Hull Ready To Match Fulham Offer For Altidore?

Is a bidding war starting for American striker Jozy Altidore? The UK's Daily Mail thinks so.

If this pans out, it looks like Jozy's value has already jumped by $2 million since last summer.




Special thanks to LFV reader Marc Sarchet for digging up this nugget.

Livorno Crushes Brescia's Serie A Dreams

Livorno crushed Danny Szetela's Brescia side 3-0 in the final leg of their promotion playoff and will return to Serie A next season. Livorno's win capped a 5-2 aggregate win in the Serie B playoffs. Lingering injuries kept Danny Szetela out of the side which will remain in Serie B for at least one more season. Szetela's loan deal to Brescia expires at the end of June and its still not clear whether he'll stay with the club, move back to Racing Santander, or be picked up by another European side.

Francesco Tavano, Alessandro Diamanti and Martin Bergvold were the goal scorers for Livorno, which returns to the top flight after finishing the 2007-08 Serie A campaign bottom of the table.

Americans Score Three, But Lose To Italy 3-1

Ugh!




Great job by Tim Howard!
Carlos Bocanegra - please get well soon!
Landon Donovan - please stop taking free kicks. I have yet to see you create something dangerous with one. But, please keep taking penalties.
Jozy Altidore - good work, keep it up!
Michael Bradley and Oguchi Onyewu - help is on the way and his name is Jermaine.
Bob Bradley - please take Phil Schoen's advice and give the young creative kids a chance. Otherwise, I predict your stint as the US team's coach will end in summer 2010.

Champions League Review: Let The Bands Do The Talking

Instead of my own commentary on the results of this week's Champions League matches, I'll let some fine bands do it instead.

Bayern Munich 5 - Sporting Lisbon 0:




Chelsea 1 - Juventus 0


*Everyone knows the Gallaghers are huge City fans but this one just seemed to fit.



Arsenal 1 - AS Roma 0



Inter Milan 0 - Manchester United 0




Olympique Lyon 1 - Barcelona 1



*Yep Barca, you were Outshined.


Real Madrid 0 - Liverpool 1




Porto 2 - Atletico Madrid 2



Porto had something to prove and their comeback proved it well

Villarreal 1 - Panathanaikos 1



Perfect if you're Panathanaikos

Disgusting Tackle of The Month

This is one of the worst challenges I've seen in a professional match for quite some time; Newcastle's Kevin Nolan with a two footed tackle directly onto the right shin of Everton's Victor Anichebe.

Almost as bad, was the way Nolan protested to referee Lee Mason for showing him a red card. After the match Nolan's managers swore up and down that the foul was unitentional but a professsional should have enough control not to make such out of control tackles that result in basically jumping on someone's shin with both studded cleats. Its the kind of thing that is supposed to separate the real pros from hacks like the rest of us.

It looked like Nolan had broken Anichebe's leg below the knee but he seemed OK and played on in the 0-0 draw. We'll see if he does not have any nagging problems after toughing it out the rest of the way.

If the FA wants to protect players from similar tackles, banning Nolan for three matches would seem to be in order.

Beckham: No News Is Good News

This afternoon in Serie A, David Beckham played a lackluster 90 minutes for Milan in their 1-0 win over Cagliari with Clarence Seedorf providing the game winner in the 65th minute.

Becks may not be quite ready to stay on in Milan unless he works on his Italian. During today's match, he was often heard calling out "Change!" in English while bewildered teammates weren't sure what he was saying.

Beckham also got into an injury time scuffle with a Calgiari 's Michele Fini knocked over Milan keeper Abbiati and then elbowed Beckham in the head. Becks was substituted in injury time and was seen holding an ice pack above his right ear as time was called.

After the match when asked about his possible transfer to Milan, Beckham told Sky Calcio, "No news is good news...but I do hope to stay in Milan. Talks are still going on and I hope things work out." When asked whether his England place was at risk if he stayed on with the LA Galaxy, he replied: "Of course, people have said that but I've been at the Galaxy for a year and still managed to be in the England team...but I really hope to stay here."

Serie A: Napoli Still Winless in Seven Matches

I haven't been blogging quite enough lately, in part because of the dark mood which seems to have taken hold here in Naples. The home team, Napoli, had a strong start to the season and was hovering around 3rd to 4th place in Serie A when "the streak" started - seven games without a win.

In fact, the town's beloved blue has earned just two points in seven matches and has slid down to mid-table, a place cemented by today's 1-0 loss to Genoa. From December to January, locals were talking about the squad playing in the Champion's League and now they are pointing fingers at players like German Denis (who promised 20 goals and a Champion's League spot). Denis has not quite lived up to expectations but he remains the only decent option for a target man up front.

