Category — international soccer

The U.S. Soccer Federation has whittled down its working list of cities and venues bidding for World Cup venues for 2018 or 2022, and Atlanta is among the 27 cities and 32 venues reaching the next phase of the process.

Among those bidders from the Southeast not making the cut: Birmingham, Fayetteville, Knoxville, New Orleans.

Still in the picture: Charlotte, Jacksonville, Orlando, Miami, Nashville, Tampa.

The USSF ultimately will submit around a dozen finalists when it formalizes its proposal to FIFA next May.

Here’s one soccer blogger’s rundown of the field. He puts Atlanta in the “near-lock” category.

But not everyone in Atlanta is working for a successful U.S. bid. An Atlanta-based consultancy, Helios Partners, has been hired to help craft Russia’s bid for the World Cup, also for either 2018 or 2022.

But a caveat here: Helios worked with Russia for its winning bid for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi.

I haven’t spent much time on this site writing about the Clarkston-based Fugees, largely because their story isn’t entirely about soccer, and because others have done such a terrific job on this topic.

The latest comes from Andrew Guest on the Pitch Invasion site, who serves up some sensational background about the forthcoming movie based on Warren St. John’s “Outcasts United” book. But will it tell the deeper story of what these soccer-playing refugee youths symbolize?

“Ultimately, the appeal of stories such as that of soccer amongst refugee children in Clarkston is that simplified versions allow for the comforting validation of our irrational beliefs. We want to believe that the challenges posed by immigration and ’super-diversity’ are easily solved with a few heroic people and programs. We want to believe that if not for the benevolent intervention of sponsors poor immigrant children would suffer silent lives deprived of play. We want to believe that soccer has a special power to unite people — to bring Landon and Cuauhtémoc together for long slow walks on the beach. For the most part ‘Outcasts United’ makes it clear that it is not that simple.”

Even before he confidently predicted victory in a place the U.S. national team has never won (more on that in a moment) Ricardo Clark was priming for what figures to be the biggest game of his budding soccer career.

When the Americans take on Mexico Wednesday at the forbidding Estadio Azteca in a colossal World Cup qualifying match (4 p.m., mun2, Telemundo) the former AFC Lightning club and St. Pius X standout is a likely candidate to be in Bob Bradley’s starting squad.

After numerous fits and starts that have included injuries and disciplinary issues (including a red card in the Confederations Cup), Clark has recovered nicely this summer to raise his game and his profile.

His play in South Africa, filling in at defensive midfield for an injured Maurice Edu, earned him some interest overseas, including an offer from Livorno of Italy’s Serie A that he may accept by the end of the year.

And Clark’s form is cresting for Major League Soccer powerhouse Houston Dynamo, as he scored his first goal of the season over the weekend.

With the U.S. needing three points to virtually seal another trip to the World Cup — and potentially slay the aspirations of its fiercest rival — Clark sounded quite ready for the challenge when he proclaimed: “It’ll be a great experience, and it’ll be nice to beat Mexico on their soil.”

No pressure at all, mate.

The Americans will probably be soaking up pressure everywhere with El Tricolor coming off a 5-0 thrashing of the U.S. “B” team in the finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. A re-energized Mexican attack features the young, free-flowing Giovani dos Santos, who scored during the team’s June win over Venezuela in the Georgia Dome. As one of the first lines of defense, Clark’s going to be fiercely tested.

But will it be any more intense than the consecutive games against Spain and Brazil in the Confederations Cup? If the Americans can’t draw from their experiences in those games, then they may never claim Mexico’s scalp in this “House of Horrors.”

There’s certainly going to be plenty of scrutiny paid to Landon Donovan, whose skill, leadership and brio will be crucial for the Americans to end their winless drought.

From our little parochial corner of the American soccer universe, this game represents Clark’s best chance not only to solidify a place on the U.S. team, but also to help write no small piece of American soccer history.

More than a few Atlantans and others living in the Southeast made the trip to the Georgia Dome this week for what some admitted was the first time they had seen a soccer match in person in their lives.

A few first-hand accounts:

• Finally hooked: “If you’ve ever seen hockey live, then you’ll have somewhat of a feel for what a soccer game with two top clubs feels like.”

Now there’s a sports analogy Southerners can relate to.

• Nothing short of magical: “Getting to the seating area opened up a world of passion unlike any I’ve ever seen. If you haven’t experienced a soccer match live, imagine what you see on television only about one hundred times louder and more exhilarating.”

I would imagine the trip back home to Orlando didn’t seem as long as it truly is.

