Soccer: Extra Time

Soccer: Extra Time

The Red Bulls signed Canadian international jeeper Greg Sutton today.“We have been impressed with Greg’s performances during his time with us in preseason,” said GM and Sporting Director Erik Soler.... Read on

The Red Bulls signed Canadian international jeeper Greg Sutton today.
	 
“We have been impressed with Greg’s performances during his time with us in preseason,” said GM and Sporting Director Erik Soler. “He is a very experienced goalkeeper and will compete for a starting role.”
	 
Sutton would presumably back up nominal starter Bouna Coundoul, who has the second-best goals-against average in MLS history.
	 
The veteran comes to the Red Bulls after three seasons with Toronto FC, where he made 34 appearances, including 33 starts, compiling seven shutouts and 155 saves. Prior to his time with Toronto FC, Sutton was a fixture in goal for the Montreal Impact of the USL First Division, making 132 appearances and helping the team to the a title in 2004, earning USL MVP, Goalkeeper of the Year. He was also named Impact Defensive Player of the Year.
	 
A four-time USL-1 Goalkeeper of the Year honoree, Sutton was on the New York roster in 2000, but did not make an appearance in an MLS match. Sutton has made 16 appearances for the Canadian National Team.

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Empire State Building to light up red-and-white in honor of Red Bull Arena

March 11, 2010 , ι BRIAN LEWIS

The Empire State Building will light up red-and-white next Friday March 19 in honor of the Grand Opening of Red Bull Arena. The $200 million, 25,000-seat stadium will open Saturday March 20 against... Read on

The Empire State Building will light up red-and-white next Friday March 19 in honor of the Grand Opening of Red Bull Arena. The $200 million, 25,000-seat stadium will open Saturday March 20 against Santos at 6 p.m.

Red Bulls defender Mike Petke, goalkeeper Bouna Coundoul, and assistant coach Richie Williams will all take part in the lighting ceremony, which will illuminate the skyscraper in the colors of the Red Bulls’ kit. All three have ties to the New York metro area. Petke grew up in Long Island, Coundoul attended Martin Luther King Jr. high school in New York City, and Williams is a Middletown, NJ native. The lighting ceremony will take place on March 19 at 1:30 p.m..
	 
The Empire State Building is at 350 Fifth Ave. between 33rd and 34th. The lighting of the building in red and white will take place from dusk on March 19 until about 2 a.m. on March 22.

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Report: MLS players to strike midnight March 25th if no new CBA reached

March 11, 2010 , ι BRIAN LEWIS

MLS players will announce a strike in exactly two weeks if no new collective bargaining agreement with the league can be reached by then, according to American Soccer News . "Yesterday’s... Read on

MLS players will announce a strike in exactly two weeks if no new collective bargaining agreement with the league can be reached by then, according to
	 American Soccer News.

"Yesterday’s announcement that Major League Soccer and the MLS players union are continuing talks apparently masked a larger, more disconcerting development in the ongoing impasse between the two sides. According to comments by union representative Nick Garcia, and reiterated by ASN sources, the players will announce a strike by midnight, March 25 unless a new collective bargaining agreement is in place by then. March 24 of course being the eve of the regular season opener in Seattle.''
	 
Seattle will host the nationally-televised league opener at 9:30 p.m. on March 25th, with $200 million Red Bull Arena slated to open two days later hosting the Chicago Fire. Now clearly there are two weeks to hammer out a deal, and that should be helped by the fact both sides agreed to a mediator. But at this point one can't logically rule out the very real possibility that this season with be delayed by _ if not threatened altogether _ by a strike.
	 
What do you think? Figure they'll work out a deal? Will he have MLS soccer in 2010? And if so, at what point? Holla at us…

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

RBNY trialist Levchenko comes & goes

March 11, 2010 , ι BRIAN LEWIS

Evgeniy we hardly knew ye. Evgeniy Levchenko's trial with the Red Bulls is over before the club even had a chance to confirm or deny reports. The former Ukrainian National Team midfielder had indeed... Read on

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Champions League: Man United ousts AC Milan

March 11, 2010 , ι REUTERS

Wayne Rooney scored twice again as Manchester United cruised into the quarter-finals of the Champions League after a 4-0 win over a feeble AC Milan sent them through 7-2 on aggregate on Wednesday.
	 
Rooney, who scored twice in the 3-2 San Siro win, was on target with a 13th-minute header that broke the hearts of the seven-times winners.
	 
He added his second at the start of the second half and in a virtual exhibition match, Park Ji-sung after an hour and a late Darren Fletcher header completed the crushing victory.
	 
"We got the break with the early goal in the second half and after that we played very well. When we play at that tempo we are difficult to play against. With the team I've got it doesn't matter who we play next," said United manager Alex Ferguson.
	 
Milan, without injured centre back Alessandro Nesta, striker Alexandre Pato and midfielder Luca Antonini looked off the pace from the start but few could have predicted their total capitulation.
	 
Rooney shot wide after three minutes and even fullback Gary Neville was allowed to let fly just over the bar with his left foot soon after.
	 
