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Post by Admin on Jun 22, 2014 14:14:39 GMT
Hope Solo, the goalkeeper on the U.S. women’s soccer team, was arrested for allegedly assaulting two of her relatives after a dispute broke out early Saturday morning during a party at her suburban Seattle home. Police answered a 911 call from the Kirkland, Wash., home Solo shares with her husband Jerramy Stevens and arrested her for allegedly striking her sister and teenage nephew. Solo, according to police, appeared “intoxicated and upset” and her nephew, 17, and adult sister had visible injuries. “There was a big party going on at her house. It was an out-of-control situation,” Kirkland police Lt. Mike Murray told the Seattle Times. Solo, 32, was being held without bail in South King County Jail on two charges of domestic violence assault in the fourth degree. Listed under her married name, Hope Amelia Stevens, she is to appear Monday in Kirkland Municipal Court. Solo married Stevens, a former NFL player for the Seattle Seahawks and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, in November 2012, shortly after he was arrested on suspicion of assaulting Solo, but charges were never brought because there was insufficient evidence. Solo, who has played on two Olympic gold-medal winning teams, appeared as a contestant on ABC television’s “Dancing with the Stars” in 2011. Kirkland police released details of her arrest (via the Times): On June 21st 2014 and just before 1:00 am, Kirkland Police Department Patrol Units responded to a 911 call of a disturbance in the 10600 block of 124th AVE NE. The male caller stated that a female at the residence was “hitting people” and they could not get her to stop or to leave the house. Officer arrived and immediately heard the sounds of the disturbance inside the residence. They entered and contacted several persons; one being Hope A Stevens (Solo) who appeared intoxicated and upset. As officers made contact, they observed visible injuries on Solo’s 17-year-old nephew and on Solo’s sister. After receiving statements of the persons involved, Officers determined that Solo was the primary aggressor and had instigated the assault. Solo was arrested on 2 counts of Domestic Violence Assault 4th Degree and booked into the south King County detention facility (SCORE). Solo will have a mandatory court appearance Monday June 23rd at the Kirkland Municipal Court, with the time yet to be determined.
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Post by Admin on Jun 23, 2014 14:37:19 GMT
The United States came within 30 seconds of victory Sunday, about to enter the World Cup’s round of 16, about to overcome history and sweltering heat in a come-from-behind win. But then Silvestre Varela erased America’s storybook win, finding the back of the net in the fifth minute of stoppage time to give Portugal a 2-2 tie. “It’s tough, but it’s just the way it goes,” U.S. captain Clint Dempsey said after the game. “We’re Americans. I think we like to do things the hard way.” The team’s fate will now emerge Thursday, with the outcome of Group G – nicknamed the “Group of Death” – involving different scenarios. The United States and Germany both have four points and are tied atop the group, ahead of Ghana and Portugal, with one point each. The top two teams in the group advance. In the group stage of the World Cup, wins are worth three points, and draws are worth one point. All four teams have one game remaining. Germany and the United States will play Thursday in Recife, and Ghana and Portugal will kick off at the same time in Brasilia. Here are the scenarios: - The United States advances with a win or draw vs. Germany - If the United States tops Germany, it will advance as the winners of Group G and play the second-place team from Group H (which includes Belgium, Algeria, Russia and South Korea) - If the United States and Germany draw, Germany wins the group and the United States finishes second. The result of the other game is meaningless. - If Ghana and Portugal draw, the United States and Germany advance. - If Germany wins, Germany wins the group. The United States would finish second unless Ghana or Portugal won and passed the United States on goal differential. Team USA is plus 1, Ghana is minus 1 and Portugal is minus 4. So if the United States loses, it will be rooting for Portugal, because it’s less likely that Portugal could pass the United States on goal differential. - If the United States loses and Ghana wins, Ghana would qualify if either game is decided by a margin of two goals or more. If the United States loses by one goal, Ghana would need to win by two goals or be involved in a higher-scoring one-goal win. For instance, a 1-0 score in both games would send the United States through. But if Team USA loses 1-0, then Ghana would need to win at least 2-1 to qualify on goals scored. In the 81st minute, Clint Dempsey, playing with a broken nose, used his stomach to deflect a cross from Graham Zusi into the open net for the apparent winner. “I just tried to stay onside and when the ball came across just put it on my chest,” Dempsey said. “I was happy that the linesman kept his flag down.” It wasn’t the winner, though. Portugal had that last trick up its sleeves. Now the U.S. may need a draw against Germany, if Ghana beats Portugal or if that score turns out wrong. “We like to do this the hard way,” defender Matt Besler said. “It’s the American way.”
