The U.S. womenÆs Olympic team roster spot opened by the retirement of veteran Michelle Akers has been filled by defender Michelle French. French, 22, was one of the four alternates named when the Olympic roster was announced on Aug. 10, and now moves onto the 18-player squad. French is a four-year captain of the U.S. U-21 team and helped lead the team to back-to-back Nordic Cup titles the last two summers. She has played on five consecutive Nordic Cup teams, also winning a championship in 1997, and has nine full caps with the national team, six this year. A left-footed …

The following are quotes from an Aug. 25 conference call in which Michelle Akers spoke about her decision to retire from the U.S. women's national team. Akers was joined on the call by U.S. Soccer President Dr. Robert Contiguglia, U.S. national team doctors Mark Adams and Rob Palumbo and U.S. coach April Heinrichs. Palumbo performed shoulder surgery on Akers in early April. Michelle Akers On whether or not her career turned out as she expected I guess yes and no. There is that dream inside me of what we could be and what I wanted us to be. To see …

U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bruce Arena has recalled goalkeeper Kasey Keller and midfielders Jovan Kirovski and Richie Williams and called up San Jose midfielder Richard Mulrooney for the first time in his roster of 20 players for the important World Cup qualifying rematch against Guatemala, which will be shown live on ABC from RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C. at 2 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept. 3. Keller returns to the team after a one-game absence, during which he helped his Spanish League team, Rayo Vallecano, advance through the preliminary round of the UEFA Cup. He replaces Tony Meola …

The U.S. forwards must improve if the women hope to win a medal at the Olympics. Mia Hamm and Tiffeny Milbrett are two of the best in the world, but when neither can finish against non-Olympic teams such as Canada and Russia, in their second encounter, something is wrong. The rest of the U.S. team certainly shares the blame for the poor finishing. With the exception of the 7-1 win over Russia, the scoreboard hasn't lit up for the Americans recently. Why do the U.S. women need tons of chances before they score? The United States outshot …

MLS clubs are looking at soccer stadiums as the wave of their future. The key: ancillary revenues they can derive from owning their own stadiums. Three clubs are seriously looking at building their own stadiums in the next few years. The future of MLS is not dependent just on good players, smart marketing and butts in the seats. All play a role in the success of America's pro league. But the next leap forward for MLS will not be a superstar midfielder or a dynamic ad campaign. If within the next year MLS fans see backhoes and …

SA Senior Editor Ridge Mahoney puts the MLS playoff picture in focus: The top two teams in MLS labored to a 0-0 tie Wednesday (Aug. 23) night, and so Kansas City (49 points) and the MetroStars (48 points) keep their places as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively. Both teams have four matches remaining. A full Saturday (Aug. 26) schedule includes No. 3 Tampa Bay (47 points) hosting No. 4 Chicago (44). The Fire has a game in hand, and can boost its chance to win the Central by winning. The Fire has not lost to the Mutiny …

The 1998 U.S. Open Cup champion Chicago Fire is headed to the 2000 championship match on Oct. 22 after Josh Wolff's golden goal in the second period of overtime gave the Fire a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Galaxy on Wednesday night. The Fire will have a chance to make U.S. Open Cup history by becoming the first MLS team to win two U.S. Open Cup championships. A crowd of 7,124 at Titan Stadium in Fullerton, Calif., were treated to a thrilling match in last night's semifinal between the Fire and Galaxy. The Fire suffered a blow in the …

A story of tragedy and inspiration: The West Bablyon Panthers of New York won the U-17 national championship just weeks after the death of their co-captain Tom MacEwen. One of the most inspiring stories of the recent Snickers U.S. Youth Soccer National Championships was the West Babylon PanthersÆ journey from dark horse to U-17 boys Don Greer Cup national champion. It was also the most heartbreaking. The New YorkersÆ triumph came barely two weeks after co-captain Tom MacEwen was killed in an automobile accident. Just three days after winning the Region I title, the popular central defender was …

