Sanford's Soccer Net

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Italy: Tuesday's Serie A Match Report + Wednesday's Previews

Juventus let perfect record slip with Serie A draw with Fiorentina.

Wednesday's Serie A Fixtures

Pescara vs Palermo

Torino vs Udinese

Genoa vs Parma

Napoli vs Lazio

Catania vs Atalanta

AC Milan vs Cagliari

Roma vs Sampdoria

Chievo vs Inter Milan

New York Cosmos to play at Hofstra in ’13

The New York Cosmos will return to the field next year at Hofstra University, where the original Cosmos played for two seasons prior to Pelé’s arrival. The resurrected Cosmos are set to join the North American Soccer League, the second-division circuit a tier below MLS. The Cosmos still have no schedule, coach or players, but they do have a home.

Head-butt Immortalized: Statue of soccer star Zidane’s infamous foul erected in Paris square

A 5-meter statue portraying Zidane aiming his shaven head at Italian opponent Marco Materazzi’s torso has been erected in front of Paris’ Centre Pompidou modern art museum.

Americans Abroad (A More Comprehensive List)

Big Johnson fights traffic in Nürnberg...

2. Bundesliga

John Anthony Brooks, D, Hertha Berlin - Not in the 18 for Berlin's 1-1 draw with Kaiserslautern on Saturday.
SEASON: 3 games, 2 starts.

Joe Gyau, M, St. Pauli - In the 18, did not play in St. Pauli's 2-1 loss to FSV Frankfurt on Friday.
SEASON: 0 games.

Alfredo Morales, D, Hertha Berlin - Not in the 18 for Berlin's 1-1 draw with Kaiserslautern.
SEASON: 1 game.

Andrew Wooten, F, SV Sandhausen - In the 18, came on as a 55th-minute substitute in Sandhausen's 3-0 loss to SC Paderborn 07 on Saturday.
SEASON: 2 games.

The Rest

Tim Vickery in Brazil

It is only two years until Brazil hosts the 2014 Football World Cup. But is the country ready?

The BBC's Brazil-based football writer Tim Vickery investigates.

Uli Hesse in Germany

On the Bundesliga's fourth matchday of the new season, the second-longest unbeaten run in league history finally came to an end. It happened entirely unexpectedly, as is often the case when runs collapse, though the setting was very fitting indeed.

Capital One Cup: Manchester City Crash Out

Manchester City 2 - 4 Aston Villa
Andy Hunter at the Etihad Stadium

Jamie Jackson: Mancini unwise to target Old Trafford in new touchline bust-up

Oh, and Everton lost to Leeds...

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Sid Lowe in Spain

A power failure – caused, apparently, by cut cables – forced Real Madrid's game at Vallecano to be postponed until Monday.

'Sabotage' leaves Real Madrid twiddling thumbs – and fans in the dark.

Capital One Cup: 5 Matches to Watch in 3rd Round

The Capital One Cup resumes play on Tuesday and Wednesday with 16 matches in the third round.

Entering the competition for the third round are all of the Premier League clubs that are involved in European play.

Already the competition has seen some upsets with championship leaders Brighton and Hove Albion going out in the first round, and two EPL clubs (Fulham and Stoke) were taken down in the second round.

The third round features five matches between two EPL clubs with Manchester United vs. Newcastle United being the marquee matchup.

Here are five matches that you should keep an eye on during play on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Marquez, Adu, Wondolowski keep making news; MLS Power Rankings

Repeating trends, doomed teams providing resistance as gatekeepers to valuable points, and Power Rankings word association after MLS Week 29:

Team of the Week:

Goalkeeper: Jimmy Nielsen (Sporting Kansas City)

Defenders: Matt Besler (Sporting Kansas City), Victor Bernardez (San Jose Earthquakes), Gonzalo Segares (Chicago Fire)

Midfielders: Juninho (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chris Rolfe (Chicago Fire), Javier Morales (Real Salt Lake), Freddy Adu (Philadelphia Union)

Forwards: Robbie Keane (Los Angeles Galaxy), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose Earthquakes), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy)

Footballer fined 100,000 euros for opening can of beer aboard team bus en route to match

Vida, 'probably the stupidest footballer in the world', has 14 caps for Croatia.

Henry Winter: FA chairman David Bernstein ready to deal with football's 'bad guys' and invoke spirit of 2012

From Fabio Capello’s departure to Roy Hodgson’s appointment, Luis Suárez’s ban to John Terry’s current charge, many of the Football Association’s most momentous events in the past year must be seen through the prism of David Bernstein’s moral crusade.

Dominic Fifield: John Terry's exit may be moment England begin to forge their future

Young players should benefit if Rio Ferdinand fails to join Roy Hodgson's squad on the World Cup road to Rio.

Raphael Honigstein in Germany

After 1,000 Dortmund fans walked out in protest at ticket prices, the club succumbed to their first defeat in 31 games.

Hamburg spring a surprise to end Borussia Dortmund's unbeaten run.

Paolo Bandini in Italy

Inter failed to end the 'curse' of the synthetic surface as they suffered a shock defeat to Siena, while Milan lost again – at Udinese.

Plastic not fantastic for Inter and Milan as San Siro 'curse' continues.

Americans Abroad: Johnson and Williams get Hoffenheim going

Hoffenheim's first league win of the season, courtesy of two goals by Yanks, highlights the list of Americans playing in Europe this week.

Bradley returns to training with Roma

That's him behind De Rossi...

Bradley participated in Monday's practice session, the team said on its website. After transferring from Chievo Verona, Bradley was injured in the team's 2-2 tie against Catania that opened its Serie A schedule on Aug. 26.

Snoop Dogg appreciated Ronaldo's style on and off the pitch

"That's Ronaldo from Brazil from back in the day," he told Goal.com. "When I first started watching soccer, going to Europe for the first time, he was the one who was the most dynamic to me. I loved the way he played. He played with a lot of style, he was good and he had the different hairstyles. His hair was pretty."

Phil Ball in Spain

In Eamon Dunphy's wonderful book 'Only a Game?' he narrates, in semi-diary style, the events of a season in the old English Second Division, warts and all. Loadsawarts. It's a carbuncular book. It was the first of its kind, but it remains the best, and it spawned a whole genre of inferior imitators. At one point late in the book, Dunphy's career with Millwall is going down the tubes, because he's getting older and a younger midfielder is being preferred to him - among other reasons. Left out of the squad for the first time in years for a Saturday match, he stays at home and mopes on his sofa, switching on the old BBC sports programme Grandstand to watch the final scores. Millwall have lost at home, and he is exultant. He shakes his fist with glee in front of the TV, as if his team-mates' defeat were an endorsement of his own feeling that he is not finished yet, that he shouldn't have been dropped. And yet as an intelligent man he feels guilty. He knows he is supposed to ring them and sympathise - but he doesn't.

Monday, September 24, 2012

England: Premier League Weekend Reports, Analyses, Fallout, Teams of the Week, Etc.

Manchester United beat Liverpool, Manchester City and Arsenal drew, wins for Chelsea, Everton, and Tottenham, Southampton cruised past Villa, West Ham and Sunderland drew, Fulham beat Wigan, West Brom beat Reading, and Newcastle won at home against Norwich City...