After losing their first match of the final round of World Cup qualifying to Honduras, the US need a win against Costa Rica to improve moral and banish grumblings of discontent within the team. That task was complicated a bit by the weather conditions in Colorado though, as a snow storm hit before the match that covered the pitch in white powder.
ESPN is pulling out all the stops for its coverage of the USA's World Cup qualifiers Friday against Costa Rica and Tuesday at Mexico.
The Mexico-USA telecast will feature a one-hour pre-game show originating live from Mexico City, marking the first time ESPN is airing a one-hour pre-game preceding a World Cup qualifying match.
Sounders FC in their early MLS history end home streaks. First up was Columbus and then
destroying the RioT of RSL. Next up is New York Red Bulls who are yet to lose in 2012 (5-0-2 +9)
and ended with a three match regular season streak last year. There's also the little issue of 3
time zone travel that Seattle sports fans know so well.
German superstar Michael Ballack has been linked repeatedly with a move to MLS outfit Montreal
Impact but at the moment, he looks way too comfortable in his role as a Euro 2012 analyst for
ESPN.
Ballack recently concluded his second stint with Bundesliga side Bayer Leverkusen after making
35 appearances for them since moving back from Chelsea in 2010.
For what it's worth so early in the tournament, here are my Power Rankings for all
sixteen countries up to and including the second round of games in Group A. I'm sure you'll
disagree but use the comments feature to pass your own opinions and give us your
rankings:
Strange weekend for the middle of a Major League Soccer campaign. With World Cup qualifying
and the Euro 2012 taking center stage, there was only one MLS match over the last couple of days.
Perhaps the biggest soccer match in the United States over the weekend featured Argentina and
Brazil in a much hyped friendly between the two South American powers.
The United States National Team squared off against Brazil on Wednesday night and the match was
televised on ESPN2. The game broadcast featured Ian Darke and Taylor Twellman, ESPN's primary
international team. The pairing of Darke and Twellman makes for an interesting contrast with
NBC's primary broadcast team of Arlo White and Kyle Martino.
U.S. goalkeeping legend Kasey Keller has traded in his boots for a microphone and will be part of
the ESPN broadcast team for tonight's match against Brazil. With the U.S. looking for only its
second ever win against Brazil, it's serendipidous to have the man who recorded a clean sheet in
the USA's first and only victory.
The US hosts Costa Rica in a FIFA World Cup Qualifier tonight at Dick's Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colorado, tonight (ESPN, WatchESPN and UniMas from 7 p.m. CT.). Inpreparation for the matchUS Soccer has posted some classic video's of the two sides. So I'm putting them up here for your enjoyment.
Estadio Azteca is one of the most historic stadiums in the world that presents a rare and imposing
opportunity for players. The Mexicans have only lost eight times in their history at this vaunted
venue.
Landon Donovan and former U.S. veterans Kasey Keller talk about the value and the experience of
playing here.
Welcome to tonight's In-Game Blog for the match between the U.S. Men's National Team and Brazil.
We'll have all the information on this international friendly for the USA, including lineups,
pre-game facts and in-game notes from Landover.
MLS player acquisition rules can be quirky. One of those is Allocation Ranking (sometimes called Allocation Order). Seattle used Allocation Ranking, or a trade directly after the use of Allocation, to acquire Kasey Keller (#1), Sammy Ochoa (traded for #3), Eddie Johnson (traded for after Montreal used #1) and Marcus Hahnemann (traded for after Toronto used #3).
SEATTLE - U.S. legend Tony Meola was in town to do some promotional work for Allstate, an MLS sponsor. While he was around, he obliged me with a lengthy interview on all things national team-, goalkeeping- and Seattle-related.
Read the bulk of the interview at American Soccer Now, but here are a couple of tidbits that make more sense for our audience.
One of, if not the hottest, soccer tickets in the world is in Seattle this weekend, where the Sounders will host their biggest Cascadia rivals the Portland Timbers on Sunday.
Ticket sales have surpassed 66,000 for the match, according to a Seattle Times report.
