Eduardo to be Banned by UEFA?

UEFA has found Arsenal striker Eduardo guilty of "deceiving the referee" and could be handed a two-match ban in the Champions League as a consequence.

But if he does get punished, this will open a huge can of worms for UEFA and its President Michel Platini. Will they actively punish diving players in all European competitions from here forward? How could they possibly punish everyone? Diving is not a black and white issue - there's lots of gray area where some see a legitimate foul and others simply see a dive.

UEFA clearly needs to do something. But I think this is a path they should not go down.

Fulham's European Tour

We're going on a European Tour!!

That would also be a picture of the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, just one of several places you will see Fulham play before the end of the year.

You have absolutely no idea how excited I am!

Fulham: From Russia with Love

Fulham are playing the second leg of their Europa League tie against Russian side Amkar Perm after winning the home tie 3-1 last week. Now...they travel to Russia. Fulham doesn't exactly like this team so much - a defender levelled Andy Johnson in the first game and dislocated his shoulder, keeping him out for 5 weeks (the defender received a yellow card, nothing more). Also, Perm plays on an artificial turf, which will prove tough to play on.

When Fulham arrived at the airport, there were some friendly Russians who met them:



Uh oh...

Disgraceful

Arsenal beat Celtic 3-1 at the Emirates to advance to the group stage of the Champions League on a 5-1 aggregate. However, the larger story (in my eyes) is Eduardo's clear dive for a penalty against the Celtic keeper Artur Boruc. The public views his recovery from his devastating ankle injury as miraculous, and they enthusiastically celebrate each goal he scores because it proves he's back at or close to being 100 percent.

But after watching this...yikes. That's absolutely disgraceful. Celtic probably didn't have much of a shot of advancing, but I guess you never know what would've happened if that wasn't a penalty.

Rant over.

MORNING UPDATE: The Scottish Football Association chief exec wants to see Eduardo banned, adding his voice to several Celtic players who are lobbying for the same thing. This could get interesting real quick.

Man City finally buying defenders

After capturing Joleon Lescott from Everton for a cool 22 million pounds (and then taking swipes at his former manager, David Moyes), Manchester City finally have bought some competent defensive cover for Shay Given:

- Kolo Toure for 16 million pounds. He has championship pedigree as a part of the Invincibles at Arsenal.
- Sylvinho on a free transfer. He's surely past his prime, but he's definitely worth a punt (not like Man City will have any problems paying his wages), and he comes from Barcelona, a team of champions and playmakers.

Hughes has bought well. These defenders are class and have lots of experience playing at the highest level for club and country. Man City has yet to concede a goal in the league, but they've also looked less than inspiring so far considering the players they now have on their squad.

Good-bye Juan Carlos Osorio

The hapless manager of the New York Red Bulls resigned on Friday after leading the team to a 2-16-4 record less than a year after reaching the MLS Cup Finals.

What does the team do in its first game under interim coach Richie Williams? They end a 13 game winless streak with a 3-2 over Dallas yesterday. Even a goal from former Red Bull Dave Van den Burgh could not stop New York from winning only their third game of the season.

Guess Osorio needed to go sooner.

Burnley: This year's Reading or Hull?

After an uninspiring loss away to Stoke City on the first day of the new campaign, Burnley have won successive home games against Manchester United and Everton, no small feat. Not a whole lot is expected of them since they are the playoff champions, and they only finished fifth in the Championship last year.

The question now will be play like Reading two years ago and not be troubled by relegation or will they be like Hull City, starting strongly and then collapsing in the second half?

I don't know for sure, but I can say one thing about Burnley: I like their coach, Owen Coyle, a lot better than I do Hull's Phil Brown.

Jozy Altidore: Welcome to England

His first touch of the ball as a second half substitute leads to a goal in a 1-0 for Hull...their first win of the season. Not a bad way to make your first appearance for a new club in the most competitive league in the world.

I said it before and I'll say it again: Hull have not been able to bring in any strikers except for Altidore, so their success (and whether or not they stay up) will be closely tied to his success as a player this year. That's a huge burden for a relatively inexperienced, but incredibly talented 19-year-old.

Video courtesy of 101greatgoals.com. Altidore is wearing number 9.

Sounders vs. Revolution

I went to my first Sounders league game on Thursday night against the Revolution. Even though the final score wasn't one that I was hoping to see (1-0 to the visitors), I still thoroughly the experience. Here are my thoughts concerning the fans, the game and the league.

The fans:
- There are have been a lot of people (Portland fans especially) who have slagged Seattle for getting behind this team so strongly and wondering why it didn't happen sooner with the USL Sounders. I saw several fans with old USL jerseys at the game, Sebastian Le Toux received the loudest ovation of any of the players (he was the star of the Sounders their last few years before being "promoted" to the MLS) and the recipient of the "Golden Scarf" before the game was a member of the Nordstrom who helped found the NASL Sounders (I believe, I can't remember exactly). The fans are not naive about this club's long and storied history.
- It really annoyed me when the big screens would read "scarves up" as certain points before and during the game. For starters, the fans aren't stupid. Also, let us create our own traditions and customs, not have some technician or PA person dictate what we should do.
- The Emerald City Supporters, the group of fans behind the south goal, are led in song and movement by a couple of guys in black "XBox Live" shirts who don't watch the game. I'm sure their getting paid to do this...which really bothers me. It creates a cool spectacle, but it's all staged. I was disappointed when I found this out.

The game:
- David Beckham was right about the MLS referees - they stink. The ref let the game get out of hand with rash challenges and dives all over the place. The 7 yellow cards is a sign that he didn't do a very good job.
- The Sounders were better than the Revs, but we lack that clinical finisher who can bury a single chance.
- On a related note, Nate Jaqua isn't very good. Fredy Montero had an off day by his standards (and the paper certainly agreed), but I thought he looked very sharp...until he got in front of goal. And we missed Freddie Ljungberg

The league:
- MLS should've come to the Pacific Northwest a long time ago. The fans here know their soccer (a guy a few rows in front of me had a Wolverhampton Wanderers flag next to his Sounders flag tied to the railing...you gotta know your soccer to know much about the reigning English League Champions) and are passionate about it. It's so hard to get tickets, hence why I was only able to go on a Thursday night in mid-August when people are out of town. I can't wait for Portland and Vancouver in 2011.

EPL Season Preview

It's the start of a new and exciting season in the Premier League (OK, we're 16 games into the season already. Pardon me...I've been out of town). It's been a bizarre transfer window, one that has been influenced by the global economic recession that has lowered the number of transfers that clubs are making (excluding Manchester City of course, but more on that later on). What impact will this all have on the Premier League? Will the promoted clubs have a chance? Who will win the title?

None of these predictions have been heavily influenced by the first few games of the season. After all, one game won't determine what a team does through next May. It has only shown us that it's never as easy as it looks to predict what will happen over the course of a long season.

