Playing a little catch-up this evening, so you should know:
*Mexico soccer coach Sven-Goran Eriksson was fired today, a day after El Tri crashed to a 3-1 loss against Honduras in World Cup qualifying.
Less than a year into the job, the former England coach had just one win in its last
seven games.
“We told Mr. Eriksson that his term with the national team has finished,” Justino Compean, president of Mexico’s soccer federation, said at a news conference.
*The L.A. Sol of Women’s Professional Soccer today signed 25-year old Liz Bogus, who had 31 goals and 18 assists during a four-year career at Arizona State where she was the 2002 Pac-10 Freshman of the Year award.
*Fox has indeed outbid ESPN for the rights to the UEFA Champions League in a three-year deal. Games will be shown on Fox Soccer Channel, FSN, FX and Fox Sports en Espaol.
The final will air on FX in High Definition each year, a spokeswoman with the network told me. FSC is also “looking to accelerate the time frame in which they will begin broadcasting in HD.”
Although no official on-air talent decisions have been taken, Fox is looking to use the international English-language feeds UEFA provides rather than using American talent stuck in an L.A. studio.
From the (edited) press release:
As the primary outlet for the UEFA Champions League, Fox Soccer Channel will deliver 110 live and delayed UEFA Champions League matches per season to its nearly 35 million subscribers. FSN – reaching up to 83 million homes nationwide through its owned and affiliated regional sports networks – will televise 16 live matches per season, while Fox Sports en Espaol will distribute 94 total contests (live and delayed) in Spanish to its 14 million subscribers.
The UEFA Champions League Final will air each season on FX, reaching over 95 million homes nationwide. Next season, the final will be staged on a Saturday for the first time in its history, with the match kicking off at 11:45 a.m. Pacific May 22, 2010 at Madrid’s Santiago Bernabu Stadium.
Fox Soccer Channel’s UEFA Champions League coverage will include one live and two premiere match telecasts per match day – including prime-time rebroadcasts of FSN and Fox Sports en Espaol’s live offerings – as well as live pregame and postgame shows from its Los Angeles studios. All live matches will kick off at 11:45 a.m. Pacific on Tuesdays and Wednesdays during the course of the season. Fox Soccer Channel will also produce a 30-minute UEFA Champions League highlight show at the conclusion of each match day.
