Category: Section 2 Around the Net

It was a fantastic goal: Christian Gomez ran with the ball into what appeared to be a crowded Red Bull defense before laying the ball off to veteran Jaime Moreno, who returned a lovely weighted pass into the only available space for Gomez to loft the ball delicately over Jeff Conway to give D.C. United […]

Real Madrid’s fans are in rapture: Robinho has finally been given (and is taking) his chance, Raul is scoring again, the players have learned how to defend as a team, and as a result, Los Merengues produced their best performance of the season yesterday, beating bitter rival Barcelona 2-0 at home in the most emphatic […]

The English Football Association was quick to dismiss the idea that Chelsea’s goalkeepers Petr Cech and Carlo Cudicini were deliberately injured by Reading players at the Madejski Stadium on Saturday. In his comments to the press, Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has relentlessly implied that his players sustained premeditated attacks, and then negligent handling afterwards, even […]

The BBC’s Robbo Robson is bored of the Champions League. Why? Because he says it’s almost a foregone conclusion that the big European clubs will qualify with ease for the second phase, and then it becomes the same teams every year vying for the title. We should remind Mr. Robson that as recently as 2004, […]

Richard Caborn, Premier League chairman and England’s minister of sport, has revealed that West Ham United, the subject of countless takeover rumors over the past few months, has entered into “serious negotiations” over the possibility of moving into London’s 2012 Olympic Stadium after the Games. It has long been speculated that either West Ham or […]

Sir Alex Ferguson believes it will take at least 90 points to win the English Premiership, a feat Manchester United has achieved only twice under in his 20 years in charge of the club: in 1994 (though teams played four more games then than they do today) and 2000. Ninety points means three or four […]

It’s a match that will surely be overshadowed by many neutral fans for the grand occasions of Real Madrid-Barcelona at the Santiago Bernabeu and Manchester United-Liverpool at Old Trafford, but Chelsea at home to Portsmouth just might be this weekends most intriguing encounter. Besides, that match will be played on Saturday, while the former two […]

At just 17 years old, D.C. United’s Freddy Adu is set for his first start in a Major League Soccer playoff game on Saturday against the New York Red Bulls at Giants Stadium. Two years after his MLS debut, Adu is playing a far greater role in United coach Peter Nowak’s plans. “Last year, I […]

The U.S. men’s national team hasn’t reconvened since its failure at the hands of Ghana on the final day of Group E in the World Cup. In fact, Mexico, the United States’ bitter CONCACAF rival, is the only other national team that is yet to play since the World Cup. Why? Simple: no head coach. […]

It looks as though there may be a bidding war between Icelandic businessman Eggert Magnusson and Isreali real estate magnate Eli Papouchaldo for control of West Ham United Football Club. It seems that different high-ranking English soccer officials are supporting each of the bids, according to the Independent. Football Association Chairman Geoff Thompson is supporting […]

And now for the positive news from Stamford Bridge: yesterday’s 1-0 defeat of Barcelona was as comprehensive a team performance (with the possible exception of the struggling Andriy Shevchenko) as Chelsea has managed to put together all year. But for some poor finishing, the Sky Blues could have easily scored one or two more. The […]

Chelsea may have played well last night in defeating Barcelona 1-0 at Stamford Bridge, but the victory has been undermined by the selfish and paranoid off-field antics of Manager Jose Mourinho, writes Richard Williams of The Guardian. In fact, it all has very little to soccer: following the head injury sustained by Mourinho’s goalkeeper, Petr […]

It might be a little unfair to call Olympique Lyonnais a dark horse to win this season’s Champions League. After all, Lyon comes into Europe’s top club competition as France’s champion for the fifth year running, a domestic feat no club in the world has approached in recent memory. In the Champions League, Lyon has […]

Wayne Rooney delivered a captain’s performance for Manchester United yesterday that Roy Keane, the Red Devils legendary captain during United’s glory years, would have been proud of. Twenty-year old Rooney was given the captain’s armband just 15 minutes before yesterday’s 3-0 victory against FC Copenhagen at Old Trafford after Rio Ferdinand and Ryan Giggs belatedly […]

Arsenal captain Thierry Henry is still fuming that his 85th-minute strike against CSKA Moscow was disallowed by Spanish referee Manuel Mejuto Gonzalez for a handball replays suggest never happened. In fact, it was a perfectly good goal, taken brilliantly off the chest by the France striker and then calmly placed home, but Mejuto Gonzalez, who […]

For the third year running, English champion Chelsea is playing a home-and-away series against Spanish champion Barcelona in the Champions League, but this time, both coaches promised a “gentler” rematch between the familiar adversaries. Going into Wednesday’s game, Barcelona, last year’s Champions League winner, led the series with two wins, a draw and a loss […]

One of the more unfortunate characteristics of Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho, is his need to always blame others for his team’s misfortune. Following the horrific accident that resulted in a fractured skull for Chelsea’s No. 1 goalkeeper Petr Cech, Mourinho has his hands in the air blaming everyone from Reading Football Club to Stephen Hunt […]

The last vestiges of Manchester United’s old guard (in the boardroom that is) have now left the club, after finance director Nick Humby and commercial director Andy Anson resigned on Tuesday. The two men are believed to be unhappy with the way their jobs had changed under the Glazers, and will depart in February. The […]

After spending virtually three years on the sidelines with a series of career-threatening knee problems, Manchester United legend Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is back, and he’s back on form, too, and that has his manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, beaming. “What Ole has achieved is a great example to everyone,” said Ferguson. ‘”He has shown so much […]

We can confirm that Fabio Capello has not quit Real Madrid. However, it was reported on Sunday by Spanish television Canal Plus that Capello had tendered his resignation following Real’s 1-0 loss away to Getafe. Football Italia alleges that President Ramon Calderon refused Capello’s decision and convinced him to stay. After the broadcaster raised the […]

Who is Major League Soccer’s most valuable player? Early candidates, like Chivas USA’s Ante Razov, faded as the season went on (injury had a lot to do with it in Razov’s case), while RSL’s Jeff Cunningham, who won the Golden Boot with 15 goals and 11 assists, couldn’t steer his team into the playoffs when […]

In Major League Soccer’s only make-or-break end of season clash, Red Bull New York came from behind to beat the Kansas City Wizards and take from them the final playoff spot in the East. The Bulls would storm back after going behind in a third-minute; Amado Guevara struck twice from the penalty spot before sealing […]

Wayne Rooney, who’s been run down in the press for a series of indifferent performances, was sensational this weekend as Manchester United came from behind to beat Wigan Athletic, 3-1, away from home. Before the match, Rooney’s manager, Sir Alex Ferguson, was once again forced to defend his striker: “We are living in an era […]

While Chelsea was busy losing both of its goalkeepers in the hard-fought victory over Reading, Ronaldinho and Leo Messi were dazzling Sevilla’s defense. The Catalans came out 3-1 winners after two goals from last year’s World Player of the Year, and a third from Messi, the man many expect will one day inherit that honor. […]

Without question the biggest Champions League match of the week is Barcelona’s clash with Chelsea at Stamford Bridge. Both sides came away with victories over the weekend, but Chelsea has a slight two-point edge over the Catalans in Group A, easily the most difficult group in the tournament. Former Chelsea striker Eidur Gudjohnsen, who now […]