Tuesday training update

Here is the news, in brief.

Read more…

Same old song for the Quakes

Looking at some of these quotes about yesterday’s match and it’s easy to see that the Quakes are still quite far from getting their act together:

• “It’s devastating, this loss. From here, it’s tough to get over this one.”

• “We came out flat in the second half… It’s thoroughly disappointing. I have to go back and evaluate whether I had the right blend of guys on the field.”

• “We’ve put ourselves in a bad spot. We’ve let ourselves down and we’ve got to find our way out of it.”

• “I thought our energy was terrible in the second half. And they came out with a little bit of bite, and we did not adjust to it. We just stayed in a lull, and it wasn’t until they scored that we realized that we had to get back into the game.”

Wait — what’s that? These are quotes from DC United personnel? The Quakes won on the road, after going winless in their last 20?

That changes everything!

• • •

Here’s the press wrap from yesterday’s big win:

-  You’ll find match reports from MLSnet.com,  the Mercury News, the Washington Times, the Washington Post, and Goal.com.

- Post-game stories are available from MLSnet.com and Goal.com.

- The inch-perfect free kick taken by Ramón Sánchez to score San Jose’s first is up for Goal of the Week. (Unfortunately for him, Fredy Montero scored a long-range bomb that will almost certainly take home the prize.)

South Africa 2010 travelers’ update
Do soccer fans prefer beer to sex?

Headed to South Africa next year for the World Cup? Here’s the latest news on the country’s preparations for hosting the tournament.

First, though, there’s something we’d like to tell you about. Center Line Soccer will be officially launching a new message board for South Africa 2010 travelers in the coming weeks. The idea is to provide a forum for supporters to share information on World Cup travel, restaurants, hotels and other accommodations, and all the things that go along with being a traveling fan. We’ve already invited some local experts to participate and anticipate adding more. If you’d like a sneak preview of our new forums, you can find them here. You can even register now if you want to participate.  Read more…

Second-half strikes from Sanchez, Johnson lead
San Jose to rare road win

San Jose snapped their 20 game winless streak away from home as second half goals from Ramon Sanchez and Ryan Johnson lifted the Earthquakes to a 2-1 comeback win over D.C. United. “It was a long time coming,” San Jose coach Frank Yallop said. “We have been very close recently to getting a win on the road. I am proud of the guys for continuing to believe in ourselves. We stuck to the task and got a nice three points away from home.”

The win, San Jose’s first on the road win since June 7 of last year, improved the Earthquakes’ record to 3-2-2 since the All-Star break, and dealt host D.C. United a serious setback in their battle for a playoff spot. “It was a great comeback by us and hopefully we can build on this,” Yallop said. Read more…

Game day press roundup, DC edition

The Quakes take on DC United at RFK Stadium today at 12:00 Pacific (TV: Telefutura).

San Jose comes off two matches against the Rapids that were decided by stoppage-time penalties for Colorado, in each case rescuing a point for the Rocky Mountain side. DC comes off a mid-week CONCACAF Champions League win at home versus Marathon of Honduras 3-0. That score line may flatter the hosts a bit, though: due to the airport closures caused by political unrest in Honduras, Marathon had to endure a six-hour bus ride to Guatemala in order to fly to the U.S.

Here’s your game day press roundup:

- Our own Jeff Carlisle  provides a pre-game story for MLSnet.com. The league’s “just the facts, ma’am” preview is available here. On the newspaper side, Elliott Almond of the Mercury News has a pre-match fact sheet online, too.

- The DC media provides previews as well, in both the Washington Times and Washington Post.

Quakes injury update

In terms of player availability, it looks like the soccer gods giveth and taketh away in equal measure.

Read more…

Second verse, same as the first

It was a case of déjà vu all over again last night in Commerce City, Colo., as the Rapids once again made use of a stoppage-time penalty to earn a 1-1 draw with the Earthquakes. Or, if you’re the Denver Post and like misspelling words in headlines, it was “deju vu,” with a U like in “duh!”

Kudos to Jeff Carlisle for making the Groundhog Day connection in his match report. It spares you, lucky reader, from the Herman’s Hermits song that inspired today’s Solar-Powered Soccer Blog headline, although it may be a Pyrrhic victory: I’m giving you the Sonny and Cher from the movie instead.

Wow — Sonny looks like he’s wearing something he stole from Barney Rubble’s closet at the Flintstones wardrobe department.

We’re also going to take issue with the headline to Ridge Mahoney’s game story over at Soccer America: “A deja vu disappointment for Colorado.” Excuse me? For Colorado? San Jose takes two 1-0 leads into second half stoppage time and ends up with two draws instead of two wins, and that’s a disappointment for Colorado? Yeesh. At least Goal.com gets it right — “Colorado rescues a point with a late goal.”

• • •

In other news, the Earthquakes will host Real Salt Lake on Saturday, March 27 in next year’s home opener. The complete MLS list is here.

It’s deja voodoo all over again for Quakes

This scene from last Friday’s match, of Colorado’s Conor Casey celebrating a late goal, was repeated Wednesday night. Photo: Don Feria, isiphotos.com.

The San Jose Earthquakes are officially stuck in Groundhog Day.

After coughing up Conor Casey’s stoppage time penalty kick in Friday’s 1-1 tie against the Colorado Rapids, history repeated itself five days later, as Casey once again snatched victory away from San Jose with a spot kick equalizer three minutes into added time. Read more…

Salinas, Alvarez out for Rapids return

Looks like Frank Yallop’s optimistic assessment of Shea Salinas’ hamstring from earlier in the week didn’t pan out. Arturo Alvarez looks to be sidelined by a bum hammy as well. Time to rechristen the Quakes as the Wingless Wonders.

Read more…

Earthquakes/Rapids game day: the sequel

In a land where sporting goods are purchased from Dick’s…

…and your sanctified soccer-specific stadium is besmirched by half-dressed women playing gridiron football (LFL? No, more like LOL)…

…just when you thought it was safe to be offside in stoppage time and still receive a beneficial call from the referee…

Oh, wait, scratch that. It was safe to be offside and still have a PK called in your favor last Friday. Who knows what tonight will hold?

Well, Ridge Mahoney claims to. The Soccer America writer takes a look at the tea leaves and predicts a 2-0 Rapids win, despite the fact, as noted in this AP preview, that  Colorado hasn’t beaten San Jose in over five years! That statistic is not quite as impressive when you realize that San Jose didn’t field a team in 2006 or 2007, but at least the writer didn’t also declare admiringly that the Earthquakes were undefeated in all competitions in those years. The Denver Post takes a look at the match from the Rapids’ perspective, and the “just the facts, ma’am” preview is here.

• • •

Over on the FC Gold Pride beat, yesterday the team picked up the options on Rachel Buehler, Carrie Dew, Kristen Graczyk, Christine Sinclair and Kandace Wilson, bringing them back for the 2010 season.  The team also released Marisa Abegg and Brazilian international Erika. Erika’s release sets the stage for the team to acquire another international player as the WPS International Discovery period opens today.

• • •

Finally, the name Anthony Salciccia is well known to long-time Earthquakes fans. A forward with the team in the NASL days, his restaurant, Tony & Alba’s Pizza, has been a long-time sponsor of professional soccer in the South Bay. Now, his son, also named Anthony, is a freshman at Cal and has already made a big contribution to the team with two goals and an assist, with his first goal for the team coming against top-ranked Maryland. The whole Salciccia clan is the subject of a story in the Daily Cal.

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