Category: Section 2 Around the Net

FIFA World Player of the Year Kaka makes more money per year playing soccer than any other player on the planet, according to a list of the game’s top 50 earners that’s been circulating the Internet. The list, which has no source, represents players’ annual wages from playing soccer only and does not include endorsements. […]

Newspapers in Spain are reporting that Spanish champion Real Madrid has been forced to take out a loan of $49 million to cover day-to-day losses which were partly incurred due to the loss of David Beckham to the Los Angeles Galaxy last year. According to a study by the University of Catalonia, the England international’s […]

“Not many expansion teams are born with so many ready-made story lines.” So says Ann Killion of the San Jose Mercury News in her preview of the Earthquakes’ return to MLS, which begins Thursday against the Los Angeles Galaxy (ESPN 2, 10:30 PM ET). Indeed, several ready-made story lines hover over the clash, but perhaps […]

In an interview that was obviously conducted before L.A.’s 4-0 opening day drubbing in Colorado, Los Angeles Galaxy General Manager Alexi Lalas says he’s “very happy” with the team’s progress, although he admits its “experiencing some massive growing pains.” Lalas doesn’t elaborate, but one would assume he means on the field. As several columnists have […]

The first week in MLS produced major injuries for the New England Revolution. Taylor Twellman, the Revolution’s all-time leading goal scorer, will undergo arthroscopic knee surgery after suffering an injury during a training session last Thursday. Twellman, named to the starting lineup against Houston, was a late scratch because of the injury that should keep […]

Derby County midfielder Laurent Robert is on the verge of signing with Toronto FC, The Star reports. The 32-year-old practiced with the team on Tuesday, wearing the No. 30 jersey. TFC business managers Paul Beirne and Mo Johnston were also on hand at the training session; afterwards, the reporter spotted the pair conversing with a […]

Thankfully, the violence was kept to a minimum in Rome Tuesday night as Manchester United defeated AS Roma, 2-0, in Champions League quarterfinals. In fact, Guardian correspondent Ed Vulliamy points out that by the end of a match that United thoroughly deserved to win, the Roma fans had “sung, chanted and saluted the losers at […]

Along with his other opening weekend notes, ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle has plenty to say about the L.A. Galaxy’s humiliating 4-0 loss to what looked like a Colorado Rapids reserve squad. Sure, a poor penalty decision changed the game, but the greater problem, Carlisle says, is that L.A. quit. “If one bad call in Commerce City […]

Soccer By Ives is reporting that Fulham forward Brian McBride may come out of a two-year retirement with the U.S. national team in order to play with the U-23s at the Summer Olympics in Beijing. According to the report, McBride, 35, has been in discussions with Olympic team coach Peter Nowak about being one of […]

Saturday night was quite a coming out party for the New England Revolution’s Gambian pair, Kenny Mansally and Sainey Nyassi, says the Boston Globe’s Frank Dell’Apa. The 19-year-olds each played a part in the Revs’ 3-0 thumping of 2007 MLS champ Houston, and will likely retain their starting spot for Thursday’s visit to Chicago. Nyassi […]

D.C. United and the Houston Dynamo, Major League Soccer’s Concacaf Champions Cup representatives, had poor showings over the weekend in their league debut, losing 2-0 and 3-0, respectively. Of course, it’s no secret that both teams had bigger fish to fry: United has a Champions Cup semifinal date at 7,900 feet with the competition’s defending […]

Manchester United and Schalke will be lifted by the news that both Roma and Barcelona will be missing key players for their respective Champions League quarterfinal first-leg clashes. Roma will be without talismanic captain Francesco Totti, who tore a muscle against Cagliari over the weekend. “The team loses in percentage terms for the extraordinary things […]

UEFA President Michel Platini on Monday directed harsh criticism at England’s big four over their policy of recruiting young players from overseas and planned to work with politicians to ban the signing of 16-year-old boys from foreign countries. Should he succeed, the move would have huge implications for these clubs, which have come to rely […]

Hours after his former Manchester United teammates put in a vintage 4-0 display at Old Trafford, David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy found themselves on the receiving end of a thumping by the same score at the hands of the Colorado Rapids. Said the L.A. Times Grahame L. Jones: “The record 18,713 fans at […]

Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis cut an unhappy figure at the press conference after Cuauhtemoc Blanco and the Chicago Fire stole at the last minute what looked like a 1-0 home victory for the Royals. Before the first reporter could even finish asking his question after the game ended in a 1-1 tie, Kreis […]

Soccer’s European governing body on Monday warned Roma fans that the 2009 UEFA Champions League final could be moved from their beloved Stadio Olimpico if any trouble arises when Roma faces Manchester United in the Champions League quarterfinal on Tuesday night. When the two sides met at the same stage in Rome last year, 10 […]

Manchester United 4-0 drubbing of Aston Villa at Old Trafford on Saturday might have been best team performance by any club this season. It was certainly Manchester United’s best team performance. Striker Wayne Rooney, scorer of two of United’s four goals, said it best: “Growing up I used to love watching Brazil and the football […]

Anyone could pick David Beckham, Cuauhtemoc Blanco, Juan Pablo Angel or Jozy Altidore as MLS players to watch in 2008, but Goal.com’s Pat Walsh provides us with a list of off-radar players to keep tabs on as the season kicks off this weekend. They are: strikers Ivan Trujillo (Kansas City), Franco Niell (D.C. United) and […]

Honduran playmaker Amado Guevara, who had been in talks over a possible move to Toronto FC, will not be joining Major League Soccer, his U.S.-based agent Patrick McCabe confirmed on Friday. In an email, McCabe said the parties were close to reaching a deal but that “certain obligations could not be met within the requested […]

El Tri emerged victorious against Ghana on Wednesday, but some still think Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez should head for the exit. Goal.com’s Sergio Tristan says the 2-1 win overshadowed another tepid performance, and the Mexican fans’ attitude towards Sanchez best be summed up by a sign in the stands that read “Hugo, La Ultima y […]

England coach Fabio Capello invited a torrent of criticism from the British press when he compared David Beckham to Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo in a news conference on Thursday. Capello started by saying he had deployed Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney in the natural positions they play for their clubs, attacking center midfield and […]

France might have won the match, but it was all about David Beckham at the Stade de France last night, as the England legend became just the fifth player in his country’s history to reach 100 caps. Beckham started the match and played 63 minutes before leaving to a standing ovation in front of 78,500 […]

In the past, it often happened that MLS clubs would sign big-name stars in the twilight of their careers who would come to the States looking for a golden retirement. Lothar Matthaeus and Youri Djorkaeff come to mind.   L.A. Galaxy general manager Alexi Lalas, who signed David Beckham last year, says he knows the […]

The Houston Chronicle’s Bernardo Fallas thinks the time is right for the Dynamo to add a designated player. With Joseph Ngwenya and Nate Jaqua now gone, the team is still missing a forward. And since the Dynamo’s new owners want to reach the city’s Hispanic community, Fallas thinks they should aim for a player with […]

An Associated Press report confirms Liverpool co-owner George Gillett as the member of an investment group that would bring Major League Soccer to Montreal. Joey Saputo, the president and owner of USL first division club Montreal Impact, tells the AP: “I can confirm that we are in discussions with Gillett Entertainment Group as well as […]