Americans typically don’t care when other Americans buy soccer teams. That’s probably why nobody cares that the Glazers own Manchester United while Liverpool is owned by George Gillett and Tom Hicks. Those are two of the biggest teams in Europe. But you can expect P. Diddy’s potential bid to buy Crystal Palace to get much more buzz.
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Playing soccer in the United States has rarely been a path to riches. But it turns out playing in the MLS can pay worse than a lot of regular jobs. There are 26 players on 13 MLS teams that rake in a mere $20,100 per year to play soccer professionally.
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File this under: things that are funnier when they happen to somebody else. It probably feels pretty good to know that you’re a professional athlete at any level. That’s why these German soccer players probably don’t have much to be ashamed of… even though they look like idiots. In a match between TSV Wimsheim and TSV Grunbach, Grunbach accidentally scored on themselves off of a goal kick with help from a strong gust of wind.
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My opinion of David Beckham is pretty neutral. He used to be a very good soccer player but I could do without his attempt to be a style icon. Luckily, it looks like at least one of his kids will turn out to be pretty cool. If I were five years old, I’d be Cruz Beckham’s friend.
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Two weeks ago, we wrote about how John Terry had a Tiger Woods-like sex scandal. Well, add another English soccer player to that list. Fellow defender Ashley Cole is currently being killed by the British press. That’s because he may have cheated on his wife with as many as five different women.
If you didn’t know, the Coles are quite the power couple. Cheryl was part of a group called Girls Aloud and now has a very successful solo career. Her husband Ashley used to play for Arsenal and now plays for Chelsea. He’s also appeared in 77 games for England. Cole injured his ankle in a game earlier this month and since then his life has gone into a tailspin.
Ashley Cole’s trouble began a little over a week ago when model Sonia Wild claimed that he sent her racy text messages. He was able to shrug it off by saying that a buddy had sent the pictures from an old phone that he had given him. Unfortunate for Ashley, he didn’t have any good excuses for the five women that have claimed to have had sex with him. Here’s how his encounter with American Ann Corbitt was described:
Miss Corbitt said: ‘All in all the sex lasted three or four hours. I was very taken aback by how intimate he was and how needy he was.
‘He was a creative and adventurous lover. At the end he was satisfied and so was I.’
But she said when he raised the issue of a condom, he said he didn’t have one as he wasn’t ‘banking on sex’.
So they had unprotected sex that night and again the following morning.
At least Corbitt gave him a solid review. And hey, he wasn’t even banking on sex. So far, Cole’s hit list includes a political aide, a glamour model, a hairdresser, a secretary, and another glamour model.
To make matters worse, Cole’s club team, Chelsea, even got involved in an attempt to protect him. PR man Steve Atkins tried to help Cole eliminate the rumor about his rendezvous with Corbitt. So the soccer player may face a suspension for getting the team involved in his mess. Cheryl Cole is said to have broken up with Ashley by text message.
Tags: ann corbitt, ashley cole, chelsea, cheryl cole, england, english national team, injury, scandal, sex, soccer, sonia wild, steve atkins, world cup
Ashley Cole is a world class defender for Chelsea and also plays for the English national team. But his chances to play in the World Cup may be in jeopardy. Cole broke his ankle this week and may not recover in time. He’s also dealing with a “sexting” scandal and his absence may amplify other “sexy” problems for England.
Cole made news again this week when it was reported that he sent nude photos of himself to a model. That’s not a good thing because he’s married to Cheryl Cole. Sonia Wild claims that she received text correspondence including pictures of the soccer player “in all of his glory” for nearly a month. Cole claims that the texts were sent by a “friend” that had been given one of Cole’s old phones. That makes sense… sort of, not really. So maybe his buddy would send the sexy pictures to get reciprocation from Ms. Wild. But that doesn’t really explain why Cole took them in the first place and then how he forgot they were on his phone.
Aside from the sexting scandal, Cole’s injury creates a hole in the English defense. That means that Wayne Bridge may get the call to fill his role. You may remember Wayne Bridge as the man whose girlfriend cheated on him with multiple teammates including John Terry. FIFA President Sepp Blatter had an interesting take on Terry’s boning of a teammate’s girlfriend saying:
“Listen, this is a special approach in the Anglo-Saxon countries. If this had happened in, let’s say, Latin countries, then I think he would have been applauded.”
When news of the affair broke a couple weeks ago, Terry was subsequently stripped of his captaincy of the English national team. Why does all of this matter? Because now Wayne Bridge may be lining up right next to Terry in England’s back four during the World Cup… all because of Ashley Cole’s ankle.
Tags: ashley cole, england, john terry, sexting, soccer, sonia wild, south africa 2010, wayne bridge, world cup
On the heels of Steve Phillips on on the “Today Show” and Tiger Woods in rehab for sex addiction, England has a scandal of their own. John Terry is under fire for an affair he had with a teammate’s girlfriend. Due to the publicity, Terry was stripped of his captaincy of the English national soccer team. And if that wasn’t bad enough, there are more details emerging about his sleeping around and how that may have affected his finances.
The press wasn’t kind to John Terry in 2009. The News of the World essentially set his dad up to broker a cocaine deal. Now, The Daily Mail is reporting the dirt on his many affairs:
The disgraced footballer – sacked as England captain last week – is said to have paid the women to prevent them going public about their relationships.
