Soccer

Sepp Blatter, the ruling czar of soccer, is in hot water after saying there is no racism in the sport. His most outrageous statement was that anything said on the pitch was heat of the moment and that the players should just shake hands later. All this happened as English player John Terry is accused […]

Add German soccer player Arne Friedrich to the list of athletes who are asserting their heterosexual credentials amid rumors they are gay. He says it’s odd that when he types his name into a search engine and it suggests adding the word “gay,” tens of thousands results appear. “It’s very funny when you name the […]

Talked about messed up. Iran is considering administering 74 lashes to two soccer players who had a butt grope after scoring a goal Saturday (video below). The two, Mohammad Nosrati and Sheys Rezaei, play for Persepolis and have already been suspended and fined $40,000 for what are being called “immoral” acts. Talked about messed up. […]

Aaron Hicklin has a great piece on out Swedish soccer player Anton Hysen, who came out earlier this year. He talks about how he finds American men super hot, coming out to his mom (who already knew), and the dangers of online dating… Like most celebrities, Hysén has had to come out twice. The first […]

Downtown Soccer Toronto will host its annual Toronto International Pride Cup June 17-19, with games at L’Amoreaux Park South. This year, eight teams and 110 players have registered. In addition to Toronto, teams will come from Chicago and Philadelphia. There are five open teams and three women's teams. Chicago Blaze Soccer has won the last […]

Justin Fashnau All-Stars (click for larger view). It's hard to miss the Justin Fashnau All-Stars on the soccer pitch. The team is clad in distinctive pink shirts, a color picked deliberately to highlight the team's fight against homophobia in soccer. The team is named after English soccer player Justin Fashnau, who came out as gay […]

One in a series of first-person articles from athletes competing in the 2010 Gay Games in Cologne, which start July 31. Sami HoltzSilver Spring, MD "Carry out your dream, no matter how unlikely it may seem." – Terry A. O'Neal Hi, my name is Sami Holtz and I am a 29-year-old soccer player from the […]

Gary N. Reese has reported over the years on the issues of sports and sexuality for many publications, including The New York Time and the Village Voice, among others. Fluent in German, he is a soccer fanatic and an avid cyclist. He wrote this piece in reaction to the allegations over gays on the German […]

Lukas Podolski A weird post-World Cup story out of Germany, where the agent for injured player Michael Ballack (who did not play in South Africa) told a journalist for Der Spiegel that there were several gay players on the German team that finished third. The comments by Michael Becker have caused a stir because he […]

After a generally well-played run-up to the final, Spain and the Netherlands played a listless, dull, uninteresting last match, with the Spanish winning, 1-0, on a goal by Andres Iniesta in the 28th minute of extra time. The game was highlighted (lowlighted?) by a record 14 yellow cards, and the Dutch were down to 10 […]

Paul, the octopus from a German aquarium who is 7 for 7 in picking World Cup matches, says Spain will beat the Netherlands in Sunday's final. Just award the trophy to the Spanish now. Paul, the octopus from a German aquarium who is 7 for 7 in picking World Cup matches, says Spain will beat […]

Less than a month after a surrogate bore his child and two weeks after his team was bounced from the World Cup, Portuguese soccer star Cristinao Ronaldo was in New York City to shop and hang out by the pool. Ronaldo shopped at Gucci, Armani and Prada on a trip that was more productive than […]

Never doubt the predictive powers of an octopus. Paul the Octopus lives in a German aquarium and was 5 for 5 in picking Germany’s World Cup matches (he even got their 1-0 loss to Serbia correct). Prior to the semifinal match against Spain, Paul snagged the clam from the tank marked “Spain,” and he was […]

After an interesting round of group play games that saw teams like Italy and France get bounced and some new faces get in, the World Cup got really dull in the knockout round of 16. In fact, the most interesting moment of any of the eight games was the missed goal in England vs. Germany […]

The English media are going nuts as usual over another flameout by the English World Cup team. They’ve had a lot of experience, since it’s been 44 years since the Three Lions did anything. English star Wayne Rooney had a dismal Cup and the Daily Mail thinks it knows why — he shaved his chest […]

The blown goal in England-Germany The worst performance in Sunday's Round of 16 World Cup matches wasn't by England but by the referees. In both the Germany-England game and the Argentina-Mexico match, the refs blew obvious calls that disallowed a goal in one and allowed one in the other. It's time for instant replay. England […]

Slovak hottie Kamil Kopunek This is shaping up to be the most enjoyable World Cup since I started paying attention to the event — France and Italy are both out. Gone are the two most annoying soccer teams in the tourney, the two finalists from 2006. France is a bunch of underachieving whiners, while Italy […]

No one can ever accuse Bill Clinton of not having a good time. From Luke Winn’s Twitter feed is this shot of Clinton with U.S. captain Carlos Bocanegra in the locker room following the U.S. win over Algeria in the World Cup. And they’re both drinking Buds. But the best part is that Bocanegra is […]

Can you name that flag? France. Italy. These two teams played for the World Cup title in 2006. Now they have been sent home packing…by Slovakia and Paraguay??? Yep, it's the World Cup for the little guy, as the big guns are falling and teams ranked in the 30s and 40s of FIFA World Rankings […]

The perfect way to watch soccer. I woke up in the 80th minute of the USA-Algeria World Cup game. Game tied, 0-0. No hope, game over. Until the 91st minute when Landon Donovan (right) leads a coast-to-coast break, gets a rebound off a missed shot and scores. U.S. wins, 1-0. The U.S. saves itself from […]