What better way to celebrate Hump Day by looking across the globe and tackling some of the major soccer stories around the beautiful game. We'll be heavily involved in coverage of the World Cup, and in anticipation, we'll kick up our soccer coverage as June approaches. Our Through Balls feature will be a series of quick hits regarding different soccer topics. In today's Through Balls, we'll take a look at the transfer window, another crash out for Liverpool, the African Cup of Nations and Togo's tragedy, and the US announcing host cities for their 2018/2022 World Cup Bid.
Transfer Topics
-It's been a surprisingly quiet January thus far. The biggest moves have been forceful yet aging Patrick Vieira moving back to England and Man City, aging defender Sol Campbell headed back to Arsenal, and Maxi Rodriguez going to Liverpool. Out of these 3 moves, none really look set to make a huge impact. Does an elder Vieira deserve to displace Nigel de Jong in City's midfield? Does former Notts County signing Sol Campbell have anything left to offer? Is Maxi an improvement over Kuyt, Benayoun, Babel, and Riera, or just another above average player to add to the ranks? In fact, the biggest impact in the EPL of transfers made thus far might be Everton's new signing - Landon Donovan.
The Long & Winding Road
-Another hideous cup exit by Liverpool after they lost at home to Reading 2-1 in extra time in their FA Cup replay. It's another bad, early ouster from the FA Cup for Liverpool. As a Liverpool fan, I feel a special connection with the FA Cup because it was Liverpool's win in 2006 over West Ham that won my heart to Liverpool and the beautiful game as a whole. Even worse was that superstars Steven Gerrard & Fernando Torres left the game due to injuries. The story of Liverpool's season has been 2 steps up and 1 step back, and I'm not sure that anything can save it now. Liverpool surely must finish in the Top 4, or it will be an impossibly long road back to the top of English and European soccer.
African Cup of Nations
-The tragic attack on the team bus of Togo before the African Cup of Nations in Angola was a story that was vastly underreported here in the states. Frankly, it's a miracle that more people were not killed or injured. No pundit can say if Togo made the right or wrong decision by pulling out, but they did what they felt they needed to do. But, how does FIFA and the organizers of the tournament possibly allow such circumstances to evolve when there has been so much trouble in the region? Commentators will speculate and bloviate that this act of violence threatens the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, but SA and Angola are two completely different places. However, every security precaution must be put into place for the World Cup and the future of African soccer. On the field, World Cup teams Algeria (a US group opponent), Nigeria, and Cameroon all started the competition with a loss.
USA World Cup Cities
-Here's a complete list of the 18 cities that are finalists to host World Cup games if the US is able to host the World Cup in either 2018 or 2022. There are good and bad characteristics about the list.
Good: Cities that don't host MLS or may not be associated with soccer get to bring the World Cup and the beautiful game to new markets - Denver, Phoenix, Nashville, San Diego.
Bad: Too much of an I-95 bias (Boston, New York, Philly, Baltimore, and DC), and cities with proud soccer heritage (Columbus, Chicago, St. Louis) were left out. Ok, I'm just mad Columbus wasn't picked to host...
MLS Labor Problems?
-The looming work stoppage that you don't know about is in MLS where negotiations for a new CBA are breaking down. This is a huge, huge, huge deal for soccer in the United States. With a World Cup around the corner, there is too much at stake for MLS to blow reaping any benefits by not having soccer kick off in the Spring of 2010. The league does need a total restructuring of the CB to pay players fairly, attract better players, and to keep American talent at home. When Charlie Davies broke onto the scene, nobody had heard of him because he was playing in Sweden! The future of MLS and soccer in the US could be on the line with these negotiations - hopefully a work stoppage can be avoided.
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