Author Archives: Ridge Mahoney

[MLS] In its first two seasons, Toronto FC has consistently packed its stadium and turned a profit, which are two accomplishments much more established MLS teams can only dream about. In year three, it is committed to getting things right on the field, and completed a vital step in that process by signing attacker Dwyane De Rosario, a native of nearby Scarborough, Ont., to a new contract.

The name of the team, the coach, and most of the players have changed, but the next stage of Mike Petke‘s career is taking him back to New York.

[MLS] Kansas City further revamped its roster for the 2009 season by re-signing attacker Davy Arnaud and midfielder Jack Jewsbury to new four-year contracts, a week after it had restructured the contract of Claudio Lopez and removed his Designated Player status.

As most observers anticipated, the San Jose Earthquakes failed to make the 2008 playoffs as an expansion team, yet their defense performed up to expectations. The team has retained the services of a key member of its back line.

[MLS] The pursuit of high-scoring Colombian forward Fredy Montero takes an interesting twist Wednesday when he joins the rest of Seattle Sounders FC for their first-ever MLS training session. But, no, he isn’t under contract, according to a team source.

[MLS EXPANSION] What had been billed as the first of perhaps many soccer games to be played at the new football stadium of Florida International  University in Miami never occurred.

The clock is ticking, the laptops are clicking, and coaches have only a few hours left to nail down their picking for the 2009 MLS SuperDraft (TV: ESPN2, live, 2 pm ET). Questions abound. Will Seattle keep or trade the No. 1 pick. If the Sounders keep the top choice, will they take Akron’s Steve Zakuani, making him the first non-U.S. resident to go as the No. 1 MLS pick. How early will highly regarded keeper Stefan Frei go? How much are teams with holes at key positions willing to give up to move up in the draft order? For a look at all the major pre-draft questions …

[MLS] The SuperDraft takes place on Thursday, but piecing together its squad for 2009 means the Houston Dynamo is monitoring developments in Turkey, of all places, where former forward Joseph Ngwenya and defender Bobby Boswell are sorting through their situations.

[MLS] Apparently, goalkeeper Joe Cannon isn’t the only player feeling management’s salary pinch in San Jose.

[MLS] South Korean 2002 World Cup star Ahn Jung Hwan may be itching to play in MLS but interest from the league has been tepid at best.

ESPN is planning to bid for some of the rights to broadcast English Premier League games live, writes Simon Thiel. The league sent out invitations last month to tender for the rights for the three seasons from mid-2010 to 2013. He quoted one unidentified source as saying the broadcaster is considering bids for one or […]

[U.S. SOCCER] Move over, college basketball. The USA-Mexico qualifier Feb. 11 in Columbus, Ohio, is to be televised live on ESPN2 during its annual “Rivalry Week.”

Manchester United forward and World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo has agreed a deal with Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon to join the Spanish champion in the summer, according to a “respected Spanish journalist.”   Both Guillem Balague, writing on his website, and Spanish newspaper AS claim Ronaldo has agreed in principle to go […]

David Beckham‘s AC Milan debut in its 2-2 draw at Roma Sunday drew both praise and scathing comment from the Italian media. Gazzetta dello Sport gave Beckham a six out of 10 rating and said that there was “nothing to show as a replay for a Pepsi ad. However, he sacrifices, he crosses, he strikes, […]

Former Mexico coach Ricardo La Volpe has parted ways with Monterrey a week before the start of the second half of the Mexican league season. Monterrey was the former Argentine international’s third club since the 2006 World Cup. He had short stints in Argentina with Boca Juniors and Velez Sarsfield. The outspoken La Volpe ran […]

Landon Donovan‘s chances of playing time at Bayern Munich could get a boost as General Manager Uli Hoeness says Lukas Podolski is likely to be sold to his former club, FC Cologne. Hoeness believes Podolski is set to return once the “finer details” of the deal have negotiated. A deal could be reached before the […]

Former Juventus General Manager Luciano Moggi was sentenced to 18 months in prison Thursday after being found guilty in the Gea World transfer corruption trial. Agent Davide Lippi, son of Italian coach Marcello Lippi, was acquitted along with three others.

Aston Villa manager Martin O’Neill deserves the plaudits he’s currently receiving for taking his young and exciting side into fourth place in the English Premier League, writes Gabriele Marcotti. But please spare him all the nonsense that the team’s success is down to its “English spine.” He wonders, “Why is that praiseworthy? Because English players […]

“Everybody’s talking and things are being thrashed out, so we’ll have to see later on in the week if anything materializes from it.” Nigel Clough, 42, son of Derby County and Nottingham Forest’s legendary manager Brian Clough, admits he may follow in his father’s footsteps by becoming Derby’s new manager. He is currently boss of […]