AT T Park Doubleheader (http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2012/01/quakes-play-dynamo-att-park-march-17) Quakes, Mexican Olympic hopefuls to play doubleheader at AT T Park on March 17 (http://www.sjearthquakes.com/news/2012/01/quakes-play-dynamo-att-park-march-17) Read: Busch...

photo by Andrew Katsampes/ISIphotos.com

Richard Eckersley will be calling Toronto FC home for the foreseeable future.

Eckersley was signed to a permanent move with the Reds after joining the club on loan from Burnley last April, the club announced on Thursday.

Fox Soccer has been promoting this Sunday Premier League games as "Epic Sunday,'' for once this is not over hype. The doubleheader of Manchester City vs. Spurs and Manchester United vs. Arsenal will go a long way toward telling us who will be lifting the trophy in May.
A City win in the early game and a Arsenal win in the late game could all but end the title race.

Well we've all been wondering what the Portland Timbers pre-season plans were and today they've been given a serious spotlight. Per the title of this article, the Timbers will host Chivas USA, San Jose Earthquakes and AIK (from Sweden's first division Allsvenskan) from February 27th-March 4th, about 1 week prior to First Kick 2012).

The University of Virginia has been selected to host the second and third rounds of the 2011 NCAA Soccer Tournament. The official press release is below:
Virginia to Host NCAA Second/Third Rounds This Weekend
Cavaliers welcome Washington State, Texas A&M and Virginia Tech
CHARLOTTESVILLE – The Virginia women's soccer team will host second and third round play of the 2011 NCAA Tournament this weekend at Klöckner Stadium.

Unwatchable? Don't look now, but Thierry Henry and the Red Bulls are one game away from reaching the Western Conference final - if they can become the first MLS team to beat the Galaxy at home this year (AP Photo).

I haven't yet heard whether those extra 5,000 tickets the Galaxy put on sale for tonight's Western Conference semifinal against New York have sold out, but a capacity crowd must be all but certain because after stirring the pot earlier in the week, players and coaches on both sides Wednesday downplayed the sniping that occurred earlier in the week.

Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

The first legs of the conference semifinals over the weekend created four very unenviable hills to climb.

The Los Angeles Galaxy, the Houston Dynamo and Sporting Kansas City all head home to protect leads while Real Salt Lake, the only winning team taking to the road, has the comfort of a three-goal cushion.

With Colorado's victory over Columbus last night the MLS semifinals are set.

I'm jumping on a conference call with Galaxy Coach Bruce Arena (and others) at 9 a.m. so I'll keep this brief.

But I wanted to note that Chivas USA fans won't be let entirely out in the cold when it comes to the MLS playoffs: Alejandro Moreno will appear as an analyst for ESPN2 with host Max Bretos and analyst Alexi Lalas in their Bristol studio for two doubleheader playoffs telecasts that begin at noon Sunday with the New York Red Bulls-Galaxy first leg followed by the 3 p.

The MLS Cup Playoffs are under way with New York the first team to advance out of the newly minted Wildcard round. The first playoff match was televised on FSC. However, with the Colorado/Columbus match not scheduled to be televised nationally, MLS smartly made the match available to all fans via the website.

A doubleheader of CONCACAF v CONMEBOL friendlies to check out this evening:

USA vs Ecuador at Red Bull Arena 7pmET ESPN2, Univision, ESPN3.com

Mexico vs Brazil in Torreon 9:30pmET ESPN2, Univision, ESPN3.com

Six countries are set for the final round of CONCACAF Women's Olympic Qualifying, set to be held from Jan. 19-29 at BC Place in Vancouver, Canada.
The USA, Canada and Mexico get byes to the final tournament while Haiti, the Dominican Republic and Cuba qualified through the Caribbean region.

Today US Soccer announced the roster for the women's team when they visit KC to take on Canada on September 17th at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. The roster contains all 21 players from the USA's run to the World Cup final this year in Germany. It'll be a nice doubleheader for those wanting to go out on that Saturday as following the US game they'll be showing the Sporting KC vs Real Salt Lake game.

By AVI CREDITOR

BOYDS, Md. -- It took a half, but the Maryland men's soccer team put together a performance that merited the team's preseason No. 5 ranking in the SBI/Fox Soccer Top 25.

