The Guadiana Tournament in Algarve this summer has been announced. The tournament will be held between July 16-18, the teams confirmed so far are Benfica, Olhanense and Atletico Bilbao a fourth team will be added to the tournament from Anderlecht or Sunderland. Sporting who won the cup last season will not be in this seasons tournament as they try to qualify for the Champions League Group

Hmmm - the usual internet issues this morning - and an e-mail from FairPoint indicating that my webspace is now available.  Hey FairPoint - it ain't my webspace that's the problem.  Could you maybe help me with the little e-mail issue that I've now contacted you about TWICE?  (Never mind the time spent waiting on [.

There's quite a bit on the soccer news front, as you may have guessed from the headline this morning.  The WPS has held its combines on the East and West coasts, and is gearing up for its draft on Friday, January 16th.  (That's this Friday, folks!)  Here's some nice video from the West Coast combine [.

More than a few times has Heather Mitts and Leslie Osborne been mistaken for each other and/or compared to each other, mostly when they are on the field, and mostly by fans and TV analysts. Sure both are very blond, have similar hair styles, similar builds (although Osborne is 5-8 and Mitts is 5-5), similar facial structure and often wear similar cute hairbands, but last night in Rochester it got taken to another level.

Check out MatchTracker starting at 7AM ET to follow the USWNT's opening game of the Algarve Cup.  They start off against Denmark, in a match-up that could prove one of their more difficult of the tournament. "It's not a World Cup year or an Olympic year, so we can try different things and one thing we [.

I read through the post-match quotes re. yesterday's USWNT win over Norway at the Algarve - and continue to just love Pia's detailed and forthright comments ... for example: (On the ebb and flow of the match)  You can imagine that you have a team running at you the whole time and doing everything to win, [.

Benfica and Sporting will clash in the Carlsberg Cup Finals on March 21/09 at 7.45pm local time at the Algarve Stadium. Tickets for the event went on sale yesterday, tickets are said to cost in the range of $10 to $20 Euros

That's how Michael Steele has described the Republican Party. I agree that muck is a great way to describe a medium comprised of the detritus of right wing preachers, radio hacks, and turdblossoms.  But it doesn't seem wise for a party that is struggling mightily to find its identity, should choose as its cheerleader-in-chief, someone [.

The USWNT defeated Norway 1-0 on the strength of a goal by Megan Rapinoe and what sounded like at least one save-for-the-ages by Hope Solo. Now Pia and crew face her homeland (gaaaa - I hate that word - can't believe I used it) in the final.  Sweden held on to defeat Germany 3-2, coming on [...]

Hope Solo is the goalkeeper for the US national team, a 2008 Beijing Olympic Gold medalist, and now the undaunted keeper for St. Louis Athletica, a WPS team currently at the bottom of the table.

Noted for her outspoken comments about her coach's decisions during the World Cup, she is just as genuine and forthright now speaking about her decision to become a goalkeeper, why England should have a women's league, and why MLS should increase their international roster slots.

Happy Saturday everyone! Looks like it's going to be one beauty of a day. HollyCornblog and CharlieHopbrew should be on their way in another couple of hours and if I disappear for a while after they arrive, well, you'll know what I'm up to! Let's see what's happening in the world of soccer, first. I see [.

First off, our friend Alice (who suffers good-humoredly my unrelenting pressure to become a JordanCornblog contributor) is off to tour Florence today.  Happy travels, Alice! Happily, she will not have to leave before the USWNT faces Iceland in their second game at the Algarve.  She (and the rest of us) will be able to follow it [.

The trip was organized by Women's Committee members: Boston Breakers Assistant Coach Lisa Cole, NSCAA Board of Directors member Marti Coan, Former USWNT Head Coach April Heinrichs, and renowned sports psychologist Dr. Colleen Hacker. During these 10 days, they will take participants behind-the-scenes at one of the world's most distinguished sporting events - The Algarve Cup.

When I heard that Steve Bruce was being lined up as the replacement for Ricky Sbragia, a few alarm bells rang in my head. Bruce, being a Newcastle United fan surely couldn't be Ellis Short and Niall Quinn's choice as the new Sunderland manager could he? Would Bruce seriously consider near enough ruling himself out of becoming Newcastle manager in the near future by taking the job?

O antigo futebolista de Belenenses, Salgueiros e Paços de Ferreira saiu derrotado da Final do Campeonato Nacional 2009 de futevólei disputada este domingo em Armação de Pêra, no Algarve. Na final, a dupla constituída por Miguel Pinheiro e pelo antigo lateral direito que ainda na época passada jogou nos Distritais de Braga, perdeu os dois sets disputados frente dupla Nelson Pereira/Alan Cavalcanti, ambos por 18-12.

