The New York Times’ Jack Bell interviews Watford’s American central defender, Jay DeMerit, who’s celebrating his first call-up to the U.S. national team for the friendlies against Ecuador Sunday and Guatemala next Wednesday. For one thing, DeMerit says, training and playing in Tampa and then Frisco, Texas, offers a nice break from those gray English […]
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Hammers Investigation Looking Bleak
West Ham United “could be in for a hammering,” writes David Conn of the Guardian, over the alleged breach of Premiership rules involved in the signing of Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano. Last Friday the Hammers completed its defense of the Premier League’s allegation, denying that the board’s dealing with four offshore companies, which “own” […]
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Carl Robinson: More Stars to Follow Becks
Zinedine Zidane, Luis Figo and Ronaldo may have declined the advances of MLS, but Toronto FC signing Carl Robinson, a former Norwich player, tells BBC Sport to expect more Brits to follow Becks into soccer’s new world. “You might be surprised in the next few weeks,” the 30-year old Welshman said. “I’ve had six or […]
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Platini Pushes to Change UEFA Statutes
New UEFA president Michel Platini wants to extend the executive committee’s power in soccer’s European governing body by implementing a more hands-on approach to the management of the organization. During his campaign, Platini said he wanted to shake up the way UEFA was run. His predecessor, Lennart Johansson, often delegated senior executive decisions to Lars-Christer […]
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EURO 2008: Weekend previews (Part 2)
Qualifying for the 2008 European Championship in Austria and Switzerland continues with games Saturday and next Wednesday, the first of five double dates in 2007. Here's a look at Groups 4 and 5: GROUP 4. Germany travels to Prague for its showdown with the Czech Republic for first place without a full squad. Striker Miroslav […]
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ECUADOR: U.S. foe includes 11 World Cup 2006 vets
Ecuador's roster for its friendly against the USA on Sunday (noon ET on ESPN2 & Galavision) includes 11 players from its 2006 World Cup team, which reached the second round with wins over Poland and Costa Rica and lost, 1-0, to England in the round of 16. The USA squad also includes 11 players from […]
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MEXICO: Friendly vs. Ecuador in Northern California a sellout
Mexico's March 28 friendly in Oakland, Calif., at McAfee Coliseum has already sold out. All 47,416 tickets, priced from $25 to $200, were sold by March 14. ''We probably could have sold another 50,000 tickets,'' David Alioto, executive vice president for Earthquakes Soccer, which is hosting the game, told the Sacramento Bee. ''We had to […]
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LIBERTADORES CUP: Necaxa ends Sao Paulo's 29-match undefeated streak
Mexico's Necaxa beat Sao Paulo, 2-1, on Wednesday in Libertadores Cup play to end the Brazilian champion's 29-game undefeated streak, which included 13 games in last year's Brazilian league play, 14 in this year's Paulista championship and two in Libertadores Cup play. Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni missed a penalty kick in the loss at […]
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5. LIBERTADORES CUP: Necaxa ends Sao Paulo’s 29-match undefeated streak
Mexico’s Necaxa beat Sao Paulo, 2-1, on Wednesday in Libertadores Cup play to end the Brazilian champion’s 29-game undefeated streak, which included 13 games in last year’s Brazilian league play, 14 in this year’s Paulista championship and two in Libertadores Cup play. Sao Paulo goalkeeper Rogerio Ceni missed a penalty kick in the loss at […]
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4. MEXICO: Friendly vs. Ecuador in Northern California a sellout
Mexico’s March 28 friendly in Oakland, Calif., at McAfee Coliseum has already sold out. All 47,416 tickets, priced from $25 to $200, were sold by March 14. "We probably could have sold another 50,000 tickets," David Alioto, executive vice president for Earthquakes Soccer, which is hosting the game, told the Sacramento Bee. "We had to […]
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3. ECUADOR: U.S. foe includes 11 World Cup 2006 vets
Ecuador’s roster for its friendly against the USA on Sunday (noon ET on ESPN2 & Galavision) includes 11 players from its 2006 World Cup team, which reached the second round with wins over Poland and Costa Rica and lost, 1-0, to England in the round of 16. The USA squad also includes 11 players from […]
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1. WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
"My goal is to help this team qualify for the World Cup and play in the World Cup. That’s four years down the line. What happens in between — I hope that I’m the guy doing the business, but we’ll see." — Goalkeeper Kasey Keller, 37, who’s in the U.S. camp for Sunday’s friendly against […]
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2. EURO 2008: Weekend previews (Part 2)
