Monthly Archives: February 2007

UEFA’s new president Michel Platini has laid out new measures to cut back on referee mistakes, but they don’t include video technology. Instead, the former France and Juventus legend advocates upping the number of officials on the field from three to five. The idea is that an extra official on either side would make all […]

Portugal Teammate Says Ronaldo Will Leave Man United

The rumor mill this week paints a broader picture of disquiet at Europe’s top clubs. Real Madrid and Chelsea’s woes are well-documented, but reports in the Spanish media indicate that all is not well at Manchester United and Barcelona. Valencia midfielder Hugo Viana revealed that Portugal teammate Cristiano Ronaldo definitely wants out of Manchester United […]

Barca Striker Eto’o Hits Out at Rijkaard, Ronaldinho

You can believe Real Madrid was happy to see infighting at another club steal headlines on Tuesday, especially because that club was Spanish league leader and bitter rival Barcelona. An incensed Samuel Eto’o, who’s missed most of the season through a knee injury, called Coach Franck Rijkaard “a bad person” for telling reporters he didn’t […]

MLS CONFIDENTIAL: Money to be made in stadium game

WHAT'S IN A NAME? Credit Colorado for jumping on the lucrative academy bandwagon and dressing it up with a prestigious name, as done in Los Angeles (David Beckham Academy) and Real Salt Lake (the Real Madrid Something-or-Other.) The Arsenal Centre of Excellence (note the clever ''English'' spelling) will be housed at Dick's Sporting Goods Park […]

Soccer America Confidential, Story

Money to be made in stadium game

WHAT’S IN A NAME? Credit Colorado for jumping on the lucrative academy bandwagon and dressing it up with a prestigious name, as done in Los Angeles (David Beckham Academy) and Real Salt Lake (the Real Madrid Something-or-Other.) The Arsenal Centre of Excellence (note the clever “English” spelling) will be housed at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park […]

U.S. ABROAD: Howard opts for Everton

By Ridge Mahoney American keeper Tim Howard has made the same determination as American teammate Kenny Cooper: Manchester United is one of the world's greatest clubs, but it isn't the right place for him. Everton has reached an agreement to convert Howard's loan from Manchester United into a transfer, effective in the summer. The club's […]

COPA AMERICA: USA to open against Argentina

The USA will face Argentina June 28 in its opening game at the 2007 Copa America. It will learn its other two group opponents when the draw for the the South American championship is staged Wednesday at 6 pm ET in Caracas. The first phase of the tournament consists of three groups of four teams […]

UNCAF DIGICEL CUP: Panama books ticket to Gold Cup

Panama claimed the fourth spot from Central America in the 2007 Gold Cup when the Canaleros beat Costa Rica, 1-0, on Tuesday night and took first place in Group 2 at the UNCAF Digicel Cup being played in San Salvador, El Salvador. Alberto Blanco scored the late goal to give Panama the win over Costa […]

MAKING A LIST: MLS Goalscorers (2002-06)

Taylor Twellman, who re-signed Monday with the New England Revolution for four years, has been MLS's leading goalscorer (regular season) since entering the league in 2002 from German club 1860 Munich's amateur team. Twellman shared the scoring title in 2005 and won it outright in 2005. PLAYER (GOALS) 1. Taylor Twellman (75) 2. Carlos Ruiz […]

EUROPE: League contenders face UEFA Cup tests

Contenders in several major league races will be in action this week as European action resumes with the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup. Defending UEFA Cup champion Sevilla, which is in second place in Spain's La Liga, travels to Steaua Bucharest, and Werder Bremen, which is second in the German Bundesliga, faces Dutch […]

5. UNCAF DIGICEL CUP: Panama books ticket to Gold Cup

3. MAKING A LIST: MLS Goalscorers (2002-06)

Taylor Twellman, who re-signed Monday with the New England Revolution for four years, has been MLS’s leading goalscorer (regular season) since entering the league in 2002 from German club 1860 Munich’s amateur team. Twellman shared the scoring title in 2005 and won it outright in 2005. PLAYER (GOALS) 1. Taylor Twellman (75) 2. Carlos Ruiz […]

