Harry Redknapp is a free man.
Redknapp and Sheffield Wednesday owner Milan Mandaric were acquitted of tax evasion charges
after being found not guilty of avoiding to pay taxes on payments made into an offshore account in
Monaco between 2002 and 2007, when both men were at Portsmouth.
By JOHN BOSCHINI
The English FA will meet with national team manager Fabio Capello after rising tensions over the
dismissal of John Terry as captain threatens to fracture an already tenuous relationship between
the two sides.
Capello has been very outspoken in his disagreement with the FA's decision to strip Terry of the
captain's armband after the defender's racism trial was delayed until July.
By FRANCO PANIZO
A day after a riot at a club soccer game in Egypt left at least 74 dead and many others injured,
Egypt's prime minister has dissolved the Egyptian FA's board.
Kamal el-Ganzouri announced the decision to dissolve the board during Thursday's emergency
parliamentary session, and also said that the governor of Port Said (where the game took place) and
the area's police chief have resigned.
Borussia Dortmund has one of the world's up-and-coming stars in its grasp, and the defending
Bundesliga champions aren't planning on letting him go.
Dortmund plans to keep 19-year-old playmaker Mario Goetze for at least another season despite
major transfer interest, the club's sporting director said to German media.
By JOHN BOSCHINI
Although Thierry Henry's recent stint at Arsenal was technically just for training, rumors
continue to swirl that Arsene Wenger is considering offering the former Arsenal striker a
short-term contract. Some reports stipulate that a two-month loan has already been offered to the
New York Red Bulls forward.
Common sense has prevailed.
The Dutch football federation has rescinded the red card given to AZ Alkmaar goalkeeper Esteban
Alvarado in the aftermath of Wednesday's pitch invasion during a cup game against Ajax.
The goalkeeper was the target of a fan who ran onto the field right at the player in the 36th
minute of the match.
By FRANCO PANIZO
Mario Balotelli and Micah Richards were anything but all smiles in Thursday's training
session.
The two Manchester City regulars were involved in a scuffle near the end of practice following a
heated exchange of words. Richards had to be held back by fellow teammates when he attempted to
continue the argument.
By FRANCO PANIZO
A day after Pep Guardiola said he had no plans of selling him, David Villa was lost to
injury.
Villa will be sidelined for approximately the next six months after fracturing his tibia in
Barcelona's 4-0 Club World Cup win over Al Sadd on Thursday.
Houston Dynamo fans have been waiting since the club's inaugural 2006 season for a
soccer-specific stadium they could call their own, and, come May, that dream will be realized.
According to the Houston Chronicle, that stadium will be named BBVA Compass Stadium at an
official ceremony slated for Wednesday afternoon.
Manchester United's week has gone from bad to worse.
After being eliminated from the UEFA Champions League in the group stage, United got word Friday
that centerback Nemanja Vidic will miss the remainder of the season after suffering ligament damage
in his right knee.
Vidic suffered the injury at the end of the first half of United's UCL finale against FC Basel
Wednesday while battling Marco Streller for the ball.
Photo by Steven Limentani/ISIphotos.com
Stanford's women's soccer team has completed its climb up the NCAA ladder. Finally.
After falling in the national title game in each of the last two seasons, Stanford held off Duke
to capture the 2011 title with a 1-0 victory in Kennesaw, Ga.
By JOEY SAMUEL
When Argentina opened its campaign to qualify for the 2014 World Cup with a commanding 4-1 win
over Chile, things looked to be back on track for the Albiceleste after a disastrous 2011 Copa
America.
But only two games later, that optimism has completely faded away.
Last night saw the conclusion of the Conference semifinals (or, in reality, the quarterfinals)
with the Los Angeles Galaxy overcoming their East coast rivals the New York Red Bulls 2-1 (3-1 on
aggregate). This means that LA will be taking on Real Salt Lake on Sunday. Looking more to the
midwest, we saw Sporting Kansas City overcome the Colorado Rapids and Houston overcome the
Philadelphia Union to head to the Eastern Conference finals.
Yeah, my power's been out. Curse you, October blizzard.
