I somehow missed this in my RSS reader, but stumbled across it at Ramblings of a Soccer Junky. The Chicago Fire reached out to Zidane to see if he’d come out of retirement. Apparently they weren’t the only ones.

Guppy told the Chicago Tribune: ‘We reached out to Zidane. But so has every other MLS club. The feedback we’ve all gotten is that he’s retired.’

Man, that would have been priceless. Can you imagine the media coverage? A lot of people know Beckham in the US, but EVERYone was talking about ‘THE headbutt’. If he had come to the MLS, we’d have seen the headbutt on clueless new programs forever. On second thought - maybe it’s good he stayed retired.

Zidane not only has his own Wikipedia page, his headbutt has one too.
Priceless.

As the Women’s World Cup fast approaches, the rivalry of #1 Germany and #2 USA continued with squads of mostly younger players at the Four Nations Tournament resulting in a 0-0 draw. US Soccer and Fox Soccer have in depth coverage. The USWNT face England next at 3AM Sunday Morning (EST).

How awesome is this? Bob over at The Offside notes that Universal plans to make a movie based on The Fugees, and part of that deal includes $500,000 to build soccer fields for them. Obviously, this is one team out of thousands who play in substandard facilities in towns hostile to their sport. But it’s still a breath of fresh air.

Found via The Far Post Report, Paul Gardner at the New York Sun has a column up talking about how FIFA is allowing violence on the field to the detriment of skilled play. While I think his fixation on Zidane is a bit much (since he actually DID get ejected), I think there is something to be said about overly physical play on the pitch slipping by. Should FIFA be clamping down more and perhaps allowing the 4th official to flag violent play? A sucker punch to the ribs has no place in soccer. Paul thinks they should clamp down, but like anything with FIFA, isn’t expecting much:

What the sport awaits - critically needs - is firm action from FIFA to make sure referees enforce the rules against rough play. Will 2007 mark a swing of the soccer pendulum back toward a more skill-oriented game? A game in which players like Sheffield’s Morgan are simply not allowed to get away with mayhem at the expense of both the rules and the sport’s star players.

We’ve been waiting a long time for such a move from FIFA, so holding one’s breath is not recommended.

Good advice.

Jamie Trecker has a new column up highlighting the recent U20 qualifying rounds for the U20 World Cup and comes to an unsurprising conclusion:

it’s pretty clear there is a big gap between what the Americans can do and what resources they have to work with. The USA racked up two big wins right enough - one each over Haiti and hosts Panama - but consistency still seems to elude this team.

Part of the problem is innate: in this age group, consistency is the hardest attribute to teach. One of the reasons it is so noticeable is because the level of competition the Americans usually face is so lousy.

Because, like the USMNT, the U20’s face other teams from CONCACAF. They face the same issues of weak competition that the USMNT do. People are concerned about the 0-0 draw with Guatemala, and rightly so. But any coach will tell you that sometimes against less skilled teams, your team will sit back and relax and get caught. That’s not exactly reassuring though. We can HOPE they were just taking a break, but what if they really were held in check by the likes of Guatemala, a team described as ‘below average’. But is that the only reason?

The main point here is that US Soccer faces similar difficulties at all levels of development. Our U17s and U20s need to start facing some real challenges beyond CONCACAF qualifying. Much has been said about how our youth development program needs improvement for our players to compete on the world stage. But there have been few concrete proposals, the last significant one being the MLS youth academies. Will that be enough? Is increased international competition the only problem? Will the USA U20’s be competitive in Canada or go home humbled like the USMNT? Jamie fears the latter:

The games I’ve seen (which are broadcast live on Fox Sports Espanol, FSC’s sister channel) make me wonder how the USA will possibly be able to compete this summer. The players below the equator have a sense of how the game is played at the top level, are excellent when it comes to positioning and delivery and, despite making the mistakes that kids make, are playing another game altogether than the Americans. Bluntly put, the USA in Panama looked like a group of suburban youth soccer players; the ten teams in Paraguay look like professionals.

And there you have it. I’ve heard over and over how we’re driving kids away from soccer because of competition. If we try to shield kids from competition until they’re 13, will the top players be ready to face the world’s best when they’re 16? Or is America’s fixation with competition stifling the development of our youngest players? I wish I had the answer, but I can’t shake the fear that this overwhelming shift in the US towards non-competitive soccer is shifting too far to try and address bad parents and coaches. Instead of a happy medium of competition and development, I fear we may end up turning out a generation of young players who have better skills, but no ability to handle the pressures of higher level play. That combined with the inherent difficulties of being in CONCACAF make me very nervous indeed.

Greg Lalas has a new column up about the USMNT’s recent performance against Denmark and how the future of the team looks bright because of the infusion of youth:

there was the United States’ stylish 3-1 win over Denmark on Saturday. In fact, that win was so impressive and got me so jazzed about the U.S. national team again, that I truly believe that the likes of Justin Mapp, Jonathan Bornstein and Ricardo Clark can take this team to unprecedented levels. They’re going to seriously challenge for the World Cup in 2014.

