We’ve got a few interesting headlines for you today, footy fans. From news on Mohamed bin Hammam’s FIFA ban, to the mystery of Smart Soccer to Chris Pontius’ interesting misunderstanding, we’ve got it all here for you in today’s Daily Kick Around!

World Soccer

One of the biggest stories to come out today is the announcement a court annulled the lifetime ban FIFA placed on former Asian Football Confederation president Mohamed bin Hammam. Bin Hammam was previously banned for bribing nations during his campaign against current FIFA president Sepp Blatter.

The three-man Cas panel, which included the British QC Philippe Sands, emphasised only that it was “case not proven,” because the evidence, compiled following Fifa’s own investigation, was not sufficient to definitively prove Bin Hammam provided the suitcase full of dollar bills.

Very interesting turn, with all the current bribery talk circulating around FIFA these days.

English Premier League

Who better to champion the idea of conservative spending from EPL clubs than Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger, who’s very well known for not spending money to bring or keep players int he Gunner kit. Wenger said today there is a need for the Financial Fair Play organization to come in and curb spending from big clubs like Manchester City, Chelsea and Manchester United.

While the talks continue between MLS, Geoff Cameron and Stoke City, Alexi Lalas is already predicting Cameron will be a “quality” player for Stoke. Hmm, only time will tell! If he ever gets there, we might find out!

Major League Soccer

The other big headline to come out today was from our domestic league – MLS and adidas announced today that Smart Soccer will run rampant in MLS next year, making it the first “smart league” in the world. I gotta say, the concept of all this data from players and games sounds very interesting. But I wonder how long before the fans get bored with it?

The Seattle Sounders may have lost 4-2 to Chelsea in the World Football Challenge last night, but that didn’t reflect Fredy Montero’s performance – he scored both of the goals for the Sounders. After three years in the MLS, however, Montero admitted he’s ready to play in a league like EPL, but only if the opportunity is right.

Finally, on a rather silly and funny note, D.C. United’s Chris Pontius revealed to the Washington Post he’d picked up 50 Shades of Grey, after misunderstanding during a radio interview led him to believe it might be something he wanted to check out. Forty pages in, Pontius realized what the book’s true motives were and said he stopped … after reading 30 more pages, because he was bored. Ha!

Ever wondered which is the most valuable franchise in all of sports?  I’ll give you one guess–odds are you got it right.  Find out for sure in today’s Daily Kick Around!

Major League Soccer

Even the most ardent fans of FC Dallas winger and US international Brek Shea have to admit he seems to have hit, if not a wall, then at least a bump in the road.  The Shin Guardian featured a piece from a blogger who thinks he may have some answers.  Warning for the mathematically challenged: there are lots of stats.

The MLS All-Star game against Chelsea is almost upon us.  While there have been criticisms in the past about this particular game format, with a well-oiled machine taking on what is essentially a makeshift team pulled together from the best parts of several other teams, this article makes an argument for why this year’s All-Stars just might have a shot at beating the reigning Champions League victors.

International Soccer

In an announcement that will surprise absolutely no one, Forbes magazine revealed that Manchester United is sports’ most valuable franchise at $2.23 billion, according to their annual survey.  The Red Devils are followed on the list by Real Madrid, with the New York Yankees and the Dallas Cowboys tied for third.

Sweden’s Euro 2012 star Zlatan Ibrahimovic is the latest major signing for Ligue 1′s Paris St. Germain.  This club has been particularly active in the off-season, also signing Thiago Silva and Ezequiel Lavezzi.

FIFA

As we all know, FIFA president Sepp Blatter has had his share of foot-in-mouth moments (I mean, REALLY bad moments).  Even worse, there have been accusations of corruption levied at him from more than one quarter.  This football heavy weight, for one, does not want to see Blatter return after his fourth term ends in 2015.

Image courtesy of theshinguardian.com

MLS

It’s a busy weekend for the MLS and last night was no exception. Today’s big match ia between the NY Red Bulls – Seattle Sounders but first here’s the scores from yesterday!

