Tag Archives: Soccer By Ives

Jack Jewsbury Leads The Portland Timbers

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Jack Jewsbury, Portland Timbers vs Chivas

Jack Jewsbury, Portland Timbers vs Chivas, Photo: Gary Sheldon | ProstAmerika.com

Have you caught a Portland Timber’s game yet? If not, Farmer’s Gastropub now has the MLS DirecTV package. A call to the restaurant can ensure that you’ll catch the game and a good meal. Here’s some reports from Week 3:

Soccer by Ive’s provided his wrap-up

NEW ENGLAND REVOLUTION 1, PORTLAND TIMBERS 1 (HIGHLIGHTS)

Man of the Match – Shalrie Joseph. Had a good battle with James Marcelin all day, but the Revs standout helped New England get a point in a game where Portland very well could have taken a road victory.

Honorable Mention – Jack Jewsbury. His clutch finish helped Portland register its first point as an MLS team.

A Night to Forget – Kevin Alston. The Revs right back has been struggling and had a bad night that included him being out of position on Portland’s goal.

Rookie Watch – Stephen McCarthy scored his first goal and A.J. Soares played his best match of the season for New England. Meanwhile, Darlington Nagbe made his debut for the Portland Timbers.

Random Thoughts – Zack Schilawski’s struggles make you wonder how much longer he’ll be starting for the Revs, and if his problem have more to do with the Revs system or his own issues. James Marcelin was very impressive in midfield for Portland. He and Jack Jewsbury could be forming one of the more underrated central midfield tandems in the league

Here’s what OregonLive.com, the home town paper has to say – Jack Jewsbury steps up to lead Portland Timbers

“He’s probably our most important player right now,” midfielder Jeremy Hall said. “He sees things that tells you he’s been around the league. The stuff that he says is right on and it’s like almost having another coach out there.”

Jewsbury scored Portland’s lone goal in its 1-1 draw at New England Saturday, giving the Timbers their first point in Major League Soccer play. He also scored the Timbers’ first goal in their 2-0 win against Chivas USA in a U.S. Open Cup play-in game March 29. Each goal has contributed to momentum the team is riding as it approaches the home-opener against Chicago April 14 at Jeld-Wen Field.

“I’ve always seen myself as a leader,” Jewsbury said. “When I was in Kansas City, I learned from older guys like Jimmy Conrad that and now I’m trying to bring that to Portland.”

There’s also a nice wrap up of the US Open Cup win over Chivas, where Jack got the first goal scored by Portland in their history, the game-winner in their first game against an MLS rival and led by example – 2011 US Open Cup qualifying: Portland Timbers get first MLS win, topple 10-man Chivas USA In addition to the highlight video below, there’s a post-game interview with Jack you might enjoy, click on the link to go to the story.

Pat Noonan Signs With Seattle

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Pat Noonan, NE Revolution

Pat Noonan, NE Revolution

Former DeSmet and Indiana University player Pat Noonan has signed with the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer, after not having his contract renewed by the NE Revolution. Here are the details from Soccer by Ives

As much as the Seattle Sounders outplayed the Philadelphia Union last week, one lingering issue for the Sounders was the team’s need for a better option in its starting lineup for the injured Nate Jaqua than reserve player Roger Levesque.

Seattle may have found that player in Pat Noonan, who signed with the Sounders on Tuesday. The former New England, Columbus and Colorado player can play at forward and the right flank, and while he is not as quick as he once was, Noonan is still a strong technical player who will finish opportunities when they come.

In conversations with Terry Michler at CBC High School (39 years, over 800 wins) he has described Noonan as the best player of his generation from St Louis.

US Men’s National Team – Woah!

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ussoccer_smallSo, the usual suspects are commenting on Facebook about yesterday’s 5-0 loss to Mexico. There are plenty of theories and thoughts about what the result means in the bigger picture – World Cup 2010.

Me – I think Mexico was a very enjoyable team to watch with their passing and finishing and the result reminded me of why I didn’t get very excited following the US win in the Confederation’s Cup over Spain. I knew how close that team was to the one that lost 1-3 to Costa Rica a month earlier. My questions revolve around Bradley’s strategy at this stage in the qualifying process. Should we have used a B squad that may have 2-4 members on the 2010 World Cup roster and given Mexico new life or should we be using these tournaments as the opportunity to solidify the anticipated roster? What do you think?

