Many are surprised by the play Thierry Henry got away with in the World Cup playoff between France and Ireland.� If you are not aware of the incident, Henry� clearly was guilty of an intentional� handball in the box at a critical moment in the second half.� France was down a goal at the time of the non-call and the play resulted in a goal for Gallas and an assist from� Henry.

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Are we at all sure that Youri hasn't been hired by Red Bull already?

The French legend has been planting seeds in France, playing Red Bull ambassador in the hopes of attracting his countrymen stateside through interviews like the one he had with football-ravageur, a French footy outlet.

He has some great insights on the successes and short comings of David Beckham, the measure of MLS against other leagues and the possibility of including more French players to the league structure.

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Finally, Chelsea found their "hand" and used it to great effect in their 1-0 win over Manchester United yesterday.� The match was a rough and tumble affair that featured very little in the way of scoring opportunities for either squad but did feature virtual girth of tension and upheaval at Stamford Bridge.

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Have you voted today?

You did? That's "super"!

Wait, you didn't? You forgot? Again?

Eh, that's� supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.

Well, not really.

Ironically, "super" is the worst adjective in the dictionary. Its various definitions are simply too diverse to be sloppily thrown into one word.

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Dear Mr. Goodell,

What has been witnessed all season long at Qwest Field in Seattle is the potential of professional Soccer in the U.S.� Interestingly, it has all taken place at a football stadium.� Who would have ever guessed, 14 years in,� that MLS would make� its biggest� impact in a football stadium.

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A bit of a tongue in cheek article on the ever busy Mirror football site the other day asking what football could learn from American football.Thankfully noses are turned up at cheerleaders and overseas games. Salary caps (some chance) make the cut along with referees explaining their decisions on the spot (unworkable and ridiculous) and instant replays (similar technology is inevitable in some Click to continue reading...

This is Part Two of our extremely popular weekly look at the weekend's Mexican Primera cheerleaders. We ran into more images of the Mexican Apertura Week 11 cheerleaders (or porristas) this week, so we're bringing some bonus coverage to the masses. We've also thrown in a couple of eye-catching American football cheerleader shot. Click to continue reading...

For American fans of the English Premier League, there will be several quality matches televised, thanks in part to ESPN2's coverage this season.

Saturday, October 17

7:45am - Aston Villa v Chelsea (ESPN2)
10:00am - Sunderland v Liverpool (FSC)

Sunday, October 18

11:00am - Wigan v Manchester City (FSC)

These games will be shown live.

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Fellow soccer bloggers Caught Offside yesterday offered up seven reasons why football (soccer) will never be a major success in the U.S. It got lost in all of the hullabaloo over Charlie Davies' accident but I wanted to take the time to address it now.
First things first: Caught Offside are wrong on all but one count, namely that the sport is not stat-intensive enough to become a major deal in the U. Click to continue reading...

Seven Reasons Why Football (Soccer) and the United States do not really need each other.

1. Not enough Stats

American sport lovers, love stats, as do I. Football (Soccer) doesn't have enough. A game like Cricket really should do far better stateside, that sport has more stats than just about any sport known to man.

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MLS explores playing indoors to shift schedule:

"Perhaps we have to start thinking about roofed stadiums at some point. But do we have to have a fan base that is developed enough to be immune to the weather, like they do for American football where they will come out to watch a game regardless of the climate?

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Hello there everyone. A fine Monday to you all. Hope everyone had a good weekend even though there was no Arsenal. Mine was pretty good. My Under-9 boys team got their first win of the season in our third match of the year. We won 6-1 after losing 8-0 and 7-0 in our first two matches. So it was a big victory for us and we'll be looking to keep that run going. Click to continue reading...

Some random thoughts on the US win and the upcoming game against Costa Rica

The Greatest US Win I Have Never Seen.� � A lot has already been said about how absurd it was that this game was not broadcast to the average US fan, so there is no reason to continue to beat this dead horse.

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Alright, this kid extremely confused. First of all, he takes down a player off the ball. Secondly, he does so with an American football tackle. Thirdly, that player he took down was on his team. Fourthly, that teammate was a girl. Fifthly, his shirt goes down to his knees.

I blame the parents.

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It has been a slow and depressing past couple of weeks with the United States U20 team falling out of the World Cup so early. To raise spirits, and bring back some of the creative flair this site has shown, I composed a poem for you guys about American soccer. I am predominately a fiction writer, but I hope you guys enjoy this little change up.

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Major League Soccer

I am an advocate of playoffs in American football. I do not believe the solutions often advocated by European oriented fans of balanced schedules, single table and no playoff competitions are practical or logical in North America.

Playoffs build a brand and build excitement.

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The issue of immigration and soccer is bouncing around the internet recently; several articles have come out on the issue in regards to the US National Team. I haven't completely wrapped my head...

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Here's the latest on whether the U.S. qualifier will be moved, which could well help the American cause if it's played in another country:

NEW YORK (AP) -- Soccer officials are watching the security situation in Honduras, hoping they won't have to move next month's World Cup qualifier against the United States.

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I hate the word 'Soccer', it should be football and nothing else. As you know, the Americans have also adopted the Football name for another sport, American Football. You may not have the knowledge about it that you do about the hideously named 'Soccer' but you can get some quite brilliant sports betting odds.

