Welcome to the Friday Crackovia Club! This week's episode focuses on the Euro Championships and Ronaldo's newly-minted 'role' as a nationalised property of Spain. Gerard Pique and Sergio Ramos decide to have dinner together to dispel the 'bad blood' between them before defending their Euro 2012 title.

Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix pay football. Hat tip to Adam Spangler via Bruce McGuire.

Here's a guest post from Shaz Rahman, who wonders how England might set up now they've got a squad.

Now that we know the 23 man squad for Euro 2012 we can start speculating how England will lineup against France in the first group game.

Bob Marley and Jimi Hendrix pay football. Hat tip to Adam Spangler via Bruce McGuire.

Here's a guest post from Shaz Rahman, who wonders how England might set up now they've got a squad.

Now that we know the 23 man squad for Euro 2012 we can start speculating how England will lineup against France in the first group game.

After being an honorable mention selection on the USL Pro Team of the Week the past two weeks, JC Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) moved up Tuesday.

The 22-year-old made the 11-member honor team after his 67th-minute goal was enough to give the Rochester Rhinos a 1-0 victory over the Dayton Dutch Lions in a USL Pro match Saturday.

The Administrators overseeing the Rangers Calciopoli are NOT INDEPENDENT of the body under investigation.
One of my colleagues sent this little nugget of quantumness through...
"Just thought I'd drop you a line to let you know ## ### #### David Whitehouse is the Administrator of Rangers, sounds like he's got his work cut out in between the banks and the agents!

It's easy for casual observers to shrug off or dismiss the Evertonians calls for Bill Kenwright and the rest of the board to get the hell out of the club. It's easy to say, it's just another group of fans whining because times are a little tough, but this situation cannot be easily tossed in to that traditional mold of the displeased football supporter.

By Chris Wright

This is the new 58,145-capacity National Stadium on the banks of the Vistula that meanders through Warsaw, and it's where the opening game of Euro 2012 between Poland and Greece will be played. It's also incredibly beautiful by night, as seen here...

Such a handsome brute.

Some fascinating comments by Barcelona president Sandro Rosell today in which he wants to see the Spanish league cut from 20 clubs to 16, limits placed on wealthy foreign owners and a more equitable sharing of TV revenue.

Speaking at the International Football Arena conference, Rosell said:

"My opinion is that our league has too many clubs.

AC Milan's Ghanaian midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng scored his first European goal for the club in their 2-0 home win over BATE Borisov last night to make the Italian giants top leaders in Group H alongside defending champions Barcelona.

Boateng needed this all important goal to clear any doubts about his commitment to Milan.

AC Milan's Ghanaian midfielder Kevin Prince Boateng scored his first European goal for the club in their 2-0 home win over BATE Borisov last night to make the Italian giants top leaders in Group H alongside defending champions Barcelona.

Boateng needed this all important goal to clear any doubts about his commitment to Milan.

Some photos from my first trip to Philadelphia's PPL Park. We played the Union last season in the club's inaugural MLS match, but that contest was hosted at Lincoln Financial Field. PPL Park was a much more intimate environment, and like its European predecessors, the venue rises out of a working class neighborhood (Chester, Pa.

Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

By AVI CREDITOR

HARRISON, N.J. -- The more U.S. national team defender Timmy Chandler plays at left back, the more it looks like the long search for a dependable option at the position has come to an end.

Everton boss David Moyes admits he is frustrated by the financial constraints bound on him by the club's lack of money, but insists he is not envious of the spending power of his opposite number at Liverpool, Kenny Dalglish.
The two sides will come together on Saturday lunchtime in the first Merseyside derby of the season which takes place at Goodison Park.

J.C. Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) played a major role as the Rochester Rhinos routed the visiting Pittsburgh Riverhounds 4-0 in a United Soccer Leagues PRO National Division semifinal Friday night.

Banks helped set up the first two goals as the top-seeded Rhinos (13-8-4) completed their season-long dominance of the fourth-seeded Riverhounds (7-12-6).

I know most of the Chelsea fans that come onto my blog everyday and take the time to post their comments have said all summer that we need a creative midfielder this season. It's becoming apparent now more than ever that Roman Abramovich and AVB have to get a deal done for someone to come into our side to unlock the door asap or we will be left behind.

I hate football. Whether it's the self-serving avarice of pampered primadonna players; the shameless, corrupt greed of the porcine pilferers at FIFA, or the ignorant, enabling,'groupthink' mentality of the 'fans', football is moral and ethical sewer, and has been for years. Every once in while though, something happens that gives me a tiny sliver of hope that the game can still be saved, and today, that hope comes in the form Sporting Gijon's Javi Poves.

Walsall v Aston Villa 2011 Highlights 1-3 Friendly Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter

Walsall v Aston Villa 2011 Highlights 1-3 Friendly Video is a post from Soccer Blogger. Follow Soccer Blogger on Twitter Walsall v Aston Villa 2011 Pre-Season Friendly- Banks' Stadium Walsall v Aston Villa attendance- 7,170 Final score and result:- Walsall vs Aston Villa 1-3 ( Bowerman/ Bent*2, Heskey) Alex McLeish gets off to a winning [.

