Well, isn’t this something? the UEFA Champions League final will be shown in America on Fox. Yes, you are reading that correctly, it says Fox. Not Fox Soccer Channel, not Fox Sports Net, it’s Fox. The same network that brings this country American Idol will be airing the Champions League Final. Wow.
This will be the first time in America that the Champions League final will be aired on network television. Until this current 09-10 season, ESPN held the American broadcast rights.
The final will be played at Real Madrid’s Bernabeu stadium on Saturday May 22 at 2:30pm EST. The broadcast will be very telling, as it has the opportunity to score huge ratings for soccer in this country, and I think it will do just that.
By now, the world knows. The story has permeated throughout mainstream media across the world. John Terry has been removed as captain of the England National soccer team.
The story, for those few that do not know, goes a little like this: John Terry married with two children, began having an affair with another woman. As if the affair was not bad enough, it was clouded even more by the fact that the affair was with a woman named Vanessa Perroncel. Perroncel happened to be the long time girlfriend and mother to the child of Terry’s close friend Wayne Bridge. To muddy the waters even more, Bridge was not just Terry’s friend, he is also a professional soccer player teammates at both club Chelsea (Bridge has since transferred to a different club) and with the England National team.
So that’s pretty much the story. The moral, personal, and professional issues that come into play in this situation are complicated. First, you have Terry, captain and leader of England, getting vilified in press worldwide, dealing with resolving his personal life, under what I can only imagine to be impossible stress. Second, you have teammates, both club and country who have spent years building professional and personal relationships with both players. There are, as to be expected, players taking sides both publicly and privately. Lines are drawn, team chemistry goes out the window. Finally, you have the sticky situation in which the coach, Fabio Capello, and team administrations find themselves faced with.
What to do?
Fabio Capello has stripped the captain’s armband from John Terry over the scandal that Terry reportedly had an affair with the girlfriend (or ex-girlfriend) of England teammate Wayne Bridge. Terry will remain a part of the team in the lead up to the World Cup and is still expected to play a vital role in South Africa.
“After much thought I have made the decision that it will be best for me to take the captaincy away from John Terry,” Capello said in a statement.
That’s all for now from me, but I’m working on a big piece regarding this whole scandal, Terry/Bridge, Wynalda/Harkes – An affair to remember. Check back for it on Monday.
Can we go a full 24 hours without something violent happening in the world of soccer? Seriously! First, Salvador Cabanas, then Juan Carlos Silva, and now news out of Scotland, that DaMarcus Beasley’s BMW has been destroyed by a gas bomb.
No one was injured in the blast, but reports say that Beasley ran to his window when he heard the explosion and saw his car on fire. A Rangers FC official said, “This is a disturbing and deplorable incident. The club will do everything we can to assist the police.”
Disturbing and deplorable is right! This one hits quite close to home as Beasley has been a stalwart on the US National Team for the past decade. I am totally shocked by this, especially because it falls in a string of high profile attacks on professional soccer players around the world. One might consider writing off the two Club America shootings as an issue of environment in a city rife with instability and crime such as Mexico City, but for this to happen in a place like Glasgow, Scotland, it just goes to show that these horrific displays of violence can happen anywhere.
It almost makes me long for the days when the hooligans ran the streets and the worst that would happen is a black eye and a bloody lip.
Tottenham Hotspur captain and forward Robbie Keane has been loaned to Celtic on the final day of the transfer window.
Keane has recently lost his starting spot to the likes of Peter Crouch and Jermaine Defoe. Spurs coach Harry Redknapp said about the move, “It’s a good move. Robbie needs to play. He’s too good a player not to be starting here regularly. He wants to play all the time.”
Other big moves on the final transfer day include South African forward Benny McCarthy from Blackburn to West Ham and French forward Diomansy Kamara loaned from Fulham to Celtic where he will be joining Robbie Keane in efforts to lead the Old Firm club to another Scottish Premier League title.
For all the transfers and loans check out the full list, found here.
*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.
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.
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.
Landon Donovan has scored his first Premier League goal notching in the 2nd in a 2-0 victory for Everton over Sunderland.
Donovan coolly controlled the ball with his chest and struck it home with his left foot. Not only was this his first goal for Everton in the EPL it is also the first time in his career that he has found the back of the net with a European club. Earlier attempts have come at Bayer Leverkusen and Bayern Munich, both of the German Bundesliga.
Donovan seems to be settling in quite nicely at Everton. He found a starting spot immediately upon joining and has since gathered an assist and a goal in four games with his new club.
Here’s to continued success for Landon in England!
I’m in complete shock. Total and complete shock.
Ives Galarcep at ESPN has a story here about the recovery of Charlie Davies following a deadly car crash on October 13.
Davies sustained multiple injuries, including: broken right femur and tibia, broken left elbow, facial fractures, torn knee ligament, and a lacerated bladder. First estimates were that it would be six months before he would even start rehab. Instead, Davies has amazed all around him with a recovery that is nothing short of miraculous.
The article is a “must read” for US Soccer fans as Ives points out on his blog, but I’d take it a step further and say it’s a must read for any soccer fan. Or better yet, any sports fan. Even still, I’d say it’s a must read for everyone. As it documents a story of human strength and the evolution of sports related injuries and rehabilitation.
Ives reports that recovery timetable now has Davies back playing with his club team, FC Sochaux, in April.
“Less than four months after the crash that threatened to end his promising career, Davies is already jogging at a good rate and working on agility drills that would have seemed impossible just weeks earlier, when simply getting out of a wheelchair was an exhausting exercise. What does this progress mean, exactly? It means that, barring any setbacks, Davies could be back on the field with club team FC Sochaux by April, meaning his chances of playing for the United States in June’s World Cup should no longer be seen as a shattered dream.”
Go read this now! Davies on remarkable path to recovery
More article highlights after the jump…
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