Bocanegra Will Play in England
Carlos Bocanegra, a former UCLA standout defender from Alta Loma, is taking his talents to England.
Bocanegra, 24, will soon be signed by Fulham of the Premier League, according to skysports.com, after his work permit was approved by the British Home Office.
Although Bocanegra did not meet the usual requirements for a foreign player applying for a work permit -- appearing in 75% of his country’s national team games over two years -- the Home Office made an exception.
“The player has been granted a permit to play in England for Fulham,” a Home Office spokesman told the website. He said a players’ panel felt Bocanegra, a two-time defender of the year in Major League Soccer, was of “sufficient caliber.”
In August, D.C. United midfielder Bobby Convey was denied a work permit after agreeing to a transfer to Tottenham Hotspur. A month earlier, New York/New Jersey MetroStar goalkeeper Tim Howard was granted a work permit and now is starring for first-place Manchester United.
Bocanegra played four seasons with the Chicago Fire and helped lead his club to the MLS Cup final at the Home Depot Center in November.
In October, Bocanegra finished third in the voting behind Landon Donovan and Brian McBride for the Honda Award, which honors the top player on the United States national team.
Bocanegra will be the third U.S. player to play for Fulham in recent years, following in the footsteps of forward Joe-Max Moore and winger Eddie Lewis, both of whom have since moved to other teams.
Campos Retires
Jorge Campos, the Galaxy’s original goalkeeper in 1996 and former Mexican national team standout, has retired, according to the Notimex news agency.
Campos, 37, was as famous for his flamboyant style of play as his multicolored jerseys.
“I’ve experience everything a footballer dreams of experiencing,” said Campos, who played for Mexico at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.
Campos said he had accepted a position as assistant coach for Mexico under Ricardo Lavolpe.
Davids to Barcelona?
Dutch international midfielder Edgar Davids could soon be making a move from Italian power Juventus to FC Barcelona in Spain.
Davids has expressed an interest in joining the Spanish club, but Barcelona wants to sign him only through the end of the season, according to several Spanish newspapers.
Barcelona is seeking a spark after a slow start -- 12th place out of 20 -- in the Spanish league.
Kadafi Suspended
Saadi Kadafi, son of Libyan leader Moammar Kadafi, was suspended for three months by the Italian league for failing a drug test. Kadafi had been temporarily suspended in November after testing positive for the steroid norandrosterone in October.
Kadafi, who was signed by Perugia in June, has not played in an official match for his club.
In another doping case, Inter Milan striker Mohamed Kallon of Sierra Leone, was suspended for eight months for similar violations.
Other News
English Premier League players Carlton Cole of Newcastle United and Titus Bramble, on loan to Charlton from Chelsea, will not be charged in the alleged gang rape of a 17-year-old girl at a London hotel in September, the Sun tabloid reported.
Ecuadorean midfielder Alex Aguinaga, 35, has left the Mexican league after 14 years and will join Liga Deportiva Universitaria of Quito in his native country.
Shalva Apkhazava, a 23-year-old striker who played for Arsenal Kiev in Ukraine, was found dead by a teammate in his room at the team’s training site. The club said the Georgian had died of heart failure.
Times wire services contributed to this report.