It seems that things really started to crumble after the team dropped a home match to rivals Roma 3-0, a loss which left the coffee bars full of long faces and hushed tones. Meanwhile, it seems Roma has switched places with Napoli after the slow starting giallarossi have roared back are now sitting on 43 points and poised to grab a Champion's League spot. The most galling aspect for the Napoli faithful is that they've dropped so many points to some of the league's weaker squads including Udinese, Palermo, and relegation threatened Bologna. Now, Napoli faces a real uphill battle to claw its way back into contention as it faces Juventus, Lazio, Reggina, and AC Milan in the next four matches.

Elsewhere in Serie A, Romanian striker Adrian Mutu was the savior for Fiorentina, scoring an injury time goal to give the Viola a 2-1 win over the pesky Chievo Verona. Chievo players threw a fit and started their own shoving match since their own Davide Mandelli lay injured on the ground while Fiorentina cashed in on its final attack.

Today's goal of the day in Italy has got to be Catania's Ciro Capuano in his 34th minute left-footed net ripper against Reggina.

Check it out here (1:03 into the video):



DISCLAIMER: Letters From Vagabondia non hosta alcun video pubblicato su di esso. Tutti i video pubblicati sono caricati da amanti di calcio su siti di video hosting come Youtube e Dailymotion ed ubicati dunque su siti esterni a Letters from Vagabondia. Letters From Vagabondia non è responsabile del contenuto di tali siti web. I video appartengono ai loro creatori ed essi ne sono responsabili.

Hothead Mexican Assistant Coach Slaps Hejduk

Last night I kept thinking of the long list of reasons why we're lucky to have Frankie Hejduk, a man in the best form of his life, still earning caps for Team USA. Then, thanks to Greg Seltzer and Steven Goff, I remembered another reason; that he is one classy dude.

In case you haven't heard by now, Mexican assistant coach (and poor sport) Paco Ramirez slapped Hejduk while the teams were heading into the locker room after a 2-0 US win. Frankie could have reacted in a number of ways but his response speaks volumes for his class and character.

And wouldn't you know that American Spanish language channel Univision caught the whole thing on tape...



Given the pressure Sven-Goran Eriksson is under after the loss, did Ramirez just offer himself up as an easy sacrificial lamb Sven can throw to the Mexican federation, press, and public? Will FIFA and/or CONCACAF sanction Ramirez? Should they?

USA Beats Voodoo Curse and Mexico (Again)

If you're reading this blog, there is a 99% chance you saw the USA beat Mexico 2-0 last night on two goals by Michael Bradley and some stout goalkeeping by Tim Howard. So instead of giving a recap of a game you already saw, here are some highlights you can show to your Mexican friends who are still in denial that they haven't won on US soil in 10 years.





LFV friend Greg Seltzer over at No Short Corners found this fun video of one Mexico fan who is taking the loss way too hard:



If that's not enough, how about Lindsey Vonn's gold medal winning run in the downhill at the World Championships in Val D'Isere?

Beckham's transfer status will be decided by Friday

As I sit here watching David Beckham play in the England-Spain match, Bob Wagman has posted a great update on the likely endgame in the current Beckham transfer saga.

USA-Mexico Countdown

The movers took away about half of my stuff today so and I'm now sitting here among piles of boxes waiting to be taken away tomorrow.

So, here are a few great articles which break down the impending USA-Mexico showdown pretty well.

The "Dean" Bob Wagman's preview on Soccer Times.

Gol TV's Phil Schoen has a nice preview over on his blog.

And for those of you in Columbus - make some noise! We expect to hear you all the way over here in Napoli!

Tim Howard Promotes Teammates For England

The consumate team player, Tim Howard is now promoting two of his Everton teammates, Everton Phil Jagielka and Joleon Lescott to be called-up for the England squad.

Bradley Names 20-Man Roster For World Cup Qualifier Against Mexico

Courtesy of US Soccer:

CHICAGO (Feb. 8, 2008) — U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named a roster of 20 players that will train in advance of the FIFA World Cup qualifier against Mexico on Feb. 11 in Columbus, Ohio. Kickoff for the USA’s most anticipated match of the final round is set for 7 p.m. ET, and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN2, ESPN2 HD and Univision. Fans will also be able to listen to the match on 75 affiliates of the Fútbol de Primera Radio Network, and can follow live online via ussoccer.com’s MatchTracker.

The match on Wednesday will mark the third straight time that Columbus Crew Stadium has hosted the home leg of the final round World Cup qualifying series between the United States and Mexico. Tickets sold out within 90 minutes of going on public sale.

