To anyone who follows the beautiful game, Anelka's move to Chinese Super League club Shanghai Shenhua did not make sense. What is even more interesting is Anelka's recent revelation that he snubbed PSG and a chance to re-unite with former coach Carlo Ancelotti for a little known Chinnese team.

Algunas ediciones regionales de la prestigiosa revista estadounidense Time tendrán en su tapa de febrero a Lionel Messi, protagonista de una entrevista en la que se analiza por qué el mejor jugador del mundo no llega a ser del todo querido en la Argentina.
Titulada "King Leo", esta tapa circulará desde el 6 de febrero en las versiones de la revista en Asia, Europa y el Pacífico Sur.

26.01.2012 - Leo Messi llegó a la portada de la revista Time (edición Asia, no USA). En una bajada polémica y (por las dudas antimaradoneana) la editorial dice: "Es el mejor jugador del mundo y posiblemente de todos los tiempos. Entonces ¿por qué no lo quieren en la Argentina?

Private market in Asia mockingly offering 1.47 that Redknapp either sent down or forced to reach an accommodation about his past income as well as his future revenue streams.
Rumour going around that bank acct Rosie 47 originally named 'Rosebud'...

When Al Wasl paid a hefty sum of money to Diego Maradona to lead their team, they did so not with the idea of getting the next great football coach, but with the idea that he'd be part coach, part entertainer, occasionally part circus clown. He rarely disappoints, if he does so by disappointing.

For today's profile, we welcome back Michael Hudson, a long standing friend of the blog and the mastermind behind The Accidental Groundhopper website. Here, Michael, who can be followed on Twitter at @DolphinHotel, turns his attention to a player on the brink of signing for Southampton, drawing as he does on his immense experience following the game in Asia.

Former Celtic hero Shunsuke Nakamura proved his set-piece talent has not diminished since leaving Celtic Park by performing this TV stunt in his native Japan. The 34-year-old, currently playing for Yokohama F Marinos, was tasked with firing a free-kick into a moving bus. The midfielder was positioned in a side-street and watched the bus approaching [.

This video is technically Shunsuke Nakamura belting a free kick onto a moving bus, but it really qualifies as a pleading attempt for a free kick trick series between the likes of Nakamura, Juninho, Darijo Srna, et cetera et cetera, just like those old McDonald's trick shot commercials between Michael Jordan and Larry Bird.

Worse than Kompany This crazy goal comes from India and the match between East Bengal and Pailan Arrows. Pailan defender Lalrozama Fanai, for some reason best known to himself, dealt with a through-ball by launching into a two-footed lunge on his goalkeeper Ravi Kumar. The ball bobbled through to East Bengal striker Tolgay Ozbey for [.

The practice of veteran stars seeing out their careers in lesser leagues isn't exactly new, nor is it rare. The Middle East has been using oil-soaked checks to lure eager foreigners for years. And yet, this weekend might just take the cake for odd locations and trail-blazing new football landscapes.

Last year the Indian Football Association announced it would be launching Premier League Soccer in early 2012, with six franchises. The franchises are located in Kolkata, Howrah, Asansol, Midnapore, and Siliguri. When the league was announced, IFA also stated that each team would have one icon player and a maximum of three overseas players and one overseas player from Asia.

This is likely to end up on some end of the year Best Of lists for football photos and the like, along with someone in the Bundesliga making a nice tackle and John Terry barking orders in the rain soaked evening.

Afghan boys play football in sunset in Mazar-i-Shraif on January 10, 2012.

Oh, Diego Diego Maradona has hit out at Paris St Germain boss Leonardo by seeming to suggest that the Brazilian is only in his role due to the masses of money on offer at the Qatari-owned French outfit. El Diego said: "I wonder if he is a player, coach, agent or oil dealer. I do [...]

Thank God it's blow off work in the afternoon day...Let's start with Earnie Stewart, who talks Jozy with ESPN's Leander Schaerlaeckens.Everton keeper Tim Howard talks about his goal and the loss against Bolton.What's that you say, Timmy? Had it happen to you before? Oh dear, you should not have said that to my ears.

