When Sheffield Wednesday and Burnley FC have visited Cary over the last couple of years, our supporters club has hosted their traveling fans for some social events before and after those matches. Fans from both clubs expressed genuine amazement at how friendly we were towards visiting supporters. Click to continue reading...

Despite the fact that on any given weekend, Americans drive through the suburbs and see lush green fields spattered with kids playing soccer, the popularity the sport has with America's youth remains stubbornly slow to translate to American adults. As most soccer fans know, this is not the situation for other countries. Click to continue reading...

American soccer fans keep constant vigil, waiting for signs that their beloved USA is creeping toward the moment when it casts off history's shackles and becomes a Great Footballing Nation. Generally, this watchful stance is expressed in excitement over new club youth-development schemes, national team performances ("we beat Guatemala again! Click to continue reading...

If you're a football fan, I'm pretty sure this Sony ad for the US market - featuring Peyton Manning and Dale Earnhardt Jr. - will piss you off. I thought we were past this sort of soccer-bashing in the USA, but apparently not. I spotted it over at EPL Talk, where the "Soccer Fans: Boycott Sony [...] Click to continue reading...

is hardly a journalist worthy of the label.

His latest effort, got into the paper, why is anybody's guess, and his bitter little rant included football in his list. Was he supposed to be funny? Heard it all before Gary.

For the record a dull-scoring game goes for 90 minutes Gary, a dull cricket draw goes for 5 days! Click to continue reading...

It's not often you get to see enterprise work in the blogosphere. But the best out there I think is Adam S. over at TiAS.

He has a great, in-depth profile on Clint Dempsey that I think all American soccer fans should check out in their spare time.

Here's a particular enjoyable passage. Click to continue reading...

Heavily favored Bundesliga teams suffered a weekend of setbacks and embarrassments with Bayern, Dortmund and Hanover all being outplayed by teams most German soccer fans would expect to end up sacrificing three points.
In their match on Sunday, Borussia Dortmund topped the embarrassment of Bayern's 5-2 fall to Bremen with a 4-1 loss to promoted Hoffenheim. Click to continue reading...

People are pissed off. And this is your place not only to vent but to answer our poll on what would possibly help to turn it around in the years ahead.

Some opinions on what has transpired over the last couple weeks with MLS clubs having less than stellar performances in the first run of the CONCACAF Champions League:

"Tonight's game looked like playing Soccer with
a National Forest, crossed with the Dawn of the Dead. Click to continue reading...

It's been far too long since I've written about the women's game, so here's some fodder for that anticipated water cooler discussion.

I expected the returns of Angela Hucles and Kristine Lilly to Boston. No surprise there. With another recognizable name like Heather Mitts on board, the Breakers have positioned themselves well with their selections. Click to continue reading...

In a nation of immigrants, the UEFA Champions League has carved a loyal niche among soccer fans and now the CONCACAF version joins the party. Set that TiVo.

Meanwhile, barely in time for today's Women's Professional Soccer U.S. National Team draft, the still as yet unnamed L.A. entry has hired a coach after all.

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TSN and TSN 2 Deliver Extensive Live UEFA Champions League Coverage Canadian Soccer Fans See Twice as Many Games with Live UEFA Matches Available on TSN and TSN2 starting on Sept. 16 Canadian soccer fans will get double the amount of live UEFA Champions League action with TSN and TSN2 delivering two live games on each [. Click to continue reading...

Soccer fans are, in general, a fickle breed. One minute they can be singing the name of their favorite player as if they were praising the Almighty, the next they can be spewing venom at the same player for an act of treachery. The most punishable of acts is, of course, deserting the cause to join another team. Click to continue reading...

The last few weeks have forced American soccer fans to take note of the Puerto Rico Islanders. The USL-1 side accomplished a feat no MLS side has in eight tries: get a result on Costa Rican soil and defeat a Costa Rican team to advance in a CONCACAF competition. Kendall Jagdeosingh and Cristian Arrieta scored goals [. Click to continue reading...

I spent quite a bit of time last night, searching the web for relevant information on Cuauhtemoc Blanco. I fell asleep mid-story and woke up early this morning to finish it, early as in before 5.

So read it!

It's a bit of a tribute to Cuauhtemoc Blanco for SI.com.

The best part of the story I think is the links to various video clips. Click to continue reading...

If you've heard of that name already then you don't really need to read this column. If you haven't heard of that name and you are a soccer then you do need to read this column. Brian Glanville is the greatest sports journalist in the English-Speaking world. I have never read a better writer on any sport then Brian's writing on soccer. Click to continue reading...

That image right there is courtesy Grant Wahl's very fine FanNation blog and it showcases five very brave American heroes who are willing to defy official persecution to support their country's national team.

Here's Wahl:

HAVANA, Cuba -- The U.S. national soccer team arrived here yesterday from Miami for its first-ever World Cup qualifier against Cuba, but they weren't the only Americans who found their way to Havana.

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Not to be outdone by their Pacific Northwest Rivals Portland, Vancouver Whitecaps FC has issued the following press release today, received by MLSR, which appears to involve getting supporters to do something special at an upcoming game.

VANCOUVER, BC - Vancouver Whitecaps FC are North America's oldest soccer franchise and are now looking to take the next step in their storied history by joining Major League Soccer (MLS) in 2011.

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GOLTV EXCLUSIVELY DELIVERS LA LIGA SOCCER SEASON OPENERS LIVE FROM SPAIN ON AUGUST 31 North American Soccer Fans Score with Live 2008-09 Season Kickoff Coverage of Real Madrid vs. Deportivo and FC Barcelona vs. Numancia MIAMI, FL – August 25, 2008 – GolTV , the only live bilingual channel delivering 24/7 soccer, will air the much-anticipated La Liga [. Click to continue reading...

