Planet Soccer

This is not the way I planned it. I’m coming home empty handed. There is no excess baggage to check and there is no point making a fuss about what might have been. I had my chance and I blew it.

Around this time of year I make an annual pilgrimage to the old country to visit family and friends. This year’s tour has been a veritable road trip, featuring stops in London, Leicester, Yorkshire, Southampton and the Isle of Wight.

I'll admit it: I was a soccer snob.

European and South American soccer is all I used to really care about. When Toronto FC came to town in 2007, I started watching Major League Soccer for the first time (having previously ignored the league since it launched in 1996) and now I'm hooked - I even splurged and bought MLS' on-demand package so I could watch games on the web.

Accepting MLS as a legitimate league was a big step for me as an admitted soccer snob, but I absolutely drew the line at watching the USL First Division, one level below MLS and home to the Montreal Impact.

Before we go any further, let me come clean: I am a die-hard Juventus fan.

Ever since I was a child, I've cheered for the bianconeri. Friend and co-workers can attest to my passion for the club - countless of their social invitations have been turned down over the years just so I could stay home and watched my beloved Juve.

My bias aside, I can say with complete conviction that Alessandro Del Piero's goal against Zenit St. Petersburg in the Champions League Wednesday night is one of the greatest goals I have ever seen.

Long-suffering Canadian soccer fans will have to wait at least until 2014 to see their national team qualify for the World Cup.

Canada lost 2-1 to Mexico Wednesday in a crucial World Cup qualifier, a result that leaves the Canadian team's chances of qualifying for the 2010 tournament looking pretty bleak.

Mexico leads its CONCACAF qualifying group with nine points, followed by Honduras with six, and Canada and Jamaica with one apiece. Canada will travel to Honduras on Oct. 11 and welcome Mexico to Edmonton's Commonwealth Stadium on Oct. 15 before wrapping up the qualifying round at Jamaica on Nov. 19.

Toronto FC has hit a rough patch and is in serious danger of missing the playoffs for a second straight season, but coach John Carver hasn't given up hope.

Nor has the team's current winless skid stopped him from thinking about his future with the club.

Carver is on a one-year deal with Toronto FC that expires at the end of the 2008 campaign. His contract doesn't automatically roll over once the season is over, which means he has to negotiate a contract extension with the club if he hopes to return in 2009.

FIFA's decision Wednesday to stick to its guns and force pro clubs to release players 23 years old and under to play in next month's Beijing Olympics was hardly a shocker.

The under-23 rule has been on the books for a while now, but the hypocrisy of the rule bothers me.

"Taking part in the Olympic Games is a unique opportunity for all athletes of any sporting discipline," FIFA said in a statement.

If it's so important, why doesn't FIFA mandate that clubs must release all players, regardless of age, who have been called up to play for their respective Olympic teams?

He walked into the room and I instantly forgot about every nasty word I ever wrote about him.

I just sat there transfixed, staring at him and studying his every move, listening to every word he spoke. He didn’t change my opinion about him as a player, but I have to admit that I walked away with a newfound respect for David Beckham.

Regular readers of this blog know my feelings about Beckham: mainly that he is a one-trick pony, that his skills as a footballer are nowhere near commensurate with the media attention he receives, and that England will never - repeat NEVER! - win the World Cup as long as Beckham is on the team.

Still, when I was offered the chance to meet Beckham on Wednesday - my reward for helping CBC Sports commentator Brenda Irving prepare for her one-on-one TV interview with the former England captain - I took it.

The reporters who gathered in the media room at BMO Field after Toronto FC's 0-0 draw with San Jose Saturday knew something was up when coach John Carver took his seat.

"Just a second," Carver warned before starting the press conference. "I want to make sure everyone is here and they hear what I have to say. Have your pencils sharpened."

We all knew what was coming - or so we thought. The Englishman was about to tear a strip off his club for its uneven performance (despite dominating possession and carving out more scoring chances) and its failure to beat the Earthquakes, the worst team in the league.

His career seemingly in tatters, Ronaldinho will try to revitalize his career in Italy.

On Tuesday, AC Milan agreed to pay FC Barcelona $33.4 million US for the services of the two-time FIFA player of the year. Milan will fork over an additional $6.3 million to the Spanish outfit if it clinches a place in next season's Champions League.

Is it money well spent by the rossoneri? You better believe it.

The tournament isn't over yet, but already the debate is raging: is this year's European Championship the best ever?

It's hard to say - for my money, Euro 2000 is still the best - but I could easily change my mind, depending on what happens in the next two games of Euro 2008.

The past three tournaments were all fantastic, producing some of the greatest games and moments in the game's history. Euro '92, although not at the same level, saw the most shocking result in the history of the tournament with Denmark winning it all.