For whatever reason, the holiday season hasn't been kind to the big teams of the Premiership I have a theory based on the higher wages and proportional amount of booze that allows one to buy. Bolton was bottom of the table and looked to stay there after Tim Howard booted a clearance and it caught some wind in the sail (0:25).

2011: A year in photos

The return of the King, the emergence of a sensational new No.7, a tour of Asia and the arrival of seven summer signings are just some of Liverpool FC's highlights from 2011. Here's how the year unfolded in pictures.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-12-31 12:20:17 from: Liverpool FC

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

Just what is 'verbal abuse'? It must be relative, as the line drawn in some areas is much different than, say, the one in the United Arab Emirates.

Diego. He's less than the ideal role model off the pitch. And now he's been fined for calling an opposing coach 'quite rude', which would probably qualify as the nicest thing said in a Premiership press conference this week.

The Professional Footballers' Association (PFA) chief executive Gordon Taylor has rejected Luis Suarez's claim of innocence that the term he used against Patrice Evra is not racist in Uruguay as the fallout following the Liverpool striker's ban continues.
Suarez is alleged to have called Evra 'negrito', claiming it is not offensive in his native country, but Taylor believes the forward is still in the wrong.

Este año en el mundo del fútbol hemos visto goles de todo tipo,de medio campo , de chilenas,de larga distancia,grandes remates y un largo etcetera, pero también grandes fallas. El golazo que van a ver es propia puerta, una escorpiona con una parabola espectacular que termina besando las redes; el anotador fue Sun Hei en el partido vs Citizen AA de la primera división de Hong Kong.

A contendere al Santos il Mondiale per Club 2011, in una finale che si annuncia emozionante, e che vedr la supersfida tra Neymar e Messi, sar il Barcellona di Guardiola, vittorioso con un perentorio 4 a 0 con l'Al Sadd, Campione d'Asia in carica nella seconda semifinale che si è disputata questa mattina.

There have been some utterly absurd contracts handed out recently, the guilty party typically residing on the blue side of Manchester with Dagestan looking a formidable foe in the near future (obviously). However, that just handed to a 32 year old Nicolas Anelka might just quash all others combined:

Chinese media quoted a report by sports network ESPN saying Anelka had agreed a two-year deal with Shenhua for a weekly salary of £200,000, reportedly a marked rise from his £90,000 per week at Chelsea.

11.12.2011 - Por Cuartos de Final y con goles de Khalfan AL KHALFAN (33') y Abdulla KONI (49'), Al Sadd (Qatar) venció (2-1) a Sperance Esportive (Túnez) (Ousama DARRAGI, 60') y pasó a semifinales del Mundial de Clubes (2011) para enfrentar a Barcelona (15.

AFRICA(Túnez): Esperance Sportive de Tunis: Campeón de Liga y Copa en Túnez + Campeón Liga de Campeones de la CAF (Confederación Africana de Fútbol).
ASIA(Qatar): Al-Sadd: Liga de Campeones AFC.(Japón): Kashiwa Reysol: J League.
EUROPA(España): Barcelona: UEFA Champions League.

VietNamNet Bridge – Big spenders Ninh Binh are hoping to sign footballing superstars including Rivaldo and Guti ahead of the upcoming season.

"After the 2011 season, the managers were looking to improve our squad for next year. Ninh Binh look forward to signing stars such as Rivaldo and Guti to play in the V-League," said Pham Van Le, head of the Ninh Binh Football Delegation.

Manchester United are the most successful football team in the world. Their popularity is tremendous in Asia. It is estimated that their Indian fan-base is around 20 million, a figure that is predicted to grow in the future. To cater to the Indian market, Manchester United Merchandising (MUML) has teamed up with Indus-League Clothing Ltd.

If by any chance, Spurs fans held any hope of seeing Didier Drogba in a Lilywhite shirt anytime soon, that optimism has been dashed by his agent's claims that he is seeking as big a pay cheque as possible to end his career.

In truth, this one never seemed likely but at least now the rumour can be put to bed once and for all,

"Once you are well into your thirties, you have to go to a club where you can be certain you'll be able to pay your bills," said Thierno Seydi.

