Kansas City's Arrowhead Stadium has been chosen to host the United States' second home World Cup qualifying match of 2001, against the winner of a playoff game between Guatemala and Costa Rica, on Wednesday, April 25 at 6:30 p.m. CT. The match will be shown live on ESPN2. After opening the final round of qualifying against Mexico in Columbus, Ohio, Feb. 28, and traveling to San Pedro Sula, Honduras, on March 28, the United States will play, at Arrowhead Stadium, its third of 10 qualifying matches. The top three finishers from the six-team group, which also includes Jamaica and Trinidad …

Californian Ante Razov scored in his debut with Spanish Second Division club Racing de Ferrol Dec. 20. Razov, who transferred to Spain from the Chicago Fire following its MLS Cup 2000 runner-up finish and U.S. Open Cup triumph, scored in the 17th minute of a 1-1 tie with Sporting Gijon. RazovÆs goal, which equalized a 13th minute strike by Sporting Gijon, secured a valuable away point for Racing, which is in 20th place of the 22-team Second Division. The bottom four teams of the Second Division face relegation. The Spanish Second Division will be on winter break until Jan. 7, …

Claudio Reyna won the Honda Award as the top American player of the year for the first time, edging keeper Tony Meola (who had been voted MLS MVP). Reyna received 54 first-place votes, 20 second-place votes and 24 third-place votes for 226 points in balloting by 233 American journalists. Meola had 210 points and Joe-Max Moore finished third with 134 points. Reyna helped Scottish club Rangers win the league and cup double in his second year at the Glasgow club. He was in and out of the lineup because of injuries. He played 11 times for the U.S. national team …

PlayersÆ side vows to fight on following the Boston federal court victory in antitrust suit The lawsuit is over, but the acrimony between MLS and its players may continue. Jeffrey Kessler, lead counsel for the players, says the Dec. 11 decision in favor of the league will be appealed. Goalkeeper Mark Dodd, one of the eight named plaintiffs on the lawsuit, says the ôstrong-arm tacticsö of MLS have to change. Both sides insist the lawsuit could have been avoided through settlement proposals that were rejected by the opposition before the trial. And there may be acrimony …

Patrick Boateng Washington, D.C. Why didn't WUSA teams select any African players, especially the skillful Nigerians? Scott French: Hello, Patrick. There are only a few African players -- Mercy Akide, Patience Avre, Florence Omagbemi -- for whom the WUSA would have any interest, as there are only 32 foreign-player slots available. Lauren Gregg, who is charge of player-personnel, initiated contact with the best of the Nigerians about six months ago. Mercy and Florence are attending Milligan College in Tennessee, and although they have expressed interest in playing in the WUSA, neither made the decision to leave Milligan in time for …

The Colorado Rapids named former Tampa Bay Mutiny head coach Tim Hankinson as their new head coach. Hankinson, 45, guided the Mutiny to a 39-38-3 mark in two-and-a-half seasons. The victories are the most by a Mutiny head coach. Hankinson (0-4-0 in the playoffs) was not offered a contract extension after the 2000 season when the Mutiny fell to Los Angeles in the first round of the playoffs. Hankinson replaces Glenn Myernick, who was relieved of his duties recently. "We are delighted to name Tim as our new head coach," said general manager Dan Counce. "We believe that he will …

Jacob Wang San Francisco, Calif. Is the Youth Soccer Letter article by Dan Woog in the Dec. 18th issue about Silent Soccer available at www.socceramerica.com? Mike Woitalla: Jacob, the Youth Soccer Letter appears once every two weeks in Soccer America Magazine (print) and is not available on the Web site, but I will include "Silent Soccer" story below. And as a special holiday treat, IÆve also included a 1996 editorial that I wrote advocating silent parents. æSilent SoccerÆ Spreads BY DAN WOOG, from the Dec. 18, 2000 issue of Soccer America. A novel experiment last year to limit comments from …

After the Creighton Bluejays destroyed IndianaÆs dream of three in a row, they ran into Chris Gbandi. The Liberian native inspired Connecticut at both ends of the field to bring the Huskies their first national championship since 1981. The makeup of the 2000 MenÆs College Cup was peculiar but intriguing: No California schools, no Atlantic Coast Conference schools. Just one seeded team, just one conference tournament champion. Two returnees from last year, two Missouri Valley Conference teams. Two teams laden with international players, two Midwest teams comprised mostly of Americans. Connecticut coach Ray ReidÆs observation on the day …

