Sosa shoots, he scores at Fenway

Interesting photo of Ruben Hector Sosa on the cover of the Sunday Globe sports section. Sosa appears to be shooting on goal while playing for the Boston Beacons at Fenway Park in a 1968 North American Soccer League game. Utilizing Colin Jose's NASL history book, I figured it was probably a June 21, 1968 game in which the Chicago Mustangs took a 6-5 win. Sosa scored one of the Beacon goals against Chicago goalkeeper Gerd Langer.

As it turns out, the Globe photo appeared about a year after Sosa died. According to the Clarin website, Sosa's death on Dec. 10, 2008 was related to diabetes.

Sosa must have been among the most accomplished athletes to call Fenway Park his home field, regardless of sport. The Beacons shared Fenway with the Red Sox in 1968, including an exhibition against Santos (with Pele'), won, 7-1, by the Brazilians. Professional soccer was being introduced to the area, and Beacons-Santos game on July 9, 1968 drew a crowd of 18,431, setting a benchmark for soccer attendance. Before that game, there was no evidence soccer could draw major crowds in the Boston area. Four years later, promoters brought Benfica and Sporting to Foxboro Stadium for two games which averaged about 30,000 spectators. Then, the NASL returned with the Minutemen and Tea Men, both teams occasionally attracting significant numbers.

Each of these soccer projects -- not just the Beacons, Minutemen, Tea Men, but also exhibition matches -- was hamstrung by what the Brits call "ground sharing." Soccer promoters and teams had no control over stadia, so they were always an afterthought behind the primary tenant. The Beacons set up their schedule around Red Sox road trips. When the Red Sox were away, the Beacons would play several home games in succession. The Beacons had backing from respected sporting figures, such as the Celtics' Red Auerbach, but not enough people who were involved understood soccer, so it was difficult for the sport to succeed, especially with unfavorable playing dates.

Anyway, Sosa was 32 years old and near the end of his career when he came to Boston. He scored seven goals in 17 games for the Beacons, who finished in last place in their division.

Sosa had been a major figure with Racing Club in Avellaneda, winning the Argentinean championship in 1958 and '61. Sosa led the team in scoring three times, a significant accomplishment with a team nicknamed La Academia for its stylish play and "maquina"-like forward line. In those days, teams attacked with five players -- Racing's front line was composed of Ruben Belen, Oreste Corbatta, Pedro Mansilla, Juan Jose Pizzuti and Sosa.

Sosa also scored 11 goals in 18 appearances for Argentina's national team, winning the 1959 Copa America. Sosa played for Argentina in the 1962 World Cup in Chile, starting in a 3-1 loss to England in Rancagua. His career nearly ended after he sustained broken tibia and perone bones, an injury which few athletes recovered from in that era.

Sosa's nickname was "El Marques," because his movements and stature suggested royalty. He played on the left, as "a No. 10," a highly-respected role anywhere, but especially in Argentina. Sosa scored 82 times in 151 games for Racing, then went to Nacional in Uruguay. Sosa was in the Nacional lineup for the first two games of the 1967 Copa Libertadores final -- against Racing -- but not in the team for the deciding third game, won by Racing. The '67 Racing Club team, coached by Pizzuti, had a 39-game unbeaten streak and won the Intercontinental Cup in a three-game series against Celtic, becoming the first Argentinian club to win what was considered the world championship for clubs.

Sosa moved to the U.S. for one season, then returned to Argentina for a final year. According to the Clarin story, Sosa was an "amigo de la cultura tanguera" and spent much of his time at the tango club El Tabano.

Brujas, Mauricio Wright campeones

Brujas FC es campeon -- on penalty kicks against Puntarenas in the Costa Rican title game.

Mauricio Wright, a central defender for San Jose and New England in the MLS through 2001, coached Brujas, a club in the Desamparados section of San Jose, to its first championship, a week after his 39th birthday.

The game was telecast only in Costa Rica, and nacion.com website did the play-by-play. The teams played to a 1-1 tie on aggregate, Daniel Jimenez' goal tying the score with a 47th-minute goal. Keylor Soto converted the clinching penalty kick.

Wright has done an impressive job guiding Brujas, a club which started five years ago in his home barrio. Wright came to the San Jose Clash in 1999, then joined the Revolution in a trade. Wright and William Sunsing were expected to open a pipeline from Costa Rica to the Revolution, but any thought of that continuing dried up after a disastrous 2001 season.

