Bocanegra Is Headed Overseas
Another one jumps the pond.
U.S. defender Carlos Bocanegra completed a three-year deal with Fulham on Tuesday and joined four other Americans who play regularly in England’s Premier League.
Bocanegra, 26, a former All-American at UCLA, was transferred for free from the Chicago Fire of Major League Soccer. He is a two-time MLS defender of the year.
“I have seen Carlos play and I could see that he has great potential,” Fulham Coach Chris Coleman said. “He reads the game well and is very skillful and strong, which are the prime attributes of a defender.”
Midfielder Claudio Reyna (Manchester City) and goalkeepers Brad Friedel (Blackburn), Tim Howard (Manchester United) and Kasey Keller (Tottenham) play regularly in England’s top league.
Midfielder Eddie Lewis is with Preston of the first division and midfielder Jovan Kirovski plays with first-division Crystal Palace.
Bocanegra, who has four goals in 20 international games, expects little trouble adjusting to England.
“London is a pretty sweet place,” Bocanegra said. “The British culture is very similar to the U.S., so it should be an easy transition.”
Seaman Calls It Quits
He could stop a lot of potential goals, but David Seaman could not stop time.
The former England goalkeeper announced his retirement, capping an illustrious career that spanned three decades and more than 1,000 games.
Seaman, 40, quit halfway through the season with Manchester City after failing to overcome a nagging shoulder injury. He had joined City in July on a free transfer after playing 13 years with Arsenal, where he made 563 appearances.
“It has become clear to me that this type of injury will not quickly disappear -- and I think now would be a good time to hang up my boots, rather than at the end of the season as planned,” Seaman said.
Seaman helped Arsenal win three league titles, three FA Cups, one League Cup and the European Cup Winners’ Cup. He was England’s No. 1 goalkeeper in the 1998 and 2002 World Cup finals, and was on the team in the 1990 World Cup finals.
Blatter Pipes In
When FIFA’s Joseph “Sepp” Blatter talks, people in soccer listen. Whether they want to or not.
Blatter, president of soccer’s governing body, said in a letter to Christian Ude, mayor of Munich, Germany, that he believed the opening ceremony for the 2006 World Cup should be held, as usual, immediately before the start of the opener. Ude’s office released the letter Tuesday.
The opener is June 9, 2006, at Munich. Some German officials have proposed having the opening ceremony at Berlin.
Lagos Joins Crew
Midfielder Manny Lagos was traded from the San Jose Earthquakes to Columbus for the 2005 natural third-round SuperDraft pick, the Crew announced.
Lagos joined the league in 1996 and has appeared in 147 regular-season games with San Jose, Tampa Bay, Chicago and the MetroStars.
Spanning the Globe
Ronaldo and Luis Figo scored second-half goals and host Real Madrid overcame tough Eibar, 2-0, to reach the Copa del Rey quarterfinals on a 3-1 aggregate score.
Real Madrid played without injured David Beckham and striker Raul Gonzalez, and had to scramble on defense to hold off the Basque team.
At Udine, Italy, powerful Inter Milan escaped with a 0-0 draw against Udinese in a first leg of the Italian Cup quarterfinals. Udinese is in seventh place in Italy’s Serie A.
At London, Bolton of the Premier League was bounced from the FA Cup by second-division Tranmere, 2-1, in extra time in a third-round replay.
Ian Hume scored one minute into extra time. Eugene Dadi had given Tranmere a 1-0 lead in the 82nd minute and substitute Ricky Shakes had tied the score in the final minute.
‘Animal’ Act
There could be fireworks in Rio de Janeiro, and not because of Carnival.
Fluminense signed temperamental striker Edmundo, a former World Cup player for Brazil also known as the “Animal,” to play alongside striker Romario, another volatile and aging star.
Edmundo, 32, and Romario, who turns 38 on Jan. 29, played together with Flamengo and Vasco da Gama, where they argued frequently and eventually had a falling out.
Romario said the bad blood was behind them and he welcomed Edmundo with open arms.
Quick Passes
Joan Laporta, FC Barcelona president, told Barcelona TV that Frank Rijkaard will return next season as coach of the struggling club.... An appeals court at Hamburg, Germany, ruled in favor of Germany goalkeeper Oliver Kahn in his bid to prevent his name and image from being used without permission in a computer game manufactured by Electronic Arts of Redwood City, Calif.
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Times wire services contributed to this report.
