Karl Sears

A late push from Monaco at the Stade Louis II couldn't overcome the lead Alberto Negredo helped Valencia reinforce, with Los Che using the striker's fourth minute goal in the second leg of the teams' UEFA Champions League playoff to secure a 4-3 aggregate victory, one that gives Spain five teams in this season's Champions League group […]

One year after arriving on Merseyside, Mario Balotelli is about to return home. The Italian international is set to be loaned by Liverpool back to AC Milan, the club from which Liverpool bought the 25-year-old for £16 million one year ago. Balotelli expected to undergo a medical at Milan's training ground on Tuesday. Balotelli arrived at Liverpool […]

Arsenal and Rangers have confirmed the loan of United States' U-20 prospect Gedion Zelalem to the Scottish second-division club until Jan. 3, 2016. The 18-year-old midfielder, who spent Sunday visiting Ibrox Stadium, trained with his new teammates on Monday. The move allows Zelalem to follow in the footsteps of DaMarcus Beasley, Carlos Bocanegra, Maurice Edu and […]

Four hundred thousand Euros won’t cover a month’s wages for the world’s best soccer players, but for one Spanish third division club, that relative windfall — its proceeds from Pedro Rodriguez’s move from Barcelona to Chelsea — could mean a new future, one that’s debt-free and stable. That’s because the €410,000 Tenerife club Raqui San […]

Four days after announcing Sergio Ramos’ new deal, Real Madrid has confirmed the team’s other starting center back, Pepe, will also stay put. Extending a contract that was set to expire in June, the Portugal international has agreed to a deal which will run through the 2016-17 season, giving the 32-year-old a change to reach a full decade […]

Any good film trying to portray authentic teenage angst has it — the scene where the main character locks itself in a bathroom, flings itself into the driver's seat of a car, or perhaps collapses against a hallway locker and screams. Screams violently and inexplicably, because there is no outlet. Nobody's there to listen. Nobody […]

After two hours of watching Rebecca Lowe, Robbie Earle, and Robbie Mustoe break down Deadline Day on NBCSN, I still can't decide if this would be a good thing for Major League Soccer. The signal-to-noise ratio is ridiculously low, a confluence of tabloid pressures, gullibility, and potential for news (albeit slim) creating a ridiculous din, […]

If Thierry Henry's about to say goodbye to Major League Soccer, he's doing so on a high note. His stint is one that caps one of the most productive four-and-a-half year stretches in league history. True, extending his deal at Red Bull Arena could still happen, but there's a growing and now very public feeling […]

Consider the implications of Major League Soccer's Disciplinary Committee – the league's implicit acknowledgement that decisions on the field need not be sacrosanct. In the Information Age, the willingness to review the league's most controversial plays shouldn't be novel, but in the broader soccer culture, MLS is ahead of the curve. Violent conduct need never […]

Sunday night's game between Seattle Sounders and Houston Dynamo at CenturyLink Field looked like the aftermath of a tire fire, and thanks to a national broadcast, everybody online took note. When the Sounders kicked off ESPN2's Sunday night game, the turf at CenturyLink looked like it'd be drenched in ash, with the black, rubber pellets […]

PORTLAND, Ore. – Red bricks rise toward the sun at dusk, the steps at Pioneer Square's south and west becoming amphitheater benches when movies play across from the courthouse. When the farmers' market or weekday lunch crowds relinquish control, the 40,000 square foot block between Morrison and Yamhill is split up among skateboarders and chess […]

Not so long ago, Andrés Guardado was the most notable Mexican in the club game. Given what's happened over the last four years, the memory's been relegated to a footnote, but the span is still there: A small window in the wake of Rafa Márquez's fade at Barcelona and Pavel Pardo's departure from Stuttgart where […]

Wayne Rooney's match-winner against Ukraine seemed to temper a meaningful critical review of his return. Rusty with his first touch and flashing a footballing mind working quicker than his out-of-practice reflexes, the tournament debit showed he wasn't far from being his usual self, even if he clearly was not ready to write his legend. The […]

Nothing ruins joyous occasion like dour tactics. They can't overshadow another call for goal line technology, but they obscure Wayne Rooney's return. They can also put a rousing performance from John Terry on the backburner. Regressing to the approach he employed versus France, Roy Hodgson again proved himself the most important man on the field, […]

Even if Wayne Rooney was available, England would have been happy with four points from their first two group games. And given their inexplicable reverence for a France (as if France weren't a team that flamed out of the last World Cup), the Three Lions probably would not have approached Les Bleus any differently. Hodgson […]