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.
The remarkable images that emerged from the revolution in Libya last month, as despotic leader Moammar Gadhafi was hunted down and executed, appeared to have nothing whatsoever to do with sports. Yet as Gadhafi’s long and brutal regime came crashing down and his life was brought to a violent end, a former professional soccer player in one of the world’s top leagues suddenly became one of the most wanted men on the planet. The man in question is Gadhafi’s third son, Al-Saadi, who used his father’s political influence to gain contracts at three teams in Italy’s Serie A – Perugia, Udinese and Sampdoria – while also training with Lazio and Juventus.
Romario, now a congressman, said he is teaming up with other Brazilian legislators to investigate football’s governing body ahead of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
The smell of wood smoke hangs pungent in the early morning mist. As the cafe owners set up for the day, and old men, huddled against the cold, begin another session of backgammon in the courtyard of the mosque, the call of the muezzin echoes through the cobbled streets. On a corner on the square in front of the national library, a stall-holder sets out his wares. He has green Wolfsburg shirts, but today is not a day for club soccer. He slides hangers through the necks of two blue Bosnia shirts and hooks them over the rail that holds up the canopy over his stall. The back of each shirt is to the square so you can see the name and number. The left reads "Dzeko;" the right "Misimovic": Muslim and Serb side by side.
AC Milan forward Zlatan Ibrahimovic says he broke a rib in a brawl with American defender Oguchi Onyewu that could have “ended badly” had they not been separated by teammates. In an autobiography sent to The Associated Press on Wednesday, Ibrahimovic says the two players “wanted to destroy each other” in the fight, which started after the hot-tempered Swede launched a dangerous tackle on Onyewu during a training session with Milan on Nov. 5 last year.
They'd make quite a five-a-side team. The only question is which one of them would draw the short straw and be forced to play in goal. A Friday afternoon at the Intercontinental Hotel in Madrid and the ESM group was presenting the Golden Boot to Cristiano Ronaldo as the continent's top scorer in 2010-2011. Alongside him on the stage sat Alfredo di Stéfano, the man many Spaniards consider the greatest player of all time, and Eusebio. In the front row, Zinedine Zidane and a couple of rows back Paulo Futre.
At first glance it is an audition, plain and simple. A chance to nudge the management into recognising underlying qualities and earn the right to stand in for a high-profile absentee.
Newcastle's owner, Mike Ashley, faces a potential backlash from supporters after the announcement that St James' Park is to be rebranded as the Sports Direct Arena as part of the club's plan to sell the naming rights to the stadium.
The butcher did it. The butcher, as yet unnamed. The friend we all have, the fellow whose uncanny instincts always lead him to the best holiday resort, the best car, the places where you will "eat splendidly and barely spend any money". The guy who tells you over your morning coffee what's wrong with the economy. The know-it-all with the fat wallet who sits in the stands during a soccer match and pretends to spot your side's strengths and weaknesses by glancing at pre-game warm-ups.
Sinisa Mihajlovic, who was sacked by Fiorentina on Monday night following a 1-0 defeat at Chievo at the weekend, knows all about the butcher's sinister, dark power.
With the schedule for the 2014 World Cup now announced, hosts Brazil know they will kick off the tournament in Sao Paulo at 17:00 local time on June 12. This much is certain. Of more interest is where they will be at 16:00 on July 13 - contesting the final in Rio's Maracana stadium, or drowning their sorrows elsewhere. At this point there is no lack of punters predicting the latter. Brazil have slipped behind the likes of Spain and Germany, and, some believe, even home advantage will not be enough to help the five times world champions recapture their missing mojo. Earlier this year, British football magazine Four Four Two even proclaimed the 'death of Brazil,' pointing out as part of its argument that the country's outstanding players are now often defenders.
Yaya Touré believes that Manchester City's second XI would be good enough to qualify for the Champions League, as he articulated his confidence that the club could win major trophies this season and redefine people's perceptions about them. The Ivory Coast midfielder has started every game so far in the Premier and Champions leagues and he has contributed vital goals in the past week, scoring twice in last Wednesday's 3-0 win at Villarreal and getting the winner at Queens Park Rangers on Saturday. The towering header maintained City's five-point advantage at the top of the Premier League while they are well placed to emerge from a difficult Champions League section.
One of the classic stories of U.S. soccer is set to appear in movie theaters across the nation on Thursday night. Rise & Shine: The Jay DeMerit Story, which is being shown in more than 125 theaters, retraces the inspiring journey of an MLS reject from Green Bay who goes to London and somehow rises from playing in pub leagues in city parks to competing in the English Premier League and shutting down Wayne Rooney in the 2010 World Cup. If Jay DeMerit played football or basketball, his fable would be known by millions of Americans already. And now, thanks to the documentary, it still has that chance.
