When I travel abroad, people often tell me that the United States is good at soccer only because they import foreigners to play for the national team. While this strategy was key in our development as a soccer nation, it is far, far less common today. The 1990s saw the US scour European leagues for players with American connections, coming up with gems such as Ernie Stewart and Thomas Dooley (both of whom had American servicemen fathers) and duds such as David Wagner and David Regis (the latter was a Frenchman whose late call-up into the 1998 World Cup squad led to great friction within the team and was a large part of the team’s horrible showing in that tournament). But since the turn of the century, the US has invested a tremendous amount of money into youth development, and nearly all of its players have been born in this country. Despite this, the image of the US as a sub-par team that must import foreigners to achieve success has lingered. Yet ironically, in recent years the US has helped to develop several players who have gone on to play for other countries internationally.

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The net is a great source for wholesale silver in all different shapes and styles Whether you are looking for wholesale silver rings, silver charms, or silver soccer charms, there is sure to be a great option for jewelry on the web!The soccer field is a place firmly rooted in the world, but also, in a sense, removed from it. The norms of behavior followed during a match could not reasonably be employed in any other situation (yelling at your boss as you do a referee cannot have positive results). Like Las Vegas, what happens on the field usually stays on the field. Nowhere is this more apparent than in application of criminal law. Punishment for misdeeds on the pitch is often non-existent (Exhibit A: Toni Schumacher) or handled by the footballing authorities themselves. It is rare that the long arm of criminal law makes its way on the field. Rare, but not unheard of.

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A few years ago, FIFA came up with a saying that was to improve refereeing around the globe: “Make common sense more common.” If the organization had hoped for more uniformity among its referees, it was to be sorely disappointed. The interpretation of soccer’s seemingly simple set of laws varies widely across countries, as do ways to break these laws, and what is in fact seen as law-breaking. Cheating, it turns out, is open to interpretation.

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In November of 2004, Robinho was reported to be on the verge of moving from Brazilian team Santos to Real Madrid. The transfer fees being discussed in the media were about $23 million. Robinho’s contract at Real Madrid would make the boy who had grown up in desperate poverty into a rich young man. Robinho had only one thing on his mind. And then, his mother was kidnapped.

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