Good news for Chivas USA, perhaps, if they had wanted Juan Agudelo to settle in with the team as
quickly as possible after his trade from New York. Now he will have ample opportunity to do so with
the lengthy MLS hiatus because of the international fixtures helping, too, after
Bayer Leverkusen defender Michal Kadlec earned a broken nose and a trip to hospital last weekend
following a fight with two rowdy FC Koln fans in a Cologne nightclub.
In spite of his painful injury, the 27-year-old Czech is keen to play in this weekend's match
with Hannover, and this will probably be possible after getting fitted for a natty new mask.
The Didier Drogba Foundation held a charity ball at the Dorchester Hotel in London over the
weekend, giving the Chelsea striker ample opportunity to dig out his most horrendous blue suit in
the name of philanthropy.
The event — attended by Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, John Terry and several more of AVB's
mortal enemies — managed to raise over $390,000 to build a clinic in the Ivory Coast's capital by
auctioning off once-in-a-lifetime prizes, including a Hublot watch, a private Ibiza party with
Calvin Harris and a gentle lovemaking session with Raul Meireles.
After last night's preseason game against the San Jose Earthquakes, the Portland Timbers were in
full on recovery mode today. The players taht started last night did some brief fitness drills on
the field before heading inside early on to continue their workout in the team gym. The rest of the
players, including second half substitutes Darlington Nagbe, Lovel Palmer, and Bright Dike stayed
out in the cold for a more vigorous workout.
Hang on, guys, let's not get carried away. If taking your shirt off earns a yellow, we can only
imagine what kind of punishment an on-pitch Jersey Turnpike would attract. Image: Ryan Pierse/Getty
Images.
Referees have a tough time of it these days, what with television replays, shouty captains and
we punters all desperate to be the first to tell them how poor their decision making skills
are.
The brand new NBC Sports Network looks to benefit greatly from this year's NFL Playoffs.
This is NBC's turn in the rotation for the Super Bowl broadcast, so beginning with Saturday's games
on through to the end of the Super Bowl, there will be ample opportunity to remind viewers of
what's to come and what to expect from the new sports channel.
By Alan Duffy
I've always wondered why football clubs allow their players to have public Twitter accounts. I
understand the argument that it brings the fans closer to the player, but more often than not, it
gives the overpaid young whippersnappers ample opportunity to put their heavily-insured feet in
their mouths.
Our long national nightmare is over. Bob Bradley has been ousted as coach of the USMNT. And like
Jeff Carlisle says, there's little downside:
World Cup qualifying doesn't start until next year. There is no Confederations Cup to
plan for. And given the USSF's ability to schedule quality friendlies, there would seem to be ample
opportunity for a new coach to get up to speed.
Before we get to our weekly attendance roundup, here a couple of business related stories from
the weekend that was. We'll start with popular radio program World Football Daily, where I was
invited to chat with the hosts for 25 minutes on Friday about the business of the American game.
This was my third time on the program and it is always fun.
In the second part of this afternoon on the subject of football governance, Mark Murphy
watched Dave Richards and Richard Scudamore giving evidence to The Culture Media and Sport select
committee inquiry on football governance, and found that the most impressive thing on display was
Dave Richards' hair.
