Category: Section 2 Around the Net

To the casual observer, MLS might strike him as a league lacking enthusiasm, the foundation of any popular sports league. Ives Galarcep of the North Jersey Herald pins the problem on the dearth of entertainers in Major League Soccer. If you had the pleasure this weekend of watching Ronaldinho, the world’s best player, beat up […]

Fernando Gago of Real Madrid may not be having the smoothest of transitions from the Argentine league to Spain’s La Liga, but one thing the 20-year old possesses in spades is a maturity on the field that belies his age. Widely tipped as the successor to Fernando Redondo, the Merengues’ midfield maestro in the mid […]

For many, Argentine wizard Juan Roman Riquelme was one the outstanding players of the 2006 World Cup. It seemed as though everything Argentina did ran through Riquelme, whose performance in the 6-0 thrashing of Serbia & Montenegro will live long in World Cup memory. Things have changed dramatically for Riquelme since then. Injury and poor […]

You can’t blame anybody with a vested interest in the soccer business for allowing themselves to believe that former France and Real Madrid legend Zinedine Zidane might actually come out of retirement to play in MLS alongside David Beckham next season. It wasn’t too long ago that we didn’t believe Becks would ever arrive, either. […]

It turns out that New York Red Bulls coach Bruce Arena was talking about Agustin Delgado, the fiery Ecuadorian striker, when he said last week that the team was poised to use its second designated player slot. Unfortunately, FIFA nixed the move, after ruling that it would uphold the striker’s yearlong suspension for inciting a […]

A cynic might say that predictably, Sunday’s fantastic Carling Cup final between Arsenal and Chelsea in Cardiff was overshadowed by off-field incidents. However, the first one no one could have predicted. Chelsea’s luckless, fearless captain John Terry was once again forced off the field, this time by a horrific, crunching kick to the side of […]

If the USA wants to gain respect in the international community, writes Simon Simano of the North County Times, it will have to expand its horizons past continental dominance. While we certainly enjoy our record against Mexico in the last several years, when it comes to earning that respect, besting El Tri over and over […]

Before his second match in charge of the Mexican national team, Hugo Sanchez and others spoke with Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Union-Tribune about the Tri legend’s storied career, which included a pit stop in the American city where his team will play Venezuela on Wednesday. Indeed, prior to becoming the most famous export […]

As ever, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho is engaging in a war of words prior to a big match. This Sunday it’s the Carling Cup final between the Sky Blues and Arsene Wenger’s Arsenal ((TV: Setanta Sports USA, live, 9 am ET). Earlier this week Wenger said that not all coaches who have won the Champions […]

After Barcelona’s home loss to Liverpool in the Champions League on Wednesday, pundits in Spain are blaming the Catalan club’s poor form on Ronaldinho’s weight. Photos taken of the Brazilian at the end of the game would suggest that he’s gained weight, especially when shown side-by-side with similar pictures from 2003 and 2004. During a […]

It was a bad week for Italian teams in the Champions League, writes ESPN Soccernet Italy correspondent Roberto Gotta. None of the Serie A clubs in the competition managed to win their first-leg game, which was compounded by the fact that AS Roma and Inter Milan, the two best teams in Italy this season, played […]

Scott Garlick’s sudden retirement from soccer didn’t come at the best of times for Real Salt Lake. Team officials told the Salt Lake Tribune they were “blindsided” by the veteran goalkeeper’s decision to accept an offer with a commercial real estate firm. “Obviously, we’re put in a difficult situation now,” coach John Ellinger said. “So […]

In his weekly column for BBC Sport, Bayern Munich and England midfielder Owen Hargreaves says Real Madrid would not have won Tuesday’s thrilling Champions League encounter if David Beckham had not been on the field. “Without him in the team…our job at Bayern would have been much easier,” Hargreaves writes, adding that the response Beckham […]

Avenging a 2-1 Champions League home loss at Anfield might not have been an impossible task for the FC Barcelona team of 2005-06, but it certainly looks a tall order for this year’s team, which still contains most of the same players despite its slumping form. All credit should go to Liverpool, which responded positively […]

Contrary to claims made earlier this week by New York Red Bulls owner Dietrich Mateschitz, Coach Bruce Arena says the Bulls on course to make another high-profile signing “either this week or next week.” Arena indicated the player would likely occupy the second of New York’s two designated player slots. Former U.S. captain Claudio Reyna […]

Some light was shed on a bleak situation earlier this week as striker Dean Ashton, considered one of the best young talents in England today, looks set to resume training with West Ham next week. Indeed, Ashton’s broken leg, which he suffered while training with England in September, is near the top of West Ham’s […]

Aston Villa’s Patrik Berger, a former Czech Republic international, has revealed that he’s negotiating with Major League Soccer over a possible move to the United States this summer. “There is a possibility of me going to America; I know there is an interest but I can’t say anything at the moment because nothing is finalized,” […]

Houston Mayor Bill White effectively ruled out the use of the Gus Wortham Golf Course in Houston’s East End as a possible location for a new soccer complex that would serve as the training grounds for defending MLS champ Houston Dynamo. White said he wouldn’t support the move because the East End’s Councilwoman Carol Alvarado […]

England manager Steve McClaren was at the Santiago Bernabeu Tuesday night to watch Owen Hargreaves and Bayern Munich face a resurgent David Beckham and Real Madrid. Beckham, starting his third game in a row since being recalled to the Madrid first team, capped another superb performance by setting up each of Real’s three goals in […]

For the first 60 minutes against Bayern Munich on Tuesday, Real Madrid looked as good as it ever did in the last five years. Up 3-1 at halftime thanks to goals from Raul and Ruud van Nistelrooy and an inspired performance in midfield from David Beckham, Real looked to be cruising. Indeed, a fourth looked […]

The Los Angeles Galaxy could be preparing for yet another blockbuster announcement, this one in regards to team’s jersey sponsor. Mark Ziegler of the San Diego Union-Tribune says sources tell him that the bidding is now down to Citibank and Herbalife. The former, the unnamed sources say, is prepared to offer $49 million over five […]

UEFA, soccer’s European governing body, said it would launch an investigation into Manchester United’s Champions League win against Lille at the Stade Felix Bollaert in Lens on Tuesday. The French police were heavily criticized for their handling of a situation involving Manchester United supporters. Riot police swiped their batons and fired teargas at fans after […]

Javier Mascherano has finally, officially gotten his second chance in the Premiership, after the league Tuesday cleared him to play at Liverpool FC for the remaining three and a half months of the season. The deal has been held up since the transfer deadline expired on Feb. 1. It has taken the league nearly three […]

At a press conference Monday that was supposed to be about Arsenal’s preparation for Tuesday’s second round Champions League clash with PSV Eindhoven, Manager Arsene Wenger expressed a deeper concern for the fact that Chelsea is allowed to operate at a loss of $156 million because it has a billionaire owner. Unfortunately for Wenger, this […]

U.S. Soccer on Tuesday announced that it’s forming an organizing committee to prepare a bid for the 2018 World Cup, for which England is also planning a bid. The host won’t be chosen until 2012. “We showed in 1994 that the U.S. is capable of hosting a terrific event,” U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati […]