The Columbus Crew was getting set to face D.C. United at home when their scoreboard started burning up.
Action was swift, and it only took about 30 minutes for the Columbus Fire Department to put the blaze out, but it certainly gave fans a memorable experience. No word yet on why the fire started.
The game will continue after the heated delay. Never a dull moment!
UPDATE: Video of the fire as it smolders.
Jozy Altidore has been tearing it up in the Eredivisie.
The USA international has now scored 30 goals in all competitions this season for AZ Alkmaar. His performance on Friday, scoring two goals and notching an assist, helped AZ defeat Heerenveen 4-0.
It also moved his club closer to survival, as they could clinch safety if Roda can’t win their match tomorrow.
It’s been a long and tiring road of recovery for Stuart Holden.
Ever since Jonny Evans’ studs destroyed his knee in March 2011, Holden has been battling to get to full strength and fitness. He faced several setbacks with his knee in his rehabilitation process, but has finally made it back onto the pitch. FOX Soccer spoke with Holden, his brother Euan and girlfriend Karalyn about his recovery process, and now his return to playing.
He hopes to help Bolton get back to Premier League, and contribute to the U.S. men’s national team in the near future — he has his sights set on the World Cup in Brazil.
Part one:
Part two:
Bravo, Hope. You had us all fooled (for a few minutes, at least).
The USWNT star goalkeeper sent a tweet that looked like it was supposed to be a private direct message that included her cell phone number. Twitter’s immediate collective reaction was “Oops!”
Interesting choice with “Gooch” — USMNT player Oguchi Onyewu — for the joke tweet.
But it soon became clear that we were all victims of Hope’s clever hoax.
Perhaps Hope was just looking for a little entertainment on a Wednesday afternoon, or maybe she was trying to get back at a hair stylist who dyed her hair the wrong color? Either way, well-played Hope.
Croatia took the leap into the top 5 following a pair of World Cup qualifying victories and the U.S. jumped up 5 spots to #28. Wales rose the most in the Top 50 and Brazil have fallen to their lowest ever position in the rankings.
For more on the new World Cup rankings, read here.
He’s back!
By FOX Sports Midwest
Since opening in 2006, Busch Stadium has seen its fair share of activity. From Dave Mathews to Bono to oh yeah, those two St. Louis Cardinals World Series Championships mixed in with plenty of high-quality baseball, the iconic venue gets put to good use.
On Thursday, May 23rd the Stadium will welcome a new sport onto the hallowed grounds of Baseball Heaven when Premier League clubs Chelsea and Manchester City square off in an international soccer friendly. The match marks the first professional, non-baseball sporting event hosted at the new Busch Stadium.
Read more here.
By Leander Schaerlaeckens
On the press bus to the Estadio Azteca on Tuesday, a half-dozen or so American soccer writers had a lively discussion about postgame player grades. Also partaking was US Soccer’s Senior Manager of Communications Neil Buethe, who pointed out that the grades were typically all over the map. This underscored once more the senselessness of the entire exercise.
Mercifully, when I joined FOX Soccer, I was no longer required to do them, because as my editor Jamie Trecker puts it: “Player ratings are the bane of the soccer world. They are the rhetorical equivalent of giving every kid who shows up a trophy.”
Well said.
While I understand the utility of grades – they drive traffic, fill comment sections and give you a tool to superimpose a quasi-box score on a fluid sport – they remain highly unscientific and, to my belief, are prone to erode a writer’s credibility.
My issues with it:
A very large contingent of USA fans made the trip to the famed Estadio Azteca on Tuesday night to watch their country take on Mexico. The U.S. came away with an historic point, only their second in history against El Tri at Azteca in qualifying. A truly impressive feat.
There were many incredible images from the action on the pitch, but just as many taken of the brave supporters in the stands. Photojournalist Douglas Zimmerman captured every single moment from these (slightly crazy) fans on their journey in Mexico City. You definitely want to check these images out — very incredible shots.
John Kerry’s header!