Champions: Manchester United. Yes, they lost Ronaldo, but look at their fellow challengers for the title. If we ignore Manchester City for the moment, nobody has bought anyone who can really change the league. Liverpool sold Xabi Alonso, who I feel is just as valuable (if not more so) as Ronaldo was to United. Chelsea have the same team that they've had for the past few seasons. Lampard, Terry, Cech...they aren't getting any younger. Carlo Ancelotti will be their fifth manager in about two seasons. I just can't see them doing it this year. Arsenal are a scary prospect once all their players are healthy, but they sold Kolo Toure, the last of the invincibles. Nobody on their squad (besides Arshavin with Zenit and the UEFA Cup perhaps) has won a significant trophy. Can they deal with the pressure? I think not.
Manchester City...? They will finish 5th and will have to be content with a Europa League spot. This will probably get Mark Hughes fired at some point. There are too many new faces and big egos for this team to jell right away. Can Hughes keep them all happy? How much of a defense do they have? Even though this squad is very good, there are too many question marks dangling overhead - I think they'll narrowly miss a top 4 finish.
Relegation: Burnley, Portsmouth and Hull/Wolves. Portsmouth already seem doomed. They haven't bought anyone, their takeover, at the rate it's going at now will stretch beyond the end of the transfer window, and they are rumored to be near administration. Burnley will probably be in for a tough season as the playoff champion team. I can't for the life of me determine whether Hull City or Wolves will go down. Hull were so bad at the end of last year and haven't bought much of anyone (Jozy Altidore will be their wild card...he could be brilliant as a strong and tall targetman, or he could flop due to his inexperience). Mick McCarthy doesn't have a strong track record of coaching in the EPL, and it's now his job to keep Wolves up this season. I think it's a coin flip.

It's already turning into a brilliant season. Let's all sit back and enjoy (and c'mon Fulham!).

A Wacky Start to the EPL (is this the Year of the Away Win?)

16 games have already been played in the Premier League this season, and we've already seen some eye-catching score lines (Arsenal winning 6-1 against Everton, Tottenham winning 5-1 today, Man Utd losing to Burnley). But out of these 16 games, three amazing (I think at least) statistics have popped out for me:

0 draws
9 away wins (including Fulham of all teams)
41 goals scored, which averages out to 2.56 goals a game

Not only that, but Spurs are presently leading the league (come again?)

Just Another Reason Why I love the Sounders

This guy makes me proud to be a Sounders fan.

RIP Sir Bobby Robson

After defeating cancer four previous times and pushing his life well into extra time, Sir Bobby Robson could not overcome a fifth bout, passing away on Friday.

Robson had a successful playing career spanning 18 years where he earned 20 England caps, but he will be remembered more for his coaching achievements. He spent 13 seasons at Ipswich Town and coached England to two fabulous World Cup performances in 1986 and 1990 before going abroad to Holland, Portugal and Spain. He concluded his decorated career at Newcastle United. He was the last great coach at both Newcastle and England (although Capello at this pace is on track to take England to new heights I think), which should prove how great of a coach he was.

Above all that, however, Robson was a true gentleman. Respected by everyone in England regardless of the club they supported, he is being mourned across the entire country, which truly shows beloved he is by everyone.

This sport has lost a legend and a great man. May he rest in peace.

Zlatan and Eto'o Switch Clubs, Inter Milan better off

Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Samuel Eto'o have switched clubs, to FC Barcelona and Inter Milan respectively. Zlatan scored 25 goals with Inter, leading Serie A while Eto'o scored 30 and finished second in La Liga.

When considering this move at first, it just seems the two clubs swapped their most prolific strikers so they each could have a change of scenery. They scored similar amounts of goals, and the two players are only a year apart in age.

And then you realize that Inter Milan will get 46 million on top of receiving Eto'o (or so I've heard, I haven't been able to confirm this. I apologize if this is completely wrong). I consider Eto'o to be the more prolific scorer of the two. He also scored six times last year for the title winners in the Champions League, Zlatan scored only once. I also think Eto'o is the better all around player. So why Inter is getting money in addition to the better player (in my opinion) is beyond me.

Also, I see that Manchester City have finally had the sense to invest in their defense. They bought Kolo Toure from Arsenal today for a cool 16 million pounds.

Getafe Win Competition for Ugliest Kit

(Taken from footballshirtculture.com. I wish I could fix the blog so it doesn't cut off the pictures, but the guy on the right is wearing the same shirt as the guy in blue, only it's in red.)

Wow, words cannot even begin to describe how ugly these shirts are. The multi-colored stripe running across the top is atrocious, and the Burger King sponsorship simply looks terrible.

And it gets even worse. Former striker Fabrizio Ravanelli used to celebrate his goals by pulling his shirt over his head and running around as such:


So what does Burger King then decide to do? If any Getafe player decides to celebrate in the Ravanelli style, the Burger King himself will be present as well:


Burger King should really be ashamed of themselves for this. Tell everyone you know to boycott eating there simply because of this mess. Joma (the kit manufacturer) should also be ashamed.

MLS All-Stars Lose First Game to International Competition

I've always been torn about the what the MLS should do for it's All-Star game. An East vs. West game, like they've done in the past, is rather boring and doesn't draw in an audience outside of the cult followers of the league. This is probably the main reason why the league scrapped this format.

For the last five years (I believe), the MLS All-Stars have played teams from international leagues, most commonly from the EPL (Fulham, Chelsea, West Ham and now Everton). This format attracts a much larger audience to the game and promotes the MLS by showboating their best players against some of the best teams in the world. But this current format also sets the league up for potential failure. If a group of all-stars from the 15 MLS teams can't contend or beat these teams, most of whom aren't champions of their respective leagues and aren't even regular competitors for the title, then what does that say for the rest of the league and the players who aren't "all-stars?"

MLS is certainly walking a tightrope here. If they lose, it shows just how much further we have to go to become a respectable league on the world stage. If they win, however, then the national sports media will rave how a bunch of (mostly) American players just beat Chelsea or Celtic and claim that we're on our way up in the soccer world.

Another thing the MLS All-Stars have going against them is that these players must come together and jell on the pitch in a matter or days. The teams they play have settled squads with players who know the system and understand what their teammates are and aren't capable of. Even though the game is part of their preseason training, that doesn't mean they've forgotten how to play with each other after a month or two apart.

For these past five years, the MLS All-Stars have pulled through and won. This year's game really shouldn't have been any different. The boys have nothing to hang their heads about besides all the missed chances they had in the second half. To lose on penalty kicks...that's really just a crap shoot anyway.

Except for when you're shooting against Tim Howard. He's damn good. It's bittersweet - I feel better for the USMNT after seeing him perform so admirably between the sticks.

Gold Cup Fiasco

I don't want to talk about it.

By the way, how freaky does Guillermo Franco (10) look?

