Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Reuters publishes yet another skeptical report about the superstar viability of Major League Soccer teenager Freddy Adu. Since his training session with Manchester United in late November-which some in the press suggested was a Nike PR stunt-most of the press surrounding the 17-year old has been negative. A few weeks after his return from Manchester, […]

FC Sevilla ended 2005 in triumphant style by blitzing Deportivo La Coruna 4-0 at home, extending its lead atop the La Liga to four points. Second-place FC Barcelona has two games in hand, the first of which was to played Thursday against Atletico Madrid. Goals from league leading scorer Freddy Kanoute (2), Luis Fabiano and […]

Real Salt Lake isn’t the only Major League Soccer club depending on local government to help raise money for a new stadium: A proposed cigarette tax by Ohio’s Summit County to fund a new $170 million soccer stadium was rejected Tuesday by the Ohio General Assembly without consulting outside officials or county residents, placing the […]

This is kind of fun and to a certain extent, holiday-oriented: BBC Sport has published a list of the English Premiership 10 best new chants of 2006, including two that go to the tune of “Winter Wonderland.” They come from Wigan Athletic and Manchester United, respectively: “There’s only one Emile Heskey, one Emile Heskey, he […]

Despite a terrible tragedy, the Spanish league match between Real Madrid and Recreativo Huelva is underway. Earlier in the day, a terrible crash between a large truck and a bus carrying Huelva reporters left four dead and more than 35 injured. The Spanish soccer association said in a statement that the match would proceed as […]

It’s funny how most non-Chelsea fans want to see the Sky Blues go down. The club is after all the reigning two-time EPL champion, but more than that, the fact that multi-billionaire owner Roman Abramovich can buy whomever he pleases adds to the ire opposing fans feel for his team. And yet, most fans want […]

Oh how the fortunes of Internazionale and its owner Massimo Moratti have changed. The billionaire yesterday revealed how he seriously thought about selling his beloved club in April as Juventus and AC Milan were running away with the top two spots in Serie A. Frustrated by the indifferent form of expensive players like Adriano, Luis […]

Interim U.S. coach Bob Bradley named a 29-man squad for the national team’s first international match since the World Cup on Jan. 20. Twenty-eight of the 29 are from Major League Soccer. Bradley named 10 uncapped players to his first U.S. training camp as coach, including 2006 rookies Jonathan Bornstein and Sacha Kljestan, who played […]

Fabio Cannavaro feels that any doubts surrounding his Ballon d’Or award earlier in the year were quelled Monday as the Real Madrid and Italy defender was named FIFA’s World Player of the Year, with a resounding 498 points. France’s retired midfielder, Zinedine Zidane, came second, and Brazil’s two-time defending winner Ronaldinho finished third. The Ballon […]

Advantage Chelsea, or so it seems. In truth, English Premier League leader Manchester United fell away rather limply to West Ham United on Sunday, while Chelsea before it seemed to be headed for a similar fate until two fantastic out-of-the-blue strikes from Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba. The Premiership champions produced more of the same […]

“Things just seem to happen to Marco Materazzi,” writes James Richardson of the Guardian. As such, he’s become such a cult figure in Italy, that his actions this weekend nearly overshadowed Fabio Cannavaro’s award as FIFA’s World Player of the Year. The man they call “Matrix,” who was responsible for just about everything that happened […]

In the world of soccer, FIFA’s word is law. What it says goes, usually without exception. This is not so in the real world, however, and FIFA was dealt a heavy dose of reality recently, as U.S. district judge Loretta Preska founded in favor of MasterCard over a case in which the credit card company […]

It didn’t take FC Dallas as long as the U.S. Soccer to replace its departed coach, though Colin Clarke’s replacement at FCD assumes the job under similar circumstances. For the undecided, the interim-coach has become the choice du jour in American soccer, and Steve Morrow, a former defender from the days when the club was […]

Throughout the years, he’s been one of the Premiership’s coolest customers, but this year-this week, even-Arsene Wenger’s been slapped with a hefty dose of reprisal. On Monday, the English Football Association charged the Arsenal boss with improper conduct for his behavior on Saturday just four days after he was forced to pay $20,000 for a […]

American goalkeeper Tim Howard has expressed doubt over his Manchester United future after Edwin van der Sar, the first-choice at Old Trafford, signed a new deal that will keep him with the Red Devils until 2008. “Edwin’s contract affects my mind set,” Howard told Everton’s Web site. The 27-year old goalie, on a season-long loan […]

For Manchester United fans and for neutrals who just want to see Chelsea lose, it was agonizing to watch brave Everton go down in the last 10 minutes to a pair of unstoppable strikes from two of Jose Mourinho’s so-called “untouchables.” Everton watched its hard-fought lead disintegrate twice as the Sky Blues came storming back […]

Internacional, the small club from the small Brazilian city of Porto Alegre, is the new king of club soccer, winning the Club World Cup final 1-0 against Barcelona of Spain. “Whatever,” says the rest of the world. Even though Barcelona brought most of its first-teamers to its week-long effort in Yokohama, Japan, and even though […]

Newsweek columnist Mark Starr says Freddy Adu’s “possible” move to Manchester United one day is pure…”bullswoosh.” That is to say that Adu’s two-week training session at United was a “commercial contrivance” conjured up by Nike, multi-million dollar sponsor of both Man United and the 17-year old, and perhaps the Glazer family, the club’s owners. In […]

By MLS standards, Real Salt Lake was an all-star last season, finishing fifth overall with an average attendance of 16,366 fans per game. However, that, like many official MLS attendance figures, was a gross overstatement, as the team’s internal data revealed fewer than 10,000 paying customers per game. Why the discrepancy? Promotions and giveaways accounted […]

The Champions League draw in Nyon, Switzerland, produced two standout matches for the tournament’s second round. The headliner pits 2005 winner Liverpool against last year’s champion Barcelona, while Real Madrid will play Bayern Munich for the 17th time in the competition. The English Premier League’s other teams will be very satisfied with what appear to […]

Few in soccer would argue that the quality of play in the annual UEFA Champions League surpasses that of FIFA’s World Cup. After the dour soccer on display at last summer’s championship, pundits across the world reiterated as much. Among soccer officials, it’s one of those widely assumed but seldom spoken notions. However, UEFA chief […]

U.S. Soccer suffered yet another tragedy this year as Lamar Hunt, a pioneer of the game here in the United States, succumbed to cancer on Wednesday night. Big Apple Soccer has a fitting tribute to the man who devoted much of his life to seeing the U.S. become a soccer nation. Hunt was asked once […]

According to MLSnet, last week’s trip to England for Major League Soccer’s “Generation adidas” was a resounding success. The MLS youngsters got a chance to play against the reserve sides of several English clubs. The squad was comprised of 21 members of the league’s developmental program and they remained in England from Dec. 1-10. “What […]

European champion FC Barcelona eased past Mexico’s Club America, 4-0, on Thursday to book a place in Sunday’s Club World Cup final against South American champ Internacional in Yokohama. Ronaldinho, who has been rumored to three-peat as FIFA’s World Player of the Year this year, led the Catalans with a goal and an assist. “We […]

A takeover by Dubai International Capital could be exactly what Liverpool needs to ensure the long-term future of captain Steven Gerrard. Reports keep coming in that DIC is on the verge of completing an $882 million takeover of the storied English club, and Gerrard couldn’t be happier. He told the Guardian he was “excited” and […]