Watching the France-Canada game of the Women's World Cup yesterday, I was exhilarated by the playing of the French side. Their dominance in the game was a surprise to many, and to me, and also a little ghostly: suddenly, I was watching the sort of flowing, graceful, entertaining French football which for the past years had existed mainly in my imagination.

You all remember the fantastic compilation video of Landon Donovan's game-winner over Algeria in the 2010 World Cup that sent the USA to the top of the group and to the second round. Well, the USA's win over Brazil in the Women's World Cup Quarterfinal in Dresden was as emotional for many fans across the USA as it was for the players, and the the same guy -- Robby Donoho (props to you, man) -- who did the Landon video also put this one together for the WNT.

No one can ever accuse the U.S. Men's National Team of doing things the easy way.

Needing a win against Panama to ensure a spot in the knockout round of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the Americans came out inexplicably flat and ended up dropping the game, 2-1. It was the team's first loss ever in group play of the Gold Cup, the U.

Soccer season is practically over, and we are waiting for the Copa America in two weeks. So, I think it is time to show something light and very interesting,
What about Ronalidinho showing off his skills during the warm ups?
or my favorite ever, Zizou against Algeria in an indoor soccer game?

Yeah... that was a nice moment.Almost lost in all the run-up to the Gold Cup Final on Saturday versus Mexico is the fact that today is the one-year anniversary of LD's epic last minute (second?) goal against Algeria to propel the USMNT to the top of the group and the knock-out rounds of the 2010 World Cup.

It was one of the biggest and most unforgettable goals in U.S. national team history. Landon Donovan's last-minute game-winning goal against Algeria at last summer's World Cup sent a soccer nation into a frenzy and sent the United States into the World Cup Round of 16.

It might seem like that goal just happened, but it has already been a year since that unforgettable finish.

Liverpool are set to make a move for Algerian midfielder Ryad Boudebouz in the coming weeks.
The Algerian, who starred at last summer's World Cup, currently plays his trade at FC Sochaux-Montbeliard, but Kenny Dalglish has identified him as a potential transfer target after sending scouts to France last season.

Considering the response with which the fan response to the Landon Donovan goal against Algeria was met last summer during the 2010 FIFA World Cup finals, not surprising that Abby Wambach's more than last minute goal against Brazil (and Ali Krieger's penalty shot) has received the same treatment.

By Chris Wright

Yep, it's another post-match fisticuffs video in which, after Algeria emerged as 1-0 winners in the Military Games (nope, us neither) final in Brazil at the weekend, irate Egypt forward Ahmed Eid quite literally kick-starts a mass brawl by breaking free of the referee's clutches and planting his studs square into the small of an Algerian player's back with things rapidly escalating from there.

News today in the Newcastle Journal, that Newcastle may be interested in Algerian World Cup star Karim Ziani. Karim Ziani - creative midfield player Newcastle are even said to be leading the chase for the 28 year-old Algeria World Cup creative midfielder, who is understood to be allowed to leave German club Wolfsburg, where Steve [.

Ryad Boudebouz is happy to bide his time at Sochaux and wait for the right move to come along.
The Algeria international is attracting mounting interest, with his potential recognized across Europe.
At just 20 years of age he is regarded as a hot prospect for the future and the likes of Liverpool, Paris St Germain, Marseille and Lyon are all reported to be monitoring his situation.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

By AVI CREDITOR

United States national team centerback Oguchi Onyewu is finally in position to resume getting regular minutes in important matches, and while the opportunity isn't happening at AC Milan, that doesn't mean it can't be beneficial for him and his future.

This goal is my pick for the week. An astonishing volley from Dennis Rommedahl for Norway vs Denmark
Very animated goal from Brazil in Atletico-PR game vs. Roma
now, into some wonderful free kicks
Matias Fernandez scored a stunning goal for Chile vs. Portugal in a 1-1 friendly
Then, Colombia beat Ecuador 2-0 in a friendly with two nice goals, the first is from free kick
Now, something from Africa, a wonderful free kick by Wifaq Sutaif (Algeria) vs.

