Soccer Topics

Moriwaki enjoying challenge playing for Urawa brings

The 27-year-old defender says he was ready for a change of scenery after helping Sanfrecce Hiroshima win theJ. League title last season.

Cole not fit for England captaincy

by Christopher Davies

He is seen as the type of player who gives footballers a bad name. Someone who typifies all the perceived ...

Kudo, Higashi named to squad for Australia match

Kashiwa Reysol’s in-form striker Masato Kudo and FC Tokyo midfielder Keigo Higashi received their first callups as Japan coach Alberto ...

Soccer May 24, 2013

Ex-defender Greenhoff dies at 60

Former Manchester United and England defender Brian Greenhoff has died at the age of 60, according to reports in the British media on Wednesday. The Manchester Evening News website said he had passed away at his home in Rochdale, near Manchester, on Wednesday morning, ...

Soccer | SOCCER SCENE May 23, 2013

Kagawa can become United star despite frustrating first season

by Andrew Mckirdy

Shinji Kagawa’s debut season at Manchester United was a quiet one, but if luck goes his way the forward can play a major role for the Premier League champions next term. Kagawa scored the opening goal in United’s 5-5 draw with West Bromwich Albion ...

J. League May 23, 2013

Wagner, Kudo propel Kashiwa into Asian Champions League quarterfinals

by Gus Fielding

Jorge Wagner scored one and created another as Kashiwa Reysol beat South Korea’s Jeonbuk Motors 3-2 on Wednesday night to secure their passage into the quarterfinals of the Asian Champions League. Kashiwa scored a crucial 2-0 first-leg victory in Jeonju last week, and the ...

Soccer May 23, 2013

Yankees, City to co-own MLS team

Hoping their baseball success will translate to titles in another sport, the Yankees are combining with English power Manchester City to own a Major League Soccer expansion team in New York that will start play in 2015. The team, the 20th in a league ...

Soccer May 22, 2013

Mourinho out at Real Madrid

Jose Mourinho will leave Real Madrid after three years as manager, paving the path for his return to England and a second stint as Chelsea’s manager. Real Madrid president Florentino Perez announced at a news conference following a board meeting Monday that a mutual ...

Soccer May 21, 2013

Arsenal prevails in race for final spot in Champions League

Arsenal qualified for the Champions League for the 16th straight season after edging Tottenham for fourth place in the Premier League, as Alex Ferguson bowed out as Manchester United manager with a 5-5 draw against West Bromwich Albion. Laurent Koscielny’s 52nd-minute volley sealed an ...

J. League May 21, 2013

Sekizuka targets survival with Jubilo

New Jubilo Iwata manager Takashi Sekizuka was introduced to the media by the struggling J. League first division club on Monday. Sekizuka, who steered the Japanese men’s team to a fourth-place finish at last summer’s London Olympics, will take charge following Saturday’s away game ...

J. League May 21, 2013

J. League mulling huge calendar shakeup

The Japanese soccer calendar could be due for a huge shakeup in 2014, with the Emperor’s Cup final being moved to December and the J. League possibly going back to the two-stage system it abandoned nine years ago. The Japan Football Association decided on ...

J. League May 20, 2013

Sekizuka named Jubilo manager

Jubilo Iwata on Sunday named Japan’s London Olympic coach Takashi Sekizuka as the first-division club’s new manager. Sekizuka returns to club management for the first time since leaving Kawasaki Frontale in 2009 and will take charge for Iwata’s league game away to fellow strugglers ...

Soccer May 20, 2013

Hasebe sent off in Wolfsburg draw

Japan captain Makoto Hasebe was sent off for a foul on Blue Samurai teammate Takashi Inui and Eintracht Frankfurt came from two goals down to hold Wolfsburg 2-2 at home on the final day of the Bundesliga season on Saturday. Goals from Jan Polak ...

J. League May 19, 2013

Antlers thump Grampus as Zico watches on

Kashima Antlers swept past Nagoya Grampus 3-1 in the J. League on Saturday in the presence of the club’s legendary architect Zico. Yasushi Endo, Atsutaka Nakamura and Yuya Osako scored for Antlers, who are in fourth after seizing the matchup that helped launch the ...

Soccer May 19, 2013

Ronaldo, Mourinho sent off in loss

The King’s Cup trophy could have been coach Jose Mourinho’s parting gift for Real Madrid, or at least a consolation prize after a disappointing season filled with locker room turmoil and failure in La Liga and the Champions League. Instead, Atletico Madrid ended a ...