Recently in W-League Category

The yet to be named team will play "most" of its games at Titan Stadium on the campus of Cal State Fullerton in Orange County, sources affiliated with the team told 100 Percent Soccer.

USL Pro is the new designation for what is essentially the third level of soccer in the U.S. The North American Soccer League, which expects to be an eight-team league in 2011, has applied for Division 2 status.

USL Pro has so far announced 13 of an expected 16 teams with the Orange County club expected to be formally announced next month.

It's an offshoot of the W-League's Pali Blues and the President of Operations/coach of that club, Charlie Naimo, will serve as the coach of the new USL Pro club he announced in a blog post last month:

The addition to the Blues organization and my personal career is the arrival of the USL PRO men's team. Our ownership has had the dream of rolling out a professional men's team for a while, and now is the time. I was asked to take on the challenge of building the team on and off the field and so far, so good. We identified and hired a GM, Director of Operations and a VP of Sales and Marketing, and we have already begun working. Also in place is our coaching staff. Yours truly will be Manager (Head Coach) while Shayon Jalayer will serve as first team coach and director of youth development. We have already begun the process of fielding two academy sides with very aggressive plans attached. We have also brought on a very successful player personnel liaison. There are a few roles yet to fill, but we are in a great place.

Naimo was also GM of the WPS LA Sol, which won the inaugural league title before going belly up.

The general manager is David Adams who played collegiately in the LA area and spent some time on MLS reserve squads

More details on the USL PRO league including what's expected to be a 24-game schedule and conference alignment are also expected in December.

There's a full slate of weekend games while we await U.S. Coach Bob Bradley - who is either a lame duck or the man for the next four years - to reveal his roster Monday or Tuesday for the Brazil game next month.

Both local MLS clubs are at home this weekend. Chivas USA (4-9-3) hosts the Eastern Conference-leading Columbus Crew (10-3-4) at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center (live on Prime), while the MLS-leading Galaxy (12-2-4) seek to right the ship after their dreadful midweek CONCACAF Champions League performance against the struggling Chicago Fire (4-5-5) at 4:30 p.m. Sunday in Carson (live on Fox Soccer Channel).

Meanwhile, Women's Premier Soccer League team Ajax America Women (8-3-1, Pacific Champion) face the Oklahoma Alliance F.C. (8-1-0, South Champion) in the final four Saturday in Dallas. The victor faces the winner of the other semifinal, which features the Boston Aztec Breakers Reserves (10-1-1, East Champion) verses the F.C. Milwaukee Nationals (10-1-0, Midwest Champion), in the title game Sunday.

The other national women's soccer league that occupies the rung just below WPS, the W-League, has its championship game at 7 p.m. Saturday in Santa Clarita at Harry Welch Stadium at Canyon High. Admission is $10 and the game is also live on Fox Soccer Channel.

The Vancouver Whitecaps, which beat the Hudson Valley Quickstrike Lady Blues 3-1 Thursday, will take on the Buffalo Flash, which downed the Atlanta Silverbacks by the same score on the same evening.

In the Premier Development League playoffs Saturday, the defending champion Ventura County Fusion are at the Kitsap Pumas while the Hollywood Hitmen take on the Portland Timbers Under-23 squad. Both games are in Bremerton, Wash.

For those of you who don't want to budge from the TV at home click at top right for a full roundup of what's on TV where, but the pick of the bunch IMHO is Herculez Gomez and Jose Torres of Pachuca visiting defending league champion Toluca at 10 a.m. Sunday on KVEA.

Have a great weekend.

*Six wins in their last seven games secured the defending PDL champion Ventura County Fusion the Southwest Division title Saturday.

*There will be no third consecutive W-League title for the Pali Blues, 2-1 losers to the Whitecaps Saturday in Vancouver.