Qualifying for the 2008 European Championship in Austria and Switzerland continues with games Saturday and next Wednesday, the first of five double dates in 2007. Here’s a look at Groups 4 and 5: GROUP 4. Germany travels to Prague for its showdown with the Czech Republic for first place without a full squad. Striker Miroslav […]
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5. MLS COUNTDOWN: Gambler Mo rolling the dice in Toronto
By Ridge Mahoney What is the end product of adding a three-time MLS All-Star to a midfield the coach had already had rated as one of the best in the league? Richard Mulrooney, Coach Mo Johnston, and the fans of Toronto FC are about to find out. As it prepared for three games at the […]
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Praise for South America’s Champions League
Greg Lalas of SI.com makes a great point: the mainstream English-speaking soccer press tends to ignore the Copa Libertadores, South America’s equivalent to the UEFA Champions League, which is a big shame, actually, because it’s at that competition that many of the world’s future great stars shine. But in general, few pay attention to South […]
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Schuster in the Driving Seat
These days in La Liga, whenever there’s talk of someone like Real Madrid’s Fabio Capello or Barcelona’s Frank Rijkaard being replaced, the one Spain-based name that consistently surfaces as a possible candidate is Getafe coach Bernd Schuster. You might ask: why, and who is he? Answer: Schuster was a brilliant midfielder and later libero in […]
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Joseph Definitely Wants Out of New England
Soccer New England takes a closer look at the Shalrie Joseph situation in New England, revealing that the former Revs captain (for all of two weeks) expects the club to honor his request to be traded. “We hope they will honor his request,” Joseph’s agent Ron Waxman said. “We are saying that it is not […]
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Five Europe-Based Surprises in Bradley’s Squad
Ives Galarcep at the North Jersey Herald takes a look at the five surprise additions to the U.S. national team squad for its upcoming games against Ecuador and Guatemala. U.S. soccer fans have probably heard of European-based Jay DeMerit, Jonathan Spector, Benny Feilhaber, Michael Bradley and Frank Simek, but with the exception of the two […]
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Becks Feeling the Pressure
Notwithstanding the $250 million he may earn over five years as a part of Major League Soccer, you could forgive David Beckham (perhaps) for feeling a bit of pressure over his forthcoming move. The former England captain insists he’s not expecting the kind of soccer revolution in America that would make the sport more popular […]
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MLS CONFIDENTIAL: Revs vs. Joseph: Money for something
This impasse between Shalrie Joseph and the Revs/MLS is about more than money, and Joseph can prove it, or at least so claims his agent, Ron Waxman. ''He will play for any other team in MLS under his current contract,'' says Waxman of a deal that will pay Joseph a base salary of $157,500, plus […]
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MLS COUNTDOWN: Rapids join stadium club
(Soccer America begins its countdown to the 2007 MLS season, which starts on April 7 with a look at the Colorado Rapids. The Rapids open with a nationally televised game against D.C. United, the first played at their Dick's Sporting Goods Park.) By Ridge Mahoney Senior Editor Soccer America The next MLS team to play […]
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MAKING A LIST: Romario's chase for 1,000
Brazilian great Romario goes for his 1,000th career goal when Vasco da Gama plays at Gama in the capital Brasilia on Wednesday in a Copa Brasil game. According to Vasco da Gama, Romario enters the game with 998 goals, though many came early in his career at the youth level or others more recently in […]
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TELEVISION: Record audience for America-Chivas
Univision's prime-time coverage of Mexico's SuperClßsico between Club America of Mexico City and Guadalajara Sunday in Mexico City drew 4.3 million viewers ages 2 and over, making it the largest audience for a club soccer game on American television in the past 13 years. The viewership of the America-Chivas game surpassed the U.S. viewership of […]
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EURO 2008: Weekend previews (Part 1)
Qualifying for the 2008 European Championship in Austria and Switzerland continues with games Saturday and next Wednesday, the first of five double dates in 2007. Here's a look at Groups 1-3. GROUP 1. Portugal, currently tied for fourth place in Group 1, faces two critical Euro 2008 qualifiers in the next week. The Euro 2004 […]
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Revs vs. Joseph: Money for something
This impasse between Shalrie Joseph and the Revs/MLS is about more than money, and Joseph can prove it, or at least so claims his agent, Ron Waxman. ''He will play for any other team in MLS under his current contract,'' says Waxman of a deal that will pay Joseph a base salary of $157,500, plus […]