World Cup 2010 is around the corner and just like the previous years, hot football fans will be travelling with their nations to boost their morals. For once and for all, it does not matter if the English WAGs aren't travelling with their respective players (or John Terry) because all the Brazilian, Italian, Spanish, German, Argentinean and even Australian hotties will be there to keep us entertained.

For Arsenal, the name of Lionel Messi will go down as the reason why they were eliminated from the Champions League. With four goals at the Camp Nou, the Argentinean made sure the Gunners' progress in ...

Italian winger Mauro Camoranesi has been fined $200,000 Argentinean ($50,000 US) for a tackle he made 16 years ago. The now 33 year old Camoranesi was just 17 in 1994 and playing for Aldovisi in Argentina, when he tackled an opposition player named Roberto Pizzo and apparently ended his career. For reasons best known to Argentinean judicial system, it's taken over a decade and a half for the courts to rule that "Although it's not possible to describe Camoranesi's action as deliberately intentional, it was incredibly clumsy .

I heard a Manchester City fan on the radio the other day. He was saying he couldn't understand why Tevez wanted to leave City because, ‘he's absolutely worshipped by the fans.' This guy says this as though this would mean anything to the Argentinean.

I see this hero worshipping of players like Tevez as totally inappropriate.

Bookies up and down the country are tipping former Liverpool legend Kenny Dalglish or former Chelsea boss Guus Hiddink to takeover from under pressure manager Rafa Benitez.
Liverpool crashed out of the FA Cup last night at Anfield at the hands of Championship side Reading, which now sees the reds fighting for fourth place having been knocked out of the Champions League and League Cup.

Argentina and Barcelona midfielder Lionel Messi declared he was surprised to see Arsenal's Theo Walcott dropped from the England squad for the World Cup Finals. Speaking to the Daily Star about the 21-year old, the Argentinean ...

Cristiano Ronaldo. Lionel Messi. Goals. Skills. Pace, strength and technique. Winners. There is nearly nothing that separates them. Nearly.

Not since the mid-eighties has the world of football got to see two players plying their trade for the top two teams in the same nation, battling it out to be recognised as the best player in the world.

Today Barcelona defeated Zaragoza 4-2 in the Spanish League, and the small Argentinean super-star, Lionel Messi, scored three goals and got himself a penalty that he humbly let Ibrahimovic take and score. With these three goals Messi has scored eight goals in a week, and is far ahead in the top scoring list of the Spanish League.

If Albert Riera is to believed, Rafael Benitez's Liverpool ship is sinking, and there will be a mad rush at the end of the season as players seek to abandon it.
Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard have, predictably, been linked with mega-money moves away from Anfield, but perhaps the most drawn-out saga has surrounded Javier Mascherano, whose protracted switch to Barcelona has dominated the gossip columns since the middle of last season.

As usual we've got a mixed bag this week, in Europe's top competition both Man United and Arsenal fell at the third to last fence, however, Fulham's fairy tale season continues by overcoming the odds to beat German champion's Wolfsburg. Liverpool also progressed by emphatically dispatching Everton's conquerors; Benfica.

Barca players try to loosen up for Tuesday's match.

Barcelona arrived in Milan by coach on Monday after having their flight cancelled due to the volcanic ash in the air. The Blaugrana made the 1,000 kilometre trek over two days and now will prepare in Milan for their showdown with Jose Mourinho's men.

Photo by Michael Stephens/ISIphotos.com

BY ADAM SERRANO

Another match, another shut out for the Los Angeles Galaxy.

A memorable performance by Josh Saunders and a late goal by Tristan Bowen were the difference on Sunday night as the Galaxy defeated Argentine giant Boca Juniors, 1-0, in front of 18,267 at the Home Depot Center.

Three of the Premier League's other biggest clubs - Manchester City, Chelsea, and Liverpool - will challenge Manchester United in the race to sign Estudiantes striker Mauro Boselli.
According to reports in South America, the 24-year-old is attracting significant interest from England with several scouts keeping close tabs on the Argentinean international.

According to reports in both the Spanish and Argentine press, Liverpool are set to sign Valencia's talented young midfielder Ever Banega for a fee of £8.5m as Rafa Benitez begins his rebuilding process at Anfield. The young Argentinean has been a long-term target of Benitez but also David Moyes who attempted to sign the 21-year-old on loan last summer.