*Rolling Hills Estates-based Ajax America Women will face Brandi Chastain's California Storm in the Women's Premier Soccer League Pacific Conference final 5 p.m. Sunday in Pasadena at Muir High. Ajax beat North Bay F.C. Wave 2-0 Saturday, while the Storm triumphed 3-1 over LAFC Chelsea.

*Updated

Former USC star Shannon Cross scored one goal and created two others as Ajax beat the Storm 3-0 Sunday to qualify for a record fifth straight Final Four appearance.

The Galaxy are off this weekend, Chivas USA are out of town (they're at Real Salt Lake at 7 p.m. Saturday on Prime), but that doesn't mean there's no live footie in Southern California this weekend and with international friendlies galore and the Mexican league cranking up again there's no shortage of games on TV either (click at top right for a complete listing).

Local PDL clubs play their final games of the regular season this weekend (scroll down), while the Hollywood Hitmen also take a cue from their MLS brethren and play an international friendly against a Salvadoran team Sunday in downtown LA.

If it's women's soccer you want, the W-League Pali Blues are up in Vancouver taking on the Whitecaps in the first round of the playoffs, but the Women's Premier Soccer League Pacific Conference final four play in Pasadena this weekend.

Here's the semifinals schedule:

*LAFC Chelsea (6-3-1, #2 South) vs. California Storm (11-1-0, #1 North) 4 p.m. Saturday Maranatha High School, Pasadena, 169 S. Saint John Ave.

*North Bay F.C. Wave (9-3-0, #2 North) vs. Ajax America (6-3-1, #1 South)
6 p.m. Saturday also at Maranatha High School.

The final is at 5 p.m. Sunday at Muir High School, 1905 Lincoln Ave., Pasadena.

Enjoy the weekend.

Not exactly Fab(iano): No matter how much Brazilian striker Luis Fabiano prayed today, Brazil could not get a goal against Portugal in a 0-0 tie (AP Photo).

Portugal and Brazil played this morning to a utilitarian 0-0 draw that suited both nations advancing out of Group G at the expense of Ivory Coast and North Korea.

The final games of the Group stage kick off at 11:30 a.m. today with Spain fighting for its World Cup life against Chile on ESPN and Switzerland and Honduras meeting on ESPN2 (and both with hopes still of advancing).

Then the round of 16 bracket will be set.

With the second round almost upon us, if you haven't yet signed up for the Daily Breeze World Soccer challenge now is your chance. And for those of you already registered, don't forget to make your picks for the next round (memo to self).

Of course, the World Cup games on most Americans' minds begins at 11 a.m. Saturday on ABC when the U.S. meets Ghana.

And if we get any more last-minute drama you've got to wonder how many more World Cup babies we'll see.

It looks like Jonathan Bornstein's family in Los Alamitos is getting revved up for this one.

Where are you going to watch?

As hard as it is to believe, there is other soccer going on this weekend. MLS cranks up again after a two-week break with Chivas USA at home taking on FC Dallas at 7:30 p.m. Saturday at Home Depot Center (Prime) while the Galaxy are at Toronto at 4:30 p.m. Saturday (Fox Soccer Channel).

The most fascinating MLS game this weekend, however, may well be in Philadelphia where the Seattle Sounders may get a taste of what their home atmosphere is like for visiting teams against the Union at 2 p.m. Sunday (ESPN2). It's the venue's debut.

If it's live local soccer you want, the PDL Ventura County Fusion (5-3-1) visit the Los Angeles Legends (4-4-2) at 7 o'clock tonight, while the WPSL Ajax America Women (5-0) host the Claremont Stars (2-3-1) at noon Saturday.

Finally, for those of you who like to plan ahead the Galaxy has announced that there will be free parking and $10 admission (which includes entrance to the usually exclusive Stadium Club after the game) for Tuesday's U.S. Open Cup contest against AC St. Louis at Home Depot Center.

An excellent deal (and one, frankly, that should be the norm for all U.S. Open Cup games in Carson). Full details here.

Updated

Spain and Chile both advance after Honduras and the Swiss play to a goalless draw.

