Category: Section 2 Around the Net

On Tuesday, violent fan behavior marred a Carling Cup game between West Ham and Millwall. As the home club, West Ham bears the responsibility to prove to the English Football Association that it did everything possible to prevent such violence so the club isn't forced to play closed-door games or face elimination from the competition. […]

With Wednesday's 3-1 loss to Mexican club Toluca in the Concacaf Champions League, D.C. United has slipped dangerously close to repeating last season's collapse. United has lost four consecutive games in all competitions and seven out of eight games in August. "It's the exact same position: we lost points at home, we lost a tough […]

Chivas Guadalajara and Club America will transplant their rivalry to U.S. soil when the two famed Mexican clubs play a friendly at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City on Sept. 16, Mexican Independence Day. The longtime rivals will play their regular-season Apertura 2009 match on Oct. 24. Chivas and America last played in the USA in […]

On Thursday, UEFA announced the groupings of this season’s 32-team tournament. European champion Barcelona will face Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev of Ukraine and Russian newcomers Rubin Kazan when they open the defense of their crown. Italian giant AC Milan will clash with nine-time European champion Real Madrid along with Olympique Marseille and FC Zurich. Manchester […]

Selling Jolean Lescott to Manchester City left a massive hole in Everton’s central defense. The club has moved to help plug the gap by signing Sylvain Distin from Portsmouth on Thursday. Frenchman Distin, 31, has agreed a three-year deal at Goodison Park subject to a medical. “All the formalities have been completed. After Sylvain made […]

Bakary Soumare is preparing to leave the Chicago Fire for French club Boulogne about three weeks after a physical altercation with head coach Denis Hamlett. Soumare said that he wishes that he could leave the Fire on different terms. "You don't like to leave in a situation like that, when it leaves a bad taste […]

Arabian businessman Sulaiman Al Fahim claims to have taken complete ownership of Premier League club Portsmouth. The club installed Al Fahim as chairman on July 21 after he passed the league's new fit-and-proper-person test. But the club's chief executive Peter Storrie stalled Al Fahim's takeover by fronting a consortium that launched a separate bid for […]

Manchester City manager Mark Hughes believes his new $36 million signing, Joleon Lescott, is the best center back in the English Premier League, which also boasts English national team backs John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. "I'm delighted to welcome Joleon to the club," Hughes said. "It's been a long and difficult process but I feel […]

Nigeria has dropped 15 players from its under-17 national team pool after MRI scans revealed the players overage. Nigeria hosts the U-17 World Cup Oct. 24-Nov. 15. Nigeria coach John Obuh disclosed that the affected players have left the team camp, leaving him with 23 other players who fall within the allowed age. Nigeria federation […]

Mexico announced its roster for September's crucial World Cup qualifying games against Costa Rica and Honduras. Barcelona defender Rafael Marquez has been left off the team due to a leg injury. Also, young forward Nestor Calderon will take the place of Arsenal's injured forward Carlos Vela. Calderon, 20, has five goals in five games for […]

Mexico's Pachuca, for which U.S. midfielder Jose Francisco Torres went the full 90, and Saprissa of Costa Rica both posted convincing wins in the group stage of the Concacaf Champions League on Tuesday. Ulises Mendivil scored either side of halftime in Pachuca's 5-0 win over Metapan of El Salvador in Group A. In Group C, […]

A match between Bolivian clubs Oriente Petrolero and Blooming got out of control last Sunday. Pushing bouts culminated with Blooming player Sergio Jauregui levying a flying kick to the face of Oriente player Leonardo Medina before Medina could reach the tunnel to exit the field. Richard Mendez, a director with Oriente Petrolero, said league rules […]

Nike is selling off some of its soccer empire. After inheriting United Soccer Leagues when it bought Umbro in 2007, Nike has decided that the league does not fit with its core business. But Nike is still searching for a buyer. Many argue that Major League Soccer would serve as the ideal owner of USL, […]

Chivas Guadalajara owner Jorge Vergara isn’t happy with the way his team has started the season, losing three out of four games. Vergara has expressed his discontent over his Twitter account after Chivas lost against Atlante in Cancun. “The history that Chivas has does not allow us to live the situation that the team is […]

Bakary Soumare is set to leave the Chicago Fire for French League 1 club Boulogne. Soumare has agreed to a four-year contract, the club said on its Web site Monday. The 24-year-old Mali defender, who grew up in France before moving to New York in his teens, was named to the MLS’ Best IX last […]

Toluca’s star forward Raul Mancilla has battled a left leg injury in the early season that has limited his playing time. But Mancilla could make his Concacaf Champions League debut against D.C. United on Wednesday (Fox Soccer Channel & Telefutura, 8 pm ET). After sitting out two games, Mancilla played 39 minutes over the weekend. […]

Contrary to initial news reports, the Spanish newspaper Marca has claimed that Real Madrid's Dutch midfielder Wesley Sneijder never boarded the plane headed to Malpensa airport to conclude a deal with Inter Milan. Sneijder will now reportedly fight for his place, which looks insecure under coach Manuel Pellegrini. The club has stripped Sneijder of his […]

Costa Rica announced its squad for World Cup qualifying games in September against Mexico and El Salvador. The Ticos are sticking with the same core of players that has lifted the team to the top of the Concacaf regional qualifying group despite losing 4-0 at Honduras in its last qualifier. The squad includes midfield fixtures […]

Atletico Paranaense beat San Paulo, 1-0, to end the defending champion's seven-match winning steak in the Brazilian league on Sunday. Veteran midfielder Paulo Baier scored the winning goal in the 87th minute, a header off a cross from right midfielder Gabriel. With its first loss in nine matches, Sao Paulo missed a chance to keep […]

In the Bundesliga, Hamburg SV ended defending champ Wolfsburg’s run of 16 straight home wins with a 4-2 away win on Sunday. Wolfsburg, which had not lost at home for 20 games, battled back from a 2-0 deficit by scoring twice in under four minutes early in the second half. But Hamburg struck back with […]

Sky Blue FC completed a season wrought with ups and downs with a championship trophy. "We've been through a lot this year," Christie Rampone, the team's player-coach said. "But this team stuck together. Our goal coming into the playoffs was making sure we had each others' backs and playing with no pressure." Rampone took over […]

Coming off short rest after playing in Seattle on Thursday night, the New England Revolution didn’t show signs of tiring at home against Real Salt Lake on Sunday. A Kheli Dube hat trick – the first New England hat trick since Taylor Twellman scored three against Columbus on Sept. 10, 2005 – propelled New England […]

The Red Bulls got some relief over the weekend. In Richie Williams‘ first game as interim coach, the team snapped its 16-game winless streak in all competitions, winning for the first time since May 8 and two days after the resignation of Juan Carlos Osorio. Juan Pablo Angel struck twice, becoming the club’s leader in […]

Bordeaux carried its momentum from last season over to this one. The team won the final 11 games of last season to clinch the league title on the final day. On Sunday, Bordeaux extended its record winning streak in the French league to 14 games with a 4-0 drubbing of Nice. Yoann Gourcuff scored twice […]

Manchester City hasn’t finished yet with its big-spending summer overhaul of players. The club confirmed that it reached an agreement with Everton to buy defender Joleon Lescott for $36 million. “The move is subject to the player agreeing personal terms and passing a medical,” reads Manchester City’s web site. Lescott has been a longtime target […]