A dramatic final night of World Cup qualifying has seen all of the 32 places decided with European powerhouses France and Portugal going through.
The final 32 for next summer's World Cup finals will become a bit clearer after this weekend's round of qualifying matches -- with four of the nine remaining places available for South Africa 2010 to be determined over the next 48 hours.
For just the second time in MLS history, a team won the Supporters' Shield while compiling less than 50 points during the regular season. Columbus' 13-7-10 record was good enough to lock down the league's best regular-season record, but such a mark doesn't exactly compare well to previous Supporters' Shield winners.
The group stage of the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League is over, and there are a handful of strange lingering sensations. The tournament won't resume until next year, and there's a sense of longing and impatience with that. It was an enjoyable spectacle for fans throughout CONCACAF; that the quarterfinals won't get underway until March is a bit disappointing.
In its most trying year since 2001, Mexico survived and came out stronger at the end because of it. By the midway point of the CONCACAF Hexagonal, El Tri had lost three World Cup qualifiers and fired its coach as panic was entrenched in the country. But Mexico went 4-0-1 down the stretch and wound up qualifying with relative ease after all was said and done.
Some of the world's top footballers remained eligible -- barely -- to compete in next year's World Cup after tense matches late Wednesday in Europe and South America.
ARLINGTON, Va. -- This was not how the U.S. soccer team had intended to follow up its newly won World Cup berth. This was not how rising-star forward Charlie Davies had hoped to become a trending topic on Twitter.
Mexico and the United States will be going to the 2010 World Cup finals after winning their penultimate matches in CONCACAF qualifying on Saturday night.
Mexico is back, or so the Hexagonal table says. El Tri needs just one win to get into South Africa 2010 and complete its remarkable comeback. A win over El Salvador on Saturday (6 p.m. ET, Telemundo), combined with other results, could catapult Mexico into first place, and it could remain there until the final round of CONCACAF qualifying ends on Oct. 14.
June 6 was so long ago. On that night in San Salvador, a team wearing white, calling itself Mexico, went down to hosts El Salvador 2-1. The result slid Mexico into fifth place in the Hexagonal, and the possibility of missing out on South Africa seemed real.
A dramatic final night of World Cup qualifying has seen all of the 32 places decided with European powerhouses France and Portugal going through.
The final 32 for next summer's World Cup finals will become a bit clearer after this weekend's round of qualifying matches -- with four of the nine remaining places available for South Africa 2010 to be determined over the next 48 hours.
For just the second time in MLS history, a team won the Supporters' Shield while compiling less than 50 points during the regular season. Columbus' 13-7-10 record was good enough to lock down the league's best regular-season record, but such a mark doesn't exactly compare well to previous Supporters' Shield winners.
The group stage of the 2009-10 CONCACAF Champions League is over, and there are a handful of strange lingering sensations. The tournament won't resume until next year, and there's a sense of longing and impatience with that. It was an enjoyable spectacle for fans throughout CONCACAF; that the quarterfinals won't get underway until March is a bit disappointing.
In its most trying year since 2001, Mexico survived and came out stronger at the end because of it. By the midway point of the CONCACAF Hexagonal, El Tri had lost three World Cup qualifiers and fired its coach as panic was entrenched in the country. But Mexico went 4-0-1 down the stretch and wound up qualifying with relative ease after all was said and done.
Some of the world's top footballers remained eligible -- barely -- to compete in next year's World Cup after tense matches late Wednesday in Europe and South America.
ARLINGTON, Va. -- This was not how the U.S. soccer team had intended to follow up its newly won World Cup berth. This was not how rising-star forward Charlie Davies had hoped to become a trending topic on Twitter.
Mexico and the United States will be going to the 2010 World Cup finals after winning their penultimate matches in CONCACAF qualifying on Saturday night.
Mexico is back, or so the Hexagonal table says. El Tri needs just one win to get into South Africa 2010 and complete its remarkable comeback. A win over El Salvador on Saturday (6 p.m. ET, Telemundo), combined with other results, could catapult Mexico into first place, and it could remain there until the final round of CONCACAF qualifying ends on Oct. 14.
