“It’s awesome. I don’t know the full implications of what it means to be in Cuba, what it means to play in Cuba, and I think I underestimate maybe how strange it’s going to be to be there. The more I talk to people, the more I hear stuff like we can’t use credit cards there, we can’t use American cash. It’s like, ‘Where the hell are we going? Mars?'”
— U.S. striker Landon Donovan on traveling to Havana for Saturday’s World Cup qualifying game against Cuba. (SI.com)
“It’s more than 30 years down the road now so I can tell you. It was in a match between my team, Nancy, and Nantes in 1975 — and I was happy to do it. I also did it once in another match, but I cannot remember which one. But that was all. Never again.”
— UEFA president Michel Platini admits that he took a dive or two during his illustrious playing career. Platini said his plan to experiment with five officials at a youth tournament later this year is intended to make it harder for players to simulate being fouled. (Reuters)
“We’re absolutely convinced that we have the right man for the job and that we’re heading in the right direction. We have absolute patience. I’m not worked up all. I’m completely calm. We drew 10 times last year and we ended up champions by 10 points.”
— Bayern Munich president Karl-Heinz Rummenigge delivers a vote of confidence to Coach Juergen Klinsmann after Bayern started the Bundesliga season with two ties. (Reuters)
“I’ve done 150 games with him and can assume Mr. Pickel doesn’t signal any old s***.”
— Bundesliga referee Herbert Fandel, who ejected Bayern Munich midfielder Mark van Bommel for an assault on Borussia Dortmund’s Tamas Hajnal that was called by linesman Mike Pickel. Van Bommel, who had already been cautioned for a lethal tackle, claimed he was ejected because refs are out to get him. (Guardian)
“You know how to make yogurt, but you don’t know anything about soccer.”
— What Al-Zawraa fans chanted during the Iraqi Cup final, which the Baghdad club lost, 1-0, to Irbil, the club from the capital of the Kurdish region in Northern Iraq that is known for its dairy. The sellout crowd of 50,000 was largest Baghdad crowd for a sporting event since the U.S. occupation of Iraq began in 2003. (AP)
“I have seen a lot of [shots] go to the corner flags or over the goals, so it’s nice to see one that finally goes into the goal.”
— D.C. United midfielder Joe Vide, a third-year MLS player who scored his first league goal in a 3-0 win over Colorado. Vide, who was waived by San Jose last month and picked up by injury-depleted United, had only four shots on goal in his previous 32 MLS games before connecting on Saturday. (Washington Post).
“The sun and the weather year-round, I don’t really like. I prefer the East Coast, where it’s 100 degrees and humid right now. And in the winter I love the snow and the blizzards and all that. I’m crazy to be here. I don’t really understand why I’ve come here.”
— Bruce Arena, with only a tad of sarcasm, before his first game as coach of MLS’s Los Angeles Galaxy. (Los Angeles Galaxy)
“It was a very hard fought game, and for us a hard earned three points. The win is based more on the determination of our team. Sometimes it’s necessary to win games in that way. It was a game where we relied on the effort, team spirit, and the mentality of the group. … We have played some tough games in the last year, but none of them are qualifiers. To experience it and to win in that fashion is good for the group.”
— U.S. coach Bob Bradley on the USA’s 1-0 win at Guatemala in its first game of the semifinal round of World Cup qualifying. Forty fouls were committed and each team had a played ejected.
“Hopefully we can make it a nice week for the family. I’ve talked to her family and everybody is excited and hopefully we can top off the week with a win [Wednesday]. I’m feeling the pride myself that my cousin came third.”
— Houston Dynamo midfielder Dwayne De Rosario, whose cousin, Priscilla Lopes-Schliep, won an Olympic bronze medal for Canada in the women’s 100-meter hurdles on Tuesday. On Wednesday, De Rosario lines up for Canada in its World Cup qualifying game against Jamaica. (Globe and Mail)
“When you have Landon Donovan and David Beckham, you’re not that bad off. We have some good players to build this team around. We can get better and we’re capable of getting enough points and qualifying for the playoffs. … This year you can’t do anything [with the roster]. That’s basically a fact. Down the road, we’re going to use this year to evaluate the team on the field and off and see what kind of things we can do to make it better.”
— New Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena. (MLSnet.com)
“Well, we’re not at a stage anymore where there are moral victories in tournaments like this. We’re well past that. And so I think what’s really frustrating when I look at it is we didn’t lose to superior teams necessarily.”
— U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati on the U.S. men’s Olympic team’s first-round exit, after which Coach Peter Nowak said, “For me, they won a gold medal in this game [2-1 loss to Nigeria].” (SI.com)
“We play soccer like the Brazilians play Ping-Pong.”
— Li Weifeng, captain of China’s men’s national soccer team, which exited in the first round of the Olympic tournament with two losses and a tie. (New York Times)
“With everything that has gone on, there will be distractions. I’ve got to help those guys think about only one thing, and that’s about their play on the field. When you look at it, there have been changes from the top down through the coaching staff as well, but when it comes down to it, the players are the same.”
