Soccer Insider: October 10, 2010 - October 16, 2010

Video: Columbus Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer scores tying goal in final moments against Toronto

With time melting away at BMO Field and his club trailing Toronto FC by a goal, Columbus Crew goalkeeper Will Hesmer scored the equalizer off a corner kick -- the second goal scored by a keeper in MLS history (Danny Cepero of New York did it in 2008 against the...

By Steve Goff  | October 16, 2010; 6:34 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (14)
Categories:  MLS  | Tags:  MLS  
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Matchday: D.C. United at Chicago Fire

Greetings from Chicagoland, where D.C. United will play its final away match of this sour season and Brian McBride, American legend, will bid farewell to the Toyota Park supporters in the Fire's home finale. It's a sunny, breezy day in Bridgeview for a meeting between clubs heading into an uncertain...

By Steve Goff  | October 16, 2010; 2:23 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (18)
Categories:  D.C. United, MLS  | Tags:  D.C. United  
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Video: USA's Sammy Ochoa scores winning goal for Tecos in 2-1 victory over Atlas

Two minutes after entering, American forward Sammy Ochoa powers in an eight-yard header to lift Tecos to a 2-1 victory over Atlas in the Mexican league Friday night. Ochoa, 24, played for the United States at the 2005 U-20 World Cup in the Netherlands. He was born in Mexico but...

By Steve Goff  | October 16, 2010; 1:20 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (4)
Categories:  Americans Abroad, Mexico  
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Brian McBride's home farewell to take place Saturday when Chicago Fire faces D.C. United

Brian McBride, one of American soccer's most honorable and accomplished players, will be honored in pregame, halftime and postgame festivities Saturday when the Chicago Fire hosts D.C. United -- McBride's final match at Toyota Park (Telefutura, Comcast SportsNet/DC, 4 p.m. ET). He will close his career next weekend at Chivas...

By Steve Goff  | October 15, 2010; 2:21 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (21)
Categories:  MLS, U.S. men's national team  | Tags:  MLS  
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U.S. Soccer withdraws from 2018 World Cup host consideration, will focus on 2022 bid efforts

The United States has withdrawn its bid to host the 2018 World Cup and will focus on efforts to stage the 2022 tournament, officials announced today. With FIFA, soccer's international governing body, expected to select a European bid for the '18 event, the move by the USA Bid Committee, first...

By Steve Goff  | October 15, 2010; 11:57 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (26)
Categories:  FIFA, USA World Cup bid, USSF  
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MLS expansion draft on the horizon for Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps

With the MLS regular season set to end next weekend, the eight clubs not competing in the playoffs will begin turning attention to the 2011 roster and the expansion draft, which will supply 10 players apiece to the Portland Timbers and Vancouver Whitecaps. The draft will take place Nov. 24,...

By Steve Goff  | October 14, 2010; 5:30 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (31)
Categories:  MLS  | Tags:  MLS  
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Weekend soccer TV listings

What are you going to watch? (All times are Eastern) FRIDAY Germany, Cologne-Dortmund 2:30 p.m. GolTV NCAA men, UMBC-Boston University 8 p.m. Fox Soccer Channel Mexico, Tecos-Atlas 9 p.m. Galavision MLS, Seattle-Chivas USA 11 p.m. ESPN2, ESPN Deportes NCAA men, UC Santa Barbara-Duke 11 p.m. FSC SATURDAY Germany, Bayern Munich-Hanover...

By Steve Goff  | October 14, 2010; 3:55 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (6)
Categories:  TV  | Tags:  soccer on TV  
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Landon Donovan and Steve Nash, together again in an amusing EA Sports campaign

I didn't think much of the first installment of the EA Sports' campaign featuring Landon Donovan and NBA star Steve Nash, but the second one is good fun. Watch:...

By Steve Goff  | October 14, 2010; 12:57 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (15)
Categories:  MLS, TV, U.S. men's national team  | Tags:  Landon Donovan  
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Thursday kickaround: Chilean miners, French attitudes, Toronto apology, MLS news, Ronaldinho 'tied up', Terrapins in action

We begin today with a toast to the Chilean miners, who are safe and sound after 69 days a half-mile below the Earth's surface. What does this have to do with soccer? Come on, you should know by now that all global events inevitably lead to soccer. Chileans celebrated the...

By Steve Goff  | October 14, 2010; 9:36 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (31)
Categories:  Chile, College Soccer, France, Italy, MLS  | Tags:  MLS  
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20 players named to U.S. roster for CONCACAF Women's World Cup qualifying in Mexico

Twenty U.S. players have earned a trip to Cancun -- for CONCACAF Women's World Cup qualifying. The tournament runs Oct. 28 to Nov. 8. Two nations will advance directly to next summer's World Cup in Germany, while a third team will face a European opponent in a two-game playoff. More...

By Steve Goff  | October 13, 2010; 4:42 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (11)
Categories:  CONCACAF, Women  | Tags:  women's soccer  
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Jaime Moreno's farewell match with D.C. United next week will not be televised

Jaime Moreno will conclude his D.C. United career Oct. 23 against Toronto FC at RFK Stadium, a final bow after 14 seasons with the club, 132 regular season goals, four MLS Cup titles and a portfolio of memories that would fill the National Archives. Few, if any, Washington pro athletes...