Leyton Orient 6-1 Newcastle United

Yes, you read that correctly - Leyton Orient beat Newcastle United 6-1 in a preseason friendly today.

Yes, Newcastle United are now in the Football League Championship and Leyton Orient reside in League One, but that score is shocking for any Newcastle fan with hopes of getting back into the EPL. Yes, it's a friendly, but that is ridiculous.

It only took Orient 4 minutes to open the scoring. And they sure didn't let up after that. It gets even worse for Newcastle - their only goal came from a Joey Barton penalty! They couldn't score a goal in open play, yet they conceded six to a lower league side.

Oh dear.

Their first match of the season is only two weeks away. And isn't Mike Ashley still their owner?

Everton signs another obscure American

Soccer by Ives brought this story (and the above picture) to my attention - Everton have signed another American player who I've never heard of. This time, it is Wake Forest striker Cody Arnoux, who just finished his junior year.

Apparently, he had a trial with the club in March and signed a contract today. He was projected to be a top three prospect in the MLS draft next year, according to SBI.

Arnoux is so obscure at this point that he doesn't have his own Wikipedia page, nor is he listed as an Everton player on that team's Wikipedia page. That will surely change in the next day or two, if not sooner.

Everton is quickly overtaking Fulham as the American team in England. If they end up signing Clint Dempsey as well, then they surely will have claimed that title away from the London club.

Book Club: "The Beckham Experiment"

My copy of "The Beckham Experiment" by SI's soccer writer Grant Wahl came today from amazon.com. I have a bunch of stuff that I want to read, but this will be put near the top of my list.

Consider this the first edition of the "11 players, 1 team book club."

Sven to Notts County?!?

Sven Goran Eriksson was revealed as the director of football at Notts County FC today.

You may be asking "why Notts County?" I'm right there with you. Especially when Sven is saying things like this after taking the job

I always said I wanted to come back to the Premier League. I chose a little bit of a difficult way to do it I think.

Not sure why taking a job with a League Two side who finished 19th out of 24 teams last year has Sven convinced that this job will lead him back to the Premier League. Maybe he wants to construct a team that he can assemble with funds from a Middle East consortium who just took the team over. Notts County FC are the oldest professional soccer team in the world, after all - they certainly deserve something better than League Two.

But still, for Sven, who managed England in two World Cups, took Manchester City to their highest ever point total in the top flight (not to mention beating Man Utd in both league games in his only season in charge) and has been in charge of such high profile teams as Benfica, Roma and Fiorentina, this is a bizarre move. Even after a rough stint with the Mexican national team of late (for which I will be forever grateful - thanks Sven!), he surely could've landed

Just to clarify, Sven will not be managing Notts County, he will be the director of football. He will essentially be the equivalent of a general manager in US sports.

Also, I wonder how this will play out on a new season of Special1 TV.

Fredy Montero to Europe; Fulham?

The British media is known for fabricating rumors and nonsense in all matters relating to soccer and transfers. This rumor, which I stumbled across this morning, seems much more plausible (mostly because the coach was quoted, but I suppose that could be fabricated as well).

Fredy Montero, the 21-year-old scoring sensation with the Seattle Sounders (he's the second leading scorer in all of MLS with 9 goals, only behind Columbus' Guillermo Barros Schelotto with 10) is being linked with a move to Europe, and Fulham seems to be a likely destination.

As a young player who has made such an impact in MLS, the sky seems to be the limit for him. That said, I'm surprised that he's being linked with England, Europe's undisputed top soccer league. He is explosive and is capable of making special plays whenever he's on the ball, but as I was also reminded yesterday, he's prone to making silly mistakes and be selfish with the ball.

He's young and that can change, but he's certainly capable of making a switch to Europe.

Sounders vs. Chelsea

Above are the two goals that Chelsea scored against the Seattle Sounders. I had seats up in the nosebleed section above the corner flag at the end where Chelsea scored both of their goals. Seattle competed with Chelsea and were able to move the ball around, I thought, but boy, Chelsea's defense didn't let anything remotely close to the goal. Our only real opportunity to score came from Freddie Ljungberg's free kick where Petr Cech made a flying save.

Overall, Chelsea is a very good team. They made their goals looks so simple, coming so quick. It felt like they could score anytime they touched the ball because every single player they had on the field was capable of doing something special with the ball. The players they brought on in the second half were first team players as well (Carvalho, Ivanovic, Obi Mikel).

A good day out. The weather couldn't have been better. I only learned after the game that ESPN2 showed the game nationally. Chelsea put on a show for the country, and the Sounders didn't play too shabby either.

Off to the Sounders vs. Chelsea Game Tomorrow!

I have tickets to go see the Seattle Sounders take on Chelsea tomorrow at Qwest Field. I have yet to see the Sounders play live since it's so hard to get tickets, but officials opened up the entire stadium for this friendly match. It's almost completely sold out (less than 1,000 tickets left in a stadium that holds 67,000). We (my dad and I) only managed to get tickets up in the nosebleed section, but I can't complain really. I'm just happy to be there.

I'll have thoughts and possibly even pictures on here whenever I get around to it. Tomorrow will be a busy day.

PS. I hate Chelsea. But I couldn't help myself from smiling while i watched this video Terry, Drogba and Ballack trying their hand at American football.

Fulham Concludes Pre-Season Trip to Australia

Fulham recently finished up a pre-season tour of Australia, where they played three teams out of the Australian A-League. Below, I've posted their goals from their last game, a 5-0 thrashing of the Perth Glory. Eddie Johnson had two assists that this short video shows (he is wearing #21). Maybe he'll be able to make the team a second time around?



Come on Fulham!

Also, Erik Nevland had a hat trick for the Superwhites (goals 2-4 on the video).

Beckham's MLS Return

Unless you've been completely out of the news of late, you've heard about the controversy between David Beckham and Landon Donovan as chronicled by SI senior writer Grant Wahl in his newly released book titled The Beckham Experiment. This post will not be a commentary on that, however.

Tonight is Beckham's first game back for the Galaxy since declaring himself a part-time MLS player. He spent the first half the MLS season in Italy with giants AC Milan. We'll see how Beckham fits into this team who have won three in a row, and how he gets on with Donovan.

I like the Galaxy's chances tonight. They are playing the New York Red Bulls, after all. Kickoff is at 8pm ET (90 minutes from right now).

UPDATE: LA is up 3-0 going into halftime with David Beckham in the line-up. The game isn't being televised here in Seattle so I can't judge his performance, but clearly Beckham is not disrupting the Galaxy's momentum. It's against the Red Bulls, yes, but three goals in one half on the road is impressive nonetheless.

UPDATE #2: Full time, LA wins 3-1, Beckham subbed in the 70th minute. All signs point to a positive return on his part, but I haven't seen any highlights of the game to back this up.

UPDATE #3: Scratch that, apparently he had little or no effect on the game whatsoever.

Carlos Tevez: Welcome to the Other Side of Manchester

English fans/paparazzi never disappoint. But what's with the bandage (??) around Tevez's head?

