The Pursuit of Victory

TRS: Don't Tread

2012-09-03T21:48:00.000-04:00

The Reserve Squad just released their latest masterpiece: Don't Tread.
Buy HERE

Take A Bow, Son: Jozy Scores Two for AZ

2012-08-12T17:26:00.000-04:00

Jozy Altidore scores two and helps AZ Alkmaar earn a 2-2 draw against Ajax.

USMNT Roster for Aug 15th Friendly vs Mexico

2012-08-12T16:32:00.001-04:00

by JackPiranha

GOALKEEPERS (3)

Tim Howard (Everton)
Sean Johnson (Chicago Fire)
Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)

DEFENDERS (6)

Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City)
Steven Beithasour (San Jose Earthquakes)
Geoff Cameron (Stoke City)
Edgar Castillo (Club Tijuana)
Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis)
Fabian Johnson (Hoffenheim)

MIDFIELDERS (9)

DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla)
Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake)
Joe Corona (Club Tijuana)
Maurice Edu (Rangers)
Jermaine Jones (Schalke 04)
Jose Torres (Pachuca)
Brek Shea (FC Dallas)
Danny Williams (Hoffenheim)
Graham Zusi (Sporting Kansas City)

FORWARDS (4)

Terrence Boyd (Rapid Vienna)
Landon Donovan (LA Galaxy)
Herculez Gomez (Santos)
Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes)

Man United Celebrates IPO

2012-08-11T13:33:00.000-04:00

On Friday, August 10th executives and guests of English soccer club, Manchester United, Ltd., will visit the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) to commemorate the company's initial public offering. Manchester United will begin trading today on the NYSE under the ticker symbol "MANU."

TPOV Fantasy Premier League 2012/2013

2012-08-11T00:46:00.002-04:00

With over 2.5 million players, Fantasy Premier League is the biggest Fantasy Football game in the world!

Join TPOV's Fantasy League and see if you have what it takes to manage your team to the league title.

If you aren't playing the game then you can register at fantasy.premierleague.com.

Once you have logged in and entered your team, click on the 'Leagues' link at the top of the page.

On the Leagues page:

Select the 'Join a league' option
Choose private league
Now enter the code 16959-6179 to join the private league "Pursuit of Victory"

Goal of the Week: Thierry Henry vs Fire

2012-07-18T15:16:00.001-04:00

Le Toux with a beautiful pass to set up a world class finish by Thierry Henry.

Goal of the Week: Beckham vs Timbers

2012-07-15T12:59:00.000-04:00

Golazo-azo-azo-azooooo

Take A Bow, Son: Iker Casillas

2012-07-02T23:14:00.000-04:00

Iker Casillas asks the ref to blow the final whistle early out of respect for Italy.

UEFA EURO 2012

2012-06-08T11:16:00.001-04:00

by Sanjay Motwani, writing from Mumbai, India

EURO 2012 will be held in Poland and Ukraine. Today the goals galore festival will be starting yet one question remains in everyone's mind? Who will win Euro 2012? Will it be the power houses of Germany whose main feature has always been the consistency in major tournaments? Or will it be reigning champions Spain despite without Puyol and David Villa? Or will it be The Three Lions who can prove to be a major underdog just like Chelsea? Or will it be any other nation? Well, major tournaments are always surprises. No one expected Greece to win it in 2004 in Portugal's den against Portuguese but they emerged victorious!

Starting with the hosts Poland, they have many star players like Robert Lewandowski, Piszczek, Blaszczykowski and highly-rated midfielder Polanski. Poland usually plays with a 4-4-1-1 formation with Dortmund starlet Lewandowski as the front men. Usually, it’s observed that in big tournaments scoring goals by a single player is very less! So, it won’t be a surprise if Lewandowski turns out to be highest goal-scorer of this tournament since they have a decent group and as we’ve seen in Bundesliga, Lewandowski scores a lot. He scored multiple goals in Pokal Cup final against Bayern Munich. Poland will be relying on him a lot. But, their quarter-final match will be a tough one because it’s the team from Group B which they’ll be facing. Poland’s chances of winning: 3%

photo by Roger Gorączniak

Greece is known for their rock solid defence with Schalke 04’s guard Papadopoulos and former Milan player Papastathopoulos at the back. Greece are well remembered for their Euro 2004 victory against Portugal and they love themselves to be tagged as the underdogs. Giorgos Karagounis will be the man to watch and his work-rate could be the difference maker. Greece usually start with 4-5-1 formation with Samaras as lone attacker in front. Greece’s chances of winning: 3%

