David Beckham & Zara Phillips' campaign to bring the magic of the World Cup to London's 2012 Olympics was the target of a protest yesterday, when a gang of tinnitus deranged football fans drove over the honorary golden vuvuzela. Seems they made the best of it though, no? Image: Getty Images/Zimbio

Falko Goetz has signed a two-year contract to manage Vietnam's national football team. He will lead the team through the qualifying rounds for the London 2012 Olympics and the 2014 FIFA World Cup and will also oversee the under-23 squad in November's South East Asian Games in Indonesia. Goetz's playing career included stints at Bayer Leverkusen and other German clubs as well as Turkish side

Scotland's most famous victory over the "auld enemy'

The Celtic fringe assert their independence and evoke the Battle of Bannockburn, Battle of Cadfan, and the Irish rebellion. The term 'historic agreement' is loaded and suggests a turning point. The Yalta Conference was a historical agreement and established the re-organization of post World War II Europe.

An early morning scramble for tickets for London's 2012 Olympic jamboree this morning.
Not that I'll actually be going to London. I was one of the many unlucky customers who missed out in the first round of ticketing.
Today I had to make do with a couple of football tickets. When the eyes of the world are on London I will be in Glasgow and Newcastle, my fix of faster, higher, stronger coming at Hampden and St James' Park.

England's international friendly with Netherlands, due to be played in Wednesday, is in jeopardy of being called off due to rioting currently taking place in London. Very disappointing scenes of violence and looting have led to two games being cancelled, Tuesday's games at Charlton and West Ham were called off on police advice.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Nov 8, 2011) US Soccer Players -- With all the talk about the District of Columbia's unwillingness to commit to a soccer-specific stadium somewhere within its borders, it's worth looking at what's currently happening in London. After the 2012 Olympics come to a close, London will be left with another massive stadium that right now doesn't have a reasonable future.

Neymar in Brazilian debut against USA, Aug 2010

The U20 Tournament in South America has reached the final group stage, meaning six teams who will now play against the other five teams. Those games began on Monday and continue Sunday on ESPN3.com. The top four finishing teams earn trips to both the U-20 World Cup and the Pan American Games, and the top two teams also get spots in the 2012 Olympics.

LONDON, England - West Ham United have beaten out rivals Tottenham Hotspur to take over the London 2012 Olympics stadium, according to the BBC. The decision is set to be announced later this week after both English Prmeier League sides submitted bids to the Olympic Park Legacy Company, an unsourced report on the BBC's website said.

Today, the Olympic Park Legacy Committee selected West Ham United as the preferred bidder to become the new tenant of the Olympic Stadium, beating out competition from Tottenham Hotspur. This decision will have a severe negative effect on an historic London club, formed in the early 1880s not Spurs, but Leyton Orient.

Avram Grant remains confident his West Ham side can survive, but it is starting to feel a distant dream for the fans. Currently bottom of the table with four games left, West Ham surely have to get something from a tough game against Manchester City Sunday. Whether they get a result or not though, it does look as the race for survival is going down to the last game of the season, and it may even be goal difference which sees a team relegated to the Championship division.

Dave Kidd (for the second time in recent weeks, worryingly enough the first was his suspicions over the now disappeared "Fulham Daisy") recently tweeted about Seve Ballesteros (funny how it used to be "baLL" and now we're all sophisticated it's "baY"; I remember either Barry Davies or Martin Tyler called Soren LerbY "Soren LerbU" in some tournament or other and it just sounded wrong.

UEFA U21 Championship 2011 Semi-Finals
Belarus 1:3 Spain
Czech Republic 0:1 Switzerland
Spain will play Switzerland in the European Under-21 final on Saturday after both semi-finals went to extra-time in Denmark.
Belarus almost pulled off a shock by leading Spain in Viborg until the 89th minute through Andrei Voronkov's bicycle kick, until Adrian Lopez equalised then added a second at the end of the first period of extra-time.

