This photo of Aurelien Collin kind of gives away the winner of Wednesday's 2nd leg tie between Sporting Kansas City and the Colorado Rapids, but we're fine with it.

Yes, he and his Sporting KC team-mates are moving on in the MLS Playoffs. They'll play the first of two games on Sunday, squaring off against a 'scrappy' Houston Dynamo side that ended the Farfan twins/Philadelphia Union's dreams of hitting it big time* 3-1 on aggregate.

He's spotted a soldier-girl in the press conference. She's got scissors. Images: Getty Images/AP Photo/Daylife

A little post-Champions League perving for you on this fine Friday afternoon, Kickettes. Please join us.

Whilst watching his side suffer a 6-1 aggregate battering against Manchester United on Wednesday, our eyes were repeatedly drawn to right back; a position occupied by Japanese international, Atsuto Uchida.

Euro 2012 Qualifying Playoffs: Portugal, Czech Rep, Turkey & Croatia on the line - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

The likes of Spain, Germany, the Netherlands, Italy, and England have all booked their places in Euro 2012 already, but four tickets to the festivities in Poland and Ukraine still have yet to be punched.

Manchester United qualified for the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League on Tuesday with a 2-1 win (3-1 on aggregate) over fellow English Premier League club Chelsea at Old Trafford. United's goals came from Mexican forward Javier Hernandez and South Korean midfielder Park Ji-Sung in the 43rd and 77th minutes respectively.

Twente vs Villarreal 2011 14th April 2011- 14/4/11- Europa League Quarterfinal Second Leg Final score:- Twente vs Villarreal 1-3 ( Bajrami/ Giuseppe Rossi pen, Ruben pen, Cani) Villarreal beat Twente 3-1 in Enschede to win 8-3 on aggregate in the quarterfinals of the Europa League. Tiendalli was red carded for Twente- a vital turning point [.

We have it on good word that at least one English club has lodged a bid for Kevin De Bruyne. Who made the bid, however, is up for interpretation.

Chelsea? Say word.

Chelsea have been linked with the 20-year-old Racing Genk midfielder since, well, the summer close season began.

Real Betis 3-1 Barcelona ( Jorge Molina*2, Arzu/ Lionel Messi) Copa Del Rey- January 19, 2011 Real Betis became one of the few teams to get the better of Barcelona this season but their 3-1 win was in vain as Los Cules progressed to the semifinals 6-3 on aggregate. Betis 1-0 FC Barcelona ( Molina [..

Manchester United vs Schalke 2011 Old Trafford, Manchester- 4/5/11- 4 May, 2011- Champions League Semifinal- Second Leg Final score:- Manchester United vs Schalke 4-1 ( Valencia, Gibson, Anderson*2/ Jose M.Jurado) Manchester United's second string side thrash Schalke 4-1 at Old Trafford to win 6-1 on aggregate and progress to a final meeting with FC Barcelona [.

Manchester United will meet FC Barcelona in the final of the 2010/11 UEFA Champions League on May 28th in London following their win 4-1 (6-1 on aggregate) over Schalke 04 at Old Trafford on Wednesday. With several regulars rested, United dominated the match and got goals from Antonio Valencia's, Darron Gibson and Anderson (2).

This weekend was truly Championship Weekend throughout Central America's football leagues. Four champions were crowned on Saturday and Sunday, and the final series of another league championship kicked off. Here is a roundup: BELIZE COSTA RICA Alajuelense completed a short tournament double last night as they defeated San Carlos 1-0 in the second leg of the Verano final, thus winning the finals series 2-0 on aggregate.

Almost 50 years later, Penarol will get its chance at revenge.

The Uruguayan club received a crucial away goal from Matias Mier Thursday night that proved to be the difference in its Copa Libertadores semifinal matchup with Argentina's Velez Sarsfield. Velez' Santiago Silva missed a 76th-minute penalty that would've put his team through, as Penarol advanced, 2-2 on aggregate, to become the first Uruguayan side to advance to the final of the tournament since 1988.

Germany won the last tournament in 2009. Who will win this year?

Germany may have won the most recent edition of the UEFA U-21 Championships, easily beating England 4-0 in Sweden two years ago, but that will now count for nothing as their current crop of youngsters failed to qualify for this year's tournament in Denmark which begins on Saturday.

Rangers FC's 2011-2012 UEFA Champions League run didn't last very long.

Maurice Edu's (and Alejandro Bedoya's soon-to-be) club played to a 1-1 draw at Swedish club Malmo FF on Wednesday and fell via a 2-1 aggregate in a Champions League qualifying round.

