Football Interviews News Archives

Images courtesy of GolTV.

Soccerlens is very privileged and honored to welcome a legend of world football, Enzo Francescoli. Mr. Francescoli, who was born in Montevideo, Uruguay, was one of the best players of the modern era. He was a striker with unusual grace and elegance on the football pitch. He was affectionately known as “El Principe.” For younger members in our audience, please take a few minutes to watch the featured highlight video (below). You will see an artist at work, and understand why he was called “The Prince.”

He is now the CEO of GolTV, which began operations in 2003, and is the only Spanish language network that televises soccer 24 hours a day, seven days a week, in North America. GolTV also broadcasts in English, and reaches a nationwide audience through cable and satellite operators. Their target audience is comprised mainly of Hispanic, European, Asian, and American fans 16 years and older.

Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of Luma Mufleh and the Fugees Family.

Recently, Soccerlens profiled a humanitarian non-profit organization that assists refugees: The Fugees Family: Pride and Prejudice in a Strange Land. Due to being banned from a local pitch, their plight received mainstream American media coverage.

As a follow-up to this important humanitarian initiative, we are very pleased to welcome Ms. Luma Mufleh, who is a youth football coach in the American State of Georgia. She is also the founder of the Fugees Family.

Read the rest of this entry »

Formerly the fans without a team, it’s been a long time coming for The SOBs.

The Sons of Ben are a group of soccer fans from Philadelphia whose outspoken support lead to February’s announcement of an MLS expansion team landing to the City of Brotherly Love in 2010. The team will play in a plush new stadium along the Chester waterfront, and fans can already reserve their seat’s on the unnamed squad’s website.

On the Sons of Ben website, the group claims to be about 1500 members strong, and is known for their devotion to traveling to matches (necessary with the lack of a “home” team), where they are sometimes admired for the level of noise and enthusiasm they bring to matches- though they may not be supporting either side on the field.

After the MLS expansion team announcement I sent an email to Sons of Ben founder Bryan James, who put up with the snarky queries to dish some dirt on the supporter’s club for those not in the know:

Read the rest of this entry »

With a suitcase full of belongings at his feet, 15-year-old schoolboy Liam Brady stood nervously inside Highbury’s marble halls, day dreaming he would one day stride out of the nearby tunnel onto the hallowed turf as a first team star. The apprehensive young Irishman not only had his bag, but he also had the world at his feet. Blessed with oodles of natural talent, a laser-guided left foot, and a steely determination to make the grade, Brady had every right to picture his name in lights. A decade later, the cultured midfielder was already being regarded as one of the finest players to have ever worn the Arsenal shirt.

In a break from his busy schedule, Adrian Clarke caught up with Liam Brady to quiz him on Arsenal’s youth policy and on what it takes for a young player to make it as a first team star at the Emirates Stadium…

(For the audio link, skip to the end of the interview.)

Read the rest of this entry »

On Wednesday, I interviewed Chivas USA forward Ante Razov after the team’s morning scrimmage with D.C. United here at the Texas Pro Soccer Fest.

Read the rest of this entry »

Images courtesy of Ian Blanchard and the English Football Association.

Soccerlens is extremely pleased and honored to welcome Mr. Ian Blanchard. He has a very important and integral role at the FA.

Sometimes as players, coaches, writers, and supporters, we do not appreciate the rigors, training, and qualities necessary to referee a game at an elite professional level. Mr. Blanchard is entrusted with the significant responsibility to train and develop referees for the Football Association. We are fortunate that he can describe his journey to us.

Read the rest of this entry »

Images courtesy of John Koskinen and the USSF.

Please note:

The majority of this interview previously appeared in AC Cugini Calcio Connection, and was republished, with a few changes and several more graphical images, due to the kind consent of Mr. Koskinen.

Soccerlens is very pleased and honored to welcome Mr. John Koskinen, who has been a great friend, advocate, promoter, and supporter of soccer in the United States. Mr. Koskinen has had an impressive career both in the public and private sector. A native of Cleveland, Ohio, he graduated magna cum laude from Duke University, and cum laude from the Yale Law School. Mr. Koskinen also pursued post-graduate studies in International Law at Cambridge University.

Read the rest of this entry »

Images courtesy of AC Milan. Progetto Giovani means “Youth Program.”

Soccerlens is very pleased to welcome Mr. Eddie Marles, who is the North and Latin America Managing Director for AC Milan. Milan began their North American Youth Program initiative in Baltimore, Maryland, with one youth camp in 1999. Since then, they have expanded their operations to as many as 10 American states, along with 8 locations in Canada. They also have a growing global presence. AC Milan has become the number one club in youth program initiatives in the entire world, involving over 100,000 children every year.

Read the rest of this entry »

Soccerlens is extremely honored to welcome one of the best defenders ever to play the game to our column: AC Milan and Italy legend Mr. Franco Baresi.

Mr. Baresi enjoyed a distinguished and enviable career at Milan, winning 6 Serie A titles and 3 European Cups. He also featured for the Italian national team in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups, taking his team to the semi-finals (3rd place) and finals respectively. He played for AC Milan throughout, and the club retired the number 6 jersey in his honor when he finally called an end to a glittering career in 1997. After retirement Mr. Baresi got involved in player coaching, and currently coaches the Milan Under-19 squad.