Setting: Saturday, May 5 at CenturyLink Field in Seattle,
Wash.; kickoff scheduled for 4:52 PM Eastern
Broadcast Information: NBC Sports Network (Arlo White, Kyle
Martino) nationally, with coverage beginning at 4:30 PM Eastern / 97.3 KIRO-FM (Ross Fletcher,
Kasey Keller) and La Gran D 99.
The first soccer operations move the Union made was the one that sold me on the team. When, in
2009, the Union announced the hiring of United States U-23 coach Peter Nowak as manager, it
signaled--at least to me--that the team was putting careful thought into how the team would be
constructed. Nowak, even before becoming the face of the Union--and due respect to, at different
times, Danny Califf, Sebastien Le Toux, and the Sons of Ben, he is--has been considered something
of a legend in Major League Soccer.
With Major League Soccer off to an impressive start to its 17th season, there are several things of
note that have come up. MLS on NBC has started off well, but not amazingly well. NBC Sports has
doubled the MLS audience of Fox Soccer Channel, but that's to be expected. MLS Live is a fantastic
use of $60 for any matches you might not get and for anyone who was wondering, Kasey Keller is
doing a fine job as an announcer.
It was going to take a special kind of goalkeeper to replace Kasey Keller. Lucky for the Sounders, that's exactly what they found in Austrian Michael Gspurning.
SEATTLE: His name is Michael Gspurning, not Kasey Keller, and he has worked hard to imprint the distinction.
At the end of his first Major League Soccer season, the Seattle Sounders goalkeeper no longer toils in the shadow of one of the best goalkeepers in U.
It only takes one goal. In a battle of two defensive-minded teams, just one shot has to make it's way into the back of the net. Such was the result on an historic Thursday night as the Seattle Sounders finally punched their ticket to the Western Conference Finals.
Oh, who am I kidding. I can't stay straight faced on this.
Last year the San Jose Earthquakes game managed a huge crowd powered by the retirement of Kasey Keller. This year it is rivalry that is the engine for Seattle's massive crowds. Most teams in MLS draw crowds of this size by facing teams like Manchester United or Barcelona or Real Madrid. Here, in the greater Puget Sound the team does that, but also draws for teams like the LA Galaxy, the Vancouver Whitecaps and the Portland Timbers.
Osvaldo Alonso's lasting memory of the 2012 U.S. Open Cup may not be a great one, but he can at
least take solace in being named the "Player of the Tournament" by theCup.US. Alonso was one of
three Seattle Sounders players not to convert his attempt in the decisive penalty shootout, but he
was undeniably a major reason they were even there to begin with.
Part of Gordon R. Dickson's Childe Cycle is the story Lost Dorsai. It involves
a young military musician from a warrior caste who has chosen not to kill. During the climax of the
story he is part of a small force besieged by a much larger army. The larger force comes from a
Hidalgo culture.
As you surely realized, there was a bye this week. But that doesn't mean we were going to take
the week off. Instead, I think we put together quite the show.
Our guest this week is Darren Sawatzky (@dtarzan66). He might not yet be a household name among
Seattle Sounders fans, but give it a few more years.
Three home games. Three very different opponents. Three wins.
On a superficial level this is an impressive statistic in its own right. Historically MLS squads
do not feature tactical flexibility. But reviewed in the context of the injury report, this result
takes on a different significance.
Let it be known that Ross Fletcher can roll with the punches as good as anyone. The new Seattle
Sounders announcer joined us on the show this week and stuck around for all three segments. It's a
little part getting-to-know-Ross and a much bigger part of just having him join in on the fun.
In addition to learning some basic biographical information about Ross (yeah, we're totally on a
first-name basis with him now), we get to know how he likes working with Kasey Keller and we help
goad him toward a wrestling match with his predecessor Arlo White.
After three straight seasons of playoff disappointment, the Seatte Sounders are back for 2012,
and it could be their most important season in franchise history.
The Sounders' narrow loss in the Western Conference Semfinals of the 2011 MLS Cup Playoffs left
a bitter, yet familiar, taste in the mouths of its devoted fans.
By Connor Walsh The 2012 Major League Soccer is nearly upon us. Indeed tonight, three MLS sides
take to the pitch in the CONCACAF Champions League, all with a chance to do what Real Salt Lake
nearly did a year ago: deliver MLS its first continental championship. Back in league play, the
2011 fairytale ending [.
