AP Columnist: 'Soccer Players Can't Be Trusted': Although French striker Thierry Henry has admitted he cheated and believes the France/Ireland World Cup qualifier should be replayed, FIFA has rejected Ireland's request for a replay. AP columnist John Leicester draws this conclusion from the Hand of Frog incident: "Soccer players just can't be trusted to be honest and Thierry Henry proved that by choosing to play volleyball against Ireland," he writes. "Rather than immediately tell the referee that he had broken the rules of the game, Henry charged off in celebration. ... the sad truth is that many players, like Henry, also do whatever they can to get away with fouls and unjust decisions."

posted by rcade to soccer at 10:47 AM - 17 comments

Real Salt Lake Poised to Become Biggest Loser: If Real Salt Lake defeats the Los Angeles Galaxy in the MLS title game on Sunday, it will become the first team in an American pro sport to win a championship with a losing record. The team was 11-12-7 during the regular season, squeezing into the eighth and final playoff slot by a single point. "We're a good team when things are on the line and we’ve proven that," said goalkeeper Nick Rimando.

posted by rcade to soccer at 04:54 AM - 9 comments

Soccer Striker Will Treat Injury with Horse Placenta: Arsenal striker Robin Van Persie is flying to Serbia to have fluid from a horse placenta massaged over his injured ankle. Van Persie, 26, suffered a partial tear of ligaments while playing for the Dutch national team and is expected to be out six weeks. ESPN Soccernut runs down other miracle cures sought by players, including goat's blood injections for hamstring problems, shamanism for ankle woes and Viagra for altitude sickness.

posted by rcade to soccer at 01:23 PM - 10 comments

The Story of Alex Villaplane, France's First World Cup Captain:
13 July 1930 Captains France in their first ever match at the World Cup finals, a 4-1 victory over Mexico.
26 December 1944 Shot by firing squad having been condemned as one of the most despicable traitors in his country's history.

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 04:14 PM - 9 comments

German MNT keeper Enke in apparent suicide: Robert Enke was 29 and expected to be Germany's netminder next summer in South Africa after replacing Jens Lehman last year. He leaves behind a wife and an eight month old daughter. Enke battled depression for six years and lived in fear that this fact would come out and he'd lose custody of his daughter, his wife Teresa told BBC Sport.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 05:20 PM - 31 comments

Women's Soccer Playoff Turns Ugly: The women's soccer semifinals of the Mountain West Conference between the Brigham Young Cougars and New Mexico Lobos featured such bad sportsmanship that it made ESPN SportsCenter. One dirty shot by Lobos defender Elizabeth Lambert may singlehandedly revive interest in the Dorothy Hamill haircut among female athletes.

posted by rcade to soccer at 12:32 PM - 24 comments

Beckham Will Join AC Milan in January: David Beckham is joining AC Milan in January after the club reached an agreement with Los Angeles Galaxy. "We look forward to his return to the Galaxy after the 2010 World Cup," said Galaxy coach and GM Bruce Arena.

posted by rcade to soccer at 04:26 PM - 5 comments

Study: Civil War Makes Soccer Players More Violent: Soccer players from countries that had more recent exposure to civil wars are much more likely to get yellow and red cards, according to a paper by academics Edward Miguel, Sebastian Saiegh and Shanker Satyanath. "[T]he extent of a player's home country's recent record of civil conflict (our proxy for exposure) is strongly associated with violent behavior on the soccer pitch, as captured in yellow and red cards, but not other dimensions of play, such as goals scored," they report.

posted by rcade to soccer at 12:45 PM - 2 comments

Croatian Striker Makes Incredible Shot: While playing yesterday for Dinamo Zagreb against HNK Cibalia, Croatian striker Ilija Sivonjic made a one-in-a-million shot on a ball -- but not in a good way. He missed teammate Pedro Morales' goal-bound ball at the line, keeping it out with the back of his leg. Multilingual fun fact: In Spanish, "la peor falla de la historia de futbol Croata" means "the worst failure in the history of Croatian football."

