Sangyfarha y yo went to the Club America/Chelsea match at the new Cowboys Stadium last week, and for Sang it wasn’t just an international friendly, it was a backwards step for the future of American soccer.

Though surely this has nothing to do with his recent move a week earlier from Addison to South Dallas … in the final minutes of Chelsea’s 2-0 win over Club America, Sang sees a victory that may energize the suburban base, but still doesn’t resonate with the all-important urban demographic that will be necessary for soccer to really take root as a major-major sport in the USA:

Tags: Chelsea FC, Club America, international friendly, world football challenge

From Brazil:

Tags: indoor soccer, soccer videos

The former English football manager, Bobby Robson, died last night of cancer at age 76. Not to disrespect the recently deceased … but is a World Cup semi-final (in 1990) all it takes to become a sir? Serious question, and I hope this doesn’t make the people of Ipswich hate me, as Robson lead them in their glory days.

Tags: Bobby Robson, england, obituaries

The Wall Street Journal on what an awesome but crushing loss USA vs. Brazil turned out to be.

We Believed, Then Brazil Pounced

(Via Tim, via Facebook)

Tags: Brazil, confederations cup, south africa, USA

I know I’m pretty new to this whole soccer thing, but I’m pretty sure the above is a big deal. So much for my switching cable/satellite providers to get Setanta. And does this have anything to do with Fox Sports here in the US?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/8109954.stm

Apparently the “better” English Premier League provider welched on £30 million owed to the league — and though for a while it looked like an American investor might bail them out (interesting), but in the end that deal fell through.

More from the BBC’s football blogger on where Setanta went wrong here.

Tags: EPL, Off-pitch soccer business, Setanta, Soccer on TV

What better way to celebrate a record-setting contract than to head to Las Vegas. From social scene reports last night:

Dining on Nove Italiano’s terrace was footballer for the Manchester United, Cristiano Ronaldo. Accompanied by seven of his closest friends, they were all fashionably clad in Gucci attire. To start, the group shared family-style appetizers. For his main course, Ronaldo enjoyed the carbonara and a 16-ounce bone-in filet mignon. Cannolis were sent out for dessert. After their meal, Ronaldo made his way into the kitchen to sign Executive Chef Geno Bernardo’s famous door. Ronaldo and his friends then headed to Playboy Club.

Tags: Christiano Ronaldo, Geno Bernardo, Gucci, Las Vegas, Manchester United, Nove Italiano, Playboy Club

Excited about tonight’s game … not only is Costa Rica one of the few teams in CONCACAF that can pose a challenge to the United States, but I’ve also been getting some unusual messages from historically soccer knowledgeable @OliverTse about what the American’s really might face:

Prop bet idea: over/under on the # of urine bags tossed by CR fans at US player when US takes 1st corner kick.

Costa Rica vs USA World Cup soccer qual Wed 6/3 at 7pm PT ESPN. US has never won at Estadio Saprissa, where CR fans toss urine at opponents

Late change: Costa Rica vs USA world cup qualifying soccer will air on ESPN2 instead of ESPN. Pre-game 9:30pm ET, Kickoff 10pm ET

More on the game and the Philadelphia Eagle-ish Tico fans here.

Tags: CONCACAF, Costa Rica, Estadia Saprissa, Oliver Tse, Soccer on TV

Watchin’ the game … enjoying it thoroughly. And it just occurred to me that Barcelona vs. Manchester Utd. really is a battle of Good vs. Evil, or at least Rich vs. Poor — something that couldn’t be more clear in the two opposing sponsors, Unicef and AIG.

Here we’ve got Unicef, a major international organization that looks out for the poorest children in the world … vs. AIG, the disgraced American banking behemoth with a corporate mission to repay taxpayers all the money their leaders stole/squandered by making as much money as possible off (the fear of) disaster and catastrophe.

Tags: Barcelona, Manchester United, sponsorship deals, uefa champions league

It’s getting near that fun relegation time in the EPL season … one of the things that, frankly, got me hooked on soccer. Though I know it will be a while before MLS and USL are ready for that element, can you imagine how exciting baseball would become — major and minor league — if they had relegation?

Here’s a good article on wagering the end of the season for the bottom of the table.

Tags: baseball, EPL, MLS, relegation, soccer betting, USL

The connection between online gambling and soccer continues to grow in prominence — damn, I really need to learn to bet on soccer — with 188Bet becoming the first two-team kit sponsor in the EPL … their brand soon to be on both Wigan and Bolton. In a two-year deal, gone is JJB Sports and Gone-ish is Reebok.

188Bet-Bolton and 188Bet-Wigan join Mansion-Tottenham and SBOBET-West Ham … making online gambling outfits the torso sponsor of 20 percent of the EPL.

PokerStars, of course, recently entered into Mexico’s Primera Division with FC Chivas, PartyBets has a Coca-Cola team with Leyton Orient, and of course the big boys, Bwin, have Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Bayern Munich. I’m almost sure I’m forgetting a few others …

188Bet, interestingly enough, is an online gambling op that currently draws 80 percent of its customers from the Asian market, and it’s just a coincidence that the new Bolton jersey image above happens to be sized at 188 pixels

Tags: 188Bet, AC Milan, Bayern Munich, Bolton Wanderers, bwin, kits, Real Madrid, Reebok, soccer betting, sponsorship deals, Wigan

Chelsea, AC Milan, Inter, and Club America will be playing an exhibition tournament six American cities this July (with several of the games preceded by international friendlies against MLS clubs:

From the NYT:

“It gives us the opportunity to really capitalize on the growing support of the game,” said Peter Kenyon, the chief executive of Chelsea. “It’s utilizing the team — on the back of broadcast — to go and support football development, soccer development, and also allow our fans, who are an ever-growing number, to come and touch the holy grail if you like.”

