By FRANCO PANIZO
Oguchi Onyewu's first season at AC Milan wasn't the one he had hoped for, but that hasn't stopped the U.S. international from extending his stay with the club.
Onyewu has extended his deal with Milan by one year, meaning he is under contract with the club until June 2013. The most intriguing part of the extension is that Onyewu has requested not to be paid during that final year, a decision impacted by the knee injury that sidelined him for much of this season.
The news of Onyewu's extension comes on the day that the U.S. national team's pre-World Cup camp is set to begin. Onyewu, who has not played a match since Oct. 14 of last year, is one of nine defenders hoping to make the team.
Here are some more stories from Monday:
Ballack to miss World Cup
Michael Ballack's World Cup dreams are over.
Having suffered an ankle injury in Chelsea's 1-0 FA Cup final win over Portsmouth on Saturday, Ballack has been ruled out of playing in his third World Cup. The knock will sideline Ballack for eight weeks, leaving Germany without its captain and midfield ace this summer.
Toronto FC's Zachary Herold retires
Toronto FC and U-17 U.S. national team defender Zachary Herold has been forced to retire from professional soccer due to a health condition. Herold suffers from Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) – which causes abnormal thickening of a part of the heart muscle and could lead to a potentially fatal heart rhythm – and it was detected during medicals administered in pre-season. Herold has since been consulted by several experts in the U.S. and Canada, and the safest route for him was to retire.
Toronto's second round pick in this year's MLS SuperDraft, Herold will be honored in a ceremonial coin toss in Toronto FC's match against the New England Revolution on May 22.
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What do you think of Onyewu extending his stay with AC Milan for free? Upset to hear Ballack is out of the World Cup? Disappointed by Herold's retirement?
Share your thoughts below.
Yea, come to think of it, that doesn’t look too promising.
Someeone earlier said that they had only seen this news from one source, and that source was unreliable and known for bs.
This quote is from an ESPN article citing a statement from the club itself, which is a good sign that the story is legit.
At this point in time it doesn’t matter anymore because it’s on lots of websites and news tickers and etc. This was earlier in the day.
+1 I’m almost convinced that we’d be better off vs Germany
Devasting for Zachary Herald to be forced into retirement before his promising career could even begin. Brings home the importance of a back-up plan for these young athletes no matter how talented. What a bummer! I feel for the kid.
HOLY SMOKES!!! Does that cover photo give anyone else the willies? Onyewu’s leg stuck out like that, on the opposite side of the ball, fully committed with all his weight, and pressure from the opposing player. It looks like the whole thing is about to snap like a twig. ZOINKS!!!
Having suffered multiple leg fractures myself, I can’t look at that photo without getting all queasy.
There’s a union?
Four comes after three which comes after two. I’ll leave it to you to figure out what comes BEFORE two.
If the US loses 3 group games, they won’t get to play Germany or anyone else for that matter. You see, it would mean that they were eliminated and there will not be a fourth game.
Thought you’d like to know.
Onyewu likley made this decision after input from his agent and/or other advisors. They must see an upside to this arrangement beyond “the supporters will think I’m a great guy.” He’s been in football long enough to know that supporters are fickle. Whether it works out or not, time will tell, but I don’t see how we can label this a bad move without knowing his situation and the details of his contract.
except that’s four and out…
Gooch’s contract extension is very odd – there must be more to it. I wonder if Milan had Gooch’s contract insured, meaning he was paid by a third party due to the extended injury. By extending it a year, Milan still pays Gooch the same amount of money over the same period of time and Gooch and the team get some good press to send out to the fans.
Also, Leonardo didn’t bring Gooch in; the club did and the coach was stuck with him – and never played him either.
Neither will the firm checkbook for ribeye lunches…
The only way for us to gauge this decision’s impact is to wait out his contract and, essentially, his career. If it pays dividends and he stays with the club into his late 30s like most players in Italy, then it will have made perfect sense. If not, and Gooch struggles to match those wages or see the field, then there will be some serious evidence as to it being a “stupid business decision”. Until then, I’m not sure how anyone could call it that.
You make no sense, 3 and out for the USMNT would insinuate that they don’t make it out of the group stages, which is a contradiction to your prior statement that they come out as the number two from the group..
botang tackle should have been red card such a garbage player then he misses a pk by going down the middle on the ground
if u go down the middle put it in the air dumbass, and dont ruin ballacks ankle 🙁
That’s fair. I guess we shall see. I hope he rises to the occasion. It would make the occasionally insufferable Serie A games on FSC more enjoyable.
Not only that, but World Cup matches are FIFA matches, Boateng would only be suspended for FA cup matches..
Just as Ribery is suspended UEFA games (ala Champions League) and not the World Cup.
Whatever the motives behind Gooch’s decision, it could make him really unpopular with other players in Europe. If the next player to get injured playing for their country is asked to take a similar deal,this would be viewed as union-busting.
(oops, didn’t mean to post that yet, not sure how that happened.)
I would think he did this with a view to the long term. As for the view of the fans, of course they’re going to like it, they’d like to hear that anyone wants to play for their club for free, as if it’s just for the love of the team.
But loyalty should have nothing to do with it. Any club that cries foul about money when a player misses significant time due to injury is being hypocritical, unless they also go back and pay a young player big money for a past season if he has an unexpected break out year. And if they want to complain about players getting injured while on international duty, then if one of their players has a surprisingly good international tournament, the club shouldn’t raise transfer fee above what he would have been rated before that tournament.
