“With hindsight, I consider that my choice of words does not fit with the character of the Royal Netherlands Football Association.”
— Henk Kesler, director of the Dutch soccer association, apologizes for calling police officers “spoiled brats” for forcing the postponement of two top league matches. Police unions had said they would demonstrate at Dutch league matches to draw attention to their demand for a salary increase. (Sapa)
[AMERICANS IN GERMANY] U.S. U-20 and U-17 international forward Preston Zimmerman, 19, has signed a pro contract with German First Division club Hamburg SV after scoring nine goals in 32 games for the reserve team. Gregg Berhalter, 34, extended his contract with Second Division 1860 Munich through June 2009.
Peter Nowak was almost home, back to his residence in Naples, Fla., but he had one more layover and one more flight to endure. “Almost home,” he said on his cell phone after eating dinner with U.S. head coach Bob Bradley and several U.S. Soccer staff members during the layover. “It was a long trip, 17 days, but I think some good came out of it.”
Brazilian star Marta has repeated as the FIFA Women’s World Player, earning 988 points to beat Birgit Prinz of Germany with 507 and fellow Brazilian Cristiane with 150.
2007 FIFA Men’s World Player of the Year
AC Milan’s Kaka was named the 2007 FIFA World Men’s Player of the Year, finishing with more than twice the votes of runner-up Lionel Messi of Barcelona.
They’re already calling it a two-horse race for the 2007-08 English Premiership, after Arsenal and Manchester United, first and second in the EPL standings, defeated Chelsea and Liverpool, third and fourth heading into the weekend matches, respectively, on Sunday. Classic encounters they were not, but both United and Arsenal emerged the slightly better side in […]
England’s new coach, Fabio Capello, was coy over the chances of Los Angeles Galaxy midfielder David Beckham’s chances of earning a spot on his squad. However, Capello, who famously dropped and then recalled Beckham as coach of Real Madrid last season, indicated that he wouldn’t rule out including the 32-year-old. “I had a contrasting […]
Real Madrid striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy believes Los Merengues have nothing to lose when they play Barcelona in the season’s first “clasico” at the Nou Camp this weekend. An “unimpressive, though ruthlessly efficient” Real side beat Osasuna 2-0 at home on Sunday, while Barca looked more effective in a commanding 3-0 display at Valencia. “It […]
Ballon d’Or winner Kaka also took home FIFA’s top individual prize, heralding the arrival of a new generation of stars. The 25-year-old Brazilian was competing with Manchester United’s Cristiano Ronaldo, 22, and Barcelona’s Lionel Messi, 20, for the prestigious award. “All three of us are young,” Kaka told reporters before Monday’s event. “This means that […]
Juan Sebastian Veron’s deal with Major League Soccer collapsed over the weekend after the Argentine revealed that he couldn’t leave behind his teammates and the club he supported as a boy. The Estudiantes playmaker had agreed to a multiyear contract that would have paid him nearly $4 million per year. D.C. United was so confident […]
Midweek broadcasts include English League Cup quarterfinal action: On Tuesday, Blackburn, with American goalkeeper Brad Friedel, hosts Arsenal. On Wednesday, Chelsea and Liverpool clash. Highlighting the weekend is Sunday’s Barcelona-Real Madrid clasico.
Connecticut (Brittany Taylor and Meghan Schnur), North Carolina (Yael Averbuch and Tobin Heath), Notre Dame (Brittany Bock and Kerri Hanks) and Virginia (Nikki Krzysik and Becky Sauerbrunn) each had two players named to the 2007 NSCAA/adidas NCAA Men’s Division I All-America first team. For all the All-Americans …
Boston College (Reuben Ayarna and Alejandro Bedoya), California (Stefan Frei and Andrew Jacobson), Connecticut (Hermann Trophy finalist O’Brian White and Julian James) and Ohio State (Eric Brunner and Xavier Balc) each had two players named to the 2007 NSCAA/adidas NCAA Men’s Division I All-America first team. For all the All-Americans …
All the results and goal scorers from the first week of the NCAA Division I Men’s Tournament when UMass knocked off top-seed BC to the College Cup in Cary. N.C., where a hometown kid scored the winning goal in the final.
