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.

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.

Podolski deserves to be a starter somewhere and it’s a shame he can’t get enough playing time on Bayern Munich. It’s amazing to think that Bayern has one of the most talented young players coming off the bench behind the likes of Toni and Klose. This may be a trade that Manchester City can actually complete as Podolski has shown interest in coming to England to play. He would without a doubt be a starter at City and may be the proper place for him to land at.

]]> http://soccerusa1.com/podolski-trade-rumors-heat-up/feed/ 0 http://soccerusa1.com/breach-of-trust-leads-curbishley-to-quit/ http://soccerusa1.com/breach-of-trust-leads-curbishley-to-quit/#comments Thu, 04 Sep 2008 01:18:55 +0000 Sean Connolly http://soccerusa1.com/?p=83

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 Read more

Obviously, it’s disappointing, it’s disappointing to lose somebody who’s a good coach and a good person.It happens in football clubs and it’s happened here. Maybe it happened too early, but we wish him good luck in whatever he goes on and does.

David Beckham on Ruud Gullit’s Choice to Leave LA Galaxy

Along with Gullit out the door went Alexi Lalas, who was intregal in getting Beckham to the states. With a negative aura surrounding the Galaxy, they had to make a move quick. Thankfully the made the right move in hiring Bruce Arena, former US national team coach. This move puts Arena at the helm in place of the temporary coach, Cobi Jones, who despite his inexperience could turn out to be a good coach in this league very soon.

Now, I’m not a fan of the Galaxy. Quite frankly I’m not a fan of any particular MLS team. What I am a fan of is soccer in the USA. And as of late it seems as if the sports’ success in the USA is reliant on David Beckham and the LA Galaxy. The move was a gamble, and almost an all or nothing effort to intensify the sport of soccer in America. As of today I can easily say the move has been a failure. But all hope isn’t lost. Bruce Arena is a coach who is capable of picking this team up and bringing them into the playoffs.

Arena led DC United to two MLS Championships in the early stages of the MLS as well as rebuilding a US team that seemed doomed after their 1998 performance in the World Cup. As of late he has had some difficulty as the US team failed to get out of the group stage in ’06 and his last MLS coaching job with the Red Bulls left him with a record of 16-16-10, a record the Red Bulls expected to be better. Despite the recent troubles Arena is still a great coach, arguably the best American coach and is exactly what the Galaxy need right now.

Arena’s first game will be against the Brian McBride and his new team the Chicago Fire on Thursday night. Chicago sits 3rd in the Eastern Conference and look to build around the newly acquired McBride. The Galaxy are winless in their last 8 games and are searching for something. That something will be found by Bruce Arena who if his resume reads correct will turn this Galaxy team around and turn US Soccer around…again.

Both parties have agreed on mutually agreeable terms to part company, it is an amicable arrangement and we appreciate and respect the issues that Ruud has highlighted with the club and are very grateful for all the hard work he has contributed while with the organization. Hopefully, he has laid the foundations for future success for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

Tim Leiweke, president and chief executive officer of Galaxy

The Galaxy are winless in their last 8 games after a solid beginning to the season. Beckham was dazzling, Landon Donovan was finally working well with the new structure of the team and it seemed as if everything was going right. Becks was filling stadiums and fans left satisfied with a Galaxy victory. Then suddenly everything went south. The team soon looked tired and seemed to be getting outplayed every game. All of a sudden now they are 6-8-5 and in fourth place in the west.

Now Ruud is out. Alexi is out. And Cobi is in. If the Galaxy don’t make the playoffs again this year, what does that say for the MLS and this entire situation involving Beckham? Optimists could say, ‘hey look the MLS is so difficult and so competetive that even with David Beckham and Landon Donovan the Galaxy can’t even make the playoffs’. Pescimests will say, ‘what’s the point of Beckham coming over here if he can’t get the Galaxy in the playoffs, he must not be as good as everyone says he is’. And they’d both be right.

Bottom line is, the Galaxy need to make it into the playoffs this year. But going through all this to make the playoffs certainly would be a great story and a testament to David Beckham’s career. For now, we just have to roll with it.

After 4 years in England Brian McBride is back where he belongs, the MLS. McBride is out of England and back in the States after being traded to the Chicago Fire, McBride’s hometown.

McBride out of England and back in the States

This is great for the MLS as McBride was such an intregal part of the MLS’ development with the Columbus Crew. McBride who has played for the U.S. National team hopefully will begin a trend in which American players return to play club ball in the MLS. In 8 seasons with the crew McBride was an all-star 7 times and scored 62 goals along with 45 assists.

It's been a while since we've seen him in an MLS uniform, but he's back

McBride’s return means a lot to this league. He is an innovator and the quintessential American soccer player. His success in England was amazing but after not seeing McBride in America for 4 years it’s hard not to have missed him after the last time we saw him all bloody during America’s loss to Italy in the 2006 World Cup.

McBride in the 2006 World Cup

McBride retired from international play after the 2006 World Cup so McBride will make his first return to American soccer in two years after he comes back from the Olympics where his serving as an “overage player” and a captain. The Fire gave up a good amount for the hometown kid, trading away Chad Barrett and a first round pick to Toronto FC (they had McBride through an allocation process to get him to the US). The 36 year-old McBride should be welcomed back with open arms as he is a US Soccer legend and a hero to anybody who plays the sport of soccer in America.

In one of the most drawn out signings in recent memory, Ronaldinho has officially signed with AC Milan. It seems like such a long time ago when it was first said that Ronaldinho would be a part of AC Milan, and after several months and several teams getting involved it’s finally over with.

Many things have happened but in the end I have become a Rossonero player. I am happy to find so many Brazilians but also all the champions that wear the Rossoneri colors. I am really happy. After many years I am here. I am delighted to have arrived to AC Milan and I hope to be able to give a lot of joy to everyone.

