Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon said the Blues would unveil Florent Malouda at Stamford Bridge next week. The asking price for the 27-year-old Lyon winger is $34.12 million, but Kenyon would not discuss a transfer fee. He said Malouda would be the club’s final signing of the summer. Which means this will be the quietest […]

For Wednesday’s clash between the U.S. and Colombia, Jack Bell of the New York Times profiles a small Colombian town that’s having a big influence on the national team: Cúcuta, a sprawling Andean town of 600,000 people residing on Colombia’s eastern border with Venezuela. Cucuta is home to Colombian Clausura champion Cúcuta Deportivo, which won […]

The Fernando Torres-Liverpool deal is being sewn up as we speak, according to the Guardian. The Atletico striker cut short his vacation in Polynesia to head to Liverpool to complete a medical exam, which he passed. The Atletico striker will now join Liverpool for $53 million, pending issuance of a work permit. Luis Garcia has […]

As expected, Sheffield United lost its legal dispute with the English Premier League and West Ham United over the Carlos Tevez affair. The Blades, relegated on the last day of the EPL season nearly two months ago, had two claims dismissed by a sports tribunal, both regarding the legality of Carlos Tevez’s appearances for West […]

The sacking of Coach Fabio Capello at Real Madrid causes Paul Gardner of the New York Sun to revisit an old issue: what’s a contract to a big club, anyways? Years ago, after being fired just three months into his new job, Atletico Madrid coach Alfio Basile (who’s now in charge of Argentina) explained: “My […]

Its big guns may not be there, but a familiar story is brewing for the USA at the 2007 Copa America: its performances are better than the score line would indicate, but soccer’s a zero-sum game and the final score is all that matters. The USA may have dominated midfield, won the majority of 50-50s […]

One of the positive takeaways from the late 4-1 dusting Bob Bradley’s men received against Argentina is that the relatively inexperienced U.S. midfield held its own for 65 minutes against one of the world’s best. The U.S. plays Paraguay Monday, which cannot boast the same midfield pedigree as Argentina although it looked deadly sharp against […]

Turmoil in Chi-town: the Chicago Fire has more problems than the dour 0-0 home showing it put in against Colorado over the weekend, says Nick Firchau of the Daily Southtown. No decision has been made on a successor to Coach Dave Sarachan — the interim coach is Denis Hamlett — and owner Anschutz Entertainment Group […]

The summer transfer market has been busy as ever, and Arsenal is once again involved in the big news of the day, signing Croatia striker Eduardo Da Silva from Dinamo Zagreb for an estimated $32 million to fill the gaping hole left by Thierry Henry’s departure for Barcelona. Da Silva has led Croatia’s strong Euro […]

Realist? Pessimist? Reverse psychologist? Those questions about Roma coach Luciano Spalletti linger in the air following comments he made about next year’s title contenders in Serie A. Despite finishing second last year, Spalletti ruled his Giallorossi out of having any serious chance of contending for the 2007-08 Scudetto. Instead, the battle for top spot will […]

In England, there exists “fit and proper person” safeguards implemented by the country’s soccer association that help prevents clubs from being taken over by, well, the wrong sort of person. But what are they? When was the last time they were used? To revisit those standards, English Sports Minister Richard Caborn organized a mandatory meeting […]

A lot has already been written about how Bob Bradley’s Americans put on a brave performance despite losing to Argentina, 4-1, in Maracaibo on Thursday night, but the truth is, the final 26 minutes were poor; the young U.S. team lost its composure and concentration in midfield after Hernan Crespo put the Argentines in front […]

Inter Milan has lost out on the signature of Carlos Tevez’s after the Italian champion imposed a deadline on the Argentine to make a decision. Tevez, who is away on international duty with Argentina in the Copa America, was not prepared to make such a sudden decision. Instead, Kia Joorabchian, the West Ham player’s agent, […]

So much for Liverpool’s American owners, George Gillett and Tim Hicks, being stingy with their money. They are about to give Manager Rafa Benitez what he wants: the money to buy striker Fernando Torres from Atletico Madrid. A $54 million transfer deal — $40 million plus Luis Garcia —  has been accepted in principle by […]

Frank Lampard has two years remaining on his contract with Chelsea, but with the option to buy himself out of the deal under FIFA’s new transfer rules, he said Thursday that he finds it “strange” that the club have not sought to secure his services. Lampard wants to earn what Andriy Shevchenko and Michael Ballack, […]

Nicholas Addlery took the most of his break when he entered D.C. United’s game against Colorado Thursday night in the 10th minute after starter Guy-Roland Kpene was injured. The Jamaican-born Addlery scored his first MLS goal and set up Brazilian Fred’s first MLS goal in a 4-1 win. Addlery’s rout from his home in the […]

Shades of 2003: less than two weeks after driving Real Madrid to its first major trophy in four years, head coach Fabio Capello was unanimously cast aside by the Spanish champion’s management. Four years earlier, former coach Vicente Del Bosque met the same fate after his team of galacticos lifted the La Liga title. “We’ve […]

As headlines like “Be Very Afraid” (SI.com) float around the Internet describing Argentina’s expected trouncing of the United States’ inexperienced American Copa America squad, one man will be carrying nearly all the weight of experience on his big shoulders tonight: goalkeeper Kasey Keller, who talks with the L.A. Times’ Grahame L. Jones. “If anyone can […]

Chelsea, quiet by its standards in the transfer market so far, on Wednesday lodged a $24 million bid for Lyon winger Florent Malouda, according to reports in France, casting the future of the injury- plagued Arjen Robben into doubt. Malouda is a former teammate of Chelsea talisman Didier Drogba, who said he would “walk to […]

A Liverpool-Fernando Torres deal may be closer than you think: The Times reports that Coach Rafael Benitez has stepped up his pursuit of the Atletico Madrid striker and is considering throwing Luis Garcia in as a makeweight to patch up the difference between the clubs’ valuation. No official bid has been lodged, but one is […]

Nery Castillo was absolutely everywhere on Wednesday night as Mexico upstaged Brazil 2-0 in Venezuela, catapulting El Tri to first place in Group B and within touching distance of the Copa America second round. Castillo scored perhaps the best goal of the tournament so far receiving a great chipped pass from Juan Carlos Chaco, which […]

The New York Red Bulls, porous at the back over the last few weeks, have taken the first of what The North Jersey Herald’s Ives Galarcep says could be a series of moves to shake up its “faltering defense” by trading left-back Todd Dunivant to Toronto FC in exchange for Kevin Goldthwaite. You’d think the […]

The American soccer press is largely disappointed at the squad Coach Bob Bradley has chosen to send to the 2007 Copa America; few expect the inexperienced side to make it past the group stage, and more than one reporter/columnist/blogger has already started cringing ahead of Thursday’s debut against a full-strength Argentina. Luis Arroyave of the […]

Tickets for D.C. United’s Aug. 9 match against David Beckham and the L.A. Galaxy are on pace to sell out, according to the Washington Times. United officials on Tuesday said that approximately 30,000 tickets had been sold to season-ticket holders, groups and fans who purchased muti-game packages for the game, leaving 12,500 upper-deck seats for […]

Atletico Madrid is staring at the prospect of a full-fledged fan revolt after reports in Spain revealed that star striker Fernando Torres is in advanced talks with English giant Liverpool. Angry fans gathered in a Madrid plaza to protest the sale of the 23-year-old, who was brought up in the ranks at Atletico and has […]