Ranked 11 in the world, Russia are on a song after battering Italy 3-0 in their last friendly. Russia can termed as the Darkhorses of this tournament. They have a decent, experienced squad with Akinfeev as their goalie with Alan Dzagoev and Andrei Arshavin in front. Russia’s strong point is their back 4 belong to the same league, so the chemistry of the squad works very well atleast at the back. Russia play with 4-5-1 formation with Kerzhakov as their man in attack. Russia’s chances of winning: 4%

Czech Republic have built a strong squad with in-form Petr Cech as goalie, Tomas Rosicky and Michael Kadlec. Czechs play with 4-2-3-1 formation with Milan Baros at the frontmen, but in morning we heard the news that it’ll be the last minute tests that’ll determine whether he’ll start against Russia or not. Czech Republic’s chances of winning: 4%

Netherlands, known as The Dutch were the finalists of 2010 World Cup where they lost in extra time all thanks to Iniesta’s winner. The Dutch have a crazy squad I must say, they have a lot of attacking players. Maybe their defence is decent, but their attack proves this fact: You score one against Dutch but they can score two against you in hardly 5 minutes. Dutch players are really motivated to win Euro 2012 this time, but as we saw recently Robben’s inability to perform in finals could screw all the Dutch ambitions. Dutch have a problem at the back. Mathijsen picked up a bad knock in friendly against Bulgaria, so players have to pray for his recovery. Dutch usually play with a 4-2-3-1 formation but coach van Marwijk is playing both Robin van Persie and Klass Jan Huntelaar. If I were the coach, I’d start Robin in that traditional formation. Incase we trail, I bring on Huntelaar in second half instead of any other mid player and play them together. This would definitely bring change in tactics and fresh legs as well in attack. Two strikers playing together from start could be a bit predictable for opposition. Netherlands’s chances of winning: 10%

photo by Tsutomu Takasu

Denmark, one of the teams in Group of Death will be having very slim chances of making it to next round. They have inspirational players like Ajax’s sensation kid Eriksen, Manchester United’s second goalie Lindegaard and Roma’s Simon Kjaer. Bendtner is in red-hot form and maybe that could prove beneficial for Denmark. Denmark’s chances of winning: 2%

Germany, one of the consistent performers of Cup competitions are indeed favourites for many Football fanatics. Germany will be inspired by a lot of Bayern Munich player additions like Neuer, Lahm, Boateng, Mueller, Badstuber, Schweinsteiger, Toni Kroos and Mario Gomez. Germany starts mostly with 4-2-3-1 with Mario Gomez as the lone striker. Germany are known for their attacking football style and many have tipped them as group favourites as well. The only problem with Germany is Bayern munich players recently lost CL to Chelsea and Beckenbauer even stated that it’ll be difficult for some of Bayern players to deal with it and he hoped that Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira who won Spanish league with Real Madrid would be the key factors for Germany’s Euro 2012 campaign. Germany’s chances of winning: 13%

Portugal always termed as the underdogs in any competition, have a decent chances of winning this time. Cristiano Ronaldo’s goals galore campaign never seems to be stopping and he’ll be up to prove the fact that he can perform for his country as well. He’ll be supported by his Madrid team-mates Pepe and Coentrao. Portugal have Joao Moutinho, Helder Postiga and their goal-stopper Ricardo. Portugal’s manager Bento has received a lot of criticism in recent friendlies. Reasons are poor performance and inability of front-men to score. Portugal will be starting with 4-2-3-1 formation with Nani, Ronaldo and Quaresma in attacking side and Postiga as their lone attacker. Everyone can expect a lot of surprises from this squad. Portugal’s chances of winning: 6%

photo by Alfonso Jimenez

Spain, the winners of World Cup 2010 are one of the favourites as well to win this one. They will be without Carles Puyol and David Villa. Spain have a lot of star players like Casillas, Pique, Xavi, Iniesta, Fabregas, David Silva, Mata and Fernando Torres. Del Bosque will be put into agony by many of his star players as he’ll be facing tough decisions of who should be selected and what will be the formation. Spain usually plays with 4-2-3-1 formation with either Fernando Torres/Fernando Llorente starting in attack. After a low scoring season, everyone expects Llorente to start as attacker but Del Bosque is a big fan of Torres and Torres always performs in NT. Spain’s chances of winning: 12%

