Filed under: FIFA World Cup, International Soccer, U.S. Men’s National Team
Liverpool fans burned a Fernando Torres jersey on Monday night, furious that the striker their club pried from his hometown team in Madrid for tens of millions of pounds left Merseyside after three-plus seasons for Chelsea’s tens of millions of pounds.
Torres probably didn’t grow up dreaming of playing for the Reds or the Blues. His favorite team was Atl?tico, and he played at his boyhood club for a dozen years. Those ties were loosened only when Rafael Ben?tez came calling in 2007.
Liverpool fans may be angry, but Torres was never really theirs to begin with.
The final day of the European transfer window was yet another reminder that club soccer is a business first. Players are motivated largely by the trappings of the pro game — the money, the titles, endorsements and prestige. That’s not a criticism. It’s the nature of the beast.
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In Honor of Tadanari Lee, A History of International Championship Winning Goals

Remember back in high school when student government candidates would promise things they had absolutely no hope of delivering — a soda machine in the cafeteria, the extra parking spaces, early release on football Fridays?
Although the United States’ failed bid to host World Cup 2022 made this past week one to forget for stateside soccer supporters, the rare goal-scoring exploits of two American defenders abroad just might soften that substantial blow.
WASHINGTON, DC — My second day at Al Jazeera’s TV studio here in the nation’s capital got off to a unexpectedly disheartening start.
The 
Russia will host the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
Whether it was at a press conference out at the U.S. national team’s Irene hotel or in a conversation with a foreign fan or journalist, the topic that kept coming up over and over during the World Cup in South Africa was the side’s incredible spirit and determination.




