Category: Section 2 Around the Net

A feisty Sunday League football game in the northeast of England ended with a player’s $216,000 Aston Martin smashed up in the parking lot after a postgame fracas, Newcastle Crown Court heard. Andrew Wilson was assaulted and his DB9 Volante convertible was pelted with bricks and concrete after his side, the Boldon Lad pub team, […]

Gamba Osaka “comprehensively outplayed” Adelaide in the first leg of the Asian Champions’ League Final Wednesday, winning 3-0 on goals from Brazilian Lucas, Yasuhito Endo and Michihiro Yasudo. The second leg is next Wednesday.

“I probably should have been there a few years earlier.” Revs’ defender Chris Albright looks back on the switch from forward to defender that transformed his career.

“You can say we rolled the dice, but it was a move we thought about long and hard and went for it. The signs looked pretty darn good when Davy [Arnaud] scored that unbelievable goal against Los Angeles.” Kansas City Wizards’ Coach Curt Onalfo on switching Davey Arnaud from forward to attacking midfielder, and Jack […]

“I really thought it was the right time. It was an emotional, difficult decision. I had a great time here and I will always feel like I’m part of the Bronco family.” Former U.S. national team player Paul Caligiuri resigns as head of the men’s soccer program at Cal Poly Pomona.

“They [New England] were in the referee’s ear from the get-go. We need a strong referee who’s not going to be influenced by them. There was quite a bit of the referee questioning himself.” The Chicago Fire’s Brian McBride starts the psychological games a couple days ahead of the Eastern Conference semifinal second leg.

“Playoffs should match deserving teams against one another with the better team prevailing. Should Real Salt Lake play completely defensive soccer against Chivas on Saturday and tie an ugly game, that doesn’t necessarily constitute being the better side. A more opportunistic side, possibly; a timid one, perhaps; but better would be debatable.” Luis Bueno offers […]

“I’ve always tried to keep Levski [Sofia] away from such things but it’s obvious there’s match manipulation and illegal betting in Bulgaria.” Levski Sofia owner Todor Batkov claims that corruption is widespread in Bulgarian soccer.

“South African Tourism on Monday withdrew from the advisory board of FIFA accommodation and ticketing partner, MATCH, accusing the company of bullying small hotel owners.” Now the South African government is trying to defuse the row.

“The Republicans are at a loss. They keep punching the ‘real America’, ‘small town’, ‘psst, he’s black’ buttons but nothing happens. Because real America has moved on. They sip lattes on Main Street. They like to think they’re color-blind. And godamn it they’ve been chowing down on arugula in the Midwest for decades (only they […]

David Beckham has a get-out clause in his five-year contract with Major League Soccer that would allow him to leave the L.A. Galaxy at the end of the 2009 season, writes Grant Wahl. Quoting “multiple sources,” he says that the revelation is “big news.” “That Beckham holds that option is an important distinction, one that […]

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger’s principles are to be admired, writes Kevin McCarra. The Frenchman strives to field a young team that plays good soccer. The problem is that it could cost the team a place in the top four, and that would mean financial calamity for a club still paying for its stadium. Wenger, says […]

In traditional American sports “the postseason customarily means entire cities or states whipped into white towel frenzy … and capacity playoff crowds,” writes Nick Green. But in MLS “the playoffs generate little discernible interest, let alone excitement, beyond hardcore fans, low-scoring games between roughly comparable teams and attendances that are actually lower than for largely […]

All New York has to do to progress to the Western Conference final is to win at the Houston Dynamo on Sunday. And, writes an optimistic Frank Giase, “it’s not as impossible as it may seem.” True, Houston’s home form was the best in the regular season at 10-1-4, while New York had the least […]

U.S. midfielder Bobby Convey is still in the plans of English Championship (second tier) side Reading FC, according to a club spokesman, despite two injury-affected years and a failure to make an impact when the club played two seasons in the Premier League. “Bobby is now fit, available again and pushing for a recall to […]

When the Major League Soccer postseason begins, the debate about home advantage kicks off too. Whichever team plays home first claims that this is the better deal. The team playing home second argues otherwise. For Real Salt Lake players traveling to L.A. next weekend to face Chivas USA with a one-goal lead in its pocket, […]

New York could have enjoyed the same advantage as Salt Lake if it had held on to its one-goal lead at home to the Houston Dynamo Saturday in what Joshua Robinson describes as a "messy, physical game." Houston's late equalizer, though, means the Texan team would certainly argue that playing at home second is best. […]

Gareth Wheeler addresses the dilemma facing Toronto FC in the offseason. Does the team follow the lead of the newest MLS franchise, Seattle Sounders FC, and try to sign a Designated Player? Wheeler lauds the Sounders’ boldness in signing former Arsenal midfielder and Swedish international Freddie Ljungberg, 31, and says that signing a DP is […]

Egyptian champion Al-Ahly took a two-goal lead in the first leg of the African Champions Cup final Sunday against Cotonsport of Cameroon in front of 70,000 fans in Cairo. The second leg will be played November 16 in Cotonsport’s home city, Garoua. Al-Ahly struck twice early on through a header from defender Wael Gomaa in […]

It's always been clear that Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich has been an exceedingly wealthy man ever since he bought formerly state-owned Russian oil company Sibneft for peanuts in 1995, then sold it 10 years later for $12 billion. A ruling by the Royal Courts of Justice in London, however, has outlined in detail the […]

Italy’s World Cup-winning defender Marco Materazzi has won undisclosed damages from U.K. tabloid The Daily Mail over its claim that the player racially insulted Zinedine Zidane during the 2006 World Cup final.

A TV camera reportedly caught Barcelona’s Lionel Messi spitting at Malaga player Duda during Barcelona’s 4-1 weekend win.

“We were two minutes away from accomplishing what we set out to do when you come on the road. It’s unfortunate and we’re disappointed, upset. But it’s halftime and we’re going home. We’d have to score a goal to advance anyway.” Chivas USA veteran midfielder Jesse Marsch looks ahead to his side’s Western Conference semifinal […]

“It’s been a while since this club has been through the playoffs. There is always a little bit of apprehension, a little bit of tentativeness. To get the first game under our belt knowing we didn’t play our best game and being able to come out on equal footing was very important for our team.” […]

“There are those who will say that instead of condemning the pair [Joey Barton and Wayne Rooney] we should applaud them for engaging in an ancient British tradition that dates all the way back to the 1990s, even though it might have made sounder economic sense for them to kiss their boot manufacturers’ logos or […]