The recent loss to Ghana has opened the flood gate to speculation about the future of team U.S.A. As U.S. Soccer officials try to determine the future of Bob Bradley; U.S soccer supporters and also those who try to determine where the next generation of U.S. soccer players will come from.

While soccer is the sport of choice internationally; in the United States it is far from being the most popular sport. Soccer does not possess the pastime of baseball, nor the hard hitting of football or hockey, nor the athletes of basketball. Usually soccer isn’t on during primetime but rather denigrated to an obscure channel early in the morning.  The U.S does have a professional league, the MLS, though despite attempts to bring superstars to play soccer in America (David Beckham with the Los Angeles Galaxy and rumors of Thierry Henry coming to the Red Bulls) the league still has not seen popularity to compete with other sports. Continue Reading »

Tags: David Beckham, Ghana, Landon Donovan, MLS, Soccer, usa, World Cup

The USA caught a break when England and Algeria ended in a scoreless draw. Now the USA soccer team controls its own destiny…something that we would have never anticipated  following up the controversial USA vs. Slovenia draw. As a side point, the referee during that game will not be refereeing during the round of 16.  Quite frankly, it would have been a shock if he was back on the field after making a call like that. Continue Reading »

Tags: 2010 World Cup, England, Group C World Cup Standings, US vs Algeria

Well, it looks like it’s official, Real Madrid has to win everything next season. For an astonishing 80 million Euros (about $131M) Manchester United has sent the best player on the planet to Real Madrid. This trade for Cristiano Ronaldo has been ongoing since Real Madrid tried to snatch him up last year. It looks like now it’s just a matter of time before Ronaldo is in Spain. And oh yeah, Madrid also just got some guy named Kaka so they should have an alright team.

Tags: Christiano Ronaldo Trade, Cristiano Ronaldo Trade, Cristiano Ronaldo Trade Real Madrid, EPL Trade, Kaka trade, ronaldo trade, ronaldo trade manchester united

It was their chance to step up…they didn’t. Given a golden opportunity, the young “stars” of the US national team failed to take advantage of playing time and failed to stop the lowly Trinidad and Tobago, losing 2-1.

The lineup included just three starters from last week’s 6-1 win over Cuba win they clinched a berth into the next round. Michael Orozco made his first appearance as a member of the national team and Jose Francisco Torres was given his first start. Neither were impressive. Continue Reading »

Tags: Bruce Arena US National team Coach, Charlie Davies, Demarcus Beasley captain of US, Makan Hislop, Michael Orozco first cap, trinidad and tobago upset over US, US national team world cup 2010, US young players

On Tuesday Arsenal started their league cup match with a team average age of 19 years old. Now, this is common in the league cup, to try out your young talent and see how they do in the spotlight. The youngest who started on Tuesday was Jack Wilshere who is only 16 years old. So, here’s the debate. If England can show off 16 year olds without the media going wild, why can’t America?

Sports recruiting in England is much different than what it is over here. Usually over here, if you’re a young gifted soccer player you have to go through years of travel teams, lame camps, and eventually play in High School. At that moment is where the deal breaker is. Your success in the future depends on your High School’s success as an athletic program. For example I played at a crappy High School with an awful athletic program. Our team was o.k at best but never good enough to garner attention from college coaches. I had to go after coaches instead of the other way around. And when I played in college I was just as good as some players who were heavily recruited and who received hefty scholarships. And you know why? Because they played at a high school that either had money or one that has had success in the past. Continue Reading »

Tags: American high School soccer recruiting, Arsenal Recruiting, David Beckham's recruiting process, England Soccer recruiting, Freddy Edu recruiting process, High School Soccer recruiting, Jack Wilshere, Jack Wilshere Arsenal Recruit, Manchester United Recruiting, Soccer recruiting, Sports Recruiting

A crazy story out of Congo…During the middle of a game between Nyuki and Socozaki, to try and change the way the game was going, Nyuki’s goalkeeper went to the middle of the field and began to use some sort of witch craft.

Players from the opposing side weren’t enamered with the goalie’s tac tics to voodoo his team back into the game so a brawl ensued. Police immediately tried to break up the fight which then led fans to start rioting. The commander of the police was hit in the head by an object thrown by the fans so police began firing into the air to try and calm the crowd down. It did anything but.

Fans then tried to exit the stadium all at once creating a stampede that trampled many, leaving 13 dead. Reports at the beginning of the day had the death toll at 11, but has increased to 13. Most of the victims were aged 11-16 years old. It’s estimated that 36 are injured due to the riot.

Today, many teenagers marched in protests through the streets of Congo demanding something be done. Sadly this isn’t the first time a situation like this has happened in soccer. It seems that every couple of months something is mentioned about a riot that either injured someone or killed someone. I think it’s time for the United Nations or FIFA to address this situation loud and clear.

