Visiting the White House with his Los Angeles Galaxy teammates was just the beginning of David Beckham's whirlwind week.

Assuming his role as one of London's ambassadors for this summer's Olympic games, Beckham will be part of the contingent bringing the Olympic torch from Athens to London on Friday, one of the traditional ceremonies in the build-up to an Olympics.

By Chris Wright

With charity the theme of the day here on Pies, here's another little yarn to pluck your cockles and warm your heartstrings.

What you are about to see is Manchester United's Nani, Park Ji-Sung, Jonny Evans and Chris Smalling humping 200 footballs into the back of the DHL van (with a little help from the tricksy driver) at Carrington.

Before we get going today, wanted to give a little update on our buddies Stanislaus United Turlock Express from California. SUTE downed the Bay Area Ambassadors 3-0 on Saturday night to claim an historic berth in the USOC. With the win, SUTE becomes the first US Club Soccer team to qualify for the USOC in the 99-year history of the event.

...I am here to provide you with a new, fervent rooting interest for the 2012 US Open Cup. Martyn Artista's brace guided Northern California club outfit Stanislaus United Turlock Express past Napoli 5-2 and just a breath from qualifying for the 99th USOC. If they do it, which requires they beat NPSL side Bay Area Ambassadors, it would be US Club Soccer's first-ever participant in the USOC.

Tomorrow afternoon sees the return of the FA Womens Super League, with eight teams doing battle in the first summer league version of a tournament that the FA hopes will dramatically increase interest in the competition. A signifier of how important they consider the development of this years competition to be and the extent to which the powers that be regard social media to be the key to increasing the profile of the league in the future.

In a complete departure from the discussion of intelligence and football: social media.

Though studies may eventually indicate otherwise, I musn't be the only one who feels they're becoming more stupider just by reading Twitter. That won't stop it, however, nor will it stop the freight train of every single noun in the world one day being preceeded by an ampersat.

So this news is actually about two weeks old at this point. It was something I've been meaning to write about because it's actually a pretty important development as far as our youth system goes, but with the tournament and other Portland Timbers news it just kind of got swept under the rug, an unfortunate reality when there's so much going on.

U.S. Soccer Federation President Sunil Gulati speaks to U.S. supporters (including the American Outlaws) in Chicago. He might have been taking about this....
The idea is simple: invite your friends to a soccer game, buy them a beer. There... you've done it! You're now a participant in the Free Beer Movement.

The story of Pelé life, in art - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

A sense of nostalgia sets in when thinking of Pelé, arguably the best footballer of all times, and the one that gave "Futebol bonito" to Brazil and to the rest of the world. Pelé's memorable moments include the bicycle kick, winning three world cups for Brazil out of their total of five, and being one of the best ambassadors football could ever want and need.

Lions off the leash: Capello lets players loose for his Euro 2012 farewell

"We are going to be doing things very differently this time. We want to be good tourists and ambassadors," says Club England MD Adrian Bevington

View the full story here: The Mirror

A news article on 2011-11-07 22:00:30 from: The Mirror

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

You've gotta love the look on that girl's face : "Messi?? Quiero que mi sopa de letras!" ("I only want my Alphabet soup!") Ah, remember when you were 11 years old and spent hours daydreaming about being a child football mascot for the Champions League and/or walking out, holding a player's greasy hands?

Ruud Gullit is growing back his famous moustache in support of men's health charity Movember.
Movember, the month formally known as November, challenges men across to show their support for men's health by growing a Mo (slang for moustache) throughout the month, and this year Ruud Gullit will be rising to the challenge by growing back his iconic moustache.

Liverpool Football Club today signed a unique partnership with Liverpool City Council to help ready young people in the north of the city for future careers.
Reds Managing Director and Cllr Joe Anderson, leader of the city council, launched the joint venture at Melwood on Wednesday morning.
It will see Liverpool and its foundation support the council's drive to provide opportunities for young people in training, education and other related initiatives taking place in the community.

