by Sean O'Conor - Most popular for 2008
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"Switch and Spurs, switch and spurs; or I'll cry a match", Romeo & Juliet II, iv
Tottenham's travails go on after they fell 2-0 away at Udinese tonight in the UEFA Cup. Winless so
far, despite a $77million summer spending spree, Spurs remain rock-bottom of the EPL with only two
points from eight games.
Marcus Hahnemann has a point. A lone voice in defense of the ubiquitously-ridiculed awarding of a
phantom goal to his Reading team on Saturday, the Seattle native has argued that any number of
officiating mistakes can change the course of the game over 90 minutes, so that ordering a replay
every time there is a game-changing error is just impractical.
Last night's clash in Havana must be the most surreal game the US has played in a while. It was not
just the faulty stadium electrics, which bathed the field in a ghostly half-light before giving out
altogether a few minutes before the final whistle. Nor was it the lack of perimeter advertising,
the first time I have seen that televised soccer since the 1966 World Cup Final.
Watford's American skipper Jay DeMerit has spoken of his shock at the phantom goal awarded to
Reading at Vicarage Road yesterday, which has been the talk of England's Championship.Twelve
minutes into their 2-2 clash, 25-year old referee Stuart Atwell stunned the entire stadium by
awarding Reading a goal, on his linesman's advice, when the Hornets' John Eustace had clearly put
the ball out of play
Fears have dogged South Africa's hosting of the 2010 World Cup ever since it was announced in 2004.
Questions persist about the country's crime rate – only Colombia has more murders per head of
population, and whether the stadia and infrastructure will be ready in two years' time. But surely
the most worrying thing yet is the official mascot Zakumi, unveiled yesterday, which looked like it
had
‘Comrade Jim – the Spy who played for Spartak', is an amazing soccer story. Jim Riordan
was not a spy but an Englishman studying communism in Moscow in the 1960s. Writing a dissertation
on Russian sport, he made friends with Spartak Moscow's full back Gennady Logofet, who invited him
to join a training session in 1963.
....is not the new title for Greg & my efforts, by the way! US strikers squared up in the Welsh
capital on Tuesday as Eddie Johnson's Cardiff City topped Jemal Johnson's Milton Keynes Dons 2-1 in
the League Cup. 6,334 witnessed Eddie's Bluebirds debut at Ninian Park. Jemal was born in New
Jersey but like Zak Whitbread, lost his American accent long ago and is now indistinguishable from
the
Oh what a beautiful evening, England and the USA win by three goals apiece. Firstly, on behalf of
the mother country, may I insincerely apologize for West Ham supporter Russell Brand offending
American sensibilities at the MTV Video Music Awards....Get in there, Rus! And at risk of another
consignment of tea being dumped in Boston Harbor, did you perchance note that England smashed
Croatia 4-1 in
Leafing through Jonathan Wilson's engrossing history of football tactics, 'Inverting the Pyramid',
it is clear to me there is neither a perfect or ideal way to play soccer, nor any consensus on what
constitutes the 'best' team in most tournaments. It is hard to deny league champions are anything
but tops over a season, but when it comes to knock-out, we are forever debating who should have
won,
**Yankee Stadium's last pitch will be thrown today and as might be expected, most of the farewells
and eulogies have airbrushed the soccer played there. Between the death of Ebbets Field and the
Polo Grounds and the birth of Giants Stadium, Yankee functioned as New York's principal sports
venue, which meant from time to time, spherical balls were kicked as well as thrown.
The US will be in South Africa in two years' time, given FIFA's generous allocation of three and a
half spots to CONCACAF (but let's not get into that debate again), but the embarrassing 2-1 loss to
T&T brought back uncomfortable memories of the 2002 qualifiers, when Bruce Arena's team lost to
Honduras, Mexico and twice to Costa Rica, finishing third and last qualifier.
Americans were all winners tonight in the English Premier League. Brad Friedel was in the unusual
position of facing Blackburn for the first time in nine years as Aston Villa edged Rovers 3-2 in
Birmingham to rise to fourth in the standings. Villa leapfrogged Hull, whose dreams were dashed
with a 0-3 home reverse to Chelsea.
I live for World Cups, synchronizing my mind, body and wallet into a four-year cycle. So when
soccer plays second string to anything else sporting, as it is at the moment, my brow furrows.
While the Olympic Games cannot hold a candle to the World Cup for FANaticism, I still enjoy it,
especially as my country is currently burning the opposition to take ‘gold', behind the
superpowers of China and
One of the greatest pleasures I have had covering US players in England the past few years has been
the progress of Reading's two Yanks, Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann. While Fulhamerica has
dissolved over the close season (no Americans started at Craven Cottage today in the Cottagers' 1-0
win over Arsenal), Reading is left as the US standard-bearer in England, with two 'Nats' in their
So Napoli ‘fans' are banned from away trips until 2009/10 after they smashed up a train and
assaulted Italian railroad staff en route to their first road game of the season at Roma. While
Italian police believe the violence is being orchestrated by Italy's mafiosi, FIGC President
Giancarlo Abete spoke of the need to "eradicate the groups of delinquents who are polluting
the world of football.
Oh what a beautiful morning, England and the US win by three goals apiece. Firstly, on behalf of
England, may I apologize most insincerely for West Ham season-ticket holder Russell Brand offending
American sensibilities at the MTV Video Music Awards...Get in there, Rus! And at risk of another
consignment of tea being dumped in Boston Harbor, did you perchance note that England smashed
Croatia 4-1
Here is the real reason the USMNT breezed past Trinidad & Tobago so comfortably on Wednesday. But
T&T's indoor kickabout brought back fond memories of me taking out different parts of my parents'
living room as a boy with my regulation weight ball. *Still with T&T, the ticket-scalping and
embezzling CONCACAF President & FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner might think he is untouchable
despite his
**Good news of sorts that Poland & Ukraine have not been dropped as Euro 2012 hosts, despite
widespread rumors to the contrary. Much as I love tournaments in new places, these two countries
have an impossible-looking job beyond rebuilding their stadia in time for kick-off. Any host nation
must also be able to ferry thousands of visiting fans around the country 24/7.
**London is Europe's largest soccer city with 12 professional teams to choose from (can you name
them all?), but when Chelsea became Chel$ki, Queens Park Rangers took over their mantle as the
slowest draw in the West (of the capital). QPR, who play in London's most unappealing and
uncomfortable stadium, Loftus Road, briefly shone under Terry Venables in the early 1980s, reaching
the FA Cup Final,
US international Frankie Simek is on the brink of first team action after almost a year on the
sidelines. The St Louis-born right-back has been absent from Sheffield Wednesday's starting eleven
since tearing ankle ligaments against Crystal Palace last December, but was named among the subs
for the Owls' 3-1 loss to Championship leaders Birmingham City at the weekend.
I think the skill of being a soccer hack is in accurately predicting the future, instead of just
reacting to past events. But it's so damn hard. Just think of Jamie Trecker confidently announcing
Jurgen Klinsmann had bagged the Nats job the day it was announced he wouldn't. He made an educated
prediction, and it was the view shared by most of us, but he still got it wrong.
Brad Guy's the Hero Brad Guzan's value has surely soared after a show-stopping 90 minutes in Aston
Villa's goal in their 1-0 UEFA Cup win at Slavia Prague tonight. One of six changes made by coach
Martin O'Neill, the former Chivas USA goalkeeper pulled off a string of saves to deny the Czech
champions, who were rampant in the second half, chasing John Carew's 26th minute lead.
