Author Archives: Soccer America

“I am proof that the system doesn’t always work. I was born at the wrong time. I’m from the same generation as [Thierry] Henry and [Nicolas] Anelka and when they were coming through you had to be well over 6-foot to be picked for youth schemes.” Caen striker Steve Savidan, 30, who four years ago […]

"It [the diet at Old Trafford] was outrageous. Everyone ate whatever they wanted to eat and when you think about the typical English diet, you can imagine what I am talking about. Every 15 days they would put us on what we dubbed the 'spare-tire machine' to measure our body fat. You would be amazed […]

"I have great belief in my ideas and my coaching ability and I firmly believe I can achieve the objectives set by the management." Former Portugal national team assistant coach and Inter midfielder Paolo Sousa is the new manager of nouveau-riche Premier League wannabes Queens Park Rangers, presently 10th in the second-tier Championship.  

"After the game is before the game," as the legendary German coach Sepp Herberger used to say. Hardly had Real Salt Lake been eliminated from the MLS playoffs than it had to start planning for next season, what with Monday's expansion draft for Seattle Sounders FC looming. Players will be called in Wednesday and Thursday […]

The Atlanta Silverbacks have announced that its men's professional team will sit out the United Soccer Leagues 2009 season due to the state of the economy and the possibility that the city could land an MLS franchise. "This was an extremely difficult decision that was prompted by the dynamic events in our economy and the […]

With most pre-MLS Cup story angles exhausted, Shawn Mitchell turns his attention to the poorly paid, unsung players on the Columbus Crew roster who will likely play no part in Sunday's final, but who will at least be happy to take some extra cash from the bonus money. "Obviously it's tough [not being in the […]

RB New York has made it to Sunday's MLS Cup Final on the back of some impressive defensive performances in the playoffs. Some observers are unhappy when defensive teams succeed, but it's a different matter if you're actually on that winning team. "When people say about me that I'm a defensive coach, I take that […]

Jack Bell’s wide-ranging interview with Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber should be read in full, but below are some tasters on issues of scheduling, expansion, the recession and the possible transfer of Landon Donovan. Garber on scheduling: “The issues are being addressed. We’re trying to schedule away from as many international dates as we […]

“I am the first-, second- and third-best player in the world. There are other good candidates, like Kaka, [Lionel] Messi and [Fernando] Torres. I think that I did everything that is necessary to win and I am going to continue doing more. My goal is to win everything in front of me.” Cristiano Ronaldo half-jokes […]

Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic, still undecided on whether to play for Serbia or the U.S. at international level, was nominated to Eurosport’s Bundesliga team of the week following his two-goal performance against Eintracht Frankfurt Saturday. Kicker magazine also awarded him one of its rare ‘world class’ 1.0 ratings, although he didn’t get MVP — […]

“What could — and should — have been a feverishly anticipated clash between two of football’s grandest foes has become an albatross, a fixture that nobody — from the players, to their club managers, to their fans — wants, or worse, even cares about.” Dan Silver looks forward to Wednesday’s Germany-England game in Berlin.

The English FA has handed Chelsea striker Didier Drogba a three-game ban for throwing a coin back into the crowd during last week’s League Cup tie against Burnley. He will miss forthcoming league games against Arsenal, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers.

“Honestly, I have a lot of respect for the team but not the coach. [Denis Hamlett] wasn’t honest with me. I wanted to know why I wasn’t playing but he wouldn’t talk to me about it. He’s a very closed off coach. He never talked to me face-to-face.” Chicago Fire forward Tomasz Frankowski is sour […]

The Uruguayan FA has suspended the national championship until further notice after fans fought a pitched battle following a game between the league’s top two sides. When Danubio beat Nacional 1-0 to overtake its opponent and go top of the Apertura (opening) Championship on Sunday, Nacional fans broke down the fencing at the Jardines del […]

FIFA Vice President Jack Warner has not only accused English clubs of disrespecting the Caribbean game, but also claimed that Caribbean players are born with a “natural talent” for soccer. “African-Caribbean footballers will continue to do better and better because they have natural talent,” said Warner, who is also Concacaf President and “special advisor” to […]

The Seattle Sounders FC will hopefully get more than just another highly paid underwear model with tattoos when its designated player Freddie Ljungberg takes to the field next season. But as Ravi Ubha writes, if you put the player’s name in google “the first thing that pops up is four pictures of the 31-year-old clad […]

The regular season stats of the Columbus Crew and RB New York may not have had much in common, writes Jack Bell, with the Crew superior in every department. But one thing the two MLS Cup finalists shared these past seven months was a light schedule that left them both in good shape to tackle […]

It’s not just the fact that he grew up in California that will make this weekend’s return to the state for MLS Cup so special for Columbus Crew Coach Sigi Schmid. There’s also the fact that the game will be played in Carson at the home stadium of the team — the L.A. Galaxy — […]