Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Over the course of his first year in charge of the U.S. national team, Bob Bradley looked at an amazing 60 players, blooding a veritable assembly line of young U.S. talent, from Jonathan Bornstein to Benny Feilhaber, Maurice Edu, Jozy Altidore, even his own son, Michael. Yet inevitably, like any national team coach, there are […]

ESPN, the U.S.-based sports broadcasting behemoth, wants to buy the exclusive UK rights to broadcasting English Premier League games, according to various reports across the Web. Britain’s BSkyB and Ireland’s Setanta Sports currently hold those rights through the 2009-10 season. Together, the companies paid a record $3.4 billion to acquire the EPL rights last season; […]

Under bizarre and some might even say mysterious circumstances, AC Milan striker Ronaldo has missed almost the entire season through injury. Not a major injury like a leg break or an ACL tear, mind you, but a recurring thigh problem that remained shrouded in mystery. Then, two weeks ago, the Brazilian finally made his season […]

The English press might still be pining for Jose Mourinho, but the London Times says that former Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello has become the frontrunner to take over as England coach. According to the report, Mourinho has had a late change of heart, and is now setting his sights on coaching one of Europe’s […]

Typical of the man, Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs quietly achieved yet another significant milestone in his glorious 16-year career at Old Trafford this weekend. The Welshman’s goal in United’s 4-1 win over Derby County on Saturday was his 100th English Premier League goal for United, a feat that puts him in some seriously prestigious […]

Ives Galarcep of ESPN Soccernet worries that Major League Soccer is growing at a rate that’s too fast for the talent pool in the U.S. to keep up. With San Jose next year, Seattle, and then another city after that, “MLS is need of a talent infusion,” he says. Meanwhile, the trend among American talent […]

Inter Milan soared past Torino, 4-0, at the San Siro on Sunday to take a five-point lead at the top of Serie A over second-place AS Roma, which labored to a 1-1 draw at Livorno. Once again, striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic was the catalyst for Inter, converting a penalty on 38 minutes to swing the match […]

It’s been three months since Hope Solo’s public dismissal from the U.S. women’s national team by former head coach Greg Ryan, but in an interview with the Associated Press, the American goalkeeper says she’s still haunted by the experience. “I had felt as though my childhood dream basically had been ripped away from me,” she […]

USSoccerPlayers’ Ian Plenderleith has a lengthy interview with Ivan Gazidis in which the MLS Deputy Commissioner discusses the coming influx of South American talent, the success of the Designated Player Rule, the 2007 season, and how recent changes made by the league will help improve the overall product of MLS soccer. Not for the first […]

Yet another scandal in Europe unfolded on Friday as Serbian police raided the headquarters of domestic giant Red Star Belgrade as part of an investigation into corruption and organized crime involving the team’s officials. Police said it had detained four Red Star executives, including team administrator Zoran Damjanovic. The organization has been accused of illegal […]

The January transfer window is fast approaching, and not a day goes by without Manchester City being linked to a big-name player. It’s obvious that coach Sven Goran Eriksson wants to bolster his side –which is just seven points behind league-leader Arsenal — for the second half of the season, and it seems like owner […]

If you saw Arsenal play Newcastle to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday night, you might have noticed that the Gunners were lacking their usual fluid passing game. That’s because Arsenal is in the middle of a mini-injury crisis, says coach Arsene Wenger. Starters Alexander Hleb, Mathieu Flamini, Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas were all […]

Coach Billy Davies is now out at Derby County, the last place team in England’s Premiership, a move that could have significant repercussions for Eddie Lewis and Benny Feilhaber, a pair of Americans who call Derby County home, says USSoccerPlayers’ J Hutcherson. Davies was replaced by former Wigan Athletic coach Paul Jewell, a man who […]

The U.S. will be taking arguably its deepest ever U-23 squad to the Olympics in Beijing this summer, says the L.A. Daily News’ Nick Green, who notes that this Olympics team is more closely tied to the full national team than any squad in the past. In all, seven in the 22-player camp made their […]

Several news outlets are reporting that Toronto FC is courting the New England Revolution’s Steve Nicol and Paul Mariner for its head-coaching job, as Mo Johnston, the man currently occupying that post, looks set to move into TFC’s front office. Sources tell Goal.com that Johnston wanted to put Nicol, a longtime friend and former roommate […]

The Scudetto race is taking shape as the Serie A season approaches its mid-point. As expected, defending champ Inter Milan and defending No. 2 AS Roma are pulling away from the pack. Each posted comfortable victories during makeup games last night: Inter breezed past Roma neighbor Lazio, 3-0, while the Romans were caused few problems […]

L.A. Galaxy midfielder David Beckham confirmed his interest in working as the ambassador for England’s 2018 World Cup bid. The 32-year-old has yet to officially discuss the role with England’s Football Association, but the BBC understands that the organizing board wants him and that Beckham would be happy to oblige. After all, the former England […]

The MLS offseason looks destined to become a time of year for fans, full with the thought of “Hey, they managed to sign Beckham, right?” to dream big. And dreaming big is exactly what many are already doing. So who’ll be the big signing this summer, Andriy Shevchenko, Thierry Henry, Ronaldo, maybe even Ronaldinho? Goal.com’s […]

Liverpool’s historic 8-0 drubbing of Besiktas in the Champions League last month is one of the 26 European matches under investigation for potential match-fixing, according to a report from the German paper Süddeutsche Zeitung. The Reds’ Anfield win was the largest margin in the competition’s history, although that result now looks in doubt. The German […]

FIFA has demanded that the Iranian Soccer Federation bar public officials from interfering with the sport, giving the federation two days to respond to the demands laid out by the organization and the Asian Football Federation. The Iranian Football Federation and the Iranian Physical Education Organization left a meeting in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, agreeing to […]

The Albanian soccer federation president and the Albanian national team are the subject of scathing attacks by high-profile public figures within the country. Reuters reports that Prime Minister Sali Berisha recently called the national team a “mafia group,” while Culture Minister Ylli Pango Prime Minister accused the soccer federation president of “selling” two of Albania’s […]

The New York Times’ Jack Bell checks in with Benfica and U.S. national team prodigy Freddy Adu. Mere weeks after his high profile transfer from Major League Soccer to the Portuguese giant, we were worried that the youngster’s future was immediately in doubt when Benfica replaced its head coach with Spanish tactician Jose Antonio Camacho. […]

Whoever Steve McClaren’s England successor is, he will have to rebuild the team using players from a league whose English influence is diminishing. Amid controversy over a lack of English players in first-teams across the English Premier League, the Telegraph looks at the hard numbers, using the starting 11 from each EPL team over the […]

UEFA, the region’s governing body for the sport, revealed that it had handed over a list of 26 matches to Europol that may have been influenced by Asian betting syndicates. In a statement, UEFA said that an early warning system implemented several years ago to detect unusual betting patterns flagged several matches in the preliminary […]

Speculation is rife that former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho is so keen to take the England job that he’s already drafted a “blueprint” for English success, according to the Guardian. And he would be quite a popular choice, too: the British paper says there’s already “a groundswell of public support” for the Portuguese manager. The […]