Brujas is the 11th qualifier for the 24-team CONCACAF Champions Cup. The field already includes MLS teams Columbus Crew, Los Angeles Galaxy, Real Salt Lake and Seattle Sounders. Also qualified are Cruz Azul and Monterrey (México); Marathón (Honduras); Arabe Unido (Panamá); Municipal (Guatemala); and FAS (El Salvador).

Alvarez, Wright: Revolution to coaching success

The final game as members of the New England Revolution for Leonel Alvarez and Mauricio Wright was the 2001 U.S. Open Cup. They were performing for the Revolution in a 2-1 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Galaxy in Fullerton, Calif.

Alvarez would return to Colombia to conclude his playing career and Wright would go on to play for Costa Rica in the 2002 World Cup finals in Japan and also to deliver some impressive performances for AEK in the UEFA Champions League.

Unfortunately, Alvarez and Wright left the MLS on a low note, the Revolution missing the 2001 playoffs, then squandering a 1-0 lead against the Galaxy at Titan Stadium with a chance to salvage a disastrous season. Both brought a level of sophistication to the games they played in, both served as models for young U.S. prospects.

Both were destined to become coaches. And, on Sunday, the teams Alvarez and Wright are now guiding had impressive victories.

Alvarez’ Deportivo Independiente Medellin won the Colombian championship on aggregate, following a 2-2 tie with Atletico Huila. And Wright’s Brujas FC took a 2-1 victory over Perez Zeledon in the semifinals of the Costa Rica playoffs. Brujas will meet Puntarenas in the finals.

Alvarez, who anchored the Colombian midfield in support of Carlos Valderrama in the 1980s and ‘90s, is now being considered as a candidate to become the national team coach.

Should Wright continue to impress, he will doubtless be considered to take over Costa Rica’s seleccion. The Ticos have had mixed results with coaches, and have appointed Under 20 coach Ronald Gonzalez on an interim basis for upcoming amistosos against Argentina and France.

U.S.-Honduras in LA?

Next up for the U.S. could be a game against Honduras in Los Angeles.

The U.S. Soccer Federation has yet to announce the game, indicating it has not been finalized. La Prensa reported Monday that Honduras would be meeting the U.S. in Los Angeles Jan. 24.

The La Prensa site also has a story quoting David Suazo's brother, former Honduras national team member Nicolas Suazo, as saying the Catrachos would not be able to defeat Spain "even with 22 players."

[The Nicolas Suazo story originally appeared in Nacion, an interview conducted while Suazo was in Costa Rica for a benefit game. Others involved included Carlos Valderrama and former New England Revolution and San Jose defender Mauricio Wright, who is now coaching Brujas].

Yes, THAT Joaozinho

LEXINGTON, Mass. -- Biggest upset of the weekend? We have to nominate a local game – Canton United-Stoneham Spartans 1-1 (4-2 penalty kicks) for the Over-50 first division championship in the Over The Hill League Sunday morning. (Full disclosure: this blogging person plays for Canton United).

Canton took the lead midway through first half (Jerry Casteneda breakaway), then we held on and continued to counterattack. Luckily, Joaozinho’s free kick hit the crossbar.

I found out later that it was THE Joaozinho who was playing. The free kick was about 22 yards out, straight on; it was eerily similar to the free kick he hit for Cruzeiro to defeat River Plate, the clinching goal in the 1976 Copa Libertadores final in Santiago, Chile.

You can look it up on YouTube and probably other places, as well.

If I had known that was Joaozinho at the time, I would have told our goalkeeper, Jack McGee, to go to his right. Jack retired after the game (hip surgery), a great way to go out; and Brian Hunt replaced him after halftime and – yes – saved a Joaozinho penalty.

I told my teammates I would write about them only if we won this game. I figured it was a longshot. Stoneham went a couple of years with unbeaten records in the Over 40 division, and that was before Joaozinho moved to Boston. This season it had an 11-0 record (43-8 goal differential) going into the final. I also did not want to jinx anything. We knew Stoneham had Mateus, a local legend who used to play for Cruzeiro, and a team loaded with technical players. But we must be decent. And we were playing without our two best strikers, Liam O’Brien and Kieran Whelan. I was on the subs bench and didn’t get in, either. But I figured out we would not have qualified for the playoffs without my contribution; I had a plus-10 goals record for the regular season (we were plus-12 goal differential in 10 games). But my performances often were reminders I made the right choice to focus on writing about, rather than playing, the game.

