Didier Drogba has said he is retiring at the end of the 2018 season, but on Wednesday he didn’t sound like a player who’s ready to retire. At 40, he is having too much fun. Drogba has scored in each of the Phoenix Rising’s three playoff wins and will lead it against defending champion Louisville […]
didier drogba
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
Phoenix heads to USL Cup for the first time
A Phoenix team has been in the current USL in one form or another since 2013, but until Didier Drogba came to town, it never made the playoffs. In what will be his second and finalseason with the Rising, the 40-year-old Drogba, who is retiring, led to the USL Cup with a 2-1 win at […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
NWSL: Waldrum is out as Houston head coach
Randy Waldrum, who left his job as head coach at Notre Dame, one of the most successful women’s programs in the country, to take over as the Houston Dash head coach for its launch in 2014, isout. The Dash and Waldrum agreed to part ways just seven games into the 2017 season. Assistant coach Omar […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: Berke Bakay
“We have very strong ownership and a global star that had 12 other options, and this one passed his due diligence. MLS put [Didier Drogba signing] on its Facebook page. There was aheadline that no other expansion candidate is in better position to get the MLS. I took a picture of that. We put up […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
USL: Drogba Rising to new challenge
Didier Drogba, 39, will return for one more season — not in MLS but in the USL, where he signed with Phoenix Rising as a player and co-owner. “To own a team and be a player at the same time is unusual but it’s going to be veryexciting,” Drogba said “It’s a good transition because […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, What They're Saying
What They're Saying: Marseille fans
“Drogba, stop saying you love OM. You earn in a month what we’ll never have in one life. Stop being a crybaby and go back to China.” — Marseille fans (unaware that Didier Drogba‘slast club was MLS’s Montreal Impact) unfurling a giant three-deck banner telling the former OM star he is unwanted at the Stade […]
Posted inOff The Post, Story
Clattenburg speculates on possible move to China
Will the spending madness by which Chinese teams are swallowing up talented players one day spread to referees? One of the top FIFA referees, Mark Clattenburg, apparently thinks so.Or maybe he’s bargaining for a blockbuster move, as unlikely as it seems, since there is no longer a retirement age for FIFA referees. In 2014, FIFA […]
Posted inSoccer America Confidential, Story
MLS Positional Rankings: Wright-Phillips, Giovinco take top spots up front
By Ridge Mahoney (@ridgemax) In classifying players up top, we distinguish between strikers and second forwards even thoughmany teams line up with just one true forward in a 4-2-3-1 formation or variation thereof. We list Giovani Dos Santos as a forward because he often plays close to goal and hispartnership with Robbie Keane, or lack […]
Posted inOff The Post, Story
Conte: 'The Chinese market is a danger for all'
The pending sale of Brazilian midfielder Oscar to Chinese club Shanghai SIPG for a reported 60 million pounds ($80 million) is part of what Chelsea manager Antonio Conte sees as agrave threat to Europe’s biggest clubs. Oscar, 25, has fallen out of the first team for one of the few times at Chelsea since his move […]
Posted inSoccer America Daily, Story
MLS Playoffs: Toronto FC wins game for the ages
Regardless of how it ends, this MLS postseason is evolving into an incredible story. In this tale’s penultimate game on Wednesday, a team wracked by a history of failure rewardedthe largest home crowd in its history by winning its biggest game, and stretching the limits of MLS postseason drama. Goals by five different players powered […]