Sometimes EPL matches are worth watching for the randomness that occurs in the stands, such as in yesterday's match between Sunderland and Queen Park Rangers in which, if you watched closely, you would see a Sunderland fan celebrating Nicklas Bendtner's goal by standing and hugging/jumping with his dog. I guess it was a service dog, but, hard to say, but how else could you get your dog down to a first row seat. Sunderland went on to beat QPR 3-2.
During yesterday's Dutch League match between Ajax and AZ Alkmaar, an Ajax fan invaded the pitch and went running towards AZ's keeper, Esteban Alvarado, who managed to trip the 19 year old invader and then kicked him for good measure. The match's referee then awarded a red card to Alvarado, who is from Costa Rica, an act that resulted in AZ abandoning the match. Ajax had been leading the match thanks to a goal from Gregory van der Wiel, and, as of the moment, it is not clear whether the match will be awarded to Ajax or if it will be replayed.
While I don't condone Alvarado's decision to kick the young Ajax fan while he was down, I can understand the emotions and level of testosterone that was running through Alvarado, and when that fight or flight instinct kicks in, things happen.
American striker, Jozy Altidore, who currently plays for AZ, showed his support for Esteban via his Twitter account. For more reaction to the incident, be sure to check out this post by Greg Seltzer over at No Short Corners.
If soccer becomes more popular with tween girls in the United States it won't be because of Alex Morgan, Hope Solo, or MLS, it'll be because of Justin Bieber using his fame to hang out with top international clubs - okay, that fits for when he hung out with Barcelona, considering the state of Chelsea fans they might argue my calling their club a "top international club." But I'll leave that debate for Chelsea fans to argue on twitter and in message boards, as for now, the young Mr. Selena Gomez spent some time hanging out at Stamford Bridge wit the likes of Frank Lampard and Fernando Torres, hmmm, wonder why John Terry wasn't allowed to hang out with the Bieber . . .
Speaking of Chelsea fans, this post is for you Messrs. Marcus Coleman & Johnathan Starling!
This afternoon the Houston Dynamo will officially announce a stadium rights naming deal with BBVA Compass, which means that come May 12, 2012, the Houston Dynamo will play their first home game at BBVA Compass Stadium in downtown Houston. Reports indicate that the deal between the Dynamo and BBVA Compass is for ten years at a cost of $20 million.
BBVA Compass is the United States branch of BBVA Grupo, an international bank with a focus on doing business in Latin countries such as Spain, Mexico, Portugal, Peru, Argentina, etc. In the United States, BBVA Compass is headquartered in Alabama and has 716 branches located throughout the Sunbelt, including Texas. BBVA is no stranger to supporting the beautiful game, it has been the named sponsor of the top flight league in Spain since 2008.
The official announcement, which will occur at 3:00 pm central time today, will be streamed live on the Houston Dynamo's website and Here.
On Sunday December 4th, the United States finally managed to best Germany on the pitch with a 9-2 victory that will surely be remembered by American soccer historians for centuries to come. I kid, I kid. Actually, on Sunday a group from the US Navy managed to beat a group from the German Navy at that lovely little paradise in Africa known as Djibouti.
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Today the football world, still morning the untimely death of Gary Speed, is now mourning former Brazil Captain Sócrates, who passed away as a result of an intestinal infection at the age of 57. Sócrates earned 60 caps with the Brazil national team between 1979 and 1986, and captained the team in the 1982 World Cup. In addition to his international play, Sócrates played professionally at Botafogo-SP, Corinthians, Flemngo, Santos, and Fiorentina.