posted by rcade to soccer at 11:12 AM - 8 comments

Balloon Scores for Sunderland: A large red balloon scored a goal for Sunderland in its historic 1-0 defeat of Liverpool Saturday. The balloon, which did not have a small child inside, deflected a hard Darren Bent shot past keeper Pepe Reina four minutes into the match. Sunderland hadn't beaten Liverpool at home for 50 years. See the shot and the live reaction on Sky Sports. "Pictures on Sky TV showed a young fan in the Liverpool section throwing the beach ball on the pitch and then looking particularly glum at halftime," the Times reported.

posted by rcade to soccer at 04:59 PM - 21 comments

US Striker Charlie Davies Injured, Woman Killed in Car Accident: Charlie Davies, a striker for the U.S. Men's soccer team, was injured at 3:15 a.m. Tuesday in a DC-area car accident in which one woman was killed and another person was injured. Davies has undergone surgery for "non-life threatening" injuries, according to the Washington Post. Ashley J. Roberta, 22, died at the scene.

posted by holden to soccer at 05:43 PM - 5 comments

US Books Spot in World Cup with 3-2 Win in Honduras: In a World Cup match only available for (legal) viewing on closed-circuit television, the U.S. defeated Honduras 3-2 with Conor Casey's first two goals for the squad and Landon Donovan's free kick. The match would have been tied by a late penalty kick, but Honduran striker Carlos Pavon missed the goal.

posted by rcade to soccer at 12:14 PM - 9 comments

Hull City Comes Out Against Diving: .

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 08:49 AM - 10 comments

The Profound Stupidity of Football: A review of the new book, Why England Lose and Other Curious Football Phenomena Explained. [psst: they mean "soccer"]

posted by yerfatma to soccer at 08:09 AM - 16 comments

Referee Urinates on Pitch During Soccer Match: Massimo Busacca, an international referee prominent enough to have his own Wikipedia entry, dropped trou and urinated in the penalty box during a professional match between Al Gharrafa and Al Khor in Qatar Sept. 12. See the video, with a black box protecting Busacca's dignity. A week later, Busacca flipped the bird at fans during a Swiss Cup match and received a three-game ban.

posted by rcade to soccer at 09:44 AM - 15 comments

Extra Time: Michael Owen's controversially late winner in the Manchester Derby on Sunday inspired the Guardian to investigate how much extra time referees typically allow at the end of Manchester United's home games. To the surprise of absolutely no one, it would seem that Man Utd do 'benefit from an imbalance in the amount of stoppage time that is added to their matches'.

posted by JJ to soccer at 05:37 AM - 22 comments

Soccer theatrics debunked : The theatrics and ruses used by soccer stars "diving" to draw a penalty are being exposed by a British professor who specializes in the study of people's intentions and deceit. Frauds take unnatural swan dives and consciously do not protect their bodies in order to look like victims, he says.

posted by tommytrump to soccer at 10:38 AM - 15 comments

Roy of the Rovers: A look back at the values of yesteryear. Maybe you have to be British.

posted by owlhouse to soccer at 01:22 AM - 5 comments

UEFA and The FA Propose Tighter Belts: UEFA has agreed to move forward with plans prepared by President Michel Platini to force clubs to live within their means that could see irresponsible clubs suspended from Champions or Europa leagues. Meanwhile The FA usher in new financial rules for the Premier League which will require clubs have at least one foot in the real world providing annual, independently-audited accounts.

posted by Mr Bismarck to soccer at 06:23 PM - 3 comments

Adebayor Taunts Arsenal Fans, Nearly Sparks Riot: After scoring a goal for his new club Mancester City on Saturday, Emmanuel Adebayor ran the length of the pitch to celebrate in front of supporters for his old club, sparking a near-riot as fans surged down in response. A steward was knocked unconscious by an object thrown by angry Arsenal fans. "He's just a footballer for god's sake," John Nicholson writes on Football365. "Get a perspective."