• It’s not about the money: “Drive to downtown…$3. Parking at the GA Dome… $10. Small Pizza…$7. Seeing AC Milan lose against Team America… PRICELESS!”

But how much was the ticket?

As an announced crowd of 50,306 congregated at the Georgia Dome Wednesday for the World Football Challenge match between AC Milan and Club América, local organizers were hopeful the turnout solidifies Atlanta’s bid to host potential World Cup matches.

Even though any games played here wouldn’t be for nearly another decade at the earliest, time is running short to make a decisive impression. Atlanta and 36 other cities have a July 29 deadline to turn in their bids to the U.S. Soccer Federation.

Atlanta youths bring out the Club América flag before Wednesday's World Football Challenge match at the Georgia Dome. (photo by David Tulis)

“The bid is pretty much written,” said Scott Moran, a partner with the law firm of Berman Fink Van Horn and president of the Atlanta Fútbol Project, which is spearheading the World Cup effort.

The USSF will narrow down its list of finalist cities to 12 by next spring, when its bids for either the 2018 or 2022 World Cups are due to FIFA. Both of those hosting nations will be announced in December 2010.

Moran said no future games in Atlanta are in the pipeline for the time being. If Atlanta is one of the cities chosen by the USSF for its World Cup bid, further site visits would follow in the coming months.

Also coming away roused by the festivities were the fans in a crowd-pleasing match won by Club América by a 2-1 score. Daniel Marquez headed home the winning goal in the 84th minute.

AC Milan’s Ronaldinho, who was named the man of the match, also wowed the crowd all night. After the game, as both teams departed the Dome, several Club América players asked the Brazilian national team star to pose for pictures. He eagerly obliged, flashing his famous gap-tooth grin. Ronaldinho clearly enjoyed the space and creativity he’s expected to demonstrate following the departure of his countryman Kaká to Real Madrid in a controversial $92 million transfer this summer.

While the crowd cheered on both teams, those behind Club América were constantly on their feet. During an offensive sequence in which AC Milan defenders tried, but failed, to win possession, those supporting the Mexican team chanted: “Olé! Olé! Olé!”

AC Milan's Ronaldinho was the man of the match, but Club América got the win. (photo by David Tulis)

The match was the AC Milan debut for American defender Oguchi Onyewu, who entered at the start of the second half. He was caught flat footed with Club América’s Enrique Escueda powered home a cross from Salvador Cabañas in the 56th minute. Ten minutes later, AC Milan unleashed a quick counterattack, with Mathieu Flamini serving up a sizzling long ball that Filippo Inzaghi finished to draw even at 1-1.

There was a feisty sequence between those goals triggered by AC Milan’s rugged Gennaro Gattuso. The teams had to be separated near midfield, and a few yellow cards were shown. This may have been a preseason friendly for both teams, but the World Football Challenge also is a competitive tournament with a round robin format.

While the winner of that event will be determined over the weekend, Atlanta World Cup organizers will have to wait several agonizing months to learn if their aspirations will go into extra time.

U.S. national team defender Oguchi Onyewu is listed as an available substitute for tonight’s World Football Challenge match against Club América at the Georgia Dome.

He’ll start the game on the bench with some very good company: Brazilian forward Pato and midfielder Gianluca Zambrotta. Midfielder Andrea Pirlo is not listed on the lineup sheet at all.

AC Milan fans are ready for the World Football Challenge at the Georgia Dome. (photo by David Tulis)

But AC Milan coach Leonardo is putting some of his big guns in his Starting XI listed below.

Club América has listed Mexican national team veteran Pavel Pardo on the bench to start the game.

The lineups:

• Club América: Navarrete; Rodriguez, R. Rojas, Mosquera, Cerda; Silva, Sanchez, Angel, Cabanas; Esqueda, Beausejour.

• AC Milan: Storari; Kaladze, Jankulovsky, Favalli, Antonini; Flamini, Gattuso, Seedorf, Ronaldinho; Inzaghi, Zigoni.

About 15 minutes before kickoff, and the Georgia Dome crowd is trickling in rather nicely. Not only does it look like organizers might reach the 50,000 attendance threshold they were hoping for, but the fan split will be more evenly distributed. It could very well be close to 50-50.

Club America fans gather outside the Georgia Dome. (photo by David Tulis)

And if you’re watching on TV, get ready for the horns: The vuvuzelas are out, they are loud, they are constant and they are everywhere.

Check back Wednesday night for live updates from the Georgia Dome for all the festivities from the AC Milan-Club América match of the World Football Challenge.

