“I’m not surprised there were so many yellow cards. The referee is there for this. If players don’t respect him they should get a yellow or red. Not only for Manchester United-Chelsea, Liverpool, any club if they don’t respect the referee.”
— Chelsea coach Luiz Felipe Scolari after referee Mike Riley showed eight yellow cards during Sunday’s Chelsea-Manchester United 1-1 draw. Seven of the cards went to Man U players. (AP)
Zakumi the Leopard is the official mascot of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Zakumi, the 12th World Cup mascot since the tradition began in 1966, is the third of the feline persuasion after World Cup Willie (1966) and Goleo, the big pantless lion of Germany 2006. Only once has a dog had the honor – USA 1994’s Striker.
[ARGENTINA] Reigning champion River Plate has made a stumbling start to the new Argentine season. On Sunday, it lost to unfancied opposition, while its main rival, Boca Juniors, fell at home for its first defeat of the season.
It will be a busy week for the Montreal Impact with a Concacaf Champions League game against Atlante of Mexico in Montreal on Wednesday. The Impact then heads to Seattle to face the USL First Division defending champion Sounders in the first round of the USL-1 quarterfinals on Friday and concludes the week with the second leg on Sunday at Saputo Park. The top seed Puerto Rico Islanders, the USL-1’s other Concacaf Champions League representative, has a bye. For all the USL-1 quarterfinal pairings …
“The American may possess all manner of foibles we have yet to discover, but for the moment he represents a species thought to be nearing extinction: a football club owner with a positive approval rating.” Nick Townsend lauds Aston Villa’s U.S. owner, Randy Lerner.
“It appears to be an isolated incident but we have launched a full investigation in conjunction with local authorities.” Chelsea FC reacts to the stone reportedly thrown by a Chelsea fan that cracked a window on Manchester United’s team bus as it left Stamford Bridge Sunday.
"If the authorities decide a replay is the correct thing to do then I've got no objections whatsoever." Reading manager Steve Coppell will be happy to replay Saturday's 2-2 draw at Watford, when his team was awarded a bizarre "goal" that should have been a corner. But the Football League has already ruled out a […]
Arsenal chairman Peter Hill-Wood has stressed that his club favors long-term sustainability over splashing out cash for huge transfer fees, and said he is "sure" that fans understand not winning the Premier League title if it means the club is kept on a stable financial footing. "We obviously can't compete with the money Manchester City […]
"What must Ukraine do to avoid losing Euro 2012?" Michel Platini asked, repeating a question posed by Simon Kuper. The UEFA President, writes Kuper, "puffs out his cheeks, drums a rhythm on the table with his fingers. What he says next implies that … Uefa may remove Ukraine as co-host of the 2012 European Championships." […]
Does David Beckham receive preferential treatment from MLS referees? D.C. United defender Marc Burch seems to think so after being red-carded for kicking Beckham from behind Saturday night in L.A. Referee Terry Vaughn interpreted Burch's challenge, which occurred on the touchline, as "violent conduct." "I swung for the ball and hit the back of his […]
The Chicago Fire was booed off the field at halftime Sunday when it went in to the locker room 3-0 down at home to FC Dallas. Goalkeeper Jon Busch was no happier with the final 4-1 result than the jeering fans. “If I paid money to go to this game, I would be booing too,” […]
After his scintillating hat trick against D.C. United at the weekend, L.A. Galaxy striker Landon Donovan has Germany on his mind again, writes Andrea Canales. After two unsuccessful spells at Bayer Leverkusen earlier in his career, the U.S. national team's all-time record goalscorer can't help but think that now, at the peak of his career, […]
History is strongly against it, yet on stats and influence, this is the first season Landon Donovan truly deserves to win the MVP award.
There was no movement at the top of the Soccer America Men’s Top 25 as the top eight teams all won. LSU, Texas A&M, Duke, Wake Forest and West Virginia each climbed two spots to claim the No. 9-13 spots in this week’s rankings. For this week’s Soccer America Women’s Top 25 rankings …
Top-ranked women’s team Notre Dame, which improved to 8-0-0 with its 3-1 win at Big Ten powerhouse Penn State on Sunday, was playing without Coach Randy Waldrum, who was not in attendance at Sunday’s game due to a death in his family. ALSO: Six teams lose perfect records, and UCLA sets shutout record.
The crowd of 7,408 fans at UC Santa Barbara’s Harder Stadium on Sunday for the UCSB-Wake Forest game was the largest men’s crowd of the season. Maryland also drew a 6,000-plus crowd over the weekend for its ACC game with Duke. For the top men’s crowds …
There is a shakeup among the teams immediately behind No. 1 Wake Forest. Connecticut moved into the No. 2 spot, and Maryland climbed three places to No. 3. For this week’s Soccer America Men’s Top 25 rankings …
If there were any doubts about who is the top team in men’s soccer, Wake Forest put them to rest Sunday when it won the battle of the last two national champions with a 6-2 win at UC Santa Barbara. ALSO: O’Brien White ends scoring slump.
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Michael Bradley made his German Bundesliga debut. For more on how Americans fared in foreign leagues last weekend. …
For all the weekend results, standings, leading goal scorers and schedules …
[MLS NAMES & NUMBERS/VIDEO] Coach Bruce Arena finally celebrated a win with the Los Angeles Galaxy thanks to an explosive performance by Landon Donovan. Real Salt Lake finally fell at home, and Jeff Cunningham added to his plus-100 career scoring tally. For the weekend’s MLS highlights. …
The Puerto Rico Islanders won their USL First Division regular-season title thanks to a 0-0 tie with the Montreal Impact — their fellow participant in the Concacaf Champions League — on the final day of the season. Minnesota’s 3-1 win over Montreal had clinched the Thunder the final playoff spot. For all the USL-1 results, the final standings and leading scores …
[U.S. WOMEN] The U.S. women’s national team swept its three-game series against Ireland with a 2-0 win on Saturday at Toyota Park to set a record for wins in a calendar year with its 29th victory of the year. Perhaps even more remarkable was defender Kate Markgraf scoring her first-ever international goal — in her 193rd cap! as she pounded home a penalty kick in the 31st minute.
[SPAIN] All those chances that Barcelona missed in its first two games of the season were just warm-up shots. On Sunday the Catalans quit showing mercy and hit Sporting Gijon for six, with Lionel Messi scoring twice.
[ITALY] Relief for AC Milan as it finally won its first game of the season on the back of a sumptuous goal from Kaka. Ronaldinho only came off the bench once the game was effectively won.
