Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Things look up for Canadian soccer, or do they? With the debut of Toronto FC, the opening of its BMO Field and strong interest in the USL teams in Montreal and Vancouver, the pro game is doing surprisingly well. It’s at the national team level where there are problems. Canada is ranked 94th place in […]

The mood at Real Madrid has improved as the Merengues have made a strong run to overtake Barcelona in the race for the 2007 Spanish league title. Less than four months ago, Madrid president Ramon Calderon ripped David Beckham for signing with MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy, saying the Englishman was leaving to become a movie […]

Local dailies jumped all over Barcelona’s players on Friday after the La Liga leaders lost, 4-0, at Getafe and blew a place in the Copa del Rey final they were all but assured of after a 5-2 win in the first leg. “Azulgrana disaster” said El Mundo, while the front page of Sport said: “Failure. […]

With two games to play, defending champion Bayern Munich is out of contention for the 2007 German Bundesliga title — or a berth in next season’s Champions League for that matter. The conservative German club is reportedly prepared to shell out as much as $160 million to regain the title. At the top of general […]

BBC Sport takes an in-depth look at the complicated and controversial ruling by the English Premier League over West Ham United’s breach of rules in signing Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from a group of third-party investors. Incidentally, there is nothing explicitly illegal about signing a pair of players whose economic rights are owned by […]

By any account, it’s been a bad year for Andriy Shevchenko. One of the highest-rated players in the world less than a year ago, Sheva arrived at Chelsea last summer with huge expectations on his $60 million shoulders. Indeed, it must be hard after such a poor season to be constantly reminded of one’s astronomical […]

It looks like DaMarcus Beasley will return to Dutch champion PSV Eindhoven after Manchester City manager Stuart Pearce made it clear he’ll be clearing house in the offseason. The on-loan American midfielder is likely to join a long list of players who failed to earn a permanent stay in Pearce’s revolving-door clubhouse. Last year’s temps, […]

For those able to travel to the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Tuesday night, the knockout bout between the L.A. Galaxy and New York Red Bulls in the (unbroadcasted) Lamar Hunt Open Cup was an eventful affair. According to MLSNet, the Bulls absolutely dominated the qualifying match but fell, 3-1, in overtime. Strikers Jozy […]

The L.A. Times’ Graehme L. Jones spoke with MLS Deputy Commissioner Ivan Gazidis about the controversy that erupted after the MLS Players Union released the salaries of all 359 of the players in MLS. Gazidis called it “a little bit disingenuous for the union to disclaim ownership of those figures” after the union collectively bargained […]

Do rising tides lift all boats? It depends: if you’re talking about Major League Soccer and the mean rise in player salaries, this has been brought on by a handful of players signed under the new designated player rule, most notably David Beckham, who’s base annual salary is $5.5 million for the five years he’s […]

ESPN Soccernet’s Norman Hubbard compiles a list of the top 10 worst transfers in the English Premier League this season. It betrays little suspense to cut right to the chase: Hubbard rates Chelsea’s Andriy Shevchenko the worst transfer of the 2006-2007 season. It’s true, four goals and six assists for $60 million is a terrible […]

The English Premier League, the most prominent and powerful league in world soccer, headed a list of plaintiffs that filed suit against Google’s YouTube last Friday for copyright infringement. Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the EPL and music publisher Bourne Co. jointly sued the online video provider, […]

“Time’s up Mr. Gulati!” exclaims Paul Gardner in his latest New York Sun column. And he’s right: it’s May already, the month when U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati said he would make a decision as to who will coach the U.S. national team-presumably through South Africa 2010. It’s a decision that “has been delayed […]

Jorge Valdano, a legend with Real Madrid and Argentina, has launched a scathing attack directed at Liverpool’s Rafael Benitez and Chelsea’s Jose Mourinho, who are “ruining” soccer in his opinion. In a column appearing in the Madrid daily La Marca, the former World Cup winner accuses both managers of mistrusting talent because of their own […]

Whatever you think of Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, there’s no denying the fighting spirit exuded by his club over the course of a tumultuous Premier League season. Even after a clumsy tackle from Khalid Boulahrouz reduced the Blues to 10-men and a 1-0 deficit from the ensuing penalty kick, you never got the sense that […]

Neutrals may have wanted a title decider at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday, but Sir Alex Ferguson and Manchester United won’t mind that their trip to South London has now become as meaningless as a preseason friendly after Chelsea drew 1-1 at Arsenal. Now seven points adrift of the Blues with two games left to play, […]

What felt like a win for Real Salt Lake certainly felt like a loss for the New York Red Bulls, which dominated Saturday’s affair at Rice-Eccles Stadium for 88 minutes before conceding two goals in the final minutes, reducing a certain win to a 3-3 draw. Before then, Bulls General Claudio Reyna controlled midfield with […]

Thanks to a brilliant performance in goal from Finnish keeper Antti Niemi and a fantastic goal from former New England Revs midfielder Clint Dempsey, Fulham won’t (likely) be relegated this season. After a nosedive in form saw the Cottagers move from UEFA Cup aspirations toward the relegation zone, the win that Fulham desperately needed came […]

Real Madrid continues to go from strength to strength here at the end of the La Liga season, moving passed second-place FC Sevilla in a thrilling 3-2 victory at the Santiago Bernabeu on Sunday. The win put Los Merengues two points ahead of Sevilla, while Barcelona’s 2-0 win helped the Catalans maintain their slender two-point […]

Liverpool’s head of the club’s successful youth academy has hit back at Rafa Benitez, the team’s manager, who he accuses of taking the reigns from him to the detriment of both the club and the development of players he’s been coaching. Steve Heighway, a former winger for Liverpool and the Irish national team, called Benitez’s […]

A point-deduction was conspicuous by its absence from a Premier League commission ruling that West Ham United had breached its rules in signing the Argentine pair Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano from a consortium of investors. Instead, the West End club was slapped with an $11 million fine.   West Ham, of course, is involved […]

He only just got there, but it didn’t take playmaker Amado Guevara long to become persona non grata at Chivas USA. “He’s not with the team,” Chivas USA Preki told MLSNet after training on Thursday. “I have a vision of where this club is going and he’s not part of it.” A deal to send […]

MLSPlayers.org, the Web site for the Major League Soccer Players Union, released a full list of the league’s player salaries, including guaranteed bonuses, for the first time in its history. Incidentally, the move puts MLS in line with the rest of American’s sports leagues. In the past player salaries have been leaked to the media, […]

There were more accusations of favoritism in Europe on Friday as Sevilla coach Juande Ramos criticized the Spain’s soccer federation for lifting the yellow card Real Madrid’s David Beckham received at Athletic Bilbao last Sunday that would have seen him suspended for this Sunday’s crucial battle against his club. In Bilbao, Becks was booked for […]

Real Salt Lake Thursday afternoon announced a significant management reshuffling. Team captain Jason Kreis, the league’s all-time leading scorer, has now retired from the game and will take over as RSL head coach, effective immediately. Kreis is set to run Thursday’s practice in preparation for Saturday’s match at home to the league-leading New York Red […]