Italy known as the Azzurri will be under a lot of pressure to perform at Euro 2012. Criscito was removed from Italy’s squad because he was questioned by the Police for Calcioscommesse scandal. According to reports, even Bonucci is involved in match-fixing scandal, but he’s not removed yet. Cesare Prandelli has been trying a lot of formations. Recently, he tried 4-3-1-2 formation but they lost against Russia 3-0. After that, Prandelli will be switching to either 3-4-1-2 or 3-4-3. Barzagli even picked a knock in training session and his replacement Davide Astori is now training with the group. Italy will be having Antonio Cassano and Mario Balotelli in attack together could prove to be nightmare for opposition. Andrea Pirlo will be the key man, his passing, long passing, vision and free kicks are deadly! And De Rossi has been training with the group to start as Centre Back. Buffon is one of the best goalies in this competition and all eyes will be on him. Italy’s chances of winning: 11%

Croatia, under Slaven Bilic has matured a lot in terms of strength and co-ordination. They have good players like Modric, Jelavic, Perisic and Kranjcar. Croatia are termed as one of the dark horses of this tournament and if they defeat Republic of Ireland in their first encounter then they’ll be having good chances of going into next round if they defeat their next opponent Italy as well. Croatia’s chances of winning: 4%

Republic of Ireland were controversially eliminated by Les Bleus in qualification for World Cup. They’ll be relying on their goalie Shay Given, Robbie Keane and McGeady. Republic of Ireland’s chances of winning: 2%

Starting with Sweden, they have Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Elm and Toivonnen. Ibrahimovic has been consecutively winning the award for scoring most number of goals in Serie A. He broke his personal best of scoring most goals in a single season but unfortunately, his streak for winning continuous league titles finally came to an end. Sweden’s chances of winning: 4%

Ukraine, co-hosts of Euro 2012 will be strongly relying on Shevchenko, Yarmolenko and Tymoshchuk. Though they recently lost 2-0 to Turkey, but they’ll be excited to start it on high and qualify to next round. Ukraine’s chances of winning: 3%

England, The Three Lions are certainly not one of the favourites for Euro 2012 but they’ll be believing certainly in doing it this time ‘The Chelsea Way’. No one expected Chelsea to win CL, but they won. They usually play with 4-2-3-1 formation. England certainly have many star players in the squad, but Roy’s non-inclusion of Ferdinand and Michael Carrick has certainly raised questions and England might not be the good performers for me. England’s chances of winning: 6%

France, known as the Les Bleus, are certainly one of the favourites for me to win this tournament. Under Laurent Blanc, France are undefeated in their last 20 matches and they’ve attacking unit as well. All eyes will be on Karim Benzema and Franck Ribery. Both have had a fantastic season this year with scoring goals for their respected clubs. They have Mexes and Rami at the back with many mid options like Diarra, Cabaye, Valbuena, Matuidi, Malouda and Menez. Laurent Blanc was known as The President in the squad during his times. Can The President lead France to glory? France’s chances of winning: 13%

2012 OSA World Juggle-a-thon

2012-04-25T13:03:00.002-04:00

1. Download a Pledge Sheet. Mark your calendar to juggle on April 25, 2012 at 6pm your standard time.

2. Start fundraising by collecting pledges, flat donations and recording them on your pledge sheet. For fundraising ideas and tips please visit the Fundraising page.

3. Next, start practicing your juggling and set a juggling goal and a fundraising goal. For juggling tips please visit the Juggling Tips page or sign up for OnlineSoccerAcademy.com.

4. Contact your friends, team and soccer club and encourage them to join you in your mission to Juggle to get Better, Juggle to Save lives. Get creative and talk about throwing an OSA World Juggle-a-thon party.

5. Use the Facebook fan page and easily share it with your Facebook soccer friends so they can also participate.

6. On April 25 juggle to get your record at 6pm your standard time by yourself, with your friends, team or club. Then collect your funds raised, mail them in with your pledge sheet and we will mail you back your official OSA World Juggle-a-thon Skillzys® tag and any incentive level prizes you earned.

Genoa vs Siena Suspended for 45 min

2012-04-22T16:45:00.001-04:00

Things got a bit ugly when Genoa went down 4-0 to Siena.

Genoa president Enrico Preziosi:

"I'm sorry that 60 or 100 people can say and do as they want with impunity without us having the ability to control them and send them home, They cannot take over the stadium and enforce their law. These people should go to jail, they are the evil of Genoa."

"I do not fear them. I hope we get a ban from playing at home, so we have to play away and get a bit of calm."

President of the Italian Football Federation Giancarlo Abete: "The events in Genoa are a very ugly incident which takes us backward and we must react."

