URUGUAY v PARAGUAY
Sunday 1600h Buenos Aires, Argentina
Uruguay and Paraguay are getting ready to fight it out for the Copa America on Sunday in Buenos Aires.
It has been a cup of shocks, with Argentina, Brazil and Colombia surprisingly falling by the wayside, but in the end two consistent sides who qualified for the 2010 World Cup have reached the final.

After everyone concluded their first game of the U-17 World Cup, here is how the six different confederations are doing ... CONCACAF, with five teams, is the only confederation with a winning record so far.
Africa (Burkina Faso, Congo Rwanda, Cote d'Ivoire): 1 win, 3 losses
Asia (Australia, Korea DPR, Japan, Uzbekistan): 2 wins, 2 losses
Europe (Czech Republic, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Netherlands): 3 wins, 3 losses
South America (Argentina, Brazil, Ecuador, Uruguay): 2 wins, 2 losses
North, Central America and Caribbean (USA, Canada, Jamaica, Mexico, Panama): 3 wins, 2 losses
Panama, in their first-ever FIFA World Cup, defeated African champion Burkina Faso in their opener yesterday

Sold out crowd at Lockhart Stadium for Miami Fusion v DC United

Apologies to the rest of the world, but I have an important announcement for soccer fans in South Florida. If you're reading this and you're in the area this weekend, it's time for you to stand up and show how much you love soccer by meeting with Major League Soccer Commissioner Don Garber this Saturday, January 8, 2011 at 1pm.

Group C and D winners Costa Rica and Mexico both cruised to quarterfinal victories on Tuesday night to earn a place in the CONCACAF U-20 semifinals and a ticket to the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Mexico.
Two more teams will join that pair tonight with the final two quarterfinal matches set - Honduras vs.

The four berths to the FIFA U-17 World Cup from South America have been decided - Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina and Ecuador will travel north to Mexico this summer.
The six-team round robin tournament was held in Ecuador and the four teams were decided with one round of games still to be played.

Alejandro Sabella has named his first squad as Argentina manager, in preparation for a pair of friendlies against Brazil next month. The matches, before anyone gets too excited, will feature only players from the domestic leagues of the two nations, so ... Continue reading →

The 2011 South American Youth Championship (aka the U-20 continental tournament) is ready to enter its final stage. Starting with ten sides in two groups, there are now six teams in one big pot. Each team will play each other once over five matchdays between 31 January and 12 February, with the winner on points being crowned under-20 champion of South America.

Argentina's Under 20s finally looked a competent side in the Sudamericano Sub 20 on Sunday night, as they became the first side in the competition to beat their Brazilian counterparts, and shot themselves right back into contention for a London ... Continue reading →

Fifa's World Rankings for March were published today. World Cup winners Spain remain in top spot followed by The Netherlands, Germany and Argentina. Brazil drop to 5th.
England are in 6th place. Ghana are the top African team.
The USA drop to 19th. Japan, winners of the Asian Cup, are up to 15th.

Writers wanted over at our friends at Simply Futbol

Coverage options: Bundesliga, La Liga, Serie A, MLS, Mexico, South America (Argentina, Brazil, etc.) or any other league you would like to cover.

As the group stage of the 2011 UEFA U-17 Championship wrapped up in Serbia, the top six teams have clinched a place in the upcoming FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico.
Eight European teams were competing in two groups of four in a round-robin format, and while the top two teams in each group moved onto the continental semifinals, the top three teams advanced to Mexico.

The United States Under-20 national team is set to take on France in two friendlies this week, one on Tuesday and one on Thursday, but two of the more highly touted Americans expected to play in the games won't be available.

Sebastian Lletget and Joe Gyau, initally named to the roster for the trip, won't be with the club "due to slight injuries they have picked up with their clubs," according to U.

Mano Menezes looking for success before the Copa America

Mano Menezes has called up 28 players for the friendly internationals versus the Netherlands on June 4th and Romania 3 days later.
The Brazilians will take on the Dutch in the estádio Pacaembu in São Paulo. The Romania will be in the city of Goiânia and the estádio Serra Dourada.

Copa America is in full swing as all of the participants have played their first group game. I was actually prertty excited for this to start as the South American teams did really well in the World Cup. The first games have been less than stellar and I hope the quality picks up as the tournament moves along.

STARTERS
One more week until the 2011 Mexican Primera Division Apertura season begins.
-UNAM Pumas won the Clausura in a big upset.
MATCH FIXING IN TURKEY
AFP reports that Besiktas is set to surrender the Turkish League Cup title they won last season.

By Daniel Colasimone, editor of ArgentinaFootballWorld.com writing from Argentina

There were no easy games. It is a cliché that is often wheeled out during international tournaments but for the very first time, it did actually apply to the Copa America. In past editions, teams like Venezuela and Bolivia, when facing any of the continent's big guns, could almost always be relied on squeal, drop to the floor, cover their faces and whimperingly accept a savage beating.

By Gordon Fleetwood

Ten years after FIFA's premier youth competition was held on South American soil, the U20 World Cup returns to the continent as the best twenty-four teams in the world converge on Colombia. The tournament provides a stage for some of the brightest young talents in world football to show their skills and compete for a chance at glory.

By CALEB SONNELAND

World-champion Spain's stint atop the FIFA rankings is officially over, with the Netherlands being the usurpers.

Bert van Marwijk's side ascended to the No. 1 spot after the Spaniards crashed to a friendly 2-1 defeat to Italy earlier in August.

UEFA Champions League on Fox Soccer: Benfica - Manchester United at 2:30pm and Manchester City - Napoli at 5pm (2:30pm on Fox Soccer Plus). Fox Soccer Plus has Dinamo Zagreb - Real Madrid at midnight. CONCACAF Champions League on Fox Soccer: Dallas - Tauro at 8pm and Herediano - Seattle at 10pm. On TeleFutura: UNAM Pumas - Toronto at 8pm and Comunicaciones - Monterrey at 10pm.

"I would love to play with Lionel Messi. But Messi is an incomplete player because he can't use his head. Also I played football for 20 years, Messi has only played for several years.", Pele, last week.
Only a person who follows football from a distance, and really into the details of the game would say such a comment.

China, Why Costa Rica? - Costa Rica have recently unveiled the state-of-the-art Estadio Nacional. But why was it funded exclusively by the Chinese government?

On Saturday, FC Barcelona and Real Madrid kick off at the Camp Nou and the Mestalla, respectively.