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Mexican footbal club Tijuana’s meteoric rise transforms a city and region
With Club Tijuana in the Liga Mx final against Tolcua, it marks another milestone of a club’s rapid ascendancy towards becoming one of the best teams in North America. Club Tijuana, commonly referred to as Xolos, was founded in 2007 by Jorge Hank Rhon who is the former president of the municipality of Tijuana and [...]
Stadium Experiences: Livestrong Sporting Park raising the bar for MLS and the football specific stadiums around the world
When Major League Soccer was founded in 1996, many skeptics doubted its future arguing that there was no room for professional soccer in the United States. At that time, many of these new teams played in giant NFL stadiums as a result the atmosphere at games suffered because even with a decent crowd of 20,000, [...]
A tour of Signal Iduna Park, home of German champions Borussia Dortmund
Opened April 2, 1974, the Westfalenstadion is the magnificent home of Borussia Dortmund and is Germany’s biggest stadium. Also named Signal Iduna Park, as part of a sponsorship agreement through 2021, it is commonly referred to as Westfalenstadion by those familiar with European football. The concept of the Westfalenstadion dates back to Dortmund’s 1966 Cup [...]
Stadio San Paolo: Naples’ Shrine to the World’s Greatest Game
The Stadio San Paolo is a source of pride among the locals in Naples, Italy as it has always been an impressive ground for the sport of football in a city that has seen its share of ups and downs. Opened in 1959 in advance of the 1960 Olympics it was then known as Stadio [...]
Stadium Experience: Hampden Park, Scotland’s Colosseum of Football
Often overlooked as one of the world’s great venues, Scotland’s Hampden Park boasts a history that is both impressive and unique. Built in 1903, the current Hampden Park is actually the incarnation of the stadium with the same name. For 47 years, the Glasgow venue was actually the largest stadium in the world until the [...]
Stadium Experiences: Estadio Azteca, Mexico City’s Hallowed Ground
It’s history is legendary. It’s size is remarkable. It’s intimidating nature makes it one of the most difficult places to play in the entire world. There is simply nothing like it. We are talking about Mexico City’s Azteca Stadium and its unparalleled history. The Azteca is the only venue to ever host two World Cup [...]
The 20th MLS franchise to be in New York City?
If you’re a soccer fan living in the New York metropolitan area like me, you can’t help but notice that one of the big debates going on right now is that of the proposed expansion of MLS into New York City. Let me first add that I think this idea is risky, but it is [...]
Breaking down the USMNT roster for Mexico
Yesterday the US national team head coach, Jurgen Klinsmann, announced his roster for the upcoming friendly against Mexico and it raised more questions than answers. Many of the team’s top players are absent but, as expected, the roster included many Major League Soccer players. Michael Bradley and Jozy Altidore are both out due to minor [...]
Ranking the EPL stadiums
With English Premier League set to begin in just a few short weeks, all the eyes of football will be on England. It is by far the most historical place of the sport and it is home to some of the game’s best venues. Despite one of my favorite venues with Reebok Stadium now no [...]
The favored squad of USMNT coach Jurgen Klinsmann
This week will mark one year since Jurgen Klinsmann became the head coach of the US national team, and we now have an understanding of his favored squad. If the World Cup were to begin today, these would likely be the players chosen. Goalkeepers (3) Tim Howard (Everton): The obvious number one, and that is [...]
Six Americans poised for a breakout season
With the European club season set to begin, some players will see their stocks rise while others’ will fall. Here are six Americans poised to break through this year to become top-notch American players in Europe. Conor O’Brien Last year was Conor O’Brien’s first year in the Danish Superliga and he did not disappoint. He [...]
Rangers’ demise is a loss for all football fans
Another sad chapter in one of the most depressing downfalls in modern soccer history was written today when Rangers were voted by Scottish clubs to begin play in the Scottish Third Division, the fourth tier of football in the country. For those of you late to the game, Rangers became mired in a financial scandal [...]
Something big on the horizon?
With the conclusion of the 2012 European Championships, many soccer fans are feeling a bit of a withdrawal these days as the 2014 World Cup is still two years away and that is the next major international tournament. Earlier this week, however, an important was taken for the creation of another major tournament that will [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Wembley FC goes retro
Just yesterday the small club of Wembley FC made headlines when they announced that they have recruited former star players to be on their team for their FA Cup run this season. Among the players that will be on the team are Ray Parlour, Martin Keown, Graeme Le Saux, Claudio Caniggia and Brian McBride. David [...]
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