This is going to be the strangest, most illogical football rule you see all day, so prepare yourself or your brain just might melt and slide out your ear...

Second division club Portimonense won their Carlsberg Cup (Portugal's league cup) first group phase by simply substituting in a 19-year-old goalkeeper (pictured above.

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Bayern were busy exercising control and dominance. Leverkusen were busy defending. Hamburg were busy passing the ball around. Creativity, inspiration and excitement were busy waiting for a date that would never show up. Not this weekend.

Halfway Between the Gutter and the Stars. VfB Stuttgart will host Sevilla in the Champions League on Tuesday and then head off to Hannover for, what is now, a relegation six-pointer.

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As long as you can walk, perhaps even with a limp, and have played football at the highest level, it seems a medical at Manchester United is a breeze.

Owen Hargreaves spoke in depth about his rehabilitation after surgery on both knees and gave an insight into how United's medical team assess the fitness of a player.

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A heart-breaking Sounders FC loss to New England was sad not just as a result. But it might have been the last time Revolution midfielder Steve Ralston took the field.
The league's all-time leader in games and minutes played tore his ACL on Saturday.
At 35 years old, he could be done. Click to continue reading...

Nearly 35 years of history, a 23 match winning streak and 13K in the stands on a Friday night; basically Portland are the anti-Red Bull (even though RBNY did manage a surprise win yesterday despite Mac Kandji and Dane Richards best efforts to thwart it at the end by being unintelligent glory-seekers and not taking the ball to the corner). Click to continue reading...

35-years-old and having given a good few years' service to Boca Juniors, Hugo Ibarra left the club on Thursday after failing to come to an agreement over the new contract deal he'd been offered. Where he'll end up remains to be seen, but the outpouring of thanks from the fans to El Negro has been [.. Click to continue reading...

Ronald Gordo returns with another well written piece this week looking at another of Inter's greats' Valdomiro.
The awkward coal miner
I usually say I do not like football. I like Internacional.
So, I never write about players... my passions are the club, the team, the fans, the Beira-Rio Stadium or the old Eucaliptos Stadium - where I go occasionally, to imagine the ancient Roller. Click to continue reading...

The Independent reports that Michael Owen will earn a basic wage of £30,000 a week, with the rest of his salary dependent on appearances and goals. The Guardian also support the idea that bonuses are the basis of his contract, as do The Times.

Some will make transfer this about our debt and our 'need' to get players on the cheap but essentially it's a great bit of business.

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Today it was reported that at 35 years of age, Roma striker Vincenzo Montella has decided to retire. Montella was one of the best strikers Italy has ever produced and one of Italy's deadliest strikers in the late 90's and early 2000's. Short in stature and nicknamed "L'Aeroplanino" (Little Airplane) for his trademark goal celebration (pictured), Montella had a lethal left foot and seemed to find the net from any angle, scoring some beautiful goals.

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Eastville for Entertainment! Holy smokes, football has changed a lot in the last 35 years - if you showed this clip to C-Ron, he wouldn't recognise it as football. Watch out for the cheeky scamps who try to trip...

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"I won? You're kidding!"
"Just smile for the cameras, Ryan."
"Er, OK."
Yes folks, Ryan Giggs has won the PFA Player of the Year award for the 2008/09 season. It's the first time Giggs has won the award, and, at 35 years old, it will almost certainly be the last. Click to continue reading...

EASIEST freaking interview I've ever done. This has been edited for question and answer readability; but none of Hanauer's words have been changed. Basically, I fired off a bunch of questions at once, he responded, I had a couple of follow-ups. I don't think Seattle fans will learn anything new here, but very good stuff for people like me outside the PNW. Click to continue reading...

MLS Transfers of the Week is a brand new column posted every sunday or monday(just depending). It shows the best players to be transfered in and out in MLS and trades from 1(being the best)-however many transfers went down(being the not so best). It explains the pros and cons of the best transfers and tells supporters what they can expect. Click to continue reading...

I was doing some more thinking after my Gaslight Anthem-Inspired Digression post from a few days ago, and remembered this scene from one of my favorite movies, which happened to have been inspired by the greatest movie ever made.

I'm not comparing my writing to that of Lester Bangs or Cameron Crowe, but one thing is certain: Philip Seymour Hoffman is the greatest actor in the world.

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Christian Vieri has to be one of Italy's most decorated strikers who has in essence underachieved in his career. He has just one a href="http://betting.betfair.com/international-football/italian-football/serie-a-betting-preview-lazio-v-juventus-170109.html"Serie A league title/a to his name, one Coppa Italia winners medal in his cabinet, one Uefa Super Cup and one Uefa Cup Winner's cup. Click to continue reading...

Back in November Premiership Talk announced that Manchester United had signed Partizan Belgrade winger Zoran Tosic. The news never caught the major media as the terms were unclear. Today, Manchester United officially unveiled the signing of Zoran Tosic for an undisclosed fee. In addition, United have wrapped up a deal for Tosic's club and national teammate Adem Ljajic. Click to continue reading...