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Mid-day Ticker: English players face charges from Serbian police, Arsenal’s big comeback and more

By JOSE M. ROMERO 

The aftermath of a brawl between players from England’s and Serbia’s U-21 teams two weeks ago continues, with Serbian police having charged two unnamed England players and an assistant coach for their roles in the racism-tinged melee.

Video of the brawl showed England player Danny Rose making monkey-like gestures and pointing to the stands after a U-21 Euro 2013 qualifier between the two teams. Rose could be one of those facing charges.

The accused players and coach, if convicted in Serbian court, could face jail time in that country.

The Football Association of England said Rose was the target of racial abuse, and it plans to defend those charged. The Serbian FA has already suspended two of its players from international competition for a year.

Here are more stories from around the world of soccer:

Arsenal completes amazing comeback

Arsenal rallied from a 4-0 deficit to Reading for a remarkable 7-5 win in extra time Tuesday night in a League Cup match, a comeback for the ages at any level.

Theo Walcott scored a hat trick, including goals in both halves’ stoppage times. The match was hailed by media as the greatest comeback in League Cup history.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger admitted that the League Cup is not high on his club’s list of priorities; nevertheless, the Gunners didn’t want to be embarrassed. It looked that way for a half before everything turned around.

Highlights of the match in Reading, during which more than a few disgusted Arsenal fans left early, made ESPN’s Sportscenter.

If you didn’t see them, here’s a minute-by-minute account of the match courtesy of The Guardian.

Blackburn names manager

English second-division club Blackburn is set to name former defender Henning Berg as its new manager, according to a report from the BBC. 

Berg will sign a three-year contract to guide the struggling Rovers, who are in fifth place hoping to move back into the Premier League.

Berg played for Blackburn when the Rovers won the Premier League championship in 1995. He’s been working as a TV commentator since being fired by Lillestrom earlier this month.

Dempsey, Tottenham face Norwich in League Cup

U.S. national team forward Clint Dempsey offered his thoughts on Wednesday’s League Cup match for the Spurs against EPL rival Norwich City.

Dempsey scored the game-winning goal against Southampton in a 2-1 win on Sunday.

 

Comments

  1. Deuce just missed a PK with 2 minutes left in regulation at Norwich to tie the game 2-2. Norwich win and Tottenham are out of the Carling cup. Not one of his finer moments.

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    • Don’t know if my memory is just off here, but he has always seemed like a terrible PK taker. Seems like he misses the same way all the time (gets a weak half-hearted side-footed poke saved). Perhaps I’m just remembering the bad ones, though. Brings back memory of his miss against Chelsea couple years back after an otherwise amazing game. Luckily there’s almost always a better taker on the field at the time. Oh well, luckily he’s very mentally strong and hopefully it won’t take a toll on his league playing time.

      Reply
      • No, you’re memory isn’t wrong. He’s struggled with pks throughout his career. Not sure why he took tonight’s. I know bale has had his pk troubles too tho. Not sure who’s next in line.

      • Rather he play on a mid-table club. Bad for the American game if our players go to elite teams and are exposed for being the overrated players they are,

      • Honestly, Dempsey has looked lost at Spurs all season long. He has only scored on rebounds “right place, right time” type goals. Has not created with the ball, has not gotten into the right areas without it. I tend to think his fantastic season at Fulham was the exception to the rule. He should be riding the bench the way he has played. And his missed penalty will not help his case – it was an awful effort.

  2. Today, offensive = racist and racist = crime so offensive = crime? How do you prove such a thing? We are better off just looking the other way and shunning those throwbacks. I also love how the European folks think tough environments are places where fans give offensive and racist words and chants. In CONCACAF tough environments are places where you are worried about your physical wellbeing instead of just your feelings being hurt.

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    • “racist” may = “offensive” but it’s somewhat insulting to say “offensive” = “racist”. It’s like equating calling someone “fat” to calling them a “n___”. Most definitely not the same thing.

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  3. I watched that game after knowing the result and reading the vastly entertaining Guardian play by play, but I still couldn’t believe it. “Really? THREE more goals to come? I must have read that wrong.”

    As for impact on the season…Martinez is CLEARLY not ready – he was horrible. Koscielny was also awful. I’m even tempted to say that Wolcott’s flaws were on display despite the hat trick. (His first touch running on open balls in the box is horrid. Really unbelievable, considering how well he can dribble in close quarters.

    The big news was Giroud, who was absolutely inspired when he came in. He was a monster. If he has found his form, he could be huge for the Gunners the rest of the way.

    But man…I have never seen a game like this since I coached in the U10s!

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  4. While you can’t condone fighting, it’s hard not to think that the charges out of Serbia against the England team are, in part to spread blame for the brawl, and part to deflect from the real issue.

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    • I think it’s 100% proof that serbia has endemic racism throughout their system and charging Rose is proof, as is the fact that that racist goon Mijhalovic (sp) is their national team coach, it’d be like England hiring John Terry as their NT coach (though worse).

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  5. Serbia’s claims are a complete farce. The English FA embarrassed themselves fully over the past year, between the Redknapp hiring, the Suarez case, and then the Terry case, but now they have plenty of opportunity to redeem themselves. Give ’em hell, fellas.

    Reply
  6. The amazing thing about the Arsenal comeback is that EVERY SINGLE STARTER in tonight’s League Cup game did not start in the weekend’s game vs. QPR. 100% squad of second stringers, including at least one teenager in Serge Gnabry!. Must be nice to have the likes of Walcott and Giroud in your 2nd string.

    Reply

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