The heavy bill for his extra-marital liaisons has prompted searching questions about £170,000-a-week Terry’s wealth after it emerged that the mortgage on his family home is now far bigger than the £2.75million purchase price of the property.
So now his sex scandal has been combined into a financial scandal. The paper also reports he may have a gambling problem. Terry is said to have offered his mistress, model Veronica Perroncel (who was also the girlfriend of a teammate), between £400,000 to £750,000 not to sell her story. And he isn’t exactly a billion-dollar athlete like Tiger Woods. He makes about £9million a year from his soccer contract plus a £4million contract to endorse Umbro equipment.
Terry has apparently mortgaged his house four times in seven years. The current mortgage is for about £3.95million which is £1.25million more than the purchase price. He’s also said to have sought extra cash by giving an “unofficial tour” of his team’s training grounds and scalping access to his VIP box at Wembley Stadium.
Tags: chelsea, england, girlfriends, john terry, models, mortgage, national team, sex scandal, soccer, veronica perroncel, wayne bridge, wives
American soccer player Landon Donovan is hated all over the world. In most parts, it’s because he’s a girly man with a super hot wife. But in Mexico, it’s because he’s an girly man with a super hot wife that happens to be American. The Mexican company Grupo Televisa decide to capitalize on that in a recent television commercial.
UPDATE: Landon Donovan actually broke up with his super hot wife.
Grupo Televisa decided that Donovan would be a fine pitchman for their “Gana Gol” lottery ticket. Donovan plays his gringo self — except he’s dressed up as a “typical Mexican” as described by Laura Martinez of AdAge. Hilariously, two stereotypes clash as Landon poorly attempts (note: Landon Donovan can speak Spanish well) to speak Spanish while dressed up as a Mexican man wearing a poncho and a fake mustache.
AdAge highlights the fact that the lack of political correctness is not an issue in Mexico. Aspects of life such as “illegal immigration” are not considered controversial subject-matter. Mexican author Carlos Monsiváis said, “It’s hard to have national pride offended by something like this.” Clearly, Mexican people are misguided and maybe someday they will reach the level of enlightenment that we have in the United States. Oh wait, five million people tuned in to watch the Jersey Shore finale on MTV. What were you saying about stereotypes, AdAge? Well played, Laura Martinez.
Here’s the video:
In soccer, “caps” is typically a term used to describe appearances made for one’s international team. But its alternate meaning of “bullets” may be more accurate in Mexico. That’s because Mexican professional soccer players keep getting shot.
It’s not a good time to be a soccer player in Mexico. Just over a week ago, Salvador Cabanas was shot in the head after an argument with a gangster. He’s had surprisingly good progress with the wound and is recovering. On Monday, another soccer player was shot. 21-year-old Juan Carlos Silva took a bullet to the ass in an attempted carjacking. Assailants in a white Chrysler tried to force Silva to give up his 2008 Dodge Nitro truck. He became the second player in a week to get shot in Mexico City.
Luckily, the guys didn’t get away with his car and the wound was not life threatening. The bullet “went in an came out” and did not leave behind any fragments or an infection. Silva is expected to recover in about 7-10 days.
Tags: bullet, juan carlos silva, mexico, mexico city, salvador cabanas, shooting, shot, soccer
Nani is Manchester United’s 23 year-old winger. Acquiring Nani cost the club around £14-17 million and he had been maligned as of late. Some observers thought Nani was playing his way out of Manchester. That was until his Man of the Match performance against Arsenal yesterday.
Nani also had an assist in the match but his performance will be remembered for his spectacular goal. Technically, the tally was counted as an “own goal” by Arsenal goalie Manuel Alumnia — but Nani did all of the work. The Man U winger received a pass near the right sideline about 25 yards from the end line before taking on two Arsenal defenders. He somehow cuts back behind his plant foot to split them and break free. A quick feint and cut to the right dismisses a third Arsenal defender before Nani sublimely chips the ball towards the net. To his good fortune, Alumnia gets a finger on the ball that may have knocked it in.
Now maybe Nani can get back to working on his celebrations. Here’s the video of the goal:
We don’t try to hide our love of Cheryl Cole. So here’s yet another set of photos of the beautiful English entertainer. This week, she was in Germany to perform at the DLD Starnight awards show… whatever that is.
Cole went all the way to Germany to partake in the festivities. She showed up on the red carpet wearing a $6500 Herve Leger dress. Her performance included her song Fight For This Love then a duet with will.i.am for the song 3 Words.
You may see more of her soon as Cole might take a crack at the United States. Apparently both Jay-Z and 50 Cent have offered to help her accomplish that feat.
You can check out 8+ pics of Cheryl looking leggy on the red carpet after the jump.
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It’s easy to hate Cristiano Ronaldo but the kid has skills. Ronaldo is one of the headliners on Real Madrid — which is the equivalent to the Yankees of the soccer world. Over the weekend, CR9 booted two goals before he was kicked out of the game in a victory over Malaga.
Ronaldo managed to (sort of) pull off a soccer version of the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. He had two goals in the game before he was given a red card with 20 minutes left. It was his second red card while with Real Madrid and he’ll have to miss the next game.
The second of Ronaldo’s two goals was absolutely stunning. He received a pass that he couldn’t quite settle down with his first touch. Then with the ball still bouncing, Ronaldo unleashes a volley to the right side of the net. You can see that he puts vicious swerve on the ball and it takes a sharp right turn when it’s about halfway to the net. It’s hard to hate a finish like that — even when it comes from a colossal douche.
