Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Toronto FC supporters and officials complained last season about an MLS rule that counted U.S. players as internationals, putting the Canadian club at a disadvantage compared to other teams that could sign as many Americans as they could afford. TFC may have had the ability to sign Canadian-born players, but the Toronto Sun points out […]

Soccer By Ives reveals that the New York Red Bulls-Barcelona friendly hinted at several weeks ago “is definitely happening.” The Bulls will face Barca on Aug. 7 at Giant’s Stadium, moving the NY club’s league match against D.C. United on Aug. 9 to Aug. 10 to accommodate the friendly. New York’s match against the New […]

Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy will undergo arthroscopic surgery on his right ankle today, in a bid to stop persistent inflammation in his ankle joint, the club announced on its Web site. Reports in Spain claim the Dutch striker could miss the rest of the Spanish league season, although he’s expected to be available […]

The Guardian’s Sid Lowe asks, who wants to win “the worst La Liga in history?” Certainly not Real Madrid or Barcelona. The league leader lost again on Saturday, suffering a 1-0 defeat away to Deportivo La Coruna, where Real hasn’t won in 17 years. It would have been one thing to overturn that kind of […]

Coach Peter Nowak has been widely criticized for the way the US U-23s have played so far in Olympic qualifying. A poor 1-1 draw with Cuba was followed by a decent 1-0 victory over Panama. Resting several starters, Nowak’s men were lucky to beat Honduras, 1-0, on a 95th-minute penalty. Nevertheless, the U-23s are now […]

Honduran midfielder Amado Guevara looks set to return to Major League Soccer with Toronto FC, league sources tell Ives Galarcep of ESPN Soccernet. Guevara spent the last year playing with Honduran club CD Motagua, on a loan deal from Chivas USA, his former club. In order to sign with Toronto, Guevara and MLS would have […]

The David Beckham show may put butts in seats, but Chivas USA has become the more successful franchise on the field. Over the past two seasons, while the L.A. Galaxy was missing out on the playoffs and pointing fingers, Chivas quietly improved from a third- to first-place finish in the Western Conference last season. But […]

The seven players who defected from Cuba’s Olympic qualifying team hope to follow in the footsteps of Chivas USA star Maykel Galindo, who defected to the U.S. in the summer of 2005, before joining the MLS club in January 2007. “He not only influenced me but influenced all of us who made the decision,” goalkeeper […]

Despite calls for his resignation from the Mexican press, Hugo Sanchez said he would not resign as coach of Mexico’s senior and U-23 national teams, after arriving in Mexico City following the team’s failure to qualify for the Beijing Olympics. “I’ve said it already, I’m not resigning,” Sanchez told a news conference at the Mexico […]

Since signing with Sampdoria in January 2007, Gabriel Ferrari has come close to making his Serie A debut. Last season, having already come off the bench in a Coppa Italia game against Inter Milan, the young American was waiting to be introduced in a league game against AC Milan when the referee blew the final […]

If you take David Beckham, Landon Donovan and Carlos Ruiz out of the picture, the Los Angeles Galaxy’s roster looks pretty threadbare, says ESPN’s Steve Davis. Aside from the marquee trio, there are maybe three or four guys you could call genuine professionals. “The remainder of the roster is a selection of MLS day laborers,” […]

Former Newcastle manager Sam Allardyce was sacked for producing a mid-table club. His successor, Kevin Keegan, has guided the team to just two points since taking charge in January, leaving Newcastle three points above the relegation zone with nine games left to play. Midway through March, Keegan still hasn’t won a Premier League game, and […]

David Beckham’s desire to play for his country has never been in question — neither has his ability to deliver a ball with accuracy. Now that the former England captain is 32, the questions are over his fitness and mental sharpness. Luckily for both Beckham and England manager Fabio Capello, who sent general manager Franco […]

Within 15 minutes of the Cuba U-23 team’s return to their hotel in Tampa, Florida, five players, in the words of one, had “slipped out a side entrance of the hotel and run for it.” None of the players were carrying their passports. The next day, two others disappeared, too, leaving Cuba shorthanded for the […]

The Champions League quarterfinal draw pitted together some familiar foes: Arsenal will take on fellow English Premier League club Liverpool while Manchester United drew Italy’s Roma for the third time in two years. Barcelona and Chelsea were handed the easiest draws; they face Germany’s Schalke 04 and Turkey’s Fenerbahce, respectively. Across England, the Arsenal-Liverpool draw […]

Real Salt Lake is taking full advantage of the new MLS rule allowing teams to have more than eight international players. Former GM Steve Pastorino says that as many as seven players who played outside the U.S. last year could start in RSL’s season opener against the Chicago Fire on March 29. Two of them, […]

There are only four teams in England with a realistic shot of winning the Premier League trophy every season. UEFA’s egalitarian president, Michel Platini, doesn’t like that very much, but the London Times’ Martin Samuel says he should probably be more concerned about the domestic game in Greece, for example, where Olympiakos has won 10 […]

What was said to prompt Roberto Mancini’s turnaround? The Inter Milan manager reversed his decision to quit this summer after talking with club owner Massimo Moratti. According to the Gazzetta dello Sport, Mancini only agreed to stay if Luis Figo, Adriano and Alvaro Recoba were all sold immediately. Mancini has reportedly fallen out with these […]

New England Revolution pair Abdoulie Mansally and Sainey Nyassi lead “a golden generation” of Gambian soccer players who are coming of age abroad, says FIFA.com. Mansally and Nyassi were signed by the Revs after impressing at last summer’s U-20 World Cup in Canada, where the Baby Scorpions made it to the round of 16, losing […]

The San Jose Mercury News has the latest on Earthquakes owner Lew Wolff’s ongoing quest to secure the blessing of the city for a new soccer stadium. Wolff wants to rezone industrial and retail land in Edenvale, Calif. and turn it into 1,300 homes. The sale of that land would then help him finance a […]

Frank Lampard fired in a four-goal reminder Wednesday that Chelsea is still very much in the race for the English Premiership, as the Blues routed Derby County, 6-1, at Stamford Bridge. The emphatic win reduced the gap between Chelsea and second-place Manchester United to three points. Leader Arsenal is just four points ahead, but Chelsea […]

“As ever under Benitez, the mood has changed very quickly” at Liverpool, says the Independent’s Sam Wallace. Less than a month has passed since Rafael Benitez’s men bowed out of the FA Cup in embarrassing fashion to Barnsley of the English League Championship. That loss, which came at home, and a string of indifferent performances […]

Various reports are claiming that English Premier League also-ran West Ham United will be the featured European club in the MLS All-Star Game, making it the fourth straight year the All-Stars would face a British opponent for the mid-season spectacle. Glasgow Celtic was the visitor last year, losing, 2-0, to the visibly fitter and sharper […]

Claudio Lopez is a household name to fans who have followed the global game for the past decade, but to most Kansas Citians and casual soccer fans, the Kansas City Star’s Bob Luder says it may take a while for them to get to know the man known as “El Piojo” (the Louse) in his […]

Domestic success remains elusive for Liverpool, currently fourth place in the English Premier League, but perhaps that’s because the English league is the strongest in the world. Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez and Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson both hailed the EPL as the best league in the world following Liverpool’s qualification for the Champions […]