SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.
One of the big challenges for Brazil is to transport the spectators between the 12 host cities across the country.
The burgeoning middle class in the country has been taking to the air in ever increasing numbers. The number of internal flights has risen by 80 million in the past five years and the same increase is predicted by 2014.
That can't be correct. 80 million internal flights...?
A video has emerged of a senior River Plate official appearing to encourage a leader of the club's hooligan gang to threaten the referee at half-time of their crucial match against Belgrano on Sunday in which they were trailing 1-0. River Plate, Argentina's most decorated club, went on to lose the match 2-0 and were relegated to the second division for the first time in their history.
A decade ago, DeMerit went undrafted by MLS. Not ready to give up on soccer, DeMerit went to England and stayed in his friend Kieren Keane's mother's London flat, with DeMerit sleeping in the attic and surviving off the £40 a week he was paid by Southall Town, a team on the lowest rung of the English soccer hierarchy.
After failing at tryout after tryout, DeMerit eventually found a spot with seventh-division Northwood FC, where he was spotted by the manager of FC Watford, who gave DeMerit a trial and eventually a contract. From there, DeMerit enjoyed a stunning rise, scoring a crucial goal to get Watford promoted to the English Premier League and eventually being awarded the captaincy of the club.
The 34-year-old Frings and 32-year-old Koevermans became two of the club's "designated players" who are paid mainly outside the team's salary cap and will begin playing after July 15 when the MLS transfer window opens.
"When we stayed in Pyongyang during training our players were hit by lightning, and more than five of them were hospitalised," said coach Kim, without naming the affected players specifically.
"Some stayed in hospital and then came to Germany later than the rest of us. The goalkeeper and the four defenders were most affected, and some midfielders as well. The physicians said the players were not capable of participating in the tournament"
Mexican media reported the players had told the coach, Luis Fernando Tena, that they had belongings stolen from their rooms after inviting "female guests" to stay. Tena told reporters: "It's lamentable, I didn't expect it, I was surprised. Now we must start again."
The hotel's manager, Robert Ramia, told the Ecuadorean news programme Ecuavisa: "We have video of women entering the rooms area of the hotel."
De Gea is United's third new signing of the summer, following the deals for Phil Jones and Ashley Young.
Losing 4-2 to Mexico in the Gold Cup final was the best thing that could have happened to the United States men's national soccer team. It's time for the USMNT and its fans to grow up and realize that progress is not measured by narrow victories over Central American countries or avoiding embarrassment at the World Cup. The solution to what's wrong with the team is bigger than putting Jonathan Bornstein on a slow boat to Honduras. It's even bigger than firing Bob Bradley.
About nine years ago, somebody named Andrew sent a mail to ask if I would be interested in writing columns for ESPNsoccernet, dispatches from Germany about, well, whatever happened to catch my fancy.Or maybe not literally whatever happened to catch my fancy, as Andrew added the pieces should, ideally, meet two conditions. First, they should have at least a fleeting connection to football. Second, they should tell foreign readers a bit about that mysterious country known as Germany, its mores and rites, tribes and regions.
Andrew has long since left the Soccernet building - to explore the world, I gather - while, 240 columns later, I'm still trying to meet his requirements as best I can.
I'm confident I have usually delivered on the first count, despite the odd piece about cyber vandalism, David Hasselhoff, or the origin of family names. I'm not sure, however, about the second stipulation.
I am heading down to Argentina not looking forward to the intense winter cold - quite frankly, it is the kind of thing I crossed the Atlantic to avoid - but with a warm glow in anticipation of the 43rd Copa America, which kicks off on Friday.
It is more apparent now than it ever has been. Bob Bradley must be sacked as manager of the United States.
Enough is enough. Bradley seems content to let the United States be second best while the likes of rivals Mexico and other CONCACAF teams get stronger. Right now, Americans should be asking themselves a very worrying question: Will we even qualify for the 2014 World Cup?
MLS dished out $16,000 in fines for three separate transgressions involving D.C. United striker Charlie Davies, New York and Los Angeles. Two large clubs and a prominent striker felt the wrath of MLS on what turned out to be a very expensive Friday afternoon. Although all three incidents deal with separate and unique infractions on and off the field, they are linked by the fact that the prominence of the parties involved essentially forced the league to take significant disciplinary action in order uphold its regulations. D.C. United striker Charlie Davies procured the most discussed of the three fines after the Disciplinary Committee fined him $1,000 for his penalty-winning tumble in last Saturday's 1-1 draw at Real Salt Lake.
Seeing Paris Saint-Germain plastered all over the French media is nothing new, but for once their monopoly of the sports pages has got nothing to do with fan violence, murky transfer dealings or on-pitch underachievement. Instead, the club's takeover by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI) has turned them into major players on the European transfer scene and sparked hope among supporters that a return to the glory days of the mid-1990s might be just around the corner.
Central midfield trio Ander Herrera, Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez were the stand-out performers in an impressive Spain performance as they clinched the UEFA Under 21 European Championship title on Saturday night. Switzerland had not conceded a single goal going into the final, but Herrera and Thiago scored either side of half-time to finish off Switzerland 2-0 in Aarhus.