Javier Mascherano has made a brazen ‘come and get me' plea to former Liverpool manager Rafa Benitez, who seems to be on the verge of taking over at Inter Milan. One particularly illuminating comment stands out amid the Argentinean's glowing eulogy.
"With Benítez at Liverpool I experienced three incredible years.

As expected, a busy day for Liverpool internationals in South Africa.

Something I missed the other day, though Greece took on South Korea this morning, meaning that Sotirios Kyrgiakos was in the mix for the Greeks. Unfortunately things didn't turn out so well for Kyrgiakos or the Greeks South Korea more or less had their way with Greece, winning 2-0 through goals from Lee Jung-Soo and Park Ji Sung.

After the impressive victory by Argentina over Mexico in the round of 16, Diego Maradona, Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez provided news conference comments that were published by the Buenos Aires news daily, Clarin. Maradona deftly evaded a question about the apparent offside position of Carlos Tevez on the first Argentinean goal.

I haven't had the chance to look at the United game again or to even study the chalkboards and there is plenty of chat on the internet about that, most of which is just zero-value noise, so I thought it's best to leave that game aside for a day or two. I do want to discuss how Manchester United have a much better organized collective defensive system (best in the League if not the best in the world) but it'll take some work.

It's official. Bolatti is heading to the Serie A.

momento24.com

Mario Bolatti moves to Fiorentina

The midfielder who started his footballing career at Belgrano de Cordoba will be the ‘Viola's' new player, after that team closed a deal with FC Porto, Bolatti's current club.

Just watching Match of the Day 2, trying to wring every drop out of the weekend before the onset of the new week, and I'm on the verge of sleep as Man City and Liverpool cancel each other out on the way to what was a largely uninspiring and insipid 0-0 draw.

Just as I had pretty much given up on it and my mind was set on bed, three incidents occurred in the space of the last ten minutes or so that placed the issue of fair play squarely on the table.

A weekend which includes a revitalized Serie A, Messi showing why he's number 1, and Rooney continuing his fantastic form. Not only all this, but in the Eredivisie a fantastic match between Ajax and PSV ended 4-1 for Ajax after some fantastic goals, especially a rocket shot by Emanuelson that went into the top right corner.

A fantastic end to the Champions league round of 16, and now we finally know all of the quarter finalists, Europa League will be added on tomorrow after the matches, and when the draw happens on friday, you'll know where to find it, right here on SWU.
Chelsea - Inter Milan: Aggregate 1-3


Inter Milan simply overpowered Chelsea throughout the match, of course the blues looked dangerous sometimes, but fantastic resolute defending by Samuel, Lucio (who will miss the next Champions League match), and Maicon stopped Drogba in his tracks.

It's a well know fact that the world is divided into two types of people – those who eat McDonalds and those who prefer Burger King.

I myself fall into what I consider to be the better of the two groups. I'm a "McDonald's only" girl of course.

My friends (Team Burger King) would argue this is more because I am a stubborn cow and less to do with any sort of gastronomical experience I may have had with a Big Mac.

With massive matches looming over footy fans, the seasons are beginning to come to their end, this is where teams need to make the games in hand and home matches count. Whether they're pushing for a Champions League spot or fighting relegation.
A small bit of news for any fans of the Championship, Newcastle have been mathematically promoted into the Premiership, returning to the heights they were at last year.

A voice cries out in the wilderness but no one hears it. An extinct species flourishes on the frozen ground, making the barren land his own but no one notices.

As Lionel Messi glided across the plains of the Camp Nou, omnipotent in his ability, making hyperbole the norm, another dynamic little man forged his spot in a sport where there wasn't a spot for him.

Lionel Messi's four-goal performance in Tuesday's Champions League quarterfinal win against Arsenal was simply stunning. For those of you who may have been living under a rock, here is the highlight video of the Lionel Messi show in all its glory.

I would also wager a guess that even if you've seen the highlights, you'll be compelled to watch it again.

