I am a pretentious soccer writer, and a lazy one at that, which means I like my football news monumental and easily digestible.
In Europe, for example, things are easy; Big Four team cheats, post. Club has really stupid, flamboyantly dressed owner, post. Accusations of bungs, massively indebted teams, bouts of hilarity as Old Europe slouches toward American-style marketing techniques (crappyproduct. Click to continue reading...

...and I like it!
Following my weird and wacky vision for a new kind of MLS, which garnered some suprisingly positive reactions, the Canadian Stretford End is pushing the idea for an interim Canadian Soccer League (no, not that CSL) now that Vancouver and Montreal, the two USL-1 finalists, are homeless. Click to continue reading...

Some poor Chinese club was punished to high hell for an egregious crime: wearing the wrong uniform.
I guess both teams brought white kits and it's the home team's responsibility to change in such a conflict.
The team was deducted three points, fined 100,000 yuan and been banned from participating in the league's FairPlay Award:

A Chinese FA statement said: "The incident not only violated disciplinary rules but also distracted from the orderliness, damaged the football environment and undermined the CSL's image.

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Dutch legend Arie Haan has been banned from the sidelines for three Chinese Super League (CSL) matches after complaining about a penalty decision by offering the fourth official a wad of cash last weekend.
Haan apparently said to the official "Do you want money?" whilst waving a handful of 100 yuan ($14. Click to continue reading...

Self-consciously similar to the CFL Logo
Yes, among Canada's oldest professional league competitions, it's the Canadian Soccer League. Toronto FC fans will know it for providing TFC a simulacrum of youth development (TFC Academy), and the rest of us know it from stumbling onto it late on a Sunday evening on cable access television. Click to continue reading...

Now that the European scene has died down substantially, and we can look forward to reading about the Cristiano Ronaldo saga in the paper for the next three months, it is time for me to shift my focus on to the Canadian game and the MLS.

I'd like to jump start with a series of photos taken by Les Jones, he is chairman of the Canadian Soccer Hall of fame.

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With his Inter contract about to expire, Figo will - in his own words - "no longer play at a high level." Figo is 36 years old and just finished his Inter career with another scudetto, which is a decent enough way to bow out. But that doesn't mean he's done altogether. There are plenty of [...] Click to continue reading...