Crew 0-2 Sporting KC

Rapids 1-2 FC Dallas

SJ Quakes 5-0 RSL

Timbers 3-5 Galaxy

Union 2-1 Impact

New England 0-1 Toronto FC

 FIFA

FIFA is corrupted, who knew!! Today, FIFA president Sepp Blatter suggested that Germany was given the 2006 World Cup through bribery. Blatter stated that during the voting process, someone got up and left the room and that an unnamed football association attempted to bribe him in 1986.

Serie A

Roma have confirmed the signing of Michael Bradley (son of former USMNT coach Bob Bradley) from Chievo  for €3.75 million with a contract good until 2016.

World Football

Ever wonder who made it to the Top 10 Most Expensive Defenders of all time? Goal.com put out their list (which you can read here) of who they think are the most over-paid men standing in the backline.

With no Euros to occupy our attention today, the English Premier League grabbed the headlines with the news of a big move for Chelsea hero Didier Drogba. What does that mean for Fernando Torres? Hot-blooded Italian rumors! MLS is back and in a big way with six matches tonight, including four of the top five teams in this week’s MLS Power Rankings. We’ll catch you up with where everyone stands. Plus, some off the beat highlights from the U.S. Women’s National Team’s short trip to Sweden.

English Premier League

The biggest news coming today is that former Chelsea striker Didier Drogba has officially signed with Chinese club Shanghai Shenhua:

One month after sealing Chelsea’s victory in the European Champions League final, Didier Drogba signed with Shanghai Shenhua on a two-year contract that reportedly will make him China’s highest-paid player.

Shanghai confirmed the signing on Wednesday, and Drogba said on his website he will join the Chinese Super League team in the country’s financial hub next month.

No details were given on Shanghai’s offer, although local media reported the club was willing to pay as much as $15 million per year.

Does this mean that Fernando Torres has a spot in the starting XI? Not if Juventus has anything to do with it:

According to Goal.com it appears that Italian Champions, Juventus are chasing the out of favor Spaniard with an offer of £24 million having been directed towards Chelsea.

Despite having shelled out £50 million for the former Liverpool hitman in January of 2011, the club could be set to cut their losses and move on with Torres getting a new lease on life in Italy where his talents would be more apt to shine due to the nature of the Italian game.

Euro 2012

FIFA President Sepp Blatter finally admitted that goal-line technology is a “necessity,” after a major blown that knocked Ukraine out of the Euros:

The most powerful man in soccer called goal-line technology a “necessity” Wednesday, only hours after Ukraine was denied what appeared to be a legitimate goal in its must-win match against England at the European Championship.

“After last night’s match GLT is no longer an alternative but a necessity,” FIFA President Sepp Blatter wrote on Twitter.

Want a good laugh? Search “Sepp Blatter GLT” on Twitter.

Major League Soccer

Though we’ve been quite content with Euros and international friendlies in the last couple weeks, I’d be lying if I didn’t say that I missed MLS. Well, it’s back to your regularly scheduled programming and we’ve got tons of matches with the cream of the crop to look forward to. In case you’ve forgotten where everyone stands, here’s MLS’s Week 15 Power Rankings to catch you up. Real Salt Lake remain firmly at the top, but the New York Red Bulls are down after a 3-1 loss on Sunday to Chicago Fire, breaking their six-game unbeaten streak.

After stumbling in Chicago, can the Red Bulls get past Eastern Conference rivals D.C. United this Sunday? If they want to, they’ll have to figure out how to stop D.C.’s “forward thinking” attack. MLS’s Armchair Analyst breaks their attacking mentality down.

Houston Dynamo defender Geoff Cameron just returned his club after interational duty with the national team, but he may not be there for long. Cameron is drawing interest from European clubs in the Bundesliga and Premier League:

Reports during this past Saturday’s broadcast of the Texas Derby – a 2-1 win over FC Dallas – claimed that three clubs, Schalke 04 of the German Bundesliga and English Premier league clubs Everton and Stoke City, were at BBVA Compass Stadium for the game to scout the multi-talented defender.

[snip]

While Cameron is distancing himself from the process, it is no surprise teams are interested in the 6-foot-3 center back. The 26-year-old’s unique skill set – especially on the ball – is sure to attract more interest along the lines of what he got on Saturday night.

