We’ve got news from all over the place for you today–including the scoop on the new boss at White Hart Lane.  Read about this and more in today’s DKA!

EPL

Tottenham Hotspur officially has a new head coach – and he is a familiar (and beautiful) face.  If nothing else, he brings their coolness factor up even more!

Serie A

There has been a lot of buzz around US international and Chievo midfielder Michael Bradley’s potential move to Roma.  Some sources are already reporting it as a (basically) done deal.  He’s recently rejected offers from a couple other clubs in Italy, but we know how these transfer rumors are.  I’ll wait for the official report!

Euro 2012

Spain’s Andres Iniesta has been named best player of Euro 2012, despite not having scored and notching only one assist.  Just goes to show that you don’t have to score goals to be MVP!

MLS

Finally, LA Galaxy forward Adam Cristman has announced his retirement after 6 years in the league.  He only played 2 games this season before being placed on the Disabled List because of a concussion.  We wish him the best of luck in his future endeavors!

Image courtesy of Fox Soccer.

Is anyone else feeling like something is missing in their lives? I mean, now that June is over and Euro 2012 gone with it, the days at work are boring all over again. And hello, who misses Michael Ballack and Alexi Lalas bickering while Taylor Twellman sat back and laughed about it?  I definitely do. But it’s okay, we’ve got plenty of headlines for you in today’s Daily Kick Around!

Euro 2012

Welp, it’s time to close out the Euro discuss, and Simon Borg wants to make sure it goes out with a bang. Today, he had twitter and the MLS offices in a heated debate about the final – he believes Spain should have made a good gesture and taken a player off to make the game against Italy 10 v. 10. What do you think?

Major League Soccer

L.A. Galaxy fans are probably feeling great today as Omar Gonzalez trained with the first team again and could make a come back in late July.

Remember that kick ass tifo fans had during the game against Portland and Seattle? You gotta check out the video of how they made it!

English Premier League

Yet another member of the Arsenal organization has assured media and fans that star striker Robin Van Persie isn’t going anywhere during the summer transfer. The rumor has been RVP would be headed to Italian side, Juventus.

U.S. Women’s National Team

I don’t know about you guys, but I love Megan Rapinoe. I’ve always thought she was kick ass and a great soccer player for our women’s national team. Today, she came out to Out Magazine, and its a great interview. You should definitely check it out! Much respect to Pinoe!

Spanish captain Iker Casillas lifts the trophy after playing his 100th international match; the first player to accomplish that.

WE DID IT.

Spain is the first national team to ever win three international tournaments in a row. IN.A.ROW.

La Roja won the 2008 Euro Championship after  a 1-nil victory against Germany with a goal by Fernando Torres. They also won the 2010 World Cup after a lone goal by Andres Iniesta in the 116′ of extra time against the Netherlands.

And today, well, Spain pulled a three-peat after scoring four goals against their Group C counterparts, Italy. In an intense match-up between Spain and Italy, all eyes were on La Roja as they set out to lift their third international trophy, as the best soccer dynasty ever.

Fourteen minutes in David Silva scored a beautiful header from a pass from Cesc Fabregas, putting the Spaniards up early.  Italy faced some setbacks as Giorgio Chielinni was subbed out in the 21′ for Federico Balzaretti.

The Italians had a strong backline who fought hard with Spain’s three forwards Cesc Fabregas, David Silva and Andres Iniesta. But it wasn’t strong enough for Jordi Alba who found the back of the net in the 41′. When the ref blew the whistle, Spain were already up 2-nil.

The second half turned out to be devastating for Italy, who fell behind Spain’s passing and pace. Antonio Di Natale came on for Cassano, bringing the much needed fire for Italy. But another hard hit would come for the Italians after a hamstring injury caused sub Thiago Motta to be pulled off the pitch, leaving opportunities for Spain against an Italian team with 10 men.

Vicente Del Bosque, who now holds Euro, World Cup, Champions League and La Liga championships, decided to bring on a true striker as Fernando Torres took Cesc Fabregas’ place. Nine minutes later, El Nino scored Spain’s third goal. But it didn’t stop there folks! Juan Mata made his first appearance in the tournament in the 87′ only to score the final goal a minute after entering the pitch. The assist Torres provided made him the Golden Boot winner ahead of Germany’s Mario Gomez.

