India-born Sunil Gulati elected into FIFA Executive Committee

53 year old Allahabad-born Sunil Gulati, who is the United States Soccer Federation president, has been elected to the FIFA Executive Committee on a four year term as a CONCACAF representative.

Indian origin Sunil Gulati won a close contest 18-17 against Mexican Football President Justino Compean in a balloting at the Congress of North and Central American and Caribbean Football (CONCACAF) in Panama City on Friday.

"The game is growing tremendously in our region both on and off the field, and I hope to do my part to continue to expand the development of the game for both CONCACAF and FIFA," Sunil Gulati said in a USSF statement.

Gulati was elected to a four-year term and will join football's 25-member ruling body at the FIFA Congress on May 30/31 in Mauritius. Gulati takes the seat of fellow American Chuck Blazer, who had held the post since 1997.

Because of his new post, Gulati had to step down from the CONCACAF Executive Committee and was replaced by Canada’s Victor Montagliani.

Sunil Gulati has been president of United States Soccer Federation since 2006.

Match Analysis acquires Spinsight

Match Analysis, the leading provider of video and statistical analysis for football (soccer), has announced the acquisition of Edinburgh-based Spinsight Ltd. The acquisition was structured as a transfer of intellectual property and other assets.

Following a successful strategic cooperation between the two companies aimed at developing and marketing state-of-the-art portable panoramic video and low cost player tracking, Match Analysis has undertaken this acquisition as part of its strategic expansion into the European market.

The K2 panoramic camera system, developed by Spinsight, is an exclusively integrated component of Match Analysis’s recent Mambo Studio 5 launch which incorporates its widely popular video analysis system with panoramic “corner flag to corner flag” video, precise player tracking, interactive TruView visualizations, touch panel and smart board integration and next generation fitness reporting. The system is currently being used by five Major League Soccer clubs, the US Men’s National Team, and a number of top national rugby unions.

"The acquisition of Spinsight is a very positive development for our clients," said Match Analysis president Mark Brunkhart. "The technology is cutting edge and immediately beneficial to teams, leagues, and the media. By bringing the technology in-house, we can expand upon the integration we've done over the past two years. We've demonstrated Mambo 5 in combination with the K2 to some of the best coaches in the world, and the response has been universally and instantly positive. We've had a number of leagues express immediate interest in implementing the solution league wide to improve referee performance, player development, discipline, and pitch security. The combination of our technology with the K2 is a perfect fit for our clients and will fill a largely unmet need throughout the world."

Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.


About Match Analysis

Match Analysis is the market leader in high performance analytical tools for professional football (soccer). Over the past decade, Match Analysis has worked with almost every major club in North America, as well as 50 professional clubs around the globe. The business has also delivered to broadcasters and media outlets including the New York Times as the official partner for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. In 2011, Match Analysis clients included all 18 Premier Division clubs in Mexico, eleven MLS clubs, the United States, Mexican, and Canadian National teams, and a wide array of college and amateur sides. Match Analysis offers a comprehensive suite of tools and services including video indexing and archiving, statistical analysis, live data collection, player tracking, and fitness and performance analysis.

More information at www.matchanalysis.com .

Klinsmann names US squad against Mexico friendly

New coach of the USA Jurgen Klinsmann has named the squad for his first game in-charge against archrivals Mexico on August 10 in Philadelphia, the team against whom the US lost the CONCACAF Gold Cup final only in June.

Klinsmann has not finalised his coaching staff by naming three assistant to work with him for this match in Martin Vasquez, his former assistant at Bayern Munich; former US captain and Bundesliga player Tom Dooley besides Tab Ramos. Mike Curry will be the Goalkeeper Coach, while Mark Verstegen also is back who worked with Klinsmann at the German national team.

Klinsmann has put a squad together with experienced players like Howard, Bocanegra, Jones and Donovan besides talented youngsters like Hamid, Castillo, Orozco Fiscal and Shea, while also giving a chance to once wonder boy Freddie Adu.

Klinsmann had called-up six players who earn their money in Germany, but 1.FC Nürnberg defender Timmy Chandler had to drop out due to an injury with MLS player Zach Loyd replacing him.


UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

Goalkeepers
Bill Hamid (D.C. United); Tim Howard (FC Everton, England)

Defenders
Carlos Bocanegra (AS Saint-Etienne, France); Edgar Castillo (America, Mexico); Steve Cherundolo (Hannover 96, Germany); Clarence Goodson (Bröndby IF, Denmark); Michael Orozco Fiscal (San Luis, Mexico); Heath Pearce (Chivas USA); Tim Ream (New York Red Bulls), Zach Loyd (FC Dallas)

Midfielders
Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake); Michael Bradley (VfL Borussia Mönchengladbach, Germany); Ricardo Clark (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany); Maurice Edu (Glasgow Rangers FC, Scotland); Jermaine Jones (FC Schalke 04, Germany); Brek Shea (FC Dallas); Jose Francisco Torres (Pachuca, Mexico)

Forwards
Freddy Adu (SL Benfica Lisboa, Portugal); Juan Agudelo (New York Red Bulls); DaMarcus Beasley (Puebla, Mexico); Edson Buddle (FC Ingolstadt, Germany); Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Officials
Jurgen Klinsmann (Coach), Martin Vasquez (Assistant Coach), Tom Dooley (Assistant Coach), Tab Ramos (Assistant Coach), Mike Curry (Goalkeeper Coach), Mark Verstegen (Physical Trainer)

Klinsmann introduced as new US coach

German 1990 World Cup winner Juergen Klinsmann was earlier today introduced to the media in New York as the new coach of the US Soccer national team by the USSF president Sunil Gulati. The former Germany coaches task will be to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil after Bob Bradley was sacked as coach last week after four years in-charge. One of the arguments was that Bradley wasn't developing the team any further.

Klinsmann has his own style of functioning, implementing his own ideas which are sometimes unorthodox. It worked perfectly with the German national team at the 2006 FIFA World Cup at home but failed miserably at German giants FC Bayern Munich.

Klinsmann is no newcomer to the USA or its football. He has lived there for over 13 years in southern California, is married to an American ex-model and he has gone to the extend to adopt himself to the US by dropping the 'E' from Juergen to allow people to call and write his name as Jurgen.

Klinsmann has worked as advisor and consultant, until taking up the new job he has also been a strategic advisor to the MLS side FC Toronto. The USA want to take the next step in world football and have turned to someone who understands the US culture.

In Germany many are sceptical if Klinsmann is the right man for the US soccer top job. People see the success of Germany at the 2006 FIFA World Cup now differently after Joachim Loew took over and Klinsmann failed at Bayern Munich.

Klinsmann's quote of the opening press conference was, "One of my challenges will be to find a way to define how the U.S. represents its country and its style of play."

A tough but interesting challenge for a man who was successful as a player with VfB Stuttgart, Bayern Munich, Internationale Milan and Tottenham Hotspurs. In England he was initially known as the diver, but Klinsmann was able to change perception about Germans on the British Isles. Maybe now he can develop a new and stronger football culture in the US, where the sport is growing by the day.