Record crowd in Montreal paces MLS

MLS attendance has soared at the start of this 2012 season, with a leaguewide average of 21,107 fans per match.

This number has been bolstered by the Montreal Impact's first MLS home game- which drew 58,912 to the Olympic Stadium- setting an attendance record for pro soccer in the Canadian city.

Mike Woitalla of Soccer America recorded these facts about week 2 of Major League Soccer-

* The Impact crowd for a 1-1 tie with Chicago on Saturday broke the record of 58,542 set by the Manic for a North American Soccer League playoff game in 1981.

* The Seattle Sounders, which have led the league in attendance the past three seasons, opened with 38,709 for a 3-1 win over Toronto.

* The 21,816 for San Jose's hosting of Houston was at San Francisco's AT&T Park and was the first part of a doubleheader with Mexico-Senegal U-23s.

Heaps continues to shape Revs into new mold

No MLS team won fewer games than the meager five produced last year by New England, and a major roster revamp under new Coach Jay Heaps will take time to develop. Two games into his new career as a head coach, Heaps knows a lot more about himself than he does his team.
Ridge Mahoney writes of the challenges posed to the first year coach of the Revolution.

After a tough loss in San Jose to open the season, he hoped to learn more Saturday against Sporting Kansas City, but an early red card to defender Steven McCarthy left the Revs shorthanded and in a deep hole against last year’s Eastern Conference champion.

The powerful and majestic Shalrie Joseph dropped back from midfield to plug the gap, but SKC efficiently and skillfully took the Revs apart in a 3-0 win. Heaps did a get a glimpse at some of the players he acquired to renovate a team that won just five games last year and finished 23 points behind SKC, yet playing 75 minutes a man down to a juggernaut in its home opener almost has to be wiped off the slate.

“It’s really disappointing,” said Heaps to revolutionsoccer.net. He played nine seasons (2001-09) in New England and took over from his former coach, Steve Nicol, last November. “We had a good game plan going into the game and we had good chances in the beginning. We weren’t giving anything away, we were tight, we had a nice compact form and we thought we had a plan. Then there was the red card and they scored early on. It’s tough playing a man down.”

McCarthy is one of Heaps’ personal projects. Drafted out of North Carolina a year ago, he played 21 games (18 starts) as the tallest (6-foot-5) midfielder in the league, rookie or otherwise. As an analyst on the Revs’ television broadcasts as an analyst, Heaps had wondered how he might fare in the back. When named to replace Nicol, he sounded out McCarthy regarding a positional change.

“He said he played there a little bit there when he was younger before he got pushed into midfield because of his feet,” said Heaps in an interview prior to the opener against San Jose. “I told him that it’s a similar role in that everything’s in front of you even though there’s a little bit more urgency in the back line.

“When I was in booth last year, I was playing around with where I thought some players might be better. He always came across to me as a centerback even though he played so much defensive midfield. He’s got good feet but he’s 6-foot-5 and can win just about every aerial challenge.”

In the 14th minute against SKC, McCarthy challenged C.J. Sapong and about 35 yards from goal grabbed him to prevent a breakaway. If he commits that foul at the midfield line, maybe McCarthy gets away with a caution, but in this case referee Silviu Petrescu ruled he had denied a clear goalscoring opportunity, and out came the red card.

Thus Heaps lost an opportunity to assess how his team is adapting to the possession-oriented game he hopes to implement. McCarthy’s ability to bring the ball out of the back, as he did a few times in the second half against San Jose, is a facet of that change, as is incorporating skillful acquisitions like attacker Lee Nguyen, forwards Fernando Cardenas and Saër Sène, and rookie Kelyn Rowe along with returnees such as U.S. international Benny Feilhaber and Shalrie Joseph.

“In a tactical sense, he wants us to play a pass-and-move game, and not so much the direct game Stevie used to ask of us,” says Feilhaber, whose subtle skills didn’t mesh fluidly in a very direct style preferred by Nicol. “That falls in perfectly for me and Kelyn and Shaz, and a lot of those guys in the midfield who want to get the ball at their feet and play it. I think that will help us this year.”

Heaps also recognizes the need for size and speed up front. The Revs picked up former D.C. United striker Blake Brettschneider, who started the San Jose game, and are awaiting the debut of Colombian frontman Jose Moreno, whose loan deal with Once Caldas hit a snag a few weeks ago that Heaps says has been resolved. Speedster Jeremiah White, yet another offseason signing, made his first MLS appearance against SKC as a 61st-minute sub.