U.S. Soccer secretary general Dan Flynn, who succeeded Hank Steinbrecher after serving as the Federation's chief administrative and chief operating officers and as executive director of the U.S. Soccer Foundation, is starting to feel at home again in Soccer House. SOCCER AMERICA: You've been on the job a month and a week. A progress report? DAN FLYNN: It's been hectic, between [World Cup] qualifying and having the women in Europe. And in summertime there are a lot of youth activities. Coming on board, I know some people from my past time [at the Federation], but there's also …

United States women's national team star Michelle Akers announced today that she will not compete in the 2000 Olympic Games due to an injured shoulder and her long-time battle with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. Comments "After winning the gold medal in 1996, I promised myself to never again play in the condition I was in during those Olympic games. Since then, retirement has been a big issue with me and the decision to continue on with the national team has always been a prayerful and careful one. "This year was no exception, and after the 1999 World Cup, I wrestled for …

Soccer America Magazine's MLS Team of the Week from games played August 16 - 20. Goalkeeper Matt Jordan (2) Dallas Burn Defenders Carlos Bocanegra (3) Chicago Fire Greg Vanney (3) Los Angeles Galaxy Mike Petke (3) MetroStars Midfielders Francisco Gomez (1) Kansas City Wizards Mark Chung (2) MetroStars Mark Santel (1) Dallas Burn Clint Mathis (2) MetroStars Forwards Alex Comas (2) MetroStars Mamadou Diallo (8) Tampa Bay Mutiny Aleksey Korol (1) Dallas Burn * …

Defending champion North Carolina tops the list with four players, while NCAA semifinalist Santa Clara has three players. There are two Olympians -- Santa Clara's Danielle Slaton (USA) and Oakland's Anita Rapp (Norway) -- and three Women's World Cup '99 players -- Rapp, Nebraska's Karina LeBlanc (Canada) and USC's Isabelle Harvey (Canada). FIRST TEAM PLAYER TEAM YEAR Goalkeeper Karina LeBlanc Nebraska Sr. Defenders Keisha Bell Florida Jr. Danielle Borgman North Carolina Jr. Danielle Slaton Santa Clara Jr. Midfielders Isabelle Harvey USC Sr. Anne Makinen Notre Dame Sr. Aly Wagner Santa Clara Soph. Forwards Susan Bush North Carolina …

Despite injuries, U.S. captain and '91 scoring sensation return for a shot at second gold medal April Heinrichs will bring some major question marks to the Olympics. While her Olympic roster didn't surprise anyone, the selection of Michelle Akers and captain Carla Overbeck raises key issues for the defending Olympic champion. They were among the 15 remaining Women's World Cup players on the 18-player U.S. Olympic roster. The 15 plus the three newcomers - goalkeeper Siri Mullinix, defender Danielle Slaton and midfielder Nikki Serlenga - were all expected to make the squad. Heinrichs said she made up …

Mark Nester Hoboken, N.J. Why were the MetroStars allowed four substitutions during the Colorado game Aug. 20? Russell Payne was brought on for Tim Howard after the Metros had already used their allotted subs to remove Mathis, Matthaeus and Ramos. Mike Woitalla: Good question Mark, because MLSÆs substitution rule differs with FIFAÆs. HereÆs MLSÆs sub rule: ôA maximum of three substitutions, plus a substitution at goalkeeper, may be used. If an MLS team substitutes its keeper during a match, he shall not count as one of the three allowed field player substitutes.ö (Payne came in for Howard in the MetroStars' …

MLS's disciplinary committee fined MetroStars defender Mike Petke $250 for continuing to escalate the furor surrounding Mike Ammann's potentially season-ending injuries. The MetroStars goalkeeper was hurt in a collision with Tampa Bay's Mamadou Diallo, who stepped on Ammann's face and kneed his chest in an Aug. 16 match won, 4-3, by the Mutiny. Diallo scored a hat trick and the game-winning goal in that match, while Ammann suffered a punctured lung, three broken ribs and a bruised right cheek. After scoring the final Metros' goal in his club's next match, a 5-3 win over Colorado, Petke took off his jersey …