Remember when I said attendance was good this year? I was wrong. It was great. Record
shattering, in fact. Enough to surpass the NBA and NHL, in fact. Seriously. After sixteen years, we
have beaten not only our own record set in 1996, but those of other leagues against whom we're
compared.
By JOEY SAMUEL
Different coach, same old inconsistency.
That was the story Tuesday night as Argentina slumped to a 1-0 defeat away to Venezuela in the
second round of 2014 World Cup qualifying in South America. Despite replacing coach Sergio Batista
after a poor performance at the 2011 Copa America, Argentina once again struggled against a lesser
opponent under new coach Alejandro Sabella.
By JOEY SAMUEL
Last summer, Uruguay shocked the world by advancing all the way to the semifinals of the 2010
World Cup. On Friday, they started their path to the next World Cup in style.
Uruguay, which also won the 2011 Copa America this summer, opened their 2014 World Cup
qualifying campaign in CONMEBOL with a 4-2 win over Bolivia.
England is a point away from cementing a place at the 2012 European championships, but the Three
Lions will have to earn that point on the road at Montenegro.
That match is one of the few highlights among the day's European qualifiers, in addition to the
anticipated matchup between Germany and Turkey.
By FRANCO PANIZO
Inter Milan just cannot seem to catch a break.
Inter's early-season woes continued as Wesley Sneijder was ruled out of the club's upcoming
Champions League match with CSKA Moscow as he nurses a thigh problem. Sneijder's absence in
Tuesday's match is a big blow to Inter, which needs points after losing its Champions League
opener against Trabzonspor last week.
By DAVID MOSSE
Mexican striker Guillermo Franco can't stop scoring, but suddenly Velez Sarsfield has stopped
winning with Sunday's 2-1 loss to Olimpo representing the third straight match without a victory in
all competitions. The reigning Clausura champions showed more initiative throughout, but lacked
ideas offensively and were undone by some slack defending following the intermission.
By DAVID MOSSE
Boca Juniors looks to get back in the win column on Sunday (5:10 p.m. ET) against Independiente
after being very fortunate to salvage a 1-1 draw with San Lorenzo last time out. Goalkeeper Agustin
Orion has earned rare reviews and a national team call since joining Los Xeneizes, but he was
partly at fault for Gabriel Mendez's free kick.
By DAVID MOSSE
The first half of the Brazilian Championship came to a close this weekend with a number of local
derbies highlighting the schedule. It's all part of a strategy to avoid teams fielding
second-string lineups in the final round of the competition, and the most fascinating matchup took
place on Sunday between Santos and Sao Paulo.
By DAVID MOSSE
Ronaldinho confirmed his good form by scoring a goal and helping set up another, but Flamengo was
held to a 2-2 draw by Internacional on Sunday thanks to the brilliance of Leandro Damiao. The
Internacional hitman is one of the rising stars of Brazilian soccer and was recently called up to
the national team along with Ronaldinho for the upcoming friendly against Ghana in London.
By DAVID MOSSE
The last unbeaten in the Brazilian Championship fell on Thursday night, as Flamengo was thrashed
at home by Atletico Goianiense. Next up is a high-profile clash with Internacional on Sunday (3
p.m.), one that Wanderley Luxemburgo hopes will represent a return to normalcy for the Rio de
Janeiro giants, who suffered only their second defeat of the year and are three points behind
Corinthians.
By DAVID MOSSE
The Uruguayan Apertura Championship kicked off this weekend with a marquee matchup between River
Plate and Clausura champions Nacional headlining the slate of games. It was the debut on the
Nacional bench fo Argentinean playmaker Marcelo Gallardo and proved to be a see-saw battled that
ended in a 3-3 draw.
By DAVID MOSSE
Boca Juniors had a disappointing debut in this Apertura Championship, being held to a scoreless
draw by Olimpo last weekend. Julio Falcioni is already under pressure, especially with a possible
presidential election looming, and would love a victory over Union on Monday (8:15 p.
By FRANCO PANIZO
Robbie Findley did something on Tuesday that he hasn't done in over a year: score in an official
game.
Findley netted his first goal abroad, scoring Nottingham Forest's second goal in a 3-3 Carling
Cup draw with Notts County that had to be decided via penalty kicks.