Inter Milan's journey towards the Champions League trophy could end at the semifinals. After they'd defeated CSKA Moscow 1-0 at the Luzniki stadium to go through, they had plenty of time to watch a Messi led Barcelona demolish Arsenal at the Camp Nou. And while this Inter Milan side is good, could they actually compete with such a phenomenal Barcelona team?

Lionel Messi will celebrate his 23rd birthday during the World Cup, a reminder of how young the Argentinean is to be an established world star. The 2009 FIFA World Player of the Year will be one of the major attractions at this summer's finals, as it seems inconceivable that Messi will miss out as he did in 2006.

Roberto Mancini is still distancing himself from the Juventus job, but Rafa Benitez is still a target.

Nemanja Vidic is still denying any interest of moving away from Manchester United.

Mirko Vucinic of Roma is being chased by both Manchester clubs.

Argentinean striker Mauro Boselli, who currently plays for Estudiantes, is a summer target for Blackburn Rovers.

A supreme individual display from Lionel Messi saw him net four goals as Barcelona came from behind to beat Arsenal 4-1 at the Nou Camp and progress to the Champions League semi-finals.

Nicklas Bendtner had given Arsenal a surprise early lead, but after Messi had equalised two minutes later, he netted two more to complete his hat-trick before half-time.

Anyone who doesn't take an active interest in football could have been forgiven in recent weeks for thinking Lionel Messi was some four-legged, turbo charged mystical deity, such was the praise lavished on the Argentinean's shoulders.
It is true that his recent performances, particularly in the Champions League demolition of Arsenal, were spell binding and he was deservedly put on a pedestal with the likes of Pele and Diego Maradona, but the praise did get a bit hysterical in places.

Catania has always had to battle relegation, some years they went down, some they stayed up. When their wonder-coach Walter Zenga left them for Palermo after saving them last season, Catania were left with a large hole to fill. While Atzori tried, his inexperience led to results that were not good enough, leading to his eventual replacing.

imscouting.com

AC Milan prepare bid for Argentinean Nicolas Otamendi

AC Milan are preparing a bid for highly-rated Argentinean defender Nicolas Otamendi , according to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The Rossoneri are reportedly willing to pay Velez Sarsfield 12 million euros for Otamendi but face competition from Bayern Munich and Real Madrid.

Peter Crouch scores to put Tottenham up front and in 4th place

Peter Crouch's mother won't be happy with him as he ended her favorite team's hopes of playing Champions League football next year. Instead Peter Crouch has taken that favor himself after an instinctive header off of the emergency loan keeper Marton Fulop.

While we're all extremely focused on the race for the scudetto and fourth place, there's another entertaining battle taking place in Italy, the race for the Golden Boot. It's interesting to break down the top scorers in the Serie A, and see the way they influence their team's table position.

Despite their loss to Tottenham earlier in the week, Manchester City fans should still have plenty to feel good about going into the summer. The English press was all too happy in vilifying the Sheik Mansour's tactics of overpaying for players and trying to buy themselves a Champions League spot, but they did well to stick together and get to the brink of their goal.

imscouting.com

Real Madrid striker Higuain linked with Chelsea, Manchester City & Manchester United

Argentinean striker Gonzalo Higuain has been tipped to leave Real Madrid and a host of English clubs are interested, according to a report in AS this morning.

Higuain has been in negotiations with Real Madrid for some time over a new contract and is reportedly eager for better pay at the Bernabeu.

One of the best things about the Argentinean Clausura Championship it's such an open tournament and you can never predict its winners. In the last six years, different teams have won the title (OK, except for River Plate who 'owned' that title between 2001 to 2004!)

For Argentinos Juniors (former players include Redondo, The Dona and Cambiasso!

65 soccer supporters gathered at the Sweetwater Bar and Grill in St. Paul to watch Inter Milan defeat Bayern Munich 2-0 for the EUFA Champions League Final.

FC Internazionale Milano Champions

Throw the statistics out the window because Jose Mourinho and his squad of Inter Milan players don't really care.

Inter Milan are European Champions and have completed a historic treble which puts them among 5 other majestic clubs which are Celtic, Ajax, PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, and Barcelona. Here's the full match wrap up of the 2010 Champions League Final.
Bayern Munich - Inter Milan


Inter Milan were going into the final as favorites, the game began with nervousness on both sides, and little by little the match slowly eased into a slow lull.