Author Archives: Soccer America

Kevin Baxter of the L.A. Times reports on the importance of the national team for a country like Haiti, which began its Gold Cup campaign with a disappointing 1-1 draw against Guadeloupe Wednesday in Miami. The story of soccer in Haiti, like so many other impoverished nations, is one of community. “For the Haitian people, […]

The world press is in accord that it was David Beckham’s brave performance that made the difference for England Wednesday against Estonia. Becks carried on after twisting his ankle minutes into the crucial Euro 2008 qualifier and went on to supply Peter Crouch and Michael Owen with a pair of sublime crosses for England’s second […]

Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich, which had a poor season by its standards in finishing fourth, has made its second significant capture of a busy offseason in acquiring France midfielder Franck Ribery from Olympique Marseille, the France club confirmed on Thursday. “We have helped Franck to get where he is today and we are not really […]

Juan Pablo Angel had been quiet for most of the game, coming to life on only a few set pieces as the New York Red Bulls took on Toronto FC at BMO Field Wednesday night. But as soon as the Bulls were awarded a free kick (from the kind of distance now known internationally as […]

With the 2006 World Cup receding into a distant (and bad) memory, the U.S. national team now has to successfully defend its 2005 Gold Cup title in order to reassert itself on the international stage, says Luis Bueno of L.A. Soccer News. The Gold Cup is perhaps the only tournament in which the U.S. should […]

Lo and behold, the ethos at Chelsea Football club has finally changed, says Norman Hubbard of ESPN Soccernet. Gone are the heady spending days of old when Manager Jose Mourinho could simply buy whatever the player at whatever the price. After three years of massive losses and sky-high wage bills, the Blues board, like any […]

As the David Beckham gravy train in Spain continues on to what many believe is its inexorable conclusion — if Real Madrid manages to beat Zaragoza this weekend, the La Liga will surely head to the Bernabeu — the former England captain’s future employer, the L.A. Galaxy, appears to be moving at the same rate […]

As far as individual performances go, Eddie Johnson of Kansas City has been (and rightly so) grabbing all the headlines with his back-to- back hat tricks, but the New York Red Bulls’ Juan Pablo Angel has been equally as important to his club, notching four goals and two assists in just four games in the […]

Now the dress rehearsal really is over for the Bob Bradley administration, as the U.S. national team Thursday begins its title defense of the CONCACAF Gold Cup against Guatemala, a team it tied 0-0 three months ago. As Steve Goff of the Washington Post points out, Bradley still has a lot to prove despite recently […]

Soccer as a symbol of oppression: it’s not a common theme across the globe, but nevertheless, the game that’s usually synonymous national and regional identity inevitably manages to get mixed up in domestic politics somehow. Jonathan Wilson says that soccer and ice hockey became “outsider” sports in Estonia once the Baltic nation lost its independence […]

Mo Johnston had big things in mind when he drafted Marvell Wynne to the then-MetroStars as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft. He thought: this is a guy you could build your defense around. Wynne, too, was excited — but then several things happened. First, the MetroStars were bought by Red […]

A year ago, the Soca Warriors of Trinidad & Tobago were heroes. After snubbing Sweden with a 0-0 draw and nearly achieving the same result against England, the tiny Caribbean nation-the smallest ever to qualify for the World Cup-stamped itself on the world soccer map. A hero’s welcome awaited the players as they returned from […]

FIFA.com has an interview with AC Milan midfielder Clarence Seedorf, the only man to have won the UEFA Champions League with three different teams. He’s won the prestigious competition four times, first with Ajax Amsterdam in 1995, then Real Madrid in 1998 and now twice with AC Milan, in 2003 and 2007. Club teammate Paolo […]

The summer transfer season is certainly underway. Fresh speculation is in the air, as players, coaches and agents alike all make suggestions about their futures and the futures of their clients and teammates. The most interesting U.S.-related news of the day was Chelsea midfielder Claude Makelele’s suggestion that MLS could be in his future. “The […]