Category: Section 2 Around the Net

Claudio Ranieri has been sacked as Juventus coach after a poor run of results and youth team boss Ciro Ferrara has taken over, the club said on Monday. Clinging to third place in Serie A, Juventus is one point above fourth-place Fiorentina with two matches left. The team faces the danger of losing an automatic […]

Striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is 90 percent certain to remain at Inter Milan next season despite fuelling speculation about a move, club president Massimo Moratti said. The Swede, whose 22 league goals inspired Inter's fourth straight Serie A title, has been considering his future at the club after becoming frustrated by their constant failure in the […]

Caracas FC won the second stage of the 2008/09 Venezuelan championship with a 3-1 win over Zamora FC on Sunday. But crowd violence marred the victory when rioting fans caused a 10-minute delay in the start of the second half. Rival fans in the 8,700 crowd clashed on the terraces. Local media said Caracas fans […]

USL's Montreal Impact announced that Marc Dos Santos will take over as interim head coach, replacing John Limniatis. Under Limniatis in 2009 the Impact has struggled for results, winless in its first four regular-season games (0-3-1) and shut out 1-0 by Toronto FC, Wednesday, in its first game of the Nutrilite Canadian Championship. According to […]

Moving to the United States to play professional soccer can be tough, especially if you don't speak the language and have never visited the country before. But Chivas USA's Bojan Stepanovic is finding success both on and off the field. He has grown more accustomed to his new team and his new home in Los […]

Rookie Omar Gonzalez and veteran Gregg Berhalter have formed a formidable partnership in the middle of the Galaxy defense. Still a work in progress, the Galaxy defense has allowed only 10 goals in eight games. "I think it's going OK," Berhalter, who turns 36 in August, said of the partnership. "I've said it's something that […]

Arsene Wenger has opened the door to Emmanuel Adebayor leaving Arsenal this summer by stating he would have no problem in selling a player to Chelsea or any other big four rival. Adebayor, who has endured a turbulent season after he came, in Wenger's words, "close to leaving the club" last summer. He has emerged […]

AC Milan wants Ronaldinho to stay but it would consider a transfer request if the Brazilian playmaker made one, coach Carlo Ancelotti said on Friday. The 29-year-old has struggled since his move to Serie A from Barcelona in July and has only managed the bench recently, prompting media speculation he could move this summer. “Our […]

FIFA has warned Bosnia-Herzegovina and Poland they face ejection from the World Cup if their fans continue to display hooliganism. On Friday the world soccer governing body fined Bosnia’s soccer federation $45,000 and Poland’s federation $22,500 for unruly fan behavior during World Cup qualifying on March 28. Bosnia fans interrupted a qualifier in Belgium for […]

Florentino Perez, the man who turned Real Madrid from an old-fashioned soccer club into a star-studded global marketing project, announced on Thursday that he will again run for president of the club in this summer’s election. Perez led Madrid in 2000-06, when the club won two league titles and one Champions League trophy in the […]

Seattle Sounders FC will increase seating capacity at Qwest Field to 32,000 starting with the June 28 match against the Colorado Rapids. The team announced the sale of seats in the south end zone. Seattle has sold out its first five home games and averaged 29,025, leading Major League Soccer in attendance. At full capacity, […]

Steven Pienaar has called for his Everton teammates to up their performance levels for the final two Premier League fames of the 2008-09 campaign, at home against West Ham and away at Fulham. Everton has won only one of its last six games. Pienaar, a South African international, stated that it is important to turn […]

Defending champion Bayern Munich will welcome striker Miroslav Klose back from injury this weekend as the club prepares for the last two matches of a thrilling Bundesliga title scrap. Bayern (63 points) sits behind leaderr VfL Wolfsburg on goal difference and faces a Hoffenheim club  on Saturday that led the league at the halfway mark […]

Zak Whitbread, Mike Grella and Jemal Johnson are all taking part in the playoffs for promotion from the English third division (League One) to the second division (League Championship). Whitbread with Millwall, Grella with Leeds and Johnson with Milton Keynes Dons. A central defense fixture for Millwall, Whitbread is the one steady starter of this […]

On Saturday, Barcelona could be crowned Primera Liga champions for the 19th time. It could do so without kicking a ball if second-place Real Madrid fails to beat Villarreal at the Madrigal. The Champions League finalist, which routed Athletic Bilbao 4-1 to lift the Copa Del Rey (King's Cup) on Wednesday, is on track to […]

FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil explained, "We currently have two national corporate supporters from South Africa, we are still looking for four more." Currently First National Bank (FNB) and telecommunications company Telkom serve as FIFA's only two South African sponsors. Weil suggested that having more sponsors on board would increase interest and awareness about the […]

When central midfielder Adam Moffat went down with a hamstring injury two matches ago, Columbus Crew coach Robert Warzycha didn’t have to look far for a replacement. Eddie Gaven, who typically plays on the right wing, impressed Warzycha last season when he played in the middle in a U.S. Open Cup match. Warzycha has played […]

Uefa has chosen four Polish cities and Ukraine's capital Kiev to host Euro 2012 games but has postponed a final decision on other Ukrainian venues, the organization's president, Michel Platini, said today. "There are still many problems to be resolved in Ukraine," he admitted. "There are huge infrastructure problems." The four Polish cities confirmed as […]

A Unibond League club, FC United, has come up with a novel way of ensuring it does not lose fans during the current recession. As part of a campaign called "Your season ticket, your choice," the club will let fans name their own season-ticket price. Launched in 2005 as a protest at Malcolm Glazer's takeover […]

Palmeiras goalkeeper Marcos saved three penalties in a shootout to help send his team into the Libertadores Cup quarterfinals at the expense of fellow Brazilian team Sport Recife. Palmeiras, South American champion in 1999, conceded a late goal to Sport that pushed the match into a shootout, which Palmeiras won 3-1. Palmeiras will face Uruguay's […]

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard has been voted Player of the Year by England's Football Writer's Association after the midfielder's efforts helped put the Reds in contention for their first Premier League title since 1990. The 28-year-old has scored 15 league goals to make his team a genuine rival to defending champion Manchester United. "Steven's performances […]

Three weeks after firing Juergen Klinsmann, Bayern Munich has hired Louis van Gaal, of Dutch League champions AZ, as a replacement. According to Dutch TV network NOS, AZ has reached an agreement with Bayern about a transfer fee and van Gaal will be in charge at the German giants starting this summer. Further details about […]

It only seems like Anthony Wallace has been with FC Dallas for a long time. Now in his third MLS season, Wallace is still only 20 years of age. The ninth overall pick in the 2007 SuperDraft, Wallace has yet to play a single minute with FCD’s first unit this season. But he is making […]

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger declares that he will resist the temptation to go on a summer spending spree to challenge for the Premier League title. The Gunners will finish fourth in the league for the fourth straight season and their last trophy remains the 2005 FA Cup. “We have a team which is 22 years […]

Of the eight Mexican stadiums that will host playoff games over the next five days, all but two will open their doors to the public. Tecos' Estadio 3 de Marzo and Jaguares' Estadio Victor Manuel Reyna will close their doors to fans, Mexican soccer federation officials said. The H1N1 flu outbreak has hit the Guadalajara […]