New York Cosmos U23 to Compete in USL Premier Development League

A week after the New York Cosmos launched the Cosmos Copa at the the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland, the United Soccer League announced that the New York Cosmos U23 team will compete in the USL Premier Development League (PDL) exhibition schedule in 2011.Led by current Cosmos Academy East Director Giovanni Savarese, the U23 team formally become competitors in the 2012 season. By competing in an exhibition schedule, the New York Cosmos U23 is ineligible for this year's playoffs or the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. However, the Cosmos U23 team will have the opportunity to compete against teams already competing in the PDL.“We are excited to have one of the top names in world soccer joining the Premier Development League,” USL CEO Alec Papadakis said. “New York Cosmos U23 is led by experienced and ambitious management who know how to run a first-class operation, and their participation will only strengthen the thriving PDL presence in the greater New York area. This relationship is a natural progression based on their strong relationship with Umbro, USL’s most important and longest standing partner.”Once eligible for the 2012 season, the New York Cosmos U23 team ...

Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Red Bull New York: Highway to the Danger Zone

New York vs. Los Angeles is always an exciting rivalry. It's akin to a certain Kenny Loggins chart-topper..."Revvin' up your engineListen to her howlin' roarMetal under tensionBeggin' you to touch and goHighway to the Danger ZoneRide into the Danger Zone..."After struggling to find their footing or their scoring touch in the heavy rain against FC Dallas, Bruce Arena will hope that there will be no rain and better play from his Los Angeles Galaxy when they host Hans Backe's New York Red Bulls on Saturday, May 7 at the Home Depot Center in Carson, California.Although the Galaxy still have Major League Soccer's best overall record at 4-2-3 (15 points), Los Angeles blew a golden opportunity to gain momentum ahead of one of the most significant contests of the season.The match is certain to be star-studded, with the Galaxy's Landon Donovan, David Beckham and Juan Pablo Angel taking on New York's Thierry Henry, Rafa Marquez and rising young up-and-comer Juan Agudelo.The Red Bulls come into the contest as the leaders of the MLS Eastern Conference with a 4-1-2 record (14 points).Offensively, New York is a scoring juggernaut, with a league-leading goal differential of plus-8. A major component of this offense for ...

Soccer WAGs USA: Ranking the Hottest Wives and Girlfriends of US Soccer

The term WAG originated in England to collectively term the wives and girlfriends of the English football team at the 2006 World Cup.It quickly became a worldwide term and has spread to the United States, a country well versed in glamarous and stunning women.Here we look at the hottest women connected with the men of US soccer, spanning the MLS and the US national team players spread throughout the world.Enjoy the aesthetics!Begin Slideshow

2011 MLS Power Rankings: Week 7

Dearly beloved of Bleacher Report, we are gathered here today to celebrate the life of Real Salt Lake at the top of the MLS Power Rankings.It was a fine run, marked by success and consistency that ended too soon, and in too cruel a fashion.Such is the game of association football, where being in form does not necessarily mean a team will stay on top of any ranking if one below has a little extra intangible to work with.We are also gathered here to celebrate a new face at the top of the power rankings in the New York Energy Drinks-er, the New York Pink Cows-er, the New York Red Bulls.By the way, is it New York Red Bulls or Red Bull New York? Blast it; that's akin to asking whether it's Kraft Macaroni and Cheese or Kraft Cheese and Macaroni. (Actually, it's Kraft Dinner, but it only applies if you're Canadian.)The spiel is ended, go in peace...to this week's Power Rankings.Cue the choir from Westminster Abbey.Begin Slideshow

Forgettable Day for Los Angeles Soccer as Galaxy, Blues Crumble

The first of May 2011 will go down as a lousy day for the Los Angeles area soccer teams.This is different from the last day of April, in which Chivas USA did the business against the New England Revolution. Both Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy and Charlie Naimo's dropped critical matches in their respective leagues.The Galaxy fell late in the second half thanks to Brek Shea's 88th minute heroics 2-1, while the Blues did not play like the Blues and were left singing the blues in a 1-0 shutout defeat to Antigua Barracuda FC. Antigua Barracuda FC, of all teams!A now-not-so-diminutive club from the tiny island nation of Antigua and Barbuda, which happens to be home to the 100th-best national team in the world.Oh yeah. So much for Antigua being just a cricket country. That's a full-blown lie, as Steffan Smith proved in the 24th minute on a hot, dusty, stifling, excruciating afternoon at Titan Stadium.One has to give credit to the fans who bothered to show up to the home opener on Sunday, because they were dealt a cruel, unacceptable, unforgivable injustice in the form of the Los Angeles Blues playing nowhere close to the team that stormed through ...

Major League Soccer Week 7: Recapping All 9 Matches

Week seven of the 2011 Major League Soccer season featured some great matches, and some great individual performances.In a week full of action that saw all 18 clubs play, an expansion team pulled of a major upset, a rookie scored a hat trick to lead his team to victory, and a late goal from distance brought down a conference leader.Multiple players also scored their first MLS goal this week.The following slides will recap each match.Keep in mind that this is not a ranking list, and the matches are in no particular order.Begin Slideshow

A Goal to Remember: Charlie Davies’ Road Back to Greatness

63rd minute. 1-0 game. One chance to do what he does best. One chance to step up to the mark, silence the doubters, and prove all the hard work was worth it. One chance to go back to the way it was. One chance to change everything.Goal.It was hard to fight back the overflowing waves of water in my eyes when Charlie Davies slotted home his first professional goal in over 15 months for DC United. On a cold October evening in Arlington, VA, Davies was severely injured in a fatal car crash hours before a USMNT match in 2009. While the crash did not erase Davies' life, it most certainly should have cut short a career filled with potential. Davies was given the chance to live, and we all were hoping he made the most out of his opportunity. Davies began extreme rehabilitation with the USMNT trainers and was determined to return for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Such a quick return seemed unfathomable in October, but in February a possible World Cup showing for Davies was a decent possibility. A dispute between his club and the USSF however left Davies off the USMNT's final squad for South ...

MLS: New York Red Bulls Honor Mike Petke with 1-0 Win over Sporting KC

Harrison, NJ - On the night the New York Red Bulls honored former defender and current individual development coach and business operations manager Mike Petke in a pregame ceremony, the Red Bulls won 1-0 over Sporting Kansas City.After losing 1-0 to the Philadelphia Union at PPL Park three weeks ago, the Red Bulls have won three consecutive games by a a combined score of 8-0. With the win, the Red Bulls have regained sole position of the Eastern Conference lead where they are currently competing against the Philadelphia Union, Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew in this young 2011 MLS season.For Sporting Kansas City, their downward-spiral continues. Since losing designated player Omar Bravo because of a sports-hernia injury, they've lost for the third consecutive time while remaining in last place in the Eastern Conference. Despite their losses, Kansas City has continued to play valiantly for the past three weeks as lost each contest on a one-goal differential.For Kansas City, this was their sixth consecutive road game. Due to the Livestrong Sporting Park still under construction, Kansas City was left with no other alternative than to begin their 2011 MLS campaign with 10-road games. Their record of 1-4-1 does not reflect the ...