Soccer

Slovak hottie Kamil Kopunek This is shaping up to be the most enjoyable World Cup since I started paying attention to the event — France and Italy are both out. Gone are the two most annoying soccer teams in the tourney, the two finalists from 2006. France is a bunch of underachieving whiners, while Italy […]

No one can ever accuse Bill Clinton of not having a good time. From Luke Winn’s Twitter feed is this shot of Clinton with U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra in the locker room following the U.S. win over Algeria in the World Cup. And they’re both drinking Buds. But the best part is that Bocanegra is […]

Can you name that flag? France. Italy. These two teams played for the World Cup title in 2006. Now they have been sent home packing…by Slovakia and Paraguay??? Yep, it's the World Cup for the little guy, as the big guns are falling and teams ranked in the 30s and 40s of FIFA World Rankings […]

The perfect way to watch soccer. I woke up in the 80th minute of the USA-Algeria World Cup game. Game tied, 0-0. No hope, game over. Until the 91st minute when Landon Donovan (right) leads a coast-to-coast break, gets a rebound off a missed shot and scores. U.S. wins, 1-0. The U.S. saves itself from […]

One in a series of first-person articles from athletes competing in the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne. Chris FajardoSan Francisco My name is Chris Fajardo and I play and coach the San Francisco Spikes. My voyage, which really should be considered an odyssey at this point, to Cologne has been an intense one. I, as […]

The only thing I’ll miss about France not being alive in the World Cup is the comic relief from the biggest bunch of whiners, malcontents and underachievers in South Africa. In losing 2-1 to South Africa, France was officially eliminated from the World Cup. And no one is happier than the Irish, with free pizza […]

I can’t speak for all Americans, but I can clearly articulate why I am not a fan of soccer and why I haven’t watched more than three minutes of the World Cup. And it can all be summarized by this headline and subhead on CNNSI.com: “Shocker in South Africa: New Zealand…pulled off the event’s biggest […]

Argentina soccer coach Diego Maradona loves to hug and kiss and players before and during and after games — but don’t get the impression that he’s gay or anything. “I love women… so people don’t think I’ve turned over,” he told reporters at a press coneference. I am dating Veronica who is blond and 31-years-old. […]

Germany’s Lukas Podolski The World Cup starts in two days and most of the world is obsessed with the month-long event. In the U.S. though, interest is not as high. More Americans do follow the World Cup and ratings increase every four years (it's great that every game is now televised), but the game is […]

The United States got what looks to me like a favorable draw, landing in the same group as England, Algeria and Slovenia. ESPN’s front page immediately claimed the U.S. got a tough draw, but I don’t see how. England is the worst-ranked FIFA team of all the seeded teams (No. 9), and Algeria (28) and […]

A sad story out of Germany — Robert Enke, a goalie for Hanover and likely to be the national team’s goalie in the 2010 World Cup, was killed when he threw himself in front of a passing train. He was 32. His wife said that Enke suffered from depression. He left a suicide note in […]

Imagine Shaq raising another team’s basket two inches. Serena Williams somehow repainting the lines on her side so her opponent had a smaller area to hit to. An umpire shrinking and expanding the strike zone depending on which team is at bat. That’s what Danish goalkeeper Kim Christensen did in a recent match for his […]

He was supposed to be the man who ignited a desire in Americans to watch soccer. Instead, fans of the game are now booing him as he takes the field. That’s what happened last night as a crowd of 23,000 at the Meadowlands let Beckham know they didn’t appreciate his apparent lack of commitment to […]

The U.S. men’s soccer team led favored Brazil, 2-0, at halftime of the final of the Confederations Cup in South Africa. Then the Brazilians showed why they are among the world’s elite by scoring three goals for a 3-2 win. The U.S. is kicking itself after blowing a two-goal lead, and showing it is not […]

Oguchi Onyewe of the U.S. This has to be one of the bigger sports upsets in a while: The U.S. men's soccer team beat Spain, 2-0, to reach the finals of the Confederation Cup in South Africa. How dominant had Spain been? It was the first defeat in 35 internationals for the European champions, a […]

On Monday, while watching the USA vs. Italy game, I saw a closeup of Landon Donovan, a member of the USA team since 2000. Upon closer inspection of Donovan's facial features, something in my mind clicked. He resembled Cyd. I had to check to make sure, so, with my laptop near me, I looked up […]

American-born Giuseppe Rossi, who left New Jersey for an Italian team in Parma when he was 12, scored two goals as Italy beat the U.S., 3-1, in a FIFA Confederations Cup game in South Africa. The explosive play by both sides caused fans to rock the sports complex in Pretoria. Rossi, a powerful striker with […]

Manchester United won its Premier League game Wednesday with a 2-0 win against Portsmouth. Wayne Rooney’s early marking on the game and a late goal from Michael Carrick (pictured) sent below-par United back to the top spot ahead of Liverpool in the Premier League by three points. Man UTD. has 74 points with six matches […]

A German soccer team has found a great way to keep their fans from bailing on the team: They’re offering refunds. Anyone who traveled to watch Energie Cottbus lose, 4-0, to Bundesliga rival Schalke on Friday will have their admission refunded by the team. You hear people in sports say they “take responsibility” all the […]

Pele, left, and Cristiano Ronaldo There is a real soccer catfight going down in South America between two soccer legends, Pele of Brazil and Maradona of Argentina. Pele, 68, recently claimed (and later backtracked) that two Brazilian stars, Ronaldo and Robinho, used drugs and that Maradona, 48, Argentina's coach, is a bad role model because […]