Author Archives: Soccer America

Rejoice! The United States climbed two positions to 22nd spot in the latest FIFA world rankings. The next highest placed Concacaf team is Mexico, which dropped one place to 26th. Spain remains top, with Germany in second.

"He has been suspended for two weeks. That's not the same thing as never playing for the club again." David Holbrook, agent to Glasgow Celtic midfielder Aiden McGeady, says the player wants to stay at the club despite appealing a two-week ban and a fine of two weeks' wages following a falling out with manager […]

"We talk about our future because we have got so many good young players, but I don't know if we need any more good young players. I think we need established players, players with experience who can help our young players grow." FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman after returning form a scouting trip to South […]

"We have always said we would only allow our players to leave if we received an exceptional bid. We could not stand in the way of a move such as this for Lassana." Portsmouth FC spokesman on a reported $36 milllion bid for the French midfielder Lasanna Diarra from Real Madrid.    

Former Bolton and Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce has been named the new man in charge at Blackburn Rovers, which sacked Paul Ince Tuesday. He has signed a three-year contract.    

Let's start this one rolling all over again. According to Spanish daily El Mundo, Manchester United and Real Madrid have come to a gentleman's agreement over the transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo next summer. The Spanish newspaper said that after Real's 2-0 loss at Barcelona Saturday, Real club director Pedro Trapote told "a confidant" that a […]

AC Milan owner Silvio Berlusconi has said his team will not win the Italian Serie A next year now that it is nine points behind city rival Inter. The team must focus on qualification for the Champions League instead. "Has the Scudetto slipped from our grasp?" he asked. "Well, nine points is a lot. In […]

The Seattle Sounders FC "struck gold" by hiring Sigi Schmid as coach, writes Steve Kelley. "Short of stealing Sir Alex Ferguson from Manchester United, they couldn't have done much better." For how many expansion teams get to hire their league's reigning coach of the year? "He's got good ideas about the game, solid ideas, but […]

Chelsea manager Luiz Felipe Scolari "is facing a growing challenge to his authority" in the locker room in the wake of the team's recent patchy form, writes Matt Hughes. He said Scolari "was asked to explain his substitutions by several senior players after the 1-1 draw at home to West Ham United" on Sunday. Players […]

The English Premier League will launch its own TV channel in 2010 if the value of bids for live television rights falls during the coming auction for the period 2010-13, writes Nick Harris. He said the move would be to make the clubs "recession-proof" and safeguard its most important source of income. However, the newspaper […]

"Someone who should be casting his eye on [Michael] Owen is Arsene Wenger. In 2001, he prematurely hailed the injury-prone flop Francis Jeffers as the 'fox in the box' his side needed — and he has been looking for a penalty area specialist ever since." Rich Evans ponders the next move for England striker Owen, […]