“Geoff’s a top player and we’ve heard through the grapevine that some clubs in Europe are interested,” Dynamo executive Chris Canetti told MLSsoccer.com. “We certainly wouldn’t be surprised if some teams knocked on our door about him but, at this point, no formal offers or inquiries have been made.”

U.S. Women’s National Team

The USWNT took care of business in Sweden this past weekend, defeating Sweden 3-1 and Japan 4-1 in the three-nation Volvo Winners Cup, a friendly tournament in preparation for the Olympics. But it wasn’t all business. On a day off from training, midfielders Megan Rapinoe and Lori Lindsey took a trip to the Liseberg Amusement Park in Gothenburg and documented their adventures. More Pinoe and Lori, please, U.S. Soccer.

Toronto, Toronto, Toronto, what are we going to do with you? First your own player labels you the worst team in the world and now you go and actually win something? We’ve got that story, plus lots more before you kick off your weekend. Here’s your Daily Kick Around Friday edition!

MLS

Toronto FC has won the Canadian Championship after defeating the Vancouver Whitecaps in a 1-0 win. Toronto is currently 0-9-0 in league and it’s a miracle that they’ve actually won something. Toronto will be representing Canada in the CONCACAF Champions League this years with the win.

The Timbers played Valencia CF on Wednesday in a friendly, losing 1-0. The lone goal was scored by Aduriz in the 41st minute. Spencer, coach of the Portland Timbers, called it a tremendous learning experience.

Today, MLS salaries were released. Though, even though taken with a grain of salt, it’s not surprising to see superstars from New York and LA topping the list. Toronto also makes a surprise appearance with of it’s players making the top ten most paid players in the league.

La Liga

Pep elaborates that he’s taking a break and says he could be coaching again after next season.

International

Sepp Blatter has called for an alternative to penalty shoot outs. Not that he hasn’t before. Not that anyone else hasn’t before. But is there really any better way to decide a match that has gone 120 minutes? Making the athletes go any longer would be dangerous. And penalty kicks are the only part of the game that can be used in such a manner.

Euro 2012

The Russia and Uruguay game ended in a 1-1 tie today. Keeper John Ruddy has been ruled out of the English team after breaking his finger. And Ukraine’s president says that people will come to Ukraine’s home games despite the other leaders boycotting the country.

Whatever time zone you’re in, it has to be officially the weekend! And what better way to celebrate than a late-night edition of the Daily Kick Around? We’ve got Champions League draw–with the potential for an EPIC final–Rangers have a few bids on the club and the LA Galaxy signed a record sponsorship deal. All that and more, here’s your Daily Kick Around!

UEFA Champions League

Did you miss the UCL draw earlier today? Here’s the full list of match ups. The coolest takeaway from it? There is the potential for a Barcelona – Real Madrid final. Now that would be a Clasico for the ages.

FIFA World Cup 2014

In case there was any doubt, Brazil reassured Sepp Blatter today that they will be ready for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Blatter said he is confident that Brazil will host the best World Cup ever. We’ll just have to wait and see.

Scottish Premier League

We all know the woes of the Glasgow Rangers by now. Since going into administration, their outlook has been dim. But, there is some positive news on the horizon. Apparently several indicative bids have been made for the club. Perhaps they will be saved after all!

Major League Soccer

The LA Galaxy signed a monumental deal today, continuing their partnership with Herbalife. They agreed to a 10 year, 44 million dollar contract extension. The best part of the deal? As part of the extension, 2.5 million dollars will go to helping support charitable efforts, both with the Galaxy’s foundation and the Herbalife Family Foundation. These programs helped underserved and vulnerable children. Great news all around.

Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you know who David Beckham is, and that he currently plays for the LA Galaxy. But do you know how he ended up in LA, and the story of his time with the Galaxy so far? This fantastic 45 minute documentary gives you all you ever wanted to know about “The Beckham Experiment.”

Real Salt Lake defeated L.A. Galaxy 3-1 in the Galaxy's home opener. Photo courtesy of mlssoccer.com

Three words, ladies and gentlemen: MLS is baaaack! It feels like ages since the L.A. Galaxy hoisted that cup in November but now spring is in the air and that means MLS is here.