Sophomore Patrick Mullins and junior John Stertzer scored four minutes apart to snap Maryland out of a funk and break a scoreless deadlock early in the second half, and the Terrapins defeated St.

BOGOTA – I checked off a "global first" this morning: I watched English Premier League Soccer from Colombia.

Oh, have I mention that I am in Colombia?

I arrived last night, got some shut-eye then hopped up for food and EPL on the tele down at the breakfast bar.

Independence Day is typically a big event in Major League Soccer and teams around the league hope to extend the celebration across three days with a loaded slate of games coming this weekend. Most teams work their July 4th matches around fireworks shows and thus bring big crowds to their stadiums.

Photo by Don Feria/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

An old-school California derby renews itself this weekend when Los Angeles and San Jose get together at Buck Shaw Stadium.

Although the Superclasico between the Galaxy and Chivas USA has gotten most of the state's rivalry headlines in recent years, the Los Angeles-San Jose feud has more history on its side.

Since it is now past midnight and I can feel the caffeine-induced coma creeping around my eyes, I'll fire off some quick thoughts here on what I could gather from Mexico's 2-0 defeat over Honduras. - First and foremost, Wednesday's nightcap was the showcase of the doubleheader. Make no mistake. I wondered aloud where this reported sell-out was during the U.

We have my US Player Ratings and the day's two clips, plus whatever Will brings forth from Houston after the doubleheader ends.And now... off to pillow land for me. Have a good one, folks.- Greg Seltzer

By FRANCO PANIZO

HOUSTON, Texas - In the end, the U.S. men's national team got the last laugh against Panama.

The United States got vengeance for its group stage loss to Panama, defeating Los Canaleros, 1-0, in the first match of a semifinal doubleheader at Reliant Stadium on Wednesday night.

The first of the two semifinals - U.S.-Panama - is still on-going as I write this, but CONCACAF officials have just announced that all 90,000 tickets have been sold at the Pasadena venue.

I'm guessing most of those buyers are not expecting a Panama-Honduras final, although the U.S. is currently tied 0-0 with about 25 minutes to go in the second half with the Central American nation it lost to earlier in the tournament.

By Clemente Lisi – WASHINGTON, DC (Jun 21, 2011) US Soccer Players – The USA's collision course with Mexico remains very much alive at this Gold Cup. That seemingly inevitable final match-up between CONCACAF's two best teams is the likeliest outcome from Wednesday's semifinal doubleheader at what's expected to be a full Reliant Stadium in Houston.

By FRANCO PANIZO

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. men's national team will face Panama in the Gold Cup once again.

After playing to a 1-1 draw through 120 minutes, Panama defeated El Salvador, 5-3, on penalty kicks in a crazy second game of Sunday night's quarterfinals doubleheader at RFK Stadium.

I've haven't had the experience of attending many professional soccer games. Over the last number of years, I've seen D2 and PDL games in St. Louis. They are a great deal of fun, but the only time I've previously seen world-class player up close on the pitch was when I was twelve years old and Pele and his Santos club played a friendly with the old NASL St.

The IMSoccer News staff was well-represented in Kansas City last Tuesday for the Gold Cup Group C doubleheader featuring matches between Panama-Canada and the USA- Guadeloupe. Superfan Tim Hayes, photographer Jeremy Olson and myself were all in attendance at the sold-out, brand-new LIVESTRONG Sporting Park and it was a fantastic couple of days in KC.

In a game that the United States couldn't lose if they wanted to continue on in the Gold Cup, they got an early start from their offense on Tuesday night in Kansas City. After Guadeloupe hit the cross bar, the US responded with a 9th minute goal from Jozy Altidore. That was enough for the 1-0 win and a trip to RFK Stadium to play Jamaica on Sunday.

A busy soccer weekend just passed and it's leading into more football goodness all week with the start of the Gold Cup.
But first off, some of the American Outlaws decided to meet up at Fox & Hound close to Lockhart Stadium stadium to watch the USA vs Spain game. this was a pinful game to watch as the American's were schooled by a much better Spanish side.

