This Saturday's Malaysia Cup final pits Selangor v Kedah at the Bukit Jalil Stadium. It also sees the final games in Malaysia for players like Marlon Alex James, Bernard Huggins and Frank Seator because next season sees no foreign players allowed.

Kedah have their second consecutive treble on their minds while Selangor have won this prestigious more than any other side. Click to continue reading...

OK: First off - Japan beat China (FIFA summary here). The two are rivals, but I can't say as I saw this one coming. I only caught the second half, and it was good enough to explain why. I felt for China, as I can't imagine how it must feel to give up a game like that in front of so many adoring fans. Click to continue reading...

A day after their Super League counterparts, Olympiacos, fell to Cypriot champions Anorthosis Famagusta in Cyprus, AEK travels to the island's capital to lock horns with AC Omonia. Nicosia's Neo GSP Stadium is the venue for this one, and the ‘Enosis' will hope the atmosphere doesn't get too rowdy. Hit with Click to continue reading...

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Nice Interview!

Vital Football/QPR - Part II - Former R`s stopper Chris Day speaks to Vital QPR about his time in W12 in the second of two parts.

Excerpts:
After three years of hard work you saw the R's promoted to Division 1 - How could you best describe the day? Click to continue reading...

Sorry this is so late, I was have some technologically challenged old guy problems. It was an enjoyable time in KC seeing the Wizards win a game that keeps them in the running for the playoffs. They looked good building up a 3 to 0 lead in the first two thirds of the game. Then things got rough as they handed Chivas 2 points on set plays.

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Wow! What a weekend of great football and – oh by the way - what a difference a few days off from blogging will do to your numbers!

The great football I'm talking about was a long way from the Camp Nou or Old Trafford – in fact, the pitch where I spent hours watching some fantastic football was about 15 miles from my house. Click to continue reading...

I was talking to a West Ham fan in the pub last night. "Fing is, about Charlton, is the atmosphere down there's shit." "I know. They get on the players' backs too early. If we don't win the first couple of matches, it'll get nasty." "They don't get behind the team." "I know. But most Charlton fans are a load of old. Click to continue reading...

Lazio coach Delio Rossi is preparing his squad for their friendly against Liverpool, but he insists that the Biancocelesti cannot use these types of matches to gauge if the team is ready to return to European competition.

Lazio and Liverpool will face off at Anfield today in what many expect will be a physical match-up. Click to continue reading...

And so ends a series of days that I want to forget.  In the final analysis only two full-time members of staff lost their jobs, all contractors (a dozen maybe) lost theirs, and there will be no recruitment for some time.  There will be no bonuses this christmas, no pay rises, and a good atmosphere [. Click to continue reading...

Ewan Macdonald recently penned a review of the progress of MLS.

He argues that franchises that built soccer-specific facilities in the last decade have become permanent tenants in more than a geographic sense:
"To my mind, these stadia and the atmosphere -- not to mention a sense of belonging and not merely being a tenant in a facility -- have been essential to those clubs that have gone the distance since the early days.

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MLS Commissioner Don Garber announced today that two more teams will be added by 2011, bringing the number in the league up to 18.

Ownership groups and/or markets have until Oct. 15 to apply. MLS will make a decision on the chosen pair in either the last quarter of this year or the first quarter of 2009.

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To everyone that came out yesterday, a huge THANK YOU. Though we didn't get a victory, the atmosphere was outstanding. Chicago supporters forced The Cauldron to be as loud and boisterous as ever. I sat outside the press box for most of the match and enjoyed the sights and sounds, including this view currently up at kcwizards. Click to continue reading...

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QPR Official Site RAMAGE READY FOR W12
Defender Peter Ramage is already looking forward to making his debut at Loftus Road - and the summer signing will be hoping it arrives on Saturday against Chievo.
Iain Dowie has made no secret of the fact that he intends to play the same starting XI against the Italians as he will do seven days later when the R's kick off their Championship campaign at home to Barnsley. Click to continue reading...