Crying foul about money lost, while not sharing money saved or gained, is all part of the dance.
Expect team USA come out as the number two seed from group stage. That means they’ll meet Germany on the next stage. Will the outcome of that game change given Ballack’s exclusion? … No. It’s still three and out for USMNT.
Wow this makes the Germany/Ghana that much more interesting. Brother vs. Brother, and one of the brother’s took out his brother’s team captain
As someone said, Gooch’s contract is a stupid business decision… in the short term. But outside of those involved, who knows all the factors that went into it? I would think he did this
Not only that, but Boateng’s brother plays for Germany. If they are both called upon they will be the first brothers ever to play against each other in the world cup.
lol
Gooch didn’t ask to work for free. Effectively, he just asked to lower to annual rate on the contract in exchange for more years (he’s getting paid a little bit each year in advance of any payment on the final year). Call it a good faith gesture if you want, but it is also about making the club more inclined to invest in him for the long term. This happens all the time in the NFL, where contracts aren’t guaranteed. Here, the risk is he sits the whole time or gets loaned out to a lesser side.
let’s say he has a great WC and that he starts playing well for AC Milan next year–then other teams become suitors for his services. Could this scenario lead to a “paid 3rd year” by an AC Milan side who want to keep him instead of being sold to another team? I don’t know a lot about contracts, but I don’t think that this contract means he will NOT be paid in his 3rd year (if AC changes their mind), nor that he might not have another team buy his services.
Kathleen,
This is sports. What does Gooch do for money once he’s done playing at age 34? Players need to make their cash while they can, that’s not greedy but being a good business person.
ko’d – I think your point is valid and well made. They could send him on his way and make money out of the deal since he was free. I just don’t see him fitting in at Milan.
Then you’ve never been to Milan 🙂
What other tactics? How about do nothing? No one was requesting he take a pay cut as far we know.
lol, not yet. I’d have to be riled up for that. We have summers getting here soon, and then my petty legal research will know no bounds.
“Leonardo out as coach” is what worries me — who is to say the next coach wants Gooch?
Maybe he should be greedy. The window for players to earn money is short.
Who’d you bill the Westlaw charges to? 😉
Huh?
“A club statement, so hopefully that means they were at the same pressa conference or w/e that the other source was, and so this is true.”
I can’t even guess at what you were trying to say.
Is it your business decision? Are you not getting paid? Then who are you to say that his decision is stupid?
Onyewu is a smart guy. I’m sure he’s not going to be hurting for that year’s salary once his career is over, plus he probably is building some goodwill that he can “cash in” on down the road. Because cashing in is all that matters to types like you, right What?? That’s all that’s smart to you. Getting paid and getting out. THAT is dumb. His values prompted him to do this, and these values offend you, because you apparently don’t share them.
I try to never begrudge a player for going somewhere to earn more money. Most people would do the same thing. But not everyone.
Let him manage his career, and we’ll see how he ends up.
Good for Gooch. It just shows you what he values and what kind of person he is.
I’d play for free at Milan too.
Why do people keep writing about some Botang guy?
Who is Botang, and what did he do to you?
Double Chocolate?
Mint is where it’s at.
Really good news. If AC Milan sees something in him then that can only bode well for next month. We need him.
Also, I find it interesting that Boateng was the one who injured Ballack with his horrible tackle. Boateng plays for Ghana who play Germany in the group stage.
Interesting
I love a Milano myself. Especially the double chocolate ones.
You are probably right that this all checks out. But there is one indication that he’s not being paid: that’s exactly what Ives said in the write-up 🙂
Commission and performace pay schemes are both “pay”. I am fairly confident that commission+wages has to equal
the hourly minimum wage, though that’s not relevant here, obviously. I assume it’s different for independent contractors.
This is all academic since, like you said, we have no idea what the contract actually says. I now have to get back to work as an Italian employment law attorney.
Man, that sucks about Ballack. I will miss watching der Kleine Kaiser play for the third straight WC.
This is from (sorry) ESPN’s story:
A club statement read: “Onyewu, who has been out for virtually the whole season due to injury, but who at this time is getting ready to face the World Cup adventure in South Africa with his national team, has become a star today with a significant gesture from a personal and professional standpoint.
“Onyewu has requested and obtained a contract extension from June 30, 2012 until June 30, 2013. With respect to that year, as was his wish, which has been appreciated by the club, Onyewu has asked not to receive any type of wages. This is an exemplary gesture that deserves our sincere congratulations.”
A club statement, so hopefully that means they were at the same pressa conference or w/e that the other source was, and so this is true.
Yes, but it was only a yellow card.
Well, scratch that, I just read the statement in Italian on the Milan webpage. Not much detail, but it appears to be true.
Not everybody is a greedy, selfish jerk.
Yeah, I see him playing his way to a better contract. You gotta love this guy’s determination and ‘give-it-your-all’ style of play way too much to not give him a chance. And when he gets that chance I think he’ll really show them something.
I think this shows that Gooch is a top class player! I bet Christiano Ronaldo or any other high profile player would never do that. Good job Gooch! I hope you rip it up in Milan for the next couple of years!
dead on.