I’ll also be “Tweeting” more frequently. Here’s where you can find Atlanta Soccer News on Twitter.

Newly promoted Serie A club Livorno reportedly is pursuing both Landon Donovan and Atlanta’s Ricardo Clark as U.S. national team members are clearly drawing more attention following their showing at the Confederations Cup.

Livorno already has admitted that the transfer fee set by Major League Soccer is too high, and that “the only solution could be that some sponsors could invest to bring the player to the Italian Serie A,” most likely during the next transfer window in January 2010.

Both Donovan and Clark share the same American soccer agent Richard Motzkin, who confirmed the pursuit of his clients by Livorno but declined to elaborate. Clark’s contract with the Houston Dynamo of Major League Soccer expires at the end of the current season. He’s also been named in connection with a move to French first division club Rennes.

U.S. defender Oguchi Onyewu is set to make his AC Milan debut tonight at the Georgia Dome in the World Football Challenge. He is only the second American to play in Italy’s top league and the first since Alexi Lalas played for Padova from 1994-96.

Livorno’s purported interest in Donovan was first divulged earlier this week. The Los Angeles Galaxy and American standout forward has been in the spotlight recently because of his pointed comments directed at David Beckham.

Oguchi Onyewu (right) in his first practice with AC Milan Tuesday at the Georgia Dome. (photo by David Tulis)

At his introductory press conference Tuesday at the Dome, Onyewu said of Donovan that “his ability can surpass MLS . . . he can play in a bigger league in Europe. I think that would be good for him.” Donovan has had brief spells with Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich of the German Bundesliga.

Clark, the former AFC Lightning Club and St. Pius X midfielder, was called into the U.S. camp before the Confederations Cup because of a rash of injuries at that position. He received a red card in the opener against Italy but returned to particpate in the Americans’ improbable run to the finals, where they lost to Brazil after taking a 2-0 lead.

More than 1,000 fans — paying $20 a head — made such an intense racket toward the end of AC Milan’s practice session at the Georgia Dome Tuesday evening that players could only oblige their autograph requests. The noise got louder as more players walked over with Sharpies in hand.

And as players for Italy’s vaunted Rossineri — including their very first American — made their way to a locker room otherwise occupied by the Atlanta Falcons, one of the most well-known youth teams in Atlanta added to the clamor.

The internationally renown Fugees got signatures from 2006 World Cup hero Gennaro Gattuso, former Dutch national team regular Clarence Seedorf and others as the prelude to the World Football Challenge.

That gesture encapsulated the buzz as more than 60 accredited media from around the world, as well as local press, gathered to advance Wednesday’s match between AC Milan and Club América of Mexico.

Club América and AC Milan fans wait for autographs at Tuesday's open practice session at the Georgia Dome. (photo by David Tulis)

It will be the second soccer match in a month at the Georgia Dome, which had never before opened its doors to the sport.

And as the city finalizes a 2018 or 2022 World Cup bid that’s due next week, match organizers are hoping an anticipated attendance of more than 40,000 will do more than just help prop up Atlanta for that effort.

On the heels of last month’s Dome friendly between Mexico and Venezuela that drew more than 50,000 spectators, this game is being seen by promoters and soccer aficionadoes alike as another opportunity for Atlanta to strengthen its ambitions of being a soccer destination city.

“It was somewhat of a coincidence that we would have two games like this in the same summer,” said Atlanta attorney Scott Moran, president of the Atlanta Fútbol Project, an umbrella organization that includes many of the groups involved in the Atlanta World Cup bid, long-term planning for the possibility of Major League Soccer and advocating other high-profile soccer events coming to the city. “This is kind of the perfect storm.”

The consortium includes the Atlanta Sports Council, the Georgia Dome and Georgia World Congress Center, the Atlanta Convention and Visitors Bureau, the City of Atlanta, Georgia Soccer and the Atlanta Falcons, whose owner, Arthur Blank, bid for a Major League Soccer franchise but later withdrew. Last week MLS commissioner Don Garber, in outlining potential expansion MLS plans for as early as 2012, did mention Atlanta as one of five markets seriously under consideration.

Before AC Milan’s practice session, former standout Clemson defender Oguchi Onyewu was formally introduced before the media as the first American player in Italy’s Serie A in more than a decade. Onyewu’s play for the U.S. in the Confederations Cup after several years of toiling in the Belgian first division led to a three-year contract. His countryman, Alexi Lalas, parlayed his play and folk hero status in the 1994 World Cup in the U.S. into a two-year gig in Italy.