Tuesday night in the 2011 Gold Cup saw two Caribbean teams, Jamaica and Grenada, and two Central American teams, Honduras and Guatemala, play each other in Group B action at the Home Depot Center in Southern California.
The night's opening match between Jamaica and Grenada continued the one sided, multi goal scoring match that started the tournament in Arlington, Texas on Sunday night.

The Gold Cup got underway last with a doubleheader in front of a sold-out crowd at the Cowboys Stadium. The fans got what they came for as they saw ten combined goals and blowout victories by two of the tournament favorites.

Costa Rica opened the Gold Cup with a 5-0 rout of Cuba. Los Ticos took an early lead as Marco Urena scored his first of two goals on the day in the seventh minute of the Group A match.

The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup got off to interesting start Sunday night with Group A action at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas. While there was a much ballyhooed attendance of over 64,000 at the United States v. Spain friendly at Gillette Stadium on Saturday night, there was over 80,000 on hand to watch Costa Rica take on Cuba and Mexico play El Salvador.

By FRANCO PANIZO

The Gold Cup got underway with a doubleheader in Texas on Sunday, and ten combined goals were scored in blowout victories by two of the tournament favorites.

Costa Rica opened the Gold Cup with a 5-0 rout of Cuba. Los Ticos took an early lead as Marco Urena scored his first of two goals on the day in the seventh minute of the Group A match.

By FRANCO PANIZO

The Gold Cup got underway with a doubleheader in Texas on Sunday, and ten combined goals were scored in blowout victories by two of the tournament favorites.

Costa Rica opened the Gold Cup with a 5-0 rout of Cuba. The Ticos took an early lead as Marco Urena scored his first of two goals on the day in the seventh minute of the Group A match.

We took a few weeks off from our guide to the upcoming weekend's televised matches. It's perhaps an odd time to resurrect it, just after the climax of the European club season but actually perhaps it's more necessary now that we're asking ourselves what exactly are we supposed to watch, now that they're done playing in Europe?

As MLS continues its battles for American mainstream status, it must always look to stay relative in the sports fan's consciousness. Scheduling games on Memorial Day is a no-brainer. It is a day of reflection, a day of remembrance and a day off from work. It is the perfect day to create new memories.

Time for a Monday wrap of the weekend that was in American soccer. We'll start with the Fox's efforts to promote its Saturday afternoon broadcast of the upcoming Champions League Final. The game will feature as part of a "split" doubleheader on Fox that includes the match at 2:00 and a 7:00 baseball telecast.

Today on the KC Star's website, Robb Heineman was involved in a chat and gave out plenty of little bits of information regarding the team. No real earth shattering information, but certainly some interesting information. With the Star running the Q&A, it was a chance for some fans to try and get some questions in that might be screened if the team had done the Q&A.

Time is running out to get tickets for the CONCACAF Gold cup games June 14 at Livestrong Sporting Park.

Tickets are almost sold out for the international games. The Tuesday doubleheader features USA against Guadeloupe and Canada vs. Panama.

For tickets, visit www.goldcup.org. Tickets range from $45 to $142.

The SEPTA schedule for Saturday's soccer doubleheader | The Goalkeeper

Jonathan Tannenwald gives Union fans the info on SEPTA's schedule for tomorrow's Union and Independence games.

Photo by Greig Cowie/ISIphotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

Lost in the shuffle amid the announcement of Manchester's United's full U.S. schedule Tuesday, Sporting Kansas City announced a friendly against another English Premier League club with plenty of tradition -- Newcastle United.

The USA will face Canada, Panama and Guadeloupe in the 2011 Concacaf Gold Cup. The Americans open against Canada at Detroit's Ford Field on June 7. The regional championship opens June 5 at Cowboys Stadium, where Mexico faces El Salvador in the second game of a doubleheader.
The 2011 Gold Cup champion and CONCACAF representative to the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil will be crowned on June 25 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.

From today's Chicago Fire Weekly Notes:

De los Cobos continues to refine his training camp roster and following the third week of training the Fire released supplemental draft selection Amani Walker and trialists Jordan Seabrook, Eric Ustruck, Evan Schwartz, Fabian Burbano, Anderson Costa and Jocian Bento.