FIFA may discipline Canadian players, coach over ref remarks
LONDON, England ● The governing body of soccer is considering disciplinary action over blistering comments made by Canada’s coach and players following a loss to the United States in the semifinals of the Olympic women’s soccer tournament. FIFA says it will analyze the remarks by the Canadians, who were upset with the referee [...]
Ex-Bundesliga goalkeeper Bernd Meier dies at 40
BERLIN, Germany ● The German football federation says Bernd Meier, a former goalkeeper for 1860 Munich and Borussia Moenchengladbach, has died. He was 40. The federation says Meier died on Thursday following a heart attack. For the past two years, he was the goalkeeping coach for Germany’s under-17 national team. Meier played for 1860 Munich [...]
Timbers say good-bye to John Spencer
PORTLAND, Ore ● John Spencer, the affable coach of the Portland Timbers who helped prepare the team for the jump to Major League Soccer last season, was fired on Monday. The Timbers, coming off a 3-0 loss at Real Salt Lake on Saturday, are 5-8-4 and in next-to-last place in the league’s Western Conference, [...]
Netherlands appoints Louis van Gaal as new coach
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands ● Louis van Gaal was appointed Netherlands coach on Friday to succeed Bert van Marwijk, who quit after the team’s terrible performance at the European Championship. It is the second spell as national coach for Van Gaal, who has had success leading Ajax, Barcelona and Bayern Munich but failed to take the Netherlands [...]
Baup succeeds Deschamps as Marseille coach
MARSEILLE, France ● Elie Baup was named Wednesday as Didier Deschamps’ replacement as the new coach of Marseille. Baup was unveiled as the French giant’s new manager 48 hours after Deschamps quit the Velodrome club having led them to the 2010 title with two years left on his contract. In a statement on their website [...]
AVB gets second chance at Tottenham
LONDON, England ● Andre Villas-Boas was given a chance to make amends for his first failed effort in English football management after being named coach of Tottenham Hotspur on Tuesday. The job represents a golden opportunity for Villas-Boas. A year ago he took over at London rivals Chelsea on a three-year deal but [...]
Blanc says ‘Adieu’ to France
PARIS, France ● Laurent Blanc will not renew his contract as coach of France he and the French Football Federation (FFF) confirmed on Saturday. The 46-year-old said in a statement that he and the FFF president Noel Le Graet had not been able to reach an agreement on a new two year contract which would [...]
‘We need the Evil Germans’
COMOX, BC ● After three weeks of football, we are at the eve of the final of EURO 2012. The endgame will be between expected Spain and not so expected Italy. Let’s be honest, who would have thought Germany would be put to shame like this? The Germans who in the past always did get [...]
Patience is Portugal’s virtue
DONETSK, Ukraine ● Portugal coach Paulo Bento has urged his players to be patient in their Euro 2012 semi-final with Spain on Wednesday, but says his side will not allow themselves to be dominated. Defending champions Spain have largely had their own way at the tournament so far, averaging 67.5 percent of possession in their [...]
