Soccer America Archives

U.S. billionaire Len Blavatnik is offering $33 million in return for a 51% stake in the troubled Irish pay-tv channel Setanta. Access Industries, a private company owned by Blavatnik, said it had submitted a proposal to Setanta but gave no further details. In a statement, Access Industries said: “The Access proposal is subject to a […]

Three German soccer clubs have announced a changing of the guard this week with the appointment of new coaches in Leverkusen, Hamburg and Frankfurt less than a month before training begins for next season. Brunno Labbadia is leaving Bayer Leverkusen for Hamburg, while Leverkusen signed 64-year-old coach Jupp Heynckes to a deal good until 2011. […]

Sir Alex Ferguson has put together a list of potential summer transfer targets as he tries to fill the void created by the imminent $130 million transfer of Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid and the prospect of Carlos Tevez following Ronaldo out of Old Trafford. Manchester United’s first response will be to follow up its […]

Over the past year, D.C. United midfielder Fred has faced lots of adversity off the field. In December, Fred was in New Zealand on loan to Australian league club Wellington Phoenix when he heard his father had been killed in a car accident in his hometown of Belo Horizonte, Brazil. In late April, his daughter, […]

When asked about possible issues with team chemistry, Seattle Sounders FC coach Sigi Schmid shot down those rumors. If anything, Schmid said, players are being too nice to one another. “I think our locker room is good. I think the guys get along with each other, and everybody has a good healthy respect for each […]

Speculation hovers silently over Coach Juan Carlos Osorio and the Red Bulls amidst the worst start in franchise history. Coaching positions at the club are historically volatile. In its 14-year history the club has had 11 coaches. This doesn’t bode well for Osorio. After a 4-0 defeat to the New England Revolution, the Red Bulls […]

FC Dallas got goals from Andre Rocha in the 21st minute and another from guest player Alex Fichera in the 60th minute to take a 2-0 victory against Costa Rican Primera Division club CS Herediano on Wednesday night at Pizza Hut Park in a "friendly" game that saw the visitors finish with just eight men. […]

Brazil forward Alexandre Pato and Italy midfielder Andrea Pirlo will not leave AC Milan to join their former boss Carlo Ancelotti at Chelsea, the Serie A club’s new coach Leonardo said on Thursday.  “They are not moving from Milan,” Leonardo was quoted as saying by La Gazzetta dello Sport’s website. “They are both very important […]

The U.S. soccer team might go to Iran in November for the first match between the nations in almost a decade. USSF president Sunil Gulati said Wednesday the game could be held in Tehran on Nov. 14 or 18. The United States was upset 2-1 by Iran at the 1998 World Cup in France, then […]

Manchester United confirmed that it has accepted a world-record bid from Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo after he once again asked to leave the club. An official Manchester United statement read, "Manchester United has received a world-record, unconditional offer of £80 million ($132 million) for Cristiano Ronaldo from Real Madrid. At Cristiano's request – who […]

Adidas AG, the world's second-largest sporting-goods maker, expects soccer sales to exceed 1.3 billion euros ($1.8 billion) next year as fans purchase jerseys, balls and footwear tied to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Adidas aims to use the World Cup to raise its leading share of the global soccer market to more than […]

Giuseppe Rossi left Clifton N.J., just before his 13th birthday to join the Parma youth system in Italy and pursue his dream of playing for the Italian national team. The United States invited him to training camp before the 2006 World Cup, but Rossi demurred, ignoring criticism that he was dismissive of American soccer and […]