Donovan Wins Big Award
U.S. Soccer presented its awards for 2003 at the Home Depot Center on Thursday, and it was left to Landon Donovan to deliver the best one-liner of the event.
Donovan, who became the first player to win the federation’s Male Athlete of the Year award after previously winning its Young Male Athlete of the Year honor, said he wanted to thank his agent, Richard Motzkin.
“He’s not here right now because he’s probably getting another endorsement deal for Freddy,” Donovan joked, referring to 14-year-old Freddy Adu, who won the Young Male Athlete of the Year Award, just as Donovan had done in 2000.
Adu will be the first pick in today’s Major League Soccer draft in Charlotte, N.C., officially joining D.C. United.
In 2003, Donovan was the leading goal scorer for the San Jose Earthquakes as they won the MLS title for the second time in three years and also was the leading scorer for the U.S. men’s national team.
Abby Wambach earned the Female Athlete of the Year honor after leading the Washington Freedom to the Women’s United Soccer Assn. championship and also for her performance in the Women’s World Cup, in which the U.S. finished third.
World Cup defender Catherine Reddick won the Young Female Athlete of the Year award after helping North Carolina win the NCAA title and winning the Missouri Athletic Club/Hermann Trophy as the collegiate women’s player of the year.
Beckham Is Back
David Beckham returned to the practice field for the first time since a cut on his right ankle became infected this month. Beckham is expected to play when Real Madrid plays Real Betis in a Spanish league game this weekend.
Beckham sat out three games because of the injury, and Real Madrid, the defending league champions, dropped to second place behind Valencia after a 1-0 loss Saturday at Real Sociedad.
Italian News
Inter Milan has an interest in re-acquiring Ronaldo from Real Madrid, according to team executive Marco Branca. Ronaldo has spoken occasionally about returning to play at the San Siro again and Branca called Ronaldo a “true son of Inter.”
Giovanni Trapattoni, the Italian national coach, is set to become the next coach at Tottenham Hotspur after the European Championships this year, according to reports in Italy. Trapattoni reportedly met with officials of the English club Wednesday at Milan.
More From Europe
John Carew, a Norwegian striker, has agreed to end his boycott of the national team after speaking with new coach Aage Hareide.
Carew, who plays for Italian club AS Roma, was suspended from the national team after a fight with a teammate in September. He refused to play again for Norway as long as Nils Johan Semb was the team’s coach. Semb was replaced by Hareide on Jan. 1.
Anti-Doping Program
After defender Rio Ferdinand’s exclusion from the English national team for 18 months for failing to take a routine drug test in September, Britain is considering adopting an independent agency to oversee anti-doping efforts.
The program would be similar to the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency, the umbrella agency that has handled drug testing for Olympic sports in the United States since 2000.
Coach Ousted
Ephraim “Shakes” Mashaba was fired as South Africa’s coach for breach of contract less than two weeks before the African Cup of Nations. Assistant coach Styles Phumo will coach the team at the tournament, which begins Jan. 24 in Tunisia.
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Times wire services contributed to this report.