UEFA U21 Championship Final, Aarhus, Denmark

Spain 2:0 Switzerland
Herrera 41', Thiago 81'
Att: 16,110
Spanish football wrote another chapter in its golden age as its Under-21s bagged the European Championship in Denmark this evening with a convincing 2:0 win over Switzerland.

As usual, by Monday mid-day SI.com's teeming soccer site will include my comprehensive MLS review. There, you'll get the scoop and skinny on Week 19, complete with updated Power Rankings.

Here's a supplemental attachment, if you will, with a couple of important points you won't find in the SI.

By DAVID MOSSE
Brazilian soccer was recently pronounced dead by British magazine FourFourTwo, and, frankly, the senior team did very little to dispel that notion at the Copa America, but Ney Franco's Under-20 side salvaged the summer by capturing Brazil's fifth World Youth Championship.

*Midfielder Jose Villarreal, a Leuzinger High product, and defender Zarek Valentin, who made 24 starts for the Goats this season, were among 31 players selected for the camp, which will run Monday through Nov. 16 in Germany under Claudio Reyna, U.S. youth technical director.

And check out all those German-based players on the full squad:

Goalkeepers: David Bingham (San Jose), Cody Cropper (Ipswich, England), Sean Johnson (Chicago), Jon Kempin (Sporting KC)

Defenders: Gale Agbossoumonde (Eintracht Frankfurt, Germany), Anthony Brooks (Hertha Berlin, Germany), Sean Cunningham (Molde, Norway), Royal-Dominique Fennell (Stuttgarter Kickers, Germany), Greg Garza (no club), Perry Kitchen (D,C.

Caleb Porter's first camp in charge of the U.S. Under-23 national team is well underway in the Sarasota/Bradenton area of Florida, as some of the most talented young players in American soccer do their best to try and impress the coach assigned the task of helping the United States qualify for the 2012 Olympics.

Photo by ISIPhotos.com

BY ADAM SERRANO

For the United States National team, there are plenty of new faces in an old place.

The annual January camp kicked off on Wednesday at the Home Depot Center ahead of the January 23rd match-up with Chile.

By Gordon Fleetwood, writing in New York City

The latest edition of the U20 South American Youth Championship is about to get under way in Peru. The top young players in South America are ready to display their talent on the international stage. Another exhilarating feast of football is on the cards.

The following are the fixtures and results for the 2011 South American Youth Championships, currently being held in Peru. The first group stage began on January 16th, and will last until the 28th, when the top three teams from each group will advance to the final group stage. No knockouts in this one.

The US's first test of 2011 will be highlighted with youth and inexperience this Saturday when the Americans take on an equally untested Chilean squad at the Home Depot Center. Both teams have rosters that are dominated by players from their respective domestic leagues earning this game the image of a meeting of "B-squads.

The Associated Press
Tuesday, January 25, 2011; 7:57 AM
BEIJING -- The top-ranked United States beat China 2-0 Tuesday in the final game of the Four Nations Tournament, a warmup for the Women's World Cup this summer in Germany.
The United States also won the tournament title, because it won by the bigger margin in Tuesday's two games.

As the South American U-20 Championship continues in Peru, Venezuela's Yohandry Orozco has emarged as a star after he scored this leveler against Peru
Those two teams ended up drawing 1-1 in Group A play. The top three teams in each group will advance to a six-team round-robin phase that culminates on Feb.

By AVI CREDITOR

Pep Guardiola and FC Barcelona have agreed to a one-year extension that will keep the manager at Camp Nou through the 2011-2012 season. Financial terms of the extension were undisclosed.

According to the Associated Press, the 40-year-old Guardiola has said that he prefers one-year deals as opposed to long-term ones in order to stay motivated, and he has been granted his wish.

