“I was out until late in a place where I should not have been. The other day I gave you an excuse, above all to take the pressure off the club.”
— Chris Coleman, the Welsh coach of Spanish club Real Sociedad, who first claimed he was 90 minutes late for a press conference because his washing machine flooded his apartment. Spanish newspapers however reported he’d been at a nightclub the night before until 5 a.m. (The Independent)
“I’m happy to be here as an assistant coach and to be able to say that I can actually work with Ruud Gullit. Obviously it will be a little bit of a change for me, but it’s something that I look forward to.”
— Cobi Jones, whose first job after retiring as a player will be as assistant coach to Ruud Gullit with the Los Angeles Galaxy, for which Jones played in its first 12 MLS seasons. (MLSnet)
“I haven’t fallen off the wagon. I was walking funny in the airport because my hip hurts. They told me I was drunk. That’s why they didn’t let me on.”
— Former England star Paul Gascoigne, long troubled by alcohol problems, after Air Malta officials refused to let him board a plane to London because they deemed him intoxicated, reportedly because he also smelled of liquor and was slurring his words. Gascoigne was in Malta to take part in a charity game, in which he played 20 minutes. (The Sun)
“David is very tidy – even our fridge is color-coded. He vacuums in straight lines — in [an apron]. If anyone walks around after he’s done it, he gets funny.”
— Victoria Beckham reveals a slice of life from the Beckham household. (BBC)
“You could have told me that a couple of months ago.”
— Los Angeles Galaxy President Alexi Lalas after overhearing David Beckham tell an interviewer, “I’ve never played soccer for the money. People say that’s easy for you to say because you’ve got the money. To be honest, it’s never been important to me. The game is important to me. I’d play for free.” Beckham is in the first year of a five-year deal with the Galaxy that could earn him as much as $250 million. (The Canadian Press)
“[Red Bulls managing director] Marc [de Grandpre] and I discussed the direction of the team and decided mutually that this was the best move for Red Bull New York. I wish the organization the best of luck going forward.”
— Bruce Arena‘s statement on the end of his 15-month stint as New York Red Bulls coach. (New York Times)
“Obviously, we’re disappointed. We felt that he [Frank Yallop] was the right man. We felt that he’s a good manager and a strong character with the team. But, we’ve all said, he’s not walking away. He’s looking after himself and he’s looking after his family. It’s what we would all do. We’re sad to see him leave and we wish him all the luck and all the best.”
— Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham on reports that Coach Frank Yallop is leaving the team for the San Jose Earthquakes, which return to MLS in 2008. (ESPNsoccernet)
“It’s very true that they were the best team all year, but over the last five or six games, we’ve been the best team in the league. There’s a little thing called the playoffs, and it matters who’s playing better at this particular time. And I don’t think it’s them.”
— Chicago Fire midfielder Diego Gutierrez after his team’s 2-2 at D.C. United gave the Fire a 3-2 aggregate win and a place in the MLS semifinals. (Chicago Tribune)
“At the moment, there are no contract discussions at all. They [the club] are happy with the year I have left. They don’t want to give me anything, which is great after playing 250 games for them. The whole idea is that you show loyalty and they show it back but I guess I have to wait for mine to come to me.”
— American goalkeeper Marcus Hahnemann, 35, announces his disappointment that his English Premier League club, Reading, hasn’t offered him a more lucrative contract, which runs through this season with an option for 2008-09. Hahnemann has conceded 23 goals in 11 games for 12th place Reading. (The Times of London)
“Two backs, I need two midfielders and I need two quality strikers. I think this club and its supporters need different kinds of players to excite them.”
— Toronto FC coach Mo Johnston, whose contract was renewed despite the team’s last-place finish in MLS, announces slight changes to the squad he put together for the club’s inaugural season. (MLSNet.com)
“Here in the United States, more kids than in any other country in the world are playing soccer. In my opinion, they play soccer because of the freedom of the game, because they feel freedom to be creative on the field. They can express themselves on the field and freedom is something the kids love. We have to take advantage of that, and guide them to use that freedom in the best way.”
— New U.S. U-17 national team coach Wilmer Cabrera.
“I have been confident since the beginning of the season and I hope we have convinced a few more people. There is a long way to go but in my opinion we have the talent to fight to be champions.”
— Arsenal coach Arsene Wenger after a 1-1 tie at Liverpool kept his EPL-leading team undefeated this season. (Reuters)
“I’ve heard nothing from anybody. In the next week or so, we’ll talk about planning for next year, so I’ll get a better idea of what [team president Alexi Lalas] is feeling. If people think I’m a bad coach and have coached this team badly, they can say that. But I feel that not all the results were down to coaching.”
