Another weekend of Major League Soccer is complete, but the biggest soccer story of the weekend was the Commerce City based World Cup qualifier between the United States and Costa Rica. Played in blizzard conditions before a sellout crowd at Dick's Sporting Goods Park (recall that the game was a sellout on the first day tickets were available).
The ever-changing landscape of professional soccer on American television underwent another seismic shift with the news that NBC Universal has secured the rights to the English Premier League in the United States starting with the 2013/2014 season.
The EPL confirmed the news over the weekend that NBC had indeed beaten out Fox and ESPN for the rights, with reports putting the final deal at three-years and approximately $250 million.
In 2011 the North American Soccer Network was launched with a handful of podcasts covering American soccer and a few Major League Soccer teams. In a little more than a year the network hosts almost 20 shows covering a wide swath of topics and corners of our side of the soccer world. Just last month, NASN began broadcasting NASN Radio, a 24-hour soccer-specific radio station featuring their original programming and on-the-hour news.
At 6:00 a.m. central time on Monday October 15, 2012, SiriusXM will launch a new channel devoted to soccer 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The channel, called SiriusXM FC, will be on Sirius 94, XM 207, and online channel 960. Additionally, certain programs on the new channel will be available on SiriusXM's On Demand feature.
By Jason Davis - WASHINGTON, DC (Oct 4, 2012) US Soccer Players -- Like reports from a distant front, American soccer fans often hear from players who have taken their careers abroad that everything in Europe is more. More intense, more engrossing, more strenuous, just a lot more. Players who have permanently moved to the Continent speak of constant competition for places.
Major League Soccer is a league full of versatile players. American soccer in general seems good at producing players who are jacks of all trades rather than great specialists. Even our star players end up wandering the field like nomads: Landon Donovan has spent time on both flanks, as a forward, and as a #10.
If you want to find my thoughts after that insane game in Colorado, head over to The Shin Guardian to take in my retro diary and then skip over to American Soccer Now to read my match ratings. Word to the wise: ratings in those conditions were rough. Take them with a grain of salt. - Will Parchman
So much for that big party in three and a half years.
Tuesday's big news that a revamped Copa America was coming to the United States was the talk of the town, and had American soccer fans drooling at the prospects of a high-profile tournament coming to our shores in 2016. After years of rumors about the possibility, it was easy to fall in love with the news of it actually happening.
Five of the six spots in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying remain up for grabs, and that should make for an intense final match-day as teams attempt to avoid falling out of the picture for Brazil 2014.
Clint Dempsey responded to his poor performance last Friday with two goals and an assist to lead the United States men's national team to a 3-1 win over Guatemala. The win secured the group lead and the Nats passage onto the next round of World Cup qualifying, the "Hex".
Highlights:
Reaction:
Post-Game Press Conference:
Analysis from some of American soccer's best writers:
Will Parchman (The Shin Guardian) - "With A Hexclamation Point!
The Seattle Sounders sniper found the the back of the net on two headers, including one in the 91st minute, to save the U.S. men's national team blushes and their Hexagonal round hopes of World Cup qualifying, and defeat Antigua and Barduda 2-1.
This past week the North American Soccer League proposed a new type of season for 2013 that will
likely be foreign to most fans of the league that live in the U.S. and Canada. Simply, the season
will resemble the Mexican Primera League with two separate seasons. An Apertura (Opening) and
Clausura (Closing).
Michael Parkhurst is on run of fine form, and American soccer fans and pundits are not the only ones taking notice.
Parkhurst was named to the UEFA Champions League Team of the Week for the third round of matches after turning in a solid 90-minute effort in FC Nordsjaelland's 1-1 draw with Juventus on Tuesday.
American soccer fans oftentimes talk about the first American to play for a great team, score a certain number of goals or achieve an important status. These milestones show how much U.S. soccer has grown, but on rare occasions, we [...]
The post Top 20 Achievements by Americans Overseas appeared first on Soccer Perspectives.
American soccer fans oftentimes talk about the first American to play for a great team, score a certain number of goals or achieve an important status. These milestones show how much U.S. soccer has grown, but on rare occasions, we [...]
The post Top 20 Achievements by Americans Abroad appeared first on Soccer Perspectives.
This week some American soccer fans have decried Jurgen Klinsmann's decision to leave Jozy Altidore off the U.S. Men's National Team roster for the two upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Antigua and Barbuda and Guatemala. Altidore's omission is a wise ... Continue reading →
When Jurgen Klinsmann because U.S. Men's National Team head coach more than a year ago, there was a widely-held belief that he was going to usher in a new era of attack-minded American soccer, and he would do away with the perceived ultra-defensive approach Bob Bradley was deemed guilty of subjecting U.
Watching last Tuesday's United States Men's National Team match against Guatemala, what struck me most—beyond the team's confident performance—was the support in the stands. The stadium was a packed array of red, white, and blue.
About four months ago Landon Donovan sent the American soccer community buzzing when he gave the first clear-cut evidence that maybe, just maybe, he was seriously considering retirement sooner rather than later. His latest interview reveals that those earlier statements were far from a passing faze.
What counts as a big game for American soccer fans? Over the weekend, world soccer provided multiple opportunities to answer that question. Milan - Inter Milan, Real Madrid - Barcelona, Club America - Chivas.... All three easily qualify as big games, arguably bigger than the leagues where those clubs play.
On this convening of the round table Zach, Ryan and Jeremiah are joined by the one and only Alexi Lalas. With this legend of American soccer at our disposal for an episode what do we do? Talk about beards...and a little about Thierry Henry's suspension and the MLS Disciplinary Committee.
NASN Episode Page | iTunes | RSS | Direct Download| NASN Radio
"Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten me into." -- Oliver Hardy
The dust has settled, somewhat, from the U.S.'s "shock" defeat in Kingston to Jamaica on Friday
night in the second round of CONCACAF 2014 World Cup qualifying.
Quiet weekend in American soccer, so I thought it makes sense to start the week off with a new
poll. With beIN Sport the sole television outlet for Americans looking for the USA/Jamaica match,
I want to know how you followed the game. Vote in the poll and then drop a line on your thoughts
about the new soccer heavy network.
By Jason Davis - WASHINGTON, DC (Sep 7, 2012) US Soccer Players -- The moment Clint Dempsey's
transfer to Tottenham was official, an era in American soccer at least temporarily came to an end.
"Fulhamerica," for years the American soccer player's likeliest English destination, had followed
in the footsteps of Germany's Bayer Leverkusen.
