Category: Story

The English FA has handed Chelsea striker Didier Drogba a three-game ban for throwing a coin back into the crowd during last week’s League Cup tie against Burnley. He will miss forthcoming league games against Arsenal, Newcastle United and Bolton Wanderers.

Player Withdrawals Make Germany-England Pointless

“What could — and should — have been a feverishly anticipated clash between two of football’s grandest foes has become an albatross, a fixture that nobody — from the players, to their club managers, to their fans — wants, or worse, even cares about.” Dan Silver looks forward to Wednesday’s Germany-England game in Berlin.

Top Marks For Subotic

Borussia Dortmund defender Neven Subotic, still undecided on whether to play for Serbia or the U.S. at international level, was nominated to Eurosport’s Bundesliga team of the week following his two-goal performance against Eintracht Frankfurt Saturday. Kicker magazine also awarded him one of its rare ‘world class’ 1.0 ratings, although he didn’t get MVP — […]

Ronaldo’s Modest Top Three Nominations

“I am the first-, second- and third-best player in the world. There are other good candidates, like Kaka, [Lionel] Messi and [Fernando] Torres. I think that I did everything that is necessary to win and I am going to continue doing more. My goal is to win everything in front of me.” Cristiano Ronaldo half-jokes […]

SPOTLIGHT: Soccer unites Westmont after fire

by Paul KennedyNovember 18, 2008

Four days after the devastation of the Tea Fire in Montecito, Calif., that destroyed more than 100 homes, including the home of head coach Dave Wolf, and closed down the school, Westmont College regrouped and won the Golden State Athletic Conference men’s championship with a 2-0 win at defending national champion Azusa Pacific on Monday that earned the Warriors a berth in the 50th annual NAIA national championship that begins Saturday.

AWARDS: Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week

Kwame Adjeman-Pamboe, who led streaking George Mason to the CAA title, is the Soccer America Men’s Player of the Week. For all the Soccer America Men’s Team of the Week selections for games played Nov. 10-16 …

MORNING BRIEFING: UCLA squeaks through

by Paul KennedyNovember 18, 2008

Unbeaten UCLA moved into the third round of the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament with a tense 1-0 victory over San Diego in a match postponed until Monday because of poor air quality caused by the Southern California fires. The win set up a date with cross-town rival USC Saturday in Westwood in a rematch of last year’s Women’s College Cup semifinal the Women of Troy won.

SCOREBOARD: NCAA Division I Women

Play resumes in the NCAA Division I Women’s Tournament with eight games this weekend. It begins Friday when No. 1 regional seeds Notre Dame and Stanford host unseeded Minnesota and Rutgers, respectively. For all the results and schedules …

MORNING BRIEFING: Wake heads men’s field

by Paul KennedyNovember 18, 2008

Defending champion Wake Forest is the top seed in the 48-team NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament field announced on Monday. The Demon Deacons, whose 25-game unbeaten streak was stopped by Virginia in Saturday’s ACC semifinals, were joined by two other teams from last year’s Men’s College Cup, Massachusetts and Ohio State, which nabbed at-large bids ahead of several teams disappointed to be left out.

A bit too fanatic

[OFF THE POST] Fans of Argentine second division club Chacarita, fearing they’d be late to their team’s game against Talleres, hijacked a pair of a couple of buses and pointed knives at the drivers with instructions to drive faster.

Osorio method forges Red Bulls’ winning mentality

by Ridge MahoneyNovember 18, 2008

A goalie, especially a young one, might be the worst player to ask about how a successful head coach manages and prepares a team. The tinkering of lineups and personnel and formations and tactics by Red Bulls coach Juan Carlos Osorio has attracted much notice and some disdain, but as keeper Danny Cepero notes, the Osorio Method that has sent the Red Bulls to the MLS final is as much about what a player is between the ears as what he does between the lines.

Guatemala replaces coach, drops Ruiz for deciding match

by Paul KennedyNovember 18, 2008

[USA-GUATEMALA] Guatemala will face the United States Wednesday at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park in Commerce City, Colo., with a new coach, Benjamin Monterroso, but without its longtime star, MLS veteran Carlos Ruiz.

Madrid backs coach Schuster

by Ian PlenderleithNovember 18, 2008

[SPAIN] Real Madrid coach Bernd Schuster has been given a vote of confidence by the team’s sporting director, Predrag Mijatovic, despite the team’s recent shaky form.

Australia guards against complacency

by Ian PlenderleithNovember 18, 2008

[WORLD CUP 2010 QUALIFYING] Australia hopes to preserve its 100 percent record in the final group phase of Asian World Cup qualifying. In Group 2, unbeaten Saudi Arabia and South Korea face off in Riyadh.

Kreis Regrets Not Punishing ‘Negative’ NY

Salt Lake Coach Jason Kreis was a mixture of frustration and stoicism after his team’s 1-0 weekend defeat to New York in the Western Conference Final. On the one hand he’s been in the game long enough to know “that’s just how the game goes.” Referring to his team’s failure to convert pressure and chances […]

Ugly Win Down To Luck And Passion

However you want to analyze the reasons why RB New York has made it to the MLS Cup final, there's no discounting a certain amount of good fortune. Even coach Juan Carlos Osorio acknowledged the role of divine intervention after its opponents, Real Salt Lake, hit the woodwork three times during Saturday's game. "We have […]

When Busch Comes To Shove

It all went sour when the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year bumped into the MLS Coach of the Year following Thursday’s Eastern Conference playoff final. But then Chicago Fire stopper Jon Busch and his former coach, the Columbus Crew’s Sigi Schmid, have been at odds ever since Busch complained about the way Schmid traded him […]

Egypt’s Al-Ahly Takes African Crown

Al-Ahly of Egypt won the African Champions League Sunday, beating Coton Sport of Cameroon 4-2 on aggregate. It was a record-breaking sixth triumph for the club in the competition, and followed the Egyptian national team’s victory in the African Nations Cup at the start of the year. After winning the first leg 2-0 in Cairo […]

The Impossible Demands On Flawed Referees

“Premier League managers will never respect referees,” writes Simon Barnes. “Respect is an impossible idea and the worthy campaign intended to inspire it is doomed to failure.” He cites the weekend red card shown to Emmerson Boyce of Wigan Athletic for his foul on Newcastle’s Shola Ameobi, which replays showed was clearly not a foul, […]

Why Beckham Missed England Call-Up

“This is my system. If you are fit and you are playing, it’s possible to be in the squad. He played his last game three weeks ago. If he had played in the [MLS] playoffs, it would have been OK.” England Manager Fabio Capello explains David Beckham’s omission from the England squad to play Germany […]

Miami Decision ‘Within Next Month’

“We have always stated that one of the conditions for us was starting in March, 2010. We will not negotiate on that, and MLS understands our position. Therefore, because the timeframe is relatively short, we expect MLS will make a decision about our franchise in the very near future … say the next month or […]

Blame The System For NY Success

“Ten wins in 30 games. A goal differential of minus 6. A team with only one road win in the regular season. Your 2008 MLS Cup winner? It might just be the New York Red Bulls.” Gareth Wheeler says don’t blame New York, blame the system.

Fumbling In The Dark With Maradona

“Having Maradona as our coach creates anticipation like your wedding night. It’s tremendously exciting, and you really hope that it will be wonderful, but you never actually know what’s going to happen.” Julio Grondona, the President of the Argentine FA, knows it won’t be easy going with Diego Maradona as national team coach.

Arsenal Fears WPS Exodus