First Round June 18 Austin Lone Stars (D3 Pro) 4 Tucson Amigos (Premier) 2 June 20 San Jose Inter SC (USASA) 0 San Francisco Bay Seals (D3 Pro) 4 Central Coast Roadrunners (Premier) 4 Albuquerque Geckos (D3 Pro) 2 June 24 Wilmington Hammerheads (D3 Pro) 2 Mid Michigan Bucks (Premier) 3 Chicago Stingers (D3 Pro) 2 Milwaukee Mequon United (USASA) 0 June 25 Philadelphia Freedom (D3 Pro) 1 Lincoln Brigade (Premier) 1 (Philadelphia wins on penalties.) Tulsa Los Lobos (USASA) 0 Central Jersey Riptide (D3 Pro) 1 June 26 Rhode Island Stingrays (D3 Pro) 2 Bridgeport Italians (USASA) 3 Second …

Here are current 1997 season-ticket sales for the 10 MLS teams, as well as their season-ticket sales for 1996: Team '97 sales '96 sales Pct. MetroStars 7,760 8,581 90% New England 6,728 5,220 129% Columbus 6,477 9,078 71% D.C. United 3,534 3,031 117% San Jose 3,358 2,808 120% Kansas City 2,899 4,115 70% Los Angeles 2,882 3,226 89% Tampa Bay 1,704 1,126 151% Dallas 1,562 2,605 60% Colorado 990 2,205 45% TOTAL 37,893 41,995 90%

The U.S. U-17 men's national team will test themselves against some of the finest U-17 teams in the world when they host the Born in the USA tournament July 4-6 in Macon, Ga. The U.S. will be joined by Nigeria (the 1993 U-17 world champions), Brazil (the 1995 runners-up) and Ghana (the 1991 and 1995 world champions). The tournament will provide further preparations for the U.S. squad, which (like Ghana and Brazil) will be competing at the FIFA U-17 world championship Sept. 4-21 in Egypt. All matches will be played at the Stratford Soccer Complex in Macon. Tickets can be …

The following is the schedule for the 1997 Women's European Championship to be played June 29-June 12 in Sweden and Norway. Group A June 29 -- France-Spain, Sweden-Russia. July 2 -- Sweden-Spain, Russia-France. July 5 -- Russia-Spain, Sweden-France. Group B June 30 -- Germany-Italy, Norway-Denmark. July 3 -- Italy-Denmark, Norway-Germany. July 6 -- Norway-Italy, Denmark-Germany. Semifinals July 9 -- Group A No. 1 vs. Group B No. 2, Group B No. 1 vs. Group A No. 2. Final July 12 -- Group A No. 1-Group B No. 2 winner vs. Group B No. 1-Group A No. 2 winner.

MLS TV Schedule for June 28 Date Match Kickoff (ET) Channel June 28 Los Angeles at Tampa Bay 7:30 p.m. KTLA-Los Angeles June 28 Kansas City at Colorado 8: 00 p.m. ESPN2 June 28 Dallas at San Jose 10:30 p.m. Fox Sports Southwest MLS Yellow Card Update 23 points -- Steve Trittschuh (Colorado). Note: Trittschuh was suspended for the last Rapids game for accumulating 21 points. 18 points -- Michael Emenalo (San Jose), Tony Sanneh (D.C. United), Antony De Avila (MetroStars), Ivan McKinley (Tampa Bay). 16 points -- Joao Batista (Tampa Bay). 15 points -- Matt …

June 25 in East Rutherford, N.J. MetroStars (MLS) 1 Alianza Lima (Peru) 1. Goals: Savarese (Lagos, da Silva) 79; Chevez (Hinostroza) 76. MetroStars -- Thornton, Semioli, Joao Luiz, Harty, Lagos, Joseph, Donadoni, Zavagnin, Kelly, Ramos, De Avila. Subs: Wood for Joseph in 46th minute, Rizi for Zavagnin in 46th, Savarese for De Avila in 46th, da Silva for Ramos in 64th. Alianza Lima -- Del Mar, Basombrio, Marulanda, Ruiz, Salazar, Hinostroza, Dos Santos, Valencia, Mosquera, Muchotrigo, Ribeiro-Bujica. Subs: Chevez for Ribeiro-Bujica in 64th minute, Gonzales for Dos Santos in 69th, Vasquez for Muchotrigo in 79th. Referee: Raul Dominguez. Att.: 15,127. …

The organizing committee for the 1999 Women's World Cup has narrowed the field of potential host stadiums down to twelve finalists in nine communities throughout the U.S. The final candidates are: Legion Field (Birmingham, Ala.), Foxboro Stadium (Foxboro, Mass.), Ericsson Stadium (Charlotte, N.C.), Soldier Field (Chicago), Coliseum (Los Angeles), Rose Bowl (Pasadena, Calif.), Giants Stadium (East Rutherford, N.J.), Civic Stadium (Portland, Ore.), Spartan Stadium (San Jose, Calif.), Stanford Stadium (Palo Alto, Calif.), RFK Stadium (Washington, D.C.), and Jack Kent Cooke Stadium (Washington, D.C.). The two stadia in Northern California are part of a joint bid, while the stadia in Southern …

