Morning Ticker: Solo speaks, Milan arrives and Jose is closing in England

Goedemorgen everybody. It is bright and early and I would be feeling just fine if I wasn't in the midst of an all-nighter. I just came from Atlantic City where some friends and I celebrated the last night of bachelorhood for one our buddies (well, not THE last night, but the last night 10 of us could pile into a limo and make a run to AC).

Needless to say I'm dragging right now. It's one thing to operate on no sleep at a poker table, where a steady stream of caffeine coupled with 20-second mini-naps can keep you going. It's not the same when you're trying to blog and offer up some coherent thoughts.

Before I pass out, here are some news nuggets for you to munch on this morning:

Hope Solo Speaks

U.S. women's national team goalkeeper Hope Solo addressed the media for the first time since her World Cup tirade against former U.S. women's coach Greg Ryan. She does open up quite a bit. Is it enough to make you really care about the women's team again? Probably not if you didn't really care before.

Mourinho and England keep dancing

Call it the national team coaching job courtship dance. Various reports, including this one, have linked the world's most famous unemployed soccer coach, Bruce Arena Jose Mourinho, to serious talks about potentially becoming England national team manager. We get it, he's the best guy for the job and the perfect personality to elevate England out of the doldrums after not qualifying for Euro 2008. Can someone just hire him already?

Club World Cup kicks off

Teams from Iran and New Zealand kicked off the FIFA Club World Cup on Friday. Iran's Sepahan defeated New Zealand's Waitakere United, 3-1, on Friday in front of dozens and dozens of fans.

Okay, so it wasn't a sexy match-up like Milan-Boca Juniors but those are on their way. Both powerhouses arrived on Thursday and, yes ladies, that means Kaka is in the house.

U.S. Under-17s beat Russia

New U.S. Under-17 national team coach Wilmer Cabrera recorded his first win on Thursday to help the Americans knock off the Russians, 2-0, at the Nike Friendlies. Carlos Martinez and Stefan Jerome both delivered blasts from the left corner of the penalty area.

That's all for now. I will return around noon to offer some more news nuggets, including some Red Bulls info. For now, share your thoughts on the above stories and any other soccer stories you want to discuss below.

Comments

[Roehl]

Solo has to say all those things she did in that interview. But the sooner the WNT moves away from Scurry, the sooner they can look towards the future.

[PKTaker]

U17's looked quality. Jerome had a sick move in the 2nd half where he beat two guys, kind of like what Adu did against Brazil.I'm excited to see them play some more.

[George H.]

Ives,

The FA has just figured out what everyone else in the free world already knows. Jose is just using the prospect of the England job in order to smoke out some of the clubs that might be interested in hiring him. He has always said that national manager jobs are for older coaches, he clearly wants the day-to-day challenge of running a club. So the FA will call his bluff which will then leave Capello as England's next manager.

More importantly, how did you do at the tables? Did you and your boys wear suits so the pit bosses would comp you?

[Pete]

13 year old Renken really impressed me.
Let's hope he continues to improve.

[Katatonia]

renken is teh hotness

[PKTaker]

Yeah, Renken was very impressive. He's been training w/the U20's. I liked Martinez as well.

[A.S.]

Obviously you're not dragging so much as to fail to post a very attractive picture of Solo!

And in answer to your question, yeah, the Solo controversy actually did cause me to be interested in the women's team for the first time since the Brandi Chastain game.

[kpugs]

I still care about the women's team...they were coached out of the world cup and tha tpissed me off though.

I don't really care about any Hope Solo news though--I was on her side from the start. In fact I thought she was so right I thought even her teammates would forgive her for throwing Scurry under the bus.

[Hincha Tim]

I believe Arsenal de Santander's win in the Copa Sudamericana and Lanus' winning the Argentina Primera (their first in their 94 years of existence) deserve more space. Both are truly special achievements for those relatively small teams with little resources.

[Frank]

It's Arsenal de Sarandi

[Frank]

The CONMEBOL refs are a joke. America should have won, it should never of been 3-2 on the first leg.

[Hincha Tim]

The refs were a joke on the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana but I didn't see that their actions favored America. Arsenal won. The refs were not the difference.

[Hincha Tim]

I meant to say the refs' decisions did not favor Arsenal.

[MJ]

Is it just me or is Hope Solo really HOT?

[MJ]

Is it just me or is Hope Solo really HOT?

[BK (the artist formerly known as Brad)]

I concur, MJ. I certainly concur.

[PanchoMiguelMoralesdeConejo]

Hope Solo is not hot...she is SMOKIN! She is a beaut. and has a game to accompany her looks.

Although I am not a big Womens Nats fan, I was very disappointed with the team and the captain K. Lilly for throwing her under the bus. Time for changes Coach Pia.

[BK (the artist formerly known as Brad)]

I can't help but think of Star Wars whenever I see her name. A New Hope + Han Solo = Hope Solo.

[TomM]

Ives- is that the only Dutch you know, or are you hiding linquistic talents?

[Lawrence]

"Uh, we had a slight weapons malfunction, but uh... everything's perfectly all right now. We're fine. We're all fine here now, thank you. How are you?"

-from the Solo interview

[Needy]

"That's all for now. I will return around noon to offer some more news nuggets, including some Red Bulls info. "

u r three hours late!!!

[Aguinaga]

Tomate "La Rapidita" y comete un encebollado de pescado mi pana, que eso te quita el chuchaqui.

[BK (the artist formerly known as Brad)]

Nice one, Lawrence.

I heard that Scurry called her a scruffy-looking nerf-herder.

[J1m]

Hope certainly could have been more tackful, but she spoke the truth. Ryan was an idiot, and even more, a coward for trying to make his error her problem. The whole team wasn't much better. Give me a break, the player on the bench was the problem? The problem was their lack of creative play and energy in the Cup.

Anyway, I chalk it up to an entire team of kids that had too much pressure on them, and couldn't handle it.

[papa bear]

I'm not even going to read the Solo interview. She should have been the keeper, Ryan f'ed that up, she got over emotional. Let's move on.
The U-17's look GREAT. The U-17's that just left...not so wild about them, but this bunch look NICE especially Reinking and Jerome. The move Jerome put on in the corner just before coming off was fantastic.
Oh and joy of joy, they play a Latin style rather than a junk Brit-ball style that the Senior national team seems too happy to employ on too many occasions.