dad's footsteps, curving the ball into the net in a way that's almost identical to Becks' famous free kick.Romeo Beckham kicked the ball across the old block at an American soccer school, in David's signature style shot, which had the onlookers open-mouthed.

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I'm getting my fix via the internet, not only in the game broadcast but the highlights obviously. Like this one - Men's Goals of the Day - August 7th or this one - Women's Goals of the Day - August 6th.

If you are interested in a look behind the curtain, then Adam Spangler at This Is American Soccer has the story as he interviews Michael Cohen, who overseas the production of Olympic soccer on the networks and cable channels and heads up the NBC Olympic soccer channel.

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The match kicks off at Dicks Sporting Goods Park in a few hours. Rapids have only won once in their last five and twice in their last 10. They've been scoring goals, with only Columbus and Houston keeping them out of the net (incidentally both of those games were at home).

Toronto hasn't tasted victory in nearly 2 months.

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Sure we can take EPL cast-offs. And maybe bringing over another underwear model will get the women into American soccer.

You never know. Soccer moms could swing the election... Click to continue reading...

Peter Nowak's decision to adjust his tactics (ironically enough in line with what most American Soccer Spot readers suggested the other day) shows a tactical savvy and willingness to take chances that many American coaches have quite frankly lacked in big competitions. Since the debacle of Steve Sampson 3-6-1 in the 1998 World Cup, American managers have implemented a very basic tactical structure one which is based on counter attacking and generally does not consider the strengths or weaknesses of the upcoming opposition.

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