Italy had an amazing tournament but in the end, they couldn’t cope with La Roja’s incisive attacking play and beautiful passing, who also set the record of being the first team to win a Euro final by a four-goal margin.

Needless to say, Spain is one of the best national teams in the world. Not just by their accomplishments but by how they make them. People might say they are “boring” or “dull,” well they are far from that. They have set a standard to how beautiful football should be played by being innovators of meticulous passing.

No doubt this is the just the beginning of what promises to be a very accomplished Spanish national team.

Photo courtesy of UEFA

Despite only three days of rest, fatigue was not an issue for the Italians as they rolled past a sluggish German side.

The Ugly -
The backline that showed up for Germany was the one I was afraid to see. Completely unorganized and no communication is what led to both of Italy’s goals. Jerome Boateng was defensively absent. Boateng watched the ball like a spectator as Cassano danced around Hummels, which led to the first goal.

Badstuber, who was marking Balotelli (I’m not sure if you can even call that marking) didn’t even attempt to head the ball, but was more focused on watching Balotelli’s future goal.

I’m at a lost for words for how Germany allowed the second goal, but I will try and muster up a few. I watched in horror as Riccardo Montolivo sailed a ball past the defense and Balotelli furiously chased it down and found the back of the net. So many things went wrong and Azzuri capitalized on the mistakes. The defense was completely out of position (Lahm was on the right flank and he is a left-back), they kept Balotelli onside and were all completely flat-footed.

The Bad -
I have to question Jogi Low on his roster decisions lately. He sent shock waves when he pulled Poldolski, Muller and Gomez out of the line-up when they took on Greece; a risky gamble that paid off handsomely.

Call it arrogance, stupidity or innovative, but starting a holding midfielder as your right winger is absolutely ludicrous. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, play your own game. Start your best team and don’t cater roster changes based on the other team. Germany started Toni Kroos in hopes of holding the Italians and all they did was hold themselves back.

Kroos should have started, but for Bastian Schweinsteiger. Germany’s captain looked lethargic and his touch on the ball was sloppy. He slowed down the attack and was easy to read. A much disciplined German midfield was in complete shambles through out the game.

Gomez’s first half performance was very non-threatening and at times I forgot he was on the field. Klose should have started this game for two reasons: he plays in Serie A and a seasoned player is what you want in a semi-final game.

The Good -
The two stand-outs were Sami Khedira and Mario Gomez. Khedira had a fantastic campaign and was the most impressive midfielder for Germany. Gomez had a good tournament and has a bright future with the national team. Jogi had a deeper bench then what most thought. Germany also had the youngest team in the tournament and will have a strong foundation moving forward.

In the spirit of the Euro semifinals this week, I thought that today would be the perfect week to showcase a player who is dominating the game not only with his amazing skills on the pitch, but also with his looks. In previous MWM, we’ve feature players from 3 of the 4 countries partaking in the semifinals. From Spain we had Xabi Alonso and Sergio Ramos; in Italy we had Daniele De Rossi and from Portugal we had the amazing Cristiano Ronaldo. So today we explore Germany, more-so we explore the lovely Mario Gomez.

The 6 foot 2, gorgeously handsome, blue-eyed German is currently climbing the ranks with Die Mannschaft as a striker after captaining his first international match against the Ukraine prior to the Euros. Gomez joined Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga after being in Stuttgart for six years and also holds both German and Spanish citizenship. The 26 year old is very outspoken with social matters, as he openly admitted that he thinks gay players should be open about their sexuality.

He even shows a slight resemblance to a young Crispin Glover.

Super Mario also looks pretty damn good without his kit on too!

You can see more of Mario when Germany play Italy in their semifinal match on Thursday at 2:45 ET on ESPN. Maybe he’ll even take his kit off! And don’t forget about the ladies of Aerys Soccer! We’re on Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest!

A defender up for Save of the Week!  Wigs to be distributed on match day!  More UEFA disciplinary action!  We have all that and more for you in today’s Daily Kick Around.

Euro 2012

We all know UEFA has been really cracking down on inappropriate conduct by both fans and players during this tournament.  Germany is the latest country to be fined after German supporters displayed what witnesses say were neo-Nazi symbols.

US Open Cup

USOC action is back with 4 matches tonight, including match-ups between affiliate clubs Philadelphia Union and the Harrisburg City Islanders, and two MLS sides.  Not just any two teams, mind you, but the scorching hot San Jose Earthquakes and the 3-time reigning champ Seattle Sounders.  Check out where to follow all the action here.