Go ahead. Send me your e-mails calling me a buffoon. Send me your rants about how this was only Denmark, not Italy or Germany or Brazil, and how it was Denmark’s B-team. Send me your vaguely threatening notes about how Americans always over reach with their predictions and how we don’t know anything about soccer.

I don’t care. Because these kids — the average age of 18-man roster was about 25 — have confidence in their abilities, their first touch, their gumption, that has never existed in so many American players at the same time. Mark my words, the United States is going to cause all kinds of havoc at the 2010 World Cup and is going to challenge for the World Cup trophy in 2014.

That’s pretty bold. I can’t say I disagree for the most part. While I didn’t think the Denmark match showed the USMNT playing that well together, it was refreshing to see younger players stepping up. It’s only been one match, however if Bradley does keep infusing new blood into the team I agree it will help things along, so when 2010 comes around, we really have exposed as many prospects as possible to international play, giving the USMNT a better idea of who really should travel to South Africa. Honestly, it is impossible to read much of anything into ONE performance. Lets have this debate in June!

That said, Greg makes an excellent point later in his column:

with three and a half years until the next World Cup, the entire U.S. soccer system is about development.

It better be given the shambles things were in after 2006!

Lisa at LDSM posted this story up of some shameful behavior by parents during a penalty shoot out (or ‘kicks from the mark’ for you purists ) This blows me away. I know parents get out of hand - but using cell phone flashes to distract the kickers? That’s bad enough - but what about the league that allowed this to happen:

Up to 100 supporters of Moston Brook under-13s, who play in the Reddish and District League, and rivals Knuzden, of the Blackburn and Darwen District Junior League, were behind the goals at the Lancashire FA County Ground in Leyland for the Tesco-sponsored County Cup Final.

Can some our our UK readers clue me in here? Is this normal? Around here if parents drift around the corner flags, referees have been known to stop a match to clear them out. Some tournaments will squeeze the spectators between mid-field and the top of the box to avoid interference with corner kicks. Granted, many field layouts make this difficult. But I am floored that during a SHOOTOUT, the area behind the goal wasn’t cleared out. The FA is upset that the coaches came on the field to contest the ejection of the keeper. I want to know why the FA isn’t launching an inquiry into why the officials allowed a shootout with 100 parents behind the goal. That’s distracting enough, even without the flashes. I just can’t fathom any shootout being conducted with parents allowed past the 18. It’s just asking for trouble. I don’t care how cramped things are - stack them 5 deep if you have to, but keep them away from the goals.

Josh has a fun post up over at ThroughBall, in response to David Beckham heading to L.A.

Now that David Beckham will be lacing up his boots in L.A., it seems appropriate to give the Home Depot Center a more historic-sounding moniker.

I propose "Discount Theater of Dreams."

So hop over to his comment section and show off your creativity. My suggestions? The Posh Pit and Metrosexual Center. Join the fun!

Jeremy over at SoccerWorld has a post up about the ‘new’ offside interpretation in use for the past year or so and how it allowed a goal to count when a player, uninvolved with play, was very offside:

There was much discussion this weekend of Newcastle’s controversial first goal against West Ham. For those of you who missed it, West Ham was leading 2-0 just before half time when James Milner fired the ball towards the goal. Newcastle’s Scott Parker was clearly in an offside position, but he didn’t touch the ball as it sailed past him and into the far corner of the goal. The linesman raised his flag to indicate Parker’s offside status, but referee Uriah Rennie let the goal stand because Parker wasn’t interfering with play. Those are the facts. Now let the arguments begin.

There’s nothing quite as fun and invigorating as a good offside debate. So hop on over to Jeremy’s site and join in! I personally think the referee in this case made the right call which I noted in detail at SoccerWorld. The ref followed the guidelines to the letter and any player clearly offside should be safely ignored by the keeper and defense. Easier said than done I admit, but that player isn’t getting an advantage by being there if they’re not obstructing free movement of the defense and aren’t blocking the keeper’s sight line.

Fire away!

The blogosphere was buzzing today about the story of The Fugees, a soccer team of mostly African refugees that wasn’t allowed to use their city park to play soccer and faced many challenges. As I write this, 67 blogs have written about this story and it was the most emailed story from the NY Times today (Sunday). Technorati ranked this story #10 in it’s ‘Top News’ section (4 of the top 9 were about Hillary Clinton running for president)

But remember - nobody cares about soccer in the United States.

P.S. - You just know somebody is going to have a LOT of email to go through on Monday. 

The USMNT wins their first match 3-1 and suddenly there are calls for the moniker of ‘Interim Head Coach’ to be dropped for Coach Bradley. So says Soccer y Futbol.

I hate to break it to you, but Old Bruce is right again.

If you watched Saturday’s U.S.-Denmark match, which gave interim coach Bob Bradley a 3-1 win in his debut, then you probably heard former manager Bruce Arena say, in essence, that U.S. Soccer should drop the “I” word from Bradley’s title.

He’s right.

