Now that all of the major European soccer league have wrapped up proceedings for the 2010/11 season, many of the world's foremost footballers have headed off on holidays with their WAGs. Such is the case with Bayern Munich and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and his supermodel girlfriend Sarah Brandner.

Now that all of the major European soccer league have wrapped up proceedings for the 2010/11 season, many of the world's foremost footballers have headed off on holidays with their WAGs. Such is the case with Bayern Munich and Germany midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger and his supermodel girlfriend Sarah Brandner.

Soz about our slowness these past few days; the Peeps were a callin' and we failed to resist the temptation of going HAM on our Easter candy baskets.

Saturday
- After her beloved Norwich City's 5-1 victory over arch-rivals Ipswich Town, Sky Sports asked celebrity chef/author, Delia Smith, to sing the victory track, "Ole, Ole" for at home viewers.

What's this a magic show?! Nicht, just some candid shots from Germany's Euro 2012 jersey presentation session in Hamburg yesterday. Clearly, Lukas Podolski and Thomas Mueller aren't used to signing autographs on the 10-feet wall they have at home.

01- Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/POR): 12 millones de euros al año02- Wayne Rooney (Manchester United/ING): 11,503- Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona/ARG): 1104- Yaya Touré (Manchester City/CMA): 10,805- Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milán/ITA): 10,506- Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern Múnich/ALE): 9,707- Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Milan AC/SUE): 908- Kaká (Real Madrid/BRA): 909- John Terry (Chelsea/ING): 910- Emmanuel Adebayor (Manchester City/TOG): 8,411- Franck Ribéry (Bayern Múnich/FRA): 812- Fernando Torres (Liverpool/ESP): 7,813- Steven Gerrard (Liverpool/ING): 7,614- Carlos Tevez (Manchester City/ARG): 7,615- Frank Lampard (Chelsea/ING): 7,5716- Xavi Hernandez (FC Barcelona/ESP): 7,517- Andrés Iniesta (FC Barcelona/ESP): 718- Didier Drogba (Chelsea/CMA): 6,519- Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United/ING): 6,520- Andréa Pirlo (Milan AC/ITA): 621- David Villa (FC Barcelona/ESP): 622- Iker Casillas (Real Madrid/ESP): 623- Frédéric Kanouté (FC Sevilla/MAL): 624- Karim Benzema (Real Madrid/FRA): 625- Gigi Buffon (Juventus/ITA): 626- Patrick Vieira (Manchester City/FRA): 5,7227- Wesley Sneijder (Inter Milán/HOL): 5,528- Garreth Barry (Manchester City/ING): 5,529- Arjen Robben (Bayern Múnich/HOL): 5,530- Asley Cole (Chelsea/ING): 5,4131- Joe Cole (Liverpool/ING): 5,232- Diego Milito (Inter Milán/ARG): 533- David Silva (Manchester City/ESP): 534- Carles Puyol (FC Barcelona/ESP): 535- Kolo Touré (Manchester City/CMA): 536- Sergio Agüero (Atlético Madrid/ARG): 537- Francesco Totti (Roma/ITA): 4,938- Dimitar Berbatov (Manchester United/BUL): 4,8739- Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal/RUS): 4,8740- Nicolas Anelka (Chelsea/FRA): 4,841- Yoann Gourcuff (Lyon/FRA): 4,842- Paul Scholes (Manchester United/ING): 4,843- Daniele de Rossi (Roma/ITA): 4,644- Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid/ESP): 4,645- Jamie Carragher (Liverpool/ING): 4,646- Ryan Giggs (Manchester United/GAL): 4,647- Julio Cesar (Inter Milan/BRA): 4,548- Diego Forlan (Atlético Madrid/URU): 4,549- Alessandro Nesta (Milan/ITA): 4,550- Gabriel Heinze (Marseilla/ARG): 4,5
Estudio realizado por la revista belga «Sport Foot Magazine».