Local non-World Cup soccer notes include:

*The undefeated W-League Pali Blues, who have three wins and a draw as they seek a third successive league crown, play two home games in three days starting at 7 o'clock tonight against the Seattle Sounders. Unsure how to get to the stadium in Pacific Palisades? Here's a map. And don't forget your Teddy bears Saturday.

*The Galaxy have learned their potential opponents in the third round of the U.S. Open Cup.

*Chivas USA played a scrimmage Wednesday against a local club before taking a World Cup break.

The Inter Milan win over Barcelona in the UEFA Champions League wasn't the only thing going on in the world of soccer today (although it felt like it):

*El Segundo-based DirecTV announced today it will soon air 30 more HD channels including GolTV. But not Fox Soccer Channel HD. My frustration (and others) summed up here. EPL on ESPN HD is making FSC virtually unwatchable by comparison.

*A report last week that had former Galaxy midfielder Simon Elliott training with the club speculated that "could lead to a roster spot" for the World Cup-bound New Zealander. No sources were cited though and apparently for good reason; club officials told me Saturday that Elliott was merely training with the team after being released from the San Jose Earthquakes before leaving in a few weeks for the Kiwi World Cup camp. Besides, do the Galaxy need another aging midfielder? Don't answer that.

*Galaxy midfielder Sean Franklin's injury Saturday that Coach Bruce Arena had fretted could be a fracture or other "long-term" issue? A sprained right ankle. He's listed as questionable on Tuesday's injury list. As is Gregg Berhalter (left knee soreness), Dema Kovalenko (right hamstring strain), Eddie Lewis (left foot contusion) and Clint Mathis (left knee surgery).

*Notable: With their win Saturday, the Galaxy became the first team in MLS history to win 200 games. The Galaxy look for their fifth consecutive win Saturday against the Wizards in Kansas City, a feat they last accomplished in late 2007.

*Chivas USA beat the PDL Ventura County Fusion 2-0 today at Home Depot Center on goals from Osael Romero and youth team product Carlos Martinez. The starting XI: Dan Kennedy, Cesar Zamora, Yamith Cuesta, Carlos Borja, Gerson Mayén, Artur Aghasyan, Michael Lahoud, Ben Zemanski, Jorge Flores, Romero and Justin Braun.

It's "Salvadoran Night" Saturday at Home Depot Center as Chivas USA and Osael Romero take on the San Jose Earthquakes and Ramón Sanchez and Arturo Alvarez. One word: pupusas.

*The semipro Pali Blues, back to back W-League champions, will make another stab at the world record for the most people juggling soccer balls at the same time at halftime of a May 22 preseason game against Santa Clarita. Two soccer nonprofit groups benefit. Bring a ball and sign up.

*AYSO sources tell me clashes with board president Mike Wade and the need for a scapegoat for the drop in registration the group experienced during the recession led to the departure of former U.S. international Rick Davis as executive director of the Hawthorne-based nonprofit. He officially steps down next month.

*Finally, here's the useless fact of the week from MLS (but one that could give Sounders fans a complex): "At 1,815 feet, Toronto's CN Tower is three times as tall as Seattle's Space Needle (605 feet)."

I'm heading out to the PDL title game in Ventura tonight, so I'll keep this brief:

* Here's a game preview.

*Congrats to Coach Charlie Naimo and his Pali Blues on their W-League title victory Friday.

*MLS announced today that New England Revolution Coach Steve Nichol was fined $1,000 and will miss today's 3 p.m. clash (Fox Soccer Channel) against the Galaxy after he was red-carded Aug. 1 against Toronto. That's in addition to the automatic $500 fine and one-game suspension previously announced bringing the total to two games and $1,500. Nicol will also miss the Revs' Aug. 20 game against the Seattle Sounders.

The Galaxy haven't lost in five games, the Revs haven't tasted defeat in four games.

The New England perspective.