There are three games in the next six weeks, all WC 2010 qualifying matches. It will be interesting to see what the rosters look like then.
August 12th- at Mexico, Estadio Azteca, Mexico City
September 5th- vs. El Salvador, Rio Tinto Stadium, Sandy, Utah
September 9th- at Trinidad & Tobago, site TBD

BTW, the US at Mexico game is scheduled to be shown on MUN2, described here:

If you have DirecTV, mun2 can be found in channel 410 and can be seen as part of the DirecTV Latin Programming package. Don’t get that package? If you’re dead set on watching the match in English, you may want to consider ordering the Latin Programming package for the month of August and cancelling after the match. There is no word yet on who will be calling the game for mun2.

Here are some articles looking at yesterday’s results as well. Chime in with your thoughts!

Soccer by Ives – Matchday commentary and A Look Back
USA Today – Mexico Erupts in 2nd Half
US Men’s Team post-game reaction
Grant Wahl A Rout In The Gold Cup Final
Dan Loney As a Nation Clenches it’s Cheeks In Pain

Peter Vermes, KC Wizards Technical Director Interviewed

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Peter Vermes, 1990 US World Cup

Peter Vermes, 1990 US World Cup

Soccer By Ives recently did a two-part interview with Peter Vermes of the KC Wizards. It’s timely with the visit of the KC Wizard Juniors teams that are playing in the Challenge Cup at Lake Country Soccer this weekend. Vermes, who represented the US in the 1990 World Cup, is the Technical Director for the KC Wizards and therefor responsible for every team that represents the Wizards including the Juniors. He hired Head Coach Curt Onalfo and they work together to recruit, draft and determine team strategies.

The SBI Questions: Peter Vermes Answers (Part 1)

STEVE T- Peter, what was your most memorable moment from the 1990 World Cup, both on and off the field?

VERMES- Everybody always asks me about the shot that I had against Italy, and obviously that was very memorable, but what I would say it’s the opening game, standing in the tunnel before the game. That was pretty incredible, knowing we were in the World Cup and we were getting ready to play our first game.

Off the field I would say our preparation in Switzerland was pretty amazing. We were very focused, in our own hotel. Guys were all so young and naïve. Really, at the time, we didn’t really understand the magnitude of what we were doing. As I look back on it now we really forged a lot of great relationships with a lot of the guys who were from that group of players.

The SBI Questions: Peter Vermes Answers (Part 2)

CHUCK- Wow, this is so random. I was litteraly just thinking yesterday about my time at Peter Vermes soccer camp from like 15 years ago. Anyway, I was hoping Peter could touch on the strides US Soccer has made since is MNT playing days and how he thinks we should improve our current youth setup to develop a truly world class player.

VERMES- What has happened in U.S. Soccer is absolutely incredible. It’s so hard to talk about the strides that we have made. In the 1990 World Cup, out of the 23-man roster we had, I was the only player at that time playing overseas. Every other player was playing in the United States and signed with U.S. Soccer. I was playing in Holland for FC Volendam. Everybody else was playing in the United States.

Finally, as this headline from last Summer notes, KCW Juniors U-16, U-17, U-19 Teams Capture Kansas State Cup Crowns

Three age groups in the KCW Juniors Youth Development Program were crowned Kansas State Champions over the weekend, as the U-16, U-17 and U-19 teams rolled through the competition to capture state titles in their first year of competition.

The U16 and U17 teams are now a year older and playing this weekend in Springfield. Come see the best at Lake Country Soccer! Meanwhile, here’s the KC Wizards schedule for 2009. You can find it on Google Calendar by doing a Public search or you can download it here, see the button on the bottom right. Or the Wizards have an Outlook version on their website.

World Cup Qualifying Reports

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The US Men’s Team shut out Trinidad & Tobago 3-0 last night (that’s the game I was enjoying). They are now 3-0 with 3 games remaining in the semifinal round of qualification (12 teams will become 6 teams, with 3 moving onto the WC).

Elsewhere, Soccer by Ives offered several good articles this week:
Here are the CONCACAF Standings prior to the games last night
Mexico Beats Canada puts our neighbors to the North very close to elimination
Oh, and for those of you born in the 80′s or later, here’s some history for you from Ives.

November 19, 1989, when U.S. national team defender Paul Caligiuri sent a curling left-footed shot into the net from 35 yards away to help give the Americans a 1-0 win and berth in the 1990 World Cup, the first World Cup berth since 1950.

It was against Trinidad & Tobago, played in Port of Spain, T&T I can’t recall where I was, although I had been living in Chicago for a couple of years by then, but I remember leaping to my feet and celebrating. I’d spent the summer coaching an A League Women’s team in Chicago and I’m certain there was a group of us watching it together. And it’s the reason you need to know who Caligiuri is.

