A few weeks ago Fox made what is considered in soccer circles as the biggest splash of the past decade. According to many they changed the landscape of soccer coverage in the United States when they were able to obtain the rights to the UEFA Champions League. This was huge news as Europe’s most important club competition became synonymous with the Worldwide Leader In Sports for well over a decade. Various people began questioning the commitment that the network had in the promulgation of the game in the United States, but the network sees it differently.
“We currently have some of the top brands in the game. So we will have a mix of the best domestically and the best internationally,” says ESPN spokesperson Mac Nwulu. He mentions that ESPN is still a major player in the rights game here in the United States. Despite losing the biggest and most prestigious club tournament in the world, ESPN says that they are looking into various leagues around the world for the future and will see if it is feasible for them on every end. that will be watched by people within their demographic. ESPN currently has the rights to the MLS, as well as US National teams. They will also transmit international competitions like this summer’s Confederations Cup as well as the biggest sporting event on the planet- The World Cup- which is to be held next “summer” (their winter) in South Africa.
“We want to see what is best for us and most popular for our (audience). We will always be looking for the best soccer out there.” adds Nwulu.
For the past few months ESPN was rumored to be making a big move towards obtaining the English Premiership in an effort to bolster their current products. This was a result of the huge success that the network had when they transmitted last summer’s European Championships. This along with placing scores from the EPL, Spain, Italy and Mexico on their Bottom Line were looked at as important steps towards securing what is arguably the most important soccer league in the world at this present time. it was also a step in the right direction as far as reassuring the commitment they had towards globalizing their sports coverage. That rumor since then has faded as Fox
ESPN will air the UEFA Champions League for the last time in this cycle when the final is played in Rome, Italy on May 27th.
Futebol Clube do Porto
Goalkeeper: Helton
Defenders: RB – Cristian Săpunaru, CBs – Ronaldo & Bruno Alves, LB – Aly Cissokho
Midfielders: RM – Lucho Gonzalez, CM – Fernando, LM – Raul Meireles
Forwards: RF – Lisandro, CF – Hulk, LF – Cristián Rodríguez
Manchester United Football Club
Goalkeeper: Van Der Sar
Defenders: LB – Patrice Evra, CBs – Vidić & Ferdinand, RB – John O’Shea
Midfielders: LM – Ryan Giggs, CM – Michael Carrick, RM – Anderson
Forwards: LF – Wayne Rooney, ST – Dimitar Berbatov, RF – Cristiano Ronaldo
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Arsenal Football Club
Goalkeeper: Łukasz Fabiański
Defenders: RB – Emmanuel Eboué, CBs – Touré & Silvestre, LB – Kieran Gibbs
Midfielders: RW – Theo Walcott, CMs – Fàbregas & Song, LW – Samir Nasri
Forwards: RS – Emmanuel Adebayor & LS – Robin van Persie
Villarreal Club de Fútbol
Goalkeeper: Diego López
Defenders: LB – Joan Capdevila, CBs – Godín & Rodríguez, RB – Ángel López
Midfielders: LW – Mati Fernández, CMs – Bruno & Eguren, RW – Cani
Forwards: CF – Pires & ST – Giuseppe Rossi
Bayern Munich: Jorg Butt, Phillip Lahm,Lucio, Martín De Michelis, Christian Lell; Andreas Ottl, Zé Roberto, Mark Van Bommel, José Sosa; Franck Ribéry, Luca Toni
Barcelona: Víctor Valdés, Eric Abidal, Carles Puyol, Gerard Piqué, Dani Alves, Andrés Iniesta, Touré Yaya, Xavi, Seydou Keita, Lionel Messi, Thierry Henry, Samuel Eto’o
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Chelsea FC: Petr Cech, Ashley Cole, Branislav Ivanovic, Alex, Ricardo Carvalho, Michael Essien, Florent Malouda, Michael Ballack, Solomon Kalou, Didier Drogba
Liverpool FC: Pepe Reina, Álvaro Arbeloa, Martin Skrtel, Jamie Carragher, Fabio Aurélio, Javier Mascherano, Xabi Alonso, Yossi Benayoun, Kuyt, Fernando Torres
Last week it was Santi Cazorla that was being lamented prior to Villarreal’s away leg match against Arsenal. News got worse for Manuel Pellegrini when Spanish international Marcos Senna would be ruled out of the return leg of the Champions League quarterfinals in London.
Senna left the pitch limping late Saturday night after he suffered a hamstring injury in the team’s 2-0 loss to Málaga. Senna’s injury left Villarreal with ten men as they had no substitutions left. A timetable as to his absence has not been determined; but he will surely miss the midweek clash against the Gunners at the Emirates.
Senna scored the Spanish side’s lone goal of the match midweek in their 1-1 draw against Arsenal.
Villarreal 1-1 Arsenal
VIL: Senna (10′)
ARS: Adebayor (66′)
If there was a match to watch because of the beauty of the goal it was this one. Marcos Senna opened the scoring for the Yellow Submarine with a hellfire of a shot from about 25-30 meters out, beating out Manuel Almunia early on, but it would be their first half that would be a clinic in moving the ball around. Arsenal came back in the second half simply had the home side defending everything within their own 18. The English side absolutely dominated the game in the second half and that form would be established after Togolese international Emanuel Adebayor scored one of the top ten goals of the tournament. Read the rest of this entry »
Josep Guardiola
Yes, how time flies. We now have posted ten shows in this new cycle. You know what it could not have been at a better time and with a better guest. CNN SI’s Greg Sica was with and he taught us about the best hang outs and why everyone in Uruguay loves TITS (not those, you pervs!). George starts to feel the the effects of strip clubs as well as his new partnership with Dr. Sica as they scrounge the world looking for hot soccer women.
Oh by the way we did talk about South America, Spain, Champions League, and some CONCACAF in this edition of Mad About Futbol.
The guys will wrap up the weekend in Spain and Italy as well as in Argentina and the rest of South America as well as the MLS alongside MLSTalk’s Kartik Krishnaiyer and Jovannei Arroyo.
SI.com and Goal.com writer Greg Sica will be with us to hang out and talk about Copa Lib as well as discuss the fallout from CONMEBOL quallies. He will also give his Champions League predictions as the quarterfinals are about to begin.
Mad About Fútbol 
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