posted by rcade to soccer at 11:18 AM - 13 comments

U.S. Defeats El Salvador 2-1 in World Cup Qualifier: In a match that was kinda sorta nearly a must-win, given the tough road games ahead, the U.S. soccer team defeated El Salvador 2-1 Saturday night in World Cup qualifying. Christian Castillo gave El Salvador the lead in the 32nd minute, but Clint Dempsey and Jozy Altidore responded with first-half goals. The team that falls to fourth place in this region might have to beat Argentina to reach South Africa.

posted by rcade to soccer at 12:21 AM - 5 comments

Chelsea banned from making new signings: Until 2011. That's two transfer windows. As they're one of the older teams in the Premier League, what impact will this have on their position this season and next?

posted by trox to soccer at 10:58 AM - 16 comments

Soccer Player Gives Opponent a Flying Kick to the Face: During a soccer match in Bolivia this weekend, Club Blooming player Sergio Jauregui gave Oriente Petrolero player Leonardo Medina a flying kick to the face that left Medina unconscious, authorities pursing criminal charges and sports fans scrambling to find the video. Medina had been sent off moments earlier for elbowing Jauregui in the head. A few weeks earlier, a Blooming fan stormed the pitch and attacked a River Plate player with a knife during a match.

posted by rcade to soccer at 11:53 PM - 15 comments

Steven Cohen quits punditry, citing death threats, after long-running spat with Scousers: A familiar face and voice for US-based EPL fans, he's also a Chelsea supporter with an unfortunate habit of blaming Liverpool fans for Hillsborough, apologising, and then doing it again. After repeating his charges on the 20th anniversary of the tragedy, a group of US-based Liverpool fans began an advertiser boycott; fearing a global backlash, a number of Sirius and FSC sponsors pulled their support; another apology wasn't enough to stop FSC from kicking Cohen into touch. On Friday, he walked away from his radio show, invoking the American tradition of free speech, citing antisemitism and death threats to his stepchildren, and blaming... pretty much everybody.

posted by etagloh to soccer at 02:19 AM - 18 comments

Sky Blue FC Win Inaugural Women's Professional Soccer Championship: New Jersey's Sky Blue FC defeated the Los Angeles Sol 1-0 to take the first Women's Professional Soccer crown Saturday at the Home Depot Center in Carson, Calif. Sky Blue won three straight road games for the title under the leadership of player-coach Christie Rampone. Heather O'Reilly scored the goal. The fledgling league has survived its first season with expected financial and attendance results and will add expansion teams in Atlanta and Philadelphia.

posted by rcade to soccer at 07:48 PM - 8 comments

Hope Solo's Cocky Personality Helps Women's Soccer: Although she won't be in Saturday's Women's Professional Soccer championship, Hope Solo's reputation as "that loudmouth goalkeeper" is helping draw attention to the fledgling league, reports The Atlantic magazine. "No one’s neutral about Hope Solo," says Angela Tavares, a writer for Goal.com. "They either love her or hate her."

posted by rcade to soccer at 05:51 PM - 17 comments

Premier League - City reach Lescott stalemate: Manchester City manager Mark Hughes has admitted his bid to bring Joleon Lescott to Eastlands has reached an impasse, but is yet to give up entirely on the Everton defender

posted by jemikeos to soccer at 03:25 PM - 2 comments

Burnley Shocks Manchester United 1-0: Hosting its first top-flight soccer match in 33 years, Burnley shocked Manchester United 1-0 today behind a goal by Robbie Blake and a Michael Carrick penalty kick save by goalkeeper Brian Jensen.

posted by rcade to soccer at 05:27 PM - 7 comments

Photos from the American Section at Azteca Stadium: Freelance photojournalist Douglas Zimmerman accompanied U.S. soccer fans to Azteca Stadium and lived to tell about it. "The Mexican fans at that point began throwing items at the American fans," he writes after the U.S. scored the first goal. "For the most part it was beer in cups that was hurled over. But different items also made their way into the section. "They included water bottles, batteries, pieces of rock and anything that a Mexican fan could possibly throw. ... After Mexico scored their second goal with several minutes left in the match, the thrown items actually increased."