June 6 was so long ago. On that night in San Salvador, a team wearing white, calling itself Mexico, went down to hosts El Salvador 2-1. The result slid Mexico into fifth place in the Hexagonal, and the possibility of missing out on South Africa seemed real.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- The U.S. national team may not have been popping champagne corks on its charter flight back to Miami on Wednesday night, but these are the facts after the Yanks' ugly-but-valuable 1-0 (RECAP) win over T&T here: Only a collapse of epic proportions could now prevent the U.S. from qualifying for the 2010 World Cup.
Mexico and the United States both secured narrow 1-0 victories in their North and Central America and Caribbean (CONCACAF) zone games to maintain their momentum towards qualification for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad -- There are times, when you sit and talk for more than hour with U.S. coach Bob Bradley, that you wonder if he's a sort of soccer version of Rain Man.
Jonathan Spector laughs when asked about the father of one of his close friends, who also happens to coach the U.S. national team.
Here comes another round of international competition for three MLS teams, all of which aspire to lift the league trophy in November. Four-time MLS champion D.C. United and defending champ Columbus Crew open CONCACAF Champions League group play Tuesday against Honduran club Marathón and USL-1 upstart Puerto Rico Islanders, respectively. Houston, MLS Cup winner in 2006 and '07, plays Isidro Metapán of El Salvador Wednesday.
MEXICO CITY -- As fate would have it, Landon Donovan scored his first international goal against Mexico, in a 2-0 friendly win in 2000. Unsurprisingly, he's been reviled down here ever since.
MEXICO CITY -- The CONCACAF Gold Cup is long over, and Mexico's 5-0 drubbing of the U.S. last month was left in the past well before the two teams met again here in Wednesday's World Cup qualifier. But the tournament's impact not only has steered the U.S.-Mexico rivalry in a different direction, it also has seemed to awaken the Mexican national team.
In a tournament that screamed for a new champion, the status quo won out. The U.S. and Mexico once again are facing each other in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final, and for the second consecutive time, the two hated rivals will battle it out for regional supremacy.
In the context of the U.S. national team's glittering performance at the Confederations Cup last month and Oguchi Onyewu's lustrous move to AC Milan on Tuesday, the CONCACAF Gold Cup just doesn't seem that shiny, does it? It's more like a pewter mug: It obviously carries some heft -- this is the continental championship, after all -- but you won't get much for it down at the Acme Pawn Shop.
Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.
On the face, the task for the U.S. national team is simple: Start off defense of your Gold Cup title with a Fourth of July match in Seattle against one of the smallest nations in CONCACAF. Except that things work differently in CONCACAF, and though the days of guest competitors from other confederations and the wrong national anthems being played are things of the past, hopefully, just a few days before the tournament began came news of a curious development.
After drawing the attention of the world with its stunning run to the Confederations Cup final, the U.S. national team immediately turns its focus to the CONCACAF Gold Cup, where it begins its defense of its North and Central American title on July 4.
He went with his veterans against two of the best teams in the world and they let him, and the country, down with a crashing thud.
Just when MLS teams have hit their stride and have found some sort of cohesion, is it really a good time for a break? And not six weeks after the end of one season, Mexican league clubs are supposed to hit full throttle with new-look rosters?
What are reigning world champions Italy, European champions Spain, and football giants Brazil doing taking on teams like New Zealand and Iraq this month?
Mexico bounced back from two successive defeats to beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-1 on Wednesday and keep alive hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup finals.
CHICAGO -- Well, that was a relief. The U.S. national team emerged from its toughest week yet of 2010 World Cup qualifying, bruised but standing tall. After getting abused and flattened in Costa Rica 3-1 last Wednesday, the Americans responded by rallying on Honduras 2-1 Saturday at Soldier Field, its first comeback win in World Cup qualifying in 24 years. The end result is that the U.S. stands in second place halfway through the Hexagonal final round of CONCACAF qualifying with a 3-1-1 record and 10 points.
Contrary to popular belief, there's a very good reason for U.S. coach Bob Bradley not to rely on every MLS player who might be playing well when it comes to assembling a squad for Hexagonal qualifiers. In many cases, they don't measure up.
