by Sean O'Conor

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November 6, 2008

A Tale of Three Leaders

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Brad Guy's the Hero Brad Guzan's value has surely soared after a show-stopping 90 minutes in Aston Villa's goal in their 1-0 UEFA Cup win at Slavia Prague tonight. One of six changes made by coach Martin O'Neill, the former Chivas USA goalkeeper pulled off a string of saves to deny the Czech champions, who were rampant in the second half, chasing John Carew's 26th minute lead. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 10:42 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Americans Abroad, England, UEFA, by Sean O'Conor

November 3, 2008

Afternoon tea with a kick

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I think the skill of being a soccer hack is in accurately predicting the future, instead of just reacting to past events. But it's so damn hard. Just think of Jamie Trecker confidently announcing Jurgen Klinsmann had bagged the Nats job the day it was announced he wouldn't. He made an educated prediction, and it was the view shared by most of us, but he still got it wrong. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 09:13 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Americans Abroad, England, by Sean O'Conor

October 29, 2008

Three Cheers for the Three Yanks

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Americans were all winners tonight in the English Premier League. Brad Friedel was in the unusual position of facing Blackburn for the first time in nine years as Aston Villa edged Rovers 3-2 in Birmingham to rise to fourth in the standings. Villa leapfrogged Hull, whose dreams were dashed with a 0-3 home reverse to Chelsea. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 05:13 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Americans Abroad, England, by Sean O'Conor

October 27, 2008

Simek poised to return

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US international Frankie Simek is on the brink of first team action after almost a year on the sidelines. The St Louis-born right-back has been absent from Sheffield Wednesday's starting eleven since tearing ankle ligaments against Crystal Palace last December, but was named among the subs for the Owls' 3-1 loss to Championship leaders Birmingham City at the weekend. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 11:43 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Americans Abroad, by Sean O'Conor

October 23, 2008

Accursed Spurs lose again

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"Switch and Spurs, switch and spurs; or I'll cry a match", Romeo & Juliet II, iv Tottenham's travails go on after they fell 2-0 away at Udinese tonight in the UEFA Cup. Winless so far, despite a $77million summer spending spree, Spurs remain rock-bottom of the EPL with only two points from eight games. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 06:32 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , England, by Sean O'Conor

October 17, 2008

The Week in the World Cup

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The US will be in South Africa in two years' time, given FIFA's generous allocation of three and a half spots to CONCACAF (but let's not get into that debate again), but the embarrassing 2-1 loss to T&T brought back uncomfortable memories of the 2002 qualifiers, when Bruce Arena's team lost to Honduras, Mexico and twice to Costa Rica, finishing third and last qualifier. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 04:07 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Africa, CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, England, France, Germany, Italy, US Men's National Team, World Cup, by Sean O'Conor

October 7, 2008

Bonfire of the Profanities

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**London is Europe's largest soccer city with 12 professional teams to choose from (can you name them all?), but when Chelsea became Chel$ki, Queens Park Rangers took over their mantle as the slowest draw in the West (of the capital). QPR, who play in London's most unappealing and uncomfortable stadium, Loftus Road, briefly shone under Terry Venables in the early 1980s, reaching the FA Cup Final, Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 08:41 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , England, He Said What?, by Sean O'Conor

September 28, 2008

Living the dream in Soviet soccer

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‘Comrade Jim – the Spy who played for Spartak', is an amazing soccer story. Jim Riordan was not a spy but an Englishman studying communism in Moscow in the 1960s. Writing a dissertation on Russian sport, he made friends with Spartak Moscow's full back Gennady Logofet, who invited him to join a training session in 1963. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 08:27 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Soccer Books, by Sean O'Conor, communism, spartak moscow

September 27, 2008

The Swiss roll and the Tigers roar

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**Good news of sorts that Poland & Ukraine have not been dropped as Euro 2012 hosts, despite widespread rumors to the contrary. Much as I love tournaments in new places, these two countries have an impossible-looking job beyond rebuilding their stadia in time for kick-off. Any host nation must also be able to ferry thousands of visiting fans around the country 24/7. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 03:23 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , England, Euro 2012, He Said What?, Italy, Poland, Seriously... what the hell are they thinking?, Soccer Business, Stadia, Transfers, UEFA, Ukraine, by Sean O'Conor, host nation, hosts

September 23, 2008

Who's hiding in the leopard suit?

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Fears have dogged South Africa's hosting of the 2010 World Cup ever since it was announced in 2004. Questions persist about the country's crime rate – only Colombia has more murders per head of population, and whether the stadia and infrastructure will be ready in two years' time. But surely the most worrying thing yet is the official mascot Zakumi, unveiled yesterday, which looked like it had Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 12:22 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , South Africa, Stadia, World Cup, by Sean O'Conor, colombia, murders

September 22, 2008

Hahnemann's right, up to the line

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Marcus Hahnemann has a point. A lone voice in defense of the ubiquitously-ridiculed awarding of a phantom goal to his Reading team on Saturday, the Seattle native has argued that any number of officiating mistakes can change the course of the game over 90 minutes, so that ordering a replay every time there is a game-changing error is just impractical. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 04:24 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Americans Abroad, England, Marcus Hahnemann, by Sean O'Conor, replay, score

September 21, 2008

DeMerit spooked by Reading ghost-goal

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Watford's American skipper Jay DeMerit has spoken of his shock at the phantom goal awarded to Reading at Vicarage Road yesterday, which has been the talk of England's Championship.Twelve minutes into their 2-2 clash, 25-year old referee Stuart Atwell stunned the entire stadium by awarding Reading a goal, on his linesman's advice, when the Hornets' John Eustace had clearly put the ball out of play Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 05:25 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Americans Abroad, England, Jay Demerit, John Eustace, Videos, Watford, by Sean O'Conor, clash, referee, shock

