Soccer By Ives

Howard to appear on ESPN Sunday morning

 

by GIANFRANCO PANIZO

If you have always wanted a more in-depth look at U.S. men's national team goalkeeper Tim Howard then Sunday morning will be perfect for you.

Howard, who is coming off his record 16th cleansheet for Everton, is set to appear on ESPN's Sunday Conversation this Sunday at 10 a.m ET as reporter Chris Connelly dives into topics ranging from Howard's time with the Toffees to how he dealt with tourette's syndrome growing up.

If you are not a morning person or if you have plans Sunday morning, then you can look for the segment to re-air at 6 p.m. ET.

The roster for the Costa Rica and Honduras World Cup qualifiers is also set to be released on ESPN's SportsCenter Sunday morning.

Will you be up to watch the feature on Tim Howard Sunday morning? Or will you be TiVoing it? Upset that you have to wait until Sunday to see the U.S. roster for the upcoming qualifiers?

Share your thoughts below

Free symposium on soccer injuries set for Monday in New Jersey

  

If you are a soccer player, coach or parent in the New Jersey/New York/Connecticut/Pennsylvania area who has always want to know more about how to manage and prevent soccer-related injuries, a special event slated for Monday evening could help provide the information you have been looking for.

The Tri-State Soccer Medical Symposium is taking place on Monday at 7 p.m. in West Orange, New Jersey. A free educational program for soccer injuries and prevential, the symposium features some of the leading figures in sports and soccer medicine. The event will also feature U.S. national team legends Tab Ramos and Claudio Reyna, who are both featured speakers at the symposium.

The symposium will take place at Mayfair Farms (481 Eagle Rock Avenue, West Orange, NJ). To register for the event, send an email to TriStateSoccer@gmail.com.

Clarifying the Bernardo story (and more Bernardo answers)

There has been some controversy and confusion regarding comments made by U.S. youth national team forward Vincenzo Bernardo last week, comments attributed to him as part of an interview conducted by Soccer By Ives last week.

Soon after the above comments were released by SBI last Friday, Bernardo came forward on his personal website and stated that his quotes were misrepresented and that playing for the United States is his first choice, now and in the future.

In the interest of clarity and full disclosure, we are running the full statement made by Bernardo to SBI about his national team future, along with the question that triggered the response (You can also find Bernardo's answers to some more SBI questions after the jump):

Libertadores champions to play in All-Stars for Hope Charity Match

A day after the word came out that the New York Red Bulls would not take part in the All-Stars for Hope Charity Soccer Match at Giants Stadium on June 14th, now comes word that the event's organizers have lined up a new club to take part.

Copa Libertadores champions and recent FIFA Club World Cup runners-up LDU Quito are set to take part in the event, which is set to include such world stars as Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard. Sources have told SBI that a deal is being finalized to bring in the Ecuadorian club to replace the Red Bulls, which never reached an agreement with organizers to participate.

For more information about the match, go to the All-Stars for Hope website.

What do you think about Liga de Quito playing at Giants Stadium? Think it is a good opponent? Can you see the area's large Ecuadorian community coming out in force? Will you be attending this match?

Share your thoughts below.

All Stars for Hope Charity match won't include Red Bulls

One of the most anticipated soccer events of the summer in the New York area is the All Stars for Hope Charity Match, an event to raise money for schools in impoverished parts of the world. For months now, the match was to feature a team of European-based superstars vs. the New York Red Bulls, at least that is what had been rumored.

As it turns out, the New York Red Bulls will not be taking part in the event after the club failed reach an agreement with organizers the event, scheduled for June 14th at Giants Stadium.

The all-star match, which is set to include such world stars as Cristiano Ronaldo, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba and Frank Lampard is rumored to now include an unidentified South American club. No other details yet are available on the new opponent for the all-star team.