Milan should have scored from their first real attack though as an Andrea Pirlo free kick reached Ronaldinho but the Brazilian's header went just wide after eight minutes.
	 
If Klaas Jan Huntelaar had managed to control Thiago Silva's through ball with the goal gaping things might have turned out differently.
	 
With Daniele Bonera forced to operate at centre back Rooney was wandering free and when Neville found him on the penalty spot there was never any doubt that he would thunder his header beyond Christian Abbiati.
	 
That left Milan needing three goals to progress and it appeared that nobody in their lineup had the confidence to find them.

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Champions League: Real Madrid eliminated by Lyon

March 11, 2010 , ι REUTERS

Big-spending Real Madrid failed to qualify for the Champions League quarterfinals for the sixth straight season when Olympique Lyon dumped the Spaniards out 2-1 on aggregate on Wednesday.
	 
Real's dream of winning a 10th European title at their Bernabeu Stadium in May was shattered by Miralem Pjanic's 75th-minute strike, which secured a 1-1 draw for visiting Lyon in the last 16 second leg after Cristiano Ronaldo's goal in the sixth minute.
	 
"You can say it's a great achievement. We escaped the worst possible scenario in first half. ... Hats off to the players who gave all they had tonight. We played a superb second half and I think we deserved it," Lyon coach Claude Puel told TFI channel.
	 
Real president Florentino Perez spent close to a quarter of a billion euros ($340 million) in the summer in a bid to end the club's Champions League drought and their latest failure raises fresh questions about the future of coach Manuel Pellegrini.
	 
Real went top of La Liga ahead of champions Barcelona on goal difference at the weekend but the domestic league is now their only chance of silverware this season.
	 
Real midfielder and captain Guti said the club's exit from the competition was even more painful this year given that the final was in their own stadium and criticized some of his team mates for selfish play.
	 
"We have to be more of a team and not play so much as individuals," he told Spanish television.
	 
"We didn't come out and perform as we should have done," he added. "It's a shame and now we have to think about the league which is all we have left. All these years have been painful and this one too, much more."
	 
A fired-up Real started the match strongly, winning the ball immediately from the Lyon kickoff, and goalkeeper Hugo Lloris has to sprint off his line to deny Kaka.
	 
The rampant home side were ahead soon after.
	 
Guti lofted the ball to Ronaldo, set to lead Portugal's attack at this summer's World Cup, and the competition's top scorer this season took his tally to seven with a low finish that flew between Lloris's legs.
	 
Gonzalo Higuain came desperately close to a second in the 26th when he rounded Lloris and had the empty goal in his sights but his angled shot bounced away off the inside of the post.
	 
Two minutes later the Argentina striker picked up a loose ball in the area and fired a shot toward the bottom corner but Lloris palmed the ball away with a superb fingertip save.
	 
Real were far less dominant after the break and Lyon began to create chances of their own.
	 
Substitute Maxime Gonalons headed narrowly over, Sidney Govou miscued an effort into the crowd from a good position and striker Lisandro Lopez stung the hands of goalkeeper Iker Casillas from distance.
	 
Pjanic stunned the home fans when he picked up a loose ball in the Real area with 15 minutes left and hammered in a volley.
	 
As Real poured forward and gaps opened up in their defence, Lopez and Cesar Delgado were both clean through on goal but failed to finish.
	 
Tempers frayed at the end, substitute Raul and Lyon captain Cris clashing, and the final whistle was greeted with a mixture of stunned silence and subdued whistling from the Real fans and wild euphoria from the Lyon faithful high up in the stands.

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Robinson, rumors & Red Bull notes; Man United coming to the Swamp?

March 10, 2010 , ι BRIAN LEWIS

I'm rolling through the second of three straight quadruple-headers here at the Garden for the Big East tourney _ Let's Play Four! _ but I wanted to take a hot minute and throw some little local... Read on

We all know the Red Bulls have ex-Wales National Team midfielder Carl Robinson with them in training camp down in Florida, but it was a little unclear what they were going to have to give Toronto for his rights. After initial reports of a second-round pick, Toronto boss Mo Johnston
	 told Cbc that his former club is only parting with a FOURTH round pick.

I know Robinson is slow as dirt, and 33-years old; but he's tough, a seasoned veteran, and proven in MLS. And if Toronto is really covering 2/3rds of his $300,000-plus salary, I don’t know how anybody could say this is anything but a layup for the Red Bulls. (Sorry, I'm still in hoops mode).

Now, the Red Bulls have been linked with a pair of European-based players supposedly coming in on trial, but I haven’t been able to discern yet the veracity of either report: striker Ibrahim Salou and midfielder Evgeniy Levchenko.

Salou is a 6-foot-4 Ghanian who has spent most of his pro career in Belgium. The 30-year-old has four goals in 30 games with Danish first division club Vejle, and
	 his club says he's headed here on trial. Here's a clip of Brugge, and he's No. 25 finishing off the scoring.
	 
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/lQ8tihzlTE0&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/lQ8tihzlTE0&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>
	 
As far as the Ukrainian Levchenko, he's a 32-year-old midfielder who is
	 reportedly in Florida training with the Red Bulls. He's been capped eight times by Ukraine, largely during qualification for the 2002 World Cup.
	 
