Randy Waldrum, who left his job as head coach at Notre Dame, one of the most successful women’s programs in the country, to take over as the Houston Dash head coach for its launch in 2014, isout. The Dash and Waldrum agreed to part ways just seven games into the 2017 season. Assistant coach Omar […]
my view
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
The day Giorgio came to town
[MY VIEW] It was a surreal scene, one I’ve never forgotten. And it’s tough to describe, because it sounds like I’m making the whole thing up. In thelate 1970s, the New York Cosmos were the most famous franchise in the entire sports world. A pro soccer team with superstars like Pele, Franz Beckenbauer,Carlos Alberto — […]
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Touched by Chuck Blazer
[MY VIEW] With the possible exception of Sunil Gulati, with whom he goes back to the early days of the ODP program inthe Northeast, no person has had a greater impact on American soccer over the last quarter century than Chuck Blazer. Blazer, who announcedThursday he was stepping down as general secretary of Concacaf after […]
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Mess is 'too good to be true'
[FIFA IN CRISIS] The FIFA mess reminds me of aide Norman Wilson’s reaction when Mayor Tommy Carcetti is told the truth of the “homeless killer” toward the endof Season 5 of the HBO classic series “The Wire.” “I wish I was still at the newspaper,” Wilson laughs, “so I could write on this mess. It’s […]
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Bribery scandal benefits Blatter
[MY VIEW] Will the USA get a second bite at the apple? FIFA President Sepp Blatter didn’t rule out the possibility of are-vote in the wake of the continuing investigation into Qatar’s victory in the race to host the 2022 World Cup. Not much about FIFA’s politics is unscripted, so it’s not outside therealm of […]
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The greatest MLS team ever
[MY VIEW] Let’s begin with a kudos to Real Salt Lake owner Dave Checketts and its head coach, Jason Kreis. In an era when MLS clubs stock on foreign players, D.C. United’s triumph is all the more remarkable because all the startersexcept Etcheverry and Moreno were Americans: Scott Garlick in goal, Carlos Llamosa on the backline […]
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Juan Agudelo, the real deal?
[MY VIEW] With his tying goal in the USA’s 1-1 tie with Argentina on Saturday night, 18-year-old Juan Agudelo has beenanointed the next great scoring hope of American soccer. Two other recent great scoring hopes — Jozy Altidore and EddieJohnson — also got off to fast starts for the USA but their careers stalled when […]
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All quiet on transfer front
[MY VIEW] With the close of the winter transfer window in most of Europe, this should be the season for MLS clubs to step in and grab the headlines on thetransfer front. But except for the news that D.C. United has agreed to take Charlie Davies on loan, conditional on how the Sochaux striker looks […]
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Flops hurt U.S. export market
[MY VIEW] Eddie Johnson, Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu — all considered the greatest American attackers of their generation — found themselves on the move again at the end of the January transfer window, unable to crack thestarting lineup in the case of Johnson and Altidore or even a spot on the bench in the […]
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Changing colors
[MY VIEW] National team loyalty isn’t what it used to be(*). More and more players are shopping themselves around to find the best situation before decidingwhich country to represent. Thanks to FIFA’s amended eligibility rules, players are, in certain circumstances, changing colors, representing more than one country. It is having profound effects on theU.S. national […]