Category: Section 2 Around the Net

It’s highly unlikely, but with the introduction of the so-called “Beckham Rule,” Jonah Freedman of SI.com says Major League Soccer may be well on its way to a professional soccer revolution in this country. Freedman says that without a doubt, the fact that salary cap restrictions no longer apply to “designated players” means bigger stars […]

Major League Soccer is the perfect testing ground for video replay, writes Jamie Trecker of Fox Soccer. He says sports fans in the States are used to video replay in football, hockey and basketball, and they’re also used to frequent game stoppages. After all, America is the home of the breakaway penalty kick, introduced in […]

France has a soccer problem: the sport is plagued by violence and hate, and something needs to be done. In recent years, Ligue 1 has become a breeding and testing ground for a group of fans who call themselves “The Ultras.” They’re racist, rightwing, anti-Semitic and violent, and they use the stadiums of Ligue 1 […]

Arsene Wenger is furious that his striker and captain, Thierry Henry, has been snubbed from FIFA’s World Player of the Year award. The list is now down to three, with Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro, retired France captain Zinedine Zidane, and Brazilian playmaker Ronaldinho all vying for soccer’s top individual prize. Wenger has repeatedly claimed that […]

Italy and Real Madrid defender Fabio Cannavaro said he’s unconcerned by the criticism that’s come his way since France Football awarded him with the Ballon d’Or, or the European Player of the Year award, given annually to Europe’s top performer. Interestingly, most of the high-profile complaints came from Frenchman, including France coach Raymond Domenech, Olympique […]

At Soccerex, BBC News points out that Arsenal vice chairman David Dein was also forced to defend G14, the union that represents Europe’s clubs before FIFA in matters of finance. Its members include Barcelona, Real Madrid, Manchester United, Chelsea, AC and Inter Milan, Juventus, Bayern Munich and Porto. “G-14 is a friend of the game,” […]

After a presentation from Sepp Blatter at the Soccerex business convention in Dubai, during which the FIFA president said professional clubs should field no less than six domestically produced players per game in their starting eleven, Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon felt the need to defend his club. The Chelsea executive stated that the club […]

Peter Nowak, whom we all know has had a tumultuous relationship with 17-year-old Freddy Adu at D.C. United, warned the teenager against moving to Manchester United, saying he had already departed for his training session at Old Trafford on bad advice. Nowak said the Premiership would overwhelm him, as the Ghana-born teenager is not physically […]

History says that Premier League clubs don’t like to pay big transfer fees for Major League Soccer’s field players. Tim Howard, a goalkeeper, fetched $3.6 million when he left the MetroStars for Manchester United, but Fulham paid the most expensive transfer fee to MLS for an American field player when it shelled out $1 million […]

t would seem that FIFA and the domestic organizations that govern soccer in countries across Europe are perennially at odds, desperately in need of some peacemaking. Yesterday, at Soccerex, the sport’s annual business convention, Arsenal vice chairman David Dein staked his claim to be the man to bridge that gap. For one thing, he suggested […]

It was a pulsating top-of-the-table clash, but ultimately, the stalemate that was Manchester United’s 1-1 draw with Chelsea at Old Trafford will go down as a missed opportunity for the home team. “If I was in their position, I would be very frustrated,” Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho said. “Man United lost a big, big chance […]

A lot has been made of the fantastic chest-trap and overhead kick scored by Ronaldinho against Villarreal at the Nou Camp on Saturday, but make no mistake about the fact that AS Roma captain Francesco Totti’s 74th-minute strike against Sampdoria was every bit as impressive. The Italy striker not only scored two, but he also […]

When Bruce Arena took over as New York Red Bulls coach late in the summer, he made no secret of the fact that changes would be made at the end of the 2006 season. Well, big changes have indeed been made: Youri Djorkaeff and Mark Lisi both retired, while Steve Jolley, Peter Canero and former […]

The sporting press at home appears certain the announcement of Juergen Klinsmann as U.S. national team coach is imminent. Let’s hope so. Grahame L. Jones of the L.A. Times is so certain of it, in fact, he goes on to discuss the options open to Klinsmann once he takes the helm. While he expects “California […]

As was widely predicted, Italy captain Fabio Cannavaro has succeeded Ronaldinho as the European Player of the Year. The Real Madrid defender won France Football’s Ballon d’Or, which is voted on by Europe’s sporting press, with 173 votes, ahead of Italy teammate Gianluigi Buffon with 124, and Frenchman Thierry Henry with 121. Cannavaro had been […]

Scottish champ Celtic clinched passage into the second round of the UEFA Champions League by scoring a 1-0 victory over Manchester United yesterday at Parkhead. Shunsuke Nakamura once again beat Edwin van der Sar from a free kick, this time from some 25 yards away from goal; his perfect curling free kick left the Dutch […]

Apparently, paying teams off to play harder against your competitors is standard business in Russia. Earlier this week, CSKA Moscow president Yevgeny Giner openly admitted to paying incentives to other teams to play harder against his team’s main rivals. “I don’t see anything bad in it,” Giner told reporters. “Many people say that such thing […]

Domestically they’re cruising, but Inter Milan’s Nerazzurri are fighting for their lives in the UEFA Champions League. Today’s match against Sporting Lisbon at the San Siro is a game that could make or break the European season for Inter. It’s been a different story for the club in the league, however, as Inter is top […]

Clint Dempsey, the 2006 Honda U.S. Player of the Year, says he’s preparing for a move to the English Premier League in January, possibly to Fulham or Charlton Athletic, according to reports, though nothing official has taken place. “Things are looking good,” Dempsey says. “There’s definitely interest from a few teams over there, but I’d […]

Paul Gardner of the New York Sun praises the Beckham Rule, which allows Major League Soccer clubs to sign one player each for as much money as they can afford irrespective of the league-wide $1.9 million salary cap. “The move is to be praised,” Gardner says, as “better, more imaginative, more exciting players are urgently […]

The West Ham takeover saga looks to be over, as the club’s board has accepted a $161 million takeover bid from a consortium led by Icelandic businessman Eggert Magnusson, who replaces Terry Brown as club chairman. The group is believed to have assumed West Ham’s debt of $42 million, though that wasn’t revealed in the […]

Arsene Wenger yesterday revealed that Arsenal’s inability to put teams away so far this season has left him crestfallen. While the Gunner’s season is by no means already over, far too many games that should have been won, were not, causing the manager an enormous amount of stress, he told reporters yesterday. “We are in […]

FIFA may be slowly rolling out goal-line technology, but soccer executives in England and other parts of Europe want television replays to be introduced into the game now. The Guardian says the consensus among match and club officials alike is that it’s “nonsense” in a game where the financial stakes are so high for referees […]

FIFA will debut a new goal-line technology during next year’s World Club Championship, Sepp Blatter, the organization’s president, confirmed. Soccer’s world governing body had planned on using the technology at this year’s World Cup but later shelved those plans after a trial run at the Under-17 World Cup in Peru last year proved inconclusive. Blatter […]

For the first time since 2001, Roma is showing signs that it could win a major trophy this year. The Giallorossi fired a warning to the rest of the clubs in Serie A and the Champions League, with a 7-0 thrashing of Catania Calcio at the Stadio Olimpico on Sunday. It was one of the […]