He played 90 games from 2006-09 for Dutch club FC Groningen, but left last June for FC Saturn Moscow Oblast.
	 
<object width="425" height="273"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/G63o7QLQLV4&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/G63o7QLQLV4&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="273"></embed></object>
	 
And in the last tidbit, Post colleague Bart Hubbuch has told me that Manchester United has been in discussions with the New Meadowlands Stadium to come play a friendly here. It sounds from the folks in the Swamp that the Red Devils are a lot more likely to come in 2011 than later this year, not shocking what with the World Cup backlog and fatigue.

and a 1 ½ have signed the Ukrainian national player, he comes on a free transfer from FC Groningen of the Netherlands and sign a contract for 1.5 years.

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Latest MLS CBA update

March 10, 2010 , ι BRIAN LEWIS

This is the latest release from MLS regarding their negotiation with the union on a new CBA.This week Major League Soccer and the MLS Players Union met in Washington, D.C. under the auspices of... Read on

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Champions League: Bayern gets past Fiorentina

March 10, 2010 , ι REUTERS

Arjen Robben's superb strike sent Bayern Munich through to the Champions League quarterfinals on away goals on Tuesday despite a 3-2 defeat by Fiorentina in a thrilling last 16 second leg.
	 
The Dutchman found the net from 25-meters with a wind-assisted shot in the 65th minute to make the aggregate score 4-4 after the four-times European champions won the first leg 2-1.
	 
Fiorentina's Juan Manuel Vargas took advantage of a Hans-Joerg Butt fumble for the opener in the 28th minute and Stevan Jovetic made it 2-0 for the hosts in the 54th before the home crowd went on an emotional rollercoaster ride that ended in disappointment.
	 
Mark van Bommel levelled the tie for Bayern in the 60th before Jovetic bagged his second, only for Robben to decide it with his splendid strike almost immediately after.
	 
"It was a tough match, especially because of the conditions," Bayern midfielder Sebastian Schweinsteiger told Sky Italia.
	 
"We were clever to keep the ball on the ground. At the end of two legs we have shown ourselves to be stronger."
	 
Fiorentina will rue their back luck from the first leg when a late Miroslav Klose goal scored from an offside position condemned them to defeat.
	 
Ending Bayern's 18-match unbeaten run will be meagre consolation, especially as they are unlikely to qualify for the competition next season after a miserable run of form that has dragged them down into the middle of the Serie A standings.
	 
The hosts, without much missed Romania striker Adrian Mutu after he failed drugs tests and Massimo Gobbi for his red card in the first leg, tried to dictate the pace from the start.
	 
The rain and strong wind made keeping the ball under control difficult but the Italian side went ahead when Marco Marchionni's shot was fumbled by Butt and Peruvian winger Vargas pounced to score.
	 
Bayern were stirred into action and Fiorentina goalkeeper Sebastien Frey produced a remarkable save to deny Robben six minutes later.
	 
Alberto Gilardino should have extended Fiorentina's lead in the 49th when he blasted straight at Butt with the goal gaping before making amends by laying on Jovetic's first goal with a back heel.
	 
Van Bommel rifled in from outside the box to level the tie on the hour.
	 
Jovetic was on target four minutes later after being set up again by Gilardino but it took just 72 seconds for Robben to reply decisively for the Bundesliga leaders.
	 
"There is a lot of anger and disappointment. Tonight there are no regrets as we put in a great performance. It's the result of the first leg which hurts," Frey told Sky Italia.
	 
"To play in these conditions with the wind against was tough. But Robben scored a great goal."

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

Champions League: Arsenal routs Porto to advance

March 09, 2010 , ι ASSOCIATED PRESS

Arsenal striker Nicklas Bendtner atoned for a poor performance over the weekend to score a hat trick in a 5-0 win over FC Porto for the Gunners to advance to the quarterfinals of the Champions League... Read on

PRINT
EMAIL
SHARE
- Yahoo! Buzz
- Digg
- Reddit
- Fark It
- Newsvine
- StumbleUpon
- Twitter
- Facebook
RSS

Post Your Comments ⁄

(0) Comments

↑ Back to Top

Viewing Page: 1 of 50

Next >

Subscribe to this Blog

About the Authors

BRIAN LEWIS With the Post since 1998, Brian Lewis has covered the World Series, NBA Finals, Final Four, NFL playoffs, NYC Marathon, U.S. Open, World Cup, bowl games, and more than a thousand baseball games, including two perfect games at Yankee Stadium. He’s a Rutgers grad, class of 1990.

Follow Brian on Twitter

CLEMENTE LISI Clemente Lisi is a native New Yorker and Post news reporter who spends most of his spare time playing and watching soccer. He is a regular contributor to the blog, where he writes about Italy's Serie A and the Champions League.

STEVE SOLDWEDEL Reporter/Producer/Developer Steve Soldwedel is a graduate of the Michigan State University School of Journalism. He is a frequent contributor to the Post's hockey and soccer blogs.