Ryad Boudebouz has emerged as a transfer target for Liverpool as the Merseyside club look to add some creativity to its squad.
The Algeria midfielder currently plays for French club Sochaux and has been linked with a summer move to Lyon or Marseille.
However, reports in France suggest the 21-year-old has also been watched by scouts from Liverpool in recent weeks.

The United States has been here before. Kind of.

Bob Bradley and Landon Donovan sat down for a short press conference Monday prior to a brief day-before training at Livestrong Sporting Park. They were asked about being in "unchartered waters." You could tell that it took a second for the player and coach to understand the question.

The recent successes of the Spanish National team in the last two international tournaments, 2008 European Championships and the 2010 World Cup has highlighted a wind of change in world football. Couple Spain's international glory with the emergence of Barcelona combining winning football with fantasy, flair and creativity and you have a recipe for success.

Reported Liverpool target Ryad Boudebouz says he has no interest in leaving Sochaux and believes he needs another year in France.
The Reds are thought to have been weighing up whether to offer £5million for the Algeria international after his impressive season in Ligue 1.
The 21-year-old scored eight goals as Sochaux secured a place in the Europa League.

Algeria international Ryad Boudebouz has claimed Liverpool are eager to sign him.

REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

To be fair, U.S. soccer history doesn't have a huge collection of great moments.

A few that quickly come to mind:

The United States beating England in the 1950 World Cup.

Brandi Chastain's PK against China to win the 1999 Women's World Cup in front of a sold-out Rose Bowl.

Abby Wambach's thrilling last-second extra time equalizer in Sunday's World Cup quarterfinal victory by the U.S. Women's national team against Brazil came a year after Landon Donovan's own dramatic game-winning goal for the U.S. men against Algeria in the 2010 World Cup.

Two amazing goals, two unforgettable moments.

*Soccer in insignificant compared to the misery inflicted by earthquakes and other natural disasters. But the power of sport is its ability to inspire, uplift and unite as the Japanese well know in the wake of their magnificent World Cup win. I'll have more on the tournament in Tuesday's column.

*How much did this tournament capture the public's imagination?

Algeria won the Military World Cup at Rio De Janeiro after beating Egypt 1-0 in the final with a goal that brought to all of the Algerians sweet memories of 1982 World Cup. The goal was almost a replica for the most famous goal in Algerian history (against Germany).
The sad part that after the game, Egyptian star "Ahmad Eid" ignited the spark with a very dirty kick against Algerian player and the battle started again.

Algeria won the Military World Cup at Rio De Janeiro after beating Egypt 1-0 in the final with a goal that brought to all of the Algerians sweet memories of 1982 World Cup. The goal was almost a replica for the most famous goal in Algerian history (against Germany).
The sad part that after the game, Egyptian star "Ahmad Eid" ignited the spark with a very dirty kick against Algerian player and the battle started again.

With Danny Guthrie out anywhere from four to six weeks with a groin strain, we mentioned that Haris Vuckic or Dan Gosling could get a chance tomorrow at Carrow Road. Mehdi Abeid could get a chance tomorrow But we didn't know if 19 year-old Frenchman Mehdi Abeid was back from playing for Algeria in the [.

The Arab Football Spring - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

The performances of the North African national football sides in 2011 have reflected the political actions of the Arab Spring.

The failure of Egypt, the champions of the past three tournaments, to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations (ACN), alongside the absence of regional heavyweights Cameroon and Nigeria, has thrown the tournament wide open.

We have different senses of humor. Some dry. Some sarcastic and so forth. But out of all of the Special 1 TV episodes in recent memory, this one to me is the funniest yet.

You may not laugh as much as I did, or maybe even more, but be sure to watch the above video featuring plenty of jokes and mid-table madness discussion.

US Soccer fans what hath thou wrought?
First the NFL employs a playoff ad campaign that mimics the viral video of fans celebrating Landon Donovan's goal against Algeria during the group stage of the 2010 World Cup finals. Now, now . . . somebody gives the same treatment to Nick Folk's game winning 32 yard field goal from this past weekend's wildcard game that saw the New York Jets defeat the Indianapolis Colts.