West Ham United have been chosen to take over the London 2012 Olympics stadium after fending off rival bidders Tottenham Hotspur

Jonathan Spector has told NSC he is broadly supportive of West Ham's move from the Boleyn Ground to London's Olympic Stadium, which was all but confirmed on Friday.The US international's team pipped Tottenham Hotspur to be named preferred bidder by the 2012 Olympics Park Legacy Company and an expected rubber stamp from the UK government will mean the Hammers move to a re-configured 60,000-seater

Teal Bunbury

Teal Bunbury was having a terrific off-season. After his first year with Sporting KC where he scored 7-goals for his club, he was called up to the U.S. Men's National Team. He flew to South Africa where he received playing time in the second half of a game in the Nelson Mandela Cup.

ZURICH, Switzerland — Soccer's ruling body has postponed Yemen's home qualifying game for the 2012 Olympics against Singapore because of anti-government protests. FIFA says it agreed with the Asian Football Confederation to delay Wednesday's scheduled first-leg match by one week until March 2. FIFA says the game could be switched to a neutral country if [.

adidas is offering a sick, once in a lifetime opportunity to the UK public by inviting them to name the official football that will be used at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

Image via WikipediaDavid Beckham has confirmed his interest in playing for the Great Britain soccer team at the London 2012 Olympics, and has also revealed he could stay in MLS next season.
Becks is in the final year of his five-year LA Galaxy contract, leading to speculation over his plans, with a move to the Premier League an option.

QPR want to sign David Beckham | The Sun |Sport|Football.

Upon reading this article, I couldn't help thinking if their was anything more outlandish that the UK media could spew forth on a relatively slow weekend of soccer news. David Beckham to QPR so he get's a shot at winning a spot on Britain's upcoming 2012 Olympic squad ?

Heathrow Heather: Mitts Will be Landing Soon in London
Many of the U.S. players have been all over the USA after the Women's World Cup, not only finishing their club seasons, but also doing appearances or just flat-out relaxing. None however have gone "over the pond." That'll change this weekend when U.

It's USWNT video day here at the Free Beer Movement. Even though the Lady Nats are seriously focused on capturing the 2012 Olympics title in London we've always appreciated the fact that they're never too serious about their sport. Game time is one thing... play time... they're got some of that too.A nice series of outtakes from various U.

For Becks, that is the question. I've always been a fan of the kid, despite the resounding criticism among hardcore MLS fans, and I think that anyone who would call his move to MLS a bad thing is delusional. He's brought us attention, star power, and, yes, talent.

And he may (or may not) be doing it for one more year.

U.S. defender Heather Mitts has wrapped up her quick four-day tour of Great Britain on behalf of the USOC and in advance of the 2012 Olympics in London.
From the looks of things, Heather had quite the good time. Among other things she did, we have:
Heather on a horse.

*David Beckham is scheduled to appear at 4 p.m. today on NBC as a guest on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show."

Bet she won't ask him about the latest and most plausible transfer rumor involving him so far: Despite interest from QPR and Spurs, brand Beckham has said he doesn't want to play for any other EPL club except Manchester United and they're not interested in his return.

FIFA's 2012 Olympics chief still under investigation for corruption

Issa Hayatou still subject of Ethics Committee investigation

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-09-21 14:06:32 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

The U.S. WNT is still the top ranked team in the world according to the latest FIFA rankings released on Sept. 23.

North Korea is back in the top-10 (8th) on the heels of it successful qualifying run for the 2012 Olympics, while Norway is down to 12th, the lowest ranking ever for the Norwegians since the world rankings started in 2003.

As the MLS season draws to a close, the David Beckham rumours are starting to gather pace but any move to Spurs could be scuppered by the former England man's desire to represent Great Britain at the 2012 Olympics.

Beckham believes that to do that, he needs his next club to be able to guarantee regular football.

Stuart Pearce confirmed as 2012 Olympics football coach

Hope Powell will manage the women's team

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-10-20 10:39:07 from: The Mirror

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.