Category: Section 2 Around the Net

MLS is no longer on the outside looking in at the European transfer window, says Yahoo Sports’ Martin Rogers. In fact, no longer will MLS clubs be allowed to look at it from that vantage point, he says. Indeed, MLS-related news has died down now that the transfer window has been closed shut, as barely […]

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is once again looking like a genius for signing one of the world’s best young talents. Manucho, the 24-year-old Angola striker Manucho terrorized defenses at the African Nations Cup, scoring four goals in four games in an impressive quarterfinal finish for outsider Angola, who on Monday lost, 2-1, to […]

Barcelona left it very late on Sunday, beating Osasuna 1-0 with an 88th-minute strike from midfielder Xavi. The win helped the Catalans gain three crucial points on league leader Real Madrid, which lost, 2-0, to Almeria on Saturday. Real is now six points ahead of Barca at the top of the La Liga standings. The […]

Javier Mascherano expects to be made a permanent Liverpool player by the end of the week, the Argentine told reporters on Monday. The 23-year-old has been playing at Anfield for over a year on a long-term loan from rights holder, Media Sport Investment. Because he’s owned by an agency and not a club, the deal […]

Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston has stepped down from his position to move into the club’s front office. Former Leeds United manager John Carver will replace him. Rumors had been swirling about the possible move, although Johnston had denied them every time. Meanwhile, the Scot was busy trying to secure the arrival of Carver. TFC […]

The CONCACAF Champions Cup has been rebranded the CONCACAF Champions League and been given a new format, but SI.com’s Luis Bueno wonders how effective those changes will be. While the Champions Cup has produced some good games in recent years, Bueno says the tournament always follows the same pattern: Mexican teams win it, Costa Rican […]

David Beckham’s name was in headlines again Thursday as the big omission from Coach Fabio Capello’s first England squad. However/as usual/once again, the door was not completely shut on Beckham’s England career, as Capello said he didn’t choose the former England captain because he hadn’t played a competitive match since November. Even so, Arsenal manager […]

Last season proved that MLS is on the right track by bringing in more players from South America. There can be no doubt that the likes of Luciano Emilio, Juan Pablo Angel and Guillermo Barros Schelotto improved the quality of the league, and SI.com’s Gregory Sica says that it serves as a testament to the […]

Eric Wynalda’s name was conspicuous by its absence from ESPN’s MLS coverage lineup, released on Thursday. He has been replaced as analyst of “MLS Primetime Thursday” by former U.S. national team teammate John Harkes. Veteran announcer J.P. Dellacamera will join Harkes as the play-by-play man, as Dave O’Brien, Wynalda’s former partner, returns to ESPN’s coverage […]

Cristiano Ronaldo scored his 18th and 19th Premier League goals of the season last night, leading Manchester United to a 2-0 victory over Portsmouth. Ronaldo’s second goal in particular — a wicked looping free-kick hit with tremendous pace-left his manager Sir Alex Ferguson in awe. “That without doubt must be the best (I’ve seen in […]

David Beckham has been left out of Fabio Capello’s first England squad. The Italian tactician, who took charge of the national team following England’s failure to qualify for Euro 2008, omitted Becks and included two new players in a provisional group of 30 to play in next Wednesday’s friendly against Switzerland. Capello cited a lack […]

Brad Guzan has been denied an English work permit, thus ending Aston Villa’s pursuit of the Chivas USA goalkeeper. An English panel ruled on Thursday that the U.S. international did not meet the necessary requirements. Villa bid $4 million to bring the player to the Premier League from MLS. The 23-year-old had been training earlier […]

The unrest at Liverpool continues. While the backroom has made peace, the club’s fans are so desperate to replace owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett that they’ve started a fundraising scheme to oust the Americans. Described as a “longshot” member-share scheme by the Associated Press, the group, called Share Liverpool FC, will today begin collecting […]

Inter Milan battled through to the Coppa Italia semifinals with a 5-4 aggregate win after an enthralling 3-2 victory at Juventus Wednesday night. Trailing 2-1, the Nerazzurri had to rely on another dubious penalty decision to bring them back into the match before reserve forward Mario Balotelli slotted home a fantastic second to seal the […]

As the Liverpool backroom continues to lick the wounds from its recent civil war, American business mogul Robert Kraft has publicly declared his interest in the English Premier League club. As Dubai International Capital hovers above the unsettled atmosphere at Anfield, waiting to buy out Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, Kraft tells Sky […]

For years, the African Cup of Nations has been a feeding ground for Europe’s top clubs in search of cheap foreign talent. Andrew Dixon of USSoccerPlayers wonders whether MLS scouts, fixated on bolstering their squads with Latin American talent, have even bothered to make the trek to Ghana this year, because if they are, “they’re […]

The Columbus Crew is on the hunt for a designated player, and according to the Columbus Dispatch, that player might be Poland captain Maciej Zurawski, who has fallen out of favor at Celtic, his current club. The 31-year-old has made precious few appearances for the Hoops this season and reportedly wants to sign for the […]

ESPN writer Frank Dell’Apa tells us that Major League Soccer has earned more than $30 million in transfer fees since 1996. To be sure, $30 million is a negligible percentage of the worldwide soccer market over the last 11 years, but if recent trends are anything to go by, the league’s transfer revenue looks set […]

Emmanuel Adebayor was on target once again as Arsenal defeated Kevin Keegan’s Newcastle United, 3-0, for the second time in four days at the Emirates Stadium. The lanky striker scored twice in the FA Cup fourth-round victory on Saturday and opened the scoring once again in the Premier League victory on Tuesday, taking his recent […]

A Rob Hughes report from the International Herald Tribune focuses on the match-fixing attempts that recently threatened to undermine the African Nations Cup. A man representing a Singaporean betting syndicate asked players and officials from two teams, Benin and Namibia, to throw their first-round games against Mali and Guinea, respectively. Thankfully, on both occasions the […]

As reported last November, the CONCACAF Champions Cup has been rebranded as the CONCACAF Champions League. As such, it will adopt a format similar to UEFA’s Champions League, although instead of 32 teams, the CONCACAF tournament will have 24. “This is a project we’ve been working on for more than a year,” CONCACAF general secretary […]

Major League soccer for years has tried to emulate the National Football League and the National Basketball Association by turning its annual college draft into a major media event. However, Paul Gardner of the New York Sun points out that the “SuperDraft,” as it’s known, is unique to the United States in the worldwide game […]

A month after failing to sign Argentine playmaker Juan Sebastian Veron, D.C. United has now infused its squad with five new South American players: Peruvian goalkeeper Jose Carvallo, Colombian defender Gonzalo Martinez and three Argentines, forward Franco Neill, defender Gonzalo Peralta and midfielder Marcelo Gallardo. Some would say that in retrospect the club has done […]

Claudio Reyna has had a rough go of it since joining the New York Red Bulls early last year as the team’s first designated player. A high price tag ($2.5 million for two years) was followed by an understated, if disappointing first season in MLS, in which the Red Bulls made it as far as […]

The Los Angeles Times has a lengthy article on the misfortune of Iraqi soccer star Nashat Akram, one of his country’s most popular players, who was recently denied a work permit that would have allowed him to sign for Manchester City of the English Premier League. The news spread across Iraq on Saturday, angering the […]