Miami
It was the chance to play elsewhere — specifically, the Colorado Rapids of Major League Soccer.
“It gives me a chance to be in the shop window for the next World Cup, and the excitement of building something in Colorado,” Howard said on Tuesday. “People don’t care to hear that, but that was the most important thing.”
Howard now faces another fight for playing time — on the U.S. national team.
Coach Jurgen Klinsmann declined to say Tuesday whether he will go with Howard or Brad Guzan when the Americans play at Guatemala on Friday in a World Cup qualifier. The return leg is March 29 in Columbus, Ohio, and the U.S. can clinch a berth in the final round of qualifying by winning both games.
Guzan, like Howard, plays in the Premier League — for Aston Villa. The 37-year-old Howard lost his job at Everton to Joel Robles and hasn’t played in a match since Jan. 24.
“Everything’s a factor,” Klinsmann, speaking from training camp at Barry University, said when asked about Howard’s two months of inactivity. “We follow every player, no matter if they are playing in Europe, Mexico or in the MLS. You want them all to do well. You want them all to make statements through their club performances.”
Klinsmann expressed confidence in both Guzan and in Howard, who started for the U.S. at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.
“We have the highest respect for Tim and Brad,” he said. “Having a player like Tim back in our group is huge because of his experience. Is it more ideal if he (were starting for Everton)? Absolutely. … He’s played I don’t know how many hundred games in the Premier League. He knows how to deal with (inactivity). He is calm. He is a top professional.”
Howard signed with Colorado on Sunday and is to join Colorado when the transfer window opens in July.
FIFA Investigating Beckenbauer, ’06 Bid
Zurich — The FIFA ethics committee says it has opened a bribery investigation into Franz Beckenbauer and other officials from Germany’s 2006 World Cup bid team.
Ethics prosecutors acted amid rising suspicion of wrongdoing linked to the winning of hosting rights in 2000.
Beckenbauer, FIFA executive committee member Wolfgang Niersbach and other officials were targeted three weeks ago in an inquiry report by a law firm commissioned by the German soccer federation.
FIFA ethics prosecutors say they opened proceedings against Beckenbauer and three other officials linked to “possible undue payments and contracts” during the bidding process. Germany beat South Africa 12-11 in a vote to win the hosting rights.
Madrid, PSG Set Columbus Match
Columbus, Ohio — Spanish club Real Madrid will play French champion Paris Saint-Germain this summer in the first international soccer match ever to take place in Ohio Stadium in Columbus.
The July 27 game is part of the International Champions Cup, a series of summer exhibitions that has brought some of the world’s top teams to North America the last three years.
The game will be played on a temporary grass surface in Ohio Stadium, the home of Ohio State Buckeyes football.
A 2014 exhibition between Manchester United and Real Madrid at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor drew 109,318 fans, a record for soccer in the United States.
International matches also are being played this summer in Los Angeles, Pasadena and Santa Clara, Calif., as well as in Eugene, Ore., and Charlotte, N.C.