— Los Angeles Galaxy coach Frank Yallop on his future with the team, which missed the playoffs. (Los Angeles Daily News)
“Everton have not won without being in the lead.”
— Sky Sports TV pundit Andy Gray clears that up. (BBC)
“I am very proud of the bronze medal that we won in the 2007 World Cup. Playing in the most difficult group and on foreign soil, these players earned third place, matching the finish our team had in 2003 playing at home. … I understand and accept the criticisms that accompany the decisions I made in the World Cup. Soccer is a fluid game and not every decision or strategy always works as planned. In those cases, players, fans and the media have the right to express their opinions. As a coach, I understood that and accept it as a part of the job that was entrusted to me.”
— Greg Ryan, who was dismissed as U.S. women’s national team coach on Monday. (Associated Press)
“We will go out and fly some airplanes or race some cars or something like that. I’ll talk to Victoria and see if she’s all right with that. But we’ll have some fun.”
— Actor Tom Cruise on how he’ll help his buddy David Beckham get over his disappointing first season with the Los Angeles Galaxy. (Press Association)
“Being the coach of a national team is not the same as being coach of a club. It’s a job for someone who doesn’t like working much.”
— Former Chelsea coach Jose Mourinho, the British bookmakers favorite to become England coach if its fails to qualify for Euro 2008, says his next job will be coaching another club team. In the future, he said, he would consider coaching his native Portugal. (AFP)
“It is a necessary luxury for the soccer and basketball teams and we will be saving a lot of money.”
— Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon on the club acquiring its very own 135-seater MD-83 jet plane. But the team won’t be able to use it on Match Day 5 of the Champions League when it plays at Werder Bremen because the MD-83 is banned in Germany under noise regulations. (UEFA.com)
“I always say that one day I can play over there. I would love to. But it’s still early. Don’t get me wrong, I just love the U.S. I don’t know why. I love the way you live. I love American sports. For me, it’s a dream to go to training and then see a game of football, basketball, whatever game. For me, New York is the best city in the world.”
— Thierry Henry, who broke the French all-time scoring record on Wednesday, on his love of the United States and New York. Henry’s best friend is NBA star Tony Parker. (The New York Times)
“Rui Costa is a legend and you are not going to just come in and play in front of him. The European lifestyle and the European way of soccer is different from in America. One day you can be loved, and the next day you are not loved. That’s how it is with the fans, the media, with coaches – they don’t like something they see and they put you in the second team. That’s just the way it is.”
— DaMarcus Beasley on U.S. teammate Freddy Adu, who has played only 64 minutes since joining Portuguese club Benfica in August. (AP)
“Considering that we were playing away from home, at high altitude, on a heavy field, it was a reasonable start to the qualifiers. We didn’t sleep well last night and we had to wait two hours to get out of the airport when we arrived.”
— Brazil coach Dunga with a litany of excuses after his team opened its World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign with an umpressive 0-0 tie against Colombia in Bogota.
“Entry to another country is a privilege, and all countries retain the right to exclude individuals in accordance with their immigration policy.”
— New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters, who called “unjust” FIFA’s decision to force the postponement of New Zealand’s World Cup qualifying game against Fiji because New Zealand did not grant an entry visa to FIFA goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau. New Zealand denied the visa citing travel sanctions imposed after last December’s military coup in Fiji, claiming Tamanisau’s father-in-law was in the armed forces. The Fiji federation said Tamanisau is not married. (New Zealand Herald)
“I believe that my feeling of being offended is the same one felt by the majority of women in Trento. I would hope that the team — which also receives public funding — would want to find a remedy for this situation as soon as possible.”
— Iva Berasi, a councilwomen of the Italian city of Trento, is not too pleased that the city’s Fourth Division club, Trento Calcio 1921, signed a sponsorship deal with Austrian-based brothel Casa Bianca. (UPI)
“I won’t mince my words. I lambasted them after the game. I wasn’t happy with the effort. I’ll tell you what, even if you don’t play well you have to give 100 percent.”
— Toronto coach Mo Johnston gets really, really upset after his team’s league-leading 16th loss of the season last weekend. (The Globe & Mail)
“No, it is me.”
— Eric Cantona upon being asked whether Zinedine Zidane or Michel Platini was the greatest French soccer player ever. (Daily Mail)
