Apparently, his French connection was broken even before it got the chance to come to fruition.

And in case you didn’t get that, David Beckham, the 36-year-old global icon, won’t be going to the French soccer club Paris Saint-Germain, according to team officials.

However, it seems there is not a deal in place for David Beckham to stay with the MLS champion Los Angeles Galaxy. Not yet, at least.

”The stories were all over the front page of every newspaper in Europe that he was going to Paris; I told everyone I would not pay a lot of attention to that,” said AEG’s Tim Leiweke, in a telephone interview with The Times. ”And now that the stores are that he is going to the Galaxy, I would repeat the same advice: Premature.”

”We have been talking with David about staying with the Galaxy for three months. And I said back in November, I was confident David would stay here and I still am.”

”Does it look more likely that is heading in that direction? Yes. Are we done? No.”

According to Leiweke, there are many other issues complicating the situation. PSG was and is not the only powerhouse interested in acquiring David Beckham. Leiweke is the chief executive officer and president of AEG…

Read More » David Beckham to stay with Los Angeles Galaxy

That is the question on everybody’s mind. Well, those who follow soccer anyway.

While David Beckham said that he and his family plan to relocate permanently to the United States after his playing career is over, he remains undecided whether he’ll return to the L.A. Galaxy for one more season after helping the club win the MLS title a few days ago or switch to French side Paris St Germain.

However, in an exclusive interview, David Beckham told Yahoo! Sports that he and his wife, Victoria, and their four children will continue to spend the bulk of their time at their luxury Beverly Hills mansion for years to come.

”We have had such a great five years here,” Beckham said. ”We plan on keeping our house here and spending the majority of our time here as a family. It is a great place for our children to grow up. We have been treated so well in this country, so we won’t be getting rid of our house.”

”When you live in California the weather is amazing every single day. For our children to be able to go to school and come home and go to the beach or jump in the pool, you don’t get that many places in the world. The whole friendliness of everybody – it has been very laid back. We get a certain amount of privacy with certain things we do in the U.S., that has been very nice to have.”

”Over the years it has always been about the professional side, what…”

Read More » Will David Beckham stay with the LA Galaxy?

Finally.

The 2011 Spanish La Liga season finally gets under way after players and league officials reached a deal to end a strike that postponed the opening round of games in the top two divisions.

An agreement was reached after the players’ union and the league returned to meet again after talks that started on Wednesday afternoon dragged late into the night, ending at 5:30 am.

The Association of Spanish Football Players (AFE) called off the strike after the league guaranteed payment of ?50 million ($72 million) owed to more than 200 players in back wages and also agreed to allow players to be released from their contracts if wages were not paid. In the latter case, if wages are not paid for three months, players have the right to terminate their contract and sign for another club.

“We’ve reached a deal that we believe is completely satisfactory,” AFE head Luis Rubiales said. “The strike is over, I’d like to thank the public for being understanding.” League head Jose Luis Astiazaran said he would ask clubs not to deduct pay corresponding to the postponed first round.

“We need to solve our problems in a more practical manner. We’re going to look to the future and keep working because there remains many gaps in the legislation governing professional sport,” Astiazaran said. “It was…”

Read More » Strike Over, 2011 Spanish La Liga Season is a go

It seems that’s the cool thing to do these days.

Barring an unlikely resolution between the Spanish Football League (LFP) and the players union (AFE) the first round of matches in the 2011 Spanish La Liga season will be cancelled due to strike action by the AFE.

The strike is centred around the non payment of wages to players throughout Spain’s professional leagues, some 200 players are owed a total of €50 million, which I believe is the result of mismanagement of football finances within clubs in Spain.

What is the problem? Last season it was announced that English Premier League clubs combined debt equated to in the region of €3 billion while combined debt within Spanish clubs is more at €3.5 billion, with €694 million of that owed to the tax authorities.

Six clubs in La Liga this season will begin in administration; Mallorca, Zaragoza and Racing Santander while all of the newly promoted teams like Rayo Vallecano, Real Betis and Granadaare all in administration.

Even Barcelona who have won 2 Champions Leagues in 3 years, 3 La Liga titles in 3 years, 1 Spanish Cup and a World Club Championship title are €400 million in debt, and recently have cut back on office supplies to help fund the transfer of Cesc Fabregas, who himself, is paying €5 million out of his salary over 5 years back to Arsenal as part of the transfer fee.

Real Madrid and Barcelona make up €1.2 billion of…

Read More » Spanish Football League is in the Lockout Bandwagon

England’s friendly against Holland at Wembley on Wednesday night has been called off.

It was cancelled by the Football Association following a third night of the London riots that spread throughout the capital. However, West Midlands police has said there is ”no reason” why the third Test between England and India, which is due to start at Edgbaston on Wednesday, will not go ahead as planned, despite the violence spreading to Birmingham.

The FA had been locked in discussions at Wembley since early on Tuesday morning with Adrian Bevington, Club England’s managing director, tweeting, ”Disappointing for game to be called off, but very good communication with met [Metropolitan police], brent [council] and govt [government] today – sensible decision.”

Gareth Southgate, the FA’s head of elite development, tweeted, ”Right decision. Enough pressure on police force.” Rio Ferdinand tweeted: ”England vs Holland game is off, good call. Who wants to see a game of football when our country is in turmoil.”

Bert van Oostveen, the chief executive of the Dutch federation the KNVB, said, ”The police in London could not guarantee the safety of our players and our supporters.”

Bert van Marwijk and his Holland squad received the news…

Read More » London Riots cancel England – Holland Football Match

Yep, because Chad Ochocinco will try to play a different kind of football during the NFL lockout.

Never short on publicity-grabbing ideas, the Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver is set for a four-day tryout with Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. That means, my boy will still be playing football even if the 2011 NFL football season don’t see the light of day.