Fabio Capello was Mr. Franco Baresi’s manager at AC Milan and this relationship gave him special insight on Capello’s management techniques and personality. In this interview Mr. Baresi talks about Capello’s appointment as England manager and what fans and players can expect from Capello’s England.

Read the rest of this entry »

Soccerlens is excited to welcome former Italy and AC Milan manager Mr. Arrigo Sacchi to our column.

Mr. Sacchi managed several clubs - most notably Milan - and Italy, with notable success (he led Italy to the 1994 World Cup final) as his Milan team won league and European titles. He had no prior footballing background but as manager was renowned for his professionalism, man-management skills and his appreciation of beautiful football.

The rivalry between Mr. Arrigo Sacchi and Fabio Capello - both former Milan managers - is deep and well-known, but it is a mark of their respect for each other that Mr. Sacchi chooses to praise Capello’s footballing knowledge and managerial ability and avoids commenting on personal differences.

In this interview Mr. Sacchi talks about Fabio Capello and his appointment as England manager.

Read the rest of this entry »

Images courtesy of Andrés Cantor and Fútbol de Primera.

Soccerlens is extremely honored to have one of the most influential and respected figures in football journalism contribute to our column: Mr. Andrés Cantor.

Mr. Cantor, who gained notoriety in mainstream North America for his famous cries of “Gooooal” during World Cup 1994, is a man with a deep passion, appreciation, knowledge, and commitment to the international sport of football.

Read the rest of this entry »

All images in this interview are courtesy of Paul Blank and www.postproduktie.nl.

Paul Blank Fotagrafie Photography

Football Portfolio:

http://www.postproduktie.nl/voetbal.htm

Soccerlens is very pleased to welcome Mr. Paul Blank. He is a professional photographer who lives in Amsterdam, The Netherlands, with his partner and daughter. Mr. Blank has a very diverse and excellent portfolio that ranges from flowers to football, along with many other interesting themes. I would encourage you to visit his site to appreciate this very talented photographer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Last month, I wrote a brief article about the humanitarian efforts of a MLS player, Diego Gutierrez, a midfielder who plays for the Chicago Fire.

Mr. Gutierrez, who is a native of Bogotá, Colombia, is the spokesman for a very interesting cause called Nothing But Nets. This charity was formed to help alleviate the spread and suffering of malaria on the African continent. He helped to raise over US $400,000 to provide insect nets that cover beds. This simple yet effective remedy has saved many lives. For the small sum of $10 per net, millions of people will benefit from this important project.

Recently, he and his wife, Ginna, made a trip to Mali, along with another MLS star, Dwayne DeRosario of the Houston Dynamo, to lend their efforts to MLS W.O.R.K.S. As we will learn during the interview, they observed the distribution of over 2 million nets.

Read the rest of this entry »

Soccerlens is very pleased to welcome Mr. Ruben Olthuis, who is the creator of one of the largest football player databases in the world, Bestplayersdirectory.com, along with a site dedicated to Brazilian football. The player database, as of today, contains 899 players from 75 different countries. It has links to 1230 web sites, blogs, official player sites, and fan pages. The Brazilian project has fan web sites, club sites, links to Futsal (indoor football), and the National Team (Seleçao). Let us not forget that Mr. Olthuis is from the Netherlands, and not Samba land!

Bestplayersdirectory.com
The no. 1 directory on player websites.
http://footballplayers.mine.nu

Brazilian Football Websites
http://brazilianfootballplayers.50webs.com/brazilian-football-websites.htm

Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of Pure Sports Medicine.

The recent debate on player burnout and the need (or lack thereof) for a winter break sparked a flurry of interested in the workload of Premier League players. Two domestic competitions, congested spell of fixtures over Christmas and international football to boot.

Does playing consistently at this level put players under a greater risk of injury, or are they, as Middlesbrough chairman Steve Gibson says, lucky to be playing football professionally all year long?

Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of the Washington Post

Soccerlens is very pleased to welcome Mr. Steven Goff who is one of the most respected and prominent football (soccer) writers in North America. While still an undergraduate at American University in Washington, Mr. Goff began his journalistic career with the Washington Post. In 1987, he began to cover college soccer.

Read the rest of this entry »

Image courtesy of Adrian Clarke and Sport Media Solutions.

Soccerlens is very pleased to welcome a former footballer turned journalist. Adrian Clarke, who was born in Cambridge, began his football career with Arsenal in 1991 and went on to make nine first team appearances for the club. Previously he had represented England at Under-15 and Under-18 level. After six years with the Gunners, which included loan spells at Rotherham United and Southend United, Mr. Clarke, a midfielder, signed on a free transfer with Southend in 1997.

During three years with Southend United, he made 75 appearances and scored 9 goals. He then played two seasons for Stevenage Borough, and finished his career with Margate and Welling United. Mr. Clarke retired from full-time professional football in 2000, and decided to pursue a new career in sports journalism to run alongside his semi-pro career. Adrian retired from football in 2007.

Read the rest of this entry »