Archive for 'international soccer' Category
Watch the Eurosnobs’ Heads Explode
4 December 2006One of the hallmarks of Eurosnobbery in soccer is that American soccer can’t succeed until MLS adopts the late summer-through-late spring calendar used in many of the European leagues. Except now FIFA president Sepp Blatter has come out recommending that the world come closer to our way of doing things, rather than the other [...]
Let Me Get This Straight
20 October 2006Fabien Barthez is too “high-profile” for Chelsea, but Gianluigi Buffon is not? If Jose Maurinho said the retired French ‘keeper-slash-Moby lookalike Barthez was, perhaps, too far “up there,” he might not have been talking about profile. He might have been talking about age. Otherwise, I’d be a wee bit offended if I were Buffon.
I’d also [...]
Priorities
19 September 2006This is weird. I get the Washington Post’s daily headlines via e-mail. It’s actually kind of interesting, because DC United tends to be one of the sports headlines through most of the summer, until both college and pro football start up in the fall, at which point soccer stories don’t make the top five or [...]
Deadline Mayhem?
30 August 2006Thursday is the final day of the European transfer window and it may provide some insanity. There are already rumors of an impact swap between Inter and Real Madrid, which could be the biggest transfer of the preseason that does not have Chelsea involved in it.
A Season After All
30 August 2006It looks like there will be a season in Italy after all of the Calciopoli nonsense that has and is still going on now. The FIGC has announced the Serie A and B schedules for the coming seasons.
The opening weekend in Serie A has Inter visiting Fiorentina and Lazio hosting Milan. Basically, Fiorentina is going [...]
Handbags at ten paces
30 August 2006That’s one expensive purse you got there, Herr Ballack.
Randomness
25 August 2006Another weekend of MLS action is upon us and another weekend of who the hell knows what will happen. One thing is certain, I will wake up early on Saturday to watch Liverpool meet West Ham before going to work, only to race home in time to watch the Chicago Fire host the Colorado Rapids [...]
Seventh Place
23 August 2006When was the last time Chelsea was as low as seventh in the EPL table? When was the last time they were at .500? It obviously doesn’t rise to the level of a trend yet, but the expectation is that Chelsea will continue to just roll over everyone at all times, despite Maurinho’s attempt to [...]
Don’t Mess With FIFA
23 August 2006This seems pretty severe. FIFA has apparently threatened to ban all Italian clubs, and their national team, from international competitions if Juventus continues to appeal its earlier decision regarding the match-fixing scandal. Whether that step is excessive largely depends on whether or not you feel Juventus got a raw deal or not. Nick, as our [...]
Appeals Take One; Sit Down Old Lady
26 July 2006You had to expect the punishments handed out to Juventus, Milan, Fiorentina and Lazio to be reduced once the teams appealed. We live in a country where a baseball player can punch another in the face (see Michael Barrett of the Chicago Cubs) and have his suspension delayed for ALMOST A MONTH after he filed [...]