Former Cosmos Star Giorgio Chinaglia Dies

Giorgio Chinaglia, a member of the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame and the top scorer in the history of the North American Soccer League (NASL), died in Florida today of complications from a heart attack. He was 65.

After playing in Wales and his native Italy (where he earned 14 caps), Chinaglia signed with the Cosmos, joining Pele and Beckenbauer on the NASL's showcase franchise. In seven years with the club he scored 193 goals in 213 regular season games plus another 50 in 43 play-off matches. During that time the Cosmos won four championships.

Optimism for Bolton Player Muambe

It was gratifying to see the international concern for Bolton midfielder, Patrice Muambe, who collapsed just before halftime of the FA Cup quarterfinal between his Bolton Wanderers and the Tottenham Hotspurs last Saturday. Muambe, 23, was immediately attended to by medics and rushed to the hospital. The referee wisely abandoned the match.

Today, the Associated Press reported shortly after 4 p.m. EDT that Muambe can breathe without a ventilator, recognize family members and respond appropriately to questions. Although his prognosis remains uncertain, this news has to be heartening to his family and the millions of fans showing their support worldwide.

The greatest

I saw this sign when I was visiting the University of Pennsylvania Palestra (a/k/a "College Basketball's Most Historic Gym") for work a few weeks ago.

"To win the game is great . . .

To play the game is greater . . .

But to love the game is the greatest of all."

Certainly applies to soccer as well as basketball.

Soccer Tragedies

There have been times when the joy of soccer has led to tragedy as fans used the game as an excuse to riot, or perhaps a section of grandstands collapsed. The Internet Services website has a recent post on the 20 biggest soccer tragedies and the Internet response to them. Interesting historical read on the dark side of the sport.

Albright Unionizes

Philadelphia native Chris Albright, a veteran of the U.S. National Team and a graduate of my of my old high school, Penn Charter, has joined the Philadelphia Union, as reported in today's Daily News and Inquirer.

I played against Chris's uncle Bill, when I was in college and he played for Temple; and against his father, John, in the South Jersey (old) men's league.

When my daughter, Kirsten, went to Penn Charter, she played on the boys teams and was leading scorer in 6th and 7th grades. In 8th grade the gender difference was beginning to concern me as the boys were getting bigger and Kirsten is small to begin with. When she came home after the first workout of the new school year, I asked her how the first day of soccer practice was.

Well, she told me, there was this boy in her class who played football last year but this year he came out for soccer and he's really good and, "I'm not the best player on the team any more."

Yep. It was Chris Albright.

Can't wait to see him play at PPL Park this season.

Another Women's League Gone: WPS "Suspends Operations"

Just four days after the U.S. Women dominated the Olympic qualifying tournament to earn a spot in the Summer Games, the professional league in which most of the Americans play announced it had "suspended operations" for 2012 but hoped to return with eight teams in 2013.

According to the league, the culprit was Dan Borislow, the owner of the Majicjack franchise in Florida, who was kicked out of the league. A court ruled that the league had not followed its own by-laws and the league decided it could not play the season while the litigation continued. But it had other problems, including the loss of Puma as a major national sponsor and the fact that its national team players from the United States and Canada would be gone for much of the summer for the Olympics.

Jack Bell provides a comprehensive analysis of the story in the New York Times. The Philadelphia Inquirer quotes David Halstead, owner of the Philadelphia Independence, as saying ""This is what responsible business enterprises do, and it's what the WPS and Philadelphia Independence are going to do. A successful WPS is a journey . . . a marathon. We've just completed a couple of early miles to this journey and are re-hydrating and re-tooling for the next leg. Stay tuned."

Women's soccer has come a long way from the days when the Charge used to nearly fill Villanova Stadium. Unfortunately, it's the wrong direction.

Off to London

Surprise, surprise. The U.S. women will be playing at the Olympics in London.

The Americans qualified for the Olympics with a 3-0 win over Costa Rica in Vancouver yesterday in the CONCACAF semifinal in Vancouver. I was happy to see my former player, Carli Lloyd, be named Woman of the Match for the second straight game. (She won the award in the 4-0 victory over Mexico, but it was somewhat of a no-brainer since she had a hat trick.)

Tough tournament for the U.S. They opened with a 14-0 trouncing of the Dominican Republic and followed it up by shutting out Guatemala, 13-0. With the wins over Mexico and now Costa Rica, they have scored 34 goals in four games - six by Lloyd.

Canada also punched its ticket to London by downing Mexico, 3-1, last night. Canada and the United States play in the final - which is really only for bragging rights - on Sunday.