Author Archives: Soccer America

In retrospect, it’s not all that great being the “Next Big Thing” in American soccer, Freddy Adu tells Luis Arroyave of the Chicago Tribune. At 14, Adu was already drawing comparisons with Pele. He quickly became MLS’ highest paid player, and was labeled as the boy who would one-day deliver the World Cup to the […]

Ahead of a crucial weekend in the English Premiership, Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, the Professional Footballer’s Association Player of the Year, Thursday spoke out publicly against his compatriot Jose Mourinho, telling Portuguese television the Chelsea manager “doesn’t know how to admit his own failures.” The 22-year-old Ronaldo’s comments came after Mourinho complained on Sunday that […]

David Beckham, who never seems to take a PR step wrong, this season has proven to be “almost a supermodel pro” in the way he handled both his exile from Real Madrid and the criticism surrounding his impending departure from the Spanish giant to the L.A. Galaxy, writes Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers. However, as much […]

The 2007 season, now three weeks old, has been rightly tipped as the year for MLS, now in its 12th year. New sponsors, new stadiums, new TV deals and new stars have raised the bar of expectation. In light of all the hype, Adam Spangler of This is American Soccer asks the pointed question, so […]

On a night after Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo and AC Milan’s Kaka cemented their claim to being the two best players in world soccer with a pair of spellbinding performances at Old Trafford, Chelsea’s Didier Drogba showed why he, at the very least, deserves to be mentioned in the same breath. The Ivory Coast striker […]

Ken Pendleton at USSoccerPlayers.com takes a look at the much-hyped arrival of Juan Pablo Angel at the New York Red Bulls. In his post-acquisition comments, Arena makes it clear that Angel is a player he desperately wanted, but, as Pendleton warns, Angel has flattered to deceive in the past. Just ask Aston Villa, which paid […]

Josmer Altidore’s first full season in MLS is just three games old, but following an excellent performance against defending MLS champ Houston Dynamo in which he scored the only goal of the game, the Red Bulls striker is already being dressed up as U.S. soccer’s next big export. As Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey […]

DaMarcus Beasley tells Yanks Abroad that his PSV Eindhoven days are over-or so he hopes. The 24-year old U.S. international, on loan with Manchester City all season, said he hopes to close out that chapter of his life by signing a long-term deal with City, which has yet to offer him a contract. “PSV is […]

There were no losers Tuesday night at Old Trafford, writes Richard Williams of the Guardian, as Manchester United and AC Milan contested a UEFA Champions League semifinal “that lived up to the finest traditions of the two clubs and of the tournament on which both have engraved their names.” In particular, Williams serves up glowing […]

It may be hard to believe for some, but not all professional soccer players loved their jobs. A special Guardian report, “Footballers That Don’t Really Like Football,” finds there are plenty, in fact, and a few famous ones at that. Take Tottenham and Watford’s former American goalkeeper Espen Baardson: he was once heralded as Norway’s […]