COLUMBUS, Ohio -- It has been nearly 11 years since the 9/11 tragedy, but the effects from the
events that took place that day are still felt by many across the nation each and every year and
the U.S. men's national team are no exception.
The Columbus Crew made an emotional return to action on Wednesday night, playing their first
match since the death of midfielder Kirk Urso. As difficult as it was to get back on the field
after such a tragedy, the Crew battled on and honored their fallen teammate with a gutsy
performance.
Bob Bradley is preparing to do something he hasn't had to do in months: Find a way to bounce
back from a loss.
After Egypt's 3-2 loss to upstart Central African Republic in African Cup of Nations qualifying
two weeks ago, Bradley's Pharaohs need to overturn that result in Saturday's second leg of their
first-round qualifier to keep hopes of making it to the 2013 tournament alive -- one of Bradley's
two major tasks upon taking over as coach.
Egyptian soccer continues to be in recovery mode after the club season was cancelled in the
aftermath of the fatal riots in Port Said, but the beat goes on for Bob Bradley and the Egyptian
national team.
Egypt defeated Uganda 2-1 in Sudan on Thursday to remain unbeaten in the four games since the
tragedy that took the lives of 74 people last month.
Besides the human loss, it is sad that the attention of the world on African football during a
great tournament as the African Cup of Nations, is drawn away by the game, to the catastrophe that
happened in Egypt.I am certain that this is not what Egypt is about, with its great people and
fans, and it is not what African football is about.
A picture speaks a thousand words. This photo, circulating Thursday afternoon of former U.S.
National Team coach Bob Bradley who is now in charge of the Egyptian National side, proves that
point. The new Egyptian National Team coach was so moved by yesterday's tragedy in Egypt where 74
people were killed and a thousand were [.
""Football can go to hell if this is the situation.""
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Those were the words of Al-Ahly's star player Mohamed Aboutrika in the
wake of the tragedy in Port Said, calling for the Egyptian league to be suspended indefinitely.Â
"Crowds are dying in front of us, and there aren't any police or security forces,"
he said.
Fan violence in football can pave the way for devastating consequences sometimes and this was
exactly what happened in Egypt last night. At least 73 people
were killed after Al-Masry defeated Al-Ahly 3-1 at the Cairo stadium with more than
1,000 injured in the stampede.
A few hours ago, following a 3-1 home win over top ranked Al-Ahly, fans of Al-Masry stormed the
field and attacked fans of rival Al-Ahly. According to Al Jazeera news, the Muslim Brotherhood
claims that the attacks were instigated by anti-Islamic supporters of toppled Egyptian president
Hosni Mubarak.
Liverpool's management had seen and heard enough. Kenny Dalglish's head in the sand post match
interview coming on the heels of Luis Suarez's dastardly snub of Patrice Evra's handshake were
considered damaging enough for their MD, Ian Ayre, to come out condemning their striker.
In particular, Suarez's promise to shake hands with Evra made earlier in the week and then
reneging caused much anger.
It took some harsh words at half-time from manager Owen Coyle but it did the trick and Bolton
secured a vital three points away to struggling Aston Villa on Tuesday night.
The Trotters came from a goal behind in the West Midlands and, having dragged Villa into the
relegation fight, now sit just one point off safety with a game in hand over their rivals at the
bottom of the Premier League table.
There have been so many severe injuries on the Soccer field that a Wikipedia page is dedicated to
all the fallen players. According to the document, there have been more than 20 players to have
died since 1990 from heart ailments while playing.
Anyone who was at the match on Saturday or who saw the events unfold on television would have
been shocked by what they saw and our thoughts are clearly with Fabrice Muamba this morning.
It's hard to think or talk about football today but it's worth noting that there is talk of
postponing this week's league game with Stoke, while there is also a question mark as to whether
Bolton themselves will continue in this season's FA Cup.
Yesterday, Fabrice Muamba collapsed on the pitch at White Hart Lane during a match between
Tottenham and Bolton. It was real. It could have happened to anyone. Just like that. And
yet, the day after witnessing the horror of a model professional and a good man be rushed to the
Heart Attack Centre at the London Chest Hospital, we wait.
The weekend's tragic death of Piermario Morosini, which saw football in Italy cancelled, has
permeated the sport.
Unfortunately, his life was equally as tragic as his death, losing both of his parents as a
teenager, his brother to suicide a couple of years ago, and he was responsible for taking care of
his physically disabled elder sister.
