Newell's Old Boys continue to be beset by problems created by their hooligan gang. On Monday a group of 25 - 30 barra bravas invaded the club's premises - some carrying firearms - and threatened club members and staff who were present, destroying some of the fittings. The attack comes in the wake of the [.

Received from our friends at Match Fit USA give us this update:

A little while back, I mentioned the possibility of DC United fans organizing a march in support of the team remaining in the District. United's stadium plan issues are well-documented and well-publicized, and the march would be a grassroots example of soccer fans uniting behind their beloved club.

Diego Maradona's not pleased with the AFA, after revealing that the reason for his not calling up Juan Román Riquelme and Sebastián Battaglia was that the governing body insisted Boca Juniors play on Sunday rather than Saturday, even though the date of the France friendly has been fixed for months.

The View From the Press Box
By Ben Canada
What a great day for soccer in the Nations Capital. When you can get 72,368 to come out Fedex Field under 95+ degree weather to watch a friendly between our own American club DC United and one of the five mega teams in the world Real Madrid.

For some years now, DC United's Screaming Eagles and Barra Brava have set the standard for pre-game tailgating in MLS.
As a DC fan this season, I've learned to appreciate the "smaller things" in soccer my soccer experience as opposed to actual goals, talent, or even effort out of my home town team.

Last week I wrote about the bottom half of my personal top 20 stadia (out of 31 total) in MLS history. This week I share with you my top 10. My b0ttom seven were all larger stadia with capacities of 30,000+ and the next three were each smaller stadia. Today's list reveals eight smaller soccercentric stadia and two of the jumbo variety.

Tradition
Ah, the annual trip to the concrete jungle, the armpit of america, RFK North. With Red Bull Arena under construction and supposed to open for the 2010 season, this could be the last time United plays the metroscum/pink cows in the spectacularly horrid Giant Stadium.

"If D.C. United has to pack its bags for another state, all we will have is the regret that we did not act in a unified way." -- Barra Brava
"[...] all United fans - Screaming Eagles, Barra Brava, La Norte, and the unaffiliated - will be marching together in support of the team. The rally and march will be held on the afternoon of May 9th before the match against Toronto FC.

If the AFA thought they had problems with crowd control in the top flight for the last few seasons, they can't have been happy bunnies on Monday. Chacarita Juniors, whose previous spells in Primera A have been most notable for very badly behaved crowds, most infamously (and tragically) when playing Boca Juniors, are back in [.

FA Cup 1st Qualifying Round. Sheffield FC 1-3 FC United of Manchester. Coach and Horses Ground, Dronfield, Derbyshire. September 14th, 2009. Their dreams of Wembley glory ended last month after a 3-0 loss to Northwich Victoria.

Photo credit: Matthew Wilkinson on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

View from the crowd...
There was a lot of trash talking in the month or so in the run up to this game by fans, and owners of both teams but in the end the game was decided on the pitch.
If there was a defining moment in this game it was the first Seattle goal and Josh Wick's losing his cool once again after it.

All AEK fans, both in Greece and in the diaspora, love football.  For most fans, its just that, nothing more.  Many of us, however, bot at live games and when watching on television or over the internet, also entertain a passing interest in our team's ultras, the organized fans, particularly the ones that seem to [.

Like kissing your sister. DC came out and dominated the first half, scored their goal, and went into halftime with a lead. They came back out a different team, and were hurt by a mistake by backup keeper, Josh Wicks. Sloppy passing, poor shot selection, and questionable decisions by DC players led to the draw and [.

During Wednesday night's win over FC Dallas, United owner Will Chang joined members of La Barra Brava in the stands. We've not heard a report back on Will's rhthym.. was anyone there?

(Photo by Michele Miller, La Barra Brava)

Tuesday night saw the return of football hooliganism to England after stabbings outside the West Ham United vs Milwall League Cup match, but there's been a small step forward in the battle against violence in Argentine football. You've probably not heard of Rodrigo Silvera if you're not Argentine. Back in November (the 1st, to be [.

D.C. United fans came out in droves to show support for the club and its effort to build a soccer specific stadium. Supporters young and old alike marched from Lincoln Park to RFK Stadium.

Did you take photos of today's march? Send them to us for inclusion in our photo gallery.

Here is your first glimpse of video from today's march...

Hear from United President Kevin Payne, Co-Managing Partner Will Chang and United fans at Saturday's march.

There are a plethora of games on today around the league. Here's what we will be watching (and attempting to stream).

