By JOHN BOSCHINI
Chad Ochocinco’s soccer career is going to last just a little bit longer.
Sporting Kansas City confirmed today that the Cincinnati Bengal’s receiver will take part in a reserve match against the Kansas City Brass on Monday, extending his trial into next week.
Ochocinco, who said he prefers soccer to football, hasn’t played competitively since his 10th grade. The six-time Pro Bowler accepted a trial with the club as the NFL struggles through a lockout.
Here are some more stories to get you through Friday.
HEYNCKES TO BE NEXT BAYERN MANAGER
Bayer Leverkusen coach Jupp Heynckes is set to become the manager of Bayern Munich following the upcoming departure of Louis van Gaal, according to German media.
The 65-year-old manager will take over the Bundesliga side on July 1. Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge confirmed that Heynckes has agreed to a two-year contract.
This is will be Heynckes third time coaching Bayern Munich. He coached from 1987-1991 before returning for a five-game stint at the end of the 2009 season after the ill-fated tenure of Jurgen Klinsmann.
MLS ANNOUNCES “WORLD FOOTBALL CHALLENGE”
MLS and CAA Sports have announced the return of the “World Football Challenge” to be played this summer. The inaugural event in 2009 featured Inter Milan, AC Milan, Chelsea and Club America in a round-robin tournament. This year’s event will run from July 14-Aug. 6 and will feature MLS teams along with European sides. Neither company has released details in regards to the participating teams or venues.
GALLAS IN CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS WITH TOTTENHAM
Tottenham has offered a contract extension to French defender William Gallas following a successful first season at White Heart Lane. The 33-year-old joined Tottenham from rival Arsenal at the beginning of the season on a one-year contract. There has been no word as to how much the new contract will be worth or the number of years.
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What do you think of today's stories? Stoked to see Ochocinco play a game? Will Heynckes be successful at Bayern? Will you go to the "World Football Challenge" if it comes to your town?
Share your thoughts below
I think that many of you failed to address the mental aspect of any sport. I have know many athletes with the physical skills who lacked the “mental determination” (or whatever it is) to make it as professionals. Conversely, there are some who achieve much more than expected with their natural physical capabilities.
Jupp Heynckes. Nice!
Nice!
+1,000
Skinn you get exactly what I meant. Thank you
Obviously, CA is talking about the World Football Challenge. Who is their right mind would get worked-up about a seemingly nice guy with a genuine interest in soccer playing in a reserve league match?
You might be kidding, but I think that would be freaking awesome! If he could legitimately break into any team, it would likely be one of the expansion clubs, right?
Weren’t we dealing with that before the 8 5?
MLS has been fighting that tag since a ball was ever kicked in the league.
Igf the league survived the shootout, names like the Clash, Wiz and Burn, bigname guys coming over to steal paychecks, many of them ina final gasp just before finally retiring–it can survive this.
I just don’t think that it is that big of a deal.
It’s harmless, Bro. Nobody with a developmental contract on Sporting KFC is going to lose their job over this.
It’s gonna be ok, Playah.
Two months from now, it’s going to the answer to a trivia question and a nice anecdote about a guy who loved one sport but was urged to pursue another, mostly due to economic reasons.
Think Steve Nash, but a Yank and without a brother like Martin…
Haha, well done. Is there anything more annoying that people who only like something because of its exclusivity, whether in sports, music, art, or whatever?
Hockey and soccer are similar in that they have goals and goalies. That’s really about it. The skills don’t translate. Speed on the ice isn’t even correlated to being fast on dry ground. The foot skills involved are guite different and mostly it’s about hand-eye coordination. As far as comparisons go, hockey is much more like lacrosse than it is soccer.
Even for a WR it’s different. The running translates, and the ability to pick up the flight of a ball — but it’s also very much about hand-eye coordination. However, the athleticism involved in twisting and positioning to catch a football would translate to soccer, the vertical jumping ability translates, and speed does, too.
Ochocinco is an extraordinary athlete, even by NFL standards. If he does have coachable ball skills, this isn’t a joke. Does anyone expect a contract offer here? I doubt they have enough money to entice him to turn his back on the NFL right now, and I’m sure they wouldn’t see him worth more than a minimum salary contract.
However, if the lockout continues, he could continue to train with the team and get better. A year from now? I owuldn’t put anything beyond the realm of possibility. Someone with his native athleticism, training with a pro team for a season? He could develop into a guy hwo could open up defenses. A lousy touch? Did anyone watch Ngwenya last week for DC United? And, Olsen isn’t ruling out starting him again. Ochocinco could run circles around Ngwenya.
i believe the new CBA signed last year has minimum contract amoutns for players. I’m sure he’d have to be paid SOMETHING
+1.
Freaking hilarrrrioussss.
You captured what I feel when people start going too crazy with the sophistication, beautiful game, deporte del rey type stuff.
Well played, Sir.
I’m with you! How can it be called the “World Football Challenge” when the teams are from the US and Europe? And it’s hardly going to be a challenge — it will be a tournament of club friendlies where players will exchange jersies afterward.
