Author Archives: Paul Kennedy

Helped on his way by abusive messages from Portsmouth fans, England forward Jermain Defoe, 26, has agreed personal terms with Tottenham Hotspur and will complete his $22 back to White Hart Lane Tuesday. Defoe, who moved the other way a year ago for $13 million, has been offered a five-year contract.

[SPAIN] A new year began as the last left off as Barcelona extended its unbeaten streak to 16 matches in La Liga with a 3-1 home win against Mallorca on Saturday.

[ENGLAND] Nottingham Forest is a shade of its former glorious self, fourth from the bottom in the second-level League Championship, but that didn’t prevent the former European Cup champion from pulling the biggest upset of the FA Cup weekend with a 3-0 win over Manchester City. For more on the FA Cup weekend and the fourth-round draw …

“The plan is to feature big-name stars speaking out against homophobia, in order to make anti-gay chants look as stupid, ignorant and uncool as racist ones. We also want the FA to put it on YouTube and distribute copies to every school in the country.” Gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell on plans for an English […]

“I believe we will have Kenny [Cooper] for this year. All I know, we got an O.K. to count on Kenny for the season.” FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman says that the U.S. national team striker won’t be moving abroad just yet.

[INTERLIGA] The InterLiga, which kicks off on Friday, features eight of Mexico’s top clubs in search of two spots in the 2009 Libertadores Cup. Club America America and Guadalajara, which meet Saturday in an InterLiga clasico in Houston, used the break between the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Clausura to load up on reinforcements. Among the players on the move in major deals were U.S. products Carlos Ochoa (Guadalajara) and Edgar Castillo (Club America), both now Mexican internationals. MLS players Francisco Mendoza (Guadalajara) and Diego Jimenez (UAG) are also expected to take part in the InterLiga. For all the key moves …

[FRANCE] For the third year in a row, France’s Ligue 1 showed a profit with its 20 clubs netting a profit of $35 million for the 2007-08 season.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Clint Dempsey doubled his output for the season with two goals, including a last-gasp header, that gave streaking Fulham a 2-2 tie with Chelsea that put a dent in its London neighbor ‘s title hopes. Meanwhile, Tim Howard extended his shutout string to four games in Everton’s wins over Middlesbrough and Sunderland.

[MLS] The Columbus Crew lost Coach Sigi Schmid to the Seattle Sounders FC, but it has retained the stars of its 2008 championship team. First, MVP Guillermo Barros Schelotto re-upped, and now Defender of the Year Chad Marshall has re-signed for the 2009 season.

[SERBIA] Neven Subotic, one of the most sought-after young defenders in the world, has informed U.S. Soccer that he will be switching allegiances and play for Serbia at the senior national team level. Subotic, who represented the USA at the 2005 Under-17 World Cup, joins the list of U.S. youth system products who have decided to represent a national team other than the United States at the senior level.

[SPAIN] La Liga club Almeria named former Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez to replace Gonzalo Arconada, who was fired Sunday after its 1-0 loss at Sporting Gijon left it in 16th place with only one win in its last 11 games.

[ENGLAND] Chelsea missed a chance to overtake Liverpool in the Premier League when it settled for a 0-0 tie at Everton after captain John Terry was sent off in the 34th minute. For more on Everton-Chelsea and the holiday EPL schedule …

[SPAIN] Barcelona headed into the Christmas break with a 10-point lead thanks to its 2-1 win at Villarreal on Sunday. The Catalan team came from behind to win on goals by Mali midfielder Seydou Keita and Frenchman Thierry Henry. Its form is such that even a red card to defender Gerard Pique with 15 minutes to play didn’t stop Barcelona.

[ITALY] David Beckham got his first up-close look at his new team, and it’s clear he arrives to a better situation than he did when he joined the Los Angeles Galaxy 18 months ago. AC Milan put on an impressive performance in a 5-1 win over Udinese on Sunday, a day after Beckham made his first public appearance in Milan.

[ENGLAND] Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger was livid after its 1-1 with visiting Liverpool kept it eight points behind the league-leading Reds. He felt the Gunners would have held on for the win but for the red card to striker Emmanuel Adebayor, and he got bad news that captain and playmaker Cesc Fabregas is out with a torn knee, but the real cause of his anger might have been the poor defending that allowed Liverpool to equalize.

[U.S. WOMEN] The USA closed out the year with a 1-0 win over China in Detroit that gave it a 33-1-2 record for the year, the best ever in the 24-year history of the women’s national team program. The U.S. team won all five tournaments it entered, including the 2008 Olympics, and also set a record for most wins and best winning percentage (.944) in a calendar year.

[U.S. WOMEN] Playing her first game as a striker in her international career, Tiny Ellertson scored to give the USA a 1-0 win over China on Saturday before 3,619 fans at the Home Depot Center.

[MLS] A month after its bid for its third straight MLS title ended, Houston Dynamo dealt star Dwayne De Rosario to Toronto FC as part of its effort to rebuild its attack. De Rosario, who grew up in the Toronto suburb of Scarborough, returned home in a trade that sent Trinidad & Tobago defender Julius James and allocation money reported to be between $125,000 and $150,000 to the Dynamo.