After 188 minutes of wildly entertaining, at times outrageously open football Tuesday, it all came down to Bastian Schweinsteiger's tired legs. The Bayern Munich midfielder failed to keep up when Goran Pandev started running from the halfway line and could only watch in horror as the Macedonian smashed in the epic winner that sent Internazionale into the quarterfinals of the Champions League.

There can't be enough of them after any type of meaningful trophy has been won in Germany.

Dortmund boss Joachim Watzke was just about to express his sympathy for Eintracht Frankfurt, who had just been relegated to the second division, as Patrick Owomoyela (dubbed "this idiot" by Watzke) and his gang crash the press conference for an extra round of beer showers while shouting Campeones, Campeones.

BERLIN, Germany — Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger will play no part in a friendly against Uruguay on May 29 or in two Euro 2012 qualifiers next month because of injury, the German football federation (DFB) said Friday. The 26-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder, one of the stars of Germany's strong 2010 World Cup performance, broke a [.

BERLIN, Germany — Germany star Bastian Schweinsteiger will play no part in a friendly against Uruguay on May 29 or in two Euro 2012 qualifiers next month because of injury, the German football federation (DFB) said Friday. The 26-year-old Bayern Munich midfielder, one of the stars of Germany's strong 2010 World Cup performance, broke a [.

Germany clinched their ninth successive victory in Group A after a superb 3-1 win away to Turkey to prove that they are arguably the best team in Europe right now. Goals by the in-form Mario Gomez, Thomas Muller and a late Bastian Schweinsteiger penalty sealed an impressive 3-1 win for Germany at the Turk Telecom [.

25.10.2011 - Mundo Deportivo adelantó parte de la nómina de 50 jugadores preselccionados por el Comité Técnico de la FIFA (en el que figuran hombres como Romario, Maturana, Bilardo o Jomo Sono) para la próxima elección del Balón de Oro 2011 que se entregará el 9 de enero (2012) en Zurich.

Things really couldn't have gone more swimmingly for Bayern Munich during its winter training camp in Qatar. Long-term absentee Arjen Robben was back on the pitch, moving freely and feeling good. Franck Ribéry, another worry in recent months, was as sharp as he has been since getting injured in Euro 2008.

MUNCIH, Germany — Bayern Munich's title aspirations suffered a major blow on Saturday as relegation-threatened Cologne hit back from 2-0 down to inflict a 3-2 defeat on the defending champions. Bayern were cruising after first-half goals by Germany striker Mario Gomez, his 16th in 19 league matches, and Turkey midfielder Hamit Altintop.

Juventus' ex-Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni on Thursday revealed how coach Louis van Gaal once proved he had 'the balls' to drop any of Bayern's stars - by dropping his trousers.
Having joined Bayern from Fiorentina in 2007, Toni, 33, was Bayern's top scorer in his first season when he scored 24 goals in 31 league games as Bayern won the Bundesliga title.

With all their free time during the international break, Mercedes had the German men's team film a supportive commercial for the women's team, hosting the World Cup in the summer. The boys are acting like crazed fans, and Lukas Podolski even has a Pohawk™. During these times of co-mingling footballers, you'd expect even one of Cupid's arrows to be removed from its quiver, and you'd be right: it hit Schweinski.

BERLIN, Germany — Lucas Barrios scored one goal and was involved in the other Saturday as Bundesliga leader Borussia Dortmund won 2-0 at home against St. Pauli. St. Pauli could only muster one attack before Dortmund deservedly took the lead in the 39th minute. Barrios controlled Nuri Sahin's cross with his left before turning and [.

Every time Philipp Lahm does an interview, it appears he's either contemplating his answer to extraordinary philosophical depths, or each question is simply the hardest thing he's ever done. Given than he genuinely comes off as rather bright, and not simply for a footballer, it's likely the former.

