The Country Will Be Watching

I've been watching and reading a few things from America the past few months and it seems that the States is really excited for this up coming world cup. I remember watching the Colbert Report where Colbert was talking to one of the soccer pundits about America's chances (the name escapes me unfortunately) and everyone seemed really confident that the USA could do it this summer.

Get to know the Qatari skyline, I suspect you'll be seeing it a lot of it in 2022.
So I head out to the Other Banks for a bit of R&R and I return to find a world where something positive (and even lucky) happened in Washington sports and where England now views its World Cup bid as a smoldering pile of metal.

More than 250 journalists from around the globe were left stunned and angered after England's Press Conference before their clash with Germany tomorrow only lasted Five minutes. England manager and captain Steven Gerrard attended the five minute session.

The reporters were further incensed when the F.

Jose Mourinho loves to tell us all how special he is and many like me absolutely love him for it. He is a character in that English football misses dearly and Jose has found that off our shores many dislike his arrogance, which led to him basically issuing a come and get me to English clubs and Real Madrid.

The Republik of Mancunia teamed up with Nike last week in support of their Tear Up The Pitch event and got to spend some time with Manchester United winger Nani.

Nani had just been doing a photoshoot for Nike for the hour or so previous to our chat and probably the last thing he wanted to do was sit down with a fan.

Barcelona doesn't waste much time do they? They've already won La Liga and after scoring a record 99 points on the table they are looking to upgrade an EXTREMELY good team for next season.

Well, how do you improve on near perfection in Spain? Grab some more Spaniards. Namely David Villa and Cesc Fabregas.

Being Arsene's number one apologist there is a question that has been floating around out there that has been bothering me for a while: why did Wenger play a weakened side against Shakhtar and Braga away? His critics accuse him of arrogance and obstinacy; the fall out of these decisions being that we came runners up and now, unnecessarily, have to face Barcelona.

The audio, where a United fan questioned David Gill for his contrarian remarks, has been heard, I'm sure, by all and sundry. Well done by that fan to go that far in the first place, however, I do have a gripe with said fan for not being, um, a little more prepared.

Let me explain.

Those living under a rock and, hence, haven't heard the audio yet, here you go.

Jose. What a man. He patrols the touchline, immaculately dressed part drama queen, part coach. Watching Inter Milan on TV is essential viewing, less for the football than for the Jose show.

Love or loath him, he is compulsive viewing. It's a no-holds barred exercise in facial expressions and physical theater.

Despite the media's rampant love-in for Barcelona, which intensified in the UK after the Catalans' destruction of Arsenal, last night's Champions League semi final was predictable. Unlike Wenger, Mourinho had the nouse to come up with a sensible gameplan. His players carried it out perfectly, and gave themselves a realistic chance of progressing to the final.

By Ollie Irish

"We thought we would demolish this team England at Wembley, we are the masters, they are the pupils. It was absolutely the other way."

The late Bobby Robson on how badly England underestimated Hungary.

November 1953: Led by the great Ferenc Puskas, the Mighty Magyars so fluid, so ahead of their time gave stiff England an arch lesson in the perils of inflexibility.

After outscoring its opposition 14-0 in the first three matches of the season, its seems on the surface Chelsea is primed to stroll to its second consecutive Premiership title. But one, big problem has generally been ignored by the soccer media: Chelsea doesn't have enough players.

Actually, saying, "Chelsea doesn't have enough players," is like saying "Wigan's defense is poor," or "Fulham struggles on the road.

It has been a busy few weeks for What's-His-Name ...

"I don't see any comparisons between anyone. There is no other Sam Allardyce, there is just the one. There never has been and never will be another Sam Allardyce. Sam Allardyce doesn't manage like anyone else."

"I'm not suited to Bolton or Blackburn, I would be more suited to Inter or Real Madrid.

As we all wait patiently, indeed joyously, for the imminent smelting of the Iron Lady (my call would be for an auto da fé rather than anything approaching a dignified exit), one of her free market legacies is the corruption of our sporting world.
And we have the ultimate example of football moving from a game to a sport to an entertainment to an insider manipulation with the first Auld Firm game of the season next weekend.

