Red Bulls continue overhaul by letting Hans Backe go

Fewer than 24 hours following a gut-wrenching elimination from the MLS Cup playoffs, the New York Red Bulls continued their front office overhaul with the appointment of former Scotland national team coach and UEFA technical director Andy Roxburgh as sporting director and the announcement that coach Hans Backe would not return.

 Backe's contract was set to expire at year's end. Backe rebuilt the Red Bulls following the disastrous 2009 campaign and went 43-30-32 in MLS play. The record is decent, but three consecutive MLS Cup quarterfinal eliminations (and a 0-3-0 postseason record at Red Bull Arena) likely wasn't be enough to satisfy the club's ambitious owners. Hans Backe's time as Red Bulls coach ends in cold disappointment.

Pele in good condition after surgery

A Brazilian hospital says Pele is in good condition after undergoing surgery. The Albert Einstein hospital in Sao Paulo did not release details, but local media said Tuesday that the football great had an operation on his hip.

 Pele won three World Cup titles with Brazil, the first in 1958 when he was 17. (AP Photo) The hospital said it can only disclose additional information with the consent of the former player's family. Globo TV said he is expected to be released on Wednesday. It wasn't clear when he was admitted. Pele, who won three World Cup titles with Brazil and scored nearly 1,300 career goals, turned 72 in October.

Conor Casey leaving Colorado Rapids as part of roster overhaul

The Colorado Rapids announced Friday that Conor Casey, the 2010 MLS Cup MVP and the club’s all-time leading scorer, will leave the team “by mutual agreement.”

 The 31-year-old forward is one of eight players set to depart after the Rapids opted not to exercise contract options or offer new deals. The others are Edu, Ian Joyce, Tyrone Marshall, Joseph Nane, Scott Palguta, Tyson Wahl and Luis Zapata. Conor Casey, left, is leaving his hometown club. (AP Photo) It is Casey’s name that stands out.

MLS playoffs: Seattle, D.C. face daunting deficits in second leg

The details of the goal, who scored it and how, don’t linger as much in Jeff Agoos’ memory as the impact it had on his team. For the record, it was Khari Stephenson in the 26th minute. The Jamaican midfielder now plays for the San Jose Earthquakes, but in the fall of 2004 he was going up against his current team as a member of the Kansas City Wizards (now known as Sporting Kansas City), who returned to Arrowhead Stadium for the second leg of their MLS Cup quarterfinal series trailing by two goals on aggregate.

 MLS playoffs 2012: Expect Eddie Johnson to be a central figure in any comeback by the Sounders. (AP Photo) Stephenson’s strike halved San Jose’s advantage with more than an hour left to play. “That first goal was a backbreaker,” Agoos, the Earthquakes' captain, recalled.

Reports: Maryland, Rutgers negotiating to join Big Te

The Big Ten, in the hopes of bolstering its already lucrative TV rights package, is exploring expansion again and is in “serious negotiations” with Maryland, first reported by ESPN and then confirmed by The Washington Post and Yahoo! Sports. And should Maryland agree to leave the conference it helped create in 1953,

ESPN says Rutgers then would leave the Big East and accompany the Terrapins and give the Big Ten an even 14 teams. Maryland is in talks to join the Big Ten. Kevin Anderson is the Terps' athletic director. (AP Photo) Those two moves would provide the Big Ten with access into the mega-TV markets of New York (No. 1), Washington, D.C. (No. 9) and Baltimore (No. 26).

Scotland v New Zealand: Hail the conquering All Blacks

All Blacks legend John Gallagher makes a startling admission when I ask him if he ever wonders if he might have been one of the great England full-backs.

 “I don’t think I would have made it in England at all,” says Gallagher, who was born in south London and moved to New Zealand as a teenager.

Chelsea reveal Terry out for ‘weeks’

After being left out for the club’s Champions League clash against Shakhtar Donetsk, the captain put the Blues ahead in the first half against Brendan Rodgers’ side before being stretchered off in the 38th minute with suspected cruciate ligmanet damage.

 Chelsea revealed on their official website, however, that the problem was not as bad has some had originally feared, stating:

Arsenal ready to offload Emmanuel Frimpong in New Year

The Gunners academy graduate, who has been at the club since he was nine, is out of contract at the end of the season. But Arsenal chiefs have been unimpressed with the development of the midfielder and it is understood there are no plans to extend his stay at the club beyond next summer.

 The club, who were relegated to the Championship in the summer, are keen to take Frimpong on loan again in January as it grows increasingly likely that he will leave Emirates Stadium.There is strong interest in Frimpong from Wolves, where the 20-year-old began a loan spell in the second half of last season only for it to be ended after five games because of a cruciate ligament injury to his right knee.

Manchester City sweating over Nastasic knee knock

The Serbian was withdrawn shortly before the hour mark after picking up a knock and left the ground with an ice pack on his leg.

City’s medical staff are treating the tests as precautionary, with Roberto Mancini already currently without Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards and make-shift defensive option Jack Rodwell due to injuries.
The 19-year-old impressed against Tottenham before falling heavily towards the end of the first half, and was replaced by Maicon as City came from a goal down to secure three points thanks to strikes from Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko.

Van Persie pulls out of Netherlands squad with thigh injury

Van Persie played the full 90 minutes of United’s 3-2 victory over Aston Villa on Saturday but has now dropped out of Louis van Gaal’s party for the midweek game.

Wolfsburg striker Bas Dost will replace Van Persie in the squad for the fixture. Van Gaal has been forced to leave four other players out of his plans for the match in Amsterdam.