photo credit: Ernst Moeksis

The Girls: If you want to know whether someone truly loves soccer, show them the photograph above and then ask them this riddle: "Which is most beautiful: (A) the beautiful game, (B) the beautiful girl, or (C) the beautiful golden sunset?

Major League Soccer continues to grow as a league, and it's continued development of the standard of play has received rave reviews from Manchester United - and specifically from Sir Alex Ferguson and Ryan Giggs.

United's tour of North America could end on a high note in Houston tonight (Wednesday) when the Reds take on MLS All-Stars at the Reliant Stadium.

Having followed the top flight of English league soccer for 32 years and having spent 26 of those years in the United States scrambling to find the best and most reliable sources of soccer news and information, I have the experience necessary to share with you what every supporter of a Premier League club should have to survive a season and enjoy it in style.

To say Americans rely on quality television stations and reliable broadcasts for our fix of the Premier League and other avenues of the beautiful game is a vast understatement. No, "rely" is simply too small a word to describe the lifeline, the oxygen, the blood and the water that is cable, satellite, or Internet broadcasting of soccer matches.

We've all been enjoying a wonderful World Cup tournament that has featured some incredible teams playing the beautiful game, but there are several improvements that need to be made to make it even better.

Here are the top 7 ways to improve the World Cup:

1. Remove the lots.

Where is the sniper?

(Full disclosure: I'm wearing an Orange Netherlands kit while I type this, I'm not Dutch, but I enjoy Eredivisie, Ajax and Robin van Persie)

The Netherlands and Brazil played what should have been one of the best matches thus far in the 2010 World Cup on Friday.

Editor's Note: New MFUSA contributor David T. Hammons has impeccable timing, and presents his perspective on why "Soccer Talk Live" represents a step forward for soccer in the United States.

by David T. Hammons

Kyle Martino is on the verge of offering Fox Soccer Channel and the newly-found American soccer fans something that this sport desperately needs to keep them interested in "The Beautiful Game.

By now you are probably familiar with the gist of the new DP rule, in particular you've started dreaming of a Juninho, or a Deco, maybe an Henry. All of the speculation will be about players that are "one namers." Much of this focus will be misplaced, as it operates under the old paradigm when a team only got one bullet and so the shot a team
took had to be perfect.

Chumbawamba are no strangers to soccer music and the world of football - in the the late 90's they made news for turning down 1.5 million dollars to allow the song "Tubthumping" in a World Cup Nike commercial, it was later used in the World Cup 98 video game by EA Sports and I can't imagine they got paid nearly as much as Nike offered.

photo credit: rmoriz

The Pick: In Brazil, two things are plentiful: beautiful women and seductive men who play the world's most beautiful game. One of the most entertaining Brazilian footballers ever was Jairzinho, or as I will call him for brevity's sake, JZ.

• Portal del torneo
• Calendario de los partidos

Acaba de terminar el Mundial de Sudáfrica 2010, pero las "festividades" futboleras no terminan, y ahora toca el turno a las selecciones femeniles Sub-20 representar a sus países.

El Mundial Femenil Sub-20 empieza mañana (martes 13 de julio) con el partido entre las locales y Costa Rica, en Bochum, a las 11:30 am hora de Alemania.

The 2010 world cup in South Africa looks promising to be the best yet. There's huge quantities of talent spread out across the Groups. In addition to the football being played on the pitch, here are five reasons this summer's world cup will be the best yet for the fans.

1.

More photos » Otto Greule Jr - Getty Images

Yeah, it was one of those days.

Browse more photos »

The World Cup starts in about eight hours.

As a football fan living in the US, I'm familiar with the mixture of antipathy and apathy that sometimes faces the beautiful game here. Or rather, I was familiar with it. Because all of a sudden everyone loves the World Cup and loves Team USA.

Two major reasons for this, as I see it.

Chumbawamba are no strangers to soccer music and the world of football - in the the late 90's they made news for turning down 1.5 million dollars to allow the song "Tubthumping" in a World Cup Nike commercial, it was later used in the World Cup 98 video game by EA Sports and I can't imagine they got paid nearly as much as Nike offered.

So, a while back, I put up a post about the anthem for this summer's World Cup in South Africa. Initially, I thought it was a remix of the K'Naan song, "Waving Flag". Oh, how wrong I was...

Apparently, the K'Naan song is Coca-Cola's official song for the tournament (hence all the subtly displayed Coca-Cola beverages being spilled by riotous fans).

It's 2010, it's a FIFA World Cup finals year, and, we must admit, the beautiful game has a higher profile in the United States than it ever has since appearing in Italia '90. Granted, we said that in 2006 and we'll be saying the same thing in 2014, hopefully, since there's still plenty of room for soccer to raise its profile in the United States, but that being said, it's been a good 4 years since the US National Team was knocked out of the group stage in Germany 2006.

Guest writer Christine Wise brings her new column, "Book Him or Bang Him?" to Ginge Talks the Footy providing some much needed female perspective on the beautiful game. Follow Christine on Twitter, twitter.com/wisewifelife

In honor of the Dynamo's game with RSL this week, I bring you this weeks BHoBH.

By Eric Beard, writing from Boston

Respect is earned, not simply handed to you. However, sometimes results are handed to you. Or rather mishandled to you. Barack Obama was watching the match in the White House, as promised, and he certainly seemed happy with the result.

I admire the speedy Mendy
There are lots of reasons to support Hull City. I don't cheer for the Tigers, but I used to have absolutely nothing against Phil Brown's side. Personally, I admire the speedy Bernard Mendy, and have often professed my love for the vision and passing ability of blog buddy Jimmy Bullard.

I don't know much about green technology, but I know what I like. So when I heard about the sOccket a soccer ball that stores the energy generated through playing the beautiful game I wanted to know more. The sOccket is the brainchild of four ladies at Harvard University. They saw that in certain [.

By Michael Lewis - NEW YORK, NY (Feb 16, 2010) USSoccerPlayers -- Years ago, someone said that wed know when soccer really made it in the United States when there would be a full-fledged riot at a game. Well, that's certainly a perverse and ugly way to look at the development of the beautiful game in this or any country.

Firstly let me introduce myself. My name is Allan Park and I currently run worldcupfanzone2010 It is a brand new social network for fans of the world cup finals. My aim is to bring the beautiful game and fans together. Fans can discuss all aspects of the up and coming finals.

Our network offers fans to add friends, new and old.

If every day could be like the World