“This is a step up, this is a test you want,” said Lalas, who will provide color commentary for Wednesday’s match that will be shown on ESPN2. “The only concern you do have is if he doesn’t play.”

The low-key Onyewu wasn’t asked to address that subject during a lengthy press conference with questions offered in English, Spanish and Italian. And he tried to brush off notions that he’s carrying a major burden for American field players at the highest levels of European soccer.

U.S. national team defender Oguchi Onyewu may make his AC Milan debut in Wednesday's match at the Georgia Dome. (photo by David Tulis)

“I’m aware of the facts but obviously I’m trying to look past that and look forward to the football situation in Milan,” he said. “There are no guarantees. I came here with the impression that I have to fight for my job.”

What’s encouraged Atlanta soccer organizers about these games is how the city has come up so prominently in planning for summertime international matches. The Mexico-Venezuela match was organized by Soccer United Marketing, an arm of MLS that has been actively seeking new markets.

Wednesday’s match is part of a four-team round-robin tournament in the World Football Challenge, which is in its first year and is the creation of the Los Angeles-based Creative Artists Agency. Italian champions Inter Milan and England’s Chelsea are the other teams involved. Other international tours of the U.S. summer include forthcoming visits by Spanish and European champions Barcelona and their archrivals Real Madrid, which has splashed out more than $200 million in transfer fees on two players alone — former AC Milan star Kaká and Cristiano Ronaldo of Manchester United.

The crowd figures in so many American cities — familiar soccer hotbeds and untried places like Atlanta — have been strong, whether they’ve been for friendlies or for the CONCACAF Gold Cup. Friday’s World Football Challenge match between AC Milan and Chelsea in Baltimore, another soccer hosting newcomer, is already sold out with more than 71,000 spectators expected. Chelsea’s friendly on Saturday in Seattle drew 67,000.

The most intense environment had the smallest crowd — a capacity of 27,000 in Los Angeles that saw AC Milan and David Beckham, who was taunted by Galaxy fans after returning to the MLS team following a loan stint with the Italian club. One fan, whose heckling prompted Beckham to confront him in the stands, received a lifetime ban from the premises — the kind of punishment reserved for violent fan behavior in Europe.

The World Football Challenge opener in Palo Alto, Calif., on Sunday between Club América and Inter Milan drew more than 30,000. That matches the estimated advanced tickets that have been sold for Wednesday’s Georgia Dome match.

“If we can hit 30,000 or 40,000 or more on a weeknight in Atlanta, I think we’ll be fine,” Moran said.

Atlanta will have to wait until the middle of the week, but the World Football Challenge gets underway Sunday, with all of the games during the four-team round robin event available on ESPN and ESPN2. Some links to check out as the games begin:

• Here’s a good overview of all four teams — AC Milan, Inter Milan, Club América and Chelsea — with a complete schedule.

• As Atlanta Soccer News reported Saturday, an estimated 26,000 tickets for Wednesday’s match at the Georgia Dome between Club América and AC Milan have been sold. A discount group ticket offer via Georgia Soccer is running through Monday.

• On Sunday Club América will take on reigning Italian Serie A champions Inter Milan in Palo, Alto, Calif., in a match that can be seen at 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.

• AC Milan also is on the West Coast, but will play the Los Angeles Galaxy Sunday in a friendly at the Home Depot Center. Kickoff is at 10 p.m. ET on the Fox regional sports networks (though I don’t see anything listed locally in Atlanta). Will this really be the emotional clash — with David Beckham as the ubiquitous focal point — that is being hyped?

• The AJC’s Doug Roberson asks a rather audacious question: Does Oguchi Onyewu’s move to AC Milan represent “the most important signing in U.S. soccer history?” Rick Skirvin of Georgia Soccer and Jill Robbins of Atlanta-based Soccer in the Steets talk about what Onyewu’s transfer symbolizes for youth and minority players. A good read, a fresh examination of an issue that’s always prevalent in American soccer player development circles.

• Baltimore has sold out next Friday’s AC Milan-Chelsea match, and the hometown Sun examines the growing popularity of soccer as a spectator sport in the United States.

• But not everybody is thrilled with the World Football Challenge, which is taking place during the middle of the MLS season, the CONCACAF Gold Cup and the U.S. Open Cup. Are international soccer events on these shores crowding out the American game? Are those fans who like to watch the global elites — some call ‘em Eurosnobs — part of the problem?

I’ll reveal where I come down on this subject in the next few days, before Wednesday’s big match in Atlanta.