While I admit the whole interim thing is a bit awkward after Klinsmann fell through, let’s not be too hasty. This was one match between two squads missing much of their ’star talent’. I’m all for making Coach Bradley the head coach of the USMNT if they are successful and improving, but making that decision based on the results of one friendly is insane. I’m thrilled the USMNT won too, but lets not forget that Landon’s PK went THROUGH the arms of the Danish keeper who guessed right and the second goal came from a defender who admitted that he was out of position. “I don’t know how I found myself in the middle of the box,” Bornstein said.

Let’s give it some time.

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The NY Times has an in-depth article up today about a youth team in Clarkston, Georgia that faces hurdles most youth soccer teams could never imagine. It is an illuminating look at a situation where a team not only faces the usual ‘we hate soccer’ mindset found in many small towns, but also faces an uglier undercurrent of racism where longtime town residents resent ‘the soccer people’ who happen to be mostly African refugees.

Early last summer the mayor of this small town east of Atlanta issued a decree: no more soccer in the town park.

“There will be nothing but baseball and football down there as long as I am mayor,” Lee Swaney, a retired owner of a heating and air-conditioning business, told the local paper. “Those fields weren’t made for soccer.”

In Clarkston, soccer means something different than in most places. As many as half the residents are refugees from war-torn countries around the world. Placed by resettlement agencies in a once mostly white town, they receive 90 days of assistance from the government and then are left to fend for themselves. Soccer is their game.

But to many longtime residents, soccer is a sign of unwanted change, as unfamiliar and threatening as the hijabs worn by the Muslim women in town. It’s not football. It’s not baseball. The fields weren’t made for it. Mayor Swaney even has a name for the sort of folks who play the game: the soccer people.

Caught in the middle is a boys soccer program called the Fugees - short for refugees, though most opponents guess the name refers to the hip-hop band.

The article proceeds from there to highlight many of the challenges Coach Mufleh and her team face with the town, spectators from other teams, the police, and the traumatic experiences of many of her players.

» Read the rest of this post…

Man it has been a LONG wait for some USMNT action. HAHAHAHA Notice that Rob Stone is sitting between Eric and Bruce? Something tells me that wasn’t an accident

If you aren’t near a TV, you can follow the US - Denmark match via The Soccer Daily’s LiveBlog of the match.

UPDATE: Kali at The Real Salt Lake Blog has a great take on the Eric/Bruce combo:

I feel kind of dirty for admitting this, but I’m starting to kind of like the Waldo and Arena commentating team. They’re just bitchy enough to get their respective points across, but you just know that they’re totally biting their tongues…

I’d say that’s about right. 

Over at ThroughBall, Josh notes that ESPN announced their broadcast team for the upcoming USMNT matches and Dave O’Brien is NOT part of it. But wait. Bruce Arena is. Given The Bruce’s obnoxious tendencies when talking about soccer to the press, this is an improvement how? Well, look who else is on the team:

Former U.S. Men’s National Team manager Bruce Arena will call the team’s first two matches since he last coached the American side in their first round appearance at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, it was announced today by Tim Scanlan, ESPN senior coordinating producer. Arena will join Rob Stone (host/play-by-play) and analyst Eric Wynalda in the booth for ESPN2’s coverage of the U.S. vs. Denmark match

The disapproval of Dave O’Brien as a soccer announcer is widespread - Please Show Dave O’Brien A Red Card was one of this site’s most popular posts. I’m glad to see him stick with baseball. But replacing him with Bruce Arena - someone who defines the word obnoxious? Well, by himself it would be a nightmare, but he’s paired with Eric Wynalda, who strongly called for Bruce’s firing during and after the World Cup. Somebody at ESPN has a sense of humor or thinks tension in the broadcast booth will make for entertainment.

This is going to be fun. Here’s hoping the ESPN producers let them jab each other a little.

There. I said it. I’m a geek, dork, computer nerd, etc. Always have been. The words your reading were sent to you from a server I built - for fun. But does that have anything to do with my love of the beautiful game?

D and Kinney over at The DCenters, have a couple of interesting posts up related to the types of people who seem to make up a sizable portion of soccer fans, at least in DC. They believe that many soccer fans make up a part of a subculture. It’s an interesting premise:

There were tongues wagging when Slate wrote about soccer becoming the sport of choice of the "intellectual". Of course, they were writing primarily about European soccer, but the point remains. There is something of a geek aesthetic to soccer supporters across these United States (and for which the Barra mocks the Eagles). But, in DC’s loud side at least, it isn’t just the geeks. It’s a hybrid of the geeks, the refugees from DC’s hardcore scene, and the strong ethnic supporters from Europe and the Americas. It’s a strange conglomeration, the kind depicted previously only by a handful of cyberpunk writers.

I think that’s a fairly good take on the situation, but I think it may be a temporary phenomenon. Now I’ll state right away, anything I write isn’t based off of MLS experience. We don’t have a local MLS team and the RailHawks aren’t playing yet (though even when they state, SAS Soccer Park is still a haul through traffic hell). Rather I’m going to try and add to the discussion from a view from the youth level (there’s a shock!) and how that may someday translate to the MLS and beyond in the US. In short, any subculture of soccer fans in this country is probably going to be overwhelmed in the next decade.

» Read the rest of this post…