Supposedly that thing he's wearing is some sort of a knit headband. Why Carlos why?

MLS Announces All-Star XI

As I'm sure many of you who read this blog (if you exist at all) will already know that the MLS released it's All-Star team roster. If not, let me fill you in:

3-5-2 formation
Kasey Keller (SEA), Chad Marshall (CLB), Geoff Cameron (HOU), Wilman Conde (CHI), Guillermo Barros Schelotto (CLB), Freddie Ljungberg (SEA), Shalrie Joseph (NE), Stuart Holden (HOU), Dwayne De Rosario (TOR), Landon Donovan (LA), Conor Casey (COL).

Bench: Pat Onstad (HOU), Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (SEA), Jonathan Bornstein (CHV), Cuauhtemoc Blanco (CHI), Ricardo Clark (HOU), Osvaldo Alonso (SEA), Paulo Nagamura (CHV), Fredy Montero (SEA), Brian McBride (CHI).

For those of you keeping track at home, there are 5 Seattle players, 4 Houston players, and 3 Chicago players, the top three clubs represented.

There are four determinants that go into an all-star selection: fan voting, player voting, media voting and coach/general manager voting. It's very interesting to note the difference in fan voting from the other three groups, specifically towards Seattle Sounders players. (is anyone really that shocked about this though?)

The top four vote-getters from the fan voting were all Sounders. In descending order, they were: Ljungberg, Montero, Hurtado and Alonso. Only one of them (Ljungberg) is starting, however, signifying that the fans were alone in supporting these players, since they obviously didn't garner enough support from the other three groups to get picked as a starter.

On the flip side, the lack of a fan vote significantly hurt players on teams who have little to no fan support. This may explain why Jonathan Bornstein (who certainly could deserve it) isn't starting, or why no players from Real Salt Lake were chosen for example (their average attendance of 16,045 thus far this season just won't cut it compared to the 32,000 or so Sounders fans all voting for their own players each home game).

Of course, no Red Bulls players were selected. No surprises there.

The game is against Everton at Rio Tinto Stadium on Wednesday, July 29th at 9:30pm ET. It's on ESPN, so there's no excuse not to watch.

PS. Congrats to my boy Stuart Holden who made his first MLS All-Star team. That's how we do it.

USA vs. Haiti Gold Cup Highlights

If you're like me, you weren't able to watch the USA's final group match versus Haiti. And boy, did we miss a dramatic finish. My boy Stuart Holden came up with the goods (a goal and assist each), which gives him two goals in as many senior squad appearances.

Everton signs American Midfielder

And it's not Clint Dempsey.

Everton has signed 22-year-old midfielder Anton Peterlin (who?) from the Ventura County Fusion, a team in the fourth tier of the American soccer pyramid. He has no senior caps for the US national team, nor does he have any youth level caps.

That said, he seemed poised to make a step up from his current club. He had already rejected offers from Chicago and San Jose...but Everton? Talk about one hell of a step up.

This is a kid I'll have to keep an eye on.

Also, I wonder how he ever got to be on Everton's radar. Was Everton really scouting this kid playing down in the US's fourth division in California? I doubt Tim Howard knows him personally.

Video: Hilarious Soccer Throw-In

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

I wish I learned how to take a throw-in like this! Also, that must've hurt...a lot.

Taken from College Humor (if you couldn't tell from the ridiculous advertising they have embedded with the video...sheesh!)

Ronaldo's Ego

In an ESPN Soccernet article posted today, Cristiano Ronaldo thanks Sir Alex Ferguson for making him a less selfish player.

Some of Ronaldo's quotes about this topic are pretty funny I think:

"It's obvious that I'm a less egotistical footballer now. I know for sure that four years ago I always played to try to end up scoring myself.

Ok so maybe I'm taking comments out of context and am being a bit harsh in my interpretation of them, but my God, he's one of the most selfish soccer players I've ever seen! He throws tantrums whenever a call doesn't go his way, and he always demands extra protection from referees (which is certainly warranted some of the time, but not in every game he plays). Sure, he has all the talent in the world, but he seems to have really taken that to his head specifically during these last two seasons at Manchester United. I do think he calmed down a bit this season when he realized he couldn't repeat his 31 league goals from the year before.

Of course, Madrid didn't do anything to quell his ego after shattering the world transfer fee record on him after just breaking it for Kaka just a few days before.

In Ronaldo's defense, he had some very kind things to say about Sir Alex Ferguson, giving him all the credit for turning him into the player he is now.

It makes you wonder though...if Ferguson stalled Ronaldo's ego, what was it like before he came to Manchester United and what would it be like now if he had never been under Ferguson's tutelage??

Gooch to AC Milan (!!!!)

There was a lot of speculation as to where American center back Oguchi Onyewu would end up this summer, but I don't think anyone thought he would sign with a club of this stature.

AC Milan have signed Gooch to a three-year deal on a free transfer from his old club Standard Liege. Yes, AC MILAN, who are 17-time winners of Serie A and 5-time winners of the Champions League, have signed an American!

I know Gooch was being linked with various English and French sides, but I don't think anyone - no American fans, no AC Milan fans - saw this coming. The story on the ESPN Soccernet website is speculating that he could start at center back next to Thiago Silva, a young Brazilian who also recently signed with the club.

I wonder if his impressive performance at the Confederations Cup won him this move. It's a great step forward for the national team, and if he performs well, it would open numerous doors for top American players down the line. As long as he gets playing time (I don't think anyone knows how much he will get at this point), he will become an even more vital part of the national squad.

Congrats Gooch! Now go make the most of it! I've never liked AC Milan, but I think I can make exceptions this time around for the team.

Gold Cup - USA vs. Grenada

Since I live in Seattle, I had to go see the US national team play when they were here - on the Fourth of July no less! Even if it was a "B" squad made up of players whom I hadn't heard of (for the majority of them, at least) coming into the game.

It shouldn't come as any surprise that the United States dominated Grenada, especially when you consider that the US has 300+ million people and Grenada has only 110,000 people. It was a complete mismatch, really. But still, I thoroughly enjoyed myself, and for any soccer nut in my position, how could I not go watch the national team as a way to celebrate our country's independence?

And for those of you who don't know, the United States won 4-0, with goals from Freddy Adu, Stuart Holden, Robbie Rogers and Charlie Davies.

Best US Player: Stuart Holden, Houston Dynamo (honorable mention goes to Robbie Rogers of the Crew). Holden has had experience playing on the U-20 team and more recently on the US Olympic Team in Beijing last summer, but in his first senior team appearance, he didn't make a single bad pass, dribble or move that I could see for the whole 90 minutes. He scored a goal and might've assisted another one if my memory serves me right. As a player who looked like he was playing some hybrid of central midfield and right winger, I think he could make the national team in the future (since I do not rate Ricardo Clark highly, but I don't like his chances of unseating Michael Bradley, Landon Donovan or Clint Dempsey in the first team). A real exciting, fundamentally strong, and most importantly, smart player on the ball.

