Tag: international

Jack Warner, CONCACAF president and FIFA vice president, won a seat in Trinidad & Tobago’s House of Representatives in a landslide victory in the Chagunas West region. Warner, who will only accept a $1 salary, told the Trinidad Express that he spent a lot of money on the campaign: “I eh telling yuh how much, but we fought the good fight, but it was a bit expensive, but it was worth it.”

[WINNERS & LOSERS] It was quite a night in the UEFA Champions League. Tuesday saw Liverpool break one scoring record, and AC Milan’s Filippo Inzaghi tie another. In a stunning result, Norway’s Rosenborg spoiled Ronald Koeman‘s debut as Valencia coach with a 2-0 win at the Estadio Mestalla.

Four top South Korean players were banned from the national team for a year by the Korean federation for drinking into the early hours at Jakarta brothel the day after a 2-1 Asian Cup loss to Bahrain in July. One of the players, captain Lee Woon-jae was removed from the Asian Player of the Year shortlist because of the incident.

[AMERICANS IN EUROPE] Freddy Adu was an 82nd minute sub in Benfica’s 2-1 win at Pacos Ferreira, which moved Benfica to within six points of leader Porto. In the German First Division, Hannover 96, for which Steve Cherundolo went the full 90 as usual, downed Borussia Dortmund, 2-1, to move into fifth place and the UEFA Cup qualifying zone. Heath Pearce made his first league appearance for Hansa Rostock after sitting out the last six games. Pearce was a 59th minute sub as Rostock fell 1-0 at Werder Bremen. In the Netherlands, Michael Bradley and Heerenveen celebrated a 2-1 win over PSV Eindhoven.

Former Colombian star Carlos Valderrama, assistant coach of Atletico Junior, was ejected from a game against America of Cali for implying the referee had been bribed by waving cash in front of him after a penalty kick call. After the penalty kick provided a goal that helped end Junior’s playoff hopes, Valderrama, a former MLS star, rushed the field, waved a 50,000 peso ($25) bill, and swore at referee Oscar Julian Ruiz, who later said, “Carlos is my idol, but his behavior really surprised me.”

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Freddy Adu, three days after scoring his first league goal for Benfica, scored in his third straight cup game, but his team fell, 2-1, to Setubal and was eliminated with a 3-2 aggregate result. Adu, making his first start since joining Benfica this summer, struck from the penalty spot in the 45th minute. He was subbed with five minutes left. Benfica’s official Web site praised the 18-year-old’s overall performance.

A copy of Liverpool midfielder John Arne Riise‘s paycheck stub has shown up on the Internet in several fan chat sites revealing his salary, home address, national insurance (tax and benefits) number and other personal details. Riise, who was declared bankrupt by Liverpool County Court for an unpaid debt of around $200,000, was paid $289,311 by Liverpool for a month’s work, according the paycheck stub.

FIFA has decided not experiment with extra assistant referees to monitor penalty area action at December’s World Club Cup, having decided the Japan-hosted tournament, which features the six continental club champions, was too high profile. The experiment, in which an additional linesperson would stand behind each goal and assist the referee with decisions on penalty-area incidents, will instead be carried out at next year’s women’s U-17 World Cup in New Zealand or the women’s U-20 World Cup in Chile.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] Californian Ramiro Corrales, who played nine seasons in MLS and won two titles with San Jose, helped Brann win its first Norwegian title in 44 years. Brann clinched the 2007 championship by taking a nine-point lead with one game to play and qualifies for the UEFA Champions League, which as already drawn an influx of investment in the club.

Benfica’s Freddy Adu, who has scored two Portuguese Cup goals and last week became the youngest American to play in the UEFA Champions League proper, scored his first league goal on Sunday. With the score tied, 1-1, with three minutes left and Benfica playing with 10 men, Adu tapped in a cross from the Brazilian defender Leo to give Benfica a 2-1 win over Maritimo and move it into second place.

[VIDEO] The Guardian’s Scott Murray offers his picks of greatest own goals ever with video links.

[AMERICANS ABROAD] DaMarcus Beasley, who limped off the field during the USA’s 1-0 win over Switzerland last Wednesday with a sore ankle, was a 75th minute sub for Glasgow Rangers in its 3-0 win over Glasgow Celtic. It was Beasley’s first Old Firm game. The win kept Rangers within three points of defending champ and first-place Celtic.

Californian soccer players can put Roo back on their shoe thanks to Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signing a bill overturning the state’s ban on the import and sale soccer shoes made from kangaroo leather. California was the only state to ban kangaroo leather, which, because it’s lighter than other leathers, is a popular material for high-performance soccer cleats.

The Chinese Olympic team and national team players were given crew cuts and put through a military-style boot camp, to “make the army’s spirit the national team’s soul,” said Chinese soccer federation co-director Nan Yong. The players practiced standing at attention, marching, running in formation and saluting. But two players ended up getting suspended from the Olympic team for asking an army officer a “lewd question.” Dai Lin, 19, and Jiang Chen, 21, had queried whether he had ever been with a prostitute.

During a Cameroon First Division game, Bamboutos FC’s coach calls Federal SC captain Nkoun a Rim to the sideline for a chat late in the second half after Federal tied the game, 2-2. Shortly afterward, Bamboutos captain Koss Roger hits the floor and acts injured. In full view of the spectators, already suspicious because of the sideline conference, Bamboutos’ trainer hands Roger an envelope. Roger returns to action and hands the envelope to Nkoun a Rim, who makes a lackluster effort in the play that leads to Bamboutos’ winning goal. Cameroon’s federation has relegated Bamboutos FC two divisions and has banned the officials and players involved in the incident for at least two years.

Cheating on the soccer field would decrease if we got rid of the referees, says Gijs van Oenen, a professor of ethics, legal philosophy and social philosophy at Erasmus University in Rotterdam. According to Ode magazine, van Oenen theorizes that in soccer-sans-refs there would be more arguments at first, “but soon players would realize those arguments were solvable.” Because officials are merely stand-ins for the rule books, players would in their absence begin following the rules, figures van Oenen.

Soccer’s 3-to-22 officials-to-player ratio is significantly lower than all major sports. Finally FIFA, the game’s world governing body, has approved an experiment with two additional referees. At the Club World Cup competition in Japan in December, two goalmouth referees will be used in addition to the referee and the two assistant referees (linesmen). FIFA’s new Strategic Committee, chaired by
UEFA president Michel Platini, confirmed the experiment during the first meeting of FIFA’s new Strategic Committee. What exact role the two goalmouth referees will play has not yet been determined.

[VIDEO] Midfielder Joel Griffiths of Australian club Newcastle United Jets escaped with a yellow card for striking a linesman in a manner that one TV commentator described with “He’s clocked him one in the jewels” and another called a “short jab in the nether regions.”