Gary Van Egmond is still the best, but Aurelio Vidmar is on the move...and quick.

Van Egmond's side were a goal down to Adelaide and having used their three subs and when Jason Hoffman got injured they were down to ten.

But Van Egmond did what few coaches ever do even when they have a full complement. Click to continue reading...

Canberra FC have put a proposal to Capital Football to fully fund a Canberra/Goulburn/Cooma/Yass inclusive Youth team to play ALL the Youth teams in the A-League. But it appears to have been rejected.

Canberra FC informed me they offered to open the team to all players and clubs in the Canberra region providing a pathway, immediately, for all our junior players. Click to continue reading...

The Eurpoean Socceroos looked good in nice cool conditions. They were a goal down early but still in the game. As we know the Dutch are a million miles away from their 1970s total domination, Total Football days, now they play the long balls to the speedy wingers just like the Roar...

The Socceroos were probably lucky to win the penalty, but it highlights how protected Mark Bosnich is given (see last weeks Roar v CCM) their goalie was given a red in a friendly - and Kennedy had already missed the ball. Click to continue reading...

This weekend's game between the New York Red Bulls and Chicago Fire will be a key clash between two clubs that have their sights set on the playoffs. But more than that, it will mark the return of head coach Juan Carlos Osorio from the Big Apple to the city that he abruptly left last December - which more than likely will see the Chicago fans giving him an earful. Click to continue reading...

Well, business is back to normal after the Kandji disaster last week. Weeks of good news and achievement took a backseat to the alleged communist behavior of the MLS. But people do forget rather quickly, especially after the team has performed so damn well in a historically disasterous period for previous Metro/Bull squads.

Click to continue reading...

David Beckham and his LA Galaxy will return to New Zealand in December for an exhibition match against an Oceania All Stars team captained by New Caledonian and French player Christian Karembeu, former Real Madrid player and better known for having married to Slovak model Adriana Sklenaříková. Click to continue reading...

Apparently Ricky Herbert is furious with his sides display last night!

I'm more furious. I had to turn it off at half-time. Yes I lasted that long.

The difference between me and Uber Coach Ricky was I knew what was coming.

Some of the Fox Sports guys have talked the Phoenix up since they started in the league. Click to continue reading...

Saturday September 6th New Caledonia v New Zealand  Fiji v Vanuatu  Wednesday September 10th New Zealand v New Caledonia Vanuatu v Fiji  Click to continue reading...

Stuff to read while you portray yourself as an adult video inspector..... Football questions you never knew you needed answered. (Metro) How to survive the relegation fight. (Cagliari Offside) Lots of men from New Zealand auditioning for a Michael Jackson Thriller remake. (Champions League Blog) The insanity of Cologne's fans. Click to continue reading...

Sam Messam (C-#17) of New Zealand may not have been able to lead his team for an Olympic win against Belgium. But he was center stage for a traditional Maori "haka" along with other teammates Craig Henderson (L) and Ian Hogg, after loosing the first round in Group C: 1-0 at the Shanhai Stadium on [. Click to continue reading...

Kaz Patafta, Matty Kemp and Adam Casey are all in their clubs respective clubs squads for the opening round. Olyroo Nikolai Topor-Stanley may well turn out for Perth Glory on Sunday.

Shaun Ontong is out indefinitely with a dodgy ankle and Ben Wilson will be an Assistant Referee and Ben Williams will control the game in New Zealand and Craig Moore is suspended already:) along with Alex Brosque and a heap of others. Click to continue reading...

To sum up: the early favourites - Brazil, Germany, and the US - remain in pole position heading into the quarter-finals; Cristiane got a hat-trick in Brazil's 3-1 win over Nigeria, including a beautiful overhead kick for the second goal; and Heather O'Reilly scored the fastest goal in Olympic history 41 seconds into the US' 4- routing of New Zealand. Click to continue reading...

Written by du Nord reader Adam.