And here’s the video that’s getting the most play – Denmark’s stunning 3-2 win over Portugal

All the more remarkable given the display Portugal puts on. That first goal was a classic hold, build, destroy! The World Cup blog offers game details –

Portugal had led 1-0 through Nani since the 42nd minute. But then the following happened: Nicklas Bendtner equalized with a great cut inside and strike in the 84th minute, Deco restored Portugal’s lead with an 86th minute penalty (and must have thought he’d won the game) only for Christian Poulsen to make it 2-2 with a 90th minute header.

But it wasn’t over. Because in the 92nd minute Werder Bremen’s Daniel Jensen stepped up and lashed a shot from about 20 yards out, which took a deflection and went past Quim to make it 3-2.

MLS All-Star Game Thursday

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Tonight the MLS All-Star game will be played in Toronto, at the home of Toronto FC. The game will feature a lineup of All-Stars taking on West Ham United, from the English Premier League.

Game time – 6:00 pm. I’ll be at Coester’s, enjoying a good meal and some entertaining soccer I expect. Come out and join me!

There should be some fireworks off the pitch as well, if earlier experiences are any indication.

There is some dissatisfaction in Toronto. Here’s a quote from An all-star letdown looms in Toronto in the Toronto Star

In the end, we get West Ham. Thanks for nothing. We get the feeling West Ham feels the same. It wouldn’t sting so much if Barcelona wasn’t playing Red Bulls in a friendly next month. What did we do wrong? Install FieldTurf is the short answer. Offer to sell out 80,000 seats at Giants Stadiums is the shorter one.

The KC Wizards will be represented by Jimmy Conrad but there won’t be a single Canadian player (Jim Brennan, Pat Onstad and Dwayne De Rosario) in the starting line up for the game in Toronto. Hmmm…

Even Ive’s is stewing on the issue with The All-Star Game that Could have been

It’s okay to admit it. You aren’t happy with this year’s MLS All-Star Game. You were hoping for a Champions League title contender like Manchester United or Real Madrid instead of West Ham United (no offense, Hammers fans). You would almost have preferred to see an All-MLS game rather than this meaningless friendly.

He offers a couple of options for future All-Star configurations. Will you be watching?

US Men’s Team Advance In World Cup Qualifying

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From US Soccer

BRIDGETOWN, Barbados (June 22, 2008) — With a 1-0 victory against Barbados Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Men’s National Team captured the two-game, aggregate goal series by a 9-0 margin, advancing to the Semifinal Round of qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Eddie Lewis scored the only goal of the game in the second leg of the affair at the Kensington Oval in Bridgetown, providing the U.S. with their fourth straight shutout against the small Caribbean nation.

The U.S. will now prepare for their first match of the Semifinal Round, which will be on the road against Guatemala on Aug. 20. Overall, the U.S. will play a total of six games in the round-robin Semifinal Round, facing all three opponents in the four-team group home and away. The top two teams will advance to the Final Round hexagonal that will be played in 2009.

Costa Rica advances as do Guatamala and Mexico. UPDATE – Soccer by Ives previews all 12 qualifiers

KC Wizards Update

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It’s hard to tell from this video but rest assured, that is Jackie Jewsbury getting his second straight game-winning assist. The video does a much better job of showing the celebration in The Cauldron. This one came in the 87th minute while the first one came in the 47th minute of the 2-0 win over DC United.

You can get higher quality video on the Wizards site. And if you’re planning on attending the Glendale Falcons vs Kickapoo Chiefs derby on Wednesday evening, don’t forget to set your recorder for the Wizards third straight home game, at 7:00 pm against defending champion New England Revolution, available on DirectKick. Or see it live at Coester’s.

Update – Ives, of Soccer by Ives, hearts the KC Wizards. Twice! ranking them #1 in the MLS in his second week rankings.

KC Wizards Open Tonight – Join Me at Coester’s

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It should be a crazy evening tonight, what with NCAA Basketball as well as the start of the baseball season. Regardless, I want to see some soccer so I’ll be heading over to Coester’s to catch the KC Wizard’s opener this evening at 7:00 pm. With a fine appetizer and dinner menu, including a kiddies menu, I’ve enjoyed it and think you will too. If you want to see some sports tonight, including MLS, then check it out. 631 S. Kimbrough, one block West of Hammon’s basketball stadium.

Did I mention at least one national correspondent is picking them to finish in the Top 4?

Coesters_Mar28