“My intentions to be here in this press conference is to ask for public forgiveness. I’ve already asked the same from my teammates, the coaching staff and the federation and now I want to apologize publicly to my fans, my country and the media for my conduct… I made an error and threw away all the hard work we had put in all week.”
— Mexico captain Rafael Marquez, who was red-carded in the 65th minute of El Tri’s 2-0 loss to the USA for kicking U.S. keeper Tim Howard.
[HEXAGONAL] Costa Rico joined the USA in first place after Day 1 of the final round of qualifying in the Concacaf zone thanks to a 2-0 win over visiting Honduras. Trinidad & Tobago had to settle for a share of the points at El Salvador when the hosts came back from two goals down to earn a 2-2 tie with two late goals by Osa Romero, both on free kicks and the second on the last kick of the game four minutes into stoppage time.
[MLS] Bluff or bluster, or plenty of both? By issuing a statement that AEG and Milan must reach a transfer agreement regarding David Beckham by Friday or MLS won’t approve the deal, league Commissioner Don Garber has jumped into the fray with both feet and studs showing.
With a great sense of drama and timing, MLS commissioner Don Garber has pronounced Doomsday for David. It will be tomorrow, Friday the 13th. Either Beckham and his clan (his army of advisers, lawyers, consultants, managers, assistants and hangers-on), and AC Milan with all their various experts, come to an agreement with the Los Angeles Galaxy (which means AEG and all their high-powered business guys) by tomorrow, or any deal selling the player to Milan is off, finito, and Beckham — with great reluctance one imagines — will return to California.
[HEXAGONAL] Once again Mexico failed to scale its own psychological barrier, once again the Americans relied on their poise and experience to down their bitterest rival, and once again U.S. coach Bob Bradley proved that, at least some of the time, he knows what he’s doing.
“It seems indifference towards the national football team is a rare unifying factor [in Belgium]. All of which is curious given that Belgium is blessed with a gifted generation of young players that means the country should be hailing a potential rise of a new European force (rather than fretting about the fact that tonight […]
“In many ways, Giggs is the mirror image of Sir Alex Ferguson, his manager. Different in temperament, separated by 32 years in age, they nevertheless share a philosophy that states that too much is never enough.” Matthew Syed pays tribute to Manchester United midfielder Ryan Giggs.
“It is a shame because he [Luiz Felipe Scolari] had not been with us for a long time. Of course there was some criticism and we did not get the results we all would have wanted, but that is not the manager’s fault but the team’s.” Chelsea’s German midfielder Michael Ballack pinpoints the blame for […]
“This is a special night for me. I dedicate this award to my mum, without her, I would have been nothing. My father is no more but wherever he is, he will be proud of me.” Arsenal and Togo national team player Emmanuel Adebayor upon receiving the African Footballer Of The Year title Tuesday.
Real Madrid will borrow $90 million from Spain’s largest bank Santander to help finance the purchase of Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo, according to Spanish radio station Cadena Ser. The station, citing no sources, said the loan will still not be enough to cover the whole fee. “Cristiano Ronaldo already has an agreement with […]
“Never go back,” 1980s psychedelic-surf band Camper van Beethoven once wisely sang, but were Christian Gomez and D.C. United listening? Pat Walsh analyzes the return of the Argentine playmaker to the scene of his greatest days in Major League Soccer, and wonders whether the 34-year-old, in tandem with Jaime Moreno, 35, can work the magic […]
Wednesday’s U.S.-Mexico World Cup qualifier in Columbus doesn’t just pit Americans against Mexicans. For second-generation Latino U.S. citizens, the rivalry can cut across both family and ethnic lines, writes Hector Tobar. He tells the story of how he and Joel Aceves “were born and raised in Los Angeles. Both of us are sons of Latin […]
North Korea and Bahrain were the winners in Wednesday’s Asian World Cup qualifiers, while Australia stretched its unbeaten run with a handy 0-0 draw in Japan. On a low-scoring day, North Korea beat Saudi Arabia, 1-0, in Pyongyang when Mun In-guk took advantage of a clever back-heel from Hong Yong-jo to score on 28 […]
Russia coach Guus Hiddink has confirmed that he will take over as Chelsea manager until the end of the season, starting next week. “It’s never enough time to prepare a team in one week but this is an exceptional situation,” he told the news agency. “Chelsea have good players and they should be in top […]
England’s FA Cup highlights the weekend. American keepers could see action as Everton (Tim Howard) takes on Aston Villa (Brad Friedal, Brad Guzan) on Sunday. Another American player could feature on Saturday in the Mexican League as Jose Francisco Torres and Pachuca hosts UNAM.
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“I kind of liken it to a youth soccer game, a children’s soccer game, where everybody’s running after the ball. And then the ball gets kicked, and you run over after that person who’s got the ball.”
— Paul Vrooman, mayor of Miami suburb Cutler Bay, making the comparison between youth soccer and the chase for dollars in the Federal stimulus package. (NPR.org)
Jesuit College Prep of Dallas moved into the top spot in the NSCAA/adidas High School Boys Winter Rankings. For the top 10 rankings …
Punahou School, best known as President Barack Obama‘s alma mater, won the Hawaii Division I girls title with a 1-0 win over top-seeded Kamehameha.
CASL Chelsea FC Academy continued to dominate in the U.S. Soccer Development Academy’s U-17/18 Age Group with a 4-1 win over Virginia Rush AS Monaco and 1-0 win over Bridge FA last weekend.
Now is your chance to vote for the U.S. Youth Soccer Goal & Save of the Year. There are 10 nominees in each category. Goal of the Year nominees include Laura Heyboer, who went on to earn Soccer America All-Freshman honors at Michigan State. Like Heyboer on the girls side with Force FC, Brock Duckworth, nominated for the Save of the Year, won a U-19 national championship on the boys side with Solar. For all the nominees …
Fifteen players from California teams head the U.S. under-15 boys national team roster for the camp that will take place Feb. 15-22 at the IMG Academies in Bradenton, Fla. For the complete 36-player roster …
The U.S. under-17 boys national team won its first international tournament of the ’92 cycle when it beat Ecuador, 2-1, in the final of the La Serena Cup in northern Chile.
[USA-MEXICO] For a sampling of Mexican headlines, which include a (not so) startling revelation by the Mexican national team psychologist, on the clash in Columbus …
[REF WATCH] When soccer’s rule-making body meets later this month, it will consider penalty-box time for yellow-card offenses, a fourth sub during overtime, and extended halftimes (because it can take so long to walk to the locker room!).