In today’s MLS First Kick Hangover DKA, we see the three of Saturday’s matches through the eyes of Kayla, Elizabeth and Trista, plus other fan perspectives. Day One may have spelled loss for a few of our favorite teams but there’s a whole season ahead so we’re just going to grab a bloody mary this morning, shake it off and look at the positives, as we have a a whole new season to look forward to.

Also, what’s slowing down Brazil’s preparation for the 2014 World Cup? Who got Mario Balotelli to open up about all the rumors swirling around him? And how is WPS Rookie of the Year Christen Press faring with her new club in Sweden? Read on.

 Major League Soccer

Kayla Knapp was at the Galaxy’s home opener against Real Salt Lake and offers her own perspective to L.A.’s first home loss since 2010 by a score of 3-1, where they allowed all three RSL goals in the last 15 minutes. One early-season loss is not what Kayla’s most worried about with the Galaxy, though.

So what went wrong for the Galaxy in those final minutes? Fatigue, according to Bruce Arena:

“We were obviously a tired team tonight, I thought we still could have won this game and I think that this loss is on me. It’s my fault, I think I should have used fresher bodies,” Arena told reporters after the match. “We hit the wall and made mistakes that are attributed to fatigue. I think that the travel and two games this week added up to being a pretty tired team over the last 24 minutes and it cost us the game. I take full responsibility for that.”

Moving along in other MLS first day action, 2012 expansion team Montreal Impact dropped their first match to fellow Canadian club Vancouver Whitecaps and Trista Lutgring offers a positive spin on her Columbus Crew’s opening loss to the Colorado Rapids.

Is there anything better than being on Twitter during a live match? Maybe only being at the game itself. Personally, I love feeding off of others’ reactions — explosions of cheering at a goal, sarcastic commentary when something is going wrong. It’s like having a bar filled with your favorite people in your living room. If you love running Twitter commentary, don’t miss The Bent Musket’s “recap” of the Revolution-Earthquakes opener: The Match in Tweets: Revolution 0-1 Earthquakes.

Finally, have you joined Women United FC yet? It’s a new community for female MLS fans, co-founded by our very own Kayla Knapp. Check out their blog, join the group for your favorite MLS club and contribute to this amazing new community of fans!

Keep tuned into Aerys Soccer for more on today’s MLS First Kick matches.

English Premier League

Manchester City suddenly finds themselves looking up in the EPL standings as they were knocked off the top rung of the ladder in a 1-0 defeat to Swansea City with an 83′ goal from Luke Moore. For Swansea, the win most likely keeps them in the EPL for another season.

Mario Balotelli hates the media and avoids interviews. So how to get information on him that doesn’t have a 99% chance of being made up? When the lead singer of one of his favorite bands is the one conducting the interview. Balotelli recently opened up to Oasis’ Noel Gallagher for BBC’s Football Focus, putting a rest to several myths in the lore of Balotelli.

FIFA

Things aren’t going so smoothly in Brazil’s preparation to host the 2014 World Cup. FIFA Secretary General Jerome Valcke caused a stir when he proclaimed that “Brazil needed a kick up the backside to speed up preparations for the tournament.” Valcke later offered a backtracking apology and Sepp Blatter had to step in to apologize as well. So what are the issues that are slowing down preparation? Could it be stadium infrastructure? Nope. One of the culprits, my friends, is beer.

Women’s Professional Soccer

When news spread in late January about WPS folding for the 2012 season, one of the biggest concerns was where some of the non-USWNT players would go for the season. The window for transfers into European leagues was closing the following day, nearly impossible for any of the players to have hope of playing abroad. However, WPS Rookie of the Year Christen Press, who thought she was going from magicJack to the Atlanta Beat for the season, was able to sign with Sweden’s Göteborg FC. Now, Press is chronicling her first season in Sweden on a blog for Stanford University women’s soccer, her alma mater. In her first two posts, Press tells us about an early “bonehead move” and  tips for a rookie to survive in Sweden, including “Try to avoid using a Spanish accent when speaking Swedish…Espanswenglish?!”

Enjoy today’s full slate of matches, and don’t forget to follow Aerys Soccer on Twitter, Tumblr and Pinterest for more coverage of your favorite leagues!

D.C. United using funny tactics to sell tickets.