Image via DTLux.com

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who can pose for a photograph, and those who cannot.

For the good folks who suffer from photo panic attacks and can't "smize" to save their lives, lets take a few lessons from Mr. Victor Valdes. Boy knows pose.

Actually, before we carry on, shall we all give a round of applause and a crate of freshly-baked chocolate croissants to the editors at DT Lux magazine?

Imagine that you, as a fan, decided to drop your club an e-mail asking about potential signings. You wrote the e-mail in good faith and asked questions about the amount of money the manager had, would it be bolstered by additional monies raised by selling deadwood and the long term investment.

There's nothing quite like a last minute mugging to give you the biggest kick in the pants...and its even worse when you know you've deserved it.
The night of the 30th March, and specifically 60 seconds of football at the end of last nights match, could well be THE turning point in this season.

We already knew this. But hearing Frank Lampard say it out loud makes me nervous:

"I think it has become a bit of an issue in the mind," said Lampard. "No matter how well we have played in a match, when it comes down to penalties, you think: 'Oh s*** here we go again'. Once you've got that mindset, it is hard to get out of it.

I've been asked by several of the blog's readers to comment on Dunga's list for South Africa. Well, here goes.
First, let's discuss those who didn't make it. Adriano, more concerned with partying in Brazil's favelas and booze, deserved to be sidelined and will now be remembered as the only idiot who ruled himself out of the world's largest football party.

Now if you are a frequent reader of this site you will know that I despise Barcelona because of their arrogance and self-righteousness. Many people are quick to overlook the fact that Barcelona have spent truly astronomical figures ever since Pep Guardiola took charge. How much? Well the David Villa signing takes it too.

There have been and still are many bad things said about Diego Armando Maradona. The latest was from Pelé, who in a strange and unnecessary spat of gossip spoke very badly about the controversial Argentinean coach, who has also been heavily criticised for his (apparent lack of) tactical skills, arrogance, inexperience and former drug addiction (funny how people who live in countries where

... If this is what you, as a US soccer fan, call fun. If this is fun, then I'd suggest to you that you have a funny definition of the word "fun."
First, let's get the formalities out of the way. Argentina beat Greece, 2-0, today to go perfect in Group B and sail into the last 16. They'll meet Mexico in that round, who enter as the runner-ups in Group A, despite a 1-0 loss this morning to Uruguay.

I think it says a lot about how badly England have been playing, that I really wasn't that disappointed when we were knocked out of the World Cup yesterday.

That's not just because I hate most of the team as individuals either. To be really disappointed by something there has to be some level of expectation and I went into this World Cup thinking that it would be a successful campaign if we reached the quarter-finals.

Arsene Wenger is due to meet Ba*ca president Sandro Rosell today according to a TV station in France (via Arseblog), the station he has been commentating for all summer. It is said that the boss will tell Rosell in no uncertain terms where to get off after the Spanish club have treated his club with such arrogance and contempt over the past couple of months possibly even years.

I don't mind banter. In fact I indulge in a friendly bit of banter daily.
What Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique did to Cesc Fabregas was not banter.
What they did was cuntish and showed a distinct lack of respect to Arsenal Football Club, Fabregas personally and the rest of the Spanish squad who do not play for Barcelona.

In my opinion, there really is not a better manager than Jose Mourinho who could take over the volatile hot-seat at Real Madrid. His self-defined confident arrogance leaves him standing as the perfect man for the job. Over the past few years, Real have seen a host of managers come and go in quick succession.

Take at look at this link here.
You gotta feel for the poor bastard aint ya?
I've heard a rumour this fellow is on his way to Arsenal in January.
A big talking point is who will be between the sticks against Chelsea this Sunday.
I can't see Arsene Wenger throwing Wojciech Szczesny in goal despite the young Polski claiming he is the best goalie in the history of the universe.