Wake Forest coach Jay Vidovich praised the maturity of his players to be able to come back from a goal down in the Men’s College Cup final. Ohio State players were confident going into halftime that they could hold on to their 1-0 lead, but the Buckeyes were undone by a couple of bad mistakes.
Paul Kennedy on the Men’s College Cup hero
If you never heard of Marcus Tracy before this weekend, you’ll certainly hear about him now that he put on one of best individual performances ever at a Men’s College Cup.
[AMERICANS ABROAD] Michael Bradley, coming off a hat trick performance last week, didn’t finish this weekend but helped SC Heerenveen to a 5-1 win over NAC Breda in the Dutch Eredivisie. In the Belgian Juliper League, Standard Liege, with Oguchi Onyewu, tied FC Dender to extend its season-long undefeated streak to 16 games. Freddy Adu played the final 11 minutes of Benfica’s 1-0 loss to Belenenses.
[AMERICANS IN GERMANY] Hannover 96, with right back Steve Cherundolo making his 16th appearance of the season, fell one spot to seventh place with a 5-1 loss to second-to-last place Energie Cottbus. In the Second Division, 1860 Munich revived its promotion hopes with a 5-0 win over Erzgebirge Aue in which defender Gregg Berhalter scored from the penalty spot.
[AMERICANS IN BRITAIN] Goalkeeper Tim Howard and Everton celebrated a 2-0 win at West Ham, for which Jonathan Spector stayed on the bench. Keeper Marcus Hahnemann made several crucial saves in Reading’s 1-1 tie with at Birmingham. Fulham, with Carlos Bocanegra and Clint Dempsey going the distance, fell, 1-0 to Newcastle on a Joey Barton penalty kick. Fulham, for which Dempsey came close to scoring on three occasions, is in 18th place, one point inside the relegation zone.
Three days after tying the Chinese U-23 team 0-0, the U.S. U-23s shared six goals with the 2008 Olympic Games host to conclude a two-game tour. Robbie Rogers, Patrick Ianni and Charlie Davies scored in the first 32 minutes as the Americans built a 3-0 halftime lead, but a slew of U.S. substitutions at the break prompted a Chinese rally that left the teams tied, 3-3.
“Now, I feel really satisfied with what I’ve achieved.”
— AC Milan’s Paolo Maldini, 39, confirming, after helping AC Milan win the World Club Cup with a 4-2 win over Boca Juniors, that he will end his 24-year career at the end of this season. With Milan, Maldini has also won the Champions League five times, seven Serie A titles, one Italian Cup and the World Club Cup’s predecessor, the Intercontinental Cup, three times. (AFP)
Arsenal captain William Gallas was the hero for the Gunners in their victory in their much-anticipated showdown against his old club, Chelsea. Elsewhere in England, Liverpool’s problems against Manchester United at Anfield. Bayern Munich’s lead has evaporated heading into the German Bundesliga’s winter break. In France, another coach was ousted.
[VIDEO] Brazilian Kaka scored one goal and set up teammate Filippo Inzaghi‘s two goals to lead AC Milan to a 4-2 victory over Boca Juniors of Argentina in the final of the Club World Cup on Sunday in Yokohama, Japan.
Italian tactician Fabio Capello was confirmed as England manager on Friday, but at least one person wasn’t happy about the 61-year-old’s appointment—his mother. Eighty-six-year-old Evelina Tortul told the Telegraph she worries about how her son will be treated in the most high-profile sports management position in England. “I am really not very happy about this,” […]
A Turkish lawyer is suing Serie A champion Inter Milan over one of its away jerseys, which displays a thick red cross against a white background. Aside from looking suspiciously like the English flag, the red cross apparently reminded Muslims in Turkey, who saw the strip when the Inter played Fenerbahce in the Champions League, […]
