Ajax defender Stam calls it quits

Soccer Betting Lines

10/29/2007 - Amsterdam, Netherlands (Sportsbook Betting Lines) - Ajax defender and former Dutch international Jaap Stam announced his retirement on Monday at the age of 35.

"Before this season I spoke with Ajax and told them that I missed the drive to continue," Stam said at a news conference. "But they persuaded me to go on, although physical problems are the reasons for quitting right now. When I play I am more focused on myself than the team and that is not good, not for the team and not for me, because it reduces my concentration and causes mistakes."

Stam began his playing career in 1992 at second division side Zwolle before joining PSV Eindhoven four years later.

He signed with Manchester United in 1998 before leaving the club in 2002 for Lazio after a fallout with United boss Sir Alex Ferguson. Stam played three seasons in Rome before making the switch to AC Milan and he finally returned to Holland in 2006 on a two-year deal with Ajax.

For his international career, Stam earned 67 caps and scored three times before retiring from international soccer following the 2004 EURO finals.

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Big 12 Conference betting odds

Work left to do: Texas Tech, Oklahoma State, Kansas State

Texas joins Texas A&M and Kansas as locks after getting league win No. 11. Texas Tech greatly helped its own hopes and crippled OK State's with the two-point win Saturday. Is K-State the last reasonable hopeful? Could be an elimination match in Stillwater on Tuesday, at least for the Cowboys.

Work left to do:

Texas Tech [18-11 (7-7), RPI: 44, SOS: 12] A critical two-point win over OK State leaves the Red Raiders with Baylor and at Iowa State left. Get both and the Red Raiders likely are good to go. Get one and there could be some interesting comparisons with a K-State team that could finish two or three games "ahead" of them in the standings but doesn't have any of the quality wins Texas Tech has. Not a lot in nonconference play (against Arkansas in Little Rock being the best win, by far) to lean on.

Oklahoma State [18-9 (5-8), RPI: 50, SOS: 35] Still without a road win, the Cowboys now need to win two on the road just to get to .500 in conference play. It's hard to recall a team (OK, other than Clemson) falling so precipitously from lock status to almost certainly out of the NCAAs at this point. There are wins to be had in the last three, including a very big home game against K-State on Tuesday, but this team is reeling. Can you tell the pressure to win is getting to them with the way the final possession played out at Texas Tech? There are some good nonconference performances to lean on, specifically beating Missouri State and Syracuse on neutral floors and Pitt in OK City, but if the Pokes don't right this very, very soon, that won't be enough.

Kansas State [20-9 (9-5), RPI: 56, SOS: 96] It pays to be in the Big 12 North. The nine league wins are Colorado (twice), Missouri (twice), Iowa State (twice), Baylor, Nebraska and (a good one against) Texas. That helps explain the middling computer profile. The win over USC is nice, but the nonconference leaves a lot to be desired. The game at OK State in Stillwater on Tuesday is huge, as it could KO the Cowboys and leave K-State with a home date against Oklahoma with which to work.