Edu set up the opening goal, which leveled the aggregate and away-goal count at 1-1 in the 24th minute, but Rangers couldn't overcome having two players -- Steven Whittaker and Madjid Bougherra -- get sent off.

Being seventeen and relatively football-ignorant is a wonderful thing. We were gearing up for the start of the 08-09 season; and I was jumped by a ephemeral, white- sheathed figure as I walked home from school.

‘Boooooo!' the figure said, rattling its chains, moaning and groaning and sounding not unlike some Arsenal supporters at the Emirates Cup the other weekend.

HJK is the Finnish team which famously thrashed Welsh club Bangor City 13-0 on aggregate in the Champions League early round playoffs. They were then unkindly dispatched from the CL by Dinamo Zagreb, making their way to the red-headed stepchild, the Europa League.

Teemu Pukki, formerly of Sevilla and still only 21, seems perfectly pleased with this development.

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho is already in midseason from and has he picked up where he left off last season by calling Barcelona "a small team" after losing in last night's Supercopa second leg at the Nou Camp.

For 88 minutes last night's match was a fantastic footballing spectacle between arguably the best two sides in Europe.

By Chris Wright

Hours after Jack Wilshere concocted his evil plan to usurp Barcelona on Wednesday night, Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas has gone on record as saying that his side shouldn't get hung up on Barca's obvious footballing superiority and just 'play without fear'.

PSV vs Benfica 2011 14th April, 2011- 14/4/11- Europa League quarterfinal second leg Final score:- PSV 2-2 Benfica ( B. Dzsudzsak, Lens/ Luisao, Cardozo pen) ( Benfica win 6-3 on aggregate) SL Benfica set up a semifinal meeting with fellow Portuguese side Braga after drawing 2-2 with PSV Eindhoven away from home.

Roy Keane: Manchester United's No. 16.

Was he the best midfielder and captain in Manchester United history?

If someone asked you to describe Keane using just a solitary word, it would be nigh-on impossible. The man is an enigma. The common consensus in world football, however, was that, in his pomp, he was the perfect box-to-box midfielder.

It's playoff time down in Mexico, so it's not surprising that passions are strong and tempers can flare, but that doesn't excuse the latest football incident of a player taking his anger out on an opposing coach. On Sunday May 15, 2011, Morelia beat Cruz Azul 3-0, giving them a 3-2 aggregate in the Clausura semifinals.

Two of Latvia's biggest clubs, Skonto Riga and FK Ventspils, will meet in the Triobet Baltic League final which takes place on Saturday, June 18th.

Skonto Riga already had one foot in the final following their 5-0 drubbing of compatriots Liepājas Metalurgs in the semi-final, first leg and today's second leg proved to be a drab affair.

While one Real contending for their regional Champions League suffered a major setback at home yesterday, the other saw their dream end completely. Real Salt Lake are not whining about their defeat in the same way as their Spanish inspiration from Madrid are busy doing, but they still have a bitter pill to swallow after a 1-0 defeat at home to Monterrey resulted in a 3-2 defeat on aggregate in the Concacaf Champions League final and an end to their 37 game unbeaten streak at home.

With Belize's 3-1 second leg victory over Montserrat on Sunday, helping the former to an 8-3 aggregate win over the latter, the first round of FIFA World Cup qualifying in the CONCACAF region has been completed.

Daniel Jimenez, Deon McCauley and Luis Mendez scored the goals which sealed Belize's passage into the second qualifying round in which they will join other first round winners Dominican Republic, St Lucia, Bahamas and the US Virgin Islands and nineteen other nations into the draw for the next round which takes place on July 30th in Rio de Janeiro.

AMSTERDAM - Maurice Edu and a nine-man Rangers were relegated to the Europa League after Malmö FF grabbed a late 1-1 equalizer in the second leg of their Champions League third-round qualifying tie on Wednesday, allowing the hosts to advance 2-1 on aggregate.

The US midfielder went the distance for the Scottish champs, switching over to perform solidly at right back after Steven Whitaker was the first man sent to the showers in the 18th minutes.

Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho is already in midseason from and has he picked up where he left off last season by calling Barcelona "a small team" after losing in last night's Supercopa second leg at the Nou Camp.

For 88 minutes last night's match was a fantastic footballing spectacle between arguably the best two sides in Europe.

CS Herediano is one of those strong teams with a poor recent history. They have 21 titles down in Costa Rica, but their last was from the 1992/3 season. Entering this edition of the CONCACAF Champions League by finishing 2nd Leo Gonzalez former club has a case of dualistic forms. In CCL play they haven't won in three matches, with their only points coming from the Preliminary Round drubbing (10-2 aggregate) against Alpha United of Guyana.

