The Los Angeles Galaxy and D.C. United will compete in the Football Confederation's Champions Cup Jan. 16-21 in Southern California, seeking berths in the 2001 FIFA Club World Championship. The 1999 MLS champion United and 2000 semifinalist Galaxy will compete in the regional tournament for teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The top two teams qualify for the second FIFA Club World Championship (expanded to 12 teams) in Spain. The 2000 edition of eight-team FC tournament also includes two Mexican clubs, Pachuca (1999 Tortneo Invierno champion) and CD Toluca (2000 Torneo Verano champion). Three Central American and …

Colorado Rapids midfielder Paul Dougherty is leaving Major League Soccer to return to his home in San Diego. Dougherty was originally acquired in a March 16, 2000 trade with the New England Revolution. Dougherty, 34, played one season for the Rapids, appearing in 24 games, recording three assists in a midfield that was decimated by injuries. Dougherty is a 10-year veteran of numerous soccer leagues, outdoors and indoors. He appeared in a total of 19 games in 1999, beginning with the Tampa Bay Mutiny, before a mid-season trade to Chicago. Splitting the 1998 season between the MetroStars and the Mutiny, …

The Orlando franchise of the WUSA has completed its long-anticipated move to North Carolina. It will play its first season at the University of North Carolina's Fetzer Field in Chapel Hill, N.C. The club (which is owned by Time Warner Entertainment Advance Newhouse) was unable to locate an appropriate stadium before a Nov. 1 deadline, which required each team to have an agreement to play at a stadium or an agreement in principle to play at a stadium. Orlando will remain on the league's list of possible expansion sites. Carolina made more changes to its roster just a day after …

The MetroStars closed out their tour of Austria and germany with a 2-1 loss to German First Division club FC Cologne in Troisdorf, Germany. The MetroStars finished with a 2-1-0 record. It beat Austrian club Salzburg (2-0) and 1860 Munich's reserves (3-0). Alex Comas put the Metros on the board first in the eighth minute on an assist by Tab Ramos, but FC Cologne responded with two first-half goals from Miroslav Baranek and George Donkov. The MetroStars started with Howard, Thomas Dooley, Steve Jolley, Mark Semioli, and Ramiro Corrales in the back. Steve Trittschuh, Mark Chung, Petter Villegas, Lothar Matthaeus, …

The crucial World Cup 2002 qualifying match between the United States and Barbados will be shown live on ESPN2 on Nov. 15 at 2 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will also rebroadcast the match at 10:00 p.m. ET the same day. For the first time in U.S. history, ESPN2 has broadcast all road World Cup qualifiers live in the United States. Bruce Arena's team needs a win to ensure a berth in the final round of World Cup qualifying in the CONCACAF zone.

MLS will send 18 Project-40 players and two guest players to Argentina Nov. 4 for a four-match tour. The team has matches scheduled against reserve teams from Argentine First Division clubs River Plate (Nov. 7), Huracan (Nov. 11) and Estudiantes (Nov. 14). A final match against either Independiente or San Lorenzo will conclude the tour on November 16. Coach Alfonso Mondelo is taking the following players: Goalkeepers -- Matt Napoleon (Columbus) and Nick Rimando (Miami). Defenders -- Carlos Bocanegra (Los Angeles), Nick Garcia (Kansas City), Danny Califf (Los Angeles), Michael Green (Kansas City), Tim Sahaydak (Miami), Seth Trembly (Colorado) and …

Contracts are up for a slew of MLS players These are anxious times for MLS, and there are sources of player anxiety besides the playersÆ lawsuit. As it battles the players in a federal court in Boston, MLS is also working to keep the players it wants at prices it can afford to pay. MLS refused to release an official list of players whose contracts are expiring. Through the help of agents, players and general managers, Soccer America has compiled a partial list of more than two dozen players, many of them prominent, who are nearing the …

Croatia Erik Kuster, Cakonec (D1) started (90 min.) at Varteks (0-1) Denmark Will Orben, Viborg (SL) DNP at OB (1-2) England Ian Feuer, Wimbledon (D1) DNP vs. Sheff. Wed. (0-0) Marcus Hahnemann, Fulham (D1) DNP at Sheff. Wed. (3-3) Eddie Lewis, Fulham (D1) DNP at Sheff. Wed. (3-3) Brian McBride, Preston North End (D1) no game Joe-Max Moore, Everton (PL) came on as substitute (24 min.) at Liverpool (1-3) Ben Olsen, Nottingham Forest (D1) came on as substitute (33 min.) at Stockport (2-1) France David Regis, Metz (D1) DNP vs. Lens (2-1) Germany Steve Cherundolo, Hannover (D2) DNP at Oberhausen …