“He has that very important ability to stretch the field,” says Heaps of White, a third-round 2004 SuperDraft pick out of Wake Forest who played in Europe and Saudi Arabia prior to signing with MLS. “We saw during preseason he has the ability to get behind defenses. That’s going to help the way we possess, because he’s that threat with his speed and teams have to respect that he can open up moves in the middle.”

Of Moreno (6-foot, 180 pounds), Heaps says, “He’s that big, strong forward. He holds the ball, he’s athletic. We have guys who can pick you out –- Kelyn and Benny can put the ball anywhere you want -– so it’s a matter of having a guy who can hold the ball so we can get up the field.”

Another former D.C. player, holding mid Clyde Simms, has been paired with Joseph to give the Revs a blend of steel and skill in midfield. “The more time we get together the better we’re going to be together, and with Clyde he’s so good on the ball you’ve just got to get into position and move off him and he’s going to find your feet,” says Joseph, who along with keeper Matt Reis and a few others know Heaps well from his days as their hard-nosed right back.

Feilhaber never played with Heaps yet knows he’s brought a change in mentality along with overhauls of personnel and tactics. “He brings a lot of intensity,” says Feilhaber. “That’s how he was as a player, a really intense player, intense coach, intense person in general. That’s something I think we were lacking a little bit last year, so it’s definitely good to see that instilled in the guys.”

Di Matteo says Chelsea have their passion back

Three straight wins, including a dramatic 4-1 defeat of Napoli in the Champions League, has rekindled his players' passion, says Chelsea coach Roberto Di Matteo.

“I’ve been speaking to the players individually … to try and get them feeling the responsibility and make them aware of our targets, to bring a little bit of team spirit back, the spirit of sacrifice and passion for the game,” Di Matteo said.

Next up for Chelsea, which is fifth in the Premier League and has been paired with Benfica in the Champions League quarterfinals, is an FA Cup match with Leicester City Sunday and a crucial league game against Manchester City Wednesday.

As a player, Di Matteo helped lead Chelsea out of a moribund period without any trophies. He scored a goal in Chelsea's 1997 FA Cup victory over Middlesbrough to end a drought of more than two decades, and upon his retirement in 2002 had won four trophies. Current Chelsea stars John Terry and Frank Lampard, each of whom scored a goal in the Napoli match, are former Di Matteo teammates. The club's revival since Andre Villas-Boas was dismissed has renewed hopes it can win a trophy despite its past troubles.

American success in Europa League

With Manchester United and Manchester City crashing out of the Europa League, Chelsea remains as the only English team competing in Europe - as they still remain in the UEFA Champions League for the moment.

What's even more interesting is that with a solid performance this week in the Europa League, there might be more Americans currently competing in European competition than English players-

* Steve Cherundolo started for Hannover 96 in what turned out to be an easy night at AWD-Arena. Mohammed Abdellaoue had the home side up within four minutes, and it was 2-0 Hannover when Liege put the ball into the back of their own net in the 21st. Hannover would be the recipients of another own goal in the 73rd, with Sergio Pinto scoring their fourth in stoppage time.

* Jozy Altidore started for AZ, and where Udinese may have won on the night at the Stadio Friuli, it wasn't enough to overcome the first-leg. Antonio Di Natale seemed to have AZ's number, opening the scoring from the penalty spot in the third minute and scoring from the run of play in the 15th. Fortunately for AZ, that was it for the Udinese offense. AZ's Erik Falkenburg scored in the 31st, with AZ failing to convert from the penalty spot in the 64th minute.

* Klaas-Jan Huntelaar had a hat-trick, but it was Jermaine Jones scoring the goal that put Schalke in the next round. Schalke trailed on the night from the 14th minute, with Huntelaar equalizing in the 29th and putting Schalke ahead from the penalty spot in the 57th minute. Jones scored in the 70th, with Huntelaar getting his third goal of the game in the 81st minute. Jones assisted on the Huntelaar goal, subbing out in the 88th.

* Sporting advanced over Manchester City with a 3-3 aggregate, and expects to have standout defender Oguchi Onyewu back for the next leg.

With the American success in the Europa League, coupled with the prominent roles that Clint Dempsey (Fulham), Tim Howard (Everton) and Michael Bradley (Chievo) have had this season in their respective teams, US Soccer has earned it's seat at the table among Europe's elite.

MLS eyes northern exposure in Canada

All eyes in Major League Soccer have turned towards the northern boarder this week. Between the on-field success of Toronto FC in the CONCACAF Champions League, as well as the anticipation of 50,000+ fans for Montreal's home opener, it appears that MLS' northern exposure is where it's at.