2. COPA AMERICA: USA to open against Argentina

1. WHAT THEY’RE SAYING

“When you play here, back in Mexico they think you are on vacation and that it’s very easy to come play here in the United States. They don’t know this league or these players, and that’s why I think the Mexican players were surprised by the American players because they hadn’t seen them before and […]

4. EUROPE: League contenders face UEFA Cup tests

Contenders in several major league races will be in action this week as European action resumes with the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup. Defending UEFA Cup champion Sevilla, which is in second place in Spain’s La Liga, travels to Steaua Bucharest, and Werder Bremen, which is second in the German Bundesliga, faces Dutch […]

American Investors Ride Soccer’s Globalization Wave

Perhaps Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman’s hunch is best backed up by the sport’s sudden, meteoric rise in American media coverage since the beginning of the year. In early January, there was Beckham of course, then came George Gillett and Tom Hicks buying Liverpool, and now most recently there’s the Colorado-Arsenal deal. Greg Lalas writing for […]

How Did RSL Succeed Where So Many Have Failed?

Deseret Morning News columnist Lee Benson wonders how in the world Real Salt Lake ended up getting its stadium deal, especially after it was denounced by financial reports and flatly denied local taxpayer money. How, he asks, did it come to pass that the state saved soccer in Utah? “Overnight,” says Benson, “a deal that […]

Not Much to the Colorado-Arsenal Deal

Soccer pundit Ian Plenderleith, in a column for the U.S. National Soccer Team Player’s Association Web site, takes a closer look at the new deal between Colorado and English Premier League giant Arsenal, and concludes that there’s not all that much to it, really. For starters, Colorado owner Stan Kroenke takes no equity interest in […]

Colorado Investors Bet on Soccer

The Denver Post points out that each of these men believe the road to success in American soccer passes through Europe. Philip Anschutz, of course, is the man with enough millions to lure the European uber-celebrity David Beckham over from Real Madrid. Stan Kroenke last week orchestrated the sports marketing and management collaboration between Arsenal […]

Eventful Weekend in Europe

Paul Gardner of the New York Sun takes a look back what was a particularly eventful weekend in Spain and Italy. In Italy, Ronaldo made his AC Milan debut in a 2-1 win for the home side. He didn’t score, but he didn’t play half bad, either. League leader Inter walked through the motions to […]

TV RATINGS: Huge audiences for USA-Mexico

Last Wednesday's USA-Mexico game was the most-watched U.S. game in the team's history on ESPN2, outside of the World Cup and World Cup qualifiers. The game earned a 0.7 household rating on ESPN2, which translates to 1.1 million viewers, and averaged a 1.0 rating during the final 15 minutes. On Univision, the match also set […]

WOMEN: Boxx returns to training

The U.S. women's national team returns to training on Wednesday with 28 players in camp Feb. 14-21 at The Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif., to prepare for next month's Algarve Cup. Following the camp, U.S. head coach Greg Ryan will name 20 players who will travel to the tournament to be played from March […]

CHINA: Fans told 'free lunch' is over

In a sign of the times, China's 30 million English Premier League fans will have to pay $24 a month if they want to watch EPL games, beginning next season. Tiny WinTV (40,000 subscribers) won EPL broadcasting, Internet and mobile rights. Previously, fans could watch for free on ESPN-Star via local cable. ''The fans will […]

U.S. U-17 BOYS: Visit to the Office

The U.S. U-17 national team will get a taste of what they should expect to see in CONCACAF qualifying this spring when they travel to Jamaica to face an all-star team on Friday. Along with the match, the four-day trip will be beneficial for the U-17s, who will have the chance to practice in Kingston's […]

6. CHINA: Fans told ‘free lunch’ is over