A tremendous attribute in any person, as well as a member of a team, is the idea of having humility.
Humility, dictionary definitions say, is marked by modesty, meekness, diffidence and an unassuming attitude. Dictionaries also contrast humility with arrogance and pride. Yet we live in a culture where pride is celebrated, arrogance is almost a perquisite to be taken seriously in business, politics and sports.

Arshavin is not a man one typically thinks of when giving out prizes for humility. The third-person references and discussions about female drivers tend to ruin his credibility in that category. Well, I might be a little biased about the latter topic. But, in his latest conversation with Four Four Two, he opens about being on the receiving end of criticism.

A trip scheduling mess up meant that when Cesc was having his pretty-weak-by-his-standards penalty saved, I was sitting on a train headed home, bored, tired and nervous beyond belief. I had to rely on texts from friends which is never an ideal situation. When my cell phone's reception was immaculate, the friends never messaged and when they did manage to send a hurriedly typed out text, a lack of service providers ensured I received its contents a good half an hour later.

FC Barcelona Humiliates Real Madrid with a Towering Display

Cristiano Ronaldo has to be the most disappointed man in the world tonight - he asked for eight, we could only gave only five. They say Real Madrid has the best defensive record in La Liga, boy oh boy they should have waited till this match.

Mmmm - look at all these big, juicy grapes! There must be enough for years! I wonder how they taste?
Before we start tossing around suggestions - and there have been some good ones - we need to get on the same page as to what actually happened.
There has been a lot of talk that the technical superiority of the England and the US bids hampered their campaigns.

J Hutcherson wrote a good article about Colorado Rapids' coach Gary Smith's comments recently, where Smith compared Major League Soccer to the English Coca-Cola Championship.

Smith told the League's official site that his MLS Cup champions would beat a team like Coventry "seven times out of 10," taking it that next step by criticizing the physical style of play that dominates the Championship.

Adam Johnson wants to talk to Manchester City to see what they can offer him in terms of football. The 22-year-old is likely to sign for Roberto Mancini's side if he is guaranteed first-team football from now until the end of the season meaning Gordon Strachan will have to work fast in securing more signings to strengthen the squad before the transfer window is shut.

The Cristiano Ronaldo saga has been running all week in the Spanish press; should he really have been banned for two matches? Did he really mean to elbow Mtiliga in the face? Was it worse than what Messi did against Sevilla when the defender bear-hugged him off the ball? First he was banned for two matches, then Real Madrid took the case to the RFEF Court of Appeal.

US Men's National Team fans, meet your new Public Enemy #1...Nigel De Jong.
This isn't quality Chuck D Public Enemy status either. This is dirty leg-breaker status after De Jong's horrible challenge against Stuart Holden that left the midfielder with a broken leg and facing 4-6 weeks out.

As John Terry creates more headlines for himself, celebrating in exaggerated fashion with his captain's armband after Chelsea's second own goal in the FA Cup against Stoke (sorry...? Deflections only go down as "own goals" when United score?), you have to wonder where he gets this attitude from.

Why does he think it's OK to have an affair with the mother of his best friend's child, cheat on his own wife and mother of his two kids, then offer no public apology?

All due respect to Real Madrid, which I have never liked. But the royal Spaniards have a tendency to blow themselves up after one good match: their incredible 3-2 victory against Sevilla last weekend, had caused them to predict another large victory over Olympique Lyon. The French had been the far better team in the first match in Lyon, although they only won 1-0.

Yesterday was as good a day as an Arsenal fan can have without actual football. I don't remember the last time I laughed so much.

First came the news that Hull have parted ways with Tango Brown. I'm sure every single Arsenal fan, whether pro-Wenger or anti-Wenger, irrespective of nationality and personal beliefs, would have been delighted by this.

The first year success of Seattle Sounders FC has delighted fans of other MLS teams and annoyed them in equal measure.
First the good - and it's almost all good. The club has undeniably made a huge impression on the sports landscape here in the Pacific Northwest. Tuning into one of the local sports wrap-up shows last night, we got a solid 15 minutes of Sounders/MLS talk, including player interviews, the latest news on Freddy Ljungberg's feud with Peter Nowak, a chat with Don Garber and discussion of the new designated player rules with Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer.