By Ridge Mahoney (@ridgemax) In presenting the Philadelphia Union with a daunting run of games one-third of the way through the 2016season, those who formulate the MLS schedule have provided an ideal field test for this question: Just how good is the Eastern Conference leader? The Union plays in Orlando Wednesday,five days after beating D.C. […]
copa america
Posted inOff The Post, Story
Shining era of Chilean soccer is tarnished by scandal
Third in the FIFA rankings and fourth in the Conmebol World Cup qualifying standings, Chile is adapting well to life as Copa America champion despite losing at home to Argentina last week. Fans crammed into the Estadio Nacional hoping to witness another vanquishing of Argentina, which fell in a penalty-kick shootout,4-3, last July as Chile […]
Posted inOff The Post, Story
Why Lionel Messi must play in Copa Centenario
Lionel Messi says he’d trade his five Ballons d’Or for one World Cup trophy. The Argentine was, of course, hypothetically speaking at the pre-FIFA awards gala on Monday before he was awarded afifth golden ball as the world’s best player. But he could win a sixth, seventh or eighth Ballon d’Or in the next three […]
Posted inOff The Post, Story
Eight Big Winners in 2015: Club and Country
Four of FIFA’s six confederations, including our own Concacaf, crowned national team champions. Midway through the year came the seventh Women’s World Cup. And a rather well-known team won the ClubWorld Cup earlier this month. Those champs, and a pair Western Hemisphere victors, comprise our Eight Big Winners of 2015. Socceroos take Asia Cup. Australia, […]
Posted inOff The Post, Story
Copa Centenario: the World's Most Tainted Sporting Event?
Is the 2016 Copa Centenario, held on U.S. soil next summer, the world’s most tainted sporting event? Perhaps only a Russian national championship (insert sport here) could supersede it forall-around cheating and deception, but the Copa Centenario would at least have to be part of the conversation. And, judging by the looks of things, that […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Report: Copa Centenario rights fees plummet
The commercial rights to 2016 Copa Centenario — initially sold to the Datisa marketing group at the heart of the Federal indictments of 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives — have beensold to IMG and SUM, which is the marketing agency for MLS and U.S. Soccer. The combined bid was selected from 12 responses. […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Ten Copa Centenario cities picked
Ten U.S. venues have been selected to host matches during the 2016 Copa America Centenario to be played June 3-26. Three stadiums are currently used by MLS teams: Gillette Stadium (New England),Orlando Citrus Bowl (Orlando) and CenturyLink Field (Seattle). Eight of the 10 stadiums are used by NFL teams. All stadiums have a minimum capacity […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Legal moves clear way for Copa Centanario
Concacaf announced on Wednesday that it had ended its agreement with South American marketing firm Datisa for the Copa America Centenario, clearing the way for the 2016 tournament to move forward. Theprincipals of Datisa were among the 14 FIFA officials and sports marketing executives indicted in Federal court in May after an agreement was reached […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: Concacaf
“Today in Mexico City, Concacaf had a very productive meeting with Conmebol and our broadcast partners, Univision and Televisa, regarding the Copa America Centenario. While all parties recognize thatthere are still issues that must be resolved, we are all in alignment regarding the next steps to be taken as well as the aggressive timeline towards […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Report: USA likely to pull out of Copa Centenario
A meeting scheduled for Thursday in Mexico City to hash out the organization of the 2016 Copa America will go forward without U.S. Soccer officials, reported Sam Borden of the New YorkTimes. If the Copa Centenario takes place outside the USA, that will likely mean the U.S. national team will not participate. Sources told the […]