Ridge Mahoney of Soccer America writes about the MLS growth in the north.

It has been one of the league's doormats since joining MLS in 2007, yet Toronto FC has broken new ground for MLS with the devotion and input of its powerful fan base. Reaching the Concacaf Champions League semifinals by upsetting the Galaxy has given the franchise its finest on-field moment.

Maybe it’s fitting that a Canadian team is the last one standing of North America's top professional division in the regional club competition.

Toronto FC has certainly stunk on the field, having failed to qualify for the playoffs in each of its five seasons, but Commissioner Don Garber gives the first Canadian city to join the league a lot of credit for sparking passionate support that is snowballing through much of the league. Perhaps that 4-3 aggregate upset of the high-profile, heavily moneyed Galaxy in the Concacaf Champions League quarterfinals is how those fickle soccer gods repay those who bring their passion and hope to every game, week after week, month after month, year after year. It’s about time the Red Patch Boys, North End Elite, et al, got their due.

Any misconception that pro soccer interest in Toronto crested with the 21,000 or so supporters who routinely pack BMO Field went down the drain nine days ago when 47,568 fans filled Rogers Centre for the CCL first leg. Garber was in attendance with Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment chairman Larry Tanenbaum, and on a conference call with reporters the following day he spoke about what the event and the crowd meant.

“Last night I turned to Larry Tanenbaum and I said, every time I attend a big MLS event, in this case, an event with two MLS teams, I kind of get emotional because this league had so many challenges seven, or eight or nine years ago,” said Garber. “It would have been impossible to have conceived that you would have 40,000-plus on a weeknight going absolutely nuts for two MLS teams and then having front page photographs and articles in the newspaper when you leave town. It started in Toronto.

“It certainly reached an entirely new level in Seattle. The first time I did the March to the Match or saw the fans come out in the pouring rain of the first championship game we had up there in the pouring rain and fans being there through thick and thin. Or going up to a meeting in Microsoft and seeing half of the office wearing Sounders jerseys, then going down trying to lobby for the public stadium support in Philadelphia and seeing hundreds and hundreds of members of the Sons of Ben. It all sort of feels a bit like a tidal wave that is rising and this massive interest in the league.”

The league will rise further this weekend when its 19th franchise and third Canadian entry, Montreal, plays its first MLS home game against Chicago. More than 50,000 tickets have been sold and capacity at Olympic Stadium, where the Impact will play until renovations are completed at Stade Saputo, has been increased to approximately 60,000. No one expects subsequent games to approach that number, but playing a league game in a big stadium – long regarded as anathema unless accompanied by fireworks or an international exhibition – has in certain markets created a demand that helps drives fans to games in the smaller facilities.

Philly opened its 2010 expansion season with a bunch of road games and two matches at Lincoln Financial Field, home of the NFL Eagles. The games drew crowds of 34,870 and 25,038 that didn’t fill up much of the Linc, but did fire up a portion of the populace.

“You know, if we’d been part of the league when it started in 1996, I don’t think the interest would have been nearly this strong,” says Philly president Nick Sakiewicz, whose team often sells out PPL Park (capacity 18,500). “There’s no question that fans around here watching MLS, especially teams nearby like D.C. and New York, for more than a decade have been frustrated by having to wait so long for a team.

“And while playing in an NFL stadium long-term obviously hasn’t worked in our league, having our first two games at Lincoln Financial Field gave a lot more people the opportunity to see the team and what an MLS game looked like than if we had played in Chester from the start. When we did move there, people knew the smaller capacity meant they might not get tickets, so if they didn’t have season tickets they at least bought them well in advance.”

It’s a sign of the league’s maturity that in other cities, a reverse process has also worked. Two seasons in CommunityAmerica Ballpark, where the capacity barely nudges five figures for Sporting Kansas City games, has prompted loud sellouts at Livestrong Sporting Park. Vancouver played at Empire Field before moving into B.C. Place, where the reduced capacity of 21,000 approximates that of its previous home yet has room for expansion. San Jose will leave Buck Shaw Stadium (10,500) for its new stadium (about 18,000) sometime next year with hopefully the same effect.

Garber was also in attendance last Monday in Portland, and another raucous sellout crowd – in the pouring rain – conjured a throbbing atmosphere as the Timbers beat Philadelphia, 3-1. How to explain what has happened in the Northwest? For Cascadia Cup home games against Vancouver and Portland, Seattle has announced it will open up CenturyLink Field to its full capacity (66,000), which is an amazing development considering those teams entered MLS just last year.