Name:Â Seattle Sounders Coach:Â Sigi Schmid Last Year: 18-7-9, 2nd Western Conference, 2nd Overall
Hashtag: #Sounders Are Sounders fans too demanding? Â In its current iteration, the club is
entering its fourth MLS season and has made three consecutive conference semifinals. They own
...
Adam Johansson charging up the right flank to serve in threatening crosses will take some
getting used to for the Seattle Sounders FC defense. How they respond - splitting three backs wide
or dropping a center mid into the empty space - is a decision that is situationally dependent. It
is also one that won't be made by the singular vocal leadership of Kasey Keller.
A couple days after he announced the signing on Twitter, the Seattle Sounders officially
announced the signing of Andrew Weber. The goalkeeper is expected to be Michael Gspurning's top
backup, but will likely be fighting with Bryan Meredith for that spot throughout the season.
"Andrew adds a goalkeeper who has had Champions League experience with Montreal and who has been
in MLS for the last few years," Sounders coach Sigi Schmid said in a team release.
It's been 20 years since the U.S. has lost to Scotland, the team's first opponent in the "five-game
tournament" that begins May 26 at EverBank Field. In fact, it's 20 years to the day ...
On May 17, 1992 at Mile High Stadium in Denver, the U.S. fell 1-0 in front of 24,157 fans. A young
Kasey Keller minded the net that day in front of a back four that included recent National Soccer
Hall of Fame inductee Desmond Armstrong.
YEEHAA!!! In honour of Clint Dempsey's exemplary exertions this season; superseding Louis
Saha's previous record (13) as Fulham's single-season Premier League goalscorer by knocking in
his 14th, 15th, and 16th league goals of the campaign over the Easter weekend and taking his
overall 2011/12 tally to 22 in the process we thought we'd offer an 'umble doff of our cloth caps
to the best rootin' tootin' Yankee Doodle American players to ply their trade this side of the
pond.
The initial reaction among U.S. Men's National Team fans to the news of Tim Howard's current injury was understandable. Shock and fear seemed a normal way to respond to the news that Howard would likely miss this month's World Cup qualifiers considering Howard has started virtually every important U.
Since coming over in a trade with Kansas City prior to the 2010 season, Kevin Hartman has been nothing short of a rock between the posts for FC Dallas. After claiming the starting spot for his own early in 2010 and never looking back, "El Gato" has been as dependable and hard-working as they come even now at age 38.
Someone once said that there are more important things than sports for the city government to be focused on accomplishing. Mike Gastineau's response was to prove that sports fans can celebrate sports and support their community. What is now the KJR Kares-A-Thon does just that. It raises money for local charities (this year's partners are the Northwest Literacy Foundation, Central Area Youth Association and the Lorenzo Romar Foundation) while also helping sports fans have unique experiences.
This is Eric Beard's second piece for The Shin Guardian. Eric is
Wikipedia-like on global soccer. He founded and created the excellent A Football
Report and he also is a recent great pick-up for The NY Times.
It seems like the M.O. for Sporting KC this year has been to employ the high pressure on their
opponents, create giveaways and create a number of chances in the game, while limiting the chances
that their opponents get. Last night though, Sporting KC reversed that role a little bit. KC still
employed some high pressure, but an early goal for Jacob Peterson allowed Sporting KC to sit back a
little bit and basically told the Crew "OK come and beat us.
At this time last year, the Portland Timbers were just eight games into their inaugural season,
and they were already creating a reputation for a dangerous ability to score goals off corner kicks
and free kicks.
By May 8 the Timbers had scored eleven goals, seven from set pieces. Portland's next game came
against Seattle, when Futty Danso famously got his head above Kasey Keller's outstretched mitts and
redirected Jack Jewsbury's long free kick for the score.
Without Kasey Keller, Sounders prefer leadership by committee | MLSsoccer.com
As you may have heard, I've became the Sounders beat writer for MLSsoccer.com. The good news is
that you'll still be getting plenty of me. The bad news is that I might not be writing quite as
much here. Do drop in and say hi.