Congratulations to the boys for the win last night over the Bradenton Academics. While it totally sucks to lose Beto to 2 yellow cards, the win was obviously the important thing.

Next up: beating Laredo tonight. This will be the 3rd time the Aztex play the Heat, and we've had good results so far: two wins, zero losses. Click to continue reading...

Someone is working on a U.S. Soccer project (it's not the federation, it's a scholarly venture), focusing on the men's team and sent me a list of questions, wanting my perspective. I know what I think, and usually people don't have to ask twice for my opinion, but I'm well aware that there's a world of different thoughts out there. Click to continue reading...

Millson of the Globe and Mail is reporting that Toronto is about to get Chad Barrett from Chicago Fire in return for Brian McBride. He also suggests that a trade for Cunningham is in discussion.
The word on Barrett is not very positive, but can he miss more chances than Jeff Cunningham has ? Click to continue reading...

Okay, so beating West Ham -- a team that barely finished in the top half of the Premiership table -- isn't as exciting as, say, Chelsea or Celtic.

But it's still good to see.

Overall the whole day appeared to be a success. A lot of exciting action and goals with the stars in the forefront. Click to continue reading...

Is American football "hate" of soccer overblown?

One of the comments on my piece helped shed some light on the issue for me. In fact, the comment suggested that it is not in fact American football haters, but bitter soccer fans, that are at the center of the problem.

I admit it, as I re-read my article, I did come across sounding pretty damned sanctimonious. Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer's All-Star squad will face off against Premiership club West Ham United on July 24th from Toronto, Canada.  BMO Field is home to second-year franchise Toronto FC.  The atmosphere will be electric as home fans and privileged ticket holders cheer on the best of MLS. Below follows an in-depth look at some of the key players [. Click to continue reading...

Black Cats boss Roy Keane has said that there are some signings on the way. So far this summer, Keane has created a nervous atmosphere around the Stadium of Light by not bringing anyone in yet. Now that he's said... Click to continue reading...

Due to a limited budget, I haven't made it to too many United games this year, but this was a game that I feel was probably much better to watch in person than on tv. Good atmosphere at RFK as always (and the lights stayed on!), but it seemed like less attendance than usual. All in all, a pretty exciting game, including a frantic final 10 minutes that had my usually quiet section standing throughout. Click to continue reading...

The first news of Monday Transfer Madness comes to us courtesy of an anonymous MLSR reader.

It appears the Peruvian midfielder and West Ham player that turned down Toronto FC over concerns about its artificial pitch is going to sign with the LA Galaxy.

According to this article:

"Luego de diez temporadas en la Liga Premier, el volante peruano dejaría el fútbol de Inglaterra para dar el salto a Estados Unidos y jugar en la MLS

Por estos días Nolberto Solano goza del verano norteamericano, quizá para ir entrando en ambiente, ya que en las próximas semanas Estados Unidos podría convertirse en el nuevo país de residencia del volante peruano si es que se llega a concretar su fichaje por Los Ángeles Galaxy de la Major League Soccer (MLS).

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Ed.'s Note: The match report is from Saturday night's North American SuperLiga Group A match, but technical difficulties delayed the posting of the report. The atmosphere at D.C. United's RFK Stadium was one of a kind, with 22,453 fans in attendance for the teams' first SuperLiga match. As the announcer announced the starting lineups, the [. Click to continue reading...

The atmosphere was one of a kind, with 22,453 fans in attendance for both team's first Superliga match.  As the announcer announced the starting lineups, the jars of the song and drum reverberated through your heart.  The teams walked out onto the field to a heavy round of cheers and applause, and the game began. Click to continue reading...

I saw a headline this morning that said something about Toronto FC fans protesting at the upcoming All Star game.  We know the All Star game is taking place at BMO field - so why would TFC fans be planning to protest?  My first thought was that they didn't get any players into the MLS All Star first XI even though TFC always has a lot of players high in the fan voting.

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