The Red Bulls released this statement from managing director Erik Stover on Tuesday:

New Jersey Ironmen kick off XLS season today

 

The New Jersey Ironmen begin their second year of existence and first in the newly-formed Xtreme Soccer League when they take on the Chicago Storm today at the Prudential Center in Newark at 4pm.

The four-team XSL began its first season of existence on Saturday, with the Milwaukee Wave beating the Detroit Ignition, 11-4, on Saturday night.

Here are some stories previewing the Ironmen and the Storm.

Will you be taking in XSL action this season? Will you be attending the Ironmen opener today? I will be doing a piece in the fledgling league on Monday so keep an eye out for that.

For more information on the Ironmen, visit the team's website.

Share your thoughts on the new league, and indoor soccer in general, in the comments section below.

ESPN2 to air FC Barcelona-Red Bulls friendly

ESPN has announced that ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes will air the Aug. 6 friendly between FC Barcelona and the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium (7 p.m.).

Barcelona will be making its first appearance at Giants Stadium since defeating the Red Bulls in a friendly, 4-1, two years ago.

Led by French star Thierr Henry and Euro 2008 standouts Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol, Barcelona's star-studded squad is expected to draw more than 50,000 to the match (though Lionel Messi's likely absence due to Olympic duty could keep the match from coming close to a sellout.)

MISL disbands, could Ironmen be gone for good?

The Major Indoor Soccer League has disbanded in a move league officials say is a temporary one made in order to reorganize the league and prepare it for more changes and possible entry into new markets.

One market the league may not return to next season is the New York/New Jersey area, with sources telling SBI that the New Jersey Ironmen could be out of business after just one season. The Ironmen drew a large crowd to its first home match at Prudential Center in Newark, in large part to an appearance by Pele, but the club struggled all year to draw crowds, making the financial viability and future of the Ironmen extremely questionable.

What does the future hold for the MISL? That is anybody's guess.

What do you think of this news? Have you gone to indoor matches? Do you think the league is doomed to fail? Share your thoughts on the MISL disbanding, and Ironmen potentially disappearing, below.

Barcelona officially announces U.S. Tour (Chicago and New York)

Major League Soccer and Spanish giants FC Barcelona officially announced its tour of the United States on Friday, with dates in Chicago (Aug. 3 vs. CD Chivas de Guadalajara at Soldier Field) and New York (Aug. 6 vs. New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium).

Now that the matches are finally official, you can start making your plans. Tickets go on sale on June 2 (for the Chicago game) and June 3 (for the Red Bulls game) to the general public, with special pre-sales for Fire and Red Bulls fans before that.

What do you think of the news? Share your thoughts below.

American soccer notes: Dempsey's new deal, the Olympic streaker returns and USA-Argentina tix update

Here are some U.S. soccer-related tidbits for you to get you through your afternoon (morning on the West Coast) funk:

Dempsey's new deal

Fulham midfielder and U.S. national team star Clint Dempsey has signed a new deal with Fulham. That is at least one American who will be back with the Cottagers next season (I would imagine Brian McBride makes two).

No deal for Matt Kassel: A Closer Look

Matt Kassel won't be showing up in any MLS box scores this season. He won't be making history as the first youth academy product to play for a senior MLS team (at least not yet). He won't show up on the field like some American version of Bojan Krkic, a teenager ready to dominate a professional league.

Ultimately, the Red Bulls made a decision of prudence, a decision that won't sit well with fans already exasperated by a relatively uneventful off-season on the player acquisition front. Perhaps that desperate feeling led some fans to see Kassel as a ray of hope, a young prospect who could give them something to root for in a season some see shaping up to be another in a long line of disappointments.

Lost in all that is the reality that Kassel isn't ready for MLS right now, and while adding him to the club would have been good for him and the Red Bulls, it just wasn't a practical move to make right now.

USA-Argentina tickets go on sale at noon today

                                                                                  Photo by ISI Photos

If you are a U.S. national team fan with plans of seeing the USA-Argentina friendly at Giants Stadium, and you weren't one of the fortunate souls who took part in the VISA-sponsored pre-sale this weekend, get your phones and computers ready.

