Author Archives: Soccer America

Former UCLA player and Hermann Trophy finalist Matt Taylor has taken a long route to success as a pro since leaving college and being the fourth overall MLS draft pick in 2004. His injury-marred spells with the Kansas City Wizards and Chivas USA were followed by a stint at the Portland Timbers in USL-1, after […]

Columbus Crew owner-operator Clark Hunt sat down with Michael Arace and Shawn Mitchell after Sunday’s game against D.C. United and told them, “I’m confident the Columbus Crew will be playing in Columbus, Ohio, for at least the next 50 years. Beyond that, I’m not making any predictions.” Arace, who has raised concerns in his columns […]

Seattle Sounders FC unveiled its designated player, Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg, Tuesday, reports Jose Miguel Romero. The $2.5 million a year midfielder duly declared that he’s here to help improve the quality and the profile of Major League Soccer. “I figured if I’m going to take MLS seriously and want to make it a really […]

D.C. United was forced by delays and cancellations to wait six hours at Columbus airport Monday, the morning after its MLS season had ended in Crew Stadium. This, writes Steven Goff, seemed a fitting end to a bad year, with the team finally making it home to D.C. via New York, the city whose team […]

L.A. Galaxy coach Bruce Arena is still “simply staring at the wreckage of an 8-13-9 season,” writes Grahame L Jones, but soon it will be time for him to start sorting through the chaff. “It’s certainly a team that needs to be reconstructed,” Arena said. “We have an odd balance on our team on the […]

“People will be talking about us a bit more now because we’re top of the league. But we have to live with that. It’s a different kind of pressure, but it’s what we are in it for — and we have to cope with that.” Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher follows his manager Rafa Benitez in […]

“The interference of the homophobic, right-wing and utterly unsavory owner Gigi Becali has prompted Steaua Bucharest to appoint their ninth manager since 2003.” Jonathan Wilson, expert on all aspects of eastern European soccer, reports on how “Romanian coaches in general tend to look on the life-span of a mayfly with a certain awed longing.”

“It’s fantastic. I’m very honoured, it’s a great opportunity and one I would be mad to turn down. I’m excited and I can’t wait to get going.” Oh my lord. Former Arsenal and England defender Tony Adams has taken over from the departed Harry Redknapp as Portsmouth manager. Adams’s previous managerial post was at Wycombe […]

“I am with Manchester United body and soul. Only God knows the future but I insist that I am a Manchester United player and now I think that next year I will continue here. I want to respect this club, my team-mates and the fans, and I prefer not to talk of other teams at […]

Newcastle United’s bad lad Joey Barton is out of prison and back on the field, and at the weekend managed to provoke new copy and controversy by kissing the club badge on his training top as he warmed up in front of Sunderland fans for his return to action. But, writes Louise Taylor, Newcastle’s interim […]

Manchester United Manager Sir Alex Ferguson has accused Real Madrid of signing Argentine defender Gabriel Heinze solely in order to lure his close friend Cristiano Ronaldo to the Bernabeu. In an interview with the U.K. monthly ‘lifestyle’ magazine GQ, Ferguson said, “Ronaldo was very close to Heinze. I knew what they [Real] were doing. I […]

Soccer's world governing body FIFA has blocked a friendly game between Serbia and a Select XI from the Serb-dominated area of Bosnia-Herzegovina, Republica Srpska, citing the "complex political situation." Republika Srpska Football Association Secretary General Rodoljub Petkovic told media that he is to appeal against the ban with both FIFA and its European sister body […]

The Beckham to Milan story crawls on. Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber is perturbed that we mortals on the outside of U.S. soccer’s inner circle just do not understand what’s going on, and so he called up Jack Bell to pour his heart out. “You can tell that I’m frustrated,” Garber told Bell. “There’s […]

FC Dallas coach Schellas Hyndman made it to the NCAA tournament in 30 of his 31 seasons as a college coach, which has made his debut midseason with the pros at FC Dallas all the more difficult to stomach, reports Diego Aparicio. “I’ve never been in this position in my career where the season is […]