MLS

Speaking of San Jose, they will be holding a Steven Lenhart Wig Night July 28, when the Quakes host the Chicago Fire.  In case you have somehow missed Lenny’s iconic locks, check them out here.  His hair is so epic, it even has its own twitter account.  I kid you not.

It’s always exciting when there is someone other than a goalkeeper up for Save of the Week.  See who it is here, and while you are there, go ahead and vote for your best save!

Image courtesy of cnn.com

I feel like I say this all the time lately about the weekend, but man was it jammed pack with a lot! The England v. Italy quarter final in the Euros, tons of MLS rivalries kicking off and tons more. Check out the headlines in today’s Daily Kick Around!

Major League Soccer

Damn, was week 16 of MLS amazing! We saw the comeback of LA Galaxy, San Jose take over in the west and THREE huge rivalry match ups. By the end of the week, teams would tally 52 goals. 52!! Check out this awesome video show casing them all from Kick TV!

Euro 2012

It was a hell of a drawn out game between Italy and England this weekend in the last quarter final match up. It went to penalties and as I said before, Pirlo’s for Italy was cheeky. You have to admire it because, well, just watch in case you missed it.

English Premier League

It seems pretty obvious after a player performs in a major tournament, rumors start to fly about where they will go or what teams are interested. It seems like Arsenal’s Nicklas Bendtner is no exception to the rule. After his performance with Denmark, Bendtner’s agent says “the interest is overwhelming.” Hmmm.

Joey Barton, tsk tsk. After his loss of control in Queens Park Rangers’ last game against Manchester City, the club have officially stripped him of his captaincy and fined him for his actions. He also is sitting at home while the team tour in Asia next month. Just goes to show you kids, keep your temper in check.

Scottish League

The woes for the Glasgow Rangers continues. The Crown office has announced they will open an investigation into Craig Whyte’s stake of Rangers which he required last May. It’s even worse for Rangers’ fans as the club are going to probably be denied a return to the Scottish Premier League. And for those of you keeping taps, USMNT captain and Rangers’ player Carlos Bocanegra is rumored to be heading out, maybe back to MLS. New England Revolution are a top the allocation list and have first dibs, by the way.

The last quarter final match of the Euros between England and Italy was only one thing. Absolutely exhausting.

It was incredibly exhausting to watch, so I can’t even imagine what it was like to play. A lot of people thought this game would go into penalty kicks and while I really, really hoped it wouldn’t go that far, I had to admit – there was a feeling that’s exactly what would happen between these two teams.

The first half started off very exciting. Italy’s Daniele De Rossi had a laser shot toward goal within the opening minutes, but it bounced right off the wood work. Moments later, Glen Johnson would have a chance from a scramble in Italy’s box, but again, nothing. And that was about how exciting it got, kids. Italy pushed and pushed and pushed against the “parked bus” of the England defense. The ball just wouldn’t go into the back of the net.

England – for their part – weren’t exactly pretty in their play, but you could see they were playing for all they were worth. And they weren’t without their chances as well. But it was just very clear to anyone watching that Italy were playing better and the fact they couldn’t get on goal was more often their fault.

Don’t get me wrong, I was rooting for England! And I thought they did far better than what most were expecting. But when you look at stats from the game, you’ll have to wonder – what in the hell was up with Italy? They held 64 percent of the possession and out of 35 shots (35!), 20 of them were on goal. England only had nine shots. That speaks volumes.

Wasted chances, over and over again, came from Italy. England could not hold on to the ball even though their tournament lives were dependent on it. And when the whistle came at the end of the 90th minute, the game was deadlocked at 0-0.

In the second period of extra time, Antonio Nocerin had what fans and players for Italy thought was the winning goal in the 115th minute, but it was ruled off side and the game remained 0-0. England or Italy’s fate would be decided on penalty kicks.

Early on, it looked England might get their miracle. They had a 2-1 advantage on Italy, but when Ashley Young stepped up to the spot, he ringed it off the cross bar, allowing Italy to tie up. Nocerin would slam his in the back following for Italy and when Ashley Cole followed for England, legendary keeper Gianluigi Buffon would calmly save it. Alessandro Diamanti was the next penalty taker and his solid hit slipped past Joe Hart and Italy was on to the next round.