Happy Friday all! We’ve got a great lineup for you today. A mix of headlines ranging from deadly serious to hysterically funny. Sepp Blatter is talking about goal-line technology, Lee Nguyen has had a roller coaster couple of days, and find out who the newest MLS player on Twitter is. All this and much more, here’s your Daily Kick Around!

FIFA

FIFA president Sepp Blatter would literally die if goal-line technology did not exist for the 2014 World Cup. Seriously, he did. And for once, I actually agree with him. As long as it can be a part of the game without being a distraction, I would welcome goal-line technology with open arms. Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal in the last World Cup was embarrassing for all fans of the sport, and particularly enraging for English fans. I hope it doesn’t happen again.

Major League Soccer

It has been a wild couple of days for Lee Nguyen. Well, really the last couple of weeks have been very up and down for him. First, his Twitter gaff that landed him in hot water with the LGBT community. Then yesterday, Nguyen was cut by the Vancouver Whitecaps. But today, he finally made headlines in a positive light, as the NE Revolution picked him up through the MLS waiver draft. This is a great pickup for the Revs, and it will be interesting to see what Nguyen adds to the team this season.

Another MLS player who has been on a roller coaster ride the last few months, George John, has returned to FC Dallas after a short stint in Europe with West Ham. He did well in reserves matches with West Ham, but never broke into the first team roster. Disappointing for John, but I’m sure FCD fans are excited to have him back.

Aside from his return to MLS, John has also joined the Twitter ranks. You can follow him there: @GdoubleJohn.

Now that we have the serious headlines out of the way, it’s time for a little Friday fun!

Teams in leagues all over the world deploy clever tactics to sell tickets to matches. D.C. United uses the same giveaways and promotions as others, but also decided to take a humor route with this funny punchline for their game against New York Red Bulls. “Nobody likes New York. Nobody.”

One of my favorite people to follow on Twitter, Beau Dure, has come up with a cool concept for MLS teams. They are fan pages, a place for people to go to get a bit of history on their favorite MLS squad, plus stay up to date on what’s happening with the team this season. It’s in development, but I love the concept. Check out the team page for Chicago Fire here, and the NE Revs here.

And finally, something we will be linking every Friday now that it’s back: This Week In Soccer US Tweets. Enjoy!

That’s right.

The FC Barcelona star grasped his third successive Ballon D’Or trophy today, beating out teammate Xavi Hernandez and Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo (who couldn’t attend due to match preparation.)

The Argentinean said at the FIFA World Players Gala, “It is a pleasure and honor to win this for the third time. Thanks to those who voted and all my teammates.”

Congrats to the other two nominees Xavi and Cristiano for having fantastic seasons as well.

Not only was the winner of the Ballon D’Or awarded but so was the FIFA Women’s Player of the Year. The nominees were Abby Wambach (USA), Marta (Brazil) and Homare Sawa (Japan).

This year’s award goes to Homare Sawa of Japan. Sawa led her national team to victory this year in the Women’s World Cup in Germany where she won the Golden Ball and Golden Shoe award.

Sawa’s country of Japan also won the FIFA Fair Play Award due to their reaction of the devastating earthquake and tsunami the country faced earlier in the year.

Mexican legend Hugo Sanchez presented Neymar the FIFA Puskas Award, which is determined by the player with the “most beautiful” goal of the year. Neymar beat out both Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney.

“I am very happy to be part of this party and have been competing with this two great players. I’m very grateful to God and all you. Enjoy this party.”

You can see Neymar’s outstanding goal here!

Now to the coach awards. Let’s start out with the FIFA Women’s Coach of the Year.

The nominees were Bruno Bini of France, Norio Sasaki of Japan and Pia Sundhage of Sweden.

Japan’s Norio Sasaki claimed the award with his efforts of leading his national team to victory when Japan beat the US in the final.

The FIFA Men’s Coach of the Year was won by FC Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola, who managed to win Champions League and the La Liga title last year. Pep beat out MUFC manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho.

Guardiola was quite humble after winning the award saying, “I would like to share this award with Mourinho and Ferguson. It is an honor. And all the coaches around the world who share this passion. And also to the thousands of people that over 100 years have worked and develop Barcelona. It is a privilege to be part of such an incredible club. And finally, I would like to dedicate this award to Tito Vilanova, my assistant, my colleague, my friend who can’t be here tonight. This is for you.”