By DAVID MOSSE
The highly anticipated clash between Chivas de Guadalajara and Pumas UNAM on Saturday failed to
live up to the billing, ending in a disappointing scoreless draw. It was the marquee matchup in the
fourth round of Mexico's Apertura Championship, with the two teams sporting perfect records
entering the match.
By DAVID MOSSE
The recent World Cup draw didn't receive nearly as much attention in Brazil as one might expect
thanks in large part to a spectacular game that same week between Flamengo and Santos, which
dominated the headlines. Flamengo came from three goals down to claim a 5-4 victory, and the two
star attractions didn't disappoint, as Ronaldinho and Neymar carried their respective teams.
By FRANCO PANIZO
The NFL and NBA might not be the only leagues threatened to have play postponed this summer.
Fans of Leo Messi, Real Madrid and Spanish soccer in general may soon be disappointed after the
Spanish soccer players' union has threatened to postpone the upcoming La Liga season if an
agreement over wages cannot be made in time.
By FRANCO PANIZO
The U.S. men's national team isn't the only one introducing a new head coach to its fan
base.
Argentina has appointed Alejandro Sabella as manager of the Albiceleste. Sabella replaces Sergio
Batista, who was let go earlier this week after leading Argentina to a disappointing and early exit
at the Copa America it hosted earlier this month.
By FRANCO PANIZO
Alejandro Bedoya must have made quite the impression on Rangers FC.
Having just agreed to a pre-contract with Bedoya that would see him join the club during the
winter transfer window, Rangers wants to acquire the U.S. national team midfielder sooner.
By FRANCO PANIZO
The Vancouver Whitecaps have finally admitted it. They want to sign Owen Hargreaves.
Prior to a friendly versus Manchester City on Monday night, Whitecaps co-owner Jeff Mallett
confirmed rumors of interest in Hargeaves, saying that the oft-injured midfielder knows of the
club's desire to sign him.
Just when it seemed that Carlos Tevez was on his way out of England, the team after his services
has claimed that a deal is not yet done.
Tevez's current club, Manchester City, claimed to have finally reached a fee agreement with his
former club, Brazilian power Corinthians, according to remarks made by City boss Roberto
Mancini.
Sure, Copa América has Messi, Forlán, and Neymar. Yes, it will be a very interesting test
for Mano Menezes. Yeah, it's nice to see the young Brazilian and Argie talent that's been shining
in leagues around the world. And I'll grant you that, despite lackluster performances from Brazil
in its first game and Argentina in its first two, there are good reasons to expect both to put on
an offensive show in this Copa America.
Argentina has an envious cast of players that most national teams would love to have, but that
collection of world-class talent once again failed to perform for the albiceleste.
Argentina tied Colombia, 0-0, on Wednesday night, leaving the albiceleste with two points from
two games.
So far, Copa America has been a dud. Only a little more than 1 goal per game has been the average.
It`s not just the lack of goals making for a dissappointing show so far, also, it is the lack of
innovative and skilled play, which has been associated with South American Soccer for decades, that
is making the viewing experience surprisingly stale.
Colombia's finishing may have been poor, but that didn't stop it from winning its Copa America
opener against Costa Rica on Saturday.
With Argentina and Bolivia tying in the tournament opener, Colombia took sole possession of
first place in Group A with a 1-0 triumph over a 10-man Costa Rica side.
By NESTOR F. SEBASTIAN
The tournament that essentially inspired the World Cup had been watered down.
Little by little, Copa America had lost some of its prestige. CONMEBOL decided to implement a
two-year cycle in the South American tournament in the mid-1980s to give each nation a chance to
host the competition.
As up-and-coming Brazilian star Neymar gets set for one of the more important summers of his
career, his club has come out and said he is not for sale.
Despite Santos attracting lucrative offers from some of the biggest clubs in the world for its
star forward, club president Luis Alvaro de Oliveira said in a statement that "In light of
continuous speculation in the national and international press about the future of our player, I
feel obliged to communicate the departure of Neymar is non-negotiable.
By FRANCO PANIZO
Didier Drogba could soon return to the club that paved the way for him to join Chelsea.
French club Olympique de Marseille is interested in signing Drogba, whose future with Chelsea is
unclear after Andre Villas-Boas was appointed as the new manager of the club last week.
