Brian Zygo

As promised last week, here are my highlights from 2009 in American Soccer, in no particular order: U.S. National Team Beats Spain in Confederations Cup Semi-Finals: On June 24, 2009, in the Semi-Finals of the Confederations Cup, the U.S. National Team, which barely advanced out of the group stage, managed a stunning 2-0 victory over […]

2010 is upon us, which means that it’s the time of year when we journalists, pundits, analysts, and/or columnists take stock of the year that has passed and provide you with our lists of the past years highlights and lowlights. So, to start things of for me, here is my take on the lowlights of […]

The Houston Dynamo’s 2009 regular season came to an end on Sunday as they beat Chivas USA 3-2 at the Home Depot Center. Coming into Sunday’s match, both teams had secured playoff berths, but the outcome would decide the seeding of the teams. By beating the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday, the L.A. Galaxy had […]

With a 3-2 victory over Honduras in San Pedro Sula, the US National Team secured its spot in the 2010 World Cup finals in South Africa. This is the sixth straight World Cup qualification for the US, following a 40 year absence from the biggest sporting event in the world. While the first half in […]

Going into Sunday's home match against the Kansas City Wizards, the Houston Dynamo knew the needed a result to secure their fourth straight playoff berth since moving to the Bayou City, but when forward Cam Weaver received a red card in the 17th minute hopes of an easy victory were quickly dashed. The crowd of […]

Labor Day has come and gone, the sun is setting earlier, and, even here in Houston, the air contains a slight fall crispness. Yes, the Summer of Soccer is over, and what an interesting summer it has been. Back on Father’s Day, like a Phoenix, the US National Team rose from the ashes of its […]

A common complaint about Major League Soccer is its failure or unwillingness to observe FIFA International breaks. As recently as this month we have seen MLS matches played at the same time as crucial World Cup Qualifiers involving the United States National Team, this despite earlier indications from MLS that the League was going to […]

Tomorrow, Major League Soccer, the Houston Dynamo, and Lone Star Sports and Entertainment will officially announce that the 2010 MLS All-Star Game will be held at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas, not Robertson Stadium. While Reliant Stadium, which was officially opened in 2002, is a multiple-use stadium, it is primarily known as the home of […]

This past week it was officially announced that Vincenzo Bernardo had opted out of his contract with Italian Serie A club Napoli and is now a free agent. For some weeks there has been speculation that the New Jersey native, who joined Napoli’s primavera squad in 2006, would be coming to Major League Soccer; however, […]

Recently there has been some chatter that the Houston Dynamo will have a big announcement this week. Since the Dynamo signed Mexican forward Luis Angel Landin on Thursday, its seems that this will be one of three things: an announcement related to the 2010 MLS All-Star Match, an announcement related to the potential friendly against […]

The group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League is set to start this coming week, and a question on the minds of many MLS fans is: “Will the MLS clubs involved in this competition step up and take it seriously?” After RedBull New York and Toronto FC got knocked out during the qualifying rounds, meaning […]

One of the lessons learned in this “Summer of Soccer” is that there is a sizable group of Americans who enjoy high level soccer and are willing to pay top dollar for the opportunity to see clubs like Real Madrid, Chelsea, Inter Milan, and Barcelona play live, even if the matches are only friendlies or […]

The English Premier League is one of the most popular football leagues in the world for many reasons, especially its coaching soap opera. No other league has managed to turn coaching vendettas and spats into a complex, highly entertaining mix of both low and high art in the manner that the EPL has achieved. Granted […]

Say what you will about the U.S. National Team’s performance in the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, after all it is an experimental squad seemingly designed to give Coach Bob Bradley a better idea of the quality and the extent of his team’s depth as it approaches the second half of CONCACAF’s Fourth, and Final, Round […]

On Saturday, July 4th, the Kansas City Wizards hosted the Houston Dynamo at CommunityAmerica Ballpark in front of a sell out crowd of 10,385. The Dynamo were coming off a lackluster loss to Los Angeles Galaxy on Sunday and a lucky draw against Real Salt Lake the previous weekend, and Kansas City was seeking their […]