I'm not one for hyperbole, so I'm being completely honest when I say this goal call is the best thing to happen to US Soccer since Donovan's goal against Algeria:

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Talking about a Revolution Football's role in Egypt protests is a post from: Just Football

As protests in Egypt continue and the uprising in North Africa spreads, football is playing a key role in the Arab world's revolution. Making his debut for Just Football, James M.

The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team accepts the ESPY award for Best Moment. Nine members of the MNT attended the awards ceremony in Los Angeles where they collected the award which honored the last minute victory against Algeria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Author: broadbandsports Tags: us national espn cup mnt mens espy moment team 2010 best Posted: 11 February 2011 Rating: 0.

The U.S. Men's National Soccer Team accepts the ESPY award for Best Moment. Nine members of the MNT attended the awards ceremony in Los Angeles where they collected the award which honored the last minute victory against Algeria in the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Author: broadbandsports Tags: us national espn cup mnt mens espy moment team 2010 best Posted: 11 February 2011 Rating: 0.

Likely inspired by events in Egypt, Tunisia, Yemen, Bahrain, Jordan, Algeria, Libya, Iran.... Grant Wahl, US soccer journalist, wants to shake up FIFA. He doesn't want you to take to the streets. He just wants a little bit of support.

And to run against Sepp Blatter for the Presidency of FIFA.

A couple of quick stories worth talking about today:

First, and most importantly, the club has confirmed that while Djourou will be out at least 4 weeks, he will not need surgery. The brief statement from the club also says that he will return to training in "about a month." It's probably wishing for too much, but if he comes back in 4 weeks, gets a week of training, and is then ready to return to match fitness, that would put him in line for a return against Manchester United on May 1.

In an updated edition of his book "A History of the World Cup: 1930-2010" (Scarecrow Press), Clemente Lisi details the 2010 tournament in South Africa and the US National Team's emotional run to the Round of 16. From the USA's draw with England to Landon Donovan's last-gasp strike versus Algeria to the elimination against Ghana, the book gives readers a chance to relive the emotional ride that is the World Cup.

1º Spain 30.456,51 2º Netherlands 27.695,28 3º Germany 25.636,53 4º Argentina 19.980,68 5º Japan 19.390,17 6º Egypt 17.440,30 7º Uruguay 16.907,82 8º Brazil 16.681,12 9º Portugal 16.519,55 10º Ghana 16.081,90 11º Korea Republic 15.923,49 12º England 15.268,87 13º Mexico 15.

The coming week will presumably bring more twists and turns in the now explosive question of racism in the midst of the French Football Federation. Already, as Libération reported this morning, one high-ranking member of the Federation specifically named in the Mediapart article that broke has been suspended, and an internal investigation launched.

On the other hand, who says they can't keep doing this forever?

Seriously, that cheered me up, and I don't just mean about Barcelona's future. This season had been...not terrible, by any means, but sort of saggy at the top, like a failed cake. In a lot of places on a lot of tables, the math was more exciting than anything that actually happened.

Soccer season is practically over, and we are waiting for the Copa America in two weeks. So, I think it is time to show something light and very interesting,
What about Ronalidinho showing off his skills during the warm ups?
or my favorite ever, Zizou against Algeria in an indoor soccer game?

The USWNT weathered quite the storm but ended up prevailing in the end to punch their ticket into the FIFA World Cup Final. It is magnificent to hear the words US and World Cup Final in the same sentence. The Americans were set to play the winner of Japan/Sweden and Japan won 3-1. No matter who the US would have faced, there would have been intrigue.

Friendly relations.

[101gg]

• They've gotta wear shades. (Jonathan Wilson)
• Size might matter. (The Best Eleven)
• Documenting African football trafficking. (AFR)
• Not so funny. (IBWM)
• Foreign relations. (La Liga Loca)
• Inside the walls.