So, going off stats and play, the right team won. Italy were stronger on the field, stronger with their possession, and hell they had a ton of shots on goal. But I wouldn’t write off England just yet. Most fans and critics will say this is the same old dance for the Three Lions, but I don’t think that’s true.

The FA brought in a brand new manager – Roy Hodgson – and he did something in six months time that Fabio Capello could never do. He got the English to play like a team, not 11 super stars on the pitch who happened to be wearing the same kit. They played with some heart and while it wasn’t pretty (simple was the term Taylor Twellman used and I think it was accurate), it was effective for them. And helped them greatly.

For Italy, the challenge now becomes resting up. Not only did they play into the wee hours of the morning today, they have little time to rest up. Their next foes, Germany, will have two whole days more to rest up for the semi final match up. I think UEFA should be ashamed that this is happening because it’s hardly fair to Italy.

Some will say Italy will switch up their play against Germany and are already calling a Spain and Germany final, but I’m not that quick to make that assumption. Italy may not have been barreling through this tournament like the Germans, but they aren’t ones to be counted out. Just when you think you know what they’re going to do, they surprise you.

While Balotelli is … well unpredictable, he’s still a force to be reckoned with for a back line. And I don’t care who you are, you have to recognize the brilliance that Pirlo brings to the Italians. Just check out his penalty shot, which was absolutely cheeky.

In the end, England will go home and should hold their heads high for their effort. Italy will prepare for their next battle and I’m sure they will not play by the script some have already written. They will definitely make sure the Germans have to fight hard if they want to move on.

Image courtesy of sportinglife.com

Spain, Portugal and Germany are all in. Who will take the final spot in the semifinals of Euro 2012? It’s a clash today between England and Italy, and today’s DKA highlights the keys for each team.

Unfortunately, it’s not all good news coming out of Euros, with the death of an overzealous fan in China to report. This, plus more on Title IX’s impact on the U.S. Women’s National Team, Heather O’Reilly’s debut for the Boston Breakers and MLS regional rivalries fill today’s headlines.

Euro 2012

ESPN reported today that a fan in China has died from fatigue as a result of staying awake for 11 straight days watching Euros in the early morning hours:

Jiang Xiaoshan, 26, died after Ireland’s 2-0 defeat to Italy on June 18, according to the report.

[snip]

“Jiang was in good health. But staying up through the night and not sleeping enough weakened his immune system and he drank and smoked while watching the football, triggering his condition,” Liu Zhiling, a doctor from the local People’s Hospital ER, told the Chinese paper.

While this is certainly a tragedy, I can’t help but think that with all of China’s technological advancements, nobody has yet thought to bring DVR to the country?

Italy and England face off today for the last spot in the semifinals, where the winner will face Germany. ESPN’s Euro2012 blog preview highlights the keys for each team, including England’s success on crosses in the tournament, which led to three out of their five goals, and Italy’s 80% passing rate, “highest for any Italian side at the Euros since the tournament installed group play in 1980.”

Whoever faces Germany likely won’t have to worry about midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger. He’s likely out of the semis with a lingering ankle injury.

Have you checked out the Euro 2012 hashtag page on Twitter? It’s the latest in Twitter’s topical curation of tweets around major events into hashtag pages, rather than searches of all tweets on the topic, and you can follow a selected group of perspectives throughout the matches. I love that Twitter is helping to highlight perpectives and conversation around major sporting events with these pages, but is it too much to ask that it work on a mobile platform? I primarily use Twitter on my iPhone and iPad, and I’m not alone: as of last September, 43% of Twitter users accessed the service from mobile devices. I haven’t found a more recent stat than that, but in nine months it’s got to be nearly half by now.

U.S. Women’s National Team

In yesterday’s DKA we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Title IX legislation that gave female athletes equal opportunity under educational law. If you missed ESPNW’s Title IX special, Leveling the Field, I highly recommend watching. Julie Foudy, Kristine Lilly, Donna de Varona, Tony DiCicco and Heather O’Reilly discuss on the impact of Title IX on the 1999 USA World Cup Championship team, and their influence on women’s soccer in the U.S. since.

WPSL

Heather O’Reilly made her debut yesterday for the Boston Breakers of the WPSL Elite division, drawing a sellout crowd in a 2-0 win over the New York Fury. O’Reilly won’t be back home with the Breakers for long, though. She and Breakers teammate Tobin Heath will head back to the national team for the Olympics sendoff match against Canada this Saturday.