By Steve Goff  | October 13, 2010; 3:01 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (37)
Categories:  D.C. United, TV  | Tags:  D.C. United  
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Some final thoughts and observations from the U.S. national soccer team's 0-0 draw with Colombia

*Let's not get caught up in results. This is the dead period -- three months after the World Cup and many months before anything meaningful comes along. The 2-2 draw with Poland and 0-0 stalemate with Colombia were as revealing as the 2-0 win over El Salvador in the fall...

By Steve Goff  | October 13, 2010; 3:49 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (48)
Categories:  U.S. men's national team  | Tags:  U.S. national team  
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Matchnight: USA vs. Colombia friendly

Greetings from the shores of the Delaware River for tonight's friendly between the United States and Colombia at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. Nice view. Pleasant evening. Since the alarming news broke on the Insider last week that only 6,000-plus tickets had been sold for this second U.S. friendly...

By Steve Goff  | October 12, 2010; 6:02 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (41)
Categories:  U.S. men's national team  | Tags:  U.S. national team  
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NCAA men's and women's soccer rankings

The National Soccer Coaches Association of America has again unanimously selected Akron and Stanford as the No. 1 teams in the country: MEN 1. Akron (23 first-place votes) 9-0-1; 2. Louisville 8-0-2; 3. North Carolina 8-2-0; 4. Maryland 7-2-1; 5. Connecticut 8-1-2; 6. Virginia 8-2-1; 7. SMU 11-1-0; 8. UC...

By Steve Goff  | October 12, 2010; 1:58 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (2)
Categories:  College Soccer  | Tags:  college soccer  
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Soccer on TV, Tuesday edition: European Championship qualifiers, friendlies, Copa Sudamericana, MLS

(All times are Eastern) Euro qualifier, Kazakhstan-Germany 1 p.m. ESPN Deportes, ESPN3.com Euro qualifier, Denmark-Cyprus 2:15 p.m. ESPN3.com Euro qualifier, Slovakia-Ireland 2:30 p.m. ESPN3.com Euro qualifier, Netherlands-Sweden 2:30 p.m. ESPN3.com (tape at 5 on ESPN Deportes) Euro qualifier, England-Montenegro 3 p.m. Fox Soccer Plus, www.foxsoccer.tv Euro qualifier, Scotland-Spain 3 p.m....

By Steve Goff  | October 12, 2010; 12:00 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (12)
Categories:  TV  | Tags:  soccer on TV  
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Tuesday kickaround: Boskovic at Wembley, Fire vs. Wizards, Maryland and Virginia matches, Iraqi soccer movie

*D.C. United's Branko Boskovic and his upstart Montenegro teammates are at Wembley today for a meeting of unbeaten nations in a 2012 European Championship qualifier (3 p.m. ET, Fox Soccer Plus). Other tasty matchups: Scotland-Spain, Netherlands-Sweden, Italy-Serbia and Slovakia-Ireland. I will post the complete TV/online viewing options at noon. *The...

By Steve Goff  | October 12, 2010; 10:40 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (7)
Categories:  College Soccer, D.C. United, England, European Championship, MLS  | Tags:  European Championship, MLS  
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U.S. news & notes: friendly vs. Colombia in Philly, Charlie Davies update, Marcus Hahnemann future

Hope everyone enjoyed Columbus Day. Especially Crew supporters. We begin on a somber note: One year ago today, while in Washington ahead of the U.S. national team's final World Cup qualifier, Charlie Davies broke curfew to socialize with friends. A few hours later, in the early morning of Oct. 13,...

By Steve Goff  | October 12, 2010; 9:23 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (17)
Categories:  U.S. men's national team  | Tags:  U.S. national team  
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Video: Brazil 2, Ukraine 0

In a friendly played at Derby County's Pride Park in England, Dani Alves and Alexandre Pato scored for the second time in five days as Brazil defeated Ukraine, 2-0:...

By Steve Goff  | October 11, 2010; 5:26 PM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (3)
Categories:  Brazil  | Tags:  Brazil  
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Sunday kickaround: U.S. roster, Charlie Davies, MLS playoffs, Americans abroad, Virginia scores 10

*U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra will return to French club Saint-Etienne and not be available for Tuesday's friendly against Colombia at PPL Park in Chester, Pa. (8 p.m. ET, ESPN2). The arrangement was put into place when Bocanegra was called up last week. Yes, technically, because it's an international fixture date,...

By Steve Goff  | October 10, 2010; 11:56 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (44)
Categories:  Americans Abroad, College Soccer, France, MLS, U.S. men's national team  | Tags:  Charlie Davies, U.S. national team  
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Video: USA 2, Poland 2

By Steve Goff  | October 10, 2010; 6:34 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (12)
Categories:  U.S. men's national team  | Tags:  U.S. national team  
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D.C. United rewind: 2-0 loss to Earthquakes

Ben Olsen's opening comment during his postgame media conference said it all: "More of the same today, more of the same." In so many ways. Plenty of possession in the first half, no menacing quality in the final third, a little bad luck, an opponent comfortably absorbing pressure and then...

By Steve Goff  | October 10, 2010; 12:10 AM ET  |  Permalink  |  Comments (17)
Categories:  D.C. United  | Tags:  D.C. United  
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