Tickets go on sale at noon today and if the pre-sale is any indication, tickets are going to go quickly. According to U.S. Soccer sources, more than 20,000 tickets have already been sold through the special pre-sale, which lasted less than a week.

The match, scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on June 8, has tickets ranging from $35 to $195.

Tickets can be purchased on USSoccer.com or by phone at (201) 507-8900 (in New Jersey) or (212) 307-7171 (in New York).

USA-Argentina officially set for June 8 at Giants Stadium

U.S. Soccer (finally) made the official announcement that the U.S. men's national team will face Argentina at Giants Stadium on June 8. As SBI reported on March 5, the two sides have agreed to a rematch of last summer's Copa America match (which Argentina won, 4-1, against what amounted to a U.S. B team). Kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. and the match will be aired on ESPN Classic and Galavision.

The friendly will come just 11 days after the USA faces England at Wembley Stadium, just four days after the United States is set to face Spain in Santander on June 4,  and a week before the U.S. team's World Cup qualifier against Barbados at Home Depot Center on June 15.

Angulo leaves Revs as talks with MLS stall

New Jersey-bred striker Jose Angulo has left the New England Revolution after failing to come to terms on a contract with Major League Soccer, a source close to Angulo told SBI.

Angulo has spent most of the pre-season recovering from a knee injury and became a victim of the numbers game as New England has loaded up on forwards, adding young Costa Rican forward Argenis Fernandez and seeing Kenny Mansally emerge as a threat to start for the Revs.

The former St. Benedict's Prep star never had a chance to train with the Revs this pre-season after suffering a torn meniscus early in camp. New England wanted to see Angulo train with the team before signing him but Angulo chose to leave camp after it became clear that he was unlikely to receive an offer better than a minimum salary deal ($34K a year).

Where will the two-time high school all-american go next? We should find out soon enough.

Morning Ticker: Giusfredi update, Fulham's Cousin deal and Kanu eyes Aussie move

Good morning all. Okay, I know, it isn't even really morning anymore on the East Coast (although I say before noon counts as morning). It's morning somewhere though, like the West Coast, where folks are just making their way to work.

Whether you've already made it through the winter mess on the East Coast, or are enjoying the sun out West, here are some news nuggets to get you through the early afternoon and morning.

Giusfredi in talks with Nalchik. From the "Oh, THAT Spartak" department comes word that former Seton Hall standout Eliseo Giusfredi is in contract discussions with Russian Premier League club Spartak Nalchik, not Spartak Moscow. A source close to Giusfredi clarified this for me this week.

So where did the Moscow link come from? It came from Giusfredi, who may not have understood the difference between the clubs when discussing his potential move to Europe. Yes, there is a slight difference between the clubs. One is a Russian power set to play in the UEFA Cup Round of 16, the other is a small team that finished in 12th place in the 16-team Russian league last season. It also didn't help that both clubs were in Spain recently for pre-season training.

It's probably better that Giusfredi is at Nalchik, where he may actually have the chance to play right away. I will keep you posted on Giusfredi's progress toward landing a professional contract.

Fulham deal for Cousin delayed. From the department of the absurd comes news that Fulham's transfer bid for Rangers forward Daniel Cousin is STILL on hold. Yes, the transfer window closed two weeks ago but Cousin is still in limbo. Or is he. Apparently Cousin will still be allowed to play for Rangers in their UEFA Cup tilt this week.

Here's my question. If and when Cousin does go to Fulham, just how will the Cottagers find minutes for him, Dempsey, McBride, Johnson and Kamara?

Real Madrid eyes match vs. Red Bulls in August

Spanish champions Real Madrid could be headed to New Jersey, and may be playing the Red Bulls in the process.

Real Madrid is negotiating a deal to play the Red Bulls at Giants Stadium in August, multiple sources told SBI on Monday. Real Madrid could still play another European club, but the Red Bulls are the front-runners to be the opponent.