Category: Section 2 Around the Net

There was major news in the soccer business world today as U.S. sportswear giant Nike agreed to buy Umbro of the U.K. According to Marketwatch, the $583 million acquisition was aimed specifically at strengthening the American apparel and shoe company’s position in the burgeoning market for soccer merchandise. The deal, the report says, represents a […]

World Soccer has an interview with Roma captain Francesco Totti, one of a rare breed of loyal players who’s spent his entire career playing for the club he grew up supporting. Even at 31, Totti continues to play some of the best soccer of his 14-year career, looking to follow up on last year’s Golden […]

David Beckham (and by extension, MLS, Alexi Lalas and the L.A. Galaxy) have much to prove next year following the global icon’s disappointing first season in Major League Soccer. At the end of his five total years as a player in the American league, there will no doubt be an asterisk next to 2007, the […]

He hasn’t been here long, but New York Red Bulls goalkeeper Ronald Waterreus has decided to retire from the game at the end of his debut season in Major League Soccer. The club made the announcement last Friday, following the Bulls’ 1-1 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy, in which Jeff Conway was once again […]

It’s not often that England’s Professional Game Match Board, the organization that allocates referees for games, hands out suspensions, which means that when it does, the performance of the referee in question must have been pretty awful, indeed. For his awful performance in the Merseyside derby on Saturday — awful to anyone who doesn’t support […]

Widely regarded as the second club of their city, Villarreal, a Valencia suburb, and Espanyol of Barcelona stole headlines in Spain this weekend by handing comprehensive defeats to FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, respectively. Villarreal routed Barcelona, 3-1, in the first half at El Madrigal and then held on to win by the same score […]

Thanks to globalization, Brazilian soccer in recent years has become an increasingly “vague” term, says BBC’s Tim Vickery, a concept that’s underscored by events in Brazil last week. On Wednesday, the Brazilian national team returned home to play a match in front of its own people for the first time in two years, during which […]

It seems there’s always one unfortunate club that gets hit hard following an international break; this time, it’s Spanish giant Real Madrid, although an injury to Arjen Robben only tells part of the story. Dutchman Wesley Sneijder and Brazil’s Robinho and Julio Baptista all returned late from international duty on Thursday. Reports in Brazil claim […]

Following Wednesday’s defeat in Moscow, the British press has all but decided that England won’t be making the Euro 2008 finals (although truth be told, Russia still faces the tough task of needing an away win in Israel on Nov. 13), which means that replacements for Coach Steve McClaren are already being lined up. Top […]

As good a player as Juan Pablo Angel certainly is, he didn’t play like an MVP Thursday night during New York’s 1-1 draw with the Los Angeles Galaxy, says USSoccerPlayers Ian Plenderleith. In fact, “continually citing him as the personification of the huge and almighty success of the Designated Player rule is getting old,” he […]

A recent post on BigSoccer.com suggests that Freddy Adu’s 15 minutes during the U.S. national team’s 1-0 win over Switzerland on Wednesday promised something the U.S. been decidedly lacking over the years: that little bit of game-changing magic and imagination possessed by very few players. The national team has never had that type of player […]

Faced with the possibility of missing the European Championships in Austria and Switzerland, the English Football Association has already assessed the potential damage, which includes an immediate loss of $14 million for qualifying for the tournament. But the FA warns that that’s small potatoes compared to the tens of millions it would cost in terms […]

The media’s attention may be focused on one man, but the resurgence of the Los Angeles Galaxy has been all about the squad. While David Beckham and other regular starters have been injured a mix of L.A. veterans and unknowns have willed the team back into playoff contention. With two games left, L.A. is guaranteed […]

Kansas City Wizards striker Eddie Johnson had a “very interested” spectator over the weekend when the Wizards hosted the New York Red Bulls. According to soccer columnist Ives Galarcep, Newcastle United’s chief scout attended the game to watch the 23-year-old U.S. international, whose contract with MLS expires at the end of the season. Galarcep’s sources […]

The New York Times’ Jack Bell nabbed an interview with Barcelona and France striker Thierry Henry prior to the recent international break, during which Henry scored three goals in two games, surpassing France legend Michel Platini as Les Bleus’ all-time leading scorer with 43 goals in 96 matches. France is now virtually guaranteed a spot […]

There is yet more drama in the Arsenal takeover, which looks to have taken a turn for the worse for those in favor of foreign ownership. Arsenal’s board, which still controls a majority stake in the club, on Thursday announced an extended agreement to retain its shares through April 2009, during which time the board […]

The British press took its knives Thursday out following England’s 2-1 loss to Russia in Moscow. The loss puts the Lions in jeopardy of missing next summer’s European Championships, as both Croatia and Russia would now qualify from Group E with wins in their last two games. Now, “barring the improbable assistance of those footballing […]

Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Union-Tribune launches a scathing tirade of the way the U.S. women’s national team has treated the Hope Solo incident, allowing its former No. 1 goalkeeper to become the scapegoat for what was, quite simply, “the worst loss in the 22-year history of the women’s program” in the Americans’ 4-0 […]

As we gear up for MLS playoff crunch time this weekend, the Chicago Fire could be forgiven for feeling like it’s once again being portrayed as the bad guy. Aside from having the polarizing Cuauhtemoc Blanco in its lineup, the team’s supporters group, called Section 8, is often regarded as the most disliked in MLS, […]

Most pundits believe this year’s MLS Most Valuable Player award will either go to Juan Pablo Angel of the New York Red Bulls, or D.C. United’s Luciano Emilio, the top two scorers in the league this season with 19 and 20 goals, respectively. The North Jersey Herald’s Ives Galarcep says Angel should win it, because […]

Freddy Adu, one of several surprise inclusions in the U.S. squad to face Switzerland Wednesday, hasn’t enjoyed the best start to his European career. The 18-year-old starlet moved from Real Salt Lake to Benfica in July, yet he’s only played a total of 64 minutes in two matches in the two and a half months […]

England’s hopes of qualifying for Euro 2008 took a big blow on Wednesday after Russia came away the 2-1 winner in a tense match in Moscow. Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney hit an impressive volley to open the scoring in the 28th minute, but Russian substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko equalized from the spot in the 69th […]

Almost unthinkable in July, the Chicago Fire is now one result away from making the MLS playoffs. As many writers and pundits have noted, Cuauhtemoc Blanco’s arrival has had much to do with the turnaround, as has the appointment of Juan Carlos Osorio as Fire head coach. But Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers says that the […]

The funny about the L.A. Galaxy’s resurgence is that it reads exactly like a David Beckham script, except that the only part Beckham’s played in the team’s resurrection is the role of cheerleader on the sidelines. Indeed, with Beckham on the field, the Galaxy won just won game out of six in all competitions, including […]

Of all the quality players on display during the first game of the two-game international break, it was Argentina’s Juan Roman Riquelme — a player who’s been banished by his club — who shone brightest, says Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune. Sure, his two glorious free kicks were enough to lead Argentina past […]