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For the long time soccer heads out there, this may be old news, but the reason that John Harkes was dropped from the 1998 World Cup team was because he was having an affair with Eric Wynalda’s wife.

Allegedly.

Harkes, a current ESPN soccer analyst, has long denied having an affair with Amy Wynalda.

Wynalda, a former ESPN soccer analyst, brought up the situation Monday night during a discussion on “Fox Football Fone-In” about a scandal in England over an alleged relationship between current English captain John Terry and the former partner of Wayne Bridge, his teammate on the national squad.

Sampson told The Associated Press on Tuesday he was glad the story was coming out now because “maybe people will have a little better of an understanding of what happened in the final months leading up to the World Cup.”

And it’s also interesting to note that Harkes trumped Wynalda again, replacing Wynalda as ESPN’s lead soccer analyst in 2006.

Of course, Wynalda may only be spilling the beans now, not because of the John Terry-Wayne Bridge situation, but because he’s writing a book. But he got Steve Sampson to talk about it, and it’s surprising to read that Wynalda was actually against Sampson’s decision to drop Harkes at the time.

Since this was soccer in the United States in the 1990s, not many cared about the situation at the time. Too bad TMZ didn’t exist back then… we wouldn’t have had to wait 12 years for all the details!

(before you bitch, turn your sarcasm meter on)

Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off in the 70th minute of Real Madrid’s 2-0 win over Malaga Sunday for swinging his arm and breaking Malaga defender Patrick Mtiliga’s nose.

But no, he didn’t deserve the red card because:

Meanwhile, Madrid director general Jorge Valdano said referees should give Ronaldo preferential treatment because he is an “entertainer” who just “wants to play”.

For the record, Ronaldo swung his arm back into Mtiliga as he was trying to get away from the defender.

If Valdano’s quote isn’t bad enough, Ronaldo’s defense was even worse.

“People who understand football know that my intention is always to try and play,” Ronaldo said. “The red card is a disgrace I don’t understand it. I learned in England not to deceive the referees. This is not a red card here or in anywhere in the world and I’m not asking for protection. I’ve seen worse things in other games.

“I didn’t mean to injure the lad. It was bad luck to hit him on the nose because he’s only 1.70m and if he had been taller I would have struck his chest. I always want to play and these things make me angry. I’ve spoken with Mtiliga and he told me that I didn’t need to apologise because he doesn’t believe I hurt him intentionally.”

Remember kids, diving isn’t deceit.

Seeing as how all of England’s attempts at revenge against the United States for the Revolutionary War have failed dramatically, next summer in South Africa will offer our friends across the pond another chance at payback. In 1950, the US beat England in one of the biggest upsets in soccer history.

The World Cup draw took place yesterday. And among the more interesting groupings are the Yanks and the Brits. For the record, supporters of Sam’s Army will have no complaints with this grouping. Along with England and the US in Group C are Algeria and Slovenia.

Recent World Cups have resulted in some tough draws and subsequent conspiracy theories from American soccerheads. Not in 2010. Not only should the US clearly advance out of that group based on their talent, but they could conceivably win it, especially if rumors of Charlie Davies’ recovery are accurate.

Before the start of the game, I wasn’t sure who to support. The 3 big galaxians (Arena, Beckham, and Donvan) have all won loads already. Plus, Becks is a bit of a muppet with an awful haircut. RSL is the 8 seed, a plucky side with a white, neo-Rastafarian captain, an ex-Galaxian forward, and a young manager. However, as a USMNT fan looking forward to the World Cup, it has become clear that Landon Donovan is the best US player, and I wouldn’t mind seeing him do something fantastic to win it.

As soon as I started to think that I didn’t like the neutral site, the fans began a deafening “Sound-ers” chant. It made it feel slightly less sterile than a Super Bowl. While the Seattle fans are great, they don’t have a true rooting interest. Home and home has to be a better option if MLS fans will not travel for the Cup final.

The other major problem with the game being held in Seattle is the field turf. It is an awful surface for soccer. Players were falling, the ball acted more like a ping pong ball, and both teams passing was off.

The game started pretty sloppy with neither team looking like they had trained on the artificial surface. Other than Clint Mathis coming on for the injured (and crying) Javier Morales, there wasn’t much to report until the Galaxy’s fantastic first goal. Beckham led Donovan well, and Landon played an inch perfect pass to Magee to tap in on the left side of the goal.

Salt Lake had to put Ned Gravaboy (best name in MLS) on for Will Johnson to begin the second half. Both sides got their sea legs in the second half, and the play on the field increased significantly. Robbie Findley got clear on the right and came in hard as Donovan Ricketts came out to challenge him. The two came together in a collision that initially appeared to hurt both players equally. However, it became apparent that Ricketts’ right hand got the worst of it. Minutes after play restarted, Findley slotted home Real’s equalizer.

