Soccer America Archives

FIFA president Sepp Blatter said he was misquoted in media reports citing him as calling Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo a “slave” in the midst of the tug-of-war for the Portuguese star between his EPL club and Real Madrid. “I have never said that Ronaldo is a slave,” Blatter said. “What I said is slavery […]

England and Manchester United star Wayne Rooney, 22, has been questioned by police after allegedly spitting at a photographer. “At 12:10 am on Wednesday we received a third-party allegation that a photographer had been spat at by an individual outside a restaurant in Hanway Street, W1,” a Metropolitan police spokesman said. “Officers established the incident […]

U.S. goalkeeper Brad Guzan, who left MLS’s Chivas USA for Aston Villa, has been granted a work permit by UK’s Home Office. Now the 23-year-old’s only obstacle to getting on the field when he returns from Olympic duty is fellow American Brad Friedel, the 37-year-old veteran who was signed in the offseason from Blackburn. Friedel […]

Craig Tornberg, general manager of the New England Revolution soccer team, who helped subdue a naked, threatening man when the team was flying from Boston to Los Angeles last month, talked about the incident and his 15 minutes of “superhero fame.” When Tornberg saw the nude made leaving the bathroom, he said he was shocked […]

Spiegel magazine takes a look how Juergen Klinsmann is starting his coaching tenure at Bayern Munich, which is by far Germany's most dominant club but hasn't had European success since its 2001 Champions League win. Among the characters in the in-depth piece are former Bayern greats Uli Hoeness and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, now in club management, […]

Columnist James Lawton says Arsenal’s 21-year-old Spanish star Cesc Fabregas’ declaration of dedictation to his club amid transfer rumors is a breath of fresh air amid the “ingrate football stars sneering at the point of contracts and the loyalty that until now they have always implied.” “Fabregas’s astonishing statement of fealty to the club which […]

The Chicago Fire beat Everton, 2-0, on goals by Chris Rolfe and Tomasz Frankowski. The friendly win over last season’s fifth-place finisher in the English Premier League was watched by 9,125 fans in Bridgeview, Ill. The Fire outshot Everton, 17-7. Rolfe scored in the 42nd minute off a cross from Gonzalo Segares. Rolfe controlled the […]

Jeff Carlisle ranks the 16 men’s Olympic teams and puts defending champ Argentina at the top of the list because the team is “flat out loaded.” “This is especially true in midfield, where Juan Roman Riquelme and Javier Mascherano should dominate,” writes Carlisle. “Up top, things are less certain with Lionel Messi’s participation still in […]

“Lost in the sturm und drang over the Hope Solo affair at last year’s Women’s World Cup was a painful truth: The U.S. was playing ugly soccer,” writes Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl, who looks forward to the American women playing a better brand of soccer under Coach Pia Sundhage, who took over after the third-place […]

Germany coach Joachim Loew and his players have rejected criticism of a public party that drew an estimated 100,000 fans in Berlin to celebrate the team’s second-place finish at Euro 2008. The event was not a victory party, but a way of thanking fans, said Loew after German soccer federation technical director Matthias Sammer said […]