“I like the money, but of course teachers should get more than us. I’m not saying footballers should save the environment and change the NHS [National Health Service], but if we portrayed ourselves 15 percent better then it would help.”
— Longtime American English Premier League goalkeeper Brad Friedel, who has created a soccer self-help manual provisionally titled “Bling Free Zone.” (Times)
Because of AC Milan’s commitments at the Club World Cup in Japan, the deciding Group D matches in the UEFA Champions League have been moved up to Tuesday. For what’s at stake and the TV listings …
The adidas all-Star teams from the recently completed US Youth Soccer ODP Boys Interregionals were selected for the ’92, ’93 and ’94 age groups.
A Peruvian game was abandoned by referee Percy Rojas after fighting in the stands spilled onto the field. The chaos started when Universitario players tried to beat up Sport Ancash midfielder Efrain Viafara – igniting a brawl between the squads — because they felt he insulted them by controlling a pass with his buttocks. The on-field melee inspired the opposing fans to have at it while Ancash led, 2-1.
One week after going on sale to the general public, 26,000 tickets have been sold for the USA’s friendly against Mexico Feb. 6 at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
Aside from notable absences, including Freddy Adu, the players summoned to Home Depot Center this week by U.S. U-23/Olympic coach Peter Nowak are expected to fill a few vital slots in the squad he’ll take to Beijing in August, assuming the U.S. qualifies.
Brazilian Kaka was awarded the 2007 Golden Ball (Ballon d’Or) as the winner of the former European Player of the Year award.
[EURO 2008 SCHEDULE] There’s no getting away from each other. World Cup 2006 finalists Italy and France were drawn in the same group for the 2008 European Champions finals — and their coaches saw it coming.
[INTERNATIONAL HEADLINERS] Raul continued his scoring spree with two goals for La Liga leader Real Madrid. Arsenal held on to the top spot in the EPL after being tested in both halves at Aston Villa. Lanus won its first Argentine championship, while giant Corinthians was condemned to relegation in a controversial end to the Brazilian season.
Glasgow Rangers’ American midfielder DaMarcus Beasley will be sidelined for months because of a knee injury that requires surgery. Beasley, 25, suffered ligament damage last Tuesday in a collision with VfB Stuttgart Raphael Schaefer in a Rangers’ 3-2 Champions League loss.
“I’ve got it signed, I want to frame it and keep it for my kids. Every kid in the world knows who David Beckham is and my kids are just the same.”
— Ross Aloisi, captain of New Zealand’s Wellington Phoenix, in a good mood after his team’s 4-1 loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy because he swapped jerseys with David Beckham. (The Dominion Post)
[VIDEO] The Los Angeles Galaxy’s David Beckham, playing the full 90 minutes despite being obligated to go just 55 minutes in Saturday’s exhibition against Wellington Phoenix, helped set up three goals and scored from the penalty spot in a 4-1 win in front 31,853 fans in New Zealand.
[AMERICANS ABROAD] In the Mexican Apertura 2007 semifinals, Edgar Castillo again went the full 90 as Santos downed UNAM Pumas, 4-2, but was eliminated, 5-4, on aggregate.
[AMERICANS IN GERMANY]. Right back Steve Cherundolo made his 15th start of the season for Hannover 96 as it won, 3-0, at Hansa Rostock, for which Heath Pearce came on at halftime for his eighth appearance of the season.
[AMERICANS IN ENGLAND] Fulham (with Americans Clint Dempsey and Carlos Bocanegra) faces Manchester United on Monday (TV: Setanta USA, 2 pm ET). Over the weekend, West Ham’s Jonathan Spector played the last 11 minutes in a 1-0 loss to Chelsea, which scored in the 76th minute through Joe Cole. Goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann and midfielder Bobby Convey started in Reading’s 1-1 tie with Middlesbrough. One of the EPL’s American keepers celebrated a win.
Santos, the overall leader in the Mexican regular season, faces an uphill battle in its bid to make the Torneo Apertura final after being thrashed by UNAM, 3-0, in Thursday’s semifinal first leg in Mexico City.
Helsingborg of Sweden and Greece’s Panathinaikos became the first clubs to qualify for the knockout phase of the UEFA Cup. Tottenham remained unbeaten under new manager Juande Ramos, recovering from a two-goal deficit to beat AaB Aalborg, 3-2. American Dan Califf went the entire game for the Danish club. Ramiro Corrales, Califf’s teammate on the 2000 U.S. Olympic team, also played 90 minutes in Norwegian club Brann’s 2-1 win over Dinamo Zagreb. For all the results, goal scorers and standings …
“We would have the best team if we could go into every household and throw away every PlayStation, Xbox and video game.”
— West Ham goalkeeper Robert Green offers another explanation for England’s national team’s plight. (The Age)
Ridge Mahoney reports on MLS’s expanding frontiers
A more apropos name might be “Becks Does Honolulu” for the Pan-Pacific Championship officially announced by MLS yesterday, but marketing issues aside, this event certainly offers some allure beyond that of David Beckham. The four-team tournament will match teams from MLS (the Galaxy and Houston), J-League (Gamba Osaka) and Australia’s A-League (TBA) in Honolulu Feb. 20 and 23.
[INTERNATIONAL HEADLINERS] With the emergence of 17-year-old Bojan Krkic, Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard will face the thorny issue of who to play and who to leave on the bench when Barca faces city rival Espanyol on Saturday. High-scoring Juventus looks to extend AC Milan’s Serie A winless streak at home when they meet Saturday at the San Siro. Scotsman Alex McLeish makes his debut as Birmingham City manager at Tottenham on Sunday. Lanus can clinch its first Argentine league title with a win or tie at Boca Juniors.
The Los Angeles Galaxy with David Beckham drew a crowd of 15,000 to its training session in Wellington, New Zealand ahead of its Saturday exhibition game against the Wellington Phoenix.
The Associated Press noted that the large crowd for a soccer practice is unprecedented in New Zealand, where the sport takes a backseat to rugby.
ESPN2 and ESPN Deportes will provide live coverage of the Final Draw for the 2008 European Championship Sunday at 6 a.m. ET.
[UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE] Liverpool fans showed which side they are on in the very public feud between Reds manager Rafael Benitez and the club’s American owners, Tom Hicks and George Gillett. Fans marched Wednesday in support of Benitez to Anfield, where they chanted his name during the Reds’ critical UEFA Champions League game against Porto and were rewarded with a 4-1 win.
Chelsea and AC Milan were the only teams on Tuesday to clinch berths in the second stage of the UEFA Champions League. Eight spots will be up for grabs on Matchday 6, which will be held Dec. 11-12.
[ROSTER] U.S. under-23 national team coach Peter Nowak called in 22 players — including 16 MLS players — for a training camp at the Home Depot Center in preparation for games in China Dec. 13 and 16 against the Chinese U-23s.
