Author Archives: Soccer America

The departure of Deputy MLS Commissioner Ivan Gazidis will leave a huge gap in the organization, writes Andrea Canales. Gazidis, unlike many of the league's functionaries, is an out-and-out soccer man who can crunch numbers but also knows the game and the league inside out. While Commissioner Don Garber was a good appointment for the […]

The global recession could be causing the Vancouver Whitecaps and five other ownership groups bidding for two Major League Soccer franchises to re-consider the $40 million franchise fee that MLS is demanding, writes Bruce Constantineau. He quotes a Sports Business Journal report this week as saying that the Vancouver group won't fully commit to the […]

"When will Premier League football clubs learn to stop taking the loyalty of their fans for granted?" Don Foster, the Culture, Media and Sports spokesman for the UK's Liberal Democrat Party, complains that soccer clubs over-charge for beer in stadiums compared with pub prices.  

"In principle he has violated two rules. One which concerns affecting the progress of the match and another which concerns inciting disorder. We have to verify the motive and the gestures." Argentine Public Prosecutor Luis Cevasco is studying the goal celebration of Boca Juniors' Juan Roman Riquelme, who after scoring the winning goal against Racing […]

“[Wayne] Rooney knocked in a corner, I jumped and that was when I heard a shout from [City defender Micah] Richards and simultaneously the sound of a whistle. At that moment I was convinced that the referee had whistled for a foul. I stopped trying to head the ball and score a goal, and I […]

"In the past, it's always come down to two teams, but I don't think that'll be the case this season — I expect the 'big four' to take it right to the wire." Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson predicts an exciting finish to the Premier League.    

"Some of the comments were taken in isolation and sound a little bit damning. But when you see the full interview and the tone in which it was given, I don't think people should place much emphasis on it." Manchester City manager Mark Hughes excuses his Brazilian striker Robinho for saying that when it comes […]

FIFA President Sepp Blatter is pushing ahead with his efforts to introduce a rule requiring soccer clubs to field no more than five foreign players, despite repeat warnings from the European Union that it will contravene EU law, writes Mark Ledsom. Blatter said Monday he was "satisfied" by an informal meeting in Biarritz last week […]

Ballots for the 2009 National Soccer Hall of Fame election are due Wednesday, and this year the rules have been changed after last year's embarrassment when no one was inducted, writes Frank Giase. No 2008 candidate polled the necessary 75 percent of the vote required for induction. Preki Radosavljevic topped the list with 67.97 percent. […]

There was an unfamiliar Italian name on the roster when the U.S. Under-20 team held a Spanish training camp a few weeks back, writes John Mantia. Giuseppe Nazzani, it turns out, is an 18-year-old prospect at Serie A club Bologna. He doesn't speak English, but thanks to his mother he qualifies for a U.S. passport. […]

Passing the home of the Philadelphia Eagles, Lincoln Financial Field, on the way to Monday's groundbreaking ceremony for a new soccer stadium in Chester, Pa., Karen Heller mused upon the fact that the stadium had been built "on so much promise and public financing," but is "a place where most fans can't score an Eagles […]

Tottenham Hotspur is lining up a bid to sign Reading's U.S. goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, reports James Nursey. "[Tottenham manager Harry] Redknapp's scouts have contacted agents for Hahnemann about a bargain switch," he writes. Tottenham's Brazilian goalkeeper Heurelho Gomes, signed from PSV Eindhoven in June for $11.7 million, has been in erratic form all season, and […]