With the addition of Montreal, Toronto has not only a nearby soccer rival dating back to days in the lower divisions as well as the old NASL, but a bitter foe frequently encountered in the NHL and Canadian Football League. TFC and the Impact will meet three times in league play and twice more in the Canadian Championship to determine a representative for the next version of the CCL.

Might such games in the future be candidates for the larger venues available? Pent-up demand is a powerful force. And what if they meet someday in MLS Cup? Wow.

Viewership spike for NBC Sports Network with first MLS telecast of 2012

NBC Sports Network’s first MLS telecast, Sunday afternoon’s game between FC Dallas and the New York Red Bulls, drew a 0.07 national household rating, the network announced Tuesday. That’s equivalent to about 82,000 viewers.

The number seems low, but it represents a more than threefold increase from last year’s opening telecast on Fox Soccer, which was replaced by NBC this season as MLS’s second English-language U.S. broadcast partner.

ESPN has been televising games since the league’s inception in 1996 and averaged 291,000 viewers per game on ESPN and ESPN2 last year. Fox Soccer averaged a 0.04 rating/68,000 viewers over the full 2011 regular season.

Both the New York and Dallas markets received 0.30 household ratings on Sunday.

Jon Miller, president of programming for NBC Sports Group, told Sporting News recently that the network will be shooting for a 0.3-0.4 rating on NBC Sports Network, formerly known as Versus, this season and a 1.0 for the three games scheduled for NBC’s flagship broadcast network.

An American Soccer Coach In Egypt

Anti-Americanism is on the rise in Egypt these days. A highly publicized trial is under way in Cairo against U.S.-funded pro-democracy groups, and Egyptians are making it clear they reject any American involvement in their country's affairs.

There's one exception, however: an American living in Cairo whom Egyptians are counting on to shake things up. His name is Bob Bradley, and he's the New Jersey-born coach of Egypt's struggling national soccer team.

What many Egyptians admire about Bradley, who coached the U.S. men's national team until last year, is his hands-on approach, says youth coach and soccer expert Diaa Salah. He says the 53-year-old American is trying to improve the agility and fitness of the Egyptian players to help them qualify for the World Cup in 2014.

"He's not a typical suit-and-tie coach," Salah says. "No, he gets his track suit on and gets down on the pitch with the players. He likes to get involved in all of the situations on the pitch. That gives a very good message to the players themselves."

It's a message that Bradley relies on his Arabic-speaking assistants to translate for his players, most of whom don't speak English. But what Bradley lacks in foreign-language skills, his supporters say he makes up for by embracing Egyptian culture and living among them in a popular Cairo neighborhood, rather than in a walled compound.

"He's not one of those coaches who likes to keep distance; no, he wants to be right in the middle of things," Salah says. "I think Egyptians do like [and] are very warm and welcoming to coaches like that."

Bradley says he's gratified by how Egyptians have welcomed him and his wife, Lindsay, since he took over the national team here last October.

"We recognize how proud Egyptians are of their country, their history, of their culture, and people have really reached out to us in a way that we feel very appreciative," Bradley says.

How long the warm reception will last is unclear.

The Road Ahead

In downtown Cairo, passerby Ahmed Adel expressed his frustration with the lackluster performance of the team in recent months. He and others here say Bradley has big shoes to fill, as his Egyptian predecessor, Hassan Shehata, led the Egyptians to three Africa Cup titles.

The American coach also faces major hurdles his predecessors haven't.

Egypt's unprecedented popular uprising that forced Hosni Mubarak from power and the continuing struggle between his military allies and emerging democratic forces here have weakened many of the country's institutions, including its soccer league.

An even more devastating blow came last month with a fatal riot that killed 74 soccer fans after a game in the northern city of Port Said. It was the worst such tragedy in Egyptian history and led officials to cancel league games for the rest of this year.

Bradley says it has also limited his opportunities to scout for new talent.

"There are probably 10 to 12 players that we would have considered for the camp that we have right now, had this incident not taken place," he says.

As of this month, the Egyptian team dropped to its lowest world ranking ever — 64th place, compared to ninth place two years ago. But Bradley says he's not giving up.

"I made it very clear that the national team will need to have camps and will need to find a way to play matches, especially when you consider that the league will not start up again," he says.

His players are training in Egypt and abroad, like in Qatar, where the Egyptian national team recently won 5-0 in a friendly game against Kenya.

The Egyptian team's captain, Ahmed Hassan, says he predicts that with their American coach's drive and the Egyptian players' confidence, the national team will recover.