Becks is still babbling about owning an MLS team.

*With Zach Thornton out injured, backup goalkeeper Lance Parker will make his first career MLS start against the Rapids in Colorado (6:30 p.m. FSN).

Another busy weekend of soccer begins this afternoon at 4:30 p.m. when Real Madrid plays Toronto (live on ESPN) and at the same time the Pali Blues take on the Washington Freedom (live on Fox Soccer Channel).

Both the Galaxy and Chivas USA are out of town this weekend, but does that mean no live soccer locally?

Not at all.

The Ventura County Fusion and Chicago Fire Premier play for the PDL title at 7 p.m. Saturday at Ventura High.

If you haven't been to Ventura in a while, I recommend you make a day of it. There's tons to do in the area, downtown Ventura is a great place to shop or grab a bite and as an added bonus the Ventura County Fair is going on very near Ventura High.

I'm taking my own advice and I'll be sitting in the stands with friends and family for the Fusion game, so give a shout-out if you see me.

Clarification: The game is at Buena High School (5670 Telegraph Rd., Ventura) not the high school on Main in midtown.

Click on the link to the right for a full slate of games, but here's the ones I recommend in addition to those already mentioned:

*3 p.m. Saturday FSC Galaxy at New England
*6:30 p.m. Saturday Fox Sports Net Chivas USA at Colorado Rapids
*8 p.m. Saturday FSC CD Guadalajara-Barcelona

*7 a.m. Sunday FSC Chelsea-Manchester United in the Community Shield
*Noon Sunday FSC Real Madrid at DC United
*3 p.m. Sunday FSC Sol at Boston Breakers

Have a great weekend.

Midweek seems an apt time to touch on a few things I've overlooked:

*The Sounders play Barcelona at 7:30 tonight in Seattle on ESPN2. It will be interesting to see who that usually delirious crowd will predominantly be rooting for - the home team or the European champions. More here.

Here's Barcelona's Lionel Messi doing a little ball juggling atop the 605-foot-high Space Needle ahead of the game.Photo courtesy FC Barcelona/Sounders FC/SUM

*Earlier this evening the Chicago Fire meets Tigres in the SuperLiga final that begins at 5 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

*Speaking of the Fire, their PDL team will contest the title at 7 p.m. Saturday against the Ventura County Fusion at Ventura High on Main Street. With the Galaxy and Chivas USA out of town this weekend I plan to attend the game (as a fan). More details and a special ticket deal here.

*Meanwhile, a night earlier the Pali Blues plays in the W-League championship against the Freedom in Washington. That game can be seen live at 4:30 p.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

*Belated condolences BTW to Coach Brian Boswell and his Rolling Hills Estates-based Ajax America who fell 1-0 to the Long Island Fury last weekend in New York in the Women's Premier Soccer League final after posting an excellent 15-2-1 record on the season.

*In other women's soccer news, Long Beach State, winners of the last three Big West title have been picked to finish second this year in a preseason coache's poll. Cal State Northridge were picked to finish fifth.

*Former UCLA and Galaxy player Zak Ibsen (who played 50 games for the Galaxy over two seasons ending in 2000) detailed his descent into crystal meth addiction for the New York Times' Goal blog.

*Finally, fellow blogger Steve Davis explains why he doesn't hate Crew midfielder Robbie Rogers of Rolling Hills Estates.

Defending W-League champion Pali Blues, now a feeder team for the WPS L.A. Sol, will attempt to set a new world record for most people juggling a soccer ball at one time at its May 9 season opener.

The current record, according to the club, was set by 627 people in 2007 in Vienna, Austria.

The idea, naturally, is to raise the club's profile, said Pali Blues General Manager Jason Lemire.

"Most people don't realize it, but amateur teams like the Pali Blues are a lot like public radio - we only exist with the support of our community," he said. "This is a chance for the soccer world to show that they support grass root organizations like the Pali Blues."

