Carlos Aviña Reportedly Joining San Diego FC as Sporting Director

Posted on April 2, 2024 by Tom Castaneda

Carlos Aviña is thisclose to joining Major League Soccer.

The MLS’ latest expansion team San Diego FC is set to name the Mexican soccer executive, currently serving as AS Monaco’s director of football, as the club’s first sporting director, per ESPN.

The appointment of Aviña is imminent with an announcement expected soon, sources said.

The news of Aviña’s potential appointment was first reported by Fabrizio Romano.

San Diego was awarded an MLS expansion team in May 2023, with the team to begin play as the league’s 30th club in 2025.

San Diego FC CEO Tom Penn hinted at the arrival of key front office staff in February, telling ESPN: “We’ll hire a sporting director first, coach would be after that, I’d say likely sometime in Q2 [of 2024] you would hear more.”

The new face of San Diego will arrive with plenty of experience, working as Club America‘s head of sports intelligence from 2017 to 2019 before being promoted to director of football development and player recruitment. He then joined Club Brugge in 2021, serving as sporting director.

Aviña has been with Monaco for the past 10 months, helping the team to third in the Ligue 1 table with 49 points from 27 games and a 14W-6L-7D.

Now, with San Diego, he’ll be tasked with building the team from scratch.

The team has made just three player signings ahead of their MLS debut, bringing on U.S. youth national team goalkeeper Duran Ferree and international arrivals Jeppe Tverskov and Marcus Ingvartsen.

Despite the club’s location, Penn has said that he’s not solely focused on making the first major signing a high-profile Mexican star.

“We don’t have that specific kind of goal, no,” he told ESPN in October 2023. “We want to find foundational players that are gonna be with us for the formative years of a club. We’re gonna work with the key leaders in football operations that will be identified to make those key decisions.”

Cesc Fabregas Signs with Italian Club Como

Posted on August 1, 2022 by Tom Castaneda

Cesc Fabregas is Italy bound…

The 35-year-old Spanish professional footballer has signed a two-year deal with second-tier Italian club Como.

The former Barcelona, Arsenal and Chelsea midfielder, an ex-Spain international, became a free agent after his release from Ligue 1 side AS Monaco in the close season.

Como finished 13th in Serie B last season following their promotion from the third tier in 2020-21.

They announced Fabregas’ arrival in a video on Instagram with the caption: “All the rumours are true, yeah.”

Speaking at his presentation on Monday, Fabregas said: “The MLS was not part of my plans. I wanted to remain in Europe and I believe this is the right project for me.

“I wasn’t interested in money, I wanted to join a long-term project that I would be enthusiastic about. I’m very ambitious and I would like to help Como return to where it deserves, that is in Serie A. I’m here to play and to win games. I see a long-term future with this club.

“Como offered me not just a two-year contract as a player but a long-term project. Last season at Monaco was rather difficult but the past is in the past and now I’m looking ahead. The important thing is that I’m here. I’m not only here to play but to give a helping hand off the pitch in what will be a long-term project.”

Fabregas was part of Spain’s World Cup-winning team in 2010 and won the Premier League twice with Chelsea.

Como club administrator Dennis Wise added: “Cesc will be a part of this club long term. I believe it’s a great signing. It’s not just a two-year contract as a player, as Cesc will become a Como shareholder.”

James Rodriguez Joins Qatari Side Al Rayyan

Posted on September 22, 2021 by Tom Castaneda

James Rodriguez is headed to the Middle East…

The 30-year-old Colombian professional footballer and Everton midfielder has joined Qatari side Al Rayyan for an undisclosed fee, both clubs have confirmed.

Sources previously told ESPN that Rodriguez was discussing a move with the Qatari club after Everton gave him permission to leave Goodison Park. He was told by manager Rafa Benitez, who replaced Carlo Ancelotti this summer, that he was not in his plans.

The midfielder made an impressive start after he joined from Real Madrid in September 2020, scoring three goals in his first five games, but injury and loss of form saw his contribution diminish markedly in the second half of the season.

He made a total of 26 appearances in all competitions during his time at the club.

Rodriguez began his career at Colombian side Enviagado and later Argentine side Banfield before enjoying spells at FC Porto, AS Monaco, Madrid and Bayern Munich.

He said in April that he only joined Everton so he could be reunited with Ancelotti, who had signed him for Madrid in 2014 and Bayern in 2017.

Everton had the option of extending his contract at the end of the season if he were to make enough first team appearances, but sources told ESPN that the club were keen to move his £10 million-a-year salary off the club’s wage bill.

His last appearance for the Premier League side came in a 1-0 defeat at home to Sheffield United in May.

Rodriguez has 80 international caps for Colombia, scoring 23 goals, and played in two World Cup tournaments, notably winning the Golden Boot at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Lionel Messi Claims His Fourth European Golden Shoe Award

Posted on November 24, 2017 by Tom Castaneda

Lionel Messi is soccer’s Golden boy…

The 30-year-old soccer star received his fourth European Golden Shoe on Friday after netting 37 times in La Liga play during the 2016-17 season.

Messi beat out Sporting CP‘s Bas Dost (34 goals in Portugal‘s Primeira Liga) and Borussia Dortmund‘s Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (31 in the Bundesliga) in the top three to claim the prize, which is presented to Europe’s top goal scorer.

After also winning the award in 2012-13 (46 league goals), 2011-12 (50) and 2009-10 (34), Messi is tied with Real Madrid‘s Cristiano Ronaldo for most regular winner of the Golden Shoe.

Messi’s 37 goals last season came in 34 Spanish top-flight appearances, but they were delivered as part of losing cause, as Real Madrid beat out Barca to the title.