The club said that after the tryout, it would determine whether to extend the trial period. “We’re always searching for players who can help our team and bringing in new talent,” Sporting Kansas City manager Peter Vermes said.

“We know that Chad is an exceptional athlete and that he loves the sport of soccer, and he did play a lot when he was younger. We’re excited to see how his skills will translate once he arrives next week and begins training with our team.”

In case you didn’t know, Chad Ochocinco started playing soccer at age 4 but chose to focus on football in high school. “Due to the NFL lockout, I’m excited to be able to follow my childhood dream of playing for a Major League Soccer team,” Ochocinco said.

The reality TV star is friends with such big names in soccer as Thierry Henry, Cristiano Ronaldo and Ronaldinho. In January, Ochocinco visited Ronaldo, Kaka and the rest of Real Madrid’s squad and was introduced to manager Jose Mourinho.

He has said he uses a soccer ball to warm up for…

Read More » Chad Ochocinco will play football, even without the NFL

Wow, the Red Devils just keep on losing people.

Wayne Rooney’s desire to walk out on Manchester United has left the Premier League club facing the loss of a third world-class attacker in two years.

Manager Alex Ferguson said he was “dumbfounded” at the decision of Wayne Rooney not to enter into negotiations about extending his contract beyond the summer of 2012. “We just don’t know what’s changed the boy’s mind… I was shocked,” Ferguson said. “I had a meeting with the boy and he reiterated what his agent had said. He wanted to go.”

Rooney has become most marketable asset at United since the acquisition of Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo to Real Madrid for $125 million in June 2009. The same summer, Carlos Tevez left the 18-time champions to join cross-town rival Manchester City, one of the few clubs that would be able to afford the wages the 24-year-old Rooney will demand.

The prospect the reigning soccer player of the year in England leaving United would have seemed unthinkable last season, when Rooney scored 34 goals in the Premier League to establish himself as one of the top players.

But his form this season has dipped dramatically and his private life became the subject of newspaper allegations that he had repeatedly cheated on his then-pregnant wife with a prostitute.

Having said in March that he was prepared to sign for United “for life,” Rooney is looking for an escape route from Old Trafford, which may come in January before his transfer value plummets.

“I was in the office on Aug. 14 when…”

Read More » Wayne Rooney wants out of Manchester United

And mind you, it took a little while before we had a winner.

Exhausted and out of breath, the players knew just one goal would be enough to win the elusive 2010 FIFA World Cup for their nation.

As the clock ticked toward penalty kicks, the shivering crowd at Soccer City Stadium grew anxious. Spain or the Netherlands would win its first championship. That is if somebody can find the back of the net.

Andres Iniesta did, and Spain rules the soccer world at long, long last. “We have all done an incredible job,” Andres Iniesta said Sunday night, shortly after the 1-0 extra-time victory. “I don’t think we even realize what we have done.”

They beat the Netherlands on Sunday to go one better than the European title Espana won in 2008. Spain won its last four games by a score of 1-0 — a tight margin that characterized the month-long tournament. The World Cup featured a record 31 one-goal decisions out of 64 matches — four more than the previous high set in 2002, according to STATS LLC.

This final was a physical test of attrition that sometimes turned dirty — a finals-record 14 yellow cards were handed out and the Dutch finished with 10 men. In the end, it was Iniesta breaking free in the penalty area, taking a pass from Cesc Fabregas and putting a right-footed shot from 8 yards just past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg with about seven minutes left to play, including…

Read More » Spain beats Netherlands to win the 2010 FIFA World Cup

Can they avoid stumbling in the end again?

The Netherlands rallied through qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup with a perfect record, winning all eight of its qualifiers whilst scoring 17 goals and conceding only two. They finished 2009 ranked third in the FIFA World Rankings, but the concern is that this is a side that some times suffers inexplicable defeats.

In Euro 2008, for example, Netherlands looked almost unstoppable after winning their group games by scores of 3-0 over Italy, 4-1 over France and 2-0 over Romania. Yet in the quarterfinals they suffered a shock 3-1 loss to Russia after extra time. In 2009, there were no losses for the Dutch, however. They won six matches and drew four, scoring 18 and conceding only four goals.

The Netherlands are traditionally among the most technically proficient teams in the game and their passing can be a thing of beauty, but it’s the cutting edge they will be looking for in South African in 2010.

Assistant coach Frank de Boer, their second most capped player of all time, told the FIFA website: “We have a mission: that mission is to be champions of the world.” They have the players to do it. What they will need in South Africa will be consistency throughout the month-long tournament.

If there’s one clear advantage that the Netherlands has…

Read More » 2010 FIFA World Cup Preview: Netherlands

Was it worth the wait?

After 28 long years, New Zealand has finally qualified for football’s biggest stage, earning the right to play in the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

After being crowned Oceania champions, New Zealand is in the World Cup, beating Bahrain in a playoff for a place in the finals. It has been 28 years since they were last part of football’s most important event.

Their results in 2009 were not impressive: two wins, three draws, and five losses, but one of those draws was 0-0 in Bahrain, and one of the wins was 1-0 over Bahrain in New Zealand, and that is what counts. It is what got them to South Africa 2010.

Not much is expected of the All Whites. That’s not surprising as New Zealand is a hot bed of rugby and the highest ever ranking achieved by the national football team is 47th in the world. As recently as September 2007, the Kiwis ranked a shockingly low 156th.

The All Whites used to battle with Australia for top honours in the Oceania Football Confederation. But with the Socceroos switching the Asia for World Cup qualification, the Kiwis faced less formidable opposition in an attempt to reach the finals for the first time since 1982.

Their white strip, incidentally, was originally based on…

Read More » 2010 FIFA World Cup Preview: New Zealand