The win brought the Breakers back into first place in the division, a sigh of relief after the Breakers were forced last week to forfeit a win against the Western New York Flash when they found out that Melissa Henderson’s paperwork had not been cleared by the U.S.S.F. Henderson, a recent graduate of Notre Dame, was the second overall pick in the 2012 WPS Draft by Sky Blue FC, before the league folded.

Major League Soccer

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: Chris Wondolowski scored a late goal, this one in the 85th minute, to lead the San Jose Earthquakes to a 2-1 win over Real Salt Lake and first place in the Western Conference. Wondo now leads the league in scoring this season with 13 goals, and his Quakes boast the best record in MLS. Our resident Quakes fan, Alyssa Olszewski, breaks down the team’s late-scoring magic.

RSL’s reaction?

“I don’t know if there has ever been a time when I felt as mad as I do right now, to be honest with you,” RSL coach Jason Kreis said after the match. “Soccer can be a very cruel game, and tonight was every indication of that.”

“Honest to God, we didn’t lose the game, we gave the game away,” Kreis said. “If somebody comes in here and beats us, endline to endline for 90 minutes, then I’ll have a different answer for you, but right now, we’re beating ourselves.”

Next week’s California Clasico showdown between the Earthquakes and the Galaxy is shaping up to be better than you’d have thought a few weeks ago. With the Galaxy on a roll after their third straight win this week, they’ll be looking for revenge after their collapse against the Quakes on their home turf earlier in the season.

The Chicago Fire are heating things up in the Midwest, and our editor Trista Lutgring, a rabid Crew fan, doesn’t like it one bit.

The match of the week tonight is another heated rivalry, New York Red Bulls vs D.C. United at Red Bull Arena. D.C. is on a four-game winning streak, while the Red Bulls have cooled off after their six-game unbeaten streak, losing to the Fire 3-1 and eking out a 1-1 draw with the Whitecaps in the last week. The match will be on NBC Sports Network at 7:30 ET.

Follow @AerysSoccer on Twitter for more league news, match recaps, and of course our own agony and ecstasy!

It was a rematch of the 2006 World Cup Final. France versus Spain; only the outcome of today’s match was a redemption of sorts for the Spaniards.

The two goals of the match came from Spain’s Xabi Alonso, both in the 19′ by a beautiful header and in the 91′ off a penalty kick. The first half seemed promising for the Spanish, however their lack of a designated striker prevented them from being up an extra 2 goals. Fernando Torres came in at the second half, but couldn’t finish.

If I could describe this match up in one phrase it would be: Spain vs Benzema. Karim Benzema had no help from his teammates except Yohan Cabaye, who had a free kick but was quickly denied.

Spain advances to the semifinals of Euro, facing Portugal on Wednesday in an Iberian Derby. Big shocker there. Though there was part of me that hoped that France could somehow conquer and score a few goals. Now if you’re not too familiar with he rivalry of Portugal and Spain, let’s take you back to the 2010 World Cup.

Spain beat Portugal 1-nil, advancing to the semifinals after a ref mistakenly allowed a goal by David Villa, which was obviously offside. Since then the Portuguese have been rallying for another match up, as redemption. As long as Spain start a striker, Wednesday seems to be a very, head-to-head battle between the countries.

Our own Terry Munoz, who covered France in the Euros, gives us her perspective!

Although France lost to Spain today, I thought they played better than they had in their last game, when they faced Sweden and lost 2-0. France’s coach decided to bench Samir Nasri, and reports said that it based on his behavior after France’s lost Tuesday. Benching Nasri was a mistake, in my opinion; he’s been really good for France in this tournmanet.

They had their chances in the first half, but couldn’t score thanks to Spain’s keeper, Iker Casillas. In the first half, France was awarded a free kick and almost scored, but Casillas made a huge save. At HT, it was 1-0 Spain. France seemed to give up a little bit when they second half started, but they started connecting their passes and had a few chances to score, thanks to a few bad passes from Spain’s Gerard Pique and Sergio Busquets.

Unfortunately, France gave away a penalty late in the game and Xabi Alons scored his 2nd goal of the match. I think France should be proud of themselves for making it to the QFs, although I had been hoping to see a France-Spain final. Oh well, there’s always the next Euro (which takes place in France). Congrats Spain!

Stay tuned to all your Euro 2012 coverage here on Aerys Sports!

Photo courtesy of UEFA