Ricketts had to go to ground once before Findley’s goal, and it appeared that he had a hard time using his right hand to help himself back up. He also didn’t fully extend his arm in his attempt to save Findley’s shot, and wisely pulled himself off after giving up the game tying goal.

For as much as the first half was relatively bad to watch, the second half offered a great deal of excitement for the American soccer fan. It wasn’t a particularly well played half, but between the collision, injuries, and the game tying goal, there was enough drama for even a non-devotee.

Each team had a few chances at the end of regular time, but neither could convert. As the extra 30 minutes went on, it was clear that these players were not in shape to run as much as they had earlier. The field turf had to play a part in their fatigue.

When the match went to penalties, Real was the favorite. While L.A. had fantastic attacking players in Beckham, Donovan and Buddle, Salt Lake had Nick Rimando. One week ago, Rimando’s work in penalties in Chicago got RSL to the MLS Cup final.

Each team began by converting their first two penalties. Then each side missed their next attempt before Landon Donovan Roberto Baggio’d his shot over the crossbar, to leave Salt Lake with the advantage. They would lose it shortly thereafter when Andrew Williams’ meek attempt fell right to Josh Saunders. In the seventh round Edson Buddle’s shot was saved by Rimando, and Robbie Russell converted to give Real their first MLS Cup.

Not only was Thierry Henry offsides on the goal that sent France to the World Cup in extra time, but he palmed the ball twice, and so obviously, he would have been called for carrying in the NBA. Unreal. A total and complete disgrace to the game. A shocking example of cheating by a player known for sportsmanship.

There will be calls for a replay on such a piss-poor non-call. But somehow I doubt that FIFA, in all its fairness, will want to risk keeping France off of football’s biggest stage.

The French cheat. And the Irish go home to cry into their beer. Some things never change.

The current international break may hit Arsenal the hardest. With Chelsea about to face the loss of all of their African players, ManU not in sync, and Liverpool playing laughable football, Arsenal looked to be the favorite for the premiership this league. Robin Van Persie going down early in the friendly versus Italy has to knock the Gunners back a bit. That’s a shame, considering how entertaining they have been this season.

Luckily, some woman’s placenta will not be eaten, or buried in the yard, or needlessly thrown away, but rather, used to massage the Royal Dutch ankle. I hope Kate Gosselin and octomom aren’t paying attention to this new therapeutic technique.

Tonight at 8:00 pm (and it will actually be on regular circuit TV). This was a lot more fun when the focus was celebrating the clinching of the berth in South Africa and figuring out how hard to to go in an effort to clinch first in the group.

Now?

Now it’s pretty damn sad.

The absence of Charlie Davies from his team will be felt for a long time. And he had crossed over to pretty damn hard to replace off of his leap to bordering on world-class level playmaker for the US in the last 18 or so months. It seems pretty damn clear his injuries from the Tuesday morning crash will keep him from the World Cup next summer, and it is clearly an open question, what with a rod in his leg to stabalize the tib/fib fracture, as to whether he will ever be what he once was on the pitch. Grant Wahl, without question the first read and the authority of US national team soccer at this point among the national sites has a must read on Davies and his chances for a comeback from this accident

Just such a waste.

And at least he lived. Far sadder, obviously, was the death of the woman in the car with Davies and another person (the as yet unidentified driver of the SUV).

At any rate, the US starts to figure out what it will have to be without Davies tonight against Costa Rica. Memo to Bob Bradley, as cute and Gump-like as Conor Casey’s night in Honduras was, you can’t seriously be looking at him as a Davies replacement for 2010.

Very early discussion of World Cup 2010 starting here and specific discussion on Davies here in the Swamp.

You can’t stop Bald Bill, you only hope he doesn’t trip over his own feet near you, giving the US a free kick from just outside the box…

Bob Bradley gets the last laugh, I guess, for going with Conor Casey last night, but man, to call his two goals foruitious is an understatement. Still, goals are goals, and the US needed every bit of those two and the third he set up by drawing a foul call just outside thet box to hold on over Honduras 3-2 last night and clinch their spot in South Africa. And, as annoying as the TV set-up was, it ended up being a ridiculously good time at Slainte’s Pub in Baltimore, which was packed with US nats fans celebrating when the damned exciting second half came to a close. It was 0-0 at halftime, and then approxinately 50 minutes of non-stop action exploded in the second half, with the US only secuing the win when a penalty kick sailed way over the goal in the 87th minute and a point blank header was missed in the 90th minute.