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Standard Liege, the former club of Oguchi Onyewu gave an English club a hard time for the third time in two seasons yesterday in a 3-2 loss to Arsenal. Meanwhile, Gooch didn't even make the match squad for his new team, AC Milan in a 2-1 victory Tuesday over Marseille.

Despite my initial excitement about Gooch's move, it's now become obvious that his current lack of playing time could affect his USMNT form.

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Since I went to my first two English Premier League matches, I wanted to do a short summary of my initial thoughts of the stadiums to which I went. The first was White Hart Lane, which I went to on Saturday for the match between Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United. I went with a number of Tottenham supporters, so I sat in the Tottenham section.

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Down two goals after just four minutes, Arsenal mounted a furious comeback at Standard Liege to capture an improbable 3-2 victory on the second day of Champions League group stage openers Wednesday. Eduardo cost Gunners the first goal with a miserable clearance off a corner, but made good for his mistake by scoring the winner nine minutes from time. Click to continue reading...

For the fourth time in three years, the Galaxy and Burn, I mean Hoops, or whatever they are called these days, has played an entertaining game of the highest sort. This is a big break for MLS, as two of the biggest TV markets in the country are featured in this budding rivalry.

Beginning with the Superliga match in 2007 which saw eleven goals scored, through LA's show that led to Steve Morrow's firing as FCD manager through last night, no matchup in MLS, or perhaps the football world has been as exciting rivalry on the planet.

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Today I'm reading an article at MLSnet.com about Dallas committing to what the writer called "attacking" soccer. � I like to call it "Soccer at warp speed".

Let me give you some background. � Soccer was the only sport I played as a kid and I played like a lunatic. � We ran hard, we kicked hard, we tackled hard (I even once broke a kid's leg slide tackling him.

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The United States is sometimes derided for its lack of football culture and traditions. For at least one night, the Lamar Hunt U.S Open Cup filled that void admirably as Seattle Sounders F.C. defeated D.C. United 2-1 in the 96th edition of the oldest competition in American football.
Spurred by a war of words between the two team's front offices, the game drew more interest than the U. Click to continue reading...

Should Jermain Defoe be starting for England ahead of Emile Heskey?
After the Slovenia friendly, where JD netted a fabulous goal and demonstrated more of his outrageously good form, I made the case in conversation that he shouldn't. My reasoning being that Heskey, for all the clumsiness and complete and utter lack of goals that he brought to the table, garnered the best form out of Wayne Rooney. Click to continue reading...

Yes it's American Football but that doesn't make it any less of an incredible idea! Surely it's only a matter of time before something similar kicks off this side of the pond...please! The moment we discover video evidence of this momentous ground breaking sport we will let you know.

More images follow, oh yes more images just for you!

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As we have seen from the excellent reporting by Kartik and Brian Quarstad this week, the future of the United Soccer Leagues is very unclear and very much up in the air.

Whether or not some will admit it, the USL is very important to American soccer. Some have said the USL has no reason to exist, and that Major League Soccer and the USSF the latter of whom sometimes seem to be allergic to work can hand both the professional game and player development.

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Raise your hand if any of the following criteria apply to you:

- have you been a football supporter for ten years or less?

- have you "picked" a top European club to follow?

- do you currently reside in one of the 50 States that make up this fine country?

If you answered Yes to any or all of these questions, you very well may be eligible to also have a "2nd team".

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It's been long rumored, practically guaranteed in previous statements, but now it's officially official: the Austin Aztex will play at AISD's House Park in 2010. The downtown stadium is technically located at 1301 Shoal Creek Blvd, though most think of it as being on Lamar Blvd (Google Map).
Yes, it will still be artificial turf. Click to continue reading...

In our second to last installment of "The Laws of Soccer 101″ before our Final Exam, I wanted to address the second appendix-like rule tacked into the rulebook that is not actually characterized as a "Law". I guess the fact that this short provision is not a "Law" is a technicality though, because I am speaking about the "Technical Area.

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Sometimes getting sent off by a referee can be a contentious issue. Perhaps a player is wrongly adjudged to have committed a professional foul, or a keeper did in fact touch the ball before the man and therefore should not have been shown a red. This on the other hand is the most blatant red card offence you will ever see.

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The following article is a summary of events this summer regarding the American football radio show World Soccer Daily, which went off the air last weekend after a sustained campaign of protest by Liverpool supporters' groups. In the interests of brevity, it skips over some of the finer details of what has become an extraordinary story involving alleged death threats, anti-semitism and even the involvement of the FBI.

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I must admit, I was getting depressed when I would think about the goats. The downhill slide just didn't seem like it was going to end. We got a win last weekend, but was it a fluke? Could the Goats drive on and play like it was 3 months ago and they were on top of the world? Could Chivas USA find the Mojo it lost sometime in June?

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Hendry Thomas is an unfamiliar name to many English Football fans. But from the vantage point of the CONCACAF region, he's becoming a giant, an emerging titan in the relatively weak word of Central American football.

Thomas, is Honduran, like his current Wigan team mate Maynor Figueroa and former Wigan man Wilson Palacios.

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