ESPN FC News
Arsenal set to sign Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Yacine Adli - source
Paris Saint-Germain academy graduate Yacine Adli is set to become Unai Emery's first signing for Arsenal, <aThursday, May 31, 2018
Arsenal set to sign Paris Saint-Germain midfielder Yacine Adli - source
Paris Saint-Germain academy graduate Yacine Adli is set to become Unai Emery's first signing for Arsenal, <a
Wednesday, May 30, 2018
Cincinnati awarded MLS expansion team, will join league in 2019
Sportsnet.ca
Cincinnati awarded MLS expansion team, will join league in 2019
CINCINNATI — No longer just a pro baseball or football city. Not just a hotbed for college hoops. Thousands of soccer fans held a pep rally to celebrate Cincinnati’s surprising ascendance on the pitch.
It’s now a soccer city, too.
Major League Soccer added Cincinnati in its latest round of expansion Tuesday, rewarding a city that set attendance records during three seasons of United Soccer League play and has a stadium deal in place.
"You have shocked the world," MLS Commissioner Don Garber told hundreds of blue-and-orange clad fans at a brewery north of downtown.
The announcement brings MLS to 26 teams, two shy of its ultimate goal. It began as a 10-team league in 1996.
Cincinnati will join next year, continuing to play at the University of Cincinnati’s football stadium while a 21,000-seat soccer stadium is built in the city’s low-income West End neighbourhood. The stadium is expected to be ready for the 2021 season.
MLS added the Los Angeles Football Club this season, bringing the league to 23 teams. Miami and Nashville also are getting expansion franchises. The league held off awarding the 26th spot for six months because of ownership and stadium issues with the other three candidates: Sacramento, Detroit and Cincinnati.
Cincinnati jumped ahead of the other two when its city council approved $34.8 million for infrastructure as part of a stadium deal last month, the final piece of Cincinnati’s proposal.
The league hasn’t decided which conference FC Cincinnati will join next year.
The city was a long shot for MLS consideration three years ago when Jeff Berding — who led the campaign to build Paul Brown Stadium for the Bengals and Great American Ball Park for the Reds — formed the professional soccer team.
The club has ties with the city’s other professional teams. In addition to Berding’s association with the Bengals — the team hired him after the stadium was built — the Lindner family became part of FC Cincinnati’s ownership. The late Carl Lindner Jr. owned the Reds for six years after Marge Schott was forced out in 1999.
"This is a heady moment for a humble kid from the west side of Cincinnati," Berding said, calling it "the next big thing for Cincinnati."
FC Cincinnati had its inaugural season in 2016 and far surpassed attendance expectations. Last year, the team averaged more than 21,000 fans at Nippert Stadium, which seats 40,000, and gained attention by going 5-1 in the U.S. Open Cup, beating two MLS teams.
FC Cincinnati drew 26,495 fans for a home game against Louisville City FC last Saturday and is averaging more than 23,000 fans this season. The team is coached by Alan Koch, a Canadian citizen who was born in South Africa. He previously coached the since relocated Whitecaps WFC2 team and the men’s team at Simon Fraser University.
The fan base provided the impetus to push for an MLS franchise. One of the biggest obstacles was getting money for a soccer stadium in a city stung by cost overruns for Paul Brown Stadium, which opened for the 2000 season. In the backlash, the Hamilton County commissioner who led the stadium initiative was voted out of office.
FC Cincinnati considered another location in the city and one in northern Kentucky before getting a divided Cincinnati City Council to approve the infrastructure money last month, over the objection of activists in the predominantly black West End community who fear that residents will be displaced.
Mayor John Cranley proclaimed it orange and blue day in Cincinnati.
"There was a time when people didn’t think we were hip or cool enough … or big enough to support three major league teams in one city," Cranley said. "I’m still a Reds and Bengals fan, aren’t you?"
FC Cincinnati has been one of the city’s recent sports successes.
Xavier and Cincinnati were ranked in the top 10 in college basketball last season. The Reds are in the third year of a major rebuild and got off to their worst start since the Great Depression this season. The Bengals haven’t won a playoff game since the 1990 season, the sixth-longest streak of futility in NFL history.