The second-year term plays at Pacific Palisades High School. To register for the record attempt scheduled for half time, call Lemire at (310) 264-4649. More about the club is here.

Wonder if this guy will be there?

U.S. Soccer President Sunil Gulati will unveil all at a noon Monday conference call and will also introduce the executive director of the USA Bid Committee.

From today's (edited) U.S. Soccer press release:

FIFA set Monday as the deadline for federations to submit the official paperwork expressing their interest to bid for either or both of the competitions. FIFA emphasized that at this initial stage in the bidding process, the only requirement is for countries to be able to demonstrate their ability to host a sporting event as large as the FIFA World Cup.

In related news, on the same day that tickets to the Feb. 11 Mexico-U.S. World Cup qualifier in Columbus sold out in just 90 minutes, Mexico lost 1-0 in Oakland to essentially the same young Swedish team the U.S. beat at Home Depot Center.

Meanwhile, Sigi Schmid's Seattle Sounders will reportedly train in Ventura Monday and will play the Galaxy in a closed-door scrimmage Feb. 9 at the HDC. Former Galaxy midfielder Pete Vagenas won't participate though reportedly because of a bone bruise on his knee that requires surgery. He's expected to be on the sidelines for quite a while.

Lastly, Pepperdine associate women's soccer coach Twila Kaufman was recently announced as the new head coach for the Los Angeles Legends of the W-League. The Legends play at Citrus College Stadium in Glendora.

Contrary to previous reports, David Beckham started and went 45 minutes in AC Milan's friendly in Dubai today. Game details here.

Now we'll see whether he makes his Serie A debut Sunday against Roma in a game scheduled to air live at 11:30 a.m. on Fox Soccer Channel.

Also:
* Sky Blue FC - the New York-New Jersey Women's Professional Soccer entry - announced today the club's first player signings, who include Pali Blues' Australian international Collette McCallum. The 22-year-old set piece specialist scored five goals in eight games for the W-League champions last season.

*Following a 72-player mega-camp at Home Depot Center, U.S. Men's Under-18 National Team Coach Mike Matkovich has named an 18-player squad for the Australian Youth Olympic Festival that takes place later this month. Southern Californians on the squad include Miles Byass (Arsenal FC; San Bernardino).

Women's Professional Soccer 's L.A. Sol opens the league's inaugural season Sunday, March 29 in a nationally televised 3 p.m. game against the Washington Freedom at Home Depot Center, the team will announce Tuesday.

The league's other five teams will begin play the following weekend.

"We are certainly honored that WPS has chosen us to host the league's inaugural game; it will be a great reward for all of the women's soccer fans in the Southland who have been anxiously awaiting our arrival," said Los Angeles Sol General Manager Charlie Naimo.

The remainder of the season's schedule will be announced at a later date. Sol season tickets are now on sale beginning at $125. Call 1-877-4-SOL-TIX or click the link to the right.

Also, the 10-round WPS draft is set for Jan. 16. The draft order:
1. Boston Breakers
2. Chicago Red Stars
3. FC Gold Pride (Bay Area)
4. Sky Blue FC (New Jersey/New York)
5. Los Angeles Sol
6. Saint Louis Athletica
7. Washington Freedom

Which means Boston gets Amy Rodriguez of USC.

Rumor of the moment: Supposedly Chivas USA midfielder Sacha Kljestan has captured the interest of a dozen teams including Celtic.

Jorge Flores of Chivas USA, Brian Perk of UCLA, Marcus Watson of the Galaxy Academy and Pat Sigler of Cal Poly were among the 26-player squad named to the U.S. Under-20 Men's National Team roster by Coach Thomas Rongen for an eight-day camp in Florida that began today. The camp includes a pair of scrimmages against CONCACAF foes Haiti Dec. 20 and Canada Dec. 22.

And for all you L.A. Rampage, Pali Blues, San Fernando Quakes, etc fans out there:

United Soccer Leagues announced the 68 PDL teams will play a 16-game season beginning May 1 and concluding July 19. Playoffs will begin July 24-26 and the championship will be held Saturday, Aug. 8, on Fox Soccer Channel. The W-League will kick off the season with 37 teams beginning May 8. The season concludes July 19, with playoffs beginning July 24-26. The W-League champion will be determined Aug. 7-8 on Fox Soccer Channel.

U.S. Soccer has announced its first batch of yearly awards with Soccer By Ives winning blog of the year. The Washington Post's excellent Soccer Insider finished second (weren't those two reversed last year?). And as much as I enjoy the wit of press officer Aaron Heifetz (and I do, really) the WNT Blog is not the third best soccer blog out there.

Finally, the answer to the question how fit is Chivas USA's Jonathan Bornstein? Pretty damn fit.

Tickets to a Dec. 13 game between the U.S. Women's National Team and China at the Home Depot Center in Carson go on sale Friday priced between $18 and $150.

The game is part of a post-Olympics "Achieve Your Gold Tour," which continued Wednesday night in Cincinnati with a 0-0 tie against South Korea before 5,877.

U.S. lineup: 18-Nicole Barnhart (22-Briana Scurry, 46); 2-Heather Mitts, 3-Christie Rampone (capt.) (4-Rachel Buehler, 60), 15-Kate Markgraf, 17-Lori Chalupny (19-Marian Dalmy, 66); 9-Heather O'Reilly (21-Kacey White, 46), 7-Shannon Boxx (14-Stephanie Cox, 33), 10-Aly Wagner, 16-Angela Hucles; 5-Lindsay Tarpley, 6-Natasha Kai.

Incidentally, Torrance's Shannon Boxx, named a finalist for the FIFA Women's Player of the Year Award last week, e-mailed me her thoughts on that:

"It is an honor to be named as one of the top 10 for the FIFA Player of the Year Award. To be considered with this group is quite amazing. I believe that you need great people around you to perform your best and I've been very lucky to be surrounded by great teammates."

In other women's soccer news:
*Long Beach State plays a 2 p.m. Big West Conference Tournament semifinal game against Pacific at George Allen Field today.

*Ventura County Fusion General Manager Ranbir Shergill will take over as coach of the Fusion's W-league team for the 2009 season. Shergill was with the Cal South Olympic Development Program in 2008 and won a national championship as coach of the Cal South Under-16 girls team. Incidentally, the Fusion's men's and women's teams have open tryouts Dec. 13. More info here.

*Named to the California Collegiate Athletic Association first team were Cal State Dominguez Hills junior forward Melanie DeSalvo (Chula Vista) and former West (Torrance) High star Jessica Murphy.

In other college soccer news:
*Cal State Northridge men's team Coach Terry Davila notched his 100th collegiate victory Wednesday as the Matadors came from two goals down to beat Cal State Fullerton, 3-2. With the win, the Matadors keep pace with fourth-place UC Irvine in the Big West standings; the teams meet Saturday in Northridge in the final game of the season with the winner earning the fourth and final spot in the inaugural Big West Men's Soccer Postseason Tournament.

*Former Galaxy defender Paul Caligiuri has resigned as men's soccer coach at Cal Poly. The team's record this season: 4-11-3.

*Cal State Dominguez Hills junior defender Kevin Gallaugher (Walnut, Calif) and Kyle Holland (Anchorage, Alaska) were named CCAA first-team selections.

Lastly:
*Former Galaxy forward Clint Mathis is profiled here ahead of Saturday's Real Salt Lake-Chivas USA clash in Carson.

*In Utah, they're thinking skiing not soccer.

*David Beckham clears up just when he's leaving for Italy here.

*The MLS playoffs resume tonight with the Palos Verdes Peninsula's John Thorrington and his Chicago Fire taking on the New England Revolution. Kickoff is at 5:30 p.m. on ESPN2.

*And Columbus Crew's Chad Marshall was today named MLS Defender of the Year.