7Jun/110
International Soccer Success at Citi Field May Motivate Mets to Invest in MLS
New York, NY (June 7, 2011)—Citi Field will not be home to “America's pastime” this Tuesday evening. Rather, the baseball stadium will be the home to “the world's game” when the national teams of Ecuador and Greece take the field at a soccer-converted Citi Field, the home the New York Mets. The Mets expect a sell-out crowd of approximately 50,000 fans to enthusiastically and passionately cheer on their respective teams. It will be a night of exuberance and celebration, full of international flair, like only international futbol can deliver. Bottom line: The event will be a tremendous sporting and financial success. The Mets ownership will look at another example of what the “New America” looks like. It is multicultural, multiracial, and a bulk of the community speaks Espanol and—yes, it is absolutely wild about futbol/soccer. This will be another vivid example of what the soccer market in NYC can deliver. The Mets ownership may not recognize many things, but it surely recognizes U.S. American dollars, regardless of whose pockets they come from. This soccer match, and another international game expected to be played this summer, may be the last tidbits of hard-marketing data that the Mets ownership groups needs to digest, ...7Jun/110
MLS Week 12 Recap: Mwanga Finally Finding His Form
It was an exciting week of soccer here in America. If you weren't painfully watching the USMNT get whooped by the World Champs, you were probably watching the great games that the MLS had to offer. Here are my weekly awards for Week 12 in the MLS. Team of the Week: San Jose Earthquakes—If you have been a consistent follower of my work and hate redundancy, I suggest you look away. After yet another big win for San Jose, I find myself reiterating that the Earthquakes are the most dangerous team in the MLS.Not because of their talent or their stadium (which fits less people than a high school cafeteria), but because of their current label as “irrelevant” by the majority of MLS teams. Every week top clubs take the trip down to San Jose and expect to come home with a trio of points and every week they leave Santa Clara disappointed.Even without Wondo the Quakes still have the X-Factor that makes them so fantastically deceptive against bigger budget teams. If any DC United fan is reading this, I suggest you email it to Ben Olsen before the game and maybe someone will finally get the memo. Player of the Week: ...6Jun/110
U.S. Soccer: 7 Reasons American Players Should Not Stay and Play in MLS
I have watched about 15 minutes of MLS soccer in my entire life. I have watched about 15 million minutes of European soccer. As Americans, we enjoy watching the best athletes in any given sport compete on the biggest stages possible. We love seeing Albert Pujols hit the 450-foot homer, Peyton Manning floating in the perfect pass. In soccer lingo, that would be equivalent to watching Cristiano Ronaldo whipping in the perfect free kick or Lionel Messi using his magic feet to fly by five defenders before scoring.Believe it or not, when it comes to soccer, the best players do not reside in the United States. And Americans do not grace the list of the best players in the world either.A debate has risen regarding Major League Soccer and its position as one of the more inferior leagues in the developed world. While the United States has done an excellent job of developing players (by their standards), its professional league has not grown at the same rate.Over the past decade, many of the best Americans have gone to Europe in an attempt to establish themselves as household names. While Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey have done very well in their stints ...6Jun/110
Real Salt Lake’s Jean Alexandre Named Major League Soccer Player of the Week
According to a report found on the team website, newly converted forward Jean Alexandre has been named the Major League Soccer player of the week for Week 12 of the Major League Soccer season. In only his second start this season, and filling in for a group of forwards that are either injured or playing in the CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament with their national teams, usual mid-fielder Jean Alexandre had responsibility in both goals scored in a 2-0 victory over the Vancouver Whitecaps.In just his second match playing as a forward for Real Salt Lake, Alexandre scored his first career goal and notched his first career assist.In the 32nd minute, Alexandre received a pass on a ball through the Whitecap defense from Real Salt Lake team captain Kyle Beckerman. After a couple of touches to set up a shot, he popped the ball over the goalkeeper to the far post.Late in the second half, he followed up his goal with his first career assist when he played a ball ahead to fellow forward Fabian Espindola, who struck home a one-on-one goal against the Whitecap goalkeeper.This is the first player of the week honor for Jean Alexandre, and the second for a ...6Jun/110
New York Red Bulls Extend Winless Streak to Six Games
The drought continues for the New York Red Bulls. Since their victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday, April 30 the Red Bulls have gone 0-2-5 in their last six games.Despite missing five of their regular starters due to their international call-ups, the Red Bulls were literary seconds away from a win until tragedy struck. For over 80 minutes, the Red Bulls led since Medhi Ballouchy's goal in the ninth minute. Ironically, Ballouchy ill-timed turnover started the domino effect for the Red Bulls.Just when it appeared the winless drought was about to end, Jeff Cunningham recovered the ball off Ballouchy's turnover. From there Cunningham proceeded to pass the ball to Shaun Francis and seconds later Columbus Crew rookie Rich Balchan scored the equalizer of a crisp laser pass from Justin Meram.The flustered expression on Red Bulls goalkeeper Greg Sutton after allowing the goal symbolized the feeling Red Bulls fans have been feeling for the past seven games. Moments later the Red Bulls and Columbus Crew match resulted in a 1-1 draw. For the Crew (3-3-6), Saturday night's match was almost as good as a win.Despite being in second place in the Eastern Conference, there hasn't been any evidence that the ...6Jun/110
Los Angeles Galaxy vs. Toronto FC: Production, Anyone?
