Category: Section 2 Around the Net

It’s a weekend of coming-out parties for Major League Soccer’s two most famous acquisitions. On the one hand, you have David Beckham, who’s listed as “doubtful” for Saturday’s clash between the L.A. Galaxy and Chelsea — you can bet that ESPN and MLS are desperate for him to get 10 minutes on national television — […]

If he makes any appearance at all, David Beckham’s L.A. Galaxy debut against Chelsea, says SI.com’s Grant Wahl, will most likely be a “token appearance” because ESPN was planning a “blowout Beckham extravaganza,” featuring 19 cameras, including one just for Becks and one for his celebrity pals. Coverage on Saturday begins with a Beckham special […]

Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers says MLS is on to something in ditching the East vs West All-Star format in favor of inviting the world’s best teams to compete against its players. It’s a pro-marketing and pro-competition move in the sense that both sides have an incentive to win: MLS wants to shirk its reputation as […]

If you ask Colorado Rapids coach Fernando Clavijo, New York Red Bulls forward Juan Pablo Angel is every bit as good as David Beckham. “Beckham brings the whole package with Hollywood fame, but you take away the goals Angel has scored and [the Red Bulls] are at the bottom of the table,” Clavijo says. “I […]

A somewhat new-look Real Salt Lake stepped onto its new practice field for the first time on Wednesday. With the return of U.S. U-20 stars Freddy Adu, Chris Seitz and Nathan Sturgis — who’s barely had a chance to train with RSL since arriving with Robbie Findley on June 21– and the addition of defensive […]

FIFA is considering amalgamating the leagues of certain countries in Eastern and Central Europe. As the Guardian’s Jonathan Wilson says, it’s a bold idea, but one fraught with difficulty. Wilson, who supports the idea, sat in on a FIFA conference about amalgamation, but was unaware of “how many problems become apparent as soon as you […]

The New York Times speaks with a disappointed Josmer Altidore, who this week returned to training with the New York Red Bulls following the junior national team’s quarterfinal exit at the FIFA U-20 World Cup. The USA lost in overtime, 2-1, to Austria in a match where Altidore recorded his fourth goal of the tournament. […]

The 2007 MLS All-Star game, staged at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Denver, Colo., might be a sellout, but it still has a long way to go before it comes close to generating the same kind of hype as say, the NBA All-Star game. Hotels are reporting a small bump in business, and “jersey-clad youths” […]

David Beckham might have experienced a hint of déjà vu in watching his teammates lose from the balcony of a luxury suite Tuesday night — with a few key differences of course: the Galaxy is not Real Madrid (despite a noticeable resemblance in the team’s new image) and this luxury suite was not situated in […]

Earlier this week, the Colorado Rapids sent center midfielder Kyle Beckerman to Real Salt Lake in exchange for Mehdi Ballouchy, a move that Ian Plenderleith of USSoccerPlayers characterizes as a positive one for struggling RSL. The addition of Beckerman as a holding midfielder could pave the way for Freddy Adu to move back into the […]

The ubiquitous coverage of the Carlos Tevez and Arjen Robben affairs continues. The latest on Tevez is that West Ham blocked a medical exam scheduled at Manchester United early Wednesday morning, prompting both clubs to take the matter to FIFA. United CEO David Gill is hopeful FIFA will sort things out before the start of […]

British clubs Celtic and Tottenham could start a bidding war for Real Salt Lake midfielder Freddy Adu, according to Scottish paper The People. Scottish champion Celtic had hoped to sign the U.S. U-20 national team star as early as this week for a reported $2 million, but now Tottenham manager Martin Jol is understood to […]

Sir Alex Ferguson is confident that Carlos Tevez will sign for the Red Devils soon despite a series of legal problems. The Argentina star is set to fly into Manchester Tuesday for a medical test. However, it looks like United’s current Argentine star, Gabriel Heinze, is on his way out — to either Liverpool or […]

It’s looking quite possible that the L.A. Galaxy’s new signing David Beckham will not be making his debut against Chelsea at the Home Depot on Saturday due to an injury sustained at the end of last season while playing for Real Madrid and England. Beckham did not train with the MLS team on Monday, and […]

The San Jose Earthquakes may yet be back in business as early as next season, according to Oakland A’s owner Lew Wolff, who’s been planning to build a home stadium that would enable him to resurrect the two-time MLS champ. “We’re not 1,000 percent there and we don’t want to preempt any announcement from Major […]

Tim Vickery of BBC Sport calls Brazil’s 3-0 win over Argentina in the Copa America final a resounding triumph for the pragmatists over the romantics from Argentina. “Pragmatist” is a polite way of describing an approach to the game that has seen Brazil’s press castigate Coach Dunga for a style of play many have called […]

We’ve heard scores of pundits argue as to whether David Beckham’s MLS crossover will be a success or failure. To no one’s surprise, it’s been a particularly hot button issue in Hollywood, which Victoria and Becks started calling “home” just last week. However, the Carson Daily Breeze points out that for soccer fans in the […]

For all the talk of fighting spirit and well-crafted chances, Ken Pendleton of USSoccerPlayers says that poor defending was “the biggest problem” for the U.S. U-20s — not to mention the senior national team. The U-20s were dumped out of the World Cup quarterfinals by a more organized Austrian team. And it wasn’t just Austria’s […]

Here’s a testament to how great this summer’s Copa America was: for three weeks, Venezuela President Hugo Chavez, who’s nearly ubiquitous in his country, suddenly wasn’t the center of attention. Says the Guardian’s Joel Richardson, “Football had edged Chávez, and politics, out of the limelight. Almost.” CONMEBOL (the South America soccer federation) was impressed with […]

The Houston Dynamo may have dropped two points against Toronto FC at Robertson Stadium on Sunday, but things still look pretty comfortable for the 2006 MLS champs, still first place in the West, three points ahead of FC Dallas. At the moment, no one can score on the Dynamo: Its 0-0 draw against TFC was […]

Early on Monday, police raided the offices of three prominent British clubs: Newcastle United and Portsmouth of the England’s Premier League and Glasgow Rangers of the Scottish Premier League. The raids were not connected to Lord Stevens’ ongoing inquiry into illegal transfer payments, but they are believed to be part of a wider investigation into […]

After another poor showing on prime time television, it emerged on Friday that Chicago Fire owner Anschutz Entertainment Group may be on the verge of selling the team. Fire GM John Guppy confirmed Thursday night that L.A. investment firm Andell Holdings made an offer to buy the club, making it sound like the deal was […]

Argentina-Brazil is always a special final, says the Guardian’s Marcela Mora y Araujo, but this one runs the risk of being overshadowed — in Argentina anyway — by the Under-20 World Cup quarterfinal clash between Argentina and Mexico’s youngsters. Indeed, previews of the Copa America final have been pushed to the margins in Argentina in […]

While Carlos Tevez reaches for Argentina’s first Copa America title in 14 years, the situation regarding his future just keeps getting stranger. According to the London Times, Tevez’s manager, Kia Joorabchian, was issued an arrest order a few hours before it was announced that Tevez was once again close to joining Manchester United. A federal […]

When Cuauhtemoc Blanco signed with the Chicago Fire, some 5,000 Chicago-area fans showed up at Toyota Park simply hoping to catch a glimpse of the Mexico and Club America legend. “Can you think of another athlete that if they signed for a Chicago team,” Guppy said, “more than 5,000 people would show up on less […]