The United States drew a potentially positive group for next summer's World Cup on Friday. The group as described by some European papers "is wide open" below the runaway favorite, England.

This group creates more possibilities of going forward for the United States than any of the potential draws that naysayers, so blatantly shouted on about all week.

Say what you like about Michel Platini, but the man is never short of ideas. And his latest idea is about merging European leagues. Specifically, he wants the top eight teams from the Netherlands and the top eight teams from Belgium to pool their respective resources into one semi-super-league. The Guardian#8217;s Leander Schaerlaeckens isn#8217;t fond of [.

Some good food for thought as we start the week.
Tom Englelhart asks an important question this week in his excellent article "Is America Hooked On War?"
And lest you think this is a jab at either major party, you'll find that Engelhart finds this addiction started long before Bush and seems to have broad approval by both parties.

Arsenal striker Robin van Persie has attempted to speed up his recovery from an ankle injury — by using placenta fluid, reports The Sun.
The Gunner has opted for the bizarre treatment following a recommendation from PSV Eindhoven striker Danko Lazovic.
The 26-year-old star has been ruled out for six weeks but claims Arsenal doctors have given him their blessing to pursue the strange treatment.

Serbia have always been the breading ground for the talented players and no wonder that the scouts from the big European clubs are monitoring the situation closely. One of the biggest Serbian clubs, Partizan definitely have the best youth academy in the Balkans, and their latest product is Ivan Obradovic, who has already become a first team regular in the Serbian national team even though he started playing professional football just two years ago.

There are a lot of words in our language that used to hold great meaning and impact, but which now, unfortunately, serve mainly as convenient reference points.
A good example is the concept of "hell", a word that for previous generations conjured up images of fire and terror and torment but which more recently is a term we use to describe, say, spending Thanksgiving day stuck in a house with our inlaws or having to sit through a Detroit Lions game.

Artigo sobre Dzeko, ponta-de-lança da Bósnia no www.fifa.com, que demonstra mais uma vez a vontade dos bósnios em vencer este play-off. É certo que nos atribuem o favoritismo, mas como se diz popularmente"são palavras para boi adormecer".

With nine goals in the European Zone of FIFA World Cup™ qualifying, Bosnia-Herzegovina striker Edin Dzeko rates as one of the most prolific goal-getters on the continent, second only to ten-goal Greece's Theofanis Gekas.

Zlatan is East and West, North and South; he is a blend of different cultures and influences. In his journal he wrote that he doesn't have a problem with that, on the contrary he sees that as his advantage. His portrait goes as follows: a guy from the Balkans, born in Sweden, with southern mentality, America and western civilization oriented.

By now you've probably heard about the strange treatment Robin van Persie is undergoing this week as he recovers from a painful ankle ligament tear that will likely keep him sidelined for the rest of the calender year.

That is unless his strange approach to the injury works.