Mostly unchanged, but some notable absences and reappearances:
Keeper: Manuel Neuer (Schalke), René Adler (Leverkusen), Tim Wiese (Werder Bremen)
Defense: Denis Aogo (Hamburg), Philipp Lahm (Bayern), Jerôme Boateng (Manchester City), Holger Badstuber (Bayern), Mats Hummels (Dortmund), Per Mertesacker (Werder Bremen), Arne Friedrich (Wolfsburg), Marcel Schmelzer (Dortmund)
Midfield: Sven Bender (Dortmund), Mario Götze (Dortmund), André Schürrle (Mainz 05), Lukas Podolski (Köln), Mesut Özil (Real Madrid), Thomas Müller (Bayern), Bastian Schweinsteiger (Bayern), Sami Khedira (Real Madrid), Toni Kroos (Bayern), Christian Träsch (Stuttgart)
Forward: Miroslav Klose (Bayern), Mario Gomez (Bayern) [read more]

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The United States will enter the CONCACAF Gold Cup as the 22nd-ranked team in the world, and the highest-ranked team in the region.

Barely any international games were played over the last month, meaning that there was little change to the latest FIFA rankings.

Das ist nur noch peinlich und wird sich hoffentlich bald legen. Er ist der weltbeste Torhüter.

Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mittelfeldspieler des FC Bayern München, über die Proteste der Ultras gegen Manuel Neuer.

Click here to view the embedded video.

There are two clever lads, the Football Intruders, who travel around Europe and sneak into the training grounds of top clubs for a laugh. While partaking in a Bayern Munich practice session, Danny had a kick about with Bastian Schweinsteiger, Thomas Müller, Philipp Lahm, Mark van Bommel and compared boot fashion with Arjen Robben.

In honor of Fabian Johnson's and Joe Corona's call-ups to the U.S. and Mexico, we present to you ten other players with ties the Americans could have exploited to get them in the red, white and blue.
Welcome aboard, son.1. Pedro – Is probably not the same person as Pedro Rodriguez, 57, of Midland, Texas, but how is FIFA supposed to know that?

In honor of Fabian Johnson's and Joe Corona's call-ups to the U.S. and Mexico, we present to you ten other players with ties the Americans could have exploited to get them in the red, white and blue.
Welcome aboard, son.1. Pedro – Is probably not the same person as Pedro Rodriguez, 57, of Midland, Texas, but how is FIFA supposed to know that?

It will be raining stars at the Allianz Arena this evening as the visiting Manchester City have unleashed a strong starting XI against the powerful Bundesliga leaders, FC Bayern Munchen.

The back line of the Bavarian side includes former City defender Jerome Boateng while the front line of the Premier League's joint leaders includes Edin Dzeko, who rose to prominence with his sublime performances as a Wolfsburg player.

By Chris Wright

Hands up, I've got absolutely no idea what state German professional basketball is in at the moment, but the fact that Bastian Schweinsteiger is making their players look pretty damn scheisse is hardly a glowing testament.

Here we see Bayern Munich 'baller Steffen Hamann challenge Schweini to a spot of rock-chucking (or whatever the kids call it these days), only to be soundly thrashed at his own game including a little football/basketball hybrid trickshot to cap the spanking.

Is this a 'Twister' contest?

As usual in the days leading up to a bunch of international fixtures, our inboxes are littered with images of players in training. We have been studying these at length (for work purposes, obviously) and quickly became aware of a number of important questions that need to be asked regarding team preparation, proposed formations and tactics.

By JOEY SAMUEL

When the draw for Group G of EURO 2012 qualifying was made, many believed England had been handed an easy road to the tournament. Their path ended up being much more difficult than many expected, but Friday they finally punched their ticket to Poland and Ukraine.

2011 has been an impressive year for boot releases so far and 2012 looks to be an even more promising year for adidas with the evolution of two classics. Predator... Read more »

Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo lead a stacked field of finalists for the Ballon d'Or, French publication France Football announced on Tuesday.

A total of 23 finalists were revealed for the award, which Lionel Messi is considered the favorite to win for the third straight year.