Like many American soccer fans, I appreciate college soccer for what it really is - unwatchable slop. But, occasionally great players come out of said slop including guys like Brian McBride, Maurice Edu, Taylor Twellman, and Brad Guzan. This fall, I am going to attend a few college matches to take a look at some [. Click to continue reading...

USA soccer fans gathered at the Globe Pub in Chicago to watch the Olympic team defeat Brazil for the Gold Medal! The breakfast was sponsored by the Chicago Red Stars.SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "News Video From The 'Golden Globe' Pub Olympic Viewing Party", url: "http://www.amandavandervort.com/blog/2008/08/news-video-from-the-golden-globe-pub-olympic-viewing-party/" }); Click to continue reading...

I had a cool story passed my way yesterday. I would add to it, but the email sums it all up best:

Soccer stud and Survivor: Africa winner, Ethan Zohn, kicked off a 3-month, 550-mile journey of a lifetime yesterday evening. In the name of Grassroot Soccer UNITED, Ethan will be traveling from Boston to Washington, D.

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With the English Premier League season starting this weekend, you might be asking yourself where a good place to catch an EPL game with a few other soccer fans might be. While I must admit that my living room sofa and a DirecTV setup that gets Setanta, FSC, and GolTV keeps me fairly satisfied, every now and then I like to catch a game with other footy fans at the different bars around the Triangle. Click to continue reading...

Argentina's Olympic soccer coach Sergio Batista had a bit of a mix-up in an interview recently. The translation came out that they were playing Siberia instead of Serbia.

But he's easily forgiven once you hear how the interviews go...

Argentine journalist asks question. Batista answers.

Click to continue reading...

Yesterday the Toronto Globe reported that the CFL Toronto Argonauts are asking their season ticket base if the team should move to BMO Field, home of Toronto FC of MLS.

Understandably, the soccer fans of Toronto, who have sold out every single home match at the two year-old downtown stadium , are mighty upset that the Argos, who have been around since 1930 and have a smaller season-ticket file than TFC, are considering painting "football" lines on the soccer field. Click to continue reading...

This post is still necessary. Call me the cranky feminist of the soccer blogosphere, but things like the comments on this post are fucking vile, and disrespectful of all women, let alone soccer fans. If y'all wanna have a frat party, is the internets really the best place for it? Much harder to tap a good keg online, I have to say. Click to continue reading...

The potential for overseas sign-ups for the Canberra and Region A-League team is, I believe, significant.

Overnight Razif Bahari from Singapore, left Canberra 5 years ago, only failed to sign-up as he got an error message. But the email he sent to his friends, (see below) all ex-Canberrans, from other countries is interesting. Click to continue reading...

I would like to be the first to welcome everyone to sonsofsoccer.com. Sons of Soccer consists of 7 relatively intelligent and passionate soccer fans. This space will be ours to talk about, share, and bring together our small soccer community. Whether it be international games, top flight leagues or just the recent soccer news in our [. Click to continue reading...

The transfer saga of the summer has suddenly come to an end. Cristiano Ronaldo has finally done what soccer fans have been begging him to do all summer, deliver a concrete answer to the question of his future. Ronaldo has confirmed to Publico that he will stay at Manchester next season.  He said, "Ferguson heard my arguments, I heard his, and in fact, it was settled that the best for both Click to continue reading...

With the memory of the Euro 08 tournament behind us, soccer fans have another tournament to look forward to this summer, the 2008 Olympic games in China! First off let me say this: Soccer is in a different position then other sports in the Olympics. For many sports such as swimming or track and field, the Olympics is the ultimate tournament and test for the athletes to see who is the best. Click to continue reading...

August 4, 2008 - As the media machine has undoubtedly made you aware, the Opening Ceremonies in Beijing will take place on August 8, 2008.  For women's soccer fans, however, the Games commence Wednesday when first-round group-play action kicks off. With all eyes on Beijing, there's plenty being written about the Golden Girls - the U. Click to continue reading...

The Toffees pulled of a win in the 87th beating the Rapids on Sunday and leaving the US with a 1-1 record. They looked much fitter then they (reportedly) did against Chicago, so I guess they adapted to the air quicker than I hoped they would.

The turnout was good (about the same as any other midseason Rapids game) and was surprisingly non-Everton.

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Admit it, you probably gave up on ever seeing the answers to the last SBI Q&A session. It's okay, I don't blame you.

More than month has passed since readers submitted the last bunch of questions, but after a very busy July, I was able to knock out at least half of the record-setting batch of questions.

Click to continue reading...

Everton have arrived in Colorado for this weekend's game against the Rapids. It will be an intriguing game, not least because of the many subplots emerging. Just as manager, David Moyes, appears on the verge of agreeing a GBP 60,000 a week contract -yes, that's right, he will be earning about four times as much in one week as Bouna Coundoul does in a whole year -Everton's CEO has resigned. Click to continue reading...

This is a bit of a shocker. According to goal.com (A warning: knowing this site, this story could've been made up entirely), Lippi may use Cassano as his first choice striker during WC 2010 qualifying and beyond. Now, as Italian soccer fans, you may be sitting there thinking "This Julian guy's nuts.

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For soccer fans in the United States, it's the $179.88 question. That's the cost* for the next 12 months for hundreds of live football matches on Setanta Sports. But in these tough economic times, should you splash the cash? And, if not, what Premier League matches featuring your favorite club will you miss? Click to continue reading...