Most Disappointing US Player : Freddy Adu. It's certainly not his fault that he was tagged as being the future of United States soccer at such a young age, but boy, did he look lazy for still being a fairly inexperienced player who hasn't earned any right to be lazy. He never seemed to hustle for a ball, electing instead to wait for the ball to reach his feet. Adu also seemed to have a really bad first touch. He had a very nice goal in the 6th minute of play, but all the credit should go to the assist man (Rogers it was I think?) for picking out an unmarked Adu in the box.

It's certainly a bit harsh to call Adu the "most disappointing player," but everyone else on the US squad (again, half of whom I hadn't heard of) all played very well. Adu didn't necessarily have a bad game, but he didn't seem to be taking advantage of his time on the field. Now I have a better idea why he hasn't been cracking the first team squad lately.

Overall, a good day out. There were drunk Honduran fans four rows behind me blowing horns the entire time that might've come straight from South Africa last week. I saw one of them funneling a beer down the horn. I'll bet he enjoyed that.

Michael Owen to Manchester United

My three thoughts about this deal:

1. Savvy move on Manchester United's part. They get a proven international goal-scorer without having to pay a transfer fee. Sure, his injury history is something to worry about, but he passed their (surely rigorous) physical, and he apparently is on a performance-based contract. Only gets paid if he produces - if he's injured, Sir Alex won't have to pay it appears. And it gives him incentive to perform well.

2. Wonder how he'll be received at his former club, Liverpool...Manchester United's arch rivals and all.

3. Manchester United > Hull City. Remember when Phil Brown was talking about trying to land Owen? That looks pretty ridiculous right about now.

EDIT: There's something else I want to add. I wonder if he'll find his way back into the England squad if he performs well at Old Trafford. We're less than a year away from the World Cup, and England has essentially qualified without him, but it would be tough even for Fabio Capello to turn away an experienced striker with 40 international goals.

Fulham Pre-Season Training Begins

Fulham's first competitive game of the season will be in the third round of the Europa League at the end of August, a good 2-3 weeks ahead of the first Premier League game. Add on their pre-season trip to Australia, and you see why they are starting pre-season training camps so early.

Photos from Fulham's first pre-season training session today in London can be seen here.

I'm excited, not gonna lie.

Real Madrid Give up on David Villa

Real Madrid have already spent 94 million euros for Ronaldo, 65 million for Kaka, and now 35 million for Karim Benzema. Rumors have it that Franck Ribery wants in at the club, and he'll surely require a hefty transfer fee as well. According to Wikipedia (again, my ever reliable source for sports/soccer statistics), Real Madrid have already invested 209 million euros in this transfer window, while only receiving 10 million euros in return for players they've shipped out.

In a startling turn of events (I think at least) Real Madrid have showed they might actually be human by giving up their pursuit to sign striker David Villa. Real Madrid claim that they no longer need Villa for goals since their summer signings so far exceed the necessary requirements (no really...). But I find this as surprising...if they can afford him, why not try and sign him? Valencia needs the cash, and Villa would instantly become Madrid's best striker (over van Nistelrooy, Robben, Raul, Huntelaar...and yes, Benzema).

Will Chelsea or Manchester City now try and buy Villa? City certainly don't need another striker, but Chelsea have yet to make any noise in the transfer market yet. With Pato most likely not joining Ancelotti at Stamford Bridge and Drogba always seemingly on his way out of Chelsea, I wouldn't at all be surprised to see them try and bring him in.

How well do you know your Soccer Trivia?

My recent obsession with sporcle.com has finally paid off. Today, a new quiz was added which tests your knowledge on the most expensive transfers in soccer history. Granted, this test is accurate as of today, and if Manchester City and Real Madrid continue to get their way, then this list will obsolete pretty quickly.

Sounders vs. Timbers

Tomorrow, soccer fans across the country get a rare treat in the under-appreciated US Open Cup. The Seattle Sounders FC, the expansion MLS side this year, takes on the Portland Timbers, their arch rivals from the USL. Portland will is scheduled to become an MLS team in 2011. This game will be first between the two teams in recent memory where they haven't been in the same division.

With the first four games of this round already being played, three MLS teams were upset by lower league competition. With the game in Portland, I certainly wouldn't count Portland out of adding to that total.

But because it is a rivalry game, expect the MLS side to not field a weakened team either. I'm a Sounders fan though, so I'm clearly biased.

The game is nationally televised on FSN I believe (a remarkable feat for a US Open Cup game - just shows how important of a rivalry this is). The game kicks off at 7pm PT.

The circumstances are right for an upset: home field advantage for the underdog, rivalry game meaning they'll be pumped up for it, and a large and vocal crowd on their side. Regardless of that, it should be a fantastic game as most rivalry games are. I encourage you all to tune in to experience what will be coming to the MLS in 2 years time.

Confederations Cup Final: So Close yet So Far

I never expected the United States to do the unthinkable again and beat Brazil after knocking off Spain, but after going up 2-0, it feels much more devastating knowing the team had a legitimate chance to actually win. Still, nice job to the boys for making it this far and performing well in their first ever FIFA cup final. However, I would like to congratulate Clint Dempsey for winning the Bronze Ball award (third best player in the tournament, after Kaka and Luis Fabiano) and Tim Howard for winning the Golden Gloves award as the best goalie (and he let in 3 goals in 3 separate games...and still played out of his skin). But in the end, Brazil was simply too good. We can play with them, but they are so much more talented and have game changers at every position.

Roll on next summer!

Nice Piece on Tim Howard

On the eve of the Confederations Cup final, I think this video is an appropriate one to post. This is easily Tim Howard's biggest game with the United States, and facing Brazil this time won't be any easier than the first. This nice piece by ESPN tells Howard's club soccer story with Manchester United and Everton, putting special emphasis on his diagnosis of Tourette Syndrome.



Enjoy!

Sam Allardyce: You Cannot be Serious

After losing his best striker to Manchester City earlier this week, Sam Allardyce went public to announce his bid to try and sign Ruud van Nistelrooy at Blackburn.

Did I just read that correctly? Ruud van Nistelrooy, formerly of PSV and Manchester United before signing with Real Madrid...to Blackburn? He may be 32 years old, but according to Wikipedia (always a reliable source for sports at least), he has scored 45 goals in 67 league appearances in Madrid. He's still got it, clearly.

I can understand why Big Sam would try and go after him. Real Madrid's spending spree does not seem to be ending anytime soon, and he will more than likely get pushed out to the fringe of the team.

But Blackburn? They finished 15th last year in the EPL, hardly a league powerhouse. Could they even afford his wages? And who would want to live in Blackburn, anyway?

Where will Michael Owen go (and does anyone care)?

