Author Archives: Paul Kennedy

[WORLD CUP 2018/2022] Qatar, which will host the 2011 Asian Cup, is the latest country to enter the race to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.

[ENGLAND] The top five teams in the Premier League are still alive in the FA Cup, though co-leader Liverpool, fourth-place Aston Villa and Arsenal all drew and need replays to advance to the fifth round. The so-called “big four” — Man United, Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool — were kept apart in the fifth-round draw held on Sunday.

[ITALY] Forget for a moment that David Beckham‘s loan deal between the Galaxy and AC Milan ends March 8 and the European transfer window expires Saturday, making it impossible that he complete the Serie A season unless a deal is reached by Saturday. It took only one goal — one more than he scored in his first season with the Los Angeles Galaxy — for talk to speculation in the European to begin that David Beckham could be staying at AC Milan.

[SPAIN] Real Madrid made it five straight wins under new coach Juande Ramos with a 1-0 home win over Deportivo Coruna on Sunday that left it as the only team with any hope of catching leader Barcelona. And that’s a stretch: Barcelona thumped Numancia, 4-1, at the Nou Camp on Saturday and remains in the lead by 12 points.

[SIGN OF THE TIMES] AIG, the American insurance giant so closely identified with last September’s economic crisis, will not renew its sponsorship with English club Manchester United when it expires in May 2010 and is seeking to reduce expenditures related to its agreement between now and then.

[DIGICEL UNCAF CUP] Central America’s regional championship gets underway on Thursday with special attention on the three teams — Costa Rica, El Salvador and host Honduras — that will compete in the final round of World Cup qualifying.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] If English club Leeds doesn’t sign him, Mike Grella will wonder what it will take to land a job in England. The Duke star, who bypassed MLS for a shot in Europe, scored a hat trick in a 4-0 win for Leeds over Barnsley in a reserve game on Tuesday night at Elland Road.

[ANALYSIS] The news that the Thursday night time slot held for “MLS Primetime Thursday” on ESPN2 has been released is hardly the news MLS wanted to get out as the countdown to the 2009 season began in earnest. It could have major implications for MLS on several fronts.

[ITALY] Prospects of Kaka‘s departure from AC Milan to Manchester City in a $147 million deal sparked protests, but when the Brazilian approached a window with a Milan jersey in hand late Monday night and beat his hand three times on his heart, he sent 50 fans standing outside his house into delirium.

[WPS] There were few surprises in Women’s Professional Soccer’s draft of college stars Friday in St. Louis. Amy Rodriguez and Megan Rapinoe, the only college seniors invited to the U.S. women’s national team camp that begins Tuesday at the Home Depot Center, were taken by Boston and Chicago, respectively, with the No. 1 and No. 2 picks. The two big names from previous U.S. national teams, Briana Scurry and Brandi Chastain, went to Washington in the fifth round and FC Gold Pride in the seventh round, respectively. For all the selections …

[SPAIN] Barcelona became the first team to reach 50 points at the halfway point of La Liga season when it beat Deportivo Coruna, 5-0, on Saturday. Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o and Lionel Messi combined for all five goals to give them 41 of Barcelona’s 59 goals through 19 games.

[ITALY] David Beckham‘s first home game for AC Milan could have been Brazilian star Kaka‘s last. With San Siro fans chanting for Kaka to stay, AC Milan beat Fiorentina, 1-0, on a goal by Alexandre Pato

[ENGLAND] Chelsea remained in the Premier League race with a 2-1 win over Stoke City on goals by Juliano Belletti and Frank Lampard scored in the final four minutes, but the win was overshadowed by Didier Drogba‘s continuing absence from the lineup and the news that England midfielder Joe Cole will miss the remainder of the season after injuring his knee in Wednesday’s FA Cup replay against Southend United.

[WORLD CUP 2018/2022] FIFA has announced the timetable for the bid process to determine the hosts of the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, beginning with the deadline of Feb. 2 for a national association to express its intent to bid. It has been expected U.S. Soccer would wait until after Tuesday’s inauguration of Barack Obama to announce its intention to host.

[WPS] The Women’s Professional Soccer’s draft of college players and other unclaimed players on Friday at the NSCAA Convention in St. Louis (Room 276) represents the league’s fourth assignment of players. Many of the college game’s biggest stars will be available. Soccer America projects who will go where in the first two rounds …

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Defender Carlos Bocanegra, who has started every French Ligue 1 game since joining Rennes last summer, celebrated a win as Rennes moved within two points of first place. For a wrapup of U.S. players in Europe last weekend. …

[INTERLIGA] After a frantic Friday night of eight goals concluded group play, Interliga 2009 served up another incredible doubleheader Sunday at Home Depot Center. Both of Sunday’s games were decided by penalty kicks, one of which required 13 rounds. In the other, Guadalajara defeated Morelia, 4-2, after a 1-1 tie to claim the automatic Interliga spot in the 2009 Libertadores Cup.

“Before the start of the game and when we were on the field home fans behind the goal defended by Bilbao threw numerous snowballs towards the goal, some of them hitting the goalkeeper.”
— Referee Cesar Muniz Fernandez‘s match report explains that the snow in Spain fell mainly on Athletic Bilbao keeper Gorka Iraizoz, forcing Muniz Fernandez to briefly suspend the Atletico Madrid-hosted Spanish La Liga game. The snow-ball launchers heeded a warning from the PA system and the and Bilbao enjoyed a 3-2 win. (Reuters)

Wake Forest could soon open an alumni club in Denmark. After Jeremiah White, who plays for Aarhus, and Michael Parkhurst, who signed with FC Nordsjaellan this winter from the New England Revolution, the Danish newspaper Ekstrabladet reports that Marcus Tracy is about the sign with Aalborg. Tracy, a finalist for the 2008 Hermann Trophy, is […]

Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini has nixed talk of a move by Jozy Altidore to Everton on loan, saying the 19-year-old American is needed for the second half of La Liga campaign. “The squad is prepared for the battles of the second part of the season,” said Pellegrini. ”I have demanded the continuity of Altidore within […]

[MLS] Into a sports landscape changed once again, by elimination of the MLS reserve system and widespread economic queasiness, nine college players have left school early to sign Generation adidas contracts.

U.S. midfielder Jose Francisco Torres, who plays his club soccer with Mexican side Pachuca, has said it was a hard decision to choose the United States national team over Mexico. But he’s happy to have made it, even if that means lining up against Mexico in next month’s World Cup qualifier in Columbus.   “It […]