Category: Section 2 Around the Net

In a feel-good story about “growth, discipline and the amazing healing power of the second chance,” the Houston Chronicle’s Richard Justice, um, chronicles the turnaround tale of Dynamo backup goalkeeper Tyler Deric. Signed by Houston as part of their Academy team, Deric’s MLS career was quickly derailed when a significant lack of commitment caused coach […]

Former on-field legend Diego Maradona is committed to similar success just off the field as the new coach of the Argentina, speaking out Thursday to TyC TV to defend his credentials and praise both the players and former Argentina coach and current general manager Carlos Bilardo. “I have proved to myself that I can lead […]

While he enters the 2009 season as the Red Bulls incumbent keeper, having been between the posts for the last six games of a season that ended with an unlikely appearance in the MLS Cup final, 23-year-old Danny Cepero “doesn’t expect the starting job to be handed to him on a silver platter,” writes Michael […]

"There is a great probability that Beckham will stay at Milan until June. I am very optimistic. All that is missing is a signature and we need to iron out a couple of things. In any case we are almost there. We are on the right track and the signature could arrive in a few […]

"Watching her play, the way that she plays with such passion, such energy, such a love for the game, and so much creativity, I found myself being glued to the TV set. There were three things I wanted to accomplish last summer when I was in Beijing. One was to win a gold medal. Two […]

"I do not want to overact on this situation. Ashley [Cole] will be in the squad for tomorrow. He has publicly apologized about his conduct and behavior to the police officer, and it is a rather private matter. We have internal discipline, and this is to be considered internal. I have spoken firmly with him […]

“We are going there to win and we are going for it alone. France, a great soccer nation with 2,500,000 registered footballers, must go it alone in this conquest. There is a common desire of everyone in soccer [in France] to do it and do it alone.” French soccer federation president Jean-Pierre Escalettes, emphatically (albeit […]

The Thomas Rongen-coached U.S. U-20 men’s national team will be trying to secure its seventh consecutive FIFA U-20 World Cup appearance when it kicks off the eight-team CONCACAF qualifying tournament in Trinidad & Tobago with a group match vs. Jamaica on Friday. The USA will go on to face Group A opponents Honduras on March […]

Playing in his first professional match in Brazil since 1994, Ronaldo returned to the field in the 68th minute of an opening round Brazilian Cup clash with Itumbiara, helping Corinthians hold on to a 2-0 win and advance in the tournament. It was Ronaldo’s game since undergoing surgery after a knee injury suffered with AC […]

Manchester City board member and self-proclaimed Argentina aficianado Dr. Sulaiman Al-Fahim continues his quest to bring overnight success to the long-struggling EPL side, this time setting his sights on Barcelona’s 21-year-old midfield maestro Lionel Messi, as well as Diego Maradona in what would equate to a General Manager role. “I do not know if Maradona […]

“Colombian soccer champion America de Cali are first to admit cocaine dollars had a hand in their sporting heyday. But after years of paying the price, they’re trying to wipe the slate clean,” writes Reuters’ Helen Popper in an inspiring report on the team’s (and the city’s) efforts to make a new name for themselves […]

Liverpool owners Tom Hicks and George Gillette are having a hard time convincing an investor consortium from Kuwait that the English Premier League team is worth the $625 million that the two American businessman have valued it at. According to an ESPN Soccernet report, consortium spokesman and possible investor Abdulla Al-Sager admitted that ongoing negotiations […]

br> "The people who are collected together to judge racist incidents maybe don’t attach a priority to it. Their own education as human beings is not sufficient to be sensitive to racism and firm enough against it. What is important is to have people with different horizons in the corridors of power.” Former French international […]

“I watched the matches that were broadcast in Russia whenever possible. But to tell the truth, it seemed less difficult on TV. Only now do I understand how dynamic and hard the soccer is here. Now I would like to score as soon as possible. Everybody expected me to score in my very first match […]

"On life support in recent weeks," Miami's expansion bid to rejoin MLS in 2010 died on Tuesday when the league, FC Barcelona, and investor Marcelo Claure jointly announced they pulled the plug on the proposed expansion franchise because the timing wasn't right and the economic climate too tenuous," writes the Miami Herald's Michelle Kaufman. After […]

Ottawa city officials are playing both sides on the issue of accepting a new team to their sports landscape, weighing expansion offers and stadium proposals from both Major League Soccer and the Canadian Football League, who are attempting to establish a team in Ottawa after two previous teams failed to catch on. Despite the Rough […]

Acknowledging a lack of large-scale interest and ticket sales on a local level to this point for the 2010 World Cup, South African government officials are calling for more funds and a much-increased marketing effort to promote both the marquee tournament as well as the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup coming in June, according to ESPN […]

Brazilian living legend Ronaldo is set to make his debut for new team Corinthians when they meet Itumbiara on Wednesday, with the striker expected to come on in the second half of their Brazilian Cup match. Ronaldo’s return was originally slated for Sunday when they face nemesis Palmeiras, but the three-time World Player of the […]

A Tuesday terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team in Pakistan that resulted in eight deaths and seven others wounded has led FIFA General Secretary Jerome Valcke to call a “crisis evaluation committee” meeting next Tuesday, March 10 in Johannesburg to “discuss taking security to a maximum level” for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. […]

“Soccer is seen as a man’s game in Turkey. We’ve had men come to watch our practices and yell at our players: ‘What are you doing here? You should be at home, cooking!’ It’s going to take time to change this.” Nupert Ozbar, one of the few accredited female soccer coaches in Turkey, and the […]

“When you look at a potential United keeper you need to ask yourself: Is he technically good enough? Is he brave enough? Is he mentally tough enough? Is he organized and confident enough? [Edwin] Van der Sar answers all these questions positively. I played against him at international level and he always impressed me, but […]

"It was my decision for some time to have an experience outside my country, so when I had this conflict with my former club, I saw this opportunity. The United States has always been a place I have been interested in and when Kansas City approached me, it became an easy decision. There were other […]

“We’d like to have a player with name recognition, a high-caliber Hispanic player, preferably Mexican. We’re working on that. I don’t know when we will be able to do that, but hopefully sooner rather than later. When the time comes, we’ll sit down with the front office and coach [Dominic] Kinnear and make a decision.” […]

According to an LA Times report, after more than a week of negotiations, an agreement “designed to benefit each side is close to being finalized” and would have David Beckham officially returning to the LA Galaxy in mid-July after the conclusion of AC Milan’s Serie A season. Gaining an extension of the original loan through […]

Stuck at the end of the bench for French team AS Monaco, a year after spending a season in purgatory in Portugal at Benfica, the career of U.S. teen “phenom” Freddy Adu is not exactly following according to plan, causing SI.com’s Greg Lalas to question what is best for the young starlet. Before getting into […]