Just seconds after Costa Rica's third goal in the U.S.' 3-1 loss in Saprissa last week, the knives came out. They came in various forms: texts, emails, tweets, handwritten screeds on bathroom walls. The vitriol was loaded with so much venom you'd have thought Ann Coulter and Arianna Huffington were locked in a steel cage match.
CHICAGO -- A U.S. team, meticulously prepared and riding a wave of confidence, marched into hostile territory and proceeded to get ambushed. The whistle had barely blown before the Americans' game plan fell to pieces and they gave up an early, back-breaking goal.
With Atlante's scoreless draw over Cruz Azul in the second leg of the CONCACAF Champions League final on Tuesday, los Potros punched a ticket to the FIFA Club World Cup, where they could meet either Manchester United or Barcelona come December.
Arsenal's Mexican striker Carlos Vela has been given the all-clear to join up with their squad for the Champions League semifinal against Manchester United after a swine flu scare.
The outbreak of swine flu, that has killed more than 150 people in Mexico, has also affected the football world with the semfinals and final of the CONCACAF section of the under-17 World Cup, scheduled for Wednesday and Saturday, having been cancelled -- world governing body FIFA has confirmed on their official Web site.
Our weekly dose of Major League Soccer quick takes, plotlines to watch and Power Rankings.
After Ricardo Lavolpe's exit from the Mexican national team following the 2006 World Cup, the ensuing Cup cycle kicked off with the immensely popular Hugo Sánchez in charge in what was supposed to be a successful and memorable time for himself and El Tricolor.
When Sven-Göran Eriksson was appointed Mexico coach last year, the critics feared he would not have enough time to get to know the idiosyncrasies of the country's soccer or prepare himself for the difficulties of the region's World Cup qualifiers.
Last August, the U.S. began the semifinal round of CONCACAF 2010 World Cup qualifying by winning in Guatemala for the first time. Its first away test in the Hexagonal comes Saturday (9 p.m. ET, ESPN2, TeleFutura) in San Salvador, a city in which it has won and tied in two previous qualifying visits, so a victory won't be as historic. But it will be no less important, especially should Mexico, which lost 2-0 to the U.S. in Columbus, Ohio, last month, fail to beat Costa Rica in Azteca Stadium.
In 2001, Costa Rica pulled off the unthinkable. Los Ticos went into Mexico City's Estadio Azteca and walked away with a 2-1 World Cup qualifying victory. The so-called Aztecazo was one of the most important victories in Costa Rican history and still stands alone in CONCACAF as a monumental achievement.
Once considered the strongest team in Central America -- before it was overtaken by Costa Rica and Honduras -- El Salvador has reached the final stage of the CONCACAF regional World Cup qualifiers for the first time in 12 years. (El Salvador hosts the U.S. on Saturday in the second game of the Hexagonal.)
The way Francisco Marcos saw it, all he wanted was a chance. For years, the president and founder of the United Soccer Leagues felt his supposed second-tier teams deserved respect and recognition instead of banishment and obscurity. All they needed was a platform on which to perform.
After a nearly four-month break, the CONCACAF Champions League came back in full force this week. Four quarterfinal series kicked off with games held in Canada, the U.S., Puerto Rico and Mexico with return legs slated for Mexico and Honduras next week.
Life likes dualities: yin and yang, Democrat and Republican, Newton's Third Law of Motion (anyone remember it?). Sports does, too: Ali and Frazier, Celtics and Lakers, Lance Armstrong and the French media.
It was in the 69th minute of the U.S.' game in Mexico City's Azteca Stadium in 1997 that the Americans pulled it off. They got the Mexican fans, who numbered 114,000, to turn on their own team.
Watching Sacha Kljestan take apart Sweden on Saturday at the Home Depot Center could convince anyone he's primed and ready for a move overseas. Yet success isn't preordained for young Americans going to top-flight teams.
In CONCACAF, the latter part of 2008 was a contrast in styles between the top two nations. The U.S. breezed through World Cup qualifying and secured a spot in this year's final Hexagonal round with two games to spare. The Americans were able to use the last two qualifiers as proving ground for their youngsters and untested internationals and finished the year on a high note.