USA 4-0 New Zealand

After an uninspiring 4-0 rout of New Zealand, and thanks to some help from Japan, the US finished atop group G and will now play Canada in the Olympic quarterfinals.

Heather O'Reilly opened the scoring 43 seconds into the match with the fastest goal in women's Olympic soccer history, after lofting a shot from distance over New Zealand keeper Jenny Bindon. Click to continue reading...

The U.S. women are in the knockout stages of Olympic soccer after routing New Zealand 4-0 to win Group G. They will face Canada next in a quarterfinal Friday. Now it's the men's turn to get it done. They play... Click to continue reading...

Brandi Chastain: "We have to remember. New Zealand is a small island in the middle of the ocean, so they don't get a lot of games."

If only the Ferns moved to a bigger country, everything would be alright. If only Barack Obama as per Cokie Roberts had vacationed at Myrtle Beach instead of an exotic place like Hawaii, he would be considered American.

Click to continue reading...

Beijing Olympics Highlights: New Zealand are meeting Belgium Wednesday August 13th. Watch the highlights here at footiedb.com Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today!  Click to continue reading...

Despite their poor start in game 1 the USA women won for the second straight match today and finished first in their group, after Norway were blown out by Japan.

The USA beat New Zealand 4-0 today, while Japan won 5-1 over Norway.

That means the group stage ended like this:

6 USA (GD +3)
6 Norway (GD -1)
4 Japan
1 New Zealand

The USA will now face Canada in the Quarterfinals on Fri Aug 15 in Shanghai. Click to continue reading...

The US Women dominated New Zealand, putting in 4 unanswered goals in their final Group G match. The US girls looked sharp for the most part; playing a fast paced and physical match while New Zealand, in spite of their heart, were simply out classed.

In the other Group Match, Japan put on a second half scoring clinic to trounce Norway 5-1. Click to continue reading...

I probably should have called this the intermittent blog. Who wants to prophecy the margin of victory for the U.S. before kickoff?

Then again, who could have predicted the truth is stranger than fiction of the first five minutes versus Norway?

Anyway, I can't really post too much this morning, but I'll check in occasionally. Click to continue reading...

From the US Soccer website:

U.S. WOMEN TO FACE NEW ZEALAND IN SHENYANG; WIN CLINCHES SPOT IN QUARTERS:
The U.S. Olympic Women's Soccer Team will face New Zealand on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium with a win guaranteeing a spot in the quarterfinals. The USA currently sits second in Group G with three points behind Norway (six points) and a win over the Kiwis will clinch the second spot in the group, earning a quarterfinal match against the winner of Group F.

Click to continue reading...

From the US Soccer website:

U.S. WOMEN TO FACE NEW ZEALAND IN SHENYANG; WIN CLINCHES SPOT IN QUARTERS:
The U.S. Olympic Women???s Soccer Team will face New Zealand on Tuesday, Aug. 12, at the Shenyang Olympic Sports Center Stadium with a win guaranteeing a spot in the quarterfinals. The USA currently sits second in Group G with three points behind Norway (six points) and a win over the Kiwis will clinch the second spot in the group, earning a quarterfinal match against the winner of Group F.

Click to continue reading...

I've been taking some time this morning to catch up on Olympic soccer news and, in particular, how the Swedish team is doing. Their performance at the Olympics has paralleled that of the USWNT in ways that have surprised me, as I thought they'd be one of the stronger sides coming out of the [...]SHARETHIS. Click to continue reading...

I didn't stay up late enough to actually see Michael Phelps and his relay teammates get the gold - but what a stunner as Jason Lezak anchored an amazing race! (I was aiming to watch past 9PM, but when Bob Costas started interviewing a smirking GW Bush I had to call it a night.) [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Inspirational Finish . Click to continue reading...

Argentina dominated a defensive Australian side but required a late strike from Ezequiel Lavezzi to ensure them of passage into the quarter finals of the Olympic Games.
Argentina 1 - 0 Australia


Nigeria 2 - 1 Japan

Goals from Anderson, Alexandre Pato, a double from Ronaldinho and substitute Rafael Sobis helped impressive Brazil smash unfancied New Zealand in Sunday's Olympic Games encounter. Click to continue reading...

