Aly Wagner scored twice to give the U.S. under-21 women's national team a 2-2 tie with Sweden at the Nordic Cup in Hof, Germany, on July 30. Sara Johannson scored twice for Sweden, which took leads of 1-0 and 2-1 before Wagner's heroics. "Aly played a great game," said U.S. coach Jillian Ellis. "She carried the midfield and her goals were tremendous individual efforts." "I thought we struggled in the first half," Ellis added. "We seemed a bit tired and leg-less, and we had a few chances, but we really weren't in rhythm. We rallied in the second half and …

USA KASEY KELLER (6). Bravely cut off several lethal Costa Rican crosses in crowded goalmouth. Had no chance on the first goal - Fonseca's header was simply out of reach - and guessed wrong on penalty kick. TONY SANNEH (4). Sent nice ball to Razov, whose shot created the rebound for Stewart's goal. Somewhat shaky on defense, especially against Soto. GREGG BERHALTER (5). Bad luck all around. Though he made few mistakes and looked secure on the ball, he was beaten to a header on the U.S. corner kick that set off Tico counter for first goal …

The U.S. women's national team lost its final match of its five-game European tour, 2-1, to Norway. International Friendly July 30, 2000 in Oslo, Norway Norway 2 USA 1. Goals: Mellgren 62, Own Goal (Pearce) 81; Parlow 92+. Norway -- Nordby, Espeseth (Jorgensen, 60), Kringen, Sanduane, Tynnessen, S. Gulbrandsen (Boe Jensen, 55), Knudsen (Lehn, 85), Riise, Mellgren (R. Gulbrandsen, 90), Rapp (Haugenes, 66), Pettersen. USA -Mullinx, Pearce, Fawcett, Chastain (Whalen, 72), Slaton, Lilly, Fair (MacMillan, 65), Foudy, Akers (Serlenga, 46), Milbrett (Parlow, 60), Hamm. Misconduct Summary: USA -- Chastain (caution) 38. Ref.: Eva Odlund (Sweden). Att.: 15,762.

Championship Final Results (July 30): Under-16 Girls - Masotto Cup Southern California Blues (Dana Point) 1, Prince William Sparklers (Woodbridge, Va.) 0 (OT) Scorer: April Pettigrew (82) Under-16 Boys - Niotis Cup FC Westchester (N.Y.) 1, Tempe (Ariz.) Pros 0 Scorer: Steven Brown (80) Under-17 Boys - Greer Cup West Babylon (N.Y.) Panthers 1, Chicago Magic Sockers 0 Scorer: Shane Arikian (67) Under-17 Girls - Moynihan Cup San Diego Surf 1, Carmel (Ind.) Cosmos II 0 Scorer: Krystal Sandza (34) Under-18 Girls - Kelly Cup Colorado Rush Nike (Lakewood) 2, Michigan Hawks (Livonia) 0 Scorers: Kelly McDonald (68), Lindsey Dornseif …

The U.S. U-23s, joined for the first time by a possible wild-card selection, Jeff Agoos, beat Bolton (English First Division), 1-0, in a July 30 scrimmage. Note: The U.S. intentionally started the second half with just 10 players. Each team then made free substitutions throughout the rest of the match. U.S. U-23s 1 Bolton Wanderers 0 Venue: Kuntz Stadium, Indianapolis, Ind. Date: July 30 Att.: 5,327 Scoring: USA -- Sasha Victorine (Conor Casey) 19th minute. Lineups: USA -- Tim Howard; (Matt Napoleon, 46, Jeff Agoos (Ramiro Corrales, 46), Danny Califf (ejected, 59), Brian Dunseth (Capt.), Evan Whitfield; …

Quotes from the July 29, 2000 post-MLS All-Star Game press conference in Columbus, Ohio follow. The East beat the West, 9-4. Scoring Summary: EST -- Mathis (Chung, Ammann) 2 WST -- Razov (Jones, Preki) 17 WST -- Cienfuegos (Jones) 19 WST -- Razov (Jones, Azizi) 22 EST -- Moreno (Chung) 36 EST -- Valencia (Moreno) 39 WST -- Nowak (Jones, Preki) 44 EST -- Chung (McBride, Valderrama) 51 EST -- Diallo (Valderrama) 59 EST--Diallo (Valderrama) 61 EST -- Heaps (Diallo, McBride) 65 EST -- Washington (Petke) 67 EST -- McBride (Washington, Valderrama) 76 Don Garber, MLS Commissioner: (on soccer stadiums) …

My favorite postgame remark toward a referee has long been the one uttered by Ron Atkinson when he coached West Brom in a losing UEFA Cup effort. "It has always been my policy not to comment on referees, and I'm certainly not going to make an exception for this idiot," he said. Recent U.S. coaches have tended to be diplomatic with their comments on game officials. Bob Gansler used to brush off questions, saying referees were like the weather - you can't change them by complaining. Bruce Arena, after his team lost to Costa Rica on a …

