The former Everton and Manchester United striker is joining DC United with Everton’s blessing and encouragementWayne Rooney, without the fanfare that greeted his arrival as the most gifted English player in a generation or the acrimony of his first Everton exit, has brought his 16-year Premier League career to a close. Even so, and even with all eyes on Gareth Southgate’s new breed in Russia, it is a career that does not slip away unheralded.Rooney, with Everton’s blessing and encouragement, flew on Thursday to Washington to finalise a three-and-a-half-year contract with DC United. The deal will be formally completed when the MLS transfer window opens on 10 July – Everton will not receive a fee – and the 32-year-old is...
There was a time when US soccer was a storm of Rowdies and Cosmos, but now United is the name of choice. What’s going on?Once, pro soccer in the United States firmly embraced the country’s sporting culture. Teams that came to prominence in the 1970s in the North American Soccer League (NASL) had names that wouldn’t sound out of place in the NFL: the New York Cosmos and and Tampa Bays perhaps being the most notable. Cheerleaders roamed the sidelines, and even the foundations of the game – such as the offside rule and the draw – were changed to appeal to an audience accustomed to traditional American sports.But over the last 15 years, Major League Soccer has evolved from...
If results go their way, NYC FC could secure a postseason spot for the first time. Plus, DC and Orlando go at it, and Seattle are desperate for a win in LAIn 2002, the New York Yankees outbid the Boston Red Sox for star Cuban pitcher Jose Contreras, forcing Red Sox president Larry Lucchino (who retired last year) to vent his frustration. “The evil empire extends its tentacles even into Latin America,” he told the New York Times, and from that precise moment the Yankees had a new nickname. How fitting then, that 14 years later the evil empire could see their soccer club clinch their first ever playoff spot on Star Wars night in the Bronx tonight. Related: 'We're...