Soccer Shenanigans - Affair derailed 1998 team

For some reason, I thought this was old news and common knowledge. I was an intern for the Kansas City Wizards from 1997-1999. During one game, a group of Wizards fans were chanting, "Hey! Harkes! Why aren't you in France?" So I walked over to the group and asked a guy why they were chanting that. He said, "Harkes knows what he did." I asked again, and he said, "He nailed Eric Wynalda's wife."

After the game, back in the pressbox, I mentioned what the guy said to a couple other guys who did stats. They said they knew already and acted like everyone knew.

From that day, I always wished Wynalda would have kicked Harkes' ass.

Also, didn't the 1982 French team have something similar happen? A player was kicked off for banging Madame Platini?

 

Common knowledge within US soccer community. Yes on Madame Platini.

 

As Grant Wahl noted on his twitter feed last night, nice job of photo selection by SI.com.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2010/soccer/02/02/harkes.wynalda.ap/index.html

 

Soccer is officially a real sport.

 

What a relief seeing Sampson unburden himself and state once again in no uncertain terms 12 years later, "See? It wasn't my coaching."

 

I know Man United got Cantona on the cheap from Leeds just after they won the title because Eric the King was making the Leeds' chairman's (or somebody high up's) wife his queen.

 

See, there is scoring in soccer. ;D

 

Wynalda has denied this publicly and privately. Harkes wrote a book called "Captain For Life and Other Temporary Assignments" in which this explanation somehow eluded mention. Yet another one to keep in mind when you're writing a story saying so-and-so denies what he's being accused of.

Now, since the Saints are in the Super Bowl, I think it's high time we find out if Joe Horn really is the father of Willie Roaf's baby.

 

Jason Kidd, Jim Jackson and Toni Braxton have no comment.

 

Uh, huh.

This also explains Sampson's 3-6-1 formation and playing Mike frickin' Burns on the right side of midfield instead of Hejduk (who almost scored).

I'm also sure team chemistry wasn't hurt when Sampson brought in those "Americans" playing in Germany at the last minute and dumped a couple of longtime US players just before the Cup.

Damn you John Harkes!