MLS Commissioner Don Garber gave a State of the League address from an All-Star news conference at the Adam's Mark Hotel in Columbus, Ohio. Columbus Crew and Kansas City Wizards Investor/Operator Lamar Hunt introduced Garber. Don Garber Thank you, Lamar. It's a real pleasure to be here in Columbus to celebrate the fifth annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game. It's an understatement to say how important your vision and contributions have been to this league and to soccer in America. Thanks from all of us -- and thank you for hosting this year's All-Star Game. I'd like to welcome our …

Results from July 28, the final day of round-robin play at the USYSA national championships in Lake Buena Vista, Fla.: ò The Greer Cup (U-17 boys) final will pit the West Babylon (N.Y.) Panthers against the Chicago Magic Sockers. ò The Niotis Cup (U-16 boys) final will pit FC Westchester (N.Y.) against Tempe (Ariz.) Pros. ò The Stone Cup (U-18 boys) final will pit Scott Gallagher (St. Louis) against Wolfpack (Huntington Beach, Calif.). ò The Moynihan Cup (U-17 girls) final will pit the San Diego Surf against the Carmel (Ind.) Cosmos II. The teams qualified for the final on July …

Columbus defender Mike Clark and Miami defender Pablo Mastroeni replaced injured MetroStar defender Daniel Hernandez and injured New England midfielder Ted Chronopoulos on the MLS East All-Star team. The fifth annual MLS All-Star Game will take place on July 29 at 3:30 p.m. ET in Columbus. Hernandez is out with a torn ACL, while Chronopoulos is suffering from a right hamstring strain. "I am very, very pleased for Mike," said Crew coach Tom Fitzgerald. "He is, in my opinion, one of the most underrated players in the league, and this type of recognition is long overdue."

Aly Wagner scored the first goal and set up the next one as the U.S. under-21 women's national team defeated Switzerland, 4-0, in the rain at the Nordic Cup in Nurnberg, Germany, on July 28. The United States, with three points from its first game of the tournament, is tied for the Group B lead with Finland. Against the Swiss, Wagner scored from five yards out in the 25th minute and then created a chance for Aleisha Cramer three minutes later to make the score 2-0. Veronica Zepeda, who will be Wagner's teammate this fall at Santa Clara, scored the …

Soccer America Magazine's MLS Team of the Week from games played July 19 - 22. GOALKEEPER Juergen Sommer (1) New England Revolution DEFENDERS C.J. Brown (1) Chicago Fire Steve Trittschuh (2) Tampa Bay Mutiny Marcelo Balboa (4) Colorado Rapids Carlos Bocanegra (2) Chicago Fire MIDFIELDERS Peter Villegas (2) MetroStars Josh Keller (3) Tampa Bay Mutiny Chris Henderson (2) Kansas City Wizards Preki (2) Kansas City Wizards FORWARDS Wolde Harris (1) New England Revolution Alex Comas (1) MetroStars …

Nikki Serlenga's 63rd-minute goal gave the U.S. women's national team a 1-1 tie with Norway in Troms°, Norway, on July 27. Forward Marianne Pettersen had given the 1995 World Cup champion a 1-0 lead over the current world champion with a strike in the third minute. The United States had never played in Norway before, despite the fact that Norway has a winning record (13-12-1) against the Americans. U.S. coach April Heinrichs used an unconventional lineup to rest five starters -- Siri Mullinix, Mia Hamm, Kristine Lilly, Tiffeny Milbrett and Kate Sobrero, who is still suffering from the concussion she …

July 27 Results from round-robin play at the USYSA national championships in Lake Buena Vista, Fla. ò The Kelly Cup (U-18 girls) final will pit the Colorado Rush Nike against the Michigan Hawks ò The Masotto Cup (U-16 girls) final will pit the Prince William Sparklers (Va.) against Southern California Blues (Dana Point). Under-18 Girls Colorado Rush Nike (Lakewood) 4, Challenge 81/82 (Houston) 0 Scorers: Mary McDowell (4, 60), Lindsey Dornseif (30), Kelly McDonald (49). Michigan Hawks (Livonia) 2, Weston (Conn.) Wild Thing 1 Scorers: Robynn Morrell, Alyson Kehler; Kirsten Buteau. Under-18 Boys Scott Gallagher (St. Louis) 4, FC Delco …

The U.S. under-21 women's national team defends its 1999 Nordic Cup championship when it opens 2000 Nordic Cup play against Switzerland on July 28. U.S. coach Jillian Ellis brings 18 players to her first Nordic Cup. Ellis, the women's coach at UCLA, included Olympic hopeful Christie Welsh and just one overage player, former Portland star Michelle French. The Nordic Cup, the unofficial world championship for the U-21 age group, allows each team to bring two overage players. In last year's tournament, which was held in Iceland, the USA defeated Norway, 2-1, in the final. The United States also won the …