Ronaldinho on Finally Signing With AC Milan

AC Milan’s new product will be shown off on Thursday as Ronaldinho will be welcomed with welcomed arms at the San Siro Stadium at 9:30 P.M. This tedious transfer hasn’t taken its toll though. Both Inter Milan, and Manchester City were very well involved in looking to pick up the once world’s greatest player. It has also affected other players who have been unsure where to go, with a portion of their decision in the hands of Ronaldinho. Emmanuel Adebayor seemed the likely choice for Milan but suddenly chose Ronaldinho over the Arsenal star. There has also been rumors that Frank Lampard and Ronaldinho wanted to join forces and that a trade could put those two together.

This transfer should open the flood gates for a lot of moves in the next week or two. It seemed like this and the Cristiano Ronaldo transfer seemed to be blocking the door for a lot of teams. Barcelona haven’t looked back on Ronaldinho as they themselves have signed Alexander Hleb to a 4 year deal from Arsenal.

Who are the losers in this move though? It has to be Manchester City. At one point it seemed imminent that Manchester City would in fact steal Ronaldinho from AC Milan and sign the star but even after offering more than the 21 million Euros that AC Milan will pay Ronaldinho, his heart is in Milan. Signing Ronaldinho looked like such a smart and promising move for Manchester City that would have garnered them much attraction and could possibly allow them to compete with Chelsea, Liverpool, Arsenal, and Manchester United. Now, even after signing Brazilian Jo, things look bleak for Manchester City as they may need to pull out another blockbuster to bring them up the table.

What does moving to Serie A mean for Ronaldinho? Personally I think this is where it ends for the star. The league is way too strong defensively for Ronaldinho to pull out his magic and he will soon become an average player whose impact won’t reflect his paycheck. I think it’s time to bid Ronaldinho farewell as he will become lost in Italy.

It seems like this whole Ronaldinho trade has gone on for too long. It’s obvious that Barcelona wants to get rid of the guy, so why is it so hard to get him on a new team. Ronaldinho has been rumored to have been traded to AC Milan, Inter Milan, and Manchester City.

At first it seemed certain that Ronaldinho would be a part of AC Milan come next season. But as talks fell through over money and the concerns of Ronaldinho’s health, AC Milan faded away for a bit in the Ronaldinho Sweepstakes. Not letting their rival get an upper hand, Inter Milan soon joined the mix distributing a bid for the once greatest player in the world. And in every race you need a darkhorse, a long shot, a nobody. Manchester City stepped up and probably put the most appetizing deal on the table for Ronaldinho.

Again though, AC Milan has taken the lead. They are now trying to decide between taking Emmanuel Adebayor or Ronaldinho. Who will AC Milan take though? I think they’re leaning more towards Adebayor, which again opens things up for Manchester City who would really be the only bidder left for Ronaldinho. Taking Adebayor over Ronaldinho is the better choice for AC Milan due to his size and age which could put Ronaldinho in Manchester City.

It seems to me that Ronaldinho has a desire to come to the English Premier League. Whether or not coming to Manchester City will satisfy what he wants is totally different. As I said in my first post about this ongoing trade, Ronaldinho going to AC Milan and playing in Serie A would be a terrible idea for him. In such a defensive league Ronaldinho will certainly struggle if traded to AC Milan or Inter Milan.

Manchester City being a long shot to get Ronaldinho kind of got me thinking. I know it’s border line impossible but maybe just maybe an MLS team can get in the mix for him. If anything just a couple of talks could certainly help for the future like when he gets ready to hang up the cleats. He could pull a David Beckham and decide to come over here. Why not? I’m just saying, say whoever signs Ronaldinho is probably going to let him go after probably 3 years. After that the interest in him will be so low that he just might need that attention (like Beckham needed it). He gets that attention from MLS teams who see dollar signs and a great marketing tool. Ronaldinho comes to the MLS plays for a couple years and steps the MLS up another notch. Far fetched but, if you’re the MLS, what have you got to lose?

The US Soccer team has been asking for respect for I don’t know, the last ten years. And guess what, they’re not getting any from FIFA. In the new world rankings, FIFA dropped U.S.A to 30th in the world, falling 9 spots from 21st. With a team who showed so much promise before the 2006 World Cup in which they were ranked 4th in the world in April of ’06, what does falling 26 spots since then and falling below teams like Paraguay, Israel, and the Ivory Coast mean to the U.S. Soccer program?

Looking at the United State’s last game in which they only beat Barbados 1-0, they really need to get their act together. I mean Barbados is a team who is asking citizens of Barbados to step up and play on their website. I’m not joking either, seriously it’s hilarious check it out…http://www.barbadossoccer.com/. They beat Barbados by 8 at home but for some reason when they played in Barbados they looked like a completely different team. I mean, what are they going to expect when they go into Mexico and try to win?

The U.S. played Spain almost one month ago, and showed some hope by only losing 1-0. Spain is now the number one team in the world according to the new FIFA rankings and the U.S. has to look back to that game for hope. In their exhibition matches coming up to the World Cup Qualifiers they played somewhat admirably against Spain, got spanked by England, and then had their best game against Argentina in a 0-0 tie. I really don’t think FIFA should have dropped them 9 places but they shouldn’t have gained any ground either.

This new ranking will do either two things. One, get the team so demoralized that they feel like there’s nothing they can do to get respect in the soccer community and play poorly. Two, they use this ranking as fuel to the fire, and use it as motivation to get to the next stage which is making a significant impact in the 2010 World Cup. The Barbados Soccer website says to give Barbados a chance, I think it’s time for U.S. to pick up the same slogan. Give U.S. Soccer a chance!