“The bottom line, I understand [Real Salt Lake] is a business and they’ve got to make money. We don’t offer a lot and they did make us a deal.”
— Utah High School Activities Association assistant director Bart Thompson on UHSAA soccer finals at Real Salt Lake’s new Rio Tinto Stadium getting bumped for an Eagles concert and U.S. women’s match in May. (Salt Lake Tribune)
[MLS] Kurt Schmid, the 26-year-old son of head coach Sigi Schmid, has been named to the Seattle Sounders FC staff as a scout and assistant coach.
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Clint Dempsey‘s goal for Fulham in a 2-1 loss to Blackburn on Wednesday was his fifth of the season, making him the Cottagers’ second leading scorer behind Andrew Johnson, who has struck six times.
[INTERNATIONAL] Inter Milan officials have rejected claims that its coach, Jose Mourinho, smacked a fan in the face after Wednesday’s Champions League match in Manchester.
[OFF THE POST] Guy Scoggin of New Orleans Newman High School scored on a 70-yard free kick to force a Louisiana state championship game into overtime, in which his team prevailed over Baton Rouge University High.
Goals were scarce in the first leg of the round of 16 in the UEFA Cup: only 12 in eight games. Marcus Tracy, the 2008 Hermann Trophy winner, was an unused sub for Aalborg in its 2-0 loss at Manchester City. For all the results and goalscorers …
“I grew up an Everton fan, my whole family are Everton fans and I grew up hating Liverpool. And that hasn’t changed. Liverpool have been brilliant and put up a good challenge, but it will be great if on Saturday we can finally finish that challenge off.”
— Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney looks forward to ending Liverpool’s EPL title chances when the teams clash on Saturday. (The Sun)
"I think we prepared the game better than them. The boss was brilliant in explaining how to play against them. The plan before the game was to play with intensity and with a high-tempo. Spanish soccer has quality but it is slower, so we knew it would be difficult for them if we played with […]
“I believe this was very important for us because as everyone knows we had not been scoring or getting results. It was also good to see players move when they were away from the ball. They ran a lot. They always tried to be on top of the opponent, which is something we did very […]
"One of the building blocks of our team is now here. I think it's absolutely critical to have Landon and his quality. This time around, we expect him not only to do what he does on the field, but we're asking him to do a little bit more. He needs to be the leader of […]
Marking the first time in seven years that Italy has not placed a team in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Champions League, all three Serie A representatives were eliminated this week, and all at the hands of superior English Premier League teams. Coupled with the ousting of AC Milan and Sampdoria in the UEFA Cup […]
Not to be left out of all the MLS expansion talk and recent developments in other bid cities, Ottawa Senators owner Eugene Melnyk made a rare appearance at City Hall on Wednesday to remind city officials of his experience in establishing a healthy NHL franchise and basically guarantee that an MLS team would be successful […]
The ownership group looking to bring an MLS franchise to St. Louis received a lift on Wednesday when officials from local giant Anheuser-Busch announced that it would sign over their Soccer Park complex in suburban Fenton, Mo., as a potential stadium site. Despite having already reached a deal for a proposed stadium and youth soccer […]
After a six-hour hearing on Wednesday, Portland expansion bid leader Merritt Paulson, with dozens of Portland Timbers scarf-wearing fans in attendance to provide their support, watched city officials vote 3-2 in favor of a deal that could bring an MLS expansion team to the city in 2011 based on renovations of downtown’s PGE Park and […]
FIFA President Sepp Blatter had some choice words on a number of topics related to American soccer on Wednesday, reminding MLS that its March-November schedule is “not in the right season” compared to most other leagues around the world and stating that the “basic problem with MLS” is that “the best American players are playing […]
[MLS/USL] The second day of play at the Carolina Challenge Cup separated its four participants into the haves and the have-nots. Toronto FC and Real Salt Lake won their second games of the competition Wednesday and will face off for the tournament title on Saturday.
“There was a commitment I had to make and it’s something I didn’t think twice about, because at the end of the day, my career’s never been about the financial side or the money side. I think leading up to the World Cup, I need to play in Europe to give myself a chance of being involved in that World Cup and after then we’ll see.”
— David Beckham on being committed to playing a little bit more in MLS between his AC Milan service. [VIDEO]
[HEXAGONAL WARMUP] Mexico beat Bolivia, 5-1, in a friendly before a standing-room crowd of 18,296 at Colorado’s Dick’s Sporting Goods Park to break a three-game losing streak and win their second game after just one win their previous six games, providing a confidence boost ahead of their second final-round World Cup qualifying game.
"Pulverized. There is no other word for it. Fittingly, for a team nicknamed The Meringues [Los Merengues], Real Madrid were splattered and dispersed over a wide area of Anfield in the manner of an airy fairy dessert. One that has been run over by a steamroller. Then another one. Then a herd of rampaging elephants. […]
"Will I ever play in Italy? Never say never in life. I do gladly travel there, like I did last summer, because there are the most beautiful and sexiest girls in the world … ?All jokes aside, I truly admire your brand of soccer and you are world champions." ManU superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, showing what […]
"If he becomes the Ronaldo of old, why not? He has the will to become the great player that he once was. He feels pleasure playing soccer." Current Brazil coach and former World Cup teammate Dunga, speaking to Cultura TV about the chance of 32-year-old to play for his country again.
Citing irreconcilable differences with Argentina head coach Diego Maradona that would appear to outside parties as simple communication breakdowns, veteran playmaker Juan Ramon Riquelme announced to Canal 13 on Tuesday that he quit the Argentina national team. Speaking to Canal 13, the Boca Juniors star reasoned, “we did not agree on much. We do not […]
Gone are the days of attention-grabbing Mohawk haircuts in the days leading up to the World Cup (there’s not enough hair there anymore, for starters). And gone are the days of a short fuse and hot temper that would results in regular red cards (both time and the presence of a wife and son have […]
Liverpool is loving life after Tuesday’s 4-0 rout of La Liga leaders Real Madrid in the Champions League at Anfield, while brimming with confidence ahead of Saturday’s top-of-the-standings showdown with Manchester United at Old Trafford. "This is the best way to approach the Manchester United game," said Reds coach Rafa Benitez, according to ESPN Soccernet. […]
Facing pressure from media and fans alike, and now amid controversial comments made about Mexican players (not playing) overseas, embattled coach Sven-Goran Eriksson is out to get El Tricolor back to winning ways in a friendly against Bolivia at Dick’s Sporting Goods Stadium in Denver, Colo., on Wednesday (TV: 9 pm ET/7 pm MT live […]