Well, it's time to consider nominations for CONCACAF Player of the Year again. I was reminded of this courtesy of Nick Green's coverage of the FIFA Women's Player of the Year finalists.
In a nutshell, FIFA blew it. Three of FIFA's nominees would technically be eligible for my award - Marta, Kelly Smith, and Cristiane.

Okay, of that group, which one(s) would you put your money on? Citi had a good day and the market bounced ... meanwhile, Newsweek has put out a great piece outlining the warring amongst the rich - a greed-fed battle they dub "the war between the estates." In the past two years, since the market peaked, investors [.

Fazia hoje 80 anos. Entrevista da sua companheira ao DN
Entrevista com Zélia Afonso
"Zeca Afonso foi sempre mal-amado"
Quando ouve os discos de José Afonso, já não o faz no velho gira-discos como no tempo em que originalmente foram editados: "O aparelho estragou-se há uns anos largos, já tentei encontrar agulhas, mas é difícil" Azeitão.

Quando se fala de Selecção Nacional associam-se imediatamente essas palavras aquela que é a imagem mais forte, a Selecção Nacional "AA". No entanto existe um conjunto de outras selecções com actividades menos divulgadas:
Futsal Selecção Nacional "AA"

Orlando Duarte - Seleccionador Nacional Futsal

Em preparação para a Fase Final do Europeu que se disputará na Hungria, Portugal defronta a Tailândia, hoje, pelas 20.

Check MatchTracker this morning at 11 ET to follow the USWNT vs. Norway in the final game of group play over at the Algarve (where, presumably, it is NOT snowing)! The US is already in the championship game as a result of their two previous wins, however this should be interesting, as they've not seen Norway [.

The US Women's National Soccer Team is perhaps the most dominant squad in all of soccer history. I am not talking about just women's soccer, I am talking about all soccer. Over the last two decades, the team has risen from obscurity to become a national treasure and a force to be reckoned with in every major tourney.

Foto: Francisco Paraíso Luís Lavrador, cozinheiro da Selecção e Jorge Andrade, juntos no Algarve, preparados para assistirem ao Portugal/Finlândia, realizado em Fevereiro.

For those of you who don't subscribe to the US Women's National Team Blog, you should check it out as there are some entertaining posts this week.
Whereas the Fake Sigi blog is driven by pure evil and a thirst for the blood of the living, the USWNT blog is a collection of goofy photos and random behind the scenes video.

Foto: www.abola.pt
Ai está ela de novo, e, como sempre, mobilizando uma imensidão de meios. Longe vai o tempo de Ribeiro da Silva, Alves Barbosa, Jorge Corvo, Joaquim Agostinho, Marco Chagas e de tantos outros, vestidos com a camisola dos grandes clubes portugueses ou do Sangalhos, Tavira, Alpiarça e de outros pequenos conjuntos.

Foi num ambiente fantástico que o jogo de sábado decorreu, salientando-se não ter havido incidentes de maior com os adeptos da Bósnia, conforme se temia. Mais uma vez aquele estádio foi talismã. O hino nacional foi cantado com enorme vibração, como já não se ouvia há algum tempo. Hoje a selecção nacional, jogue onde jogar, tem um público vibrante e diferente a ajudar a fazer a história do jogo.

Nuno Gomes scored a big marker for Benfica in the 90th plus minute to save face for the Eagles as they took on Olhanense in the Algarve. Olhanense opened the scoring when a Benfica header went wayward and right to Olhanense's Fernandes who headed it past Quim. Benfica then brought the score back to even when Javier Saviola knocked in a corner kick.

It's been a season full of individual awards for Landon Donovan, and the Los Angeles Galaxy star added another one to his 2009 tally, as U.S. Soccer named Donovan the Male Athlete of the Year for the third time.

Surprisingly enough, it's the first time Donovan has won the award since 2004, when he won it two years running.

It's been a season full of individual awards for Landon Donovan, and the Los Angeles Galaxy star added another one to his 2009 tally, as U.S. Soccer named Donovan the Male Athlete of the Year for the third time.

Surprisingly enough, it's the first time Donovan has won the award since 2004, when he won it two years running.

Luanda – A selecção nacional de futebol poderá defrontar a similar da Gâmbia a 3 de Janeiro de 2010, em substituição do Burkina Faso, que decidiu antecipar a viagem para Angola, na rota do Campeonato Africano das Nações (CAN), a disputar-se nas cidades de Luanda, Benguela, Lubango e Cabinda entre 10 e 31 de Janeiro próximo.

Falo hoje novamente do meu clube e da agonia em que se encontra, num dos últimos lugares da 1ª Divisão Distrital da AF Setúbal. Custa-me ver esta situação e a dificuldade dos barreirenses em encontrarem uma saída para esta crise. Junto um belo e pequeno texto da Manuela Fonseca, sobre o clube.