Yankees & Crazies

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**Yankee Stadium's last pitch will be thrown today and as might be expected, most of the farewells and eulogies have airbrushed the soccer played there. Between the death of Ebbets Field and the Polo Grounds and the birth of Giants Stadium, Yankee functioned as New York's principal sports venue, which meant from time to time, spherical balls were kicked as well as thrown. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 07:32 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Americans Abroad, England, France, Giants Stadium, Seriously... what the hell are they thinking?, Soccer, by Sean O'Conor

September 17, 2008

Top 5 teams who didn't win the big prize

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Leafing through Jonathan Wilson's engrossing history of football tactics, 'Inverting the Pyramid', it is clear to me there is neither a perfect or ideal way to play soccer, nor any consensus on what constitutes the 'best' team in most tournaments. It is hard to deny league champions are anything but tops over a season, but when it comes to knock-out, we are forever debating who should have won, Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 06:50 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Soccer, by Sean O'Conor

September 12, 2008

Sink the pirate's ship, Roy

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Here is the real reason the USMNT breezed past Trinidad & Tobago so comfortably on Wednesday. But T&T's indoor kickabout brought back fond memories of me taking out different parts of my parents' living room as a boy with my regulation weight ball. *Still with T&T, the ticket-scalping and embezzling CONCACAF President & FIFA Vice-President Jack Warner might think he is untouchable despite his Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 06:32 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , CONCACAF, Jack Warner, Parents, US Men's National Team, by Sean O'Conor

September 11, 2008

Hammerings aplenty and spam for dinner

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Oh what a beautiful morning, England and the US win by three goals apiece. Firstly, on behalf of England, may I apologize most insincerely for West Ham season-ticket holder Russell Brand offending American sensibilities at the MTV Video Music Awards...Get in there, Rus! And at risk of another consignment of tea being dumped in Boston Harbor, did you perchance note that England smashed Croatia 4-1 Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 03:40 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , England, Italy, UEFA, West Ham, by Sean O'Conor, mtv, national teams, risk

Hammerings aplenty, Spam for dinner

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Oh what a beautiful evening, England and the USA win by three goals apiece. Firstly, on behalf of the mother country, may I insincerely apologize for West Ham supporter Russell Brand offending American sensibilities at the MTV Video Music Awards....Get in there, Rus! And at risk of another consignment of tea being dumped in Boston Harbor, did you perchance note that England smashed Croatia 4-1 in Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 10:26 AM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , CONCACAF, CONMEBOL, England, Italy, Videos, West Ham, by Sean O'Conor, mtv, risk

September 7, 2008

For the love of soccer...!

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Last night's clash in Havana must be the most surreal game the US has played in a while. It was not just the faulty stadium electrics, which bathed the field in a ghostly half-light before giving out altogether a few minutes before the final whistle. Nor was it the lack of perimeter advertising, the first time I have seen that televised soccer since the 1966 World Cup Final. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 06:38 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , CONCACAF, Soccer, Soccer In America, US Men's National Team, World Cup, by Sean O'Conor, clash

September 3, 2008

Spreading like Wildfire, losing Control

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So Napoli ‘fans' are banned from away trips until 2009/10 after they smashed up a train and assaulted Italian railroad staff en route to their first road game of the season at Roma. While Italian police believe the violence is being orchestrated by Italy's mafiosi, FIGC President Giancarlo Abete spoke of the need to "eradicate the groups of delinquents who are polluting the world of football. Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 08:53 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , England, Giancarlo Abete, Italy, Roma, Soccer Business, Transfers, Videos, Violence, by Sean O'Conor, train

August 28, 2008

A Tale of Two Johnsons, and others

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....is not the new title for Greg & my efforts, by the way! US strikers squared up in the Welsh capital on Tuesday as Eddie Johnson's Cardiff City topped Jemal Johnson's Milton Keynes Dons 2-1 in the League Cup. 6,334 witnessed Eddie's Bluebirds debut at Ninian Park. Jemal was born in New Jersey but like Zak Whitbread, lost his American accent long ago and is now indistinguishable from the Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 11:20 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Americans Abroad, Eddie Johnson, England, UEFA, Videos, Zak Whitbread, bluebirds, by Sean O'Conor, cardiff city, debut, strikers

August 23, 2008

Reading the riot act

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One of the greatest pleasures I have had covering US players in England the past few years has been the progress of Reading's two Yanks, Bobby Convey and Marcus Hahnemann. While Fulhamerica has dissolved over the close season (no Americans started at Craven Cottage today in the Cottagers' 1-0 win over Arsenal), Reading is left as the US standard-bearer in England, with two 'Nats' in their Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 07:35 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , Americans Abroad, Arsenal, Craven Cottage, England, Marcus Hahnemann, Olympics, by Sean O'Conor, nats, yanks

August 22, 2008

US on the crest of a revolution, for now

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I live for World Cups, synchronizing my mind, body and wallet into a four-year cycle. So when soccer plays second string to anything else sporting, as it is at the moment, my brow furrows. While the Olympic Games cannot hold a candle to the World Cup for FANaticism, I still enjoy it, especially as my country is currently burning the opposition to take ‘gold', behind the superpowers of China and Click to continue reading...
No Short Corners @ 08:15 PM EST | Blog Profile | Post Detail
Tags: , China, England, Olympic Games, Olympics, Soccer, US Men's National Team, USWNT, Videos, World Cup, by Sean O'Conor, gold, national teams, opposition