Wayne Rooney continues to be unstoppable

English Premier League View Comments
Jan 312010

Wayne Rooney scored again for Manchester United in a 3-1 victory over nemesis Arsenal. Manchester United now sits one point behind Chelsea in the Premier League standings.

Check out the highlights below, Rooney scores on a fantastic strike for United’s second goal. I’ve said it before, but he is definitely making a case to be called the best player in the world. If he keeps this form up through the rest of the season and at the World Cup, there will be no doubt.

On a sour note for US fans, if Rooney continues on his hot streak, England will be that much tougher of a test come June.

Posted by Greg at 2:57 pm

Freddy Adu assists Eddie Johnson in debut for Aris

Americans Abroad, Europe, US Soccer View Comments
Jan 312010

*The Adu/Johnson play starts around the 2 minute mark

Freddy Adu delivered quite a nice pass to Eddie Johnson in his debut for Aris FC, a pass which Johnson capitalized on by scoring his first goal for the team.

They both certainly have quite a long way to go, but with Eddie Johnson getting steady playing time, and Freddy Adu looking like a sure bet to be getting lots of playing time himself, this can only be viewed as a good thing for US Soccer. Let’s hope this is a good first step back into the fold for these two.

Posted by Greg at 2:45 pm

Togo banned for the next two Cup of Nations

International Soccer View Comments
Jan 312010

togo Togo banned for the next two Cup of Nations

The African Football Confederation (CAF) has banned Togo for the 2012 and 2014 editions of the Africa Cup of Nations. Wait, what?

Togo, whose bus was attacked by machine gun fire, killing two players, has been banned from future competition for pulling out of the current Cup of Nations? Ridiculous.

By definition of humanity, the CAF has failed miserably in this case. Unable to protect players, coaches, trainers, and staff the CAF now decides to shift burden to the nation of Togo, a nation already rocked by tragedy before the Cup even began. The CAF cites “government interference” as their reason behind the ban.

Togo’s immediate reaction after the shooting was to withdraw from the tournament. However, the players reconvened and stated their desire to play. Despite the players wishes, the Togo government requested the team return to Togo and forego their participation in the tournament. The players were willing to put on a brave face and play for their country, but their leaders were not ready to close the wounds so quickly. Whether they were correct to bring the team home or not, the government was certainly acting in the best wishes of their people. To give all the time to heal, and to protect those who were serving the Togo crest.

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Posted by Greg at 1:36 am

Jozy Altidore assist and draws penalty

Americans Abroad, English Premier League View Comments
Jan 302010

Jozy Altidore returned to action for Hull City this week after being given time off due to family members affected by the Haiti earthquake. He was quick to make an impact, delivering an assist to Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (what a name!) in the 11th minute. He followed up a good bit of play early in the second half drawing a penalty which Hull’s Stephen Hunt converted.

Check out the highlights.

What do you think? The assist anything to write home about? Feel the penalty call was a little weak? I do. But the assist was class. You can’t see it in the video, but Altidore had to take the ball down while shielding off a defender with his body. The work forced another defender to cover and opened Vennegoor of Hesselink to an easy finish.

Posted by Greg at 7:08 pm

Kenny Cooper loaned to Plymouth

Americans Abroad, International Soccer, MLS, US Soccer View Comments
Jan 292010
Kenny Cooper1 300x291 Kenny Cooper loaned to Plymouth

Photo By: Jason Gulledge

Kenny Cooper has completed a loan deal that will see him play for Plymouth Argyle of the Coca Cola Championship in England. The move is an effort by Kenny and his father to ensure more playing time in hopes of making the US World Cup roster. Cooper’s departure from 1860 Munich comes on the heels of an argument between head coach Ewald Lienen and Cooper’s father, Kenny Sr., about the issue of playing time.

This isn’t the first time Cooper’s father has been in the limelight when dealing with his son’s career. He made for quite the interview upon Kenny’s departure from MLS club FC Dallas to 1860 Munich. You can read the whole story here.

Back then, it was all about money, and Kenny Sr. brings up some good points about the league paying their best American athletes.

“The value of a player as a young American is not even close to what it should be. It’s sad when people from other countries see your talent and reward you, and pay you what you’re worth, as opposed to being an American player who’s told we can’t pay you because this other player makes less.” Kenny Sr. continues, “Then they bring in a foreign player and they say ‘we’ll make him the DP, the highest paid player,’ and there’s no reward for a person who works hard and builds up the club.”

However, Kenny Sr. also shows a bit of “stage mom” when he says, “”We put a three year plan together for Kenny in terms of if you’re not going to get paid what you’re worth then we’ll have to go back overseas. We were never able to meet in the middle or anything close to that.”

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Posted by Greg at 2:57 pm

Algeria crushed by Egypt in Cup of Nations Semis

International Soccer, US Soccer View Comments
Jan 292010

algeria 300x198 Algeria crushed by Egypt in Cup of Nations Semis

Egypt defeated future US World Cup opponent Algeria 4-0 in the semifinals of the Africa Cup of Nations.

I have to admit, I was little worried seeing Algeria stroll through the tournament. As with most African nations, comparing the various teams is often difficult, and the African team almost always finds themselves underrated.

But with this loss comes a little peace of mind for me. The US was able to beat Egypt handily less than a year ago at the Confederations Cup. Yes, I know speculation of we beat team A and team A beat team B so we should therefore beat team B is, well, for lack of a better word, useless, but it’s what I’m feeling right now, so I will ride this wave.

