100 million stadium, and the Metrostars will take all the burden
great news finally we get the stadium, Metrostars to take full burden, rite on our background
MetroStars will accept entire financial burden to build stadium, By Matthew Futterman (Star-Ledger, Aug. 4)
http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/ind...2030.xml&coll=1
news from Soccer america
1. WHAT THEY'RE SAYING
"I'm going to Inter to see if they will let me play a bit of soccer. I will have time to bid farewell to the fans who are the ones who deserve it more than anyone else. On Saturday I will give a news conference to say goodbye to them as I won't have the chance to do that by playing in front of them."
-- Real Madrid's Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo, 32, who is reportedly set to sign with Italy's Inter Milan for an annual salary of $4.4 million. (Reuters)
2. WINNERS & LOSERS: Young Liberian hits four against Colorado; Metros ousted from Open Cup
Winners:
MELVIN TARLEY scored all four goals for USL1 team Minnesota Thunder in its 4-1 fourth-round U.S. Open Cup win over MLS's Colorado Rapids. Tarley, a 22-year-old Liberian in his third season with the Thunder, had also scored against MLS's Real Salt Lake in the Thunder's 6-4 third-round win.
The CHICAGO FIRE kept alive its quest to win a fourth U.S. Open Cup -- it won titles in 1998, 2000 and 2003 - thanks to a 3-2 win over the New England Revolution on two goals by Costa Rican Andy Herron. LOS ANGELES won its fourth clash with city rival Chivas USA, 5-2. KANSAS CITY trounced PDL's Des Moines Menace, 6-1. SAN JOSE beat USL1's Portland, 2-0. Christian Gomez scored twice while Freddy Adu scored and assisted in D.C. UNITED's 3-1 win over USL1's Richmond Kickers.
Losers:
Underscoring how formidable the challenge will be for GM Alexi Lalas to turn the METROSTARS into a "SuperClub" was their 3-1 U.S. Open Cup loss Wednesday to the USL1's Rochester Rhinos.
COLUMBUS' Danny Szetela and Frankie Hejduk each received red cards in overtime for fouling Arturo Alvarez of Dallas, which won the U.S. Open Cup match, 3-1, with overtime goals from Abe Thompson and Eddie Johnson.
3. MLS CONFIDENTIAL: Short prep for USA; Dallas restroom race
By Ridge Mahoney, Senior Editor
Soccer America Magazine
FRIENDLY DATE: Because the Aug. 17 qualifier against Trinidad & Tobago falls on a FIFA friendly international date, not one set aside for competitive matches, U.S. coach Bruce Arena won't have his players until two or three days prior to the T&T game.
FIFA rules mandate a 48-hour window prior to matches played on friendly dates. On dates designated for competitive matches, teams can require players to report four or five days in advance. The same rules will apply to those American players based in Europe, and many of them will be in action the weekend of Aug. 13-14 for their club teams.
Only players from the Rapids and Revs, which meet on that same date at Invesco Field, might miss MLS action to play for the national team. One of them, Pablo Mastroeni, is injured and won't be called up anyway. Arena will have to make decisions regarding Steve Ralston and Pat Noonan of the Revs, who were injured during the Gold Cup and didn't play Wednesday night in an 3-2 Open Cup loss to the Fire.
The Metros and Crew play on Sunday, Aug. 14, which is when players will report to prepare for the T&T game. The other 10 teams play on Saturday, including what might be an MLS Cup 2005 preview when New England plays FC Dallas at Pizza Hut Park.
LAMAR ON HAND: Speaking of Pizza Hut Park, Lamar Hunt is spending most of the week on the site overseeing final, frantic preparations for the grand opener against the Metros Saturday.
Well, of course, the opener won't be as grand as Hunt had hoped, since construction isn't complete and the capacity will be limited to 15,000 instead of its projected figure of 21,193. However, all the seating areas are completed, but the supporting amenities -- concessions, restrooms, etc. -- won't be ready in time.
''Usually, when you open a stadium and you have to limit the attendance, it's because the seats aren't ready,'' said Hunt on Wednesday. ''In this case, all the seats are in, but it's the other things that we have to finish before we can handle a full stadium.''
Hunt admits the prospect of a new MLS stadium set among a spread of soccer fields and a lovely park setting has him excited, but on Saturday his focus will be on the practical. ''I'll be thinking of what we'll have to do if the ticket windows aren't ready and the restrooms aren't working right,'' he says. ''We've made a real big deal about this and we'll have a lot of people here to see it, so we have to make sure we get it right, even if everybody knows it's not the finished product.''
STAR SEARCH: Under a proposed plan, no team would contribute more than two players to the squad of MLS all-stars that will take on Real Madrid at the Bernabeu Stadium Aug. 23.
The early favorite to coach the team is ....
Read all of MLS Confidential at:
http://www.socceramerica.com/articl...rt_ID=562136151
4. FOR THE RECORD: U.S. Open Cup
U.S. OPEN CUP: Fourth-round game summaries; quarterfinal matchups
http://www.socceramerica.com/articl...rt_ID=562136150
* BEST OF THE WEB: MetroStars will accept entire financial burden to build stadium
"The MetroStars will build a $100 million soccer stadium in Harrison on their own, team officials and acting Gov. Richard Codey will announce today.
"In a dramatic turnaround that ends nearly eight months of negotiations for a proposed partnership with the state, the team's parent company, Anschutz Entertainment Group, has decided to pursue a strategy it has been trying to avoid for several years.
"MetroStars executives have lobbied unsuccessfully for tens of millions of dollars in public funding for the project since 2001. Now, with the project years behind schedule ..."
MetroStars will accept entire financial burden to build stadium, By Matthew Futterman (Star-Ledger, Aug. 4)
http://www.nj.com/sports/ledger/ind...2030.xml&coll=1