Singapore fans may have queued overnight to buy tickets for the World Cup Qualifier against Malaysia this Saturday but they have been lees keen to commit to the second leg.
4,000 tickets were bought within hours of going on sale, though applicants could buy a maximum of four per person which could see a flooded black market and banks of empty seats if scalpers had moved in hoping for a quick killing.

J.C. Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) came through in the clutch Saturday night.

The rookie forward scored the game's lone goal in the 90th minute, giving the host Rochester Rhinos a 1-0 victory over the Dayton Dutch Lions in a USL Pro match.

Barcelona President gave a wide ranging interview on the ‘Ágora' show on TV3, where he insisted that the club will be taking an austere approach to the transfer market this summer. On Arsenal star Fábregas he said

"I don't know if we will sign Cesc or not. What I am sure of is that he is very keen to come to Barça.

Marco Gutierrez scored in the final seconds of stoppage time as the Chicago Fire stunned the Madison 56ers 2-1 in a National Premier Soccer League Midwest Region match Saturday night at Breese Stevens Field.

Gutierrez's goal on a 2-on-1 with fellow second-half substitute Luke Zeiler came moments after midfielder Trevor Banks (Madison Memorial) equalized for the 56ers in the 90th minute.

JC Banks (Milwaukee Riverside) and Greg Rosenthal battled against one another for four years in Horizon League men's soccer action, Banks leading the UW-Green Bay attack and Rosenthal and his UW-Milwaukee teammates trying to slow him down.

Both former college standouts signed professional soccer deals this week, albeit on different continents.

szólj hozzá: Chelsea 0-1 ManUtd, Highlights
Let's be totally honest here, Chelsea were disappointing. I had stated before the game that it was time for Chelsea to stand up and be counted and that Chelsea WOULD score on the night, I was wrong both times.
You will read headlines that Chelsea are unhappy about the Ramires stone wall penalty that wasn't given.

For a little while now, Barcelona have allowed us and our captain to just get on with life at Arsenal. Over the summer we saw quote after quote from Barcelona players and staff calling for Cesc to join their little group of girls over at the Nou Camp because their grass was greener than ours, or some-such reason.

This is just breathtaking...at the same times as devastating public services under the maxim "We are all in this together" they are cutting taxes for multi-national companies.
Sickening and vile. NEVER TRUST A TORY!
At the moment tax law ensures that companies based here, with branches in other countries, don't get taxed twice on the same money.

Midfielders JC Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) and David Prochazka (UW-Green Bay) won't be offered contracts by BK Häcken, the Swedish club announced Monday.

The former Phoenix standouts had been on trial with the top-level Allsvenskan club in Gothenburg for the past three weeks.

JC Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay), who is on trial with Swedish club BK Häcken in Gothenburg, told a local newspaper that he would rather play in Sweden's top league than in Major League Soccer.

He was selected by Toronto FC in the first round of the MLS Supplemental Draft last month, and had trials with three other clubs in Sweden in December.

JC Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) continues to impress in his latest trial in Sweden, this one at top-division club BK Häcken.

Banks played the full 90 minutes and scored the final goal as Häcken beat Norwegian side Sörlandslaget 3-1 on Friday at the Color Line Cup, an indoor preseason tournament in Kristiansand, Norway.

Wisconsin natives JC Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) and Andy Adlard (Brookfield East) were selected in the Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft on Tuesday.

Banks was taken by Toronto FC with the eighth pick in the draft, which followed last week's three-round SuperDraft.

Toronto FC selected
Pick 8 JC Banks Midfielder University of Wisconsin - Green Bay
Pick 13 Steven Beattie Forward Northern Kentucky
Pick 26 Spencer Thompson Forward Michigan State University
Pick 44 Scott Rojo Midfielder High Point University
Scott Rojo while playing for Carolina Dynamo
I am guessing that these young men just won a free trip to Turkey where Toronto FC is opening their training camp next month.

Three wins on the bounce and two signings in a usually non-existent January transfer window suggest all is rosy on the banks of the Trent. In truth, the manner in which Forest's results have come of late might just put the brakes on what seems to be the beginning of a relentless promotion push [...]

Andy Adlard (Brookfield East) and JC Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) learned their assignments for the Major League Soccer Player Combine, which kicks off Friday in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Adlard will play for the AdiZero team in the matches at Central Broward Regional Park, while Banks will suit up for the AdiPower side – all four teams are named after shoes made by adidas, the event's sponsor.

Young Amercian JC Banks will have at least offer in his pocket to start 2011 as Swedish Superettan club Hammarby has offered the midfielder a contract.

JC Banks (Milwaukee Riverside/UW-Green Bay) welcomed in the new year confident that he'll soon realize his lifelong dream of becoming a professional soccer player.

Banks is back home in Milwaukee after a month that saw him spend time on trial with three clubs in Sweden and participate in a weekend mini-combine in Las Vegas put together by the Seattle Sounders of Major League Soccer.