It doesn’t mean the Algeria game will be easy by any means. Algeria finished the game with eight men on the field as three were sent off throughout the 90 minutes. So what to expect from Algeria in the World Cup? Bruising tackles and a hard charging grind it out mentality.

Posted by Greg at 2:03 pm

England to play Mexico

Europe, International Soccer, US Soccer View Comments
Jan 292010

England crest 212x300 England to play Mexico

England will play Mexico on May 24 at Wembley Stadium in the lead up to the World Cup.

I see this a very intriguing match-up. With this friendly, it is obvious that England coach Fabio Capello is not taking Team USA lightly.  England’s first match in the World Cup will be against the USA. This friendly suggests that Capello is hoping to prepare his team for a match against a CONCACAF opponent. The recognition that playing the biggest rival of your opponent in a friendly is quite astute.

Capello will know that the USA has had Mexico’s number in the past decade, but that Mexico has been on the up-slope as of late. Capello will learn what the US does best against Mexico in order to help his team defend against those tactics, but at the same time, he will also learn what Mexico does best against the US. And Capello is a genius. He will be able to adapt the strengths that Mexico uses against the US to fit the England style of play.

The upside for the US is that they will get a good look at England and how they play against Mexico. This game is intriguing for both coaches and a lot of tape will be watched.

Posted by Greg at 1:38 pm

MLS and Players Union push negotiation deadline

MLS View Comments
Jan 282010

mls badge MLS and Players Union push negotiation deadline

Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement between Major League Soccer and the Players Union have been tense. With a deadline of February 1 fast approaching, the two sides have agreed to push the deadline date back 11 days to February 12.

The sad fact is that in order for soccer to really grow in America, MLS has to let go of a lot of the controls they seem insistent upon keeping. Rules such as: MLS owning player contracts as opposed to teams or player allocation instead of free agency. The latter boggles my mind the most. Currently if a player still under contract wants to leave his current team (and that team is willing to let him go) for another team in MLS, he can’t. Not without following MLS’s strict player allocation rules that basically say, you can only go to the team at the top of the allocation order, and if they don’t want you, you’re out of luck.

I’ll admit, that’s a pretty awful explanation of the allocation rules, but frankly, they are so confusing and ridiculous that I want to take the time to learn them. I just want them to go away. They are unnecessary and hinder growth. I know, I know. MLS is scared of going the way of the old NASL and the New York Cosmos, so they don’t want to grow too quickly. But with salary caps in place (which I agree on to an extent), the league doesn’t have to worry about over growth.

Speaking of salary caps, the league’s current $2.3 million is embarrassing. It’s embarrassing that professional players have to settle for $30,000 or potentially even less (as mandated by the league minimum of $20,100). It’s time to double the salary cap MLS, there’s not too much risk  in setting the cap at $5 million.

A $5 million salary cap will also help with MLS’s ever expanding lifestyle. It’s funny how worried they are about over spending on things like players (the most important part of the game) but how quick they are to invite new teams into the league. At some point the talent at the $2.3 million cap level will be saturated and the product on the field will go down in quality.

Here’s some advice to MLS, listen to your employees, and then do your best to be reasonable with them. We as fans don’t watch games and support teams because of how well you have steered the league towards prosperity. We watch because we love the game, we support you because you have the power to help make the game better in this country, so help it, don’t hurt it.

Posted by Greg at 5:46 pm

Wayne Rooney: Best in the world?

English Premier League, Europe View Comments
Jan 282010

Is Wayne Rooney making the case to be called the best player in the world? Quite possibly yes.

He has been on a tear this Premier League season, scoring 21 goals in 29 matches and leading Manchester United to 2nd place in the EPL and just 1 point behind league leaders Chelsea, despite the high profile exit of Cristiano Ronaldo. But what makes the strongest case, is just how important are the goals that Rooney is netting. Many coming late in the game or in stoppage time where his strikes turn out to be game winners, such as his game winner against Manchester City yesterday in the Carling Cup semifinals.

Posted by Greg at 12:31 pm

Behind the scenes at the Africa Cup of Nations

International Soccer View Comments
Jan 272010

african cup of nations 2010 300x225 Behind the scenes at the Africa Cup of Nations

I am, obviously, a huge soccer fan. But for those of you who are regular soccerisfutbol readers, you also know that I am always deeply intrigued by soccer’s ability to slice through social and political unrest.

Every four years, the world has its cup, and every four years human barriers are broken down, walls are scaled, and animosities are lifted – at least in the social and political spectrum, the games themselves are still rife with animosity, the good kind, that is. And every two years we are treated to another spectacle of soccer vs. politics and soccer vs. society in the form of the African Cup of Nations.

At the African Cup of Nations the life that exists outside the games is often much more important than the games themselves. I spoke briefly about this (and linked to a great article by Grant Wahl of Sports Illustrated) in my earlier post found here, and I want to bring this issue to the forefront again as the tournament is nearing its conclusion.

As with my previous post, I must defer to a man I respect and admire as a sports journalist, Jeff Bradley of ESPN the Magazine. He writes on his blog,

“We began the morning in search of football and it was easy to find. Maybe 100 yards outside the gate of “The Roux,” around 10 a.m., a group of men were playing a pickup game on a patch of asphalt that was sprinkled with sand, pebbles and glass. It hardly mattered as they flicked around a half-deflated “bola” as one of the goalkeepers, muscles glistening with sweat, barked out instructions. I knew this would be the case coming into Angola, having traveled to places like Guatemala, Mexico and Brazil. A ball can do wonders.”

A ball can do wonders. So true.

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Posted by Greg at 6:42 pm
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