Lady luck is back, it seems. A lot of questions will be asked after last night's performance, starting with why on earth seven, eight, maybe more highly-paid professional footballers decide to approach a Champions League game with such an uninterested approach.

I don't know, it seemed many didn't want to travel to Belgium or maybe thought that wasting time against such a weak team was not in their plans.

Bad breaks from Belgium Standard Liege's Axel Witsel dealt out the ultimate footballing humiliation to Anderlecht's Marcin Wasilewski over the weekend by breaking his leg so badly that he inadvertently kicked himself in the balls. This is one of those sickening leg breaks that we get every so often in football.

"He's here, hes there, hes every fcuking where. Ka-kuuu-taaaaa Ka-kuuu-taaaaa" Yes Yes. Yesterday Google announced that the biggest increase in a search term was the words "Gael Kakuta". Not Cristiano Crappants. Not Lionel Im Allowed to Headbutt People. Not even the original Golden Bollock Balls himself.

At the World Cup finals in South Africa next year, Adidas will celebrate forty years as the official supplier of match balls to the tournament. The company has become so intrinsically associated with the competition that it is almost impossible to imagine anybody else holding this position, but it is difficult to imagine that they will conjure anything up that is as simultaneously as modern looking and timeless as the Adidas Tango, a piece of design so flawless that it stayed in use for more than twenty years in various forms.

With Chelsea losing away at Wigan, we simply HAD to win this afternoon and so we did. It could have easily ended in a draw or worse if it wasn't for Vito Mannone, the Italian goalkeeper who many including myself thought he was there just to make numbers. Instead, he played full of confidence, excellent in leaving his goal and incredible in denying the home side.

So much craziness all over the soccer world, I have to share it all in one post.
First off, a Danish player had to have his leg amputated six weeks after being struck by lightning in a reserve game. Gotta blame the ref from that one right?
Also an ex-Swedish goalkeeper was busted for steroids.

The biggest news around today is no doubt the ban placed on Chelsea by FIFA, blocking them from making any transfers until January 2011.

The language used by FIFA indicates that the charge relates to tapping up on steroids, 'attempting to induce a player to break their contract'.

Fowler scored a great goal early. Brisbane's defence, for all its stars, looks slow and brittle.
NQ down to 10 from 1st half.
Henrique pushes the envelope but also attracts real violence.
Lots of wild dead end balls from Brisbane in the second half.
Reinaldo, Van Dijk combination starting to look good.

So I was reading an excellent piece from Steve Davis (link here) about the US-El Salvador game tomorrow at Big Sandy. Davis speculates about line-up options for the US and also includes this little tidbit:

(Brian) Ching is almost sure to be in the lineup. His ability to rattle around and make things happen by winning second balls will be critical against what is sure to be a crowded Salvadoran defensive third.

On Sept. 20th PBS will air a new documentary entitled "The Golden Age of Soccer". I think it's about a bunch of geriatrics who despite their advanced age still get up for the game. And I'm not talking Claudio Saurez old, but "I remember when the balls had laces-old". Soccer Insider mentioned it the other day but I thought I'd share the trailer with you all.

Southend United ended their visitors' 100% record in League One but it could have been even better for the Blues had Lee Barnard's penalty not been superbly saved by Leeds 'keeper Shane Higgs.
In a tense and tightly fought battle at Roots Hall, both sides failed to find an opening in the first half.

Photo by Getty Images

And those words are: EPIC FAIL! Or maybe I've got five words: What the @#$%&! was that? 6-3? That's a team record for goals allowed in a game. 4 FCD goals game after the 70th minute. Three came after the 81st minute. It was an unbelievable set of breakdowns across the board and a new-look, increasingly confident, and very fast Dallas team took full advantage.

Stuff to read while you wonder why Rafa is showing off his balls so arrogantly.... Taking your time during penalties making scoring more likely. (British Psychological Society) Smuggling heroin in women's clothing for a football career is a bad idea. (Unprofessional Foul) The big game between the two big egos.

The ex-UEFA Cup is planning on adding two referees to the games today. One on each on the goal-line as a sort of 'human camera' to have a close eye on the action.

Soccer's governing bodies have approved the move to head off repeated calls for referees to get help from video technology. There have been several recent incidents of balls clearly crossing the line, but the goals not counting because the three officials couldn't see it.

Please? I'm really quite good at them.
While Terry got the headlines for announcing he would take a penalty for England in a very brave attempt to put national aspirations on the line to repair his damaged ego following a disastrous spot-kick for Cheslea in the Champions League, Robert Green held a press conference of his own.

So, another derby lost. That makes it the first time we've lost two derbies in a row in about ten years. Not a good sign.

Not many positives to take from this game, both sides played some pretty poor football. I'm not going to bother writing much as there is little to say. Firstly, our forwards still can't score.

