The Footie » usa soccer

FIFA Rankings Put Spain As #1

Jyle Dupuis — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:53:52 +0000

The FIFA rankings of world teams have been released and Spain toped all the charts as the overall best team in the world. Not bad considering the competition – every other team in the world! In a close second was Brazil followed by The Netherlands.

The United States were placed at a decent 14, not bad for a team that only just recently created a competitive soccer league. Canada has also made impressions as they moved from 90th place to tie with Bolivia for 56th place. At 56th place they may not make it into the South Africa World Cup but this recent rankings prove that they are on the right track.

Image: TSN.ca

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Canada Loses, USA Continues Gold Cup Run

Jyle Dupuis — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 06:38:56 +0000

The CONCACAF Gold Cup quarterfinals are being held in Philadelphia this year and it just seemed like the magic left the Canadian team. On Saturday they played against Honduras and lost 1-0. USA continued in a spectacular match that left Panama wondering what happened.

National U.S.A. Soccer Team

The USA will now advance to the semifinals rounds that will be held in the great city of Chicago. The crows are expected to supersede the over 30,000 fans who showed up at the Philadelphia match.

Image: TSN.ca

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Brazil Wins Confederations Cup!

Jyle Dupuis — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 05:11:19 +0000

It certainly has been a strange turn of events. Brazil defeated USA to take the Confederations Cup title for their second year. It was widely believed that Spain was going to win it, but after a disappointing loss against USA Spain found themselves fighting for third.

Brazil celebrates victory over USA in FIFA Confederations Cup final - June 28, 2009

It was within USA grasp, yet they couldn’t quite make the magic happen. The game ended in a narrow victory of 3-2. Donovan lead the USA in a 2-0 lead before half-time, yet by the end of the game Brazil fought back with everything they had. Brazil certainly earned this win, though it was disappointing for US fans who looked forward to their first FIFA win ever. Instead they will just need to be satisfied with the fact that this was the first time ever the United States played in a FIFA final, a title long overdue.

Image: TSN.ca

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FIFA President Offers Advice For MLS

Jyle Dupuis — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 06:37:52 +0000

FIFA President Sepp Blatter had a few words of advice for the MLS this week. He complained that other professional players will now follow David Beckham into the MLS because of the timing of its seasons.

FIFA president Sepp Blatter

Beckham who knew that he wanted to be in top shape to play for England in the World Cup, had to skip over to AC Milan. This is because there were too many months of inactivity before the World Cup Qualifying matches. The regular European season for soccer begins in August and ends in May. The MLS on the other hand starts in March and finishes in October. Blatter stated that until the MLS changes to adapt their schedule to the standard international playing seasons players will not play in their league like they wish.

The MLS have stated that they understand the challenges they face, but unlike the Europeans, North America doesn’t have the best playing weather during the cold winter months. Fans find it hard going to an outdoor stadium in feets of snow. Plus, there are still a few clubs who share their playing arenas with the NFL so they have to work around their schedule since they have the priority.

Image: TSN.ca

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U.S.A. Lead World Cup Ticket Sales

Jyle Dupuis — Sat, 30 May 2009 19:44:57 +0000

The United States may care more about American Football than they do soccer, but according to recent finds by FIFA the U.S.A. leads in ticket sales for the worlds biggest sporting event.

image by zumapress

It is highly unlikely that team USA will make it past the World Cup qualifying round, but that doesn’t seem to be stopping people from buying tickets anyways. Despite setbacks in the economy 93,300 tickets have been sold to U.S. residents. That is compared to the 450,000 who are expected to flock to South Africa from all over the world. Special rates have been fixed for local residents who wouldn’t otherwise be able to afford the tickets.

Not only is the U.S. leading in ticket sales but also in broadcasting rights. Again where is this money coming from? Does ESPN really believe that they will be able to make a profit selling World Cup games to an American audience. Well maybe they know something we don’t.

Image: Zumapress

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