The riot patrol and protocol is some of the rural cities around the world are just appalling. How is shooting a gun in front of hundreds of fans who believe they just saw a goalie perform witchcraft gonna calm them down? There should be a standard procedure implemented at all professional venues so that these embarrassing and deadly events can stop. Every time something like this happens it gives the sport of soccer a black eye and I don’t think the sport can take any more head shots.

Tags: 11 die congo riot soccer, 13 die congo riot soccer, Africa Soccer, Africa soccer riot, Africa soccer riot caused by witchcraft, Africa Soccer Witchcraft, African Soccer, Congo Riot soccer, Congo Soccer riot witchcraft, Fifa Riots, Fifa Rules Riots, FIFA World Rules, Goalkeeper Congo Nyuki Witchcraft, Nyuki soccer, Nyuki Soccer Africa, Sean Connolly, Sean Connolly Soccer, Sean Connolly Sports, Sean Connolly Writer, Socozaki soccer, Socozaki soccer Africa, United Nations, United Nations Riot, United Nations Soccer Riot, United Nations Soccer Rules, witchcraft riot soccer, witchcraft riot soccer congo, Witchcraft soccer goalie, World Soccer Riots

He’s had it. Lukas Podolski of Bayern Munich and Germany, is tired of coming off the bench for his club team and has said it’s time to get out. He has had trouble getting into the starting lineup seeming that Luca Toni and fellow German Miroslav Klose are Bayern’s starting strikers. Here’s what Podolski had to say in his own words…

I wouldn’t have [signed] had I known that things were going to turn out like this,I would be a bad footballer if I contented myself with sitting on the bench. This is too much! I’m not making any progress here.

Lukas Podolski on his situation with Bayern Munich

With such a talented player, several teams have reportedly shown interest in the striker. So far rumors have circulated that Manchester City, Roma, and Fiorentina will all try to pursue Podolski. Manchester City has been adament on trying to get a big name player as a part of their squad but has failed to do so. During the summer, they tried to acquire Ronaldinho but failed to do so as he signed with AC Milan.

Continue Reading »

Tags: ac milan football, Bayern Munich, bayern munich soccer, bayern munich trade podolski, Bayern Munich trade rumors, Brazil Ronaldinho AC Milan, English Premier League, English Premiership, EPL Trade Rumors, fc barcelona, fc barcelona ronaldinho, fc bayern munich, Fiorentina Soccer, Fiorentina Trade Rumors, Fiorentina Trade Rumors Podolski, Lucas Podolski, Lucas Podolski Trade, Lucas Podolski trade rumors, Lucas Podolski traded, Lucas Podolski Transfer, Lukas Podolski, Lukas Podolski Trade, lukas podolski trade rumors, lukas podolski traded, Lukas Podolski Transfer, lukas podolsky, Manchester City, Manchester City Offer Ronaldinho, Manchester City trade Lucas Podolski, Manchester City trade Lukas Podolski, Manchester City Trade Rumors, Manchester City Trade rumors Lukas Podolski, milan trade, mls soccer, Money Ronaldinho AC Milan, Padolski Trade, pictures of ronaldinho, Podolski, Podolski Trade, Podolski trade rumors, podolski transfer, podolsky, Podolsky Trade, Podolsky Transfer, premier league, premier league english soccer, Roma Trade Rumors Podolski, Ronaldiinho Frank Lampard, Ronaldinho, Ronaldinho AC Milan, Ronaldinho AC Milan Adebayor, Ronaldinho AC Milan Pics, ronaldinho barcelona, Ronaldinho Deal AC Milan, Ronaldinho Sweepstakes AC Milan, Sean Connolly, Sean Connolly Soccer, Soccer Trade Rumors, top young football players, Trade Rumors, Transfer Ronaldinho Barcelona to AC Milan, U.S. soccer, U.S.A. Soccer, when did ronaldinho get traded, Where is Ronaldinho Being Traded, world football best young players

Pretty funny story i just read…some guy in England placed a bet that Barack Obama would turn out to be the coach of West Ham by the end of the season. Sounds ridiculous, right? Well here’s what happened…

An unidentified bettor wanted to show his friends back in America a betting slip with Barack Obama’s name on it. Knowing He went to bookmaker William Hill and asked for the bet. Obama is a fan of West Ham after a trip he took to England five years ago and West Ham is having a lot of coaching problems with the resignation of Curbishley last week. So, The guy put 10 bucks (or pounds…whatever) at William Hill and they gave him 10,000 to 1 odds for a 100,000 pound win possibility, 260,000 in dollars.

So where did this idea come from? Well, Obama has family in England(his sister married an Englishman), and when he went to England 5 years ago he soon became a fan of West Ham. All his relatives are fanatics and I guess it rubbed off on him.

Obama hasn’t just been a fan in the past 5 years though as his campaign revealed that he is in fact an avid soccer fan and even played a lot as a student at Harvard Law School.