After speculation about his future it seems that Didier Drogba will be leaving Chelsea after his contract expires at the club. There have been plenty of rumours of different clubs interested in his services as it appeared blatantly obvious that at 33, the club were never going to offer him the two year contract he wants.

In a gala event Milan were awarded the prestigious award of China's Sport's Team of the Year with Adriano Galliani present to receive the accolade alongside other dignitaries. It is a significiant achievement for the club as Asia, particularly China, represents a real opportunity in economic terms. Successfully marketing the AC Milan brand into Asia [.

All-round sportsman If all volleys on the football pitch were done with cricket balls there would no doubt be a few more metatarsal injuries. But Inidan cricket star Rahul Dravid didn't mind doing it as a one-off to keep his wicket intact in the third test against the West Indies. Some fancy footwork, we're sure [.

All-round sportsman If all volleys on the football pitch were done with cricket balls there would no doubt be a few more metatarsal injuries. But Inidan cricket star Rahul Dravid didn't mind doing it as a one-off to keep his wicket intact in the third test against the West Indies. Some fancy footwork, we're sure [.

Looks like Australia will get a third spot in AFC Champions League in 2012. This will be based on the team which came third in 2011.
And there in lies the beauty of the Aussie system.
Who knows who really came third?
Some say Gold Coast United - some say Adelaide United.

Tomorrow sees the Singapore Cup Final taking place at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Home United will look to complete the first leg of a domestic double when they take on League Cup winners Albirex Niigata.
Last year's affair saw Bangkok Glass defeat Tampines Rovers 1-0 (programme cover left) while I got shitfaced in an infamous bar district with persons unknown and returned home with just a toy bus for my son.

A Thai fan at the game between his home nation and Singapore earlier today with ear muffs made out of papier-mache heads, possibly representing, facial expressions considered, tragedy and comedy. And with extremely fat lips.

This might be a perfectly mundane cultural thing, but even if so, I don't want to know about it.

Wrong sport Watch this footage from the World Cup qualifier between the United Arab Emirates and Kuwait and see if you can spot Ali Abbas' subtle tug on opponent Bader Al Mutawa. The eagle-eyed referee somehow spotted the incident and dished out a yellow card to Abbas. Harsh.

So that's it. Another Interlull over.

I suppose, in one way, one very strange way, I'll miss it. I mean, the one good thing about the Interlull is that Arsenal have remained unbeaten so that's a positive, I guess. All the same, in another more natural and common sense way, it'll be good to see the back of it, like it's good to see the back of a rash on your .

It's Futbolita's 3-year birthday today and it has grown so much all thanks to YOU! Looking back on the past year, we're extremely blessed to have support from fantastic people all over the world who enjoyed our work in football. This year, we were especially thrilled to meet Futbolitas & Futbolitos in Spain and from other parts of Europe, America, The Middle East and Asia.

By Tanuj Lakhina, writing from Delhi

Real Madrid played Osasuna at 12 pm (Madrid time) last Sunday at the Santiago Bernabeu. It was an easy and convincing win for the Merengues as they beat their opponents 7-1 with Cristiano Ronaldo bagging yet another hat-trick.

Bet it will be easier for a young English born Indian/Pakistani footballer to get into the India or Pakistani national team than it has been for a similar kid to make progress in cricket in the UK.
Interesting times in Asia for football.
Asian Football Business Review reports:

South Asian giants plan football promotion series for their expatriates in England
An innovative joint marketing effort by the All India Football Federation and the Pakistan Football Federation, will promote football to over 2 million of their countries' compatriates and their decendents living in England through three international friendlies.

In the A-League we love to sign foreign players - often has beens from the lower teams or divisions of Europe or Brazil.
Are the Aussie's really any worse?
After seven years we have our proof.
Here's five, still running around that we really don't need anymore, if we ever did - and I bet they get more coin than the local player they replace.

06.11.2011 - Atestado y dispuesto para los festejos locales, el estadio Jeonju (SudCorea) (42.000 plazas) vivió una jornada agónica de pobre y sorpresivo final en la definición de la AFC (Champions Asia): El Jeonbuk Motors, flamante campeón surcoreano, terminó bajo la inesperada sombra del qatarí Al Sadd.