“Steven Gerrard totally lost it. The footballer joined in the attack on Marcus McGee with a succession of well-aimed uppercut punches delivered with the style and speed of a pro boxer, rather than a pro footballer. … This was never self-defense. Not for 100 years.”
— Prosecuting attorney David Turner during the trial of England midfielder Steven Gerrard, who is accused of attacking businessman Marcus McGee in a Liverpool nightclub last year after an argument about the music. (The Guardian)
“We boo a lot of players. They don’t come out and challenge our guys. We’re just here as fans. He was saying, ‘Come down here, come down here, come down here.’ The guy came down there.”
— Ricardo Vigil, a member of the Los Angeles Galaxy fan club Riot Squad, gives his version of David Beckham‘s confrontation with a fan at halftime of Sunday’s friendly against AC Milan at the Home Depot Center. (Los Angeles Times)
“Go home fraud” … “23: Repent” … “Hey Becks, Here Before You, Here After You, Here Despite You.”
— Signs Galaxy fans brought to Sunday’s exhibition against AC Milan to greet David Beckham in his return to the Home Depot Center after his loan spell with the Italian team delayed his return to MLS. (AP)
“Ref in Seattle just cheated the Dynamo. What a joke. Not even close. Ref is a cheat.”
— What Houston Dynamo forward Brian Ching wrote on his Twitter blog to earn a $500 fine from MLS for “public criticism. Ching, who was with the U.S. national team in Philadelphia, made the costly tweet while watching Houston’s 2-1 loss at Seattle on TV. (Houston Chronicle)
“I’m a very honest person. If I didn’t want to be here, I wouldn’t be here. I’ve always been committed to every contract I’ve ever had, and that hasn’t changed. I’m a very committed person. If people want to question my commitment and my professionalism, the fact that I’m willing to travel thousands of miles to play for my country says it all.”
— David Beckham on returning to the Los Angeles Galaxy for a third season that begins Thursday at Giants Stadium. (Newark Star-Ledger)
“As I told Robert, for a couple of naturalized citizens, we’ve done OK.”
— German-born Sigi Schmid, coach of the 2008 MLS champion Columbus Crew, after touring the White House with former Polish international Robert Warzycha, before Monday’s ceremony with President Barack Obama at the White House. Schmid, who now coaches the Seattle Sounders FC, and three former Crew players were reunited with the team for the ceremony. Warzycha replaced Schmid as head coach. (mlsnet.com)
“It’s a fabulous challenge, but I’d rather work with those two than two lousy players.”
— Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena on having to settle difference between his team’s two stars, David Beckham and London Donovan. (USA Today)
“It’s unprofessional in my eyes. In every soccer player’s eyes throughout the world it would be unprofessional to speak out about a teammate especially in the press and not to your face. But I’m going to turn it on a positive spin because that’s what this needs. But in 17 years, I have played with the biggest teams in the world and the biggest players and not once have I been criticized for my professionalism.”
— David Beckham on Landon Donovan questioning the Englishman’s commitment to the Los Angeles Galaxy in the book “The Beckham Experiment” by Grant Wahl. (AP)
“I made a mistake. I spoke about something between the team publicly, and when David comes, I’m going to talk to him about it, man to man. The past year was hard for all of us, but I shouldn’t speak publicly like that. I should and will talk to David.”
— Landon Donovan, who was highly critical of Los Angeles Galaxy teammate David Beckham in the new book The Beckham Experiment, saying “he wasn’t committed” last season when the Galaxy failed to make the playoffs for the third straight year. (goal.com)
“It’s hard to explain, but it was special. To be able to do it in front of my wife and my two kids was very special and that’s the most important thing to me now.”
— Santino Quaranta, who wept after he scored the winning goal for the USA in its 2-0 win over Honduras at the Gold Cup on Wednesday. Quaranta’s fine play following rehabilitation from drug dependency led to his recall to the national team after a long absence.
“We need to get out of the ghetto of being a role model for girls. You can’t make dads feel like they’re visiting Chuck E. Cheese’s.”
— Andy Crossley, the Boston Breakers’ director of business development, on the need for first-year Women’s Professional Soccer to develop a following beyond young girls. (The New York Times)
“I read parts of it, glanced at it more or less. If you gave me a quiz on it right now, I’d probably fail. That’s been the case in most of my educational career anyway. I didn’t read it all that seriously, to be honest with you.”
— Los Angeles Galaxy coach Bruce Arena on “The Beckham Experiment,” due out next week. Excerpts released from the book suggest that David Beckham‘s teammates questioned his commitment to the Galaxy. (goal.com)
“It’s very difficult right now with a world crisis in the economy.”