There was some tragic news yesterday, that an Italian footballer died on the pitch, after suffering
a cardiac arrest. Piermario Morosini - tragic death yesterday at the age of 25 Livorno's Piermario
Morosini has died after suffering a cardiac arrest during an Italian second division game at
Pescara yesterday, and because of  this tragedy, all Italian [.
Former Italian U21 player, Piermario Morosini, suffered from a heart attack during Livorno's
Serie B fixture at Pescara. As a mark of respect, all league games in Italy this weekend have been
called off.
Bayern Munich goalkeeper Manuel Neuer- found himself being pelted with bananas
(the subject of the "Oliver Kahn" effect) in Bayern's 0-1 loss to Borussia
Dortmund last night. Of course, this had nothing to do with racism Dortmund fans love their bananas
and their traditional club colours are, after all, yellow.
Through Ryu's Lens - Internazionale vs. Marseille, tragedy in Milano
Bayern Munich and Inter Milan both started their matches Tuesday evening with a one goal deficit
to overcome. While the Germans took care of the business with a phenomenal 7-nil win over FC Basel
in Munich, Inter Milan played well but were ultimately knocked out due to lazy defending and
Marseille's Brandão taking advantage of an opportunity in the match's final minutes.
For every heart-warming resolution to a heart-stopping sometimes literally tragedy in and around
the sport, such as the case with Fabrice Muamba, there seems to be one which doesn't turn out as
such. This time, it's twenty such cases.
Twenty players AC Virgin Ka, a team from the Democratic Republic of Congo, died earlier this
week when returning from a friendly.
In 1993, April 27th to be precise, the Zambian national team suffered a terrible tragedy (the
country's worst sporting disaster) when a flight taking the entire Zambian squad and their
management to a World Cup qualifying match in Senegal crashed into the Atlantic Ocean 500 metres
off the coast of Libreville, Gabon.
As many of my regular readers are aware, I am based in Connecticut, in the Hartford area. As all of you know, a great tragedy befell a small community in my small state on Friday. In light of those horrific events, I thought it appropriate to skip a night of posting about soccer as a very small tribute to those who needlessly lost their lives in Newtown on Friday.
U.S. captain Julie Johnston places flowers at a memorial for the children who lost their lives
in the tsunami
Like the full U.S. Women's National Team did at the end of March of this year during their time in
Sendai, Japan (while the team was training her for a match against the Japanese), the U.
A Life Too Short: The Tragedy of Robert Enke by Ronald Reng Published by Yellow Jersey 2011,
£8.99 ISBN: 9780224091664 Like all the best sports books, Ronald Reng's A Life Too Short is about
so much more than sport. Â The biography of Robert Enke, the German goalkeeper who committed
suicide in 2009, it is a quiet yet powerful tribute to a young man ripped apart by clinical
depression.
I received an e-mail from one of our readers today. "Hey Professor," it said, "Sergio Ramos wore a
T-Shirt with some guy's picture on it. Who is that guy?" and I realized not everyone knows who
Antonio Puerta was. Sergio Ramos and Antonio Puerta both came up together through Sevilla's youth
system, from the time they were little boys of around 10 years old or so.
It's been a bit of a slow week, and aside from the tragedy at the weekend and the news of
Guiseppe Rossi's new ACL injury, all is rather quiet on the Azzurri front.
So, I am going to endeavour to round up some Calcio/Italian based news of the week as we [read
more]
I've known worse times as a Spurs fan. Forgive me if for the moment I can't quite name them. An
afternoon so utterly dispiriting, the fans, the decisions, the outcome, that heart and soul are
thoroughly drained. Not anger, though there's just cause the referee, the way we just slipped away
without enough of a fight.
I went to see Lenny Henry in "Comedy of Errors" last night at the National Theatre (which
explains the first two elements of my headline), and it was stunning, brilliant and extraordinary
and had a fair old Arsenal element in it too.
The cups come thick and fast at this point in the season. It's great to watch teams scramble for
position as the knock out rounds make everything look very cut-throat. It's nice to prepare some
people for the tragedy at ...
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Joe Paterno wasn't one of us. He was a football coach, and damn good one a that, but an outsider
to the world of soccer. He may have won 409 games with Penn State and made himself one of the most
storied characters in the history of collegiate football, but he definitely wouldn't have known
Kyle Beckerman from David Beckham.
