All-Purpose, Never-Ending Soccer Thread

New cnnsi.com rumors thingy has Rivaldo going to RBNY. Of course, right below is a blurb that he's going to Necaxa in Mexico.

 

Kind of odd, considering that before this season he was quoted as saying that this was his last season of futebol period. I never believed that, since most of the older Brasilian stars play out their later years in the Brasilian league, which is still where I expect him to end up.
Of course, his last stay in Brasil (with Cruzeiro) lasted only a few months, so you never know.
What I do know is that he is still producing much more than Ronaldo and could still give a big European team a nice addition to their midfield. I was praying Arsenal would sign him during last season's midfield troubles.

His story is one of the most intriguing of the last decade. Relegated to the bench at AC Milan (then cast away) after a bad stretch, he was still getting recalled to the Brasilian national team during the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers early on. Then, all of a sudden, he just disappeared from the team and everyone assumed his career was over.
As one of my friends on BigSoccer said, "Rivaldo never failed the national team. The national team failed him."

 

From Jeff Agoos of RBNY:

"We're not talking to Rivaldo, Ronaldo, Ronaldinho or any other player whose name starts with R and ends with O."

 

So I guess Robinho's out as well then.

 

And Tony Romo.

 

FC Dallas was looking to him to play in the hole.

 

Newcastle signed him on loan with a club option of making the move permanent after the season, it is a way for them to cover their asses while gooch has a chance to showcase his skills in the premiership

 

This stuff is confusing. I've always assumed, based on what I've read, that he was out of contract after the season. Which would mean that it was surprising that he wasn't sold before the season so that Standard could get some value out of him. If he really only has half a season to go, did Standard get a payment from Newcastle for the loan (with an extra amount if Gooch resigns)? Does Gooch get a taste of any amount that Newcastle pays to Standard? If not, wouldn't it make sense for him to sign somewhere else where the team doesn't have to pay a transfer fee.

Of course, all of this makes less/more sense if he isn't out of contract this year.

 

Ronaldo to AC Milan.
http://football.guardian.co.uk/breakingnews/feedstory/0,,-6381840,00.html

 

All right, the newest "truth and rumors" from cnnsi.com has DeMarcus Beasley going to RBNY, and John O'Brien being invited for a tryout. Wasn't O'Brien with Chivas, or was he let go or something?

Even if the Rivaldo thing doesn't happen, a midfield that has O'Brien, Reyna and Beasley would be formidable -- in theory (see: World Cup).

 

Beasley should stay overseas. There is no reason he should return.

O'Brien is very interesting. Chivas let him go. Here is the catch to such a thing: There is no such thing as a free agent.

Even after Chivas released him, they still own his rights. As such, should RBNY look to acquire him, they would need to give Chivas some compensation.

This is probably the dumbest rule, of all the dumb rules, that MLS has.

And here is a link the Jack Bell NYTimes story on Reyna.

 

Denver's new stadium is going to be called Dick's Sporting Goods Park? Uhuh huh huh huh huh huh.