Michael Owen's contract with Newcastle United ends next Wednesday. A free transfer of a former England international will be enticing for many clubs, and Hull City's manager Phil Brown has already voiced his interest:

"Yes, if we could sit down around a table with Michael and his advisors and maybe draft a deal up that would be workable for both sides, who knows? It could be a good start to the transfer market for us."

So far, according to this article on the Premier League's website, only Hull City and Stoke City have come out and said they would like to sign him. Galatasaray is also rumored to be interested.

There's no denying that Michael Owen used to be a fabulous player. His scoring record with Liverpool is fabulous and his 40 goals for England are the fourth most of any other English international. But does he still have it? Some would argue (myself included) that he would've kept Newcastle in the Premier League if he still was a quality striker. And he didn't even start very many games under Alan Shearer down the stretch when he was healthy, a worrying sign no doubt.

Michael Owen has two things going against him - his injury history and his high wage demands. Not many clubs seem to want to take that risk. His high wage demands could very well be detrimental to whatever club he joins. Newcastle was overpaying many, many players, but when they signed Owen, their financial situation was much more stable. In this economy especially, clubs like Stoke or Hull would surely have to go well beyond their means to satisfy Owen's wage requests (whether he deserves it or not is another matter), and if he doesn't produce or gets injured, will that lead to relegation?

Michael Owen is a very big risk, and not one that I would make as a club. But his name alone will get him signed, and he's still on the right side of the age of 30. Owen himself might have to lower his expectations for a club in order to be signed. But with his contract at Newcastle expiring in a matter of days, he will have suitors coming. We'll wait and see.

To Prove my Point about Manchester City

If they do indeed sign Carlos Tevez, they will have 11 strikers all looking to start: Tevez, Santa Cruz, Robinho, Bellamy, Bojinov, Jo, Benjani, Evans, Caicedo, Vassell and Sturridge. You can't be serious, Mark Hughes...

That's inexcusable for a team whose best defenders are Richard Dunne and Micah Richards. Yikes!

A Marvelous Victory: USA 2-0 Spain

Today, I witnessed something that I didn't even imagine was possible when I woke up this morning. The United States Mens National Team - yes, the same team that looked so uninspired against Brazil and were dominated by "world powerhouse" Costa Rica recently - pulled off an improbable upset of no. 1 ranked Spain in the Confederations Cup. Yes, they beat Spain, who hadn't lost a game since November of 2006. And they fully deserved the victory.

Jozy Altidore, who has been slagged for missing chances and not doing enough on the pitch throughout this tournament, hushed all of his critics with a skillful turn around Joan Capdevila and fired a shot which Casillas could only parry into the corner of the net on 25 minutes. Then Clint Dempsey, who had his best game for the United States in a while, beat Sergio Ramos to a deflected cross and slotted home while falling over in the second half. These were the only two shots on goal that the Americans had, but it was all they needed.


The back line played out of their skins for 90 minutes, keeping Fernando Torres and David Villa, the world's most explosive and dangerous strike partnership, at bay. They received a lot of help from the midfield, and together the United States was very organized defensively. Tim Howard commanded his box and made several game-changing saves to preserve the US lead. The first ten minutes of the second half especially when Spain was on the attack, it seemed like the US was flying into tackles and blocking every shot that Spain could muster. Even after Michael Bradley was sent off late, Spain couldn't find a way through to score. A heroic effort all around.

I asked the question in my last USMNT post - could the United States string two good performances in a row? The answer is a resounding yes. The team will take on the winner of South Africa and Brazil (played tomorrow) on Sunday. The US is already assured of their best finish ever in a Confederations Cup. They were never expected to come this far, yet now they're 90 minutes away from possibly achieving something spectacular.

ESPN, I really hate you sometimes

Right now on ESPN.com, the Sportsnation poll question is this: How much would you care if the United States beat Spain in the Confederations Cup? The three choice answers are a lot, a little or not at all.

ESPN, we all know you hate soccer. So why continue to rub it in the faces of soccer fans across the country?

For those of you curious, as of 10am PST, the results were 36% cared a lot, 32% cared a little, and 32% didn't care at all. I find this only mildly reassuring.

I am happy to announce, however, that my home state of Washington overwhelming cares a lot (48%) about the United States' game today. Way to make me proud.

Iranian Players Banned

In a story that The Original Winger brought to my attention, The Guardian is reporting that 4 Iranian soccer players have received lifetime bans for wearing green wristbands in support of Mir Hossein Mousavi in last Wednesday's World Cup qualifying match against South Korea.

The four banned players are captain Mehdi Mahdavikia, Ali Karimi, Hosein Ka'abi and Vahid Hashemian. Karimi is arguably their best player - he has been capped 111 times with Iran and has played for Bayern Munich. He was the only player to wear the green bands on both his wrists.

All the players took their wristbands off at halftime, apparently on orders from some higher up.

There were two more players who wore wristbands during the game, but there's no word on whether they're being punished. By no means am I wishing harm on them, but it seems unfair that only some players are subject to this ban.

Also, if Iran had beaten South Korea to keep their qualification hopes alive, I wonder if any of this would've happened. According to the article in The Guardian, "the national team coach Ali Daei was sacked [this year], reportedly on Ahmadinejad's orders, after a 2-1 home defeat by Saudi Arabia." If he has done it to coaches before, I don't see what would stop him from doing it to players who have underperformed in his eyes, even if they are his country's best players. Them wearing the green wristbands give him more of a justification to do so.

Manchester City and the Transfer Window

Here we go again.

Manchester City has picked up right where they left off in the last two transfer windows. But last year, while City bought good players like Shaun Wright-Phillips, Wayne Bridge and Craig Bellamy, none of them could be considered absolute world beaters (Robinho being the obvious, but lone exception).

This summer, City has only made two signings, yet the quality of player they are signing so far this summer as opposed to last has significantly improved. Gareth Barry is a regular England international at a position (central midfield) that is overrun with talent. Today, City announced that they had signed Roque Santa Cruz from Blackburn for a cool 17 million pounds. Even with all of his injury problems last year, I rate him very highly.

Now enter Carlos Tevez, a transfer target for City who would dwarf any other signing that City could make this summer. His talents, when fully utilized, are tremendous. I think we got just a sniff of what he is capable of at Manchester United since he didn't receive consistent playing time last season. And he's only 25 years old - his golden years are still ahead of him. When it was announced that Tevez would not be returning to Old Trafford next season, the rumors immediately began to link him with United's crosstown rival. Chelsea have stuck their nose in as well, but all signs point to Tevez signing with City.

If Tevez does join Mark Hughes' squad, then I believe Manchester City's international appeal will surely be fulfilled. With his presence, City will finally be able to lure world class players like they failed to do last year with both Kaka and Ronaldinho. Their signings thus far have shown that they are already attracting a higher quality player than they were last year, and this serious interest from Tevez certainly would not have been possible from City's position last year.