Mexico's Pachuca came from two goals down to beat African champions Al Ahly of Egpyt 4-2 to reach the semifinals of the Club World Cup in Tokyo on Saturday.
Honduras defeated nine-man Mexico 1-0 thanks to an own goal on Wednesday to advance to the CONCACAF finals in the battle for a place at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
If the cream rises to the top, then there should be little doubt which league is the best in CONCACAF.
In the next few days, names of players summoned by U.S. coach Bob Bradley for the next two CONCACAF World Cup qualifiers will begin to leak out, with the inclusion or lack thereof of Freddy Adu, Jozy Altidore, Eddie Johnson and Kenny Cooper drawing the most interest.
The U.S. advanced to the so-called Hexagonal -- still the coolest name of any tournament stage in sports -- on Saturday night with its 6-1 romp over Cuba. Usually, advancement in World Cup qualifying should spark a moment of joy, of celebration, of wild orgiastic running through the streets naked until a cop or a girl tackles you. Or something like that.
For the first time ever, CONCACAF teams have played competitive matches throughout the region in a short amount of time. The region's inaugural Champions League is underway and whether or not the tournament is viable or necessary is irrelevant now that the games have begun.
Is this the year New England finally breaks through to win the league title, and one of its players breaks new ground by winning the MVP award?
The greatest show on earth is back in action. If you're looking at these rankings and coming to the conclusion that Champions League play seems to dominate, good for you. That's the biggest mountain-moving criteria we're using this time around. To us, the grandest club tournament in the world is the best gauge to determine who the movers and shakers are.
Newly-crowned European champions Spain retained their status as world number one in the latest FIFA world rankings.
For the past decade, any time MLS officials made remarks about altering the regular-season schedule to accommodate international competitions, coaches and general managers knew it was time to reach for their collection of rock music, flip to the Led Zeppelin stack and pull out The Song Remains the Same.
Not too long ago, the U.S. hung a big number on Guatemala, but by all indications it won't happen Wednesday in Guatemala City when the nations kick off the semifinal round of CONCACAF 2010 World Cup qualifying (10 p.m. ET, ESPN2 and Galavision). The U.S. has won only once in nine trips to the Central American nation of 13 million people, and that lone 1-0 victory came 20 years ago on a goal by Jeff Agoos, a rarity indeed. It tied 0-0 three years ago and 1-1 in 2000 on its last two qualifying visits.
Two years ago a changing of the guard for the U.S. men's national team began, with the retirement of several veterans following a disappointing showing at the 2006 World Cup. On the eve of qualifying play for the 2010 tournament, not all of the questions that faced the national team at that time have been answered.
After a brutal soccer-less holiday season, many appetites across the Southwestern United States are starved for the beautiful game.
World Soccer's Paul Gardner recently sat down with U.S. Soccer Federation president Sunil Gulati to discuss the U.S. national team, coach Bob Bradley, MLS and the growing prestige of the game in America -- both inside and outside our borders.
A casual observer at CONCACAF's Olympic qualifying tournament may not be able to pick out the supposed regional powers after the competition's rocky start.
After stopping in San Antonio to play MLS opponents -- including each other -- in the Texas Pro Soccer Festival last week, Houston and D.C. United begin play Wednesday in the CONCACAF Champions' Cup quarterfinals sporting very different lineups than they did last year. In United's case, the look is drastically new.
South American giants Argentina have stayed top the FIFA world rankings for the fifth straight month.
Europe has the UEFA Champions League, South America has the Copa Libertadores. Almost by default, North America also has to hold an international club tournament that pits champion against champion.
If 2007 was an important and memorable year for the U.S. national team -- hired a new coach, Benny Feilhaber's miracle volley in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final, the Copa América (mis)adventure -- then '08 is shaping up to be the complete opposite: 12 months of pick-up games in the backyard.
FIFA hierarchy have voted to scrap the policy of rotating World Cup finals between the six continental confederations, following a meeting in Switzerland.
Being a league commissioner in American sports is a thankless gig. Unless you're a pioneer like Pete Rozelle or David Stern, you're not remembered for much besides being the guy in a sharp Armani who hands down steep fines or calls off tied All-Star games.