Paul Scholes was United's best player on the park on Saturday, despite being up against the five man midfield. All our play revolved around Scholesy with him spraying inch perfect balls to the right and left.

He has today acknowledged that he doesn't score as often as he used to or would like to, but the manager has asked him to remain in a more central role rather than going forward.

I have heard it said by multiple sources and also believe it myself that this year will be the Fire's best chance at winning a championship for quite some time. While searching for contract information on the Fire (if someone knows where I can find it, I would be very happy), I came across this article.

TORONTO - One of the positives to take out of the 2009 season was the performance of Rookie Sensation Rob 'The Rocket' Pikula, who's powerful kick is now known throughout the league.
Rob led all scorers this year with 9 goals, and missed very few games. His scoring prowess was a constant threat each game, and his fitness levels set the new PFC standard.

1. England. Damn.

2. Argentina. Damn.

3. In light of the wild reversals of fortune seemingly or I would actually think obviously brought about at their respective teams by Capello and Maradona it's a mystery to me how someone like Simon Kuper could argue with a straight face that a manager is a figure of little real importance who could be replaced by a Polish Lowland Sheepdog with no ill effects, since even Steve McClaren seemed to bring with him a whole parcel of ill effects, and regardless of your opinion of Steve McClaren he is presumably a few notches higher on the grand scale of being than even a very well-trained Polish Lowland Sheepdog, although for the sake of argument we have to consider the possibility that England would have been exactly where they are now under Steve McClaren, that all the team were waiting on was some mysterious gelling process and an improvement in Aaron Lennon's crossing, the end result of which would have seen them playing those little plinky through balls to devastating effect regardless of who was on the sideline, whether Steve McClaren or a Polish Lowland Sheepdog, or even Alan Shearer, but to me the whole point is that under Steve McClaren they never actually tried those little plinky through balls, but then what do I know, never having sat in on a single pitch meeting about how Freakonomics could be applied to soccer.

...til Tim Howard catches all those balls. Awwww keep, keep, keep, keep, keep, keep, keep.

We've all been there. It's the last minute and your team is clinging on to a vital, undeserved win away from home. You stand and bellow support for your lads with their backs against the walls, frantically throwing themselves in front of every ball headed toward the goal to break your heart.

Rafa needs to sort this out and quickly!

Portsmouth Vs Liverpool Tickets Still Available!

"When you talk about Liverpool for the title, all of a sudden they've got frailties, and I don't think that bodes well.

"Liverpool have lost nine goals in six matches, which is far too many.

I wrote following the Derby defeat that once the dust settled, Hughes would be more reflective on the game as a whole, summising as follows:

In the cold light of day though when the emotion from the defeat settles, Hughes will look at the game and be concerned at the way and manner in which we conceded the goals despite the huge investment in that area.

With Chelsea losing away at Wigan, we simply HAD to win this afternoon and so we did. It could have easily ended in a draw or worse if it wasn't for Vito Mannone, the Italian goalkeeper who many including myself thought he was there just to make numbers. Instead, he played full of confidence, excellent in leaving his goal and incredible in denying the home side.

Maybe you've got a problem, or are too overly committed to a sports team when you're thinking in your mind, "you know, maybe he'll sail one of those intentional balls to the backstop and let the runner score from third. We're due a fluky run"That's the way I am about the Detroit Tigers at the moment.

Jogi Loew has zero faith in Michael Ballack's ability to beat real people anymore. A bike for a season. (SoccerLens) An accurate description of Florentino's haggling methods. (Dirty Tackle) Blame JT for Cashley's ridiculous new contract. (Fanhouse) Leo Messi's bodyguard may have killed a dude - stay away.

Brazil have qualified, despite their early drama. Argentina can end their drama tonight in Ascunion. Chile and Paraguay are expected to qualify, though a close look at their remaining fixtures suggests their drama may be about to begin. The other usual suspects, Colombia, Ecuador and Uruguay are drifting, clinging to the hope the current with take them to Costa Rica.

Lady luck is back, it seems. A lot of questions will be asked after last night's performance, starting with why on earth seven, eight, maybe more highly-paid professional footballers decide to approach a Champions League game with such an uninterested approach.

I don't know, it seemed many didn't want to travel to Belgium or maybe thought that wasting time against such a weak team was not in their plans.

Valdes - 6.5 - had nothing much to do throughout the match but did well when called upon.
Alves - 7 - Was good in defense and linked up well with Messi in attack. may not have been fully effective in attack that was because Chivu was having the best game of his life.
Puyol - 7 - May have looked out of position at times but was great with usual no nonsense approach.

Essien, Pirlo, Mascherano, Xavi, Iniesta, Kaka. These guys can deliver devastating tackles, brilliant balls over the top, immense pitch coverage, fantastic one-touch passing, penetrating runs, and...