Kit Nightmare

When Newcastle United play in their away strip next year, they will officially look like bananas.


Major props to footballshirtculture.com, one of my favorite blogs to read this time of year.

EDIT: If there is a way that I can fix these photos that I post in my blog, then I'd really like to know how! I'm all ears.

United States Recovers, Somehow Advances in the Confederations Cup

Soccer is a funny game, innit? The United States loses to Italy courtesy of 2 goals of an American-born Italian (bastard), gets crushed by Brazil, and then comprehensively dominates Egypt, who had already beaten Italy and had scored three goals against the Brazilians. And this win for the Americans improbably puts them into the next round of the Confederations Cup. Now does that make any sense?

The Americans needed to beat the Egyptians by three to give themselves of any shot of advancing. and Charlie Davies, a player I would like to see more of in an American shirt, scrambled with defenders in the six yard box to deflect a shot off of the hapless goalkeeper's hands to score the first goal. After what should've been a penalty (the Egyptian defender cleared the ball off the goal line with his arm), Michael Bradley slotted home a shot in the 63rd minute (Happy Father's Day, Pops!) before Clint Dempsey headed a brilliant goal in the 71st minute to confirm the United States' spot in the semifinals.

Even though he botched several golden opportunities to score, Landon Donovan had himself a marvelous game. He stretched the field with his quickness on the ball, put defenders on their back foot, and distributed the ball well to his teammates (except in Egypt's penalty box). Dempsey, who has been understandably slagged as a weak link in the team of late stepped up in what otherwise was another sub-par performance, stepped up to score the goal that kept the United States in the tournament. It was his first goal since September 10th, a run of 8 matches with the team.

Bob Bradley has also been the subject of much criticism for the team's recent performances. I haven't been openly been questioning his team selections or tactics, but I also haven't been his biggest fan. Today's team performance, however, was inspired from the opening kick. He got the team to find its rhythm and play a free-flowing game, which stretched the African champions and made them resort to become overly physical just to compete. Bradley wouldn't look as good as he does now if Brazil didn't beat Italy in the fashion they did, and for that he surely is grateful. But the defense was solid, the midfield dominated, and the forwards constantly pressured the Egyptian goal. We've been waiting a long time to see this team perform to it's potential, and today we all saw what it was capable of doing.

Next up for the Americans? Spain, who have won 15 straight games, a new world record, and not lost in 35 straight games, tying them with Brazil (not the current Brazil squad I must clarify) as the record-holders there. It'll be a daunting task for the Americans, but they will play another match regardless of win or loss. Now, I see this tournament as more of a test of consistency. We'll see next Wednesday if the United States can put together two great performances in a row. They'll need to in order to have a chance at beating the best team in the world.

Also, is it too much to ask for the god damn fans to stop blowing those annoying horns? I really hope this isn't what next summer's World Cup is going to be like...

Ronaldo > Zlatan Ibrahimovic > Kaka??

According to an official from inside the club, Inter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is better than Kaka, but not Ronaldo, meaning that if he were to be transferred, Inter would not accept a fee that was less than Kaka's. He is a very skilled player who led Italy's Serie A in scoring last year with 25 goals (Kaka had 16 from a midfield position and was AC Milan's leading scorer). Most people would claim that Kaka, a former FIFA world player of the year winner, is the better player. I'm not sure what Inter is playing at here. Maybe they're trying to make a dig at their cross-town rivals by claiming that Ibrahimovic is better than one of their best former players. Who knows.

According to this article, Ibrahimovic has attracted from Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and the first two clubs certainly have deep pockets with which to sign players. I personally don't know how much he's worth, but anyone who can do this is worth a fair amount of money in my book:

Asian Qualifying and the World Cup

The last few days have seen some interesting stories unfold as four teams punched their tickets to the World Cup next summer. Among these stories, we saw Australia complete their qualifying campaign by beating Japan (who also qualified) 2-1. That goal was the first the Socceroos conceded in all 8 qualifying games from this round of qualifying, a remarkable statistic. We learned that Saudi Arabia and Bahrain would feature in a two-legged playoff for the right to play New Zealand, with the winner earning a spot in the next World Cup. There were two stories, however, which are much more significant both to the soccer world and political world.

First, I turn my attention to Iran and the political situation there at the moment. I'm sure many people heard about the green wristbands that several Iranian players wore to show their apparent support of opposition candidate Mir Hossain Mousavi in a qualifying match against South Korea on Wednesday. Team captain Mehdi Mahdavikia (remember him as the man who scored the goal that knocked the United States out of the 1998 World Cup?) wore a green band, and Ali Karimi wore green bands on both of his wrists, among others. The players only wore them in the first half, seemingly ordered to take them off at halftime.

This was a risky thing for all these players to do. To me, its seems the Iranian protests in Tehran most notably have succeeded because there are so many people participating. There are no individuals, just a collective group protesting together. These soccer players are singling themselves out on a world stage (albeit, together, but they're still easy to identify) for all to see. It's a bold move, and for that I commend them. More importantly, for the players at least, Iran drew 1-1 with South Korea, which knocked them out of the World Cup and sent South Korea through instead.

Second, the North Korean national soccer team qualified for the 2010 World Cup this past week with a 0-0 draw over Saudi Arabia. This is their first World Cup appearance since the 1966 World Cup in England where they finished 8th. Even more notably, Kim Jong-Il will have a reason to travel to South Africa is he so chooses or is allowed to. It'll be interesting to see what happens to the national team of this socialist country next summer.

DC United vs. Seattle Sounders Highlights

The first 60 minutes of the DC United/Seattle Sounders FC game last night were not nationally televised since ESPN decided to show the extra innings of a college baseball game instead. And what a game it was! Here are the highlights (and there were many) that we all missed due to ESPN's decision.

United States' Red Card Performance Thus Far in the Confederations Cup

For the second game in a row, the United States conceded three goals against tough competition. For the third game in their last four, the United States conceded a goal very early in the game. Unlike all of these other games (except for Costa Rica, but we can partially excuse that for the hostile environment and the crummy playing surface), the United States today was downright terrible. Not that we had been playing our best soccer these last couple of weeks, but today's performance made those other games look very good indeed.

From the very get-go of this game, the United States never looked like they would be able to contend with Brazil. To their credit, not many teams can. Still, going down 2-0 inside of 20 minutes when both goals could've easily been prevented is not how you go about playing any team, and certainly not Brazil. The first goal (a point-blank header from a set piece) could've been avoided with better marking. The second goal (a break-away from a USA corner) should never be allowed to happen in a college game, let alone an international game. For the third goal, the ball took an unfortunate deflection away from Tim Howard, and the result of a goal from that play seems harsh on the United States defense. The United States looked much more lively in the closing stages (hitting the crossbar twice), but their efforts were never going to threaten Brazil's lead in the game, especially considering the United States also had Sacha Kljestan sent off.

