International News Archives

Five time World Cup champion Brazil announced Tuesday that it will play two football friendlies on US soil later this year.

The Brazilians have booked matches against Canada in Seattle on May 31 and Venezuela on June 6 at Foxboro, Massachusetts, as part of a twin-bill with Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution facing FC Dallas.

Brazil first appeared at Foxboro last September when a record crowd of 67,684 watched the South Americans beat Mexico 2-1. Brazil defeated a US all-star squad 2-0 in Seattle in 1976.

It will be the first appearance for the Canadians at Seattle since 2005 when they lost 2-0 to the US team during the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

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.

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Trust a billionaire to go after the jugular when it comes to make long-term financial investments.

Chelsea are now boosting their involvement in grassroots development of football in Asia with China and India top of their list.

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In many ways US soccer remains a bastard child. Unwanted by many sports fans in the states, and scoffed at by much of the rest of the world as second class. I generally try to ignore my countrymen who hate soccer. For the rest of the soccer world, I try to present a realistic picture of the current state of things to show they may not be as right as they think they are. This is my attempt, in writing, to show that US soccer may not be there yet, but is heading in the right direction.

I’ll start with the bad news. We still have a long way to go. These are the areas where I think the US is still lacking.

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Until the 2010 qualifying series, Australia’s road to the World Cup was a twisted, teasing and torturous one. Stuck in a Confederation with only one credible opponent and too far away for anyone else to fly out for friendlies, Australia would dominate its neighbours and be forced to play the also-rans of a stronger Confederation, with Australia knocked by far flung teams such as Scotland, Israel and more recently, Uruguay.

In 2006 FIFA and the Asian Football Confederation agreed to allow Australia to join with Asia following the 2006 World Cup. Australia was faced with a longer qualifying period as well as regular competition with higher ranked teams who had experienced success in previous World Cups (such as South Korea and Japan). It could be argued that qualification for the World Cup is harder than ever before, even if the team now has the chance to win one of 4.5 slots in Asia instead of 0.5 slots in Oceania (5th placed in Asia will play the winner of Oceania, most likely to be New Zealand). Even if the competition is too strong and Australia does not qualify in 2010, there are 6 very good reasons why moving into the Asian Football Confederation is the best thing to ever happen to Australian football:

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Comparisons can be a pain in the backside. My dad says that nobody was ever better than Tom Finney or Puskas, my older brother says George Best and Pele have no equals, I believe Maradona to be the best ever and my son says that Cristiano Ronaldo has more than the lot of them put together.

It has always been this way. We always think that the top players of ‘our generation’ are the best of all time. It is impossible to compare these great players because they are all from a different place and time. Of course George Best wouldn’t be as quick, as fit or strong enough to play in today’s Premiership and Ronaldo would have been even more of a phenomenon than he is now if you transported him back thirty or forty years.

You can only judge them by how good they were amongst their contemporaries. It is no good listening to anecdotal evidence because the fans of each player will only tell you why their particular favourite is the best of all time. The only way to judge this fairly is to look at the facts and figures. So let’s do it:

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Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak has said that he would “like to see Chelsea play in Malaysia”, and that he may have the rules temporarily bent to allow Chelsea’s Israeli contingent - manager Avram Grant and defender Tal Ben Haim - to travel to Malaysia as part of Chelsea’s 2008 pre-season tour of the Far East.

Najib Razak:

“I am not sure what the decision would be yet. But it would be a pity that politics should get in the way of sports. There is a travel ban. I will have to study the situation first but I would like to see Chelsea although it is not my (favourite) team, I would like to see them playing here.”

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Droplets of rain seeped through the roof onto my laptop in the familiar surroundings of Craven Cottage. Just for a brief moment, I could have been watching an English league match. The pitch in front of me was water-sodden, the journalist sitting next to me had a dulcet cockney accent and I could barely feel my feet, given the cold winds blowing through the Johnny Haynes Stand. But this was where the similarities ended, on a very different night of football action in the capital.

As I ventured to west London for Wednesday’s international between Ghana and Mexico, Brazil and Sweden fans were travelling in the opposite direction on the Piccadilly Line, bound for their game at the Emirates Stadium. Amidst the rush hour throng of suits, were face-painted groups representing the four nations. Flags were being waved, whistles blown and various chants were livening up the usually sombre experience of travelling by London Underground. Many supporters were ex-pats revelling in a rare opportunity to watch their native country play live for the first time, adding to the excitement.

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Just had a quick read through the comments of Chelsea captain John Terry here (his interview in the ICON magazine published yesterday), and I’m afraid he should have kept his mouth shut and gotten on with the game instead of giving this interview.