MLS Senior Vice President of Operations William C. Sage announced today that five players have been fined for incidents occurring in recent matches. Tony Meola has been fined $750 for post-game comments and actions recorded in The Star Ledger on June 22. The comments were made after the MetroStars 2-1 loss to Columbus on June 21. Ralph Perez, the MetroStars assistant coach, has been fined $250 for approaching the referees on the field after the June 21 game and arguing with officials about certain calls made during the match. Columbus head coach Tom Fitzgerald has been fined $250 for deliberately …

The U.S. will host Ecuador in an international friendly match at Memorial Stadium in Baltimore, Md. on August 7 at 7:30 p.m. eastern (live TV on ESPN), U.S. Soccer announced today. The match marks the first national team appearance in Baltimore in nearly 25 years. With the U.S. having over two months between qualifying matches against El Salvador (June 29) and Costa Rica (Sept. 7), the Ecuador match will be a critical tune-up opportunity for the U.S. Tickets for the match (priced from $16-$40) will go on sale Monday, June 30 at 10:00 a.m. (ET) at all Baltimore and Washington, …

June 26 in Kangar Japan 1 Australia 0. Goal: Yanagisawa 44. Japan -- Minami, Toda, Miyamoto, Jojo, Myojin, Hiroyama, Yanagisawa, Yamaguchi, Ono, Nagai (Yamashita, 46), Nakamura. Australia -- Milosevic, Emerton, Zelic (Baser, 46), Blatsis, Foxe, Damianos, Grella (Gonzalez, 81), Curcija (Allsopp, 78), Salapasidis, Sinozic, Robertson. Att.: 8,000. June 26 in Johor Bahru Argentina 2 England 1. Goals: Riquelme pen. 9, Aimar 26; Carragher 48. Argentina -- Munoz, Cufre, Samuel, Serrizuela, Cambiasso (Cubero, 78), Markic, Quintana (Scaloni, 46), Riquelme, Romeo, Aimar (Perezlindo, 86), Placente. England -- Lucas, Crowe, Wallwork, Curtis, Morris, Carragher, Humphreys (Euell, 77), Murphy, Dyer, Jackson, Owen. Att.: 17,000. …

June 26 in Santa Cruz Brazil 7 Peru 0. Goals: Denilson 2, Flavio Conceicao 28, Romario 36, 48, Leonardo 45, 61, Djalminha 78. Brazil -- Taffarel, Cafu, Aldair, Goncalves, Roberto Carlos, Dunga (Mauro Silva, 66), Flavio Conceicao, Denilson, Leonardo (Djalminha, 69), Ronaldo (Edmundo, 66), Romario. Peru -- Miranda, Reyna (Saenz, 66), Dulanto, Rebosio, Torres, Hidalgo, Munoz, Magallanes, Palacios (Palomino, 66), Cominges, Carranzas (Prado, 66). Att.: 20,000. Third-place match: Mexico vs. Peru in Oruru, June 28. Championship: Bolivia vs. Brazil in La Paz, June 29.

Uruguay scored three goals in a 17-minute span of the first half and held on for a 3-0 victory over the USA in a second round match at the World Youth Championship in Malaysia. The loss eliminates the U.S. from the competition. Marcelo Zalayeta scored twice for Uruguay, which pressured the U.S. from the outset. After near misses in the 19th, 20th and 22nd minutes, Zalayeta latched onto a pass from teammate Cesar Pellegrin at the top of the penalty area and drilled a shot past U.S. keeper Andy Kirk to put the South Americans on top. Ten minutes later, …

MLS TV Schedule for June 25-28 Date Match Kickoff (ET) Channel June 25 Tampa Bay at Kansas City 8:30 p.m. SportsChannel Florida June 28 Los Angeles at Tampa Bay 7:30 p.m. KTLA-Los Angeles June 28 Kansas City at Colorado 8: 00 p.m. ESPN2 June 28 Dallas at San Jose 10:30 p.m. Fox Sports Southwest MLS Yellow Card Update 23 points -- Steve Trittschuh (Colorado). Note: Trittschuh was suspended for the last Rapids game for accumulating 21 points. 18 points -- Michael Emenalo (San Jose), Tony Sanneh (D.C. United), Antony De Avila (MetroStars). 16 points -- Joao …

Chicago-area native Peter J. Wilt has been named GM of the new MLS Chicago franchise that will begin play in 1998, it was announced June 24. "Peter is a dynamic and proven leader," said Anshutz Chicago Soccer, Inc. president Bob Sanderman, who introduced Wilt to the media. "His success in marketing the sport of soccer and putting together quality teams will flourish in Chicago." Wilt, 37, has a decade of experience in pro soccer. He spent four years as the marketing director of the NPSL's Milwaukee Wave before joining the Chicago Power as GM from 1990-94. He has spent the …

Features Can anybody match Etcheverry's MLS price? By Ridge Mahoney U.S. rounds out Hex prep with a win By Duncan Irving Cautious Brazil disposes of Paraguay Argentina outdoes itself in Sucre fiasco Ronaldo transfer showdown likely U.S. U-20s go through despite pair of losses Venables enjoys trip Down Under Columns Soccer Talk -- Time to rewrite the dissent rule? By Paul Gardner Short Passes By Lynn Berling-Manuel From The Field -- Can Reebok establish soccer identity? By Marianne Bhonslay Departments

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