New England at Toronto FC

- This should be a good game. Toronto FC is searching desperately for another win and New England has struggled this year.

There's a fierce wind blowing through the top order of Argentine club football as the Clausura championship draws to yet another exciting finale.

Last season's bottom placed club River Plate are now mathematically out of the title race and the other traditional superpower Boca Juniors are a further eight points down the league.

We win trophies. But not all the time.

Great atmosphere at the stadium. My section was in between the Barra Brava and the Seattle supporters, and it was cool listening to the fans trying to out-sing each other. The fans in the sections who don't normally stand and sing were all standing and singing a lot more than usual.

D.C. United supporter - and proud member of La Barra Brava - Gina Rivera recently made a trip to Barcelona and saw Camp Nou in person. She packed her Barra Brava flag and carted it around the whole country with the sole purpose of taking the photo below.. that's dedication!

I've been in Barcelona on holiday since Wednesday, hence the lack of action on HEGS during the past few days, but before I left I still kept myself busy off-blog by writing a piece for ESPN Soccernet on the managerial pressures at Argentina's two domestic giants, River Plate and Boca Juniors. If you'd like to [.

I've looked at 2008 as far as the action between the touch- and goal lines is concerned already - if you're struggling to remember, the Clausura review is here, and the Apertura one is here. It's time, though, to take a look at how each of the clubs lived up to the suggestions I put forward for new year's [.

Poor DC United. Nobody wants to give them a home. The four-time winners of both the MLS Cup and the Supporters Shield are currently playing in RFK Stadium, built in 1961, the former home of the Washington Redskins (US Football) and the Washington Nationals (baseball.) And attempts to give them a stadium of their [.

For those of you in the know, the Barra Brava and Screaming Eagles spearheaded a march through D.C. to keep United in D.C. Estimates have the crowd at between 500 and 1,000, but with those sort of events it's hard to say exactly. The video below is courtesy of D.C. United.

If the team ever had to leave D.

Estudiantes (yeah, you see?) start their Copa Libertadores semi-final on Thursday night, and they've got some frantic last minute preparations for the big exam still to come. After left back Marco Angeleri and centre half Cristian Cellay were both ruled out with injury, Estudiantes have got dispensation from CONMEBOL to sign an emergency defender to [.

The view from the press box at DC United vs LA Firpo,
DC United vs Luis Angel Firpo
Views from Ben Canada....
Well the feel from the crowd was definitely split from the start as you had for DC United the usual strong support of the Barra Brava & La Norte supporters sections but the L.

Those of you in the UK (and certain lucky overseas places) can enjoy my writing in the medium of print again this month. British magazine When Saturday Comes have a new article by me on the subject of Chacarita Juniors' promotion back to the Primera División, and what it means for the security forces in [.

Sparse home support and a 5-0 drubbing were not a good look for the Capital Club
View from the Press Box - DC United vs Toluca
By Ben Canada
I would like to send thanks for the loyal DC United fans that did show up to last night match with DC United vs.

Barely has the dust settled from the tenth round, so full of action that the superclásico was all but forgotten about by anyone reasonable, than the next round of matches is starting. It's a big round for both Avellaneda clubs: Newell's host Racing on Tuesday afternoon for some reason Racing's new manager, Lothar Matthäus [.

Following the misery of having lost the clásico to San Lorenzo on Saturday, it was announced on Sunday the same day that there was trouble prior to the Rosario derby by prosecutor Walter López that the Estadio Tomás A. Ducó would be closed provisionally whilst an investigation is underway into incidents prior to [.

Got a great post for you from regular reader Anthony Ives who lives in Glasgow Scotland. I love these kind of stories!
Two weekends ago, 15 other US soccer fans and I travelled from London, Cambridge, Prague, Vienna, and even Illinois to Bratislava to cheer on the US in their friendly v Slovakia.

Luigi Meroni fue un gran futbolista italiano en la década de los sesentas, jugador del Club Torino y seleccionado de su país. No sólo fue un gran deportista, sino que fuera de las canchas también era considerado un divo por su extravagante estilo de vida; le gustaba escuchar a los Beatles, era fiestero, llevaba el cabello largo y debido a su gran carisma se transformó enseguida en el ídolo del Torino.

Ricardo Caruso Lombardi confirmed on Wednesday night that he'll be Diego Cagna's successor at Tigre, returning to the club whom he took from Primera B into the B Nacional (third to second flight) in 2005. Not such good news from the judiciary system, though: Rafael Di Zeo, the former capo of Boca Juniors' barra brava, [.