Bruce Arena's Los Angeles Galaxy ran out of gas last Saturday in their scoreless draw with D.C. United. This Saturday, they have to put up with another team that they have been unable to produce goals against: Toronto FC.For the past three straight matches, Toronto and Los Angeles have played to scoreless draw. At some point in this series, there has to be a ball that goes past the end line.277 minutes without a goal. Whew. That is an eternity readers. With a capital E. The Home Depot Center, which will be a few days removed from the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup party van stopping by, is due for some scoring.One man that can get this job done for Los Angeles is the interim captain for the month of June: the one, the only...David Beckham.Beckham leads the team with seven assists and will be calling upon the power of the set piece slot machine to look for the payout in the form of potential scorers like former TFC forward Chad Barrett, who has three goals this season, and Juninho, who has two goals to his name.Other players like Miguel Lopez, Mike Magee and Omar Gonzalez could pay a role in ...5Jun/110
Houston Dynamo Send Three Players to CONCACAF Gold Cup 2011
Three Houston Dynamo players have been called up to represent their respective countries in the upcoming CONCACAF Gold Cup, which begins today, June 5, and runs through June 25. They will miss all Dynamo games beginning June 4 and will return immediately after their commitment to their national team is complete. The Gold Cup semifinals will be held in Houston on June 22 at Reliant Stadium. It may be possible to see these three Dynamo players performing before the home-town crowd if their respective teams advance through pool play.Begin Slideshow5Jun/110
Major League Soccer Needs More Spice!
Soccer is a rising sport in the United States.Currently second-tier compared to the old guard of football, basketball, and baseball, many estimate that in a decade, soccer will be mentioned in the same breath as America's most popular sports.The country's top level, Major League Soccer, has a lot of room for improvement. In a nutshell, Americans need more higher caliber players on more teams. The greater number of teams, passion is widespread from the coasts to the Heartland.MLS should make a few changes and additions to enhance a league which has come quite a long way since its 1993 inauguration.These suggested modifications would hoist MLS into the top tier of domestic leagues in the Western Hemisphere, if not Europe.Begin Slideshow5Jun/110
Real Salt Lake Finds Form Against the Vancouver Whitecaps
For a Real Salt Lake team that has been struggling for several weeks, a home match against the expansion Vancouver Whitecaps could not have come at a better time.Playing without three players—with their international teams—and missing Jamison Olave due to red card suspension, a shorthanded Real Salt Lake dominated the match with both possession and scoring opportunities from start to finish.The result was a 2-0 victory and three full points in the standings for Real Salt Lake.For the first time in several games, Real Salt Lake was able to score an early goal and take a lead into halftime.After a long buildup and a few good scoring chances that narrowly missed the goal, Jean Alexandre, getting his second straight start at the forward position, was able to punch one into the back of the net.In the 32nd minute, Alexandre received a great through ball from Kyle Beckerman at the top of the box, took a couple of touches and popped the ball over the goalkeeper to the far post.It was the first goal scored by Alexandre in his Major League Soccer career.The second half started much like the first ended, with Real Salt Lake dominating possession, and the Whitecaps being ...5Jun/110