posted by rcade to soccer at 04:39 PM - 27 comments

ESPN2 Will Air Premiership Opener, Saturday Matches: ESPN2 is going to air tomorrow's English Premier League opener between Chelsea and Hull City, ESPN Spanish-language announcer Roberto Abramowitz posted this afternoon on the North American Soccer List, according to the web site EPL Talk. "Look for the EPL every or most Saturdays in that time slot," Abramowitz wrote.

posted by rcade to soccer at 08:18 PM - 19 comments

Landon Donovan Has H1N1 Swine Flu: Upon his return from Mexico, U.S. soccer star Landon Donovan discovered that he had the H1N1 swine flu, he told Sports Illustrated. "I felt something when I got into Miami on Sunday. "I haven't felt that way in a game in a long time. ... I just felt lethargic, slow. I didn't feel normal."

posted by rcade to soccer at 05:50 PM - 7 comments

The Changing Face of English Football: An interesting interactive map of current Premiere League football teams comparing place of birth (not nationality) of each teams' players this season to that of 1989/90. The bar graph below the map shows the distance a player was born from their current team's home grounds. Click on the teams names above the map to reduce the clutter and see how the newly promoted compare to the firmly entrenched. At the end of the article there is detailed information—and complete squad listings from both compared seasons—for each team competing this season.

posted by terrapin to soccer at 07:24 PM - 11 comments

52 - 26 = £10,000: Hoping for "good luck" Arsenal's Nicklas Bendtner has decided to change his squad number from 26 to 52 "because it's a special number to me personally, and I hope that it brings me good luck for the new season." But it's gonna cost him....

posted by terrapin to soccer at 07:08 PM - 5 comments

Mexico Fans Hurl Vomit, Urine at Landon Donovan: In the 2-1 loss to Mexico at Azteca Stadium yesterday, U.S. striker Landon Donovan was the target of a cup of vomit, a cardboard container of urine, bottles and trash during a corner kick. "Mexico once again made the most of what is perhaps the most unfair home advantage in international soccer," writes Martin Rogers of Yahoo Sports.

posted by rcade to soccer at 09:32 AM - 9 comments

Jozy Altidore heading to Hull City: And he releases the news via Twitter of course (it's been that kind of day).

posted by trox to soccer at 03:24 PM - 8 comments

Fans urged to drink whisky to ward off swine flu: Russian soccer fans have been told to drink whisky on their trip to Wales for next month's World Cup qualifier to ward off the H1N1 swine flu virus, the head of the country's supporter association (VOB) said Monday.

posted by bobfoot to soccer at 11:23 PM - 9 comments

RIP, Sir Bobby: As a longtime supporter of West Germany/Germany, I developed a strong respect for Sir Bobby Robson. Reading more about his background only increases it.

posted by jjzucal to soccer at 09:33 PM - 7 comments

Transfer Deal Reached to Send Peter Crouch to Tottenham: Portsmouth has reached a reported 10 million pound offer with Tottenham for Peter Crouch. The 28-year-old striker is expected to sign a five-year deal that reunites him with former boss Harry Redknapp.

posted by rcade to soccer at 11:42 AM - 5 comments

Bolivian coach quits over fielding 12-year-old son: In heartwarming tale of putting family ahead of career, Julio Cesar Baldivieso, the father of South America’s youngest ever first division soccer player (a few days under 13), has quit as team coach after the management of the Aurora club told him to leave the boy out of the squad. This is not a minor club, Baldivieso led Aurora to the Bolivian top flight championship last season.

posted by billsaysthis to soccer at 01:46 PM - 6 comments

Fan Leaves Stands in Ugly Confrontation with David Beckham: In his first game back home with the L.A. Galaxy, a friendly with A.C. Milan, David Beckham was the subject of loud boos, heckling and banners including "23: Repent." At halftime, he motioned for one heckler to come down, prompting the man to jump out of the seats, where he was then subdued by security and taken away. "I said, 'You need to calm down and come shake my hand,' and he jumped over," Beckham said. Video of the confrontation. "He called out a drunk fan," one witness said of Beckham. "How stupid is that?"

posted by rcade to soccer at 01:12 PM - 31 comments