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Post by Admin on Jun 25, 2014 15:47:43 GMT
Luis Suarez could become just as awkward for football's international organizers to handle as he has been for rival teams at the World Cup. The Uruguay forward's alleged bite into the left shoulder of Italy defender Giorgio Chiellini in a crucial group-stage game has hit a raw nerve at a tournament which has been characterized by a high quality of football and entertainment. The consequences of Suarez's bite — just before Uruguay scored the clinching goal to knock out the four-time champion Italians — will now test FIFA president Sepp Blatter's often-stated commitment to "fair play, discipline, respect." Blatter, who was in the crowd for the Uruguay-Italy match at Natal, has previously pledged a zero tolerance for the darker side of the game. Many are questioning where that leaves a player like Suarez, the star Liverpool striker who has a history of disciplinary problems. In the early hours of Wednesday, FIFA announced it had opened a disciplinary case against the player. The case will now be managed by Swiss lawyer, Claudio Sulser, chairman of the FIFA disciplinary committee. A former international forward himself, Sulser has worked for four years at FIFA, first as head of its ethics committee and now the disciplinary panel. Sulser can choose to judge the obvious offense within the scale of typical red-card incidents: A three-match ban may then be appropriate, banishing Suarez at least until the World Cup final should Uruguay advance through the knockout rounds. Unfortunate as it was to see Luis Suarez revert to his old ways and bite Giorgio Chiellini during Uruguay's 1-0 win over Italy at the World Cup, it did inspire plenty of hilarious memes in honor of soccer's most famous flesh eater. With Tuesday's shameful display, Suarez, who now faces disciplinary hearings, became a three-time biting offender and now risks a two-year ban as a result. That's no laughing matter, but these Suarez-inspired memes are.
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Post by Admin on Jun 26, 2014 15:09:05 GMT
Luis Suarez is out of the World Cup and will miss the start of the English Premier League season after FIFA banned him for four months for biting an Italian player. Suarez was suspended Thursday for nine matches, beginning with Uruguay’s round of 16 game against Colombia on Saturday, after FIFA’s disciplinary committee found he had committed assault and unsporting behavior toward another player. Suarez bit Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini on the left shoulder during Tuesday’s game, the third time in four years he’s bitten an opponent. “Such behavior cannot be tolerated on any football pitch, and in particular not at a FIFA World Cup when the eyes of millions of people are on the stars on the field,” Claudio Sulser, chair of the disciplinary committee, said in a statement. Suarez had downplayed the incident, saying Chiellini had pushed his shoulder into Suarez’s mouth. “These things happen on the pitch,” he said in a TV interview after the game. “We’re not going to make a big thing about this.” But FIFA did. It opened a disciplinary case against him that same night, and issued its decision 18 hours after the deadline for Suarez to present a defense. As part of the punishment, Suarez is not even allowed in the stadium for Uruguay’s game against Colombia. The loss of Suarez is a huge blow for Uruguay. It lost to Costa Rica in its opener with Suarez on the bench recovering from knee surgery, and he scored both goals in the 2-1 victory over England. The nine-match game ban covers Uruguay’s official matches – friendlies would not count. But FIFA also barred Suarez from “any kind of football-related activity (administrative, sports or any other),” which means he won’t be able to play for Liverpool until the end of October. This will be the second time Suarez has missed time for Liverpool for biting an opponent. He missed the start of last season while serving a 10-match ban for biting Chelsea’s Branislav Ivanovic. Three years earlier, the Dutch league suspended him for seven games for biting an opponent while he was playing for Ajax.
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Post by Admin on Jun 27, 2014 13:48:40 GMT
The loudest cheer of the day, thundering over the sodden field and above a clump of embracing players, arrived when the news was delivered on two corner scoreboards by way of Brasilia. Mutinous Ghana had yielded no further goals to Portugal, so both those sides had been eliminated from the World Cup. They had become the two tournament fatalities in the Group of Death. That left two teams standing — though one standing considerably taller. Germany completely dominated this happy-ending match on Thursday, beat the Americans, 1-0, and at times appeared to belong on an entirely different pitch. Somehow, the soccer party lives in America, even if this particular game proved more survival test than revelry. The one-goal loss earned the U.S. a second chance in the second round. It also may have demonstrated that there is little chance for ultimate triumph quite yet, but that’s a doomsday thought for another day. “Last game’s draw against Portugal felt like a loss,” Omar Gonzalez declared. “This game’s loss felt like a win.” Thomas Muller, a scoring machine, gave the Germans the victory in the 55th minute with a rocket inside the far post from the upper left of the box. A diving Tim Howard had no chance. It was Muller’s fourth goal of the tournament, coming right after a brilliant save from Howard off a header from Per Mertesacker. For some time after that, the Americans played even deeper and more cautiously, knowing their chances of advancement might rely on the score of this defeat. They did. The U.S. finished with a 1-1-1 mark for four points, same as Portugal, but with a three-goal edge in differential. The Portuguese paid the ultimate price for their 4-0 defeat to Germany in the opener. With 10 minutes left, Howard told his defenders the score anyway, didn’t want them to push too high. As if to prove they are no slouches, the Americans suddenly and unexpectedly pressed for the equalizer in added time. Alejandro Bedoya’s shot was blocked, and Clint Dempsey’s header sailed over the crossbar. The final whistle blew, eventually. Jurgen Klinsmann worked his way to the middle of the field, hugging and congratulating the German players and staff he knows so well. "Today was a difficult kind of game,” Dempsey said. “No matter how much you want to push, you know a draw gets you there.” The U.S. will play a second-round match in Salvador on Tuesday against Belgium. Dempsey warned that the Americans will have to stay compact on defense in that match, while holding the ball more. They need to play more as they did against Portugal, less as they did against Germany.
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