— Cobi Jones, interim head coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy, which on Thursday faces Chivas USA (ESPN2, 11 pm ET) in its first game since the departure of Coach Ruud Gullit and general manager Alexi Lalas. (Los Angeles Daily News)
“I don’t plan to make any drastic changes. I don’t know how long I’m going to be here.”
— Cobi Jones, sounding like the interim coach that he is. Jones, who took over for Ruud Gullit, will lead the Los Angeles Galaxy for the first time in Thursday when it faces Chivas USA. (Los Angeles Daily News)
“There are two good people that for different reasons aren’t part of this organization today, and that’s a shame. The fact is, the players have to look deep inside themselves and understand they have to be responsible for some of this. Am I angry we find ourselves in the situation we find ourselves in? Yes. This is not a fun week. The Galaxy hasn’t made the playoffs for a couple years. Punting on this season is not acceptable. It starts Thursday.”
— Tim Leiweke, president of Los Angeles Galaxy owner AEG, after the announcement that General Manager Alexi Lalas was fired and Coach Ruud Gullit resigned on Monday. (AP)
“Mistakes. Very simple. We can’t afford to make mistakes. We’re going to get punished. It was a good example today. For me, very unprofessional mistakes. We are human; we make mistakes. But at this point, this far in the season, we can’t keep making mistakes like that. … We gave the game away, really.”
— D.C. United Jaime Moreno after his team’s 4-1 loss to the New York Red Bulls. (Washington Post)
“Agents are nasty scum. They’re evil and divisive and pointless. They only survive because the rest of the sport is so corrupt and because leading football club people employ their sons in the job. In my opinion, no owner in their right mind would willingly invite an average agent into his academy, any more than a brothel owner would let a syphilitic nutter into his whorehouse.”
— Simon Jordan, chairman of English second tier club Crystal Palace. But what does he really think? (eurosport-yahoo)
“Sir Alex Ferguson heard my arguments, I heard his and, in fact, it was settled that the best for both parties would be for me to stay. Therefore, I can confirm that, next season, I will play for Manchester United. Before rumors emerge saying that I will play against my will, I want to make this clear – whoever says or writes that is lying. I will play for Manchester with all my heart and soul. I will fight and honor that shirt with the same commitment and dedication as always.”
— Cristiano Ronaldo finally ends the tug-of-war between Man U and Real Madrid. (The Guardian)
“They asked me to do a spread with [swimmer] Amanda Beard, and I just decided it wasn’t for me. It’s got to be something my dad’s OK looking at.”
— U.S. Olympic team defender Heather Mitts on why she passed on a chance to pose nude in Playboy. (SI.com)
“It was great. I mean Barcelona — c’mon! How often do you get to see them? It was a little short, but we got some signatures.”
— Andes Baeca, a 20-year-old tourist from Canada who was among “the plethora of joggers, bikers and others” who stopped to watch FC Barcelona when the Spanish power held a training season in New York City’s Central Park on Monday ahead of Wednesday’s friendly with the New York Red Bulls. (MLSNet.com)
“It’s important for me to set a tone early in the game and I do that a lot of times by fouling. I find that that gets me going, gets the competitive juices flowing.”
— Chivas USA midfielder Jesse Marsch describes his approach to the Beautiful Game before his team’s 1-0 loss to Chicago. (Daily Breeze)
“We have never been to Nigeria and it is an opportunity, although you could say it is partly financial of course.”
— Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson sheds light on his team’s preseason schedule, which included a 2-1 win over English FA Cup winner Portsmouth in Abuja, Nigeria. (BBC)
“U.S. Soccer has a well-established hearing process to consider these types of situations. We’re satisfied the hearing panel did their job and that the punishment is consistent with past, similar incidents.”
— D.C. United President Kevin Payne on the U.S. Soccer Federation banning Chicago Fire star Cuauhtemoc Blanco from U.S. Open Cup play for two years for his involvement in a scuffle with D.C. United in a U.S. Open Cup quarterfinal July 8. After being red-carded, Blanco refused to leave the field in a timely manner and allegedly headbutted a United operations official. (Washington Post)
“Right now, with my move to Dortmund, it looks like I will first make any kind of decision regarding national teams after my first season here. It’s already tough enough to fight for a starting spot here, and I don’t need any extra baggage at this early point in my career.”
— Neven Subotic, a 19-year-old defender who was on the USA’s U-17 2005 World Cup team, on whether he’ll choose to play for the USA at the senior level or for other national teams he is eligible for. Subotic was born in what is now Bosnia and Herzegovina to a Serbian family that immigrated to Germany before moving to the USA. He joined Germany’s Borussia Dortmund from Second Division Mainz on a $5.4 million transfer in June. (ESPNsoccernet)
“When you acted the way you did you demeaned the efforts of a 14-year-old who was trying hard and [you] set a bad example for the children, including your own child.”
— Canadian judge Joseph De Filippis while giving a conditional discharge with a one-year probation and an order to perform 25 hours of community service to Sandra Gutierrez-Aldana, who, at her son’s U-8 soccer, berated a 14-year-old girl referee and punched the ref’s dad. (NewsDurhamRegion.com)