— Mexico national team coach Javier Aguirre explaining the less-than-capacity crowd of Tri supporters at Oakland Coliseum on Sunday for the Tri’s lackluster 2-0 win over Nicaragua. (San Jose Mercury News)
“All that we care about at a minimum is that he [David Beckham] committed himself to us. As time has gone on, that has not proven to be the case in many ways — on the field, off the field. Does the fact that he earns that much money come into it? Yeah. If someone’s paying you more than anybody in the league, more than double anybody in the league, the least we expect is that you show up to every game, whether you’re suspended or not. Show up and train hard. Show up and play hard.”
— The Los Angeles Galaxy’s Landon Donovan speaking about David Beckham‘s effort late in the 2008 season, as quoted in “The Beckham Experiment,” by Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl. Beckham is due to return to the Galaxy in mid-July. (SI.com)
“There’s a sense of urgency. We know the clock is ticking and that there are fewer and fewer games left. We can do the math in our head. It’s not very hard. It’s a very difficult task, to be quite candid. We have to turn it around and turn it around fast.”
— Red Bull New York sporting director Jeff Agoos reveals he’s aware of the club’s woes. The Red Bulls, last year’s MLS runner-up, has won just twice and has a league-low 10 points from a league-high 18 games. (MLSnet.com)
“It will be a privilege to play alongside him. There won’t be any rivalry with Cristiano [Ronaldo]. We are compatible on and off the field. We are experienced players and there is no room for jealousy.”
— Brazilian star Kaka after his “official presentation” to Real Madrid’s fans, 50,000 of which came the Bernabeu Stadium ceremony to greet the man its club paid AC Milan for $92 million. Real paid $131 million for Ronaldo. (Reuters)
“I would play for the United States. … They have a lot of good players. I don’t think I’d come in and be handed anything. But I’d like a chance to compete [for a starting spot].”
— Mexican-American left back Edgar Castillo, who is once again eligible to play for the USA after FIFA loosened restrictions on players switching national teams. Castillo, born and raised in New Mexico, played for Mexico’s U-23 team and in friendlies for its full national team after the U.S. national team program showed no interest in his services. (USSoccerPlayers.com)
“It’s disappointing because we started the game really well and put them on their heels which most teams don’t do against Brazil. Though they had some chances, we went into the half at 2-0 and felt good about it. Then, a series of good plays by them – maybe we fell a little bit asleep – and a good goal and they’re right back in the game. So from that point on it was going to be tough. They put us under a lot of pressure and eventually they just wore us down.”
— Landon Donovan, scorer of the USA’s second goal, on its 3-2 loss to Brazil in the Confederations Cup final. (USSoccer.com)
“There are sure to be some Betfair bettors praying for a U.S. victory. With the small matter of $51,000 to be won if they do.”
— Tony Calvin, spokesman for online betting emporium Betfair, which offered odds of 999-to-1 on the USA winning the Confederations Cup and received just $51 on that bet. The USA, which Betfair gave 699-to-1 odds to reach the semifinals, faces Brazil in the final on Sunday. (New York Times)
“We are scratching our heads just like you guys are but it goes to show what hard work and commitment to each other can bring. Soccer is a funny thing. Any time you come away with a shock win you need to take your chances in front of goal and we defended like bandits. We rode our luck today.”
— U.S. goalkeeper Tim Howard after the USA beat Spain, 2-0, in the Confederations Cup semifinal. (Fifa.com)
“We have our style of playing with players going forward with a lot of joy, but soccer is also about luck and I think we’ve had some of that.”
— Vicente del Bosque, coach of Spain, which last lost a game in November 2006. Spain faces the USA in the semifinals of the Confederations Cup on Wednesday (TV: ESPN & Univision, 2:25 ET). (AP)
“The man who said, ‘Yes we can do it,’ will be there. President Obama has accepted an invitation to the opening ceremony. Of course the schedule of heads of state can change, but he has said he will be there if he can.”
— FIFA President Sepp Blatter on U.S. President Barack Obama accepting an invitation to attend the opening game of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. (Reuters)
“It’s like that quote from ‘Dumb and Dumber’: ‘So you’re telling me there is a chance.’ That’s what we kept saying.”
— Defender Jonathan Bornstein explains the USA’s unlikely passage into the semifinals of the Confederations Cup after losing its first two games before downing Egypt, 3-0. (AP)
“At times players are trying to push harder, but in the end make a rash decision and it ends up hurting the team for the rest of the game.”
— U.S. coach Bob Bradley after his team’s 3-0 loss to Brazil in which Sacha Kljestan was red-carded. Ricardo Clark was ejected in the USA’s first Confederations Cup game, a 3-1 loss to Italy. (USsoccer.com)
“It’s a local sound and I don’t know how it is possible to stop it. I always said that when we go to South Africa, it is Africa. It’s not western Europe. It’s noisy, it’s energy, rhythm, music, dance, drums. This is Africa. We have to adapt a little.”
— FIFA President Sepp Blatter on complaints the din of the vuvuzela, the noisy plastic trumpet blown at the Confederations Cup, was a distraction.