Anyway, good team, good teammates. Plus, great post-game eats, thanks to Jeff Erickson and cooking by Bill Robertson’s girlfriend. If we had continued the feast at Midwest Grill, we might have met up with Revolution executive Craig Tornberg and Joaozinho himself. That's how I found out about who our opponents were -- Craig called to joke that the Brazilians were crying in their beer over the result; he also said the Revolution are working on a bringing in Cruzeiro for an amistoso. Stay tuned on that.

Champions League trio

The Los Angeles Galaxy's 2-1 win over the New England Revolution Saturday night featured a highlight goal by Landon Donovan, a left-foot volley off a botched clearance. The second Galaxy goal was converted by Jovan Kirovski, and the fact Kirovski was the first U.S. player on the roster of Champions League team in Europe, it reminded me there was a unique combination of players on the Gillette Stadium field.

Besides Kirovski (Borussia Dortmund '97), the Galaxy's David Beckham (Manchester Utd. '99) and the Revolution's Edgaras Jankauskas (Porto '04) were Champions League winners. Having three players with that pedigree was probably a record for an MLS game, and that was without Revolution coach Steve Nicol (Liverpool '84), who was suspended for the contest.

Other Champions League winners to play in the MLS have been Refik Sabanadzovic (Red Star Belgrade '91), Hristo Stoitchkov (Barcelona '92), and Robert Donadoni (Milan '94), according to the league.

Ibra goes home

Zlatan Ibrahimovic's American adventure ended Thursday as he departed Inter's training camp to return to Sweden, according to a source.

Ibrahimovic spent two days in Boston, going for an examination of his left wrist (diagnosed as a strain) at Massachusetts General Hospital Wednesday. Ibrahimovic did not attend Inter's workouts at Harvard University Wednesday or Thursday.

Why Ibrahimovic was allowed to perform in Inter's opening two matches in the World Football Challenge, placing at risk his move to Barcelona, has not been explained. Ibrahimovic sustained the wrist injury during Inter's 2-0 loss to Chelsea at the Rose Bowl Wednesday. 

Donovan deal would set MLS record

AS Livorno plans to offer 10 million euros for the Los Angeles Galaxy's Landon Donovan, according to La Gazzetta Dello Sport, which would break the MLS transfer record. Striker Jozy Altidore went from the New York Red Bulls to Villareal for $10 million last year.

Donovan would finish the season with the Galaxy, then join Livorno during the December transfer session.

Livorno also hopes to add Houston midfielder Ricardo Clark and expects an announcement by Saturday.

Panama had a case

It seemed Panama coach Gary Stempel and the Canalero players were protesting too much after falling, 2-1, to the U.S. in the quarterfinals of the Gold Cup Saturday.

But they might have been justified in disputing Mexican referee Benito Archundia's awarding of a penalty kick to the U.S. late during extra time in the match in Philadelphia.

Defender Roman Torres did foul U.S. striker Kenny Cooper in the penalty area, but the foul itself was a high boot (dangerous play) which should result in an indirect free kick, no matter where it occurs on the field. If Torres was charged with serious foul play, or if he had been the last man and prevented a goal-scoring opportunity with a deliberate foul, he should have been red-carded; instead, Archundia cautioned Torres, indicating the foul was neither.

Another Subotic going to Germany?

Nurdin Hrustic is following a path similar to the one Neven Subotic took to Germany and, possibly, the Bosnian national team.

Hrustic, who attended Wolfson High School in Jacksonville, Fla., left Jacksonville University after one season to sign a contract with VfL Bochum in Germany. Like Subotic, a former U.S. U20 player who is now with Borussia Dortmund, Hrustic is a central defender born in Bosnia.

The Hrustic family joined a strong Bosnian immigrant community in Jacksonville in the 1990s. Hurdin and twin brother Nedim made major impacts at the club and high school level, then enrolled at Jacksonville University. Nurdin, listed at 6 feet 3 inches, 175 pounds, was injured and sat out a redshirt season. Nedim is scheduled to return to college for his sophomore season.