Last year three Barcelona players shared the stage at the FIFA Ballon d'Or Gala and that remarkable scene could be repeated this year as eight Barcelona players have made the 23-man Ballon d'Or shortlist, with Lionel Messi odds on favourite to win the award for the third year in succession.

Für einen Spieler ist es das Größte, was ihm in seiner Karriere passieren kann. Einmal zum Weltfußballer gewählt werden, davon träumen sie doch alle. Doch für die meisten ist die Wahl schon wieder vorbei, bevor sie überhaupt losgegangen ist, denn es gibt ja noch die Vorauswahl der FIFA. Von den ursprünglich 50 vorgeschlagenen Fussballern bleiben [.

02.11.2011 - La Comisión del Fútbol, la Comisión Técnica y de Desarrollo y un grupo de expertos de (la revista) France Football, elaboraron las listas de candidatos preseleccionados que comprenden 23 jugadores y 10 entrenadores.
El 5 de diciembre (2011), la FIFA y France Football anunciarán (en París) las ternas definitivas para la 56º entrega del Balón de Oro.

So it appears Halloween hasn't ended for Real Madrid who celebrated Cristiano's 100th goal last night with Raul Albiol aka "el Enmascarado : The Masked One" (say it in a deep voice, if you will please).

By CALEB SONNELAND

Bayern Munich will have to do without one of its most influential players for the remainder of the year as vice-captain Bastian Schweinsteiger will be removed from action until 2012.

After landing awkwardly following an aerial battle with Napoli's Gökhan Inler in a Champions League match, Schweinsteiger immediately began clutching his shoulder and medical attention was rushed over.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Having witnessed Wayne Rooney's 'acting' debut last week, we were slightly nervous when this vid of Phillip Lahm, Bastian Schweinsteiger & Thomas Müller flexing their am-dram muscles dropped onto our metaphorical doormat.

However, after several (thousand) views, we can confirm that the boys are considerably more self-assured when shilling Bayern Munich's new kit than wooden Wazza was with glass in hand, and Phillip Lahm plays an excellent 'straight' man to Basti and Thom's uber cute n'cuddly comedy duo.

Every Wednesday, we cover the weird and wacky side of football you can't get anywhere else! This week, read about The Beckhams return to Paris (oo-la-la!), Ronaldo's Gala Night Date & Schweinsteiger's "tattoo" advise from the Bayern Medical team!

Well, we all know that Germany's favourite son, Bastian Schweinsteiger, has been sidelined with a fracture on his right shoulder.

Every Wednesday, we cover the weird and wacky side of football you can't get anywhere else! This week, read about The Beckhams return to Paris (oo-la-la!), Ronaldo's Gala Night Date & Schweinsteiger's "tattoo" advise from the Bayern Medical team!

Well, we all know that Germany's favourite son, Bastian Schweinsteiger, has been sidelined with a fracture on his right shoulder.

Ottmar Hitzfeld, the man who guided Bayern Munich to the domestic treble as recently as 2008, believes that the German giants are only a shadow of themselves without key playmaker Bastian Schweinsteiger, thus boosting Manchester City's hopes of Champions League progress.

In order to qualify for the Round of 16, the Citizens must get a result from Bayern's visit to the Eastlands next week while also hoping that Napoli fall to Villarreal.

Ho, Ho, Ho...ich muss Euch sagen, draußen vom Wald, da kommt der Bastian her und da draußen, da weihnachtet es so furchtbar sehr. Und wenn dann auch noch der Manuel um die Ecke springt, dann habt Ihr Euch alle eine Geschichte verdient. Bastian Schweinsteiger liest sich für Euch und viel mehr muss ich dazu nicht [.

Bayern Munich midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger has advised his club against buying rising star Marco Reus. The 22 year Borussia Mochengladbach player has been the centre of attention for a number of clubs including Arseanl who had shown an interest in him early last month.

Surprisingly, the reason why Schweinsteiger is opposed to Reus's move is because Reus is a direct rival for his position in the team.