How? When a world class athlete, six time pro bowler tells everyone who listens how hard it is to master this game and how elite the guys he’s working are? He is providing much needed context for the non-soccer US sports fan to understand something about the men who play our game.
I first thought this was a joke, but every time he opens his mouth, I love it more.
People, the point isn’t really whether person X or Y in particular would or would not have been great soccer players if they’d played all their lives. THis debate misses the point entirely. It is, if more and more elite athletes had chosen to pursue soccer over other sports, then you’d have better chances of developing that combination of athleticism and skill and a deeper talent pool to draw on. And of Ochocinco’s love of the game and training stint with SKC turn a few athletic kids onto the game, all the better.
I thought he did look better, but he spends a LOT of time looking at his feet. 🙂
Frankly, I love his comments and his respect for the game. It’s awesome.
haha yes! I was hoping someone would pick up on that 85th minute reference. But, i am serious about the rest of my comment haha
Neither Crosby or Ovechkin would play for the US unfortunately. (If they did play soccer)
I think it’s all a complete joke, and makes MLS look like a mickey mouse league.
“There are however, a lot of smaller athletes who could excel at soccer if they grew up playing it, and some of those are basketball guards, or football recievers and safeties.”
Agreed. Interestingly, the pro sport (in the US) most often compared (though less so anymore) is hockey. Crosby or Ovechkin (or any of a few dozen others) would probably have all the physical tools necessary.
Grow those bad boys up right (that is, playing soccer, not stickball, handegg, and hoops) and yeah, we’d probably do better than we do. I’d say it’s a lock, really.
85th minute? I see what you did there. Very clever. Garbage time shall now be known as “Ochocinco Time.”
But I watch soccer because it makes me appear more intellectually continental and less drab. Oh no! What if soccer becomes popular here in the US? Damn it, I’m gonna have to start watching cycling now.
If there is an NBA lockout Steve Nash should play for the Whitecaps!
Wouldn’t disagree there, but if there is a lockout he will have a season.
I don’t see what all the negativity is about. Great publicity, and it shows all the soccer haters that it takes more than a great athlete to play the beautiful game. Think of what Steve Nash has done for helping MLS with legitimacy. How can this hurt?
Unless he’s getting DP money, there’s no way he’s dropping his NFL contract.
Just like Al Davis thinking that all he needed for WRs were the world’s fastest men…
+1 million
Ive been saying they should really see what he can do at CB. The only thing is if he would be smart enough tactically to be a CB & if he is a good tackler at all & as for GK.. How could he not be good at that? Maybe we will see them experiment more, I personally want them to look at him @ CB & GK because I could really see him surprising people there.
There are so few good big field players in soccer (Crouch and who else is 6’7″?). I’m not sure that many professional basketball forwards would have the balance/quickness to make it professionally in soccer, similarly for most Am. football players, even WRs. Gooch who is only about 6’3″ and 200 lbs often looks slow and clumsy compared to smaller quick forwards. I am not sure that the demands of Am. football which requires body mass to handle the violent impacts has the same set of physical demands as soccer which demands quickness and more or less constant motion for 90 minutes, endurance and quickness are negatively impacted by more weight.
Body mass, because in collisions, the guy with the most momentum (mass times velocity) will win; it is a lot easier to get 10% heavier than it is to get 10% faster.
Of course, big guys can lose weight, and would have to, to be successful in soccer, but it is likely not their natural state. Ask any of your friends who are trying to lose a few pounds how hard it is.
There are however, a lot of smaller athletes who could excel at soccer if they grew up playing it, and some of those are basketball guards, or football recievers and safeties.
85…just cannot look away. This is realityTV level stuff, except 85 isn’t a complete idiot (refeshing), though he has remedial soccer skills. Would love to watch that reserve match, even for the lulz…
Dude, Lebron would be the best goalkeeper of all time if he started from day 1 in the net. I’ll fight you on that one.
But c’mon, it’s fun to specualte and think ‘what if’. Who cares – let the people dream. Ives should do a Best XI of US professional athletes not in soccer and where/why they would play on the field. That would be fun. Nobody is being serious here.
I just want to hear the Spanish commentators call if Ochocinco scores a goal lol
and anyone who says lock that ankle resembles that of an 8 year recreational coach
Stop hating on Ochocinco; he is a huge soccer fan just like everyone on this site. His benefit in this is but the fulfillment of a dream, while the MLS gets publicity, especially KC, which could use it. MLS is using his profile to get a bit of publicity, Quelle horreur! As for the fool who is angry and thinks he is a better player than Chad, you’re a nobody with no recognition, so of course Ochocinco gets tryout and not you. The point being missed by everyone on this site is the importance of MLS. Had there been a viable league when someone like Ochocinco was a kid, perhaps he would have chosen soccer over football. Now, there have already been stupid arguments about whether the US team athletic enough, skilled enough etc. Let me point out that an expanded pool of athletes is never a bad thing. No, not every great player in another sport would translate into greatness in soccer, but how could it possibly be bad to have the young Ochocincos of the US playing soccer instead of football?