Eighteen of the 20 players on the roster participated in the first two rounds of World Cup qualifying last year. Bradley has called on a dozen players from foreign-based clubs, led by team captain Carlos Bocanegra and 2008 U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year Tim Howard, who is unbeaten in four matches against Mexico and has posted an impressive five shutouts in five all-time World Cup qualifying appearances. Clint Dempsey finished 2008 tied for the team lead in goal scored (4), with all of his strikes coming in World Cup qualifying action. DaMarcus Beasley is one of four players on the roster who started in the last World Cup qualifier against Mexico, scoring the insurance goal in the 2-0 win on Sept. 3, 2005, in Columbus. Oguchi Onyewu, who set up Steve Ralston for the game-winner that day, scored a career-high three goals for the U.S. in 2008, including a header against Mexico in the 2-2 draw in Houston. Michael Bradley, who scored the game-winning goal in the 3-0 semifinal round qualifying win against Trinidad & Tobago, tied with Heath Pearce for the most appearances for the team in 2008, each starting in 11 of 14 matches. José Francisco Torres – who plays in the Mexican Primera División - is the only player on the roster who is not based in Europe or the United States.

Landon Donovan is the leading capwinner on the roster with 105 international appearances, the USA’s all-time leader in goals and assists now one goal shy of tying Brian McBride for the most career goals in World Cup qualifying (10). Donovan has been a particular nemesis to El Tri, having scored four times in his career against Mexico, highlighted by the second goal in a 2-0 win in the Round of 16 of the 2002 FIFA World Cup.

On the domestic front, eight players from the recently completed training camp at The Home Depot Center traveled to Columbus. The current MLS Cup champion Columbus Crew contributes two locals in Frankie Hejduk and Robbie Rogers. Hejduk, now in his fourth qualifying cycle, has eight career appearances and two goals against Mexico. Brian Ching scored four goals through the first two rounds of 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying, the striker now just one shy of reaching double digits in goals for the United States. Sacha Kljestan – one of six 2008 Olympians on the roster – became only the second player in U.S. history to score his first three goals in the same game when the U.S. collected a 3-2 win against Sweden on Jan. 24 at The Home Depot Center.

The Columbus Crew Stadium match will be the sixth World Cup qualifier hosted by the nine-year-old venue. The U.S. has a 3-0-2 record in qualifying and an unbeaten 4-0-3 all-time record in the stadium. In the first meeting on Feb. 28, 2001, goals by Josh Wolff and Earnie Stewart paced the U.S. to a 2-0 victory. Four years later on Sept. 3, 2005, goals by Steve Ralston and DaMarcus Beasley earned the United States another 2-0 win and officially booked their place in the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

The match on Feb. 11 will mark the 55th meeting between the USA and Mexico. The U.S. has dominated the series of late, collecting an 8-0-2 home record against Mexico since 2000. During that span, the USA has netted 17 goals, while the Mexicans have scored only three on American soil in this decade.

Under head coach Bob Bradley, the U.S. has a 2-0-1 record against their border rivals, including a 2-1 victory in the 2007 Gold Cup final in Chicago that delivered the U.S. its second-consecutive regional championship and a place in the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa, where they will play current World Champion Italy, Brazil and Egypt.

The U.S., along with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Honduras, Mexico, and Trinidad & Tobago, is competing in the 10-game round-robin format through Oct. 14, 2009, with the top three teams automatically advancing to the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. The fourth-place team will compete in a two-game playoff to be held Nov. 14/18 against the fifth-place finisher in South American qualifying.

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 4/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 7/5 SO)

DEFENDERS (7): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 16/2), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, 1/0), Danny Califf (FC Midtjylland: 3/0), Frankie Hejduk (Columbus Crew: 14/1), Oguchi Onyewu (Standard de Liege: 12/1), Heath Pearce (Hansa Rostock: 7/0), Marvell Wynne (Toronto FC: 0/0)

MIDFIELDERS (6): DaMarcus Beasley (Glasgow Rangers: 21/6), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach: 6/2), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 3/0), Sacha Kljestan (Chivas USA: 6/0), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew: 0/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 1/0)

FORWARDS (5): Jozy Altidore (Xerez C.D.: 3/1), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 12/6), Charlie Davies (Hammarby IF: 1/1) Clint Dempsey (Fulham FC: 12/4), Landon Donovan (Bayern Munich: 25/9)

*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals

Onyewu's Got Game

While all the talk about Oguchi Onyewu's potential transfer to a bigger club in France or England lingers in the air, Gooch is proving that he is not only ready to step into the role on the field but off the field as well. You see, these days the English tabloids aren't satisfied if a 'baller has great skills, tactical brilliance, and great speed - you need a top shelf WAG as well.

Now, Gooch's girlfriend, Persian model Salomé Khorasanchi has made the list of top WAGs in Europe (coming in at number 257) so he is nearly set (and it appears already jumping ahead into modeling). All he needs now is a big fat transfer offer.

Meanwhile, in actual football news, our pal Greg Seltzer has a nice scoop on Sacha Kljestan's potential new gig.

Also, its heartbreak for Hoffenheim as striker Vedad Ibisevic has suffered a knee injury that will have him out for the rest of the season.



And of course, here is a little something to get you charged up for the weekend...



And don't forget to support our advertisers by clicking the ad you see above!

Happy New Year Vagabonds!

Happy New Year to all of our readers wherever you are; from Dubai to New Jersey and from Korea to Texas - thanks for stopping by this year.

2009 should be an exciting year and here is just a bit of what we can look forward to:

- The USA taking on Sweden on January 24th
- Gooch perhaps finally making the jump to a new club
- Players like Marvell Wynne and Sacha Kljestan possibly moving across the pond
- Vincenzo Bernardo and Jozy Altidore possibly being loaned out
- Young Giuseppe Nazzani getting a chance with Bologna's first team
- The Confederations Cup and U-20 World Championships
- Seeing if Clint Dempsey can keep his hot touch into the spring
- Waiting for Freddy Adu to establish himself as a first team player at Monaco
- Michael Bradley finding his stride and tearing his way through the Bundesliga
- Carlos Bocanegra continuing his strong play at Rennes and earning a CL spot
- Danny Szetela continuing his solid left midfield play at Brescia - with few at home noticing
- Seeing if Landon Donovan can prove that he can hang with the big boys every week
- Whether DaMarcus Beasley heads home to play in MLS or finds a new European club
- Watching Maurice Edu assert himself as a key player in Rangers' title run
- Watching Bruce Arena turn the LA Galaxy into a winner
- Watching juggernaut Barcelona dominate La Liga all the way to the title
- Seeing if TSG Hoffenheim can keep the dream alive and win the Bundesliga championship
- Seeing if anyone can challenge Olympique Lyon's dominance of Ligue 1
- Whether Cristiano Ronaldo can avoid the burnout syndrome that comes with being the world's hottest player
- Wondering when Brad Friedel is finally recognized as one of the best keepers in Europe
- Whether Steven Gerard goes to jail for some recent brawling (doubtful)
- Whether Juventus can catch Inter from running away with another Scuddetto
- Whether Real Madrid qualifies for a UEFA Cup spot, much less a CL one
- Whether Fiorentina sells all of its talent (again) or makes a run for the top three
- Seeing how far Edy Reja can take his bargain-basement priced Napoli team...all the way to the Champion's League?
- Seeing how far AS Roma will continue to slide, especially now that Francesco Totti is injured
- Watching and enjoying how well Seattle (a great soccer town) supports the return of the Sounders
- Wondering when the scary young talent on the Argentina side starts to gel into a world-beater


Here are some fun highlights from 2008 which we hope you'll enjoy:

Best Goals:


Best Keepers:


Best Skills:


Flops and Follies (Multisport):

Happy Thanksgiving Soccer Fans!

Well, I'm off with my wife to the other side of Italy for a few days to check out the heel of the boot. We hope soccer fans everywhere have a great Thanksgiving and we'll be back up online this weekend.

In the meantime, check out my new article at Soccer Times which gets more in depth on a few American players (pictured here) which readers have said they'd like to know more about. To find out who they are, check the link above.

Photo by Rodrigo Erades

Bayern To Take Donovan On Loan

Bayern Munich has announced they will take the LA Galaxy's Landon Donovan on loan until the middle of March. Bayern coach Juergen Klinsmann told the Munich press that "Landon made a good impression in the last ten days and we've agreed a deal with MLS for a loan starting on January 1st until the middle of March." Klinsmann did add however that the club is interested in hanging onto the California born forward until the end of the season since they need a fourth striker to fit into the scheme with Miroslav Klose, Luca Toni and Lukas Podolski.

"For me its a perfect setup. I can go into the second half of the season with four strikers." said Klinsmann. He went on to say; "With Landon. I have another top man in my back pocket and he'll travel with is to out training camp in Dubai on January 2nd."

Despite taking Donovan on loan, it looks like Bayern will keep the unhappy Podolski, at least until the end of the season. Remarking on the decision, Klinsmann stated that Podolski will "need to deal with it."