Source: ESPN

Goal of the Week: CR7 vs Barca

2012-04-22T12:33:00.004-04:00

Barcelona vs Real Madrid 1-2
Cristiano Ronaldo 73'

Soccergate

2012-04-05T15:46:00.001-04:00

When we hear of a politician misusing taxpayer money we tend to think that it was used on a limo, a nice dinner at a expensive restaurant, or a vacation. Well, North Miami Mayor Andre Pierre misused tax payer money in order to play soccer. Pierre and his friends used a city-owned soccer stadium more that 100 times and didn't pay a single dime. According to NBC Miami the fees that he failed to pay to use the facility add up to $40,000. In order to play in the stadium schools, charities, and small businesses would need to pay more than $1,000 per game. Alonzo Mourning High School students sell candy bars to help pay the fees. The candy bars are sold for 50 cents, meaning that over 80,000 candy bars would need to be sold in order to pay for Pierre's use of the field.

Pierre's actions are against a city resolution which says that no one is exempt from paying unless it's a charity. In additions, charities are allowed just one exemption a year. To make things even better, the resolution was signed by Pierre. "It's almost a conspiracy, racketeering," said former North Miami mayor Kevin Burns.

Source: NBCMiami

Gold Coast United will not play in 2012/13

2012-04-04T21:24:00.000-04:00

The FFA has announced that Gold Coast United will not play in the Hyundai A-League 2012/13 season.

FFA statement on Gold Coast United:

FFA has made the assessment that the a level of public and corporate support on the Gold Coast for an A-League team falls below the minimum requirements for a professional club.

In addition, a viable business plan and adequate capital investment have not materialised over the past six weeks since the termination of the license held by Gold Coast United Pty Ltd on 29 February.

“FFA is bitterly disappointed that Gold Coast United Pty Ltd failed to develop a market for football on the Gold Coast over the past three seasons,” said FFA CEO Ben Buckley.

“Today’s decision to exit can be directly attributed to Gold Coast United Pty Ltd’s lack of community engagement and its inability to build a football culture around the club.

“We acknowledge the hard work and commitment over the past six weeks by Football Queensland, Gold Coast Football Association, the Gold Coast players and coach Mike Mulvey. The team showed great professionalism and pride in performance in the way they completed the season.

“FFA’s mandate is to govern for the good of the game and this decision is the only responsible course to take in ensuring we have a sustainable Hyundai A-League.”

The potential for a National Youth League team to remain on the Gold Coast is currently under discussion with Football Queensland.

Goal of the Week: Kaka vs APOEL Nicosia

2012-04-04T20:19:00.000-04:00

Kaka
Real Madrid vs APOEL Nicosia

Bari Match Fixing Scandal

2012-04-03T20:50:00.001-04:00

photo by Papesatan

At the end of the 2010/11 season Bari were on their to relegation to Serie B. Scared that they would not get paid, a few of the players decided to help a Balkan betting syndicate, known as The Gypsies, fix the outcome of games. One of those players was defender Andrea Masiello, who played for Atalanta until January this season. Masiello was paid €50,000 for scoring an own goal against Lecce last season.

Masiello was arrested yesterday. Eight other Bari players are also being investigated. Bari's sporting director Guido Angelozzi said the club had nothing to do with any manipulation of the result, and told SkyTG24 that they "thought it was a normal match."

Oh, The Horror: Ronaldinho Miss

2012-04-03T20:17:00.002-04:00

Flamengo vs Bangu. Ronaldinho misses from 10 yards out. It happens to the best of us.

R.I.P. Giorgio Chinaglia

2012-04-01T14:45:00.001-04:00

Former Lazio and NY Cosmos Striker Giorgio Chinaglia passed away this morning. He had recently been hospitalized with cardiac problems. Giorgio scored 193 goals in 213 appearances with the Cosmos from 1976–1983. In 2000 he was inducted into the U.S.A. National Soccer Hall of Fame. A little known fact about him is that he began his career with Swansea in 1964. He played only 6 games. scoring one goal. He would go on to play with Massese and Internapoli before joining Lazio in 1969.

When I think of Giorgio I think of this:

Pele: "You shoot from no fucking angle!"

Chinaglia: "If Chinaglia shoots from that angle, it is because Chinaglia can score from that angle!"

Now that is swagger.

Hat Trick for Monsieur Henry

2012-03-31T21:06:00.000-04:00

Thierry Henry scores a hat trick against the Montreal Impact. That's 5 goals in the past 2 games.

