Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Sweet music to soccer fan ears, perhaps: New York-based SCP Worldwide, whose principal investors include former Madison Square Garden and CSTV executives Dave Checketts and Chris Bevilacqua, is said to be buying a majority stake in GolTV, the U.S. purveyor of Spain’s La Liga as well as games from Italy’s Serie A and the German […]

American hype-machine Freddy Adu is in Madrid with Real Salt Lake preparing for a friendly against a Real Madrid reserve team combining players from both Real Madrid C and Castilla. RealMadrid.com took the opportunity to interview the 17-year-old Adu. Freddy said he “couldn’t be happier” with his move to RSL, adding for the first time […]

Jose Mourinho and Chelsea must have earmarked Saturday’s clash between Liverpool and Manchester United at Anfield as a day when they could count on clawing back at least two points in their title chase with league leader Manchester United. After all, Anfield has been an absolute fortress for Liverpool this season: 11 wins and three […]

Wherever they are in the world, MLS clubs are forced to fight harder than most for respect from foreign countries. In soccer, respect comes down to results. So when D.C. United travels to Tegucigalpa, Honduras, and disposes of Olimpia, the domestic league champion, 4-1, the rest of CONCACAF, anyway, should take notice. After that comprehensive […]

“Sueno MLS,” the televised, open tryout for a trial with the Chivas USA U-19 team, is rapidly coming to a conclusion, with just 24 players remaining. The Long Press-Telegram profiles a few of the local boys who remain in the running. Among them is 16-year old Andrew Robles, a boy from a rough neighborhood in […]

In case you haven’t heard, or haven’t been around the sports industry for the last 20 years, the business of selling sponsorships has become a huge growth segment for major sports teams and their stadium owners. Just look at the recent $20 million a-year deal Citibank inked with the New York Mets, or the massive […]

For FC Sevilla coach Juande Ramos, a week that flirted personal tragedy was instead capped with triumph, as his team battled back to defeat Barcelona, 2-1, Saturday in thrilling, if unlikely circumstances. On Wednesday, it was unknown whether Ramos would be able to attend the match, as the Sevilla coach was rushed to the hospital […]

(Tuesday) Guus Hiddink was handed a six-month suspended sentence and a fine worth $59,000 for evading almost $1.8 million, not $1.8 billion, in Dutch taxes by claiming to be a resident of Belgium from 2002 to 2003. (Wednesday) The English Football Association, not FIFA, contributes $98,000 a week (about half) of Michael Owen’s salary at […]

West Ham United has been charged with breaking player ownership rules in buying Argentine stars Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano, the English Premier League stated on its Web site. In the case of both transfers, the league’s board said the agreement enabled a third party “to acquire the ability materially to influence the Club’s policies…or […]

Reports in Italy claim that Real Madrid is willing to do all it can to secure the services of AC Milan’s Brazilian wizard, Kaka. Football Italia says several sources claim the Spanish giant is prepared to offer Mahamadou Diarra, former Milan center back Fabio Cannavaro, plus around $40 million in exchange for the 24-year old. […]

He’s tolerated the banter all season, but now, as the English Premiership enters its final stretch, Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has had enough of Jose Mourinho. If the race stays tight, you can expect the back-and-forth to get even more testy-Mourinho will throw everything he can at Ferguson and his players to try […]

We’re still only about a month into preseason, but D.C. United is already showing the kind of form that saw it dominate MLS in the first half of last season. On Thursday, United capped an impressive two-leg series with Honduras champ Club Deportivo Olimpia with a 3-2 win that saw the MLS club safely through […]

The press, the public and several papers are clamoring for David Beckham’s England recall. “Bring Back Becks” is the chant, and Coach Steve McClaren may very well acquiesce, although the next seven days will be crucial in determining the former England captain’s chances. “I’m not going to lie. I love the fact I have got […]

BigAppleSoccer.com and New York Red Bulls fans everywhere are worried about the Bulls’ decidedly thin-looking forward line. Here’s what they’ve got: 17-year old Jozy Altidore, whose goal-scoring tear last year led the Bulls into the playoffs, 30-year old super-sub John Wolyniec, who scored 3 goals in 11 matches, 24-year old Jerrod Laventure, a Seton Hall […]

In the U.S., cross-town rivalries tend to be good-natured fun, but in some places across Europe, these so-called derbies can be downright dangerous. Wednesday night’s Copa del Rey derby clash between FC Sevilla and Real Betis ended in a trip to the hospital for Sevilla coach Juande Ramos, who was knocked out cold by a […]

The rest of Serie A failed to take advantage as Inter Milan posted its first slip-up in the league since early October. Ironically, then, as now it was Udinese that stole points from the Italian champion, ending Inter’s unbelievable 17-game winning streak in the league. Inter coach Roberto Mancini sounded indifferent after the 1-1 draw. […]

Hugo Sanchez couldn’t have been happier than to get his first win as Mexico coach in San Diego. After all, the Mexico and Real Madrid legend has something of a love affair with this city. Nearly 30 years ago now, Sanchez almost single-handedly dismantled the famed Russian club Dynamo Moscow in his home debut for […]

FIFA President Sepp Blatter on Wednesday said that if FIFA decides to maintain its policy of World Cup rotation, England and Europe might not be considered for the 2018 tournament. Blatter said the tournament would most likely be awarded to a North American or Asian country, unless FIFA decides to count the Americas as one, […]

The English Premier League may be a two-horse race, but the country’s cup competitions keep serving up classic after classic: on Tuesday, EPL leader Manchester United barely escaped with a 3-2 victory from its FA Cup fifth-round replay against Reading at the Madejski Stadium. After taking a shock 3-0 lead within the first six minutes, […]

Newcastle striker Michael Owen is finally set to return from injury next month after enduring more than a year-and-a-half of injury setbacks. The latest, an ACL tear sustained while playing for England during last summer’s World Cup, infuriated Newcastle manager Glenn Roeder, who’s only seen the star striker play 11 times for the club since […]

Various reports in England are linking Liverpool’s out-of-favor striker, Robbie Fowler, with a move to MLS, possibly the New England Revolution. Revs Coach Steve Nicol says he’s definitely interested in the player, a former teammate at Anfield in the mid-1990s. “We’d be interested in Robbie,” Nicol told reporters. “But at the moment the first thing […]

Less than two years after the San Jose Earthquakes relocated to Houston, a new stadium deal may yet bring professional soccer back to Silicon Valley. San Jose State University President Don Kassing on Tuesday agreed to partner with developer Lew Wolff to create a multipurpose sports facility next to the university’s current Spartan Stadium. The […]

In a column for Soccer365, Andrea Canales digs in to calls from certain corners of the press that the U.S. shift its focus to the Copa America in Venezuela instead of the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The theory espoused by many is that the U.S. needs to gain respect from the international community and that by […]

Doesn’t matter who you are, you have to pay your taxes. Russia coach Guus Hiddink, a man widely regarded as one of the best coaches in soccer, has been handed a six-month suspended sentence and a fine worth $59,000 for evading almost $1.8 billion in Dutch taxes by claiming to be a resident of Belgium […]

Various reports are now paring down David Beckham’s MLS contract even further. An Associated Press report last Friday revealed that Beckham’s base salary with the L.A. Galaxy, to be paid by Philip Anschutz’s Anschutz Entertainment Group, will be $5.5 million-not the $10 million AEG would have us believe. However, Becks is projected to earn nearly […]