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Recently, there has been some criticism on the site about the state of soccer in the United States. However, I feel that this is not true, and because of that, I have decided to refute these claims based on the just finished 3-0 win in Poland.

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France 1-0 England
Wednesday 26 March 2008, Stade de France

Despite injuries to several influential players, France were the more assured side and won the game 1-0 without much trouble. The goal came courtesy of a Ribery penalty after Anelka had been felled by James in the box. England created little, and lost possession too easily.

Of course, I’m just quoting what I read last night and this morning, since they only showed Portugal-Greece on TV here (the idiots). Beckham got his 100th cap, Terry got injured, Owen got his cap, Downing got a chance as well. Other than that, hopefully Capello learned something from this tie that will help him improve England. I was depressed when I first heard the result, but without seeing England perform you can’t honestly give up on them, can you?

Better luck against the US (May) and the Czech (August), both to be played at Wembley.

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Spain 1-0 Italy
Wednesday 26 March 2008, Elche, Spain

David Villa’s 78th minute strike helped Spain to a friendly win over Italy.

Full match report and video highlights here.
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In June, 16 of Europe’s best national sides will descend upon Austria and Switzerland for the 2008 UEFA European Football Championship, or as most people call it, Euro 2008. While many of the continent’s top teams will be on display, some of Europe’s - and the world’s - best will be as well, so even if your team isn’t in it, you still have plenty reason to watch.

With that in mind and before the tournament begins, we (as in I) have conjured up the juggernaut of juggernauts, an All-Star Euro 2008 Starting XI.

There are several players you won’t see on this list, like Francesco Totti, Fernando Torres, and others, but I compiled this list with one major rule - no more than two players from one country, for the sake of diversity. Keeping that rule in mind, I did try to include the best players, both promising youngsters and experienced stalwarts alike. So, while all of the names below are recognizable, you may not agree with all of the selections. Then again, you’re not supposed to.
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Brazil 1-0 Sweden
19:45 GMT, Wednesday, 26 March 2008, Emirates Stadium (Arsenal)

Brazil beat Sweden 1-0 thanks to a 72nd minute goal by Pato to win the 50th anniversary of the ‘58 WC clash between the two sides.

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Mexico 2-1 Ghana
20:00 GMT, Wednesday, 26 March 2008, Craven Cottage (Fulham)

Mexico beat Ghana 2-1 at Craven Cottage last night. All 3 goals came in the 2nd half, as Essien put Ghana 1-0 up in the 55th minute only for Mexico to pull back through Salcido and Pardo in the 77th and 86th minutes.

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England v USA
Wednesday, 28 May 2008, Wembley

The USA will travel to London to play England in a friendly at Wembley on 28 May. Both teams will use the fixture as part of their preparations for their respective 2010 World Cup qualifying campaigns.

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Two international matches take place in London next Wednesday - but neither fixture involves England. While the Three Lions play France in Paris, Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium hosts an encounter between Brazil and Sweden and Fulham’s Craven Cottage sees Ghana take on Mexico. The prospect of watching the likes of Ronaldinho, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Michael Essien and Giovani dos Santos in the flesh will have London’s football fans torn. Do they swap sofa for a stadium, England for Ghana or Gerrard for Kaka for just one night?

We London-based fans are thoroughly spoilt. Not only do we have 13 professional clubs based here (more than in any other city in the world), we now have a host of national sides playing on our doorsteps on a regular basis. This time last year, four internationals were played in the big smoke on one night, including a clash between Brazil and Portugal along with Nigeria v Ghana, Greece v South Korea and Australia v Denmark. The likes of Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica have also found the capital to be an excellent home-away-from-home over the past few years.

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Over the past three seasons, Australia’s marquee player system has quickly settled into two clear classes – the overseas marquee players and local players (usually, but not necessarily, returning from stints in one of the many European leagues).

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As I have written previously, the Australian A-League introduced the marquee player system as a way of attracting quality players while preventing expensive bidding wars that risked placing clubs in financial danger before the season was even underway.

A well selected overseas marquee player offers more to a club and the League than just razzle and dazzle on the park. A true marquee player draws in the media, attracts attention of the wider public, brings more people through the turnstiles and lends football some credibility. For so long the slave of the ugly sisters of league, union and Australian Rules, a true marquee is the fairy godmother bringing the A-League to the Ball.

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Australia’s A-League was born out of the ashes of the old National Soccer League (NSL). The NSL was plagued by poor management, ethnic rivalries and a low profile compared to the ‘traditional’ football codes of rugby league, rugby union and Australian Rules football (depending on which state you lived in). Following a Government inquiry, the old Soccer Australia was wound up and the Football Federation of Australia (FFA) was formed along with the new A-League.

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It’s been a rather exciting week for American soccer fans. For the benefit of those overseas (and all those in the US that are living under a rock), I have compiled some of the more newsworthy items in the past week or so:

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One of the legends of the Republic of Ireland and Arsenal, Liam Brady, age 52, has agreed terms to assist Giovanni Trapattoni. Mr. Brady signed a two year contract with an option for a similar length after the initial term.

He will join former Juventus teammate, Marco Tardelli, who is also part of Mr. Trapattoni’s back room staff. Both played for Mr. Trapattoni at Juventus, and Mr. Brady won two Scudetti (Italian championships) during that period.

Mr. Brady, who has been the Head of Youth Development and the Arsenal Academy Director since 1996, will maintain those roles along with his new responsibilities. Previously, he had managed Celtic (1991 to 1993) and Brighton & Hove Albion (1993 to 1995), respectively, before his return to Arsenal. During his playing career, he was a midfielder.

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Something you folks didn’t know about Paul Gascoigne:

Handed £1000 over to Jimmy Five Bellies after betting that the burly boozer couldn’t withstand a cigarette lighter’s heat on the bridge of his nose for five seconds. Jimmy could. Twice.

More on Gascoigne, plus Israel, Iran, Italy, Idiots and the Premier League (just about par for the course…).

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A shirt worth its weight in gold. Litterally. Latest news on Friday: France has officially changed its team sponsor. Yup, no more Adidas for Les Bleus, enter Nike. The contract (which should run from the period of 2011 to 2018) has apparently been reported to amount €320m (£240m) for the period of 7 years, making the French blue shirt the most expensive ever in the history of football.

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Image courtesy of the FAI.

Giovanni Trapattoni, who will be 69 years of age in March, was named on 13 February 2008 as the new manager of the Republic of Ireland National Team by the FAI selection committee in a press conference in Dublin. Mr. Trapattoni signed a two year deal, and will begin his term on 01 May 2008 after he completes his contractual obligations with Red Bull Salzburg. His first game in charge will be the home friendly against Serbia on 24 May.

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When the 2008 African Cup of Nations began on January 20, few would have put any serious amount of money on Egypt as tournament winners. Despite entering the competition as title holders, the Pharaohs were ranked 6^th in the outright betting charts (odds 14/1), far behind big-name favorites such as Ghana (3/1), Ivory Coast (7/2), and Cameroon (6/1).

Yet despite the unfavorable pre-tournament odds, the Egyptians really surprised everyone match after match, displaying a disciplined tactical organization, a great spirit of teamwork and sacrifice, as well as a newfound glory for their iconic goalkeeper Essam Al Hadari. In the end, it doesn’t matter much if their victory in the ACN final stemmed from a tremendous defensive blunder: over the course of playoffs and the tournament as a whole, the Egyptian Pharaohs deserved their 2008 African Cup of Nations trophy, the record-breaking sixth title of their history.
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In trying to find an answer to the eternal question “what makes a sports competition memorable?”, many have cited ‘beautiful plays’, ‘the enthusiasm of the fans’, and ’spectacular goals’. What makes a competition truly complete however, is that sometimes, against all odds, the underdog can defeat the favorite and create a surprise.

Today at the Baba Yara Stadium of Kumasi, Egypt created such a surprise: largely dominated throughout most of the match, the Pharaohs taught their Cote d’Ivoire opponents a true lesson in efficiency, capitalizing on over 75% of their scoring opportunities and putting the ball into the net for a total of 4 times! The final scoreline really doesn’t do justice to this match, because the Elephants continuously multiplied their shots on target (notably through Didier Drogba) but found the magic hands of superkeeper Essam El-Hadary parrying everything away.
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Cameroon is the first finalist of the 2008 African Cup of nations. Burdened by pressure, injuries, and suspensions, the Black Stars of Ghana didn’t manage to pull yet another miracle in front of their own crowd, and will be forced to compete for the lowest step of the podium on Saturday. It took the Indomitable Lions a little while, but starting from the playoff stage of this competition (the quarter-finals vs. Tunisia, and the semi-finals today vs. Ghana) they have really shown off the pride that has always been the team’s trademark and which, coupled with undeniable skill, has made Cameroon the football reference point of the African continent these past years.
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In today’s video roundup we look at yesterday’s friendlies.

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Results, goals, and fine spectacle in Switzerland! At the Letzigrund Stadium of Zurich, the field which will host (among others) the Italy matches vs. Romania and France this summer, Roberto Donadoni’s team took Portugal out for a little joyride on Wednesday night. Only, the evening didn’t quite turn out the same way for each passenger: while the Azzurri broke a few speed limits without getting caught, honked at the pretty ladies on the sidewalk, and otherwise had tons of fun… Portugal crashed and burned. Quite simply. Scolari will have to spend quite some time at the repair shop this week…
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