According to Klinsmann, what sold Bayern on Donovan was his speed (which he called "unbelievable")and strength in one-on-one situations. In the coach's words "He is completely different from our other strikers so this will make our attack harder to deal with."

What do you think? Will Donovan get meaningful playing time, ride the pine, or become a breakout star? Have your say here by leaving a comment or vote in the poll (to the left of this article).

*Special thanks to Germany based Vagabond Keith Richardson for contributing to this report.

Marseille: Renewed Interest in Onyewu?

Back in January 2007, Olympique Marseille offered Standard Liege's Oguchi Onyewu a three-year deal which he spurned in favor of a six-month loan to Newcastle United. Gooch's roll of the dice did not work out as the Tyneside club decided not to acquire him so he ended back at Standard where he has helped the club win a championship and make some noise in European competition. This past summer, Paris Saint-Germain had taken an interest in Onyewu after the premature retirement of Lillian Thuram but no deal was made.

Now Ouest-France is reporting that Marseille is once again interested in acquiring Onyewu during the January transfer window. They are also looking at Glasgow Rangers' Madjid Bougherra Lille's Adil Rami, and Anderlecht's Roland Juhasz. They may also be looking at Marcos Angeleri of Argentine side Estudiantes. While Onyewu is reportedly still primarily interested in a transfer to England, there seems to be continued interest in him in France.

Others, like longtime expat soccer observer Keith Richardson (who is also the English translator for Borussia Dortmund's web site) would like to see Gooch playing in Dortmund alongside Neven Subotic in central defense. In this scenario, if Subotic decides to play for the USA, the USA's twin tower central defense would be playing together every week in the Bundesliga - not a bad thing for USA fans.

The question for many of these clubs is whether to acquire Gooch in January or to wait until next summer and get him on a free transfer.

Mourinho Starts House Cleaning At Inter

Its just eleven weeks into the Serie A season and league leaders Inter Milan are already to clean house. Jose Mourinho's side is one of eight teams within striking distance of the top spot in what is so far one of the most competitive Scudetto races in many years.

While there has been recent talk of Argentine striker Julio Cruz wanting to leave in January, last night Mourinho announced four players he wants to put on the auction block as well; strikers Hernan Crespo and Ribeiro Adriano, and midfielders Luis Jimenez and Oliver Dacourt. All four have been either injury plagued or have fallen out of favor with the Inter boss over the course of the young season. While Mourinho still seems to be pining for Chelsea's red hot Florent Malouda, it appears the special one is looking at nothing short of a complete overhaul of his team's attacking options.

Lazio had sought the services of Crespo last summer and may still be interested in January. That said, Major League Soccer should give serious consideration to signing the 33 year-old Argentine. If not Crespo, then Adriano (who would otherwise be heading back to a Brazilian club) may be a viable option for MLS.

It also appears that central defender Walter Samuel, who has been out for months with a knee injury, may also have a tough time working his way back into the fold. If Samuel ends up on the departure list for January, I've still got to wonder if Mourinho may have his eye on Standard Liege's American defender Oguchi Onyewu. He was sold on Gooch during his last season at Chelsea, when he asked the board to acquire him so its not too much of a stretch given that Mourinho tends to go after the same players, regardless of where he is coaching. Gooch has reportedly been focused on a move to England but if interest came from a big club like Inter, you just never know.

Donovan Training With Bayern Munich

Today at Bayern Munich's 3 PM practice, a new face showed up alongside coach Juergen Klinsmann, a face familiar to many American fans. Yep, that's right, the LA Galaxy's Landon Donovan is in Munich to train with Bayern for a weeek or two to "stay fit." Hmmm.

Could Donovan, who last left Bayer Leverkusen in 2005 after playing in seven league and two Champion's League matches, be looking for for a ticket back to European soccer? Donovan's own web site seems to indicate so when he says “I am pleased that Jürgen Klinsmann and Bayern are giving me this chance to get to know their new performance center and stay fit alongside their great international footballers.”

Kicker speculates that Donovan could fit well into the formation behind Luca Toni and Miroslav Klose, especially if Lukas Podolksi makes a possible mid-season move elsewhere. The question is not so much whether Klinsmann thinks Donovan is ready (by all accounts he does), but whether Donovan can prove his worth to club boss Uli Hoeness who must approve any deal (be it a loan or an outright purchase). My guess is that is exactly why Donovan is training in Munich this week.

Hoeness has made it clear that Podolski isn't going anywhere unless a suitable replacement is found. For many observers, that replacement appeared to be Zenith's Russian phenom Andrei Arshavin but if Donovan can prove he has the goods (and is available now), it may just be doable.

Stay tuned because if this is like any of Donovan's previous transfer sagas, it will get quite interesting.