Bengals running back Giovani Bernard attended the pep rally Tuesday wearing an FC Cincinnati shirt. The team issued a statement congratulating the soccer team.
"Procuring a new franchise presents real challenges, and FC Cincinnati has handled those challenges with the energy and perseverance needed for success," the Bengals said.
Tuesday, May 29, 2018
Balotelli praised for reacting to racist Italy fans’ banner
Football – Inquirer Sports
Balotelli praised for reacting to racist Italy fans’ banner
ST. GALLEN, Switzerland — Mario Balotelli has been praised by anti-racism campaigners for highlighting an offensive banner displayed by fans at his comeback game for Italy. Anti-discrimination group Fare wrote on Twitter: “Well done to Mario Balotelli. standing up to racism in Italian football once again.” The slogan “My captain is of Italian blood” in […]
The post Balotelli praised for reacting to racist Italy fans’ banner appeared first on Inquirer Sports.
Monday, May 28, 2018
Manchester United get Women's Championship licence; West Ham join top flight
BBC Sport - Football
Manchester United get Women's Championship licence; West Ham join top flight
Manchester United will play in the new Women's Championship, ending their 13-year absence from senior women's football.
Sunday, May 27, 2018
Future unclear for Ronaldo, Bale after Champions League win
Sportsnet.ca
Future unclear for Ronaldo, Bale after Champions League win
KIEV, Ukraine — Straight after a third successive Champions League title was secured, Cristiano Ronaldo was talking about Real Madrid in the past tense.
Real’s biggest star hinted he was unsure he’d stay with the club. Its best player in the Champions League final, Gareth Bale, looks more likely to be departing.
"In the next few days I’ll give the fans an answer because they are the ones who have always been by my side," Ronaldo said. "It was very beautiful to be with Madrid."
Keeping up the cryptic tone, he added: "The future of any player is not important. We made history."
After soaring to score a magnificent bicycle kick for Madrid’s second goal, Bale brought his fans back down to earth with his announcement that he’ll discuss his future with his agent this summer.
The Welshman was a substitute in four of seven Champions League games this season, including his super-sub display in the final.
Real coach Zinedine Zidane responded very differently to the two players’ comments.
On Ronaldo, Zidane was clear Sunday: "He will stay with us at Real Madrid," and predicted the Portuguese star’s tone would soon change. "Perhaps in three or four days’ time he might say something else."
On Bale, Zidane was circumspect.
"It’s a little bit of a complicated situation but everyone has their own interests, their own future to think about," he said. "It’s true some players deserve more playing time on the pitch but this is a decision that has to be made by the manager."
Where Bale could go is less clear.
Tottenham is widely reported to have a buy-back option as part of Bale’s 2013 transfer to Real, but seems highly unlikely to be able to afford his wage bill. Other destinations are unclear, though Manchester United has been reported in British media as a possible destination.
If he goes back to England this summer, Bale would leave Madrid with a curiously lopsided record of four Champions League titles yet only one in La Liga.
Ronaldo has the same number of Champions League wins and two Spanish titles but his performances have been era-defining in a way Bale’s are not.
Even more so than the Welsh player, Ronaldo’s future is likely to be determined by the very small number of clubs capable of affording his demands — supposing he actually wants to leave Madrid — and the 33-year-old has never indicated any desire to take a pay cut for the sake of pastures new.
Both would leave Madrid with a rich store of memories. Bale has his moments of genius like Saturday’s goal, but is increasingly a super-sub, a player who falls short of the crushingly consistent brilliance of Ronaldo.
Saturday, May 26, 2018
Champions League final: Mark Lawrenson backs Liverpool to 'fly' against Real Madrid
BBC Sport - Football
Champions League final: Mark Lawrenson backs Liverpool to 'fly' against Real Madrid
Mark Lawrenson says Liverpool will "fly" against Real Madrid in tonight's Champions League final as he predicts the winners of the game in Kiev.
Friday, May 25, 2018
Giants staff involved in Eli Manning memorabilia scandal
Football Rss
Giants staff involved in Eli Manning memorabilia scandal
The Giants have fired the three ranking members of their equipment staff.
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