The FIFA Executive Committee, chaired by President Joseph “Sepp” Blatter, approved the voting process to determine the hosts of the 2018 FIFA World Cup™ and 2022 FIFA World Cup™ during its meeting held in Zurich on Oct. 28 and 29. The voting will take place at the Home of FIFA in Zurich on Thursday, Dec. 2, and the process will be as follows: The 2018 vote will take place first, then the 2022 one. The vote will be by secret ballot and
Academy Award-winning actor Morgan Freeman will speak on behalf of the U.S. bid to host the FIFA World Cup™ in 2022 when the U.S. team makes its final presentation to the FIFA Executive Committee on Wednesday, Dec. 1, in Zurich. Freeman, a member of the USA Bid Committee’s board of directors, is the fourth person to be named to the U.S. team that will make a final 30-minute presentation. The others are: U.S. President Bill Clinton, the honorary chairman of the USA
John Doyle’s The World is a Ball is a soccer masterpiece. It captures the true spirit of “the beautiful game,” from the Eastern European city of Bratislava to the football frenzy known as Buenos Aires (and everything in between). It is a reminder of our love for the game and what makes our sport universal. The fans, the stadium, the players, and most importantly the atmosphere create the world’s most popular game and Doyle recreates each with brilliant mastery. The author tackles the worldwide phenomenon known
U.S. Under-17 Men’s National Team head coach Wilmer Cabrera has named the 40 players who will be part of U.S. Soccer’s Under-17 Men’s National Team Residency Program in Bradenton, Fla., for the Fall 2010 Semester. “We tried to find a group of players with a chance to compete for a spot in these important tournaments,” said Cabrera. “We found some under-the-radar players who bring a different type of experience to our team, including one player who was part of a
Balboa and Bebeto undergo sophisticated testing by Gatorade scientists Marcelo Balboa has always been a leader and trendsetter in professional soccer. Known for his deadly bicycle kicks, Balboa was a fan favorite and for good reason. As the captain of the U.S. Men’s National Team (USMNT), Balboa led the squad on and off the field, eventually passing the torch on to a new generation of U.S. stars. Balboa also helped grow the game as a member of Major League Soccer (MLS),
The U.S. U-20 Men’s National Team took the Milk Cup title with a 3-0 win against tournament host Northern Ireland at the Showgrounds in Ballymena. Gale Agbossoumonde, Juan Agudelo and Adrian Reulas each scored for the U.S., which dominated the match to take its first Milk Cup title since 2005. U.S. goalkeeper Zac MacMath marshalled a solid defensive unit that included Zarek Valentin, Agbossoumonde, Perry Kitchen and Greg Garza. The group held Northern Ireland to just seven shots, none of which
Canada’s women’s U-17 team won 2:0 over Chile in an international friendly match in Santiago, Chile. Canada won the match played at the Estadio Bicentenario de la Florida, which comes near the close of a 10-day camp in Chile. Captain Nicole Setterlund and player of the match Charlène Achille scored for Canada. “It was a much stronger performance by the team,” said national women’s U-17 coach Bryan Rosenfeld. “We were far better physically and mentally.” Canada, whose title sponsor is BMO Financial
Portugal was defeated by Spain 1 to 0. Portugal was in Group G, “The Group of Death” that included Ivory Coast, North Korea and Brazil. Portugal played against number 1 team in the world, Brazil and number 2 in the world, Spain. I believe our players represented Portugal with dignity, honor and pride. Although we are sad and disappointed and certainly not satisfied to have to leave South Africa at this stage of the competition, we do come home
When you start the journey that is the World Cup, there’s always a sense of anxiety. You try to focus on the two segments of the tournament: there’s the qualification aspect, which Team Portugal has already achieved, and then there’s the knockout phase, which requires a winning mentality. The loser goes home and the winner stays. We’ve reached that stage and we don’t want to go home. As Team Portugal prepares for the match against Spain, we’re in a good