Category: Section 2 Around the Net

ESPN writer Ives Galarcep grades the performance of the 13 MLS teams during last Friday’s SuperDraft, an event he describes as being “thin in the talent department.” He gave the Chicago Fire an “A” for walking away with arguably the draft’s best forward in Patrick Nyarko, its best attacking midfielder in Peter Lowry and best […]

Fittingly, the best player in Serie A came to the rescue of the best team in Serie A, as Zlatan Ibrahimovic on Sunday fired home two late goals in the 3-2 win over Parma that kept Inter Milan undefeated and seven points clear of Roma at the top of the table. The Swede converted a […]

There’s something about certain years, says SI.com’s Gabriele Marcotti, and 1987 is shaping up to be a very special one, indeed. The list of players born in that year creates a team that would “threaten for the league title anywhere in the world,” he says. And these guys are still only 20 years of age. […]

As Section 2 went to press, the first 10 picks in the MLS SuperDraft had been revealed. UCLA defender Chance Myers, 20, went No. 1, chosen by the Kansas City Wizards. FC Dallas went next, choosing 17-year-old Brek Shea, whose official affiliation is with the U.S. U17 national team. UCLA defensive midfielder Anthony Beltran, 20, […]

Guardian writer Steven Wells supplies a scary, if humorous snapshot of that uniquely American sports institution known soccer-bashing. Many of us, blinded by the growing support and awareness of soccer in the U.S., will be unaware that there’s a whole online world devoted to hating the world’s most popular sport. One of the most popular […]

ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle says the national team mood ahead of this weekend’s friendly against Sweden is decidedly calmer than it was at this time 12 months ago. For one thing, the relationship between coach Bob Bradley and the team is on firmer ground, as Bradley was an “interim” coach last January. “I think we know […]

Americans George Gillett and Tom Hicks have nearly finalized a refinancing plan for the $700 million debt incurred when they took over Liverpool last February. The loan deal involving the Royal Bank of Scotland and U.S. investment firm Wachovia is set to be completed early next week, provided Gillett and Hicks agree to the terms. […]

American Benny Feilhaber will not be making the switch from Derby County to Maccabi Tel Aviv, according to the midfielder’s employer. Rather, a move to Major League Soccer looks more likely. The 22-year-old midfielder traveled to Israel for negotiations with the Tel-Aviv club, but the parties couldn’t come to an agreement about a transfer price. […]

The Chicago Sun-Times’ Nick Firchau has a story on the impact of Chicago’s new sponsorship agreement with electronics retailer Best Buy. As part of the deal, which is worth between $2.5 million and 4 million per season, the company’s brand name will now be pasted across the front of the Fire jersey. ”This is huge,” […]

Barely a week into his new job as England coach, Fabio Capello has been accused of tax evasion in his native Italy. According to the Guardian, Capello alerted the English Football Association to the possibility of such an investigation while he was being interviewed for the job. However, the Italian guaranteed that neither he nor […]

The AP has a lengthy preview of the African Cup of Nations, which begins this weekend in Ghana. Cameroon and Ivory Coast are the favorites to land the continent’s top prize. The 2008 tournament features some of the world’s biggest stars, from Samuel Eto’o of Cameroon to Didier Drogba of the Ivory Coast. Eto’o, in […]

Spanish champion Real Madrid says it will continue pursuing Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo, despite firm rebuttals from Old Trafford. United officials maintain they would not sell the reigning PFA Player of the Year under any circumstances, but the Merengues insist they will never give up hope of landing the Portuguese star. “Ronaldo is an […]

It looks like U.S. Soccer has lost the battle to get Italian American Giuseppe Rossi to play for the Red, White and Blue. The Villarreal striker turns 21 on Feb. 1, at which point he will have to choose between playing for World Champion Italy or the U.S., the country where he was born. U.S. […]

Say what you want about Real Madrid’s first half of the La Liga season, but the Merengues’ sensational tally of 47 points from 19 games is still a record. It’s also a considerably better situation than Real found itself in under Fabio Capello at this stage last year. As ESPN’s Phil Ball says, “the brave […]

Zidane rumors are flying across the Web again, and a hopeful Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports says that the time is now for MLS to find out exactly what the three-time World Player of the Year meant when he told French magazine L’Equipe: “I have no goal but coming back into football… Then, in which […]

Newcastle United ended its long search for a successor to Sam Allardyce on Wednesday by reinstating former manager Kevin Keegan in the role he occupied from 1992-1997. During that time, Keegan drove the club to promotion from the English First Division in 1993, progressing all the way to the runner-up slot in the 1995-96 EPL […]

Even without Kansas City forward Eddie Johnson, who’s currently negotiating a transfer to the club, Fulham FC of the English Premiership is recognized across the world for its considerable American contingent. Former U.S. international Brian McBride is the club’s captain, while current U.S. internationals Clint Dempsey, the club’s leading scorer with six goals, and Carlos […]

The InterLiga was a bust, says Soccer365’s Richard Snowden: Mexican teams don’t want to have to trek to the United States to decide who gets the remaining berths to the Copa Libertadores. Meanwhile, Major League Soccer for years has expressed a desire to send its teams to South America’s championship. If indeed we’ll see the […]

FIFA on Tuesday won a major victory against Europe’s most powerful clubs as the G14 lobbying organization agreed to disband. G14 was comprised of clubs like Manchester United, AC Milan, Real Madrid and Bayern Munich. It has often been described as a pressure group that used its considerable influence — for example, there have only […]

FC Dallas on Tuesday traded Carlos Ruiz back to the L.A. Galaxy for a second-round draft pick in 2009 and an undisclosed amount of allocation money. Ruiz, who won MLS Cup titles with the Galaxy in 2002 and 2005, led FCD in scoring last season with seven goals during the MLS regular season. As a […]

The New England Revolution has informed veteran forward Pat Noonan that the club will not pick up the option on his contract, making him a free agent. “This is a great opportunity to try to go overseas,” Noonan told the Boston Globe’s Frank Dell’Apa from the U.S. national team training camp. “Hopefully, this camp will […]

Fabio Capello met with the press again on Tuesday, addressing the topics of his first England squad, the team’s captain, and, of course, David Beckham’s England future. “The team I want is in my head, taking into account what I have seen so far and the games of England I’ve watched,” Capello told reporters. “But […]

Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr. could be fixing to sell the club after taking it over less than one year ago, according to Guardian report. The Americans have apparently run into trouble trying to refinance $700 million worth of debt. They want to transfer the debt onto the club itself, which insiders […]

L.A. Galaxy midfielder David Beckham on Monday received a boost from England captain John Terry, who said he would gladly cede the captain’s armband to Becks if it helps the national team recover its form under new coach Fabio Capello. The Italian’s first job comes at Wembley next month against Euro 2008 co-host Switzerland. Prior […]

Seven points adrift of second-place Barcelona and sporting the highest points tally (47) after 19 games in La Liga’s history of the modern points system, Real Madrid should be earning accolades across Europe for charging through La Liga this season. Wrong. As respected writer Santiago Segurola told La Marca on Monday, “The results are excellent […]