The following is Soccer America Magazine's Women's Top 20 covering games through Oct. 29. Team Record Last Week 1. Notre Dame 18-0-1 1 2. Washington 17-1-0 2 3. UCLA 14-2-1 3 4. Penn State 17-2-1 4 5. Clemson 16-1-1 7 6. Nebraska 18-1-0 6 7. California 15-2-1 5 8. Texas A&M 15-5-0 10 9. BYU 16-3-1 11 10. Portland 13-3-0 14 11. Stanford 11-5-1 9 12. North Carolina 13-3-0 8 13. USC 11-5-2 12 14. Florida State 12-6-1 13 15. Wake Forest …

Orlando selected Norwegian Olympic gold medalists Hege Riise and Bente Nordby with the first pick in the WUSA's foreign player draft held via conference call on Oct. 30. Here are the complete results of the one-round draft: 1. Orlando -- Bente Nordby (Norway goalkeeper) and Hege Riise (Norway midfielder) 2. Philadelphia -- Doris Fitschen (Germany defender) and Kelly Smith (England forward) 3. Bay Area -- Katia (Brazil forward) and Sissi (Brazil midfielder) 4. New York -- Ann Kristin Aarones (Norway midfielder/forward) and Gro Espeseth (Norway defender) 5. Atlanta -- Charmaine Hooper (Canada midfielder/forward) and Homare Sawa (Japan midfielder) 6. Boston …

The following is Soccer America Magazine's College Men's Top 20 covering games through Oct. 29. Team Record LastWeek 1. Stanford 14-1-1 2 2. North Carolina 16-2-0 3 3. Connecticut 13-2-2 5 4. Indiana 13-3-0 4 5. San Jose State 16-0-1 6 6. Clemson 12-3-1 8 7. Duke 12-4-0 9 8. San Diego 12-1-2 10 9. SMU 15-3-0 1 10. Virginia 12-4-1 12 11. Creighton 14-3-0 20 12. St. JohnÆs 13-3-2 13 13. UCLA 10-5-0 15 14. Portland 9-5-2 14 15. Cal State …

Stephen Hart Kissimmee, Fla. Can you please expand on what it means, in your section titled ôMLS Players on Loan," for a player to "train" with a foreign club. Is there payment to the player, player's club, MLS, the USSF, etc.? Are the players eligible to play for the clubs they are training with? Ridge Mahoney: Stephen, the deals vary by the terms of agreement between the clubs. When several Columbus players went to train with Bayer Leverkusen a few years ago, their expenses were shared as per conditions of a working agreement the clubs had previously arranged. The club …

(Through Oct. 22) POINTS PER GAME Player, School Class GP G A P PPG 1 Emily Turgeon, Furman Fr. 18 19 17 55 3.06 2 Meredith Florance, North Carolina Sr. 14 18 5 41 2.93 3 Missy Gregg, Dayton So. 17 20 5 45 2.65 4 Heather Maloney, Davidson So. 18 19 9 47 2.61 5 Laura Schott, California So. 16 20 1 41 2.56 6 Christina Latham, Nebraska So. 17 18 7 43 2.53 7 Melissa Turner, Furman Jr. 18 18 9 45 2.50 8 Marilyn Marin, North Texas Fr. 17 19 4 42 2.47 9 …

Dallas has sacked David Dir and Tampa Bay has bid adieu to Tim Hankinson. And itÆs likely that two or three other teams would part with their coach were they confident of finding suitable replacements. So how do the bosses figure out what type of man can successfully lead an MLS team? They may look at the five-year history of MLS coaches to see whoÆs panned out and who hasnÆt. Playing experience? Eddie Firmani (Italy), Frank Stapleton (Ireland) and Walter Zenga (Italy) had illustrious international careers but failed miserably on MLS sidelines. On the other hand, Bob …

The Women's United Soccer Association has signed a second group of eight foreign players, including four from the Brazilian team that took third place in the 1999 Women's World Cup: midfielder Sissi and forwards Katia, Roseli and Pretinha. Also in this group are three key players from the German team that won the bronze medal at the Sydney Olympics -- forward Marin Meinert, midfielder Bettina Wiegmann and defender Doris Fitschen -- plus midfielder Homare Sawa from Japan's World Cup team. The 16 foreign players, including the original group of eight signees, have been grouped in pairs. The pairings are to …