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.
Nearly 58,000 tickets have been sold for what will serve as a top-flight tuneup for the Americans ahead of the Gold Cup, the North American championship tournament that begins on Sunday. The host US men open Tuesday against Canada.
U.S. vs. Spain Friendly May Not Be the Best Warm-Up for the Gold Cup
Mark Hughes was the victim of Manchester City chief executive Garry Cook's infamous "trajectory of results" when he was shown the door at Eastlands and replaced within a matter of minutes by Roberto Mancini.
Off The Ball never rests in its mission to scratch around the underbelly of professional football to find the most bizarre, humorous and inexplicable stories.
This week, Jack Wilshere wants to get in the face of the referees, Mario Balotelli takes the scenic route, a suicidal koala helps a Spanish club sell season tickets, Barca shake that booty and we preview the Dr Nicolas Leoz Cup.
The spectre of corruption returned to haunt Italian football yesterday when former star World Cup striker Beppe Signori was among 16 people arrested after investigators busted a football match-fixing operation that was so big police dubbed it a "proper criminal organisation".
Does Robin van Persie know something we don't? The Arsenal striker has just come off the back of a gruelling and emotionally draining season with the club and could be forgiven for wanting to get away from it all.
Brazilian journalists who flew to London for the Champions League final were struck by the importance given in the English press to the recent scandals surrounding FIFA. The story is not playing anything like as big back home.
European cynics might argue that this has something to do with a certain South American tolerance of corruption. South American cynics, meanwhile, put the whole frenzy down to an infantile English reaction at not being awarded the 2018 World Cup.
Mick McCarthy has praised the 'fantastic' Marcus Hahnemann after confirming Wolves will not be offering the goalkeeper a new contract.
Bob Bradley isn't known for throwing curve balls. The U.S. national team coach is pretty much a fire 'em down the middle type guy. Too much so for some supporters.
With the conclusion of the Championship playoffs at Wembley on Monday, we now know the three teams promoted to the Premier League for the 2011-12 season. It's a return for Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City, which were both involved in the first three seasons of the re-branded Premier League in the 1990s, while Swansea will get its first taste at the Liberty Stadium.
Genoa owner Enrico Preziosi is a sometimes abrasive character who has frequently fallen foul of football's authorities and his own fans. You wouldn't trust him to be gracious to losers, but he was - and it was not just any loser. It was Sampdoria, Genoa's local rivals and the subject of much scorn, grief and disbelief across the nation after their unexpected plunge to Serie B just 12 months after qualifying for the Champions League preliminary round. "Those of us on the other side of town can't really celebrate in a situation like this," Preziosi said. "I am happy Genoa are above Samp, but I don't like this."
After watching Barcelona dismantle Manchester United in the UEFA Champions League final on Saturday, it would be easy to name the team of the season as Pep Guardiola's Wembley first XI. The Catalan giants still rightly dominate after sweeping all before them this term, but six other individuals have managed to force their way into the reckoning for a line-up bristling with attacking talent.
It's been another vintage La Liga season.
Arsenal fans craving hope for the future need only listen to the words of Jack Wilshere, their tough, skilful midfielder.“Not so much keep going on at the ref, but just let them know,’’ he explains. “You see the players at Man United and they are great at it. They are round the ref.”
In an extraordinary piece of theatre that broke up amid farcical scenes, Sepp Blatter last night denied that Fifa was in crisis despite another of day of escalating scandal swirling around senior figures in football's governing body. During an at times fractious press conference at Fifa's Zurich headquarters, Blatter said: "Crisis? What is a crisis? Football is not in a crisis. We are not in a crisis, we are only in some difficulties and these will be solved within our family."
The conference, that followed a meeting of Fifa's Executive Committee, ended with an angry Blatter exiting the room as a German journalist shouted questions after the 75-year-old Swiss.
Carlos de los Cobos has been flirting with conflagration for a while now, and this afternoon it all finally happened. The Chicago Fire has parted ways with CDLC and the big question for Fire fans is now what?
Where shall we start? With a touch of French perhaps? Déjà vu? Plus ça change? Sir Alex Ferguson had claimed before the final at Wembley that his team were more mature, more versatile than the one so rudely pushed aside in Rome two years ago, but the reality that unfolded in London was that Barcelona's self-assurance and faith in their own approach was a step too far for any improvements that Manchester United might claim to have made.