Memo to the US, you have to play defense to the end of the game.

Oh, and this must be said. The US does not win that game is Landon Donovan is not brilliant thoughout, and especially in the second half. The US has themselves a world class playmaker. Donovan has finally come into his own.

At any rate, they are in. The game against Costa Rica on Wednesday largely meaningless, although with a win they win the group. I am with Grant Wahl though, I don’t think that gets them a seed for 2010, regardless of outcome.

Your must read of the madness, Grant Wahl’s recap from the scene in Honduras on si.com. There is also plenty of chatter on the game still unwinding in the Swamp here.

Enjoy.

That rather critical World Cup qualifier between the US and Honduras tomorrow night at 10:00? Yeah, that one. You can’t see it. Not unless you fly to Honduras (not advised), or head to a bar that has bought it for the rights to show it Closed Circuit style. You know, closed circuit? Old school? Like 1980s boxing telecasts old school? Yeah, that. Quaint.

And the bars that have ponied up for that are not plentiful. For example, one in the state of Maryland. Two in Ohio (both in Columbus). Two in Pennsylvania (one in Pittsburgh, one in Philly). You get the idea. Not many. Insane. The incomparable Grant Wahl in si.com on how this came to pass:

How did this happen? I called Chuck Blazer, the general secretary of CONCACAF and a member of the FIFA executive committee, to find out. Blazer told me that for years, FIFA has allowed the host countries of World Cup qualifiers to sell the video rights to whomever they wish. Doing so, Blazer told me, allows national soccer federations to make much-needed money to support their operating expenses. In the case of U.S.-Honduras, the Honduran federation sold the English- and Spanish-language video rights to a media company named Media World. ESPN, the usual broadcaster of U.S. games, was unable to reach a deal to buy the rights from Media World, nor were any other American cable or terrestrial TV outlets.

The result: No matter how much making the game available on television would satisfy U.S. soccer fans, draw the interest of casual fans and help to grow the sport here, Media World didn’t feel as if it has an economic interest to do so. If you want to see the game, you’ll have to spend $10 to $20 a head to go to one of the establishments showing the game in English (click here to find one) or in Spanish (click here). Unfortunately, this trend may only be growing. On Saturday, England’s World Cup qualifier at Ukraine will be shown for a fee on the Internet and not on any English television. The game doesn’t mean much for England, which has already qualified, but you can be certain that important World Cup qualifiers won’t be readily available to the public in the future, either. And that’s a problem FIFA needs to address. The sport’s international governing body claims that it’s for the good of the game, after all, and national-team games are part of the national public interest. This is FIFA’s tournament. And just as FIFA can allow its federations to sell broadcast rights for the World Cup qualifiers they host, it also could add new stipulations that would make the games more accessible to the public at large, such as requiring that they be available on home televisions.

Indeed.

I am really curious about the Livorno players’ high jersey numbers.  They started with only Nico Pulzetti sporting a single digit number.  It reminded me of a spring training baseball team loaded with minor leaguers trying to make the big squad.  The game featured lots of end to end action in this game, and the teams were relatively evenly matched, save for two players: Gianlugi Buffon and Mauro Camoranesi.  Without these two, this game surely ends in a draw or Livorno win.

Buffon’s value to Juventus cannot be understated.  A la Cech and Van der Sar, he has the stereotypical, tall, lanky keeper’s body.  His imposing frame is matched by his ability to always get into the right position, and his quickness to react.  My game notes show 6 different times where I made a point to write down that he made an excellent save.  The thing that kills me about him is he seems so cool about everything as well.  It really must drive opposition strikers mad.  Livorno played well throughout the match, but when their own finishing didn’t fail them, Buffon was always there to protect his goal.

The scoring began when Juve struck first in the 8^th minute when Vincenzo Iaquinta neatly headed home Camoranesi’s cross from outside the box.  The bianconeri added a second goal in the 30^th minute when Claudio Marchisio chipped a shot over Alfonso de Lucia.  Mauro Camoranesi assisted both goals and was all over the pitch all night.  He tracked back to strip Livorno players of the ball.  He pressed forward to feed his own strikers.  His work rate was excellent.  His positioning reminded me a bit of Andrea Pirlo, but with perhaps a little bit more ambition forward.   Last week I wrote that I thought that perhaps Mauro was a bit overconfident.  This week his play supported all of his self-assurance.

On a night when stars Fabio Cannavaro and Alessandro del Piero were unavailable due to injury, both Buffon and Camoranesi imposed their will on the game to ensure a Juve win.