The five-time Ballon d’Or winner has netted 12 goals in 12 games in the 2017-18 La Liga campaign.

He’s trailing Lazio‘s Ciro Immobile and Paris Saint-Germain‘s Edinson Cavani, who have netted 15 goals in Serie A and Ligue 1, respectively, in the race for this year’s Golden Shoe. Meanwhile, Bayern Munich‘s Robert Lewandowski, AS Monaco‘s Radamel Falcao and Inter Milan‘s Mauro Icardi have all netted 13 times.

Ronaldo, though, does not look like troubling the upper echelon of the European Golden Shoe rankings anytime soon, as he has netted just once in La Liga this season.

Messi will be looking to add to his tally on Sunday when top-of-the-table Barca travel to face second-place Valencia at the Mestalla.

Rodriguez Named People en Español’s El Hombre Más Sexy of 2014

Posted on September 7, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

His impressive performance at this year’s World Cup earned James Rodriguez international acclaim… But it’s his handsome looks that have turned him into a sex symbol.

The 23-year-old Colombian soccer star, who earned the Golden Boot at this year’s World Cup for being the tournament’s top scorer, has been declared as 2014’s El Hombre Más Sexy by People en Español.

Rodriguez appears on the cover of the TBD issue of the Spanish-language magazine wearing a blue button-down shirt. But he’s also seen in green and a black shirt in a video shared by the magazine. The 20-second spot features Rodriguez posing for the camera, and though he doesn’t say a word, it does show his personality. At one point, he’s very concentrated on posing, but when he sees the camera, he cracks a smile and gives a thumbs up.

For it’s must-read feature on Rodriguez, the magazine called on the soccer star’s wife, Daniela Ospina, to offer insight on her handsome husband. She said he’s “a very attractive man. But what I most like is the way he is, his personality. It’s what I really love.”

Even though his powerful performance at the World Cup led to Real Madrid acquiring him from French-league club AS Monaco this summer and signing him for six seasons, his wife says he hasn’t let fame go to his head.

“He’s still the same. What really characterizes him is his humility,” the player’s mother, Maria del Pilar Rubio, said in a statement to the magazine, adding that Rodriguez “hasn’t let himself be impressed” by those contracts worth millions.

Manchester United Agrees to Loan Deal with AS Monaco for Falcao

Posted on September 1, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

Radamel Falcao is the man(chester)…

Manchester United has agreed to a loan deal with AS Monaco for the 28-year-old Colombian footballer, who also plays for the Colombia national football team.

Falcao, who cost Monaco 60 million euros last summer, is set to join Louis van Gaal’s squad subject to a medical and terms, according to ESPN FC.

Falcao had also been a target of Real Madrid and had been linked with Arsenal and Manchester City.

His arrival will be one of two transfers United is expected to complete on deadline day, along with finalizing Daley Blind‘s move from Ajax.

Van Gaal had already brought in Southampton left-back Luke Shaw, Athletic Bilbao midfielder Ander Herrera, Sporting Lisbon defender Marcos Rojo and Real Madrid winger Angel Di Maria.

European champion Madrid had been the favorite to sign Falcao, whose departure from Monaco seemed to be signaled when he was omitted from their squad to face Lille on Saturday.

Falcao, who missed the World Cup due to a cruciate ligament injury, scored 70 goals in 91 games for Atletico Madrid and 72 goals in 87 matches for Porto before joining Monaco.

Rodriguez Scores Two Goals to Lead Colombia Into Its First World Cup Quarterfinal

Posted on June 29, 2014 by Tom Castaneda

It looks like James Rodriguez is emerging at this year’s FIFA World Cup superstar…

The 22-year-old Colombian footballer scored a pair of goals to give Colombia a 2-0 victory on Saturday over Uruguay, earning his team its first-ever World Cup quarterfinal berth.

The Uruguayans came into the match at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana Stadium with a chip on their shoulder after Luis Suarez was given a nine-match international ban for biting Italian defender Giorgio Chiellini in Group D action Tuesday, but the loss of their star striker proved too much against Jose Pekerman’s talented squad.

Both teams started off the match at an unhurried pace, patiently looking to mount their attacks in the Round of 16 knockout match.

But when it seemed that the crowd of 73,804 might have to wait a while for the action to heat up, Rodriguez produced one of the most stunning goals of the 2014 World Cup in the 28th minute.

The play started with midfielder Abel Aguilar lofting a ball in the direction of forward Jackson Martinez, who was standing just outside Uruguay’s penalty area.

Uruguayan defender Maxi Pereira tried to clear the ball but it went back to Aguilar, who headed to Rodriguez.

Rodriguez proceeded to bounce the ball off his chest to give himself some space and then, without letting it hit the ground, fired a left-footed rocket from 25 yards out that hit the crossbar over the outstretched arm of net minder Fernando Muslera and ricocheted into the goal.

It was Rodriguez’s fourth goal of the World Cup and tied him for the tournament lead along with Argentina’s Lionel Messi, Brazil’s Neymar and Germany’s Thomas Müller.

But Rodriguez, who plays for AS Monaco in Ligue 1, wasn’t done yet.

Just five minutes into the second half, midfielder Juan Guillermo Cuadrado received a cross from defender Pablo Armero and headed it back across the box to Rodriguez, who knocked a right-footed shot into a practically empty net for his tournament-leading fifth goal.

Nearly an entire half of soccer still remained to be played but Uruguay, lacking Suarez’s firepower, was unable to cut into the lead against a well-organized defense backed by stellar goalkeeper David Ospina.

Next up for this history-making Colombian squad will be host nation Brazil, which topped Chile on penalties earlier Saturday.

That quarterfinal clash will be played Friday at Castelao Stadium in the northeastern city of Fortaleza.

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