He never really followed it, though, until he was told all about the passion of West Ham fans by some of his English relatives. He’s always keen to find out how his adopted club are getting on.

Barack Obama Campaign Source on Obama’s Love of West Ham

So, who knows, maybe if Obama decides that this whole leader of the free world thing isn’t for him, he’ll take on the task of managing the Hammers.

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And the winner is…Alan Curbishley! Beating Kevin Keegan by what looks to be a week!! We all thought Keegan would be the first casualty of this season’s firings, but it turns out that Curbishley has been the first to step out.

Blaming a “breach of trust and confidence,” Curbishley resigned today as West Ham United’s skipper and taking the prize of first coach leaving in the 2008 EPL season. Curbishley has been under enourmous pressure for the past few months and has been the favorite to be the first fired until last weeks tabacle with Kevin Keegan. But, not to be defeated Curbishley has taken the crown.

It seemed that if Curbishley could get off to a good start this season that this whole thing would just be forgotten. And sure enough he did leading West Ham to their best start in 9 season. Nevertheless Curbishley jumped before he was pushed off the plank landing in the seas of lost coaches.

For now Kevin Keen will take over West Ham as they search for a permanant replacement for Curbishley. Keen will now have to deal with what Curbishley has been complaining about. Curbishley said he was not involved in player moves and transfers and felt, rightfully so, that he should be considered when signing or releasing a player.

However, the club continued to make significant player decisions without involving me. In the end such a breach of trust and confidence meant that I had no option but to leave. Nevertheless, I wish the club and the players every success in the future.

Alan Curbishley on Leaving West Ham United

Now, we wait for Kevin Keegan’s turn, as it seems imminent that he and Curbishley will be swimming in the same waters soon.

Tags: 08 EPL Season, 2008 EPL Season, Alan Curbishley, Alan Curbishley Quotes, Alan Curbishley Quotes Breach of Trust, Alan Curbishley Resigns, Alan Curbishley Trust, Alan Curbishley West Ham United, Breach Of Trust Curbishley, Curbishley Sacked Manager West Ham, English Football, English Football Coach Curbishley, English Premier League, English Soccer Problems, English Soccer Rumors, English Soccer Rumors Coaches, EPL Coach Rumors, EPL Rumors, EPL Rumours, Kevin Keegan, Kevin Keegan Coach Fired, Kevin Keegan Fired, Kevin Keegan Loses Job, Kevin Keegans Problems, Sean Connolly, Sean Connolly Soccer, Sean Connolly Sports, Sean Connolly Writer, Soccer, West Ham, West Ham Fires Curbishley, West Ham United

We’re only what, 2 weeks into the season? Yeah, that’s right, and already it’s obvious(again) who will be crowned champions. Chelsea or Manchester United. It’s that simple, it’s that agravating.

I’m all about competition and it’s evident already that this season is going to be a two-horse race. Manchester United has only gotten better since they won the league title last year. Their one concern, Cristiano Ronaldo leaving, seems to have subsided and they are again playing great soccer.

As for Chelsea, they seem to be playing with an enormous chip on their shoulder. And they are playing well with it. After coming in second to United last year in the Premier League and losing in penalties in the Champions League final, they seem determined to reclaim those titles and hand United a little payback.

This is the thing, it’s not that United and Chelsea are so good, it’s that the rest of the league is so inconsistent. Arsenal seem to immature and young to ever make a title run for the next five years. It seems as if they are unwilling, or unable, to pay the money United and Chelsea have given out to keep up with the best. Liverpool seemed to be one of this year’s biggest threats but it seems to me that nothing has been done to be classed with Chelsea and Man United. Although they’ve shown hope so far this season, I don’t think it will last.

Listen, I know its early but let’s be frank here. Arsenal sucks, Tottenham is never good but not great, Liverpool just won’t make it and Manchester United has Cristiano Ronaldo. I’m praying that I’m wrong here and we’ll all look back at this post and laugh, but I’m afraid it won’t happen.

Tags: Arsenal, Arsenal Soccer, Arsenal Sucks, Arsenal Trade Rumors, Champion's League, Chelsea, Chelsea EPL Champions, Chelsea Loss Champions League Final, Chelsea Loss Manchester United Champions League, Chelsea Manchester United, Chelsea Soccer Team, Chelsea Trade Rumors, Cristiano Ronaldo, Cristiano Ronaldo Trade, Cristiano Ronaldo Trade Rumors, Didier Drogba, Didier Drogba Trade, EPL Trade Rumors, Liverpool, Liverpool Play, Liverpool Soccer Team, Liverpool Trade Rumors, Man United Soccer, Manchester United, Manchester United EPL Champions, Manchester United EPL Champions 08, Manchester United Soccer Team, Tottenham, Tottenham EPL, Tottenham Soccer team