Thierry Henry - Legend

2012-03-29T20:36:00.002-04:00

Two summers ago the Fort Lauderdale Strikers played the NY Red Bulls in a preseason friendly. The game was open to the public and was free. 2,000 people had the unbelievable opportunity to watch Thierry Henry for free. I went to the Chivas vs Barca game this past summer during the World Football Challenge and Thierry Henry is still the best player I have ever watched play live. I should point out that Messi didn't play in the World Football Challenge, and if he had played that feeling may have been different.

Thierry Henry is the definition of class.

Supporters react to Al-Masry ban

2012-03-27T21:48:00.001-04:00

Last month 74 people were killed and thousands injured when supporters of Al-Masry and Al-Ahly S.C rushed the field. As a result of the Port Said stadium disaster, Al-Masry has been banned for two years by the Egyptian Football Association. "We are devastated - and really furious," Al-Ahly board memeber Khaled Mortagy told BBC Sport, "We believe this has nothing to do with justice, when you have 74 fans getting killed at a home game of this club, and yet these are the sanctions that are taken - just a one-year ban from playing. Because, theoretically, this season is finished, so when they say it's two years, it's actually just one." In addition to the two-year ban, Al-Masry will also be banned from playing at Port Said Stadium for three years. Last week 75 people were charged with murder or negligence.

Al-Masry supporters were not too happy with the decision made by the Egyptian FA. About 65 people have been injured in clashes with police during rioting in the city of Port Said. According to Reuters "Fifteen suspects were arrested during the clashes that took place between the army and protesters in front of the Suez Canal Authority building in Port Said,"

Balotelli Crashes New Manager Unveiling

2012-03-27T18:13:00.000-04:00

Claudio Ranieri was sacked as manager of Inter Milan yesterday and today during the formal unveiling of their new manager, Andrea Stramaccioni, they get a little surprise. That surprise was former Inter, and current Man City player, Mario Balotelli. According to the BBC, Balotelli drove a ferrari to meet up with his former teammates at Inter's training grounds. It's just Balotelli being Balotelli.

Celtic may join English League One

2012-03-25T20:43:00.009-04:00

photo by Ronnie Macdonald

There a secret talks going on that could end with Celtic leaving the Scottish Premier League and joining nPower League One in the English Football system. According to People.co.uk, Celtic have been in talks with the Premier League and Football League in order to make this happen. This is nothing new, but with the on going financial struggles the SPL is going through this may be something that is necessary for the club to survive.

People.co.uk report that Celtic are desperately looking for a solution and are willing to enter at a lower level. I find that hard to believe. One thing that is true is that if celtic were to enter the English System at League One it will bring instant attention to the league. It would be awesome to one day have a Premier League with Celtic and maybe even Rangers. There is no way any other league in the world could claim to be the best, in my opinion.

UEFA would of course have to approve such a move. This shouldn't be a problem since UEFA has reportedly considered creating a Champions League that would include teams from outside of Europe. One of those teams that would reportedly be invited to join is the NY Cosmos. Since Celtic play in Europe, there shouldn't be a problem.

According to the Independent, Football League chairman Greg Clarke has reportedly ruled out the chance of Celtic joining. "We have absolutely no intention of having any discussions with any club from another national league regarding membership of our competition." Clarke said, "This would be highly disrespectful to the Scottish FA and Scottish Premier League and will not be countenanced by the Football League."

Colin Clark verbally abuses Ballboy

2012-03-25T18:45:00.005-04:00

I truly don't understand why Colin Clark needed to abuse the ball boy during Houston's game against Seattle. Yes, maybe the ball boy wasn't doing his job but he's still a ball boy. To make things worse the whole thing happened literally in front of a microphone.

Colin apologized on Twitter after the game: "I'd like to offer a sincere apology to everyone who watched the game, especially the ball boy for whom I used awful language towards. I didn't mean to disrespect anyone and am sorry for letting my emotions get the best of me. It's not who I am and it won't happen again."

MLS statement on Saturday: "We are aware of the incident involving Houston Dynamo midfielder Colin Clark during the game in Seattle Friday night, and his public apology for it," the league said in a statement. "MLS is conducting a thorough review of the facts and examining possible disciplinary action."

TRS: Super Mario Balotelli

2012-03-25T01:05:00.002-04:00

Buy "Super Mario" HERE

The Reserve Squad is back with a new line of shirts. The first in the Spring/Summer 2012 Series is "Super Mario". Check out TheReserveSquad.com and follow him on Twitter @ReserveSquad