Identifying the next Rossi

Giuseppe Rossi is providing the latest evidence that there is plenty of soccer-playing talent in the U.S. The downfall of the national team, and the MLS, though, is a lack of ability to identify and develop young players.

U.S. administrators and coaches often fail to project the future of players. And the U.S. soccer system lags behind those of Europe and South America.

Let's use Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo as examples. Both Messi (Barcelona) and Ronaldo (Sporting Lisbon) were recruited to clubs as 12-year-olds. Messi, like Rossi, was slight of build; in fact, he was given steroids because it was thought he could be suffering from a physical defect which stunted his growth.

Rossi also got into the club system as a 12-year-old, leaving New Jersey for Parma. Scouts at Barcelona, Parma, and Sporting recognized the innate talents of these players, making that a priority over size and strength. Ronaldo matured early physically. Messi and Rossi will never be much bigger or stronger than they were when they were in their late teens, but their exceptional savvy and skill more than compensate for lack of size.

The MLS' recently-established development program is a crucial step toward recruiting young talent. MLS teams must have incentive to bring in promising youngsters, or else the Rossi-type players will continue to either get away or simply not be given a chance.

Rossi's transfer for 11 million euros from Manchester United to Villareal two years ago is a record move for a U.S.-born player, one which will likely be broken the next time he moves. After scoring twice in Italy's 3-1 win over the U.S. in Rustenburg Monday, Rossi, 22, has established himself as a key part of the Azzurri for next year's World Cup.

The last U.S.-born player to score for Italy was Alfonso Negro, in a 2-1 win over Norway Aug. 10, 1936 during the Berlin Olympics. Negro was born in Clinton, Ind., near Terre Haute, returning to Italy with his family as a youngster and performing for Fiorentina.

Can Real Madrid afford to overspend?

Real Madrid president Florentino Perez apparently has the financial resources to pay record transfer fees. Perez’ Grupo ACS (Actividades de construccion y servicios) provides infrastructure improvements globally. Among ACS’ latest projects is rebuilding the entire high tension wiring system of the United Arab Emirates.

But rivals are questioning Real Madrid’s payments for Cristiano Ronaldo (94 million euros) from Manchester United and Kaka’ (67.2 million euros) from Milan, plus plans to spend another 150 million euros, possibly on Xavi Alonso (Liverpool), Maicon (Inter), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), and David Villa (Valencia). Barcelona president Joan Laporta said the Real Madrid spending spree is distorting market values. And, the economy in Spain is suffering, as it is in most of the world, making it difficult to justify spending mega-sums.

Spain, though, has an advantage over other countries in attracting players, since clubs are allowed to carry major debts. Another attraction for high-earners is that Spain has a much lower tax on wages than England or Italy.

Real’s debt is listed at 562 million euros. Spain’s La Liga clubs are carrying 3.4 billion euros of debt.

UEFA president Michel Platini proposes that clubs’ finances must be balanced, or they will risk being barred from Champions League play. Barcelona, which has 439 million euros in debts, and Real Madrid would not pass that UEFA test; but it is difficult to believe either club will not be competing for next season’s European title.

Perez is attempting to duplicate the success he brought Real Madrid after the arrival Luis Figo and Zinedine Zidane, creating the Galacticos earlier this decade. But Perez might be overdoing it -- again. Real Madrid began to decline partly because of its inflated salary structure, losing Claude Makelele to Chelsea.

Kaka' and a couple of central defenders would have been sufficient this time around, especially since Real Madrid has lost Fabio Cannavaro.

Here is a list of the all-time top transfer fees (in euros):

1) 94M – C. Ronaldo (Manchester Utd./Real Madrid) 2009;
2) 68.8M – Zinedine Zidane (Juventus/Real Madrid) 2001;
3) 67.2M – Kaka’ (Milan/Real Madrid) 2009;
4) 55.8M – Figo (Barcelona/Real Madrid) 2000;
5) 53.6M – Hernan Crespo (Parma/Lazio) 2000;
6) 51.1M – Robinho (Real Madrid/Manchester City) 2008;
7) 49.2M – Gianluigi Buffon (Parma/Juventus) 2001.

It should be noted both Ronaldo and Figo were developed by Sporting Lisbon.