Sir Alex Ferguson didn’t leave the Gala empty-handed. The MUFC legendary manager won the prestigious FIFA Presidential Award, presented by FIFA president Sepp Blatter. “This is very much appreciated. No matter the honor I get, I feel it’s been the recognition for the 25 years of Manchester United. They always shared my vision and passion. I’ve been a very lucky manager. That makes Manchester United such a special club. The courage to play and the courage to try and win is more important than anything.”

Individual awards aside, eleven players were selected to the FIFA/FIFAPro World XI which was presented by three-time World Cup Champion and football legend, Pele. The players selected are as follows:

Iker Casillas (Spain)

Sergio Ramos (Spain)

Gerard Pique (Spain)

Nemanja Vidic (Serbia)

Dani Alves (Brazil)

Andres Iniesta (Spain)

Xavi (Spain)

Xabi Alonso (Spain)

Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal)

Wayne Rooney (England)

Lionel Messi (Argentina)

Real Madrid’s Zinedine Zidane and Emilio Butragueno accepted players Xabi Alonso, Sergio Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo and Iker Casillas‘ awards on behalf of them due to preparation for their match against Malaga this week.

Stay tuned to Aerys Soccer for all your international football news!

All photos courtesy of FIFA.com

Major League Soccer

Think things were going to calm down after the expansion draft? Not so much, folks. Now that the dreaded expansion draft is finished, clubs now can flex their money muscles or tighten the purse strings. Some players released by clubs are now eligible for the Dec. 5 re-entry draft, which is a way to redistribute eligible unsigned players throughout the league.

It’s nice to have a president that appreciates the beautiful game. President Barack Obama made a personal phone call to L.A. Galaxy head coach Bruce Arena recently – the first president to make such a gesture – to congratulate his team on winning the MLS Cup. Obama apparently also thanked Arena for what “the team has done for the game of soccer and asked him to pass along his congratulations to Landon Donovan, David Beckham and the rest of the team.” Nice.

Speaking of L.A., in case you were like me and enjoyed your sleep yesterday morning, let me inform you that L.A. Galaxy are sweeping the Asia-Pacific region by storm, claiming a win in the wee hours of the morning against Indonesia. DP Robbie Keane scored the goal.

English Premier League

Ex-Tottenham defender Lee Young-Pyo could be making a move to Major League Soccer. Rumors are swirling that Vancouver Whitecaps manager Martin Rennie is going to sign Young-Pyo as the team’s full back.

The saga of racism in EPL continues: FIFA “fearless leader” Sepp Blatter is set to meet with English football’s anti-racism organization Kick It Out  chairman Lord Herman Ouseley. Ouseley told ESPNsoccernet the organization wants Blatter to “clarify” how he supports anit-racism efforts in EPL and the world. That should be an interesting meeting.

I do enjoy the posts the Bleacher Report puts up. They recently talked about 10 things the NFL could learn from the EPL; you listening American football fans?

Carling Cup

In a absolutely shocking result yesterday in Carling Cup action, Manchester United has been knocked out of the cup chase by Crystal Palace. They beat the Red Devils 2-1, at Old Trafford. Even boss Sir Alex Ferguson was stunned enough to offer an apologize to fans for the performance of the team.

La Liga

No one can’t say the press and spectacle for the upcoming El Clasico isn’t heavy. But Barca’s Daniel Alves thinks some media outlets are trying to upset the defending Spanish champions by making up rumors about Gerard Pique’s booking this past weekend. Pique received a yellow in the last game, ruling him out of this weekend’s game. Some press are claiming Pique did this on purpose so there was no risk of him missing the clash against Real Madrid Dec. 10. Alves thinks it’s a cheap shot the media are taking to try to upset the Catalans. Hmm . . .

Serie A

England’s manager Fabio Capello told the press recently that if offered the manager job at Inter Milan, he would never accept it. He cites his love for Inter rivals AC Milan would keep him from taking the job.

Goodyear – yeah, the guys that make tires - recently signed a large sponsorship deal with Italian club Juventus. It’s the first soccer sponorship the tire-making giants have entered into.