The draw for the UEFA EURO 2012 play-offs took place in Krakow, Poland on Thursday. The four home and away series to be decided on goal aggregate will determine the final four qualifiers for next summer's sixteen team European championships in Poland and Ukraine. Including among the draws is Croatia meeting Turkey in rematches of [.

By FRANCO PANIZO

FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. - NSC Minnesota Stars just could not beat the Ft. Lauderdale Strikers during the regular season, losing twice and tying twice in four matches.

Unfortunately for the Strikers, that trend didn't continue in the NASL Championship Series.

By JOEY SAMUEL

A wild weekend that included several major upsets concluded Sunday night in Mexico, where the four semifinal places in the Apertura playoffs were set.

Chivas de Guadalajara, despite finishing first in the regular season standings, could not overturn the deficit from their shocking 2-1 loss to Queretaro from last week.

By Chris Wright

Real Madrid's reserve string spanked third tier side SD Ponferradina 5-1 in the Copa del Rey last night, with Callejon (2), Sahin, Varane and Joselu sealing a fairly comprehensive 7-1 aggregate win for the La Liga leaders but that didn't dampen the spirits of Ponferradina right-back Dani Carril who, forgoing the tradition of swapping shirts with your opposite number, went straight to the top and asked Jose Mourinho for his gillet after the final whistle.

Spain, but again, are tipped as darkish horses for the World Cup and 2006 will finally finish years of disappointment and this era of players will fulfil their undoubted potential. However they won't. For all their individual expertise they can by no means motivate themselves to rise to the challenge.

Deportivo La Coruña and holders Sevilla moved into the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey on a night when Josep Guardiola saw his Barcelona squeak through on away goals.

Having been frustrated by Athletic Bilbao in a goalless first leg two weeks ago, Barcelona once again found their opponents difficult to break down.

MADRID, Spain Real Madrid, cushioned by an 8-0 first leg lead, secured their place in the Spanish Cup quarterfinals on Thursday despite a 2-0 defeat in the return match at Levante. Levante's two second-half goals by Xisco Nadal and Sergio Gonzalez were not enough to overturn Real's huge advantage secured over the Valencia-based side [.

LONDON, England Chelsea manager Carlo Ancelotti was looking forward to crossing swords with his Ipswich Town counterpart in Sunday's FA Cup third-round tie at Stamford Bridge before Roy Keane was sacked on Friday. The 39-year-old Keane, who had been at Ipswich since April 2009, left with the Championship (second division) club 19th in the [.

LONDON, England — Arsenal great Thierry Henry has returned to training with the Premier League side in a bid to maintain fitness ahead of the start of the Major League Soccer season in the United States. Henry, who plays for the New York Red Bulls in MLS, scored 226 goals for Arsenal in a successful [.

Weekend Six Pack Blackburn to roast West Brom is a post from: Just Football

Each week our betting columnist Rob Hartnett will bring you six bets from the weekend football action. Rob is the public face of leading In Play betting specialists 188BET.com and appears regularly on the Bolton, Wigan, Chelsea, Aston Villa, Liverpool and Everton websites doing betting previews.

BIRMINGHAM, England Birmingham's Craig Gardner booked a League Cup final showdown against Arsenal as his extra-time goal sealed a 3-1 victory over West Ham in Wednesday's semi-final second leg that secured a 4-3 aggregate win. Gardner, a boyhood Birmingham fan, capped an impressive fightback from Alex McLeish's side, who can now look forward to [.

Birmingham snatched a Carling Cup Final place where they'll face Arsenal, having come from 3-1 down on aggregate to win 4-3 on aggregate in Extra-Time.

Craig Gardner was the Birmingham hero against a gallant West Ham side who lead 2-1 from the first leg after his cracking shot in extra-time put Birmingham on their way too Wembley.

Birmingham vs West Ham Carling Cup Second Leg- Semifinal- January 26, 2011 Final score:- Birmingham 3-1 West Ham ( Bowyer, Johnson, Gardner/ Cole) A stunning second half comeback from Birmingham City that culminated in an extra time winner saw the Blues knock out West Ham 4-3 on aggregate in the semifinals of the Carling Cup.

It took overtime for Birmingham City to advance to the Carling Cup final at the expense of Jonathan Spector and West Ham United on Wednesday at St Andrews. Birmingham won the second leg 3-1 to take the series. Carlton Cole put West Ham up 3-1 on aggregate in the 31st minute, but goals for Birmingham in the 59th and 79th wiped out that lead and forced overtime.