Are you 6’1″, almost 200 lbs and can run 40 yards in 4.4 seconds? Thought not. Like a 7 footer in basketball, height can’t be taught, in soccer and other field sports, speed can’t be taught. You’ve either got it or you don’t. Why do you think Robbie Findley was included on the USMNT World Cup team?
And for your information Sporting KC along with many other MLS teams, hold open tryouts for anyone. So if you think you deserve a tryout for said reasons then goto http://www.sportingkc.com/2011-open-tryouts.
You must not have seen him on day 2. He did suck on day 1, but has gotten pregressively better as he gets his legs under him.
Ochocinco said he would play for free. If he means that, then why not sign him to a contract. Financially, its a no-brainer. He may be garbage, but he can be that energy player that comes in at the 85th minute to put immediate pressure on the opponents D when they get the ball.
Man, if Lebron had played soccer I bet that he would be MONEY. I think that he would probably been a good defender. Maybe kinda like Gooch 2.0
Bro, please. I love the soccer enthusiasm but let’s not go overboard. Every sport requires skills.
Please don’t read too much into the cinematic “beautiful game” sloganeering. It’s great for martketing and all but there’s a lot of beauty in a lot of games and places.
Ping pong, ergh table tennis requires skill, fitness and athleticism, too.
A lot of people call it a beautiful game. Take soccer star XYZ and put him in a table tennis match and he might look pretty weak.
And some table tennis lover will say something poectic about how table tennis is best game around and the world’s best sport.
It’s all relative, Playah.
Yes, soccer is beautiful game.
You have no idea what I meant did you? Haha, if people like lebron or revis played soccer their ENTIRE life there is no doubt they would be better than Bornestein, Spector, Ream. Your comment is just nonsense.
I know sometimes they’re just for fun, but comments like these always seem to ignore the fact we already have an amazingly athletic team; that’s the only reason we’ve gotten this far. Landon, Gooch, Altidore, Howard (he can dunk) are all elite athletes, especially when compared to other soccer playing nations. Even guys like Dempsey, Holden, Bradley who don’t seem particularly athletic, still have the ‘All-American’ athlete qualities (strong, physical, quick, versatile, fearless) that no other country breeds. Please no one bring up LeBron either, he sucks.
The Sporks should sign him for the league minimum to play for the reserve team, they would make that money back many times over with jersey sales, publicity, etc. Heck they could incorporate him into any commercials or other advertising, which couldn’t hurt ticket sales for the first year at their new stadium.
I’m still not sure he can develop the touch to be a striker, though. They should try him at CB or GK.
If he can get Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka to visit you at a SKC home game, let him come in and kick the ball around for the last few minutes as a sub.
So what? He’s not gonna make the team and it’s gotten the league a ton of publicity and tons of positive comments from Ochocinco. Calm down, teams hold open tryouts. The Earthquakes had some a year or two ago. Sure, you can’t just message the head coach and get a tryout like he did, but if you wanted to, you could keep an eye out for open tryouts and get a shot at an MLS team.
Here’s the thing. You are basically saying that if some of the United States’ best athletes had played soccer all their life, they would suck? I’m sorry, but you’re being a bit daft here. Man coverage in football isn’t too dissimilar to man marking in soccer. So if he could cover a guy running a 4.3 wearing pads, I don’t see how he couldn’t mark Ronaldo down the wing. Let people speculate. That’s what this is for. Don’t be a female cleansing bag.
Way too much negativity regarding 85. It’s akin to a bad reality show (redundant), don’t watch, smile and click that mouse…
COYW
yeah but can you take out the entire KC team out to a Brazilian restaurant for dinner? Didn’t think so
Don’t discredit other sports that are just as taxing on the body. Soccer takes an athletic and skill level that cannot be compared to american football, basketball and vice versa.
If Revis spent his whole life dedicated to soccer, then yes, athletically he could definitely be an answer to our (USMNT) defense
Dude…I can’t stand this Ocho Cinco playin soccer crap. I have played my entire life. Not that I’m MLS material, but I KNOW I’m way better than him…just the fact that he’s “Chad Ocho Cinco” gets him a tryout? Gimmie a break man.
Anyone with a playing or coaching background who sees that picture of 85 knows that this whole escapade is a stunt. It’s painfully obvious that his technique for simply passing a ball resembles that of an average 8-year-old, not a professional player.
Remember kids, lock that ankle!
dude, people need to relax with the Can you imagine(Insert top athelete in the NBA or NFL here) comments.
Just because Derrel Revis can cover a WR doesnt mean he would have mounted to anything in soccer, just becuase Lebron James has hang time and can dunk with the best of them, doesnt mean he would be the next Ronaldo, or Zenga in net…..people fail to understand that soccer is such a skillful game, it is the only sport that combines to the highest level athleticism, fitness, and skill at all positions.
That is why it is the best sport in the world and it is called the beautiful game.
I saw the video clip of him working out. He’s awful. But I’m a fan of his and It’s a good story, so I’m glad he’s gonna get a chance to play in a reserve match at least to have that experience.
I really hope Ochocinco can succeed in the MLS. We need someone to show future athletes that soccer is the future. Could anyone imagine having Darrell Revis played soccer all his life and would now be a left or right-back for the USMNT?