Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Papers in Portugal said the world might have seen the ignominious ending of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s tenure as national team coach after the Brazilian threw a punch at one of Serbia’s players following an ill-tempered 1-1 draw in Lisbon. The embarrassing outburst added insult to injury as Portugal slumped to a third consecutive draw in […]

The Women’s World Cup turned ugly on Wednesday as China alleged that Denmark had accused the World Cup host of spying on a Danish team meeting prior to their Group D clash, which China won, 3-2. Substitute Song Xioali won the match just a minute after the Danes had equalized, sending in a powerful shot […]

During a UEFA meeting of Europe’s top clubs, Manchester United chief David Gill and Liverpool’s Rick Parry called on UEFA President Michel Platini to abandon his plans to grant a Champions League berth to the winner of the domestic cup competition in Europe’s bigger leagues. Given the TV cash haul guaranteed to qualifying clubs, it’s […]

Grant Wahl of SI.com talks Beckham, the U.S. women's team opener and the U.S. men vs. Brazil. To make Becks a success next season, Wahl names five things the global superstar needs. One, the L.A. Galaxy and England manager Steve McClaren have to be on the same page when it comes to internationals. A player […]

Chivas USA may be enjoying the best season in its short existence but it has the biggest drop in attendance of any team in MLS this season. Chivas has averaged 12,191 fans at home this season, a 19 percent drop from a year ago, representing less than half the Home Depot Center’s 27,000-seat capacity, yet […]

Jeff Cooper’s investment group this week crossed “the last of the major hurdles” in its effort to bring professional soccer to St. Louis after the Collinsville City Counsel approved funding for a massive $572.9 million development project that would include a soccer stadium, 240 hotel rooms, several youth soccer fields and nearly 500,000 square feet […]

Post-David Beckham — or more pointedly, post-David Beckham’s latest injury — Major League Soccer is in a familiar predicament: it has “a selling job to do,” says the New York Sun’s Paul Gardner, who says the league needs to realize that not only does it have to sell the rest of its players, it also […]

Allen Hopkins of ESPN weighs in on the latest MLS rumors and other assorted goings-on. Top of his list is the continuing talks between former Juventus and Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello and U.S. Soccer. According to Hopkins, Capello met with U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati and national team coach Bob Bradley in London last […]

Billed by Nike as “the best team you’ve never heard of,” the post-Mia Hamm U.S. women’s national team looked anything but in a tepid performance in their World Cup opener against “mysterious” North Korea. In fact, the U.S. was fortunate to escape from the match with a 2-2 draw; the Koreans dominated possession and nearly […]

Brazil is the best team in the world, says Luis Bueno, writing for the Press Enterprise, and it’s not often that both the U.S. and Mexican national teams get a chance to play the five-time World Cup champions mere days apart. The U.S. already turned in a respectable performance against the world No. 1 on […]

J Hutcherson of USSoccerPlayers serves up a critical review of the U.S. national team’s strategy (or lack thereof) in the wake of its 4-2 loss to Brazil on Sunday. He says that this team has proved to be at its strongest in and in front of goal, in central defense and midfield. “It gets dicey […]

It’s no surprise we haven’t heard much from the Los Angeles Galaxy now that the media hubbub surrounding David Beckham’s sprained left knee has died. After all, Becks may be out of the picture for the rest of the season and the team is unlikely to make the playoffs. In fact, a kind of “weary […]

Rob Hughes of the International Herald Tribune paints a tail of two cities in his review of the weekend’s Euro 2008 qualifiers. London and Milan are two of the world’s biggest soccer cities, Wembley and the San Siro two of its temples. Both stadiums have played host to some historic matches; on Saturday, both hosts […]

Just two weeks after announcing to the public just how glorious the return of the original Ronaldo would be, AC Milan doctors have revealed a startling miscalculation of the severity of the striker’s thigh injury, which will now keep him from making his season debut until next month. The perennially injured Brazilian legend was supposed […]

Another conspicuous absence was on exhibit last night at the Home Depot Center, says Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers, as Chivas USA battled D.C. United to a 2-2 draw. Granted, it was a weeknight game, but 9,306 pales badly in comparison with the crowds drawn by the Galaxy, L.A.’s other team — and even without David […]

Jozy Altidore’s name was conspicuous by its absence when U.S. coach Bob Bradley announced his squad list for tomorrow’s friendly against Brazil. Maybe it was the calf injury the 17-year-old Altidore picked up playing against the New England Revolution two weeks ago. But ESPN’s Jeff Carlisle says that had Altidore been healthy, he probably wouldn’t […]

It’s no secret that England is taking a depleted squad into Saturday’s crucial Euro 2008 qualifier at Wembley, and Israel knows it. The complete list of unavailable England players is as follows: David Beckham, Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney, Peter Crouch, Ben Foster, Ledley King, Gary Neville, Sol Campbell, Jonathan Woodgate, Wayne Bridge, Kieron Dyer, Aaron […]

Hooliganism, once a rampant problem in England, is threatening to undermine soccer in Argentina, says SI.com’s Gregory Saha, who says that Argentine gangs have never had so much influence over the sport. “Futbol,” he says, “has taken a back seat to violence and corruption” — which is a shame, because the Argentine league has the […]

The Chicago Fire has been sold to a private investment group from L.A. for the estimated price of $30 million, according to the Chicago Sun-Times. Andell Holdings now becomes the sole owner of the club, having purchased it from Anschutz Entertainment Group, owner of the L.A. Galaxy and the Houston Dynamo. Last year, AEG sold […]

In general, USSoccerPlayers’ Kevin McGeehan is opposed to the idea of Major League Soccer expanding into mid-size markets like Kansas City and Columbus. Why? Because “the American game is at its strongest in a handful of major cities around the league, such as Washington, Toronto and Los Angeles.” Big cities mean more people, more Latino […]

England heads into its must-win Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel on Saturday with a long list of missing regulars: Wayne Rooney, Frank Lampard, Gary Neville, David Beckham and Kieron Dyer all cannot play, while Steven Gerrard, John Terry, and Owen Hargreaves are all struggling to reach full fitness ahead of Saturday’s crucial match at Wembley. […]

Becks may be looking for a loan deal that would return him to the English Premiership in the months leading up to the Euro 2008 Championships in Austria and Switzerland. According to the London Daily Express, the England midfielder might be willing to sacrifice some of his earnings in order to do so. Galaxy GM […]

After being suspended for a bit, the David Beckham No Show has returned, for as long as six weeks this time, which means plenty of people are feeling pretty sorry for themselves right about now. Who should you feel sorriest for? Mark Ziegler of The San Diego Union-Tribune says the Galaxy’s season ticket holders are […]

South Africa neighbor Zimbabwe is another country that expects a tourism windfall from the 2010 World Cup. As such, a delegation of FIFA officials has been sent to the African nation to assess its capacity to host visitors and national team training camps before the tournament. In a statement, Karikoga Kaseke, CEO of the Zimbabwe […]

Unwanted Inter Milan defender Francesco Coco is being tipped with a move to MLS once the transfer window opens in January, according to reports in Italy. Coco, a veteran of Italy’s 2002 World Cup campaign, is being linked with a possible move to either the New England Revolution or the New York Red Bulls. Inter […]