In many ways, the story of Major League Soccer begins with the demise of America’s first big-time league, the North American Soccer League, better known as NASL. City came close to forcing a penalty shootout but Fernandinho put a chance wide at the back post at the end of the first half of extra-time, as the Premier League leaders missed out on making it back-to-back Champions League finals.
PETE JENSON IN SPAIN: If Barcelona win their game in hand on Sunday against Rayo Vallecano they will be all but assured Champions League football again next season. The 28-year-old defensive midfielder has been playing this season on loan at Premier League club West Bromwich Albion. Modeled after the locker rooms of professional club teams, the atmosphere of the newly designed shop puts players in the right mind set to perform at the highest level for the upcoming season.
Transfers in global soccer tripled between 1995 and 2011, and by the end of that period three per cent of them involved Colombian players – the same as for Uruguayans, always a hot commodity. The Chilean soccer federation asked FIFA to investigate its claim that Ecuador player Byron Castillo is actually Colombian and not entitled to have played in qualifying games.
The US men’s national team took on Honduras in ludicrous -19c conditions in their 3-0 World Cup qualifying win on Wednesday night. Yet it was the internal market that provided the impulse as the country prepared for a sudden opening to the rest of the world. A rhythmic touch along with greater speed and a mentality based in the same impulse driving the entire country forward marked the evolution of the country’s soccer style as well as of the team itself.
The national team now boasts top scorers in Germany and Portugal, as well as many more stars from Europe’s foremost leagues. On this week’s edition of the Match of the Day: Top 10 podcast, Gary Lineker, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards discuss the best managerial rivalries, past and present, in English football.
The holy month ends several days before their first match at the World Cup. Colombia has qualified for the World Cup for the first time since 1962. The nucleus of the side comes from Atletico Nacional of Medellin, the country`s second-largest city.
Officials reacted to the recent murder of a professional referee in Medellin, corporate base of the most powerful and violent cocaine cartel. And the game has provided a tonic for a people caught in the crossfire of the continuing ”drug war” unleashed by local narcotics cartels that control the international cocaine business.
Traditionally, the Colombian economy had been known internationally for exports of crops like bananas, tobacco and flowers – cocaine came later – as well as the quality of its coffee. Critics point to some industries where exports have replaced sales in the domestic market. Others where local businesses have been devastated by laws that give foreign investors an edge over domestic producers.