By Chris Wright

While the young people of Spain continue to protest on the streets against the country's manifest political corruption, Sporting Gijon defender Javi Poves has taken a moral stand turning his back on the club and quitting football altogether aged 24, after spending too long in direct contact with the game's grubby underbelly.

By Chris Wright

While the young people of Spain continue to protest on the streets against the country's manifest political corruption, Sporting Gijon defender Javi Poves has taken a moral stand turning his back on the club and quitting football altogether aged 24, after spending too long in direct contact with the game's grubby underbelly.

This summer Ipswich Town have been 'linked' to so many footballers I think I've lost count; but this time last week the name being thrown about on Twitter made my blood run cold.
Seven days later we have signed Lee Bowyer, chequered history and all. But was it the right move?
The debate on Twitter has been interesting to say the least; when I offered my opinion on him I was ridiculed for being childish and judgemental, being told to 'grow up' and 'give him a break'.

For the first time in their history, Liverpool Football Club has landed in China to kick off the first leg of their Standard Chartered sponsored pre-season tour of Asia.
Kenny Dalglish and his squad touched down at Guangzhou airport at 11am local time this morning following a 13-hour flight from Liverpool (via Kazakhstan) - and were greeted by scenes of hysteria as Chinese fans gathered in their hundreds to welcome the Reds to their country for the first time.

On paper, you would struggle to find two more different teams than USA an North Korea.The United States roster features thirteen players with World Cup experience. The North Koreans, by contrast, combine for an average age under 21 and only one player who has made a previous trip to the big stage.

The new marketing campaign "Visit Spain, Visit Madrid" is now ready and shows all of Real Madrid's star players, like Cristiano Ronaldo act as "brand ambassadors" for both the Spanish capital and the country as a whole.

(This entry is formulated based on and partly extracted from the press release issued by and pictures credited to Integrated Marketing Solutions Group [IMSG] - the PR agency for Nike Singapore)
With the 23rd Lion City Cup scheduled to kick off in less than a month away, it's not doubt that again that Hanafi Akbar (pictured below) and the rest of the National U-16 team will be carrying the hope of the country to repeat that kind of performance that captured the heart of the nation last August.

With the leagues around Central America approaching the playoff stage, it's a good time to do a roundup of action from around the area. BELIZE The Belizean Premier League finished a couple of months ago. Belize Defence Force won their third championship by defeating Toledo Ambassadors 4-2 on aggregate in the two-legged final.

The Interview: Just Football meets Graeme Le Saux is a post from: Just Football

JF: Graeme Le Saux, thanks very much for speaking to Just Football.

Graeme Le Saux: No problem.

JF: If you wouldn't mind beginning by telling us a bit about the Champions League Trophy Tour with Heineken and your role as Ambassador.

I like custard. When I know I'm going to be having custard I am happy. I look forward to my custard experience.
And then the custard arrives. And it's lumpy. This disappoints me.
Too often in the past Old Firm games have been like lumpy custard. You look forward to the big event and then you are treated to a dish about as appetising as cat vomit.

I'm sure you have heard on the back pages today that, Andy Gray and Richard Keys have been accused of sexism. Here is the audio of the incident (Ignore the pointless intro)

Well done bellends!...Now for some statements via the BBC:

An FA statement said it had made "real strides in encouraging both male and female match officials to enter the game at every level, and will continue to offer every encouragement to all officials within the football family to progress to the highest levels possible".

View full size photo »

Who can argue the importance of history's teachings? The thing is, we have to work a little bit to maintain those links.

What do the FFA think of Mrs Wensing? 80 years of age, she went out of her way to sign the A-League4Canberra supporters pledge in 2009. The FFA could not have cared less.

Fozzie has spoken.
At the recent inaugural fans forum in Sydney, a marvellous initiative btw, to look at and solve the problems facing football in Australia.