Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Mexico coach Hugo Sanchez, who admits to being something of a nationalist, is worried. He´s worried that the recent trend of the United States owning regional power Mexico in the international arena will only going to become tougher to overturn as Los Yanquis get stronger. Major League Soccer is “getting better day by day and […]

Real Madrid President Ramon Calderon has confirmed that he will be going after the signatures of Manchester United´s Cristiano Ronaldo and AC Milan´s Kaka this summer, a pair of players who are very dear to their respective clubs. Both Man United and Milan have repeatedly stated that they have no intention of selling their prized […]

ESPN Soccernet´s Steve Davis says Landon Donovan’s hat trick against Ecuador was one of the top 10 all-time performances by an American player in a U.S. international. Had it been during a major competition, his performance probably would have broken into the top three. Davis points out that Donovan’s afternoon was “a biggie because everybody […]

There may be another international on Wednesday (USA-Guatemala, live, 9 pm EST, ESPN 2, Galavision), but press is still raving about Landon Donovan´s three-goal salvo against Ecuador on Sunday, and rightly so. As Paul Gardner points out, hat tricks don´t happen often in international soccer (or soccer, period), while natural hat tricks happen even less, […]

A big weekend of Euro 2008 qualifying was headlined by Germany’s impressive 2-1 away win to the Czech Republic in Group D, thanks two goals from the recently recalled Kevin Kuranyi, Turkey’s 4-1 thrashing of defending European champion Greece in Group C, and Serbia’s shock 2-1 loss to Kazakhstan in Group A. Scotland maintained its […]

Like grounded children, Coach Steve McClaren on Saturday said, “They’ll be in this evening” after his England players produced a thoroughly impotent attacking display during its 0-0 Euro 2008 qualifier against Israel in Tel Aviv. The result certainly didn’t make McClaren look any better or any more competent as national team coach-England now hasn’t won […]

Anaheim, Calif.’s Jorge Flores was crowned the winner of Sueno MLS on Sunday, as the nationally televised (on Spanish language television, anyway) month-long contest came to an end, resulting in an extended tryout with the Chivas USA U-19 team for the winner.   “I gave my very best during the past five weeks, and now […]

There was much to be excited about for U.S. soccer fans after Landon Donovan’s emphatic hat trick led the U.S. men’s national team past Ecuador, 3-1, in Tampa on Sunday. If Donovan could start showing that kind of form, producing the type of finishes he did, he would easily solidify the title of this country’s […]

The New York Times has a profile on Ronaldinho, Barcelona’s Brazilian star and the man many still consider to be the best player in the world despite his third-place finish at the 2006 FIFA awards. He is a one-man endorsement machine, appearing in billboards throughout Barcelona and commercials around the world for his sponsors, Nike, […]

Television audiences worldwide are splintering, as people prefer spending more time with Internet-enabled devices than curling up in front of the boob tube to watch primetime. However, soccer bucks that trend big-time, especially for international games, which continue to grow their audience thanks to greater demand and expanded television coverage. Because of this, the Financial […]

Across the globe, violence and the commercial interests of big corporations are resulting in a kind of PR crisis for the world’s game, says FIFA President Sepp Blatter. While the interest of big business is overriding that of club supporters, violence and poor safety standards in stadiums are also contributing to soccer’s tarnished image, Blatter […]

Unless the New York Red Bulls make a last-minute addition before the opening day of the MLS season, it’s very likely 17-year old Jozy Altidore will be starting against the Columbus Crew on April. Aside from Altidore and John Wolyniec, the Bulls don’t have any other healthy strikers with MLS experience. Altidore isn’t all that […]

For those in the soccer industry, the process of popularizing soccer in America has been a long and at times fruitless undertaking. For the past 11 years, the massive project has ever so slowly been building momentum through the growth of MLS. Following that big announcement in January, league officials are now hoping we can […]

Real Salt Lake is training in Fresno for its friendly against the local team, Fresno Fuego. Of course, Freddy Adu is there training with his teammates, but to the chagrin of Fresno Bee reporter Matt James, he won’t be around when RSL faces the fourth-tier American club: on Thursday he’ll be off to another training […]

The New York Times’ Jack Bell interviews Watford’s American central defender, Jay DeMerit, who’s celebrating his first call-up to the U.S. national team for the friendlies against Ecuador Sunday and Guatemala next Wednesday. For one thing, DeMerit says, training and playing in Tampa and then Frisco, Texas, offers a nice break from those gray English […]

West Ham United “could be in for a hammering,” writes David Conn of the Guardian, over the alleged breach of Premiership rules involved in the signing of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. Last Friday the Hammers completed its defense of the Premier League’s allegation, denying that the board’s dealing with four offshore companies, which “own” […]

Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Ronaldo may have declined the advances of MLS, but Toronto FC signing Carl Robinson, a former Norwich player, tells BBC Sport to expect more Brits to follow Becks into soccer’s new world. “You might be surprised in the next few weeks,” the 30-year old Welshman said. “I’ve had six or […]

New UEFA president Michel Platini wants to extend the executive committee’s power in soccer’s European governing body by implementing a more hands-on approach to the management of the organization. During his campaign, Platini said he wanted to shake up the way UEFA was run. His predecessor, Lennart Johansson, often delegated senior executive decisions to Lars-Christer […]

Greg Lalas of SI.com makes a great point: the mainstream English-speaking soccer press tends to ignore the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent to the UEFA Champions League, which is a big shame, actually, because it’s at that competition that many of the world’s future great stars shine. But in general, few pay attention to South […]

These days in La Liga, whenever there’s talk of someone like Real Madrid’s Fabio Capello or Barcelona’s Frank Rijkaard being replaced, the one Spain-based name that consistently surfaces as a possible candidate is Getafe coach Bernd Schuster. You might ask: why, and who is he? Answer: Schuster was a brilliant midfielder and later libero in […]

Soccer New England takes a closer look at the Shalrie Joseph situation in New England, revealing that the former Revs captain (for all of two weeks) expects the club to honor his request to be traded. “We hope they will honor his request,” Joseph’s agent Ron Waxman said. “We are saying that it is not […]

Ives Galarcep at the North Jersey Herald takes a look at the five surprise additions to the U.S. national team squad for its upcoming games against Ecuador and Guatemala. U.S. soccer fans have probably heard of European-based Jay DeMerit, Jonathan Spector, Benny Feilhaber, Michael Bradley and Frank Simek, but with the exception of the two […]

Notwithstanding the $250 million he may earn over five years as a part of Major League Soccer, you could forgive David Beckham (perhaps) for feeling a bit of pressure over his forthcoming move. The former England captain insists he’s not expecting the kind of soccer revolution in America that would make the sport more popular […]

A Man United-Chelsea FA Cup final is still on the cards, after the Premiership No. 1 and 2 won their respective replay quarterfinals on Monday. Man U squeaked passed Middlesbrough 1-0 and Chelsea completed its unlikely quarterfinal comeback by beating Tottenham, 2-1, at White Hart Lane, thanks to fantastic strikes from Andriy Shevchenko and Shaun […]

Major League Soccer simply doesn’t have enough to show for its new designated player rule, says Brian Straus of U.S. Soccer Players. David Beckham and Claudio Reyna are great additions to the league, but each series of “major announcements” by the league since then have had nothing to do with “what we’ll see on the […]