This loss puts the United States with one win and three losses in their last four games, and they're surely out of the Confederations Cup now. Even if Egypt manages to beat Italy this afternoon to keep the United States alive in the tournament, they would somehow need to overturn their -5 goal difference against Egypt, who managed to score three goals against the team who just crushed us. And we've only played one decent half in the tournament thus far, which was the first half against Italy.

Here are some worrying statistics from the last four games against Costa Rica, Honduras, Italy and Brazil:
- We've conceded 12 goals while only scoring 4
- Only 1 of the goals we've scored has come from open play (Landon Donovan scored the other 3 from penalty kicks) - that's 1 non-penalty kick goal in 360 minutes of soccer
- We've conceded 3 goals in 3 different games within the first 6 minutes of the game

Comparing the US line-up in our last game in the 2006 World Cup against Ghana to today's game against Brazil, only 4 players started both these games: Onyewu, Donovan, Dempsey and Beasley. The latter two players had little or no impact on the game. We have a young and very inexperienced squad assembled at the moment, and it has showed in these last few games that they're nowhere near ready to compete at next year's World Cup. I'll hold off on judgment of Bob Bradley, but it sure seems like we haven't made any progress as a team on the world stage. The Gold Cup next month will be very telling to see how this team responds on home soil against far inferior competition. It'll also be interesting to see who Bradley drops, if anyone, from his squad (I expect Beasley will be the first one to go).

Overall, the poor performance from the United States today was simply a continuation of our form of late. It's very worrying because we're already less than a year away from the 2010 World Cup. Let's at least hope for a better performance against Egypt.

Fashion No-No's

Cristiano Ronaldo, what on earth do you think you're doing? There's no denying that he's a brilliant soccer player, but he needs some help in the fashion department.

Transfer Madness

Transfer season is in full swing, and apparently Real Madrid isn't feeling the recession pinch. Real Madrid is no stranger to big spending. When they shelled out 59 million euros (which roughly equates to $94 million), they broke their own record transfer record of 46.7 million euros ($75 million) for Zidane in 2001. And Cristiano Ronaldo's transfer fee of 80 million euros ($131 million) only a couple of days later ensured that Real Madrid would play their next season with the last two FIFA World Player of the Year winners, and they could also boast about having the three most expensive transfers in soccer history.

The transfer window officially opens in Europe on July 1st (meaning these players cannot join their new teams until then), and it closes on August 31st. That leaves a lot a time for clubs to make new signings. With several names being dropped as potential targets for clubs (David Villa, Didier Drogba, and Franck Ribery come to mind), the summer transfer window will continue to make headlines as club look to bolster their squads. Throughout the summer, I will be keeping tabs on this blog of the more significant transfer news. Who will Carlo Ancelotti try and attract to Chelsea this summer? What will Manchester United do with all the profits of selling Ronaldo? Will there be a firesale at relegated Newcastle? And so much more...

I Hate the Azzurri, and I Really Hate Giuseppe Rossi

Before the 2006 World Cup, I didn't have any reason to dislike the Italian national team, but I certainly didn't consider myself a fan. After the Italy vs. United States game in the World Cup, I developed a strong dislike for the Azzurri and Daniele de Rossi after his violent elbow to Brian McBride's nose. After they beat Australia, the only team remaining who I was rooting for, in a penalty shootout, I was heartbroken. And when Marco Materazzi hit the deck after Zidane's headbutt in the World Cup final, I lost all remaining respect for the team.

And then 22-year-old Giuseppe Rossi, a born and bred American with an incredible amount of talent at a position the United States national team sorely needed skill at (striker), left to play for Italy, an established world soccer powerhouse and, of course, the reigning World Cup champions.


So when Giuseppe Rossi, who only has one goal for Italy in five previous senior team appearances, comes on as a second half substitute and scores two sublime goals against the country of his birth (and then dedicates his two goals to his American family members ), it left us American fans both fuming and envious. US public enemy no. 1 Daniele de Rossi's game winning goal in the 71st minute was the icing on the cake for a defeat that will be hard to swallow. No one really expected the United States to win, but this is just plain cruel.

Ricardo Clark's harsh (in my opinion, at least) straight red card in the first half made sure the United States would be playing down a man for the second time in as many games against Italy, making an already tough task even tougher. Even so, a Landon Donovan penalty before halftime put the United States shockingly ahead going into halftime. The Rossi's, however, made sure that an upset would never happen.

Now, the United States has got to play Brazil and Egypt. Great.

Fernando Torres is a God Among Men

In Spain's Confederations Cup Match against New Zealand on Sunday in South Africa, it took Fernando Torres a mere 17 minutes to complete a hat-trick. I realize that Spain is the number one in the FIFA World Rankings while New Zealand is 82nd, but that should take nothing away from his tremendous game. The way Torres scored the goals showed how complete of a striker he is - his goals came from a curling effort at the edge of the box, a cool touch low and away from the diving goalkeeper, and a strong header into the corner.

Oh, and Spain won 5-0.


Props to 101greatgoals.com for the video

The United States plays defending World Cup champions Italy tomorrow in a Group B game in the Confederations Cup. The game airs on ESPN at 2:25pm EST. Let's just hope the red cards stay in the ref's pocket this time.

My Introduction to the Blogging World

As a 20-year-old college student interested in soccer at home and abroad, I figured it would be fun to start a blog as a means for me to convey and discuss my thoughts about this beautiful game. I used to lived in London (having gone to several games in England and in Europe), and I followed the English Premier League extensively while I was over there. My favorite club is Fulham who still today hold a very special place in my heart. Now that I'm back in the States, I continue to follow the game abroad with a new found interest for the development of the game here. I grew up in Seattle, and the expansion of the Major League Soccer to include a Seattle franchise opened my eyes to relatively new professional soccer league in the United States.

Surely the last thing the world needs is another soccer blog, and I feel like I'm joining the blog scene about two years too late. I hope, however, to stand apart from the rest in the focus of this blog. I intend to cover European soccer (with emphasis on the EPL) as well as relevant soccer news here in the States (like the men's national team), but maybe that'll just be a jumping off point for this blog. Who knows? I'll hopefully be experimenting with all different kinds of posts. We'll see what happens.

Soccer interest is rapidly growing in the United States through MLS and the influence and globalization of the European leagues. I'm starting this blog now because I feel people (specifically an American audience) need some sort of guide to this expanding sphere. There is so much to follow out there that it can all become incredibly confusing. I aim to try and help one with that. That doesn't mean a devoted fan would find this blog useless, either. If you're a soccer crazy like me, I want you to read this as well.

Consider this post my hello. I hope to attract some sort of an audience to my page, but I'm not silly enough to expect anything big. I just want to write about soccer. It's my passion and my love. I'm content with just sharing my knowledge of soccer with you, and I hope you'll come along for the ride.

Note: I hope to change the format of this page. But for now at least (until I figure out how this all works), I'm stuck with this template.