Archive for June, 2012

Ranking the MLS stadiums

Ranking the MLS stadiums

In recent weeks Houston Dynamo and Montreal Impact recently moved into new stadiums further boosting Major League Soccer’s stature as a league. Right now there are 19 teams in MLS with 18 different stadiums most of which were built specifically for soccer. Clearly some of the stadiums are better than others and let’s take a [...]

Euro 2012: The Epic Final Preview for Spain vs. Italy

Poland and Ukraine have played host to the biggest names of European football over the past three weeks and on Sunday one team will be crowned champions in Kyiv—in the Euro 2012 Final, to be contested between Spain and Italy. Having already played each other in the group stage of the tournament, a match which [...]

MLS looks to build off epic weekend

One thing is clear, last weekend was an epic weekend for M.L.S that saw a ton of high level quality goals and some exciting games. I have long since been covering this league and last weekend was one of the best regular season weekends in MLS history. The league scored close to 60 goals in [...]

Italy v Germany – Euro2012 – SWOcial Highlights

Italy v Germany - Euro2012 - SWOcial Highlights

[View the story "Italy v Germany - Euro2012 - SWOcial Highlights" on Storify] Italy v Germany - Euro2012 - SWOcial Highlights The Italians continued their march to the final by defeating Germany 2-1 in Warsaw. Mario Balotelli scored two excellent goals with Mesut Ozil got one back for the Germans. The Italians will now face [...]

ItalJuve Per Sempre

When Juventus is strong, so is Italy. Since the early days of the Azzuri, Italy’s success has been closely tied to Juventus’ fortunes. Founded in 1897 in Torino, Juventus has been paving the foundation for la Nazionale since the early 20th Century. In the 1934 World Cup, the Azzuri boasted no fewer than 9 Juventus players on [...]

Problems for Liverpool, Brendan Rodgers with Luis Suarez, Craig Bellamy on Olympic Duty?

Two of Liverpool’s forward players have been given a prestigious honour which, though a reward for their fine play with the Reds, actually puts their club in a bit of a difficult position for the start of next season. Craig Bellamy—as a Welshman with Team GB—and Luis Suarez with Uruguay have been all-but-confirmed as participating [...]

Cristiano Ronaldo labeled the whipping boy again, as Portugal crash out of Euro 2012

There are few stars in the world that get poked and prodded again and again for failing to come up big in massive moments for their club or country than Portugal and Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo. In 2008 he failed to make a penalty for his former club Manchester United in the 2008 UEFA [...]

CESCue 9-1-1

Francesc Fabregas broke the hearts of his Iberian neighbors when his penalty banked in off the left side post. Similar to the Euro quarterfinals from four years ago against Italy, he had the pleasure of being the only Spaniard in the box as the game’s final ball was kicked. The ensuing rejoice was all too [...]

Spain v Portugal – Euro2012 – SWOcial Highlights

Spain v Portugal - Euro2012 - SWOcial Highlights

The Iberian Derby kickstarted the semifinals of Euro2012 as Portugal took on Spain. No Torres or Fabregas in the starting XI for Spain as Negredo was given the call up. Below, our take on the highlights of the match. [View the story "Spain v Portugal - Euro2012 - SWOcial Highlights" on Storify] Spain v Portugal [...]

UEFA Cause Scandal with Refusal of One Minute Silence for Miki Roque, Manolo Preciado

Just hours before Spain’s crucial Euro 2012 semifinal match against Iberian neighbours Portugal, the country received a mental double-blow as UEFA announced they would not allow a minute’s silence following the deaths of Miki Roque and Manolo Preciado. While the Spanish Football Federation have yet to officially pass comment, most of the football-supporting world, especially [...]

Edinson Cavani: The New Hernán Crespo?

In July of 2000, a little-known 25-year-old Argentine striker named Hernán Crespo shocked the world and became a household name when S.S. Lazio brought him to Rome for a then-world record £35 million transfer fee (£16m in cash plus Matías Almeyda and Sérgio Conceição worth £19m). Previously, Crespo had spent 4 years plying his trade for F.C. Parma, managing 116 appearances [...]

Ballers and Their Cars: Samuel Eto’o

Ballers and Their Cars: Samuel Eto’o

Samuel Eto’o plays his football in bitter cold Russia, but Paris is where he drives his Bugatti Veyron.  There is no better place to show off than Paris, and Monsieur Eto’o knows this.  With a price tag of $2MM USD, it is safe to say there are not many athletes in the world in the [...]

3 Players the US Men May See in August

Officially announced last week, the U.S. Men’s National Team will be heading down to the Azteca in Mexico City in August to take on - you guessed it - Mexico.  This match will make for an excellent tune-up for the Americans before they head into September and World Cup Qualifying against Jamaica.  It will be [...]

What we learned from the Quarterfinals

As we look back on the Quarterfinals two things became very clear: The four best teams of the European Championship are still standing and they have a lot of things in common. 4-2-3-1 is the new formation teams across Europe and the world are using. Spain have probably used it the longest at this time [...]

Euro 2012 Semifinal Previews: Portugal vs. Spain and Germany vs. Italy

Euro 2012 is down to the final four teams now as Italy, Germany, Spain and Portugal all bid for international glory in Poland and Ukraine. After 28 games of intense action, goals, superstar names and heartbreaking disappointments, these four European football superpowers will face up for the right to be called Champions. Portugal vs. Spain [...]

Miki Roqué, the latest tragedy in soccer

The world of soccer has taken another hit as defender Miquel Roqué Farrero passed away June 24, 2012 at just twenty three years young after nearly sixteen months of battling pelvic cancer. The former Liverpool man, who made his first team debut with the Reds on December 5, 2006 replacing Xabi Alonso, was forced to [...]