Also in this column: • Five SuperLiga matchups we crave • Mexicans in Champions League
Over the last three weeks, Mexican clubs have enjoyed more attention in the U.S. than they normally do -- at least among American soccer fans.
Dunga's career as coach of the Brazil national team couldn't have gotten off to a worse start, a disastrous 2-0 trouncing by Mexico in the Copa Am�rica opener for both sides.
Mexico's win against Costa Rica on Sunday wasn't pretty. The beautiful game was hardly on display in Houston's Reliant Stadium, as El Tri struggled with an undermanned Costa Rican side as fouls, dives and cards dominated.
OK, all you pessimistic doomsdayers out there (I'm looking at you, Jonah Freedman), you can settle down now and go back to your games of D&D. Or your oenology studies. Or whatever it is you do when you're not complaining about the U.S. national team's failure to run up the score on some CONCACAF midget.
Forgive Steve Ralston if he looked a little disoriented on Saturday. After all, the veteran New England Revolution midfielder only rolled into U.S. national-team camp a few days ago, nearly a week later than his teammates.
Mexico's 2010 World Cup campaign is in trouble.
This summer Mexico will compete in three important international tournaments spread out across the Western Hemisphere.
The U.S. is going to win the World Cup.
Like it or not, the Bob Bradley Era of the U.S. national team officially begins this week, as the 23 players he called in for the CONCACAF Gold Cup report to camp on Monday.
It's title time in Mexico. The Clausura 2007 comes to a close this weekend and four of the eight Liguilla playoffs-bound clubs look far better than the rest of the league, including those in the bottom half of the playoff table.
I don't know about you, I'm a little MLS-ed out. And I say that only as the overwhelmed editor of the SI.com soccer section; the fan side of me is still Major League Stoked. I honestly have never been this excited about our own American league.
MLS clubs, take note.
When it comes to matching up against Mexican clubs, MLS teams are like cattle being led to the slaughter.
Before Mexico kicked off the Hugo Sánchez Era against the United States a week ago, I figured the game would go Mexico's way. And I wasn't alone. In fact, before the game many of my colleagues were talking about how the U.S. pretty much had no chance against Mexico.
GLENDALE, Ariz. -- It's time to take the blinders off and face reality.
An internationally renowned club with heroes defending the team's colors. A trophy case filled with hardware proving the club's worth. An immense, global fan base that numbers in the millions.
Hosts Germany and holders Brazil were named in the top eight seeded teams for the World Cup draw on Tuesday along with England, Spain, Mexico, France, Argentina and Italy.
Goalkeeper Kasey Keller has been voted U.S. Player of the Year for the second time.
Trinidad & Tobago reached the World Cup finals for the first time after beating Bahrain 1-0 away in Wednesday's Asian/CONCACAF playoff second leg.
The draw for the three European zone World Cup play-offs will take place in Zurich next Friday, two days after qualifying ends - FIFA have announced.
Mexico secured their World Cup qualification by crushing nine-man Panama 5-0 at the Azteca stadium.
Bahrain and Uzbekistan will have to replay their World Cup play-off first leg match after being ordered to do so by FIFA.
Steve Ralston and DaMarcus Beasley gave the United States a 2-0 win over Mexico on Saturday to secure their place in the 2006 World Cup finals.
Englishman Bobby Houghton has been named as coach of Uzbekistan's national team, signing a contract on Monday until the end of the year.
Mexico's joint all-time record goalscorer Jared Borgetti is on the point of signing for English Premier League club Bolton Wanderers from Pachuca.
Mexico and the USA took one step nearer the World Cup finals in Germany next year with convincing victories in CONCACAF qualifying on Wednesday.
Costa Rica striker Whayne Wilson has dies, four days after being involved in a car accident.
The United States will open the home portion of the final round of World Cup qualifying with a home game against Guatemala in Birmingham, Alabama, on March 30.
Brazil midfielder Juninho Pernambucano has been ruled out of Wednesday's World Cup qualifier against Colombia with an ankle injury.
CONCACAF officials have sent a video of the United States-El Salvador World Cup qualifier to FIFA, following Saturday's ill-tempered match between the two teams.
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