The teams will play at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, Calif.; the Georgia Dome in Atlanta; Atlanta’s MT&T Bank Stadium; Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Mass.; Stanford Stadium in Palo Alto, Calif.; and the new Cowboys Stadium in Texas. All games will be televised on ESPN or ESPN2, as well as the Spanish-language network, ESPN Deportes, and online at ESPN360.com

Thanks, Steve, for the link.

Tags: AC Milan, Chelsea FC, Club America, Inter Milan, MLS

This development kinda gives me the chills (in a good way) …

CD Chivas has signed on PokerStars (dot net) as a major sponsor.

Here’s an example of some of the commercials they’re running in Mexico … this one featuring Omar Arellano:

Official Chivas announcement (en Español)

Tags: CD Chivas, FMF, Off-pitch soccer business, PokerStars

You mean EPL? No, I mean EPT … the European Poker Tour. Apparently Inter’s Christian Vieri has got the Texas Hold’em bug … and plans to play in the EPT’s Championship at Monte Carlo. That’s the big-boy across the pond, and you can only imagine the sharks are happy to add some Serie-A money to the prize pool. At the same time, every so often a world-class competitor on another field surprises the poker-peeps and shows he can play.

Anyhow, Go Poker, Go Soccer, and Go Christian Vieri.

You can pretty much rest assured, with Poker Stars, at a minimum he’ll get a nifty sponsorship deal out of it.

Thanks, Craig, for the link!

Tags: Christian Vieri, European Poker Tour, Inter Milan, poker, Serie A, sponsorship deals

Joe’s follow-up on Liverpool vs. Chelsea … with a newfound love of Barack Obama for his FIFA diplomacy initiatives:

Tags: Barack Obama, Chelsea FC, Joe Scarborough, Liverpool

American fans of European football are starting to (proudly) come out of the closet … Here’s a fun exchange a couple days ago that you never woulda seen in 2007:

I was a fan of “Morning Joe” even before I knew Scarborough was a Liverpool lover who unsuccessfully predicted a 3-0 win for the Reds. Mix in his cohort’s suicide jokes about American soccer coverage and I think we all can see where this is going.

Tags: Joe Scarborough, Liverpool

That’s what I was thinking while watching the replay of Arsenal vs. Wigan, with the Latics ahead of the Gooners 1-0 … but then they just missed a virtually open-goal opportunity at the start of the second half, and from there it was all downhill. Arsenal snuck one in to tie — looked offsides to me, but no one save for the Wigan defenders even raised a stink about it — and then another goal, and another, and another: total collapse.

Crap. I’ve always liked Wigan, too … was so ready to sell out my beloved Aston Villa to jump back on the Wigan bandwagon … but with them not only losing to Arsenal but getting crushed by them and failing to hold it together when it all really counted … I wondered … well actually, I realized my original hedline still applied.

Tags: Arsenal, Aston Villa, English Premier League, Wigan

Supposedly not — the holding company with which Tom Hicks does all his Liverpool business is in fine and dandy standing. But everywhere else — with his American sports holdings — Hicks is navigating through what can only be a prickly financial field.

Tags: Liverpool, Tom Hicks

via Betfair Dave on Twitter:

In the Bundasliga … Grafite, for Wolford, over FC Bayern.

Tags: Bundasliga, FC Bayern, Wolfsburg

It was an amazing game, and I didn’t even get to see it. But I did get to feel the pain with almost none of the pleasure:

(Brad Friedel, do I even know you any more?)

Facebook Game of the Week (for me):

Dan Michalski is wondering when Villa is going to learn to win again.

 Chance Miller at 12:51pm April 5

It seemed like they wanted to win today. And at Old Trafford to boot! Then someone asked- “Are you serious? Do you really think you can win here?” and then they replied. “Nahhh… we were just kidding.”

 Dan Michalski at 12:59pm April 5

I hear ya. And a a die-hard AV fan for like FOUR MONTHS, I am really starting to question my loyalties and belief system.

 Sang Yoo at 7:22pm April 5

I’m pretty sure suffering is part and parcel of the EPL world of football. Is it a good time to tell you that AV is probably gonna lose its best midfield player in the summer?

(more…)

Tags: AIG, Aston Villa, Brad Friedel, English Premier League, Manchester United, Old Trafford

As you may or may not know, I don’t get Setanta here in Las Vegas. Sure, I see some of their games in the casino, but it’s never with sound, so I don’t get to see/hear much of what supposedly makes this channel so far superior to FSC. With that said, I’m not so sure what to think of this show — Special 1 TV, formerly “I’m on Setanta”. I’m pretty sure it’s awesome, but might not be well-educated enough by Fox to fully get the idiosyncrasies of Sven Eriksson, Wayne Rooney, Jose Mourinho, and Alex Ferguson puppets:

Thanks, Steve in LA, for the tip-off!

Tags: Fox Soccer Channel, Setanta, Soccer on TV, Special 1 TV