And so to the fourth and final part of our round -up of the May and June World Cup 2010 qualifiers. Today we cover the Asia and Oceania sections...

Asia

Overview
A complicated process here. In Round 1, thirty-eight teams faced each other in nineteen home-and-away matches. Of the nineteen winners, the eleven highest-ranking teams (and by that we think FIFA mean those teams that won by the biggest margins) received a bye to Round 3 while the other eight played out Round 2 as a series of four home-and-away ties. Click to continue reading...

Brazilian teenage prodigy Alexander Pato or simply "Pato" (Duck) scored the second goal against New Zealand in the Beijing Olympics. The second goal was in the 10th minute, a cross or assist from another teen Marcelo. The match ended in 5-0 for Brazil. Click to continue reading...

Here's Beulah's match report. I'm always so pleased when one or two things I noticed show up in Beulah's write-up! I continue to be impressed with HAO's play - and was also very glad to see Mitts playing more like her old self. Hope A-Rod gets her scoring started against New Zealand [...]SHARETHIS. Click to continue reading...

Beijing Olympics Highlights: Brazil are meeting New Zealand Sunday August 10th. Watch the highlights here at footiedb.com Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today!  Click to continue reading...

After a little flurry of excitement when the Indonesian FA website anounced a couple of Argentinian sides were on their way, (the page was quickly pulled down!), the schedule has been finalised for the first Independence Cup to be held in Indonesia since the last one.

As you can see everything is being done to maximise attendances after a feeble 2 or 3 thousand turned up for the recent friendly with the New Zealand Olympic side. Click to continue reading...

Carli Lloyd's volley in the 27th minute gave the US Women's Olympic Team a 1-0 victory over Japan this morning and an important three points in the Group G standings. Tuesday's match against New Zealand is a rematch of a game played at Chicago's Soldier Field exactly one year earlier.

On August 12, 2007, more than 7,000 fans witnessed Abby Wambach score two goals to lead the US to a 6-1 victory over the Football Ferns (formerly known as the SWANZ). Click to continue reading...

After Carli Lloyd's goal in the first half, the score held and the USWNT defeated a good Japan squad 1-0 to gain three points and move into second place in their group. Next up, New Zealand on Tuesday at 7:45 AM ET. Here are some comments from Pia et al (from the USSF [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "USWNT Notches a Win", url: "http://www. Click to continue reading...

Group G of the Women's Football Tournament at the Summer Olympics in Beijing consists of Japan, the USA, Norway and New Zealand. Team Played Won Lost Drawn GF GA GD Points Norway 2 2 0 0 3 0 3 6 USA 2 1 1 0 1 2 -1 3 New Zealand 2 0 1 1 2 3 -1 1 Japan 2 1 0 1 2 3 -1 1 Norway 2-0 USA ( Aug 6- Qinhuangdao) ( Leni Kaurin, Melissa Wiik) Japan 2-2 New Zealand ( Aug 6- Qinhuangdao) ( Aya Miyama pen, Homare Sawa/ Kirsty Yallop, Amber Yearn pen) USA 1-0 Japan ( Aug 9- [. Click to continue reading...

The best pics from the first round of matches in Beijing Brazil, Argentina and Italy all began their Olympic campaign with good wins. Hosts China could only manage a draw against New Zealand. Click on the image below to launch... Click to continue reading...

Surprising results in the first round of games as women's football got underway two days before the Olympic Games officially open. Norway scored twice in the first six minutes and defeated the US 2-0; Japan went 2-0 down but fought back in the last 20 minutes to make it a 2-2 draw against New Zealand; and Germany and Brazil held each other to a goalless draw. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Four minutes, two goals, one stunning loss.

The U.S. women's Olympic team got off to a terrible start on Wednesday, giving up two goals in the first four minutes as Norway shut down the Americans, 2-0, in the opening match of the tournament.

Click to continue reading...