Category: Section 2 Around the Net

On Friday, Russia officially unveiled its bid to host the 2018 or 2022 World Cup. Pledging to restrict the large-scale event to the vast nation’s European territory, the country hopes to revamp its infrastructure and bring much-needed development to its neglected cities. Russia hopes that its bid will be strengthened by the fact that it […]

Schalke midfielder Jermaine Jones has undergone surgery that will sideline him for at least six more weeks, the German newspaper Bild reported on Wednesday. The surgery removed a metal plate in Jones' leg that he received from an earlier surgery in June to repair a shin injury. Causing Jones pain, the metal plate prevented him […]

Covering the exhibition game between Real Salt Lake and Chivas de Guadalajara, Michael C. Lewis writes: “Coach Jason Kreis was eager to find out which of his Real Salt Lake players would fight for the team as it heads into the last desperate stretch of its Major League Soccer season next week, and now he […]

Avram Grant has returned to Portsmouth, where he served as technical director from June 2006 to July 2007, to become the club’s new director of soccer. Grant left Portsmouth in 2007 to become director of soccer at Chelsea, where he succeeded Jose Mourinho as manager for much of the 2008 season. Portsmouth chief executive Peter […]

Former Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon believes the club is overreacting to its first loss, which came against Sevilla on Sunday. Rumors about the instability of Coach Manuel Pelligrini‘s job prompted Calderon to criticize the club’s unrealistic expectations. “This pains me because after they lose a game, despite playing very well against a great team, […]

This summer Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni made clear that he would consider leaving the club if he failed to become a regular starter, and this is the scenario playing out so far this season. The 32-year-old has struggled to find playing time under Bayern boss Louis Van Gaal, who has a slew of other […]

Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas said that he is “worried” after Bafetimbi Gomis fainted again during training with France on Wednesday. Gomis has fainted three times since joining Lyon in the summer, twice in the span of the last week. "We can’t not be worried, it scares you each time," Aulas told ITele . "A vasovagal […]

As two leaders struggle for control of Honduras, the country’s people have dealt with months of political division, protests, and losses of foreign aid. Forced into political exile, President Manuel Zelaya has returned to asylum in Honduras’ Brazilian embassy to claim his place as the rightful Honduran president amid support for his replacement, Roberto Micheletti. […]

After six years playing professional soccer, Roger Levesque finally scored his first goal in an MLS league match, in Seattle's 1-0 victory over Columbus. Levesque's reaction, or lack of it, recalled a player who had done it before. It makes sense then that Levesque has scored plenty of goals for Seattle, most while playing for […]

Baltimore has added a new twist to D.C. United's hunt for a new stadium. Baltimore Mayor Sheila Dixon wrote a Sept. 30 letter urging the Maryland Stadium Authority to consider the possibility of building a new soccer stadium for the team in Baltimore as part of a green mixed-use project. The new stadium would have […]

U.S. forward Charlie Davies, who featured regularly for his country this summer, says that the national team isn't merely trying to qualify for the World Cup. "By beating Spain in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup and by narrowly losing to Brazil in the final, we showed that we can do something global," he enthused […]

Mexican-American Edgar Castillo won’t get a chance to make an impact for the USA during the last round of World Cup qualifying games. The left back injured his hamstring during training last week. But he is expected to return to action for his club Tigres on Oct. 18 against Toluca, the first-place team in the […]

Argentina coach Diego Maradona, who has faced intense scrutiny for Argentina's lackluster World Cup qualifying campaign, has suggested that he may quit after the country's final two qualifying games. "I'm going to see if I continue," Maradona said after Tuesday's training session to prepare for Saturday's home game with Peru. Maradona suggested he might leave […]

UEFA President Michel Platini said that Israel could host a European-level soccer tournament in the future. "If there will be better stadiums, you will definitely be able to host tournaments in the next few years," Platini said at a news conference with Israel soccer federation chairman Avi Luzon. Speaking during a meeting with Israeli President […]

Qualifying for the World Cup is usually a given for Argentina, a country that won the World Cup in 1978 and 1986, and has not missed the competition since 1970. But Argentina’s qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup has been a torturous one, as it wobbles on the fringe of missing the cut. The […]

This week MLS Commissioner Don Garber will present the case for financial controls like salary caps and spending limits at the "Leaders of Football" conference in London. "I hope to present some of the experiences we have had in the MLS and in other leagues as perhaps, if not blueprint, a guide as European soccer […]

Prior to the season, San Jose striker Ryan Johnson set out to score 10 goals, an ambitious mark considering his previous high had been five. But last Saturday Johnson notched his 10th against the New York Red Bulls. A midseason shoulder injury, however, may have even prevented the striker from bagging more. "[Johnson] might not […]

Cristiano Ronaldo, who sat out this past weekend with an ankle injury during Real Madrid’s loss to Sevilla, believes he will recover in time for Portugal’s crucial World Cup qualifier against Hungary this weekend. “I’ve been recovering well, in line with expectations,” the Real Madrid winger said late Monday. “Let’s see how it goes, but […]

England coach Fabio Capello left Arsenal winger Theo Walcott off the national team squad for the upcoming qualifying games against Ukraine and Belarus. Now Walcott has been called into the England Under-21 squad to face Macedonia on Friday. England U-21 boss Stuart Pearce said: “I spoke with [Arsena; coach] Arsene Wenger and we both agreed […]

Hong Kong billionaire Carson Yeung has bought more than a 90 percent stake in Premier League club Birmingham City, a move that allows him to purchase the rest of the club's shares on a compulsory basis, according to the BBC. Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish, who helped guide the club to promotion last season, expressed […]

Sigi Schmid‘s first year Seattle Sounders FC hasn’t reached the same levels of consistency and chemistry as Schmid’s old project, the defending MLS champions Columbus Crew. But on Saturday, Sounders FC squeaked out a 1-0 victory to end the Crew’s league-record 24-game home-unbeaten streak, a mark that started last season under Schmid. At Seattle, Schmid […]

Didier Drogba set up two close-range finishes, one for Nicolas Anelka and the other for Florent Malouda, as Chelsea earned a deserved victory over Liverpool at Stamford Bridge. Liverpool threatened only occasionally, with Fernando Torres subdued by a magnificent performance from Chelsea and England captain John Terry, who repelled any danger that came his side’s […]

On Saturday the Houston Dynamo clinched a playoff birth for the fourth consecutive season with a 1-1 tie against the Kansas City Wizards. Despite its success, some warning signs are emerging for the Dynamo late in the season. For the sixth time in eight games, including the past four, a Dynamo player picked up a […]

FIFA.com interviews the Ricardo Clark, whose gritty defending and tough tackles for the national team often go unnoticed in the headlines. The Atlanta-born Clark is a product of the U.S. national youth team system. He earned his first cap at the senior level in 2005, and he garnered attention this June at the FIFA Confederations […]

Former U.S. national team midfielder Hugo Perez may have been the first playmaker in U.S. history. And he is largely unknown in this country. “I think Perez really flew under the radar,” said former U.S. international Marcelo Balboa, who was Perez’s teammate on the 1994 World Cup team. “That was the sad part. You really […]