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 37-year-old former Holland midfielder has come out of retirement to sign a pay-as-you-play deal with the Eagles.
Davids, who counts AC Milan, Inter Milan, Juventus and Tottenham among his former clubs, last played a competitive match two years ago for Ajax.
There are six new signings, five of whom are 23 or younger. They include teenager Sergio Canales, possibly the most exciting young forward in Spain since the days of Fernando Torres; Pedro Leon, one of the most underrated wingers in La Liga last year; Angel Di Maria, a versatile attacking midfielder who at 22 is a mainstay for Argentina; and Sami Khedira and Mesut Ozil, two of the brightest stars from the young Germany side that turned so many heads at the World Cup. Rounding out the group is Ricardo Carvalho, the kind of veteran defender who has been loyal and effective for Mourinho at Porto and Chelsea. He's 32, but by signing him to only a two-year deal, Real has limited the risk of a sudden decline in skills.
Newly-promoted Blackpool go in search of their second Premier League victory in as many matches, but their task will be far tougher than their opening day fixture as they travel to Emirates Stadium to meet Arsenal.
Some day, when Major League Soccer's history is no longer counted in years but in decades, maybe we'll look back on the current transfer window as the dawning of an era -- a time when the league truly came of age. That things might have turned a corner for the league forever grappling for commercial traction was evident when the Chicago Fire hosted the New York Red Bulls on Aug. 8. With five well-known designated players (four of them recent signings) on the field, it was undeniable that MLS's on-field product, a focus of the league since its inception, had leaped forward.
The new season is upon us and Off The Ball will be scratching around the underbelly of professional football for the duration of the campaign to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories.
This week, Cardiff fans are so delighted to sign Craig Bellamy they're happy to have the wrong name on their shirts, Nicolas Anelka mocks the FFF "clowns", Mido scuppers the 11th move of his career just by turning up and the best of the Young Boys puns.
Neymar, the prodigious young Brazilian striker whom Chelsea are so keen to sign, was put on the spot earlier this week at a sponsor's event in his homeland. Asked about the interest shown by the Premier League champions, the 18-year-old's reply identified an issue that may come to haunt Chelsea. "I don't know if I'll stay or go. But leaving the country to end up in the reserves doesn't interest me, it would be better to stay here."
With that comment the Santos boy hit the nail on the head – why warm the bench at Chelsea while Didier Drogba and Nicolas Anelka rattle in the goals, when he could be perfectly happy in the state of Sao Paulo?
After seeing his team lose the Copa Libertadores final 3-2, midfielder Marco Fabian De la Mora was punched by a man who entered the field to celebrate Internacional's victory.
The attack sparked a scuffle between players from both clubs and left Jose Luis Real — manager of the Mexican outfit — fuming.
The prospect of the first Mexican winners of the Copa Libertadores flickered briefly on Wednesday night. In last week's first leg of the final, Chivas Guadalajara had been outplayed and beaten 2-1 at home by Internacional of Brazil. Few people gave them much of a chance in the return game. In front of their own fans in Porto Alegre, Internacional had a 100 percent home record.
For all the jibes about ‘Bitter Blues’ and ‘Stretford Rangers,’ there is no divide within the city, no pub or particular area is a no-go zone for those wearing the wrong colours and, while the ugly stain of Munich chants continues to provide a blemish on the fringes, United and City actually co-exist quite happily in the same city.
Bellamy is exactly the sort of player Roberto Mancini should be trying to retain. The Italian has added a combustible character to the dressing room in Mario Balotelli and may not want Bellamy around to upset what could be a delicate balancing act in terms of keeping egos in check, but the Welshman is a proven Premier League performer. At times last season he was nigh on unplayable, and his pace, versatility and directness would be an asset to any top-flight team.
Arsenal supporters will be invited today to buy shares in their club in affordable slices of the £10,250, which is the current prohibitive price of just one. The Arsenal Supporters Trust hopes that its scheme, Arsenal Fanshare, five years in the planning, will enable supporters to slowly build a meaningful stake and voice, and help preserve Arsenal as the only major Premier League club not owned by a single rich individual.
It has become not so much a monkey on the back of Arsenal but a great big strapping ape.
Arsenal have not won a trophy since 2005 and, as the new Premier League season prepared for the big kick-off last week, it was not just the supporters and media who were relentlessly noting this fact.
Rebuilding the sense of team after the painful World Cup exit, and following on from the discharge of Diego Maradona, was never going to be easy for Argentina.
Robinho is in footballing limbo. He sat out Manchester City's opening game of the Premier League campaign and although he might be in action in midweek in the Europa League, or possibly playing his football somewhere else before the end of the month, he needs to sort things out fast because this is a huge season for him.
Both Manchester United and Newcastle United go into the new season with something to prove. Sir Alex Ferguson's 11-time Premier League champions are desperate to regain the title and have looked in imperious form during pre-season, while Chris Hughton is aiming to consolidate his side's status as a top-flight club on the Magpies' return to the big time.
The new English Premier League season started much as the last one finished, with Didier Drogba scoring goals. Lots of them.
Three months after putting the finishing touch to Chelsea’s 2010 EPL title with a final-day hat trick against Wigan Athletic in May, the Ivory Coast striker was up to his usual tricks again on Saturday, knocking in three more goals in a 6-0 rout of West Bromwich Albion.