The U.S. women's national team will travel to China for its first games of 2001, facing its long-time rival in two matches on Thursday, Jan. 11, in Pangyu, and on Sunday, Jan. 14, in Hangzhou. The Americans will depart for the Far East on or around Saturday, Jan. 6. Both matches are in the southwest region of China as Pangyu is located in the Guangdong Province and Hangzhou is in the Zhejiang Province. It will be the USA's sixth visit to China in its history. But it will be the first trip since January of 1998, when the USA won …

In only his second appearance in Spanish League play this season, U.S. goalkeeper Kasey Keller gave up three goals as his Rayo Vallecano fell, 3-1, to Real Madrid Dec. 19. Keller, who has been playing in Rayo VallecanoÆs UEFA Cup games with more success, suffered a bad outing in his other league start. On Nov. 1, Keller was in goal when Rayo Vallecano fell 4-1 to Real Oviedo.

Penn State has promoted assistant coach Paula Wilkins to head coach, replacing Pat Farmer, who left the Nittany Lions to coach the WUSA's New York Power. "Paula was the obvious choice to head our women's soccer team," Penn State athletic director Tim Curley said. "She has been an integral part of the program's success from the beginning and has a very bright future ahead of her. She will continue the momentum and launch the team to new heights." Wilkins, who becomes just the second head coach in Penn State's seven-year history, replaces Farmer, who resigned his position with the school …

The playoff between Costa Rica and Guatemala for the final berth in next year's Hexagonal will be played Jan. 6 at Miami's Orange Bowl. Kickoff time is 8 pm. Adult general admission tickets are $20 in advance, and $25 on the day of the match. Youth general admission will be $10 both in advance and on day-of-game, for children 12 and under. All reserved seating (sections S and T in the Orange Bowl) will be $35 for all tickets, both in advance and on the day of the match. Tickets are available through TicketMaster in Miami, by calling (305) 358-5885, …

The U.S. under-20 men's national team will return to action early in 2001 with a training camp in San Diego scheduled for Jan. 2- 15. Head coach Wolfgang Suhnholz has called in 21 players, including four professionals. Also eligible for Suhnholz's U-20s are several other professionals who have seen action with the U.S. senior national team or Olympic team: Landon Donovan (Bayer Leverkusen), DaMarcus Beasley (Chicago Fire), Bobby Convey (D.C. United) and Conor Casey (Borussia Dortmund). While training at ARCO, the team has a number of scrimmages tentatively scheduled, including a Jan. 5 match against the L.A. Galaxy (at Loyola …

Update on Americans in Europe Croatia Erik Kuster, Cakonec (D1) winter break Denmark Will Orben, Viborg (SL) winter break England Brad Friedel, Blackburn (D1) started (90 min.) at Burnley 2-0 Ben Olsen, Nottingham Forest (D1) started (90 min.) vs. Queens Park Rangers (0-1) Marcus Hahnemann, Fulham (D1) DNP at Tranmere Rovers (3-1) Eddie Lewis, Fulham (D1) DNP at Tranmere Rovers (3-1) Joe-Max Moore, Everton (PL) DNP West Ham United (1-1) Ian Feuer, Wimbledon (D1) DNP vs. Bolton (0-1) Brian McBride, Preston North End (D1) DNP at Gillingham (0-1) France David Regis, Metz (D1) DNP vs. Lille (1-1) Germany Frankie Hejduk, …

by Soccer America Youth Soccer Letter executive editor Dan Woog A Southern California league for elite teams impresses from top to bottom. Across America, there are many well-organized soccer leagues. Numerous leagues also offer top-notch competition. Then there is the Coast Soccer League Premier. Chances are, if any league has innovative ideas for administration, publicizing players, finding good officials or handling disputes, Southern California's CSL already does it. In fact, the CSL probably did it first. An up-to-date, easy-to-navigate, interactive Web site filled with the latest news, photos and features on all 66 teams - …