Author Archives: Soccer America

J Hutcherson looks at the bigger picture around the U.S. national team in the aftermath of Wednesday’s 2-0 defeat to England, and the problems that Coach Bob Bradley has yet to solve. “National team soccer isn’t about picking an all-star team from whoever might be available and hoping they gel,” he writes, “but that’s looking […]

Coaches will more often than not complain about the injustice of a defeat, or heap exaggerated praise upon their team when things go right. It was refreshing, then, to hear New England coach Steve Nicol admit that his team was fortunate to take a point in Thursday’s 2-2 tie with D.C. United.   “As a […]

FIFA announced a profit of $49 million for 2007 at its annual congress, despite having to pay former sponsor MasterCard an astronomical $90 million as part of a legal settlement.   As an existing sponsor, MasterCard had had first refusal on the sponsorship rights to the 2010 and 2014 World Cups. When FIFA went ahead […]

Soccer’s global governing body, FIFA, has set itself up for a clash with the European Union after its annual congress in Sydney Friday voted overwhelmingly to further explore a proposal to limit the number of foreign players in a club’s starting XI.   FIFA President Sepp Blatter hopes to introduce the scheme incrementally from 2010, […]

It was announced this week that annual wages paid to English Premier League players now tops $2 billion, but as the usual off-season transfer speculation heats up, “some clubs are leaving themselves open to being financially crippled for years to come by over-spending,” according to the daily editorial at When Saturday Comes.   The manager […]

FIFA President Sepp Blatter opened the world soccer governing body’s 58th congress in Sydney on Thursday, and the main issue on the agenda is his proposed rule limiting the number of foreign players on club teams. Blatter wants to limit the number of foreigners starting a game for any one team to five by 2012. […]

D.C. United is lobbying the District of Columbia government for $225 million in public money for a new stadium at Poplar Point, east of the Anacostia River in an area of poverty and high unemployment. But the long-discussed project, first mooted almost a decade ago, is still several obstacles away from receiving any kind of […]

The U.S. was simply not up to what Doug McIntyre calls the “huge task” of taking on a team that included seven starters from last week’s Champions League final. But in spite of the “predictable” 2-0 defeat, the “American players emerged from their plush dressing rooms … looking as though they’d just dropped a vital […]

The only interesting question raised by the “meandering, leaden-footed friendly” between England and the U.S. at Wembley on Wednesday was, “How close can a game of international football come to being completely pointless?” The question is posed by Barney Ronay, who had a sense of déjà vu watching Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the […]

Now that he’s parted ways with Fulham, retired U.S. national team striker Brian McBride, 35, could well be set to join his hometown club, the Chicago Fire. But although it’s long been rumored that Illinois is McBride’s preferred destination, Toronto FC will be the team that owns his rights if he comes to Major League […]

Five months into the job, England coach Fabio Capello conducted his first press conference in English Tuesday, with some interesting results. According to Jim White, he may already have introduced a new phrase into the language.   When Capello was asked who his captain would be for Wednesday’s game against the U.S., he replied, “John […]

Sunil Gulati also reiterated that he’s not opposed to the idea of the Premier League playing a 39th game abroad if the plan is ever approved by FIFA, UEFA and the FA. One man firmly opposed is Brian Glanville, who groans at the prospect of the matter being “exhumed” next week at the Premier League […]

England travels to the Caribbean this weekend to play in an exhibition match marking the Trinidad & Tobago Football Federation’s centenary. The English FA has admitted that the trip will be a loss-maker, but it’s prepared to sacrifice both money and its players’ time as it seeks CONCACAF General Secretary Jack Warner’s support for its […]