I was driving with my missus on the Cote d'Azur and we were having one of those typical conversations about property – if only we'd bought in this area at this time, and so on. She told me that a Russian has recently paid 500 million Euros for a house in the south of France. How ridiculous. Click to continue reading...

The first tentative steps towards healing generations of bitterness between Turkey and Armenia will take place in a football stadium in Yerevan tomorrow when the two nations meet in a World Cup qualifier watched by their respective presidents. Click to continue reading...

One of the most protracted, and painful, farewells in football was confirmed last night when Kevin Keegan finally resigned as the manager of Newcastle United. An increasingly acrimonious three-day stand-off between Keegan and Mike Ashley concluded with the club's billionaire owner refusing to be backed into a corner by the former England coach's demands before forcing him to walk out. Click to continue reading...

Brazilian keeper scores from inside his own box...
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New-look European sides open World Cup campaigns


Dunga in firing line as Brazil face Chile + South American Wrap


The situation in Africa Click to continue reading...

This weekend sees teams all over Europe start their journey towards South Africa. In Asia however, we have been at it for almost a year and over 30 nations have seen dreams of 2010 already extinguished. Ten remain and they are about to start fighting it out for the four and a half places available at the global footy fest. Click to continue reading...

Back home in Brazil, though, the reaction has been more muted, in spite of yet another of their compatriots' arrivals to play in the country still known as 'The Mother of Football'. More Brazilians are represented in the English top flight than any other foreign nationality, but even the latest addition to that list seems a little underwhelmed by his move. Click to continue reading...

U.S. vs. Cuba
Sept. 6
Havana, Cuba
8 p.m. ET, ESPN Classic
ESPN360.com

U.S. vs. Trinidad & Tobago
Sept. 10
Toyota Park, Bridgeview, Ill.
8 p.m. ET, ESPN2
ESPN360.com

Cuba cautiously optimistic

U.S expects hostile reception in Cuba Click to continue reading...

"The story of me being locked in the toilet by Tiago is true. It's a shame it got out, as this was something I told a friend in confidence. In any case, Alessandro Del Piero responded to the noise of me punching the door and offered to break it down."

Juventus president Giovanni Cobolli Gigli on Tiago's reaction after the Serie A club tried to encourage him to sign for Everton or Monaco. Click to continue reading...

Come on, be honest, there is a part, even within the most optimistic Manchester City supporter, that thinks we are all going to wake up tomorrow and it will turn out to be that bloke from the News of the World again. There is no Abu Dhabi United Group for Development and Investment, no al-Nahyan royal family and Dr Sulaiman al-Fahim turns out to be an undercover reporter with a tin of cherry blossom, two white sheets, a JCloth and an accent borrowed straight from It Ain't Half Hot Mum. Click to continue reading...

After being forced to face countless challenges in his first year with Barcelona, French forward Thierry Henry will now have to confront a fresh battle: the "culés."



"Shushing" not enough these days for Henry, apparently... Click to continue reading...

Harry Redknapp will resist the lure of an emotional return to West Ham United. The Portsmouth manager fears he would suffer the same constraints that prompted Alan Curbishley to resign yesterday. That has left the Croatia coach, Slaven Bilic, as the favourite to take up the reins at Upton Park. Click to continue reading...

The Fulham midfield player is widely regarded as the Barclays Premier League's court jester, a likeable individual whose infectious sense of fun is best demonstrated by the occasion when he treated the Real Madrid squad to an impromptu performance of Old MacDonald Had a Farm during a chance encounter in the bar of an Austrian hotel during a pre-season tour. Click to continue reading...

Allegations of fixed Bundesliga matches have surfaced after a weekend of thrilling attacking football.

Solid Schalke and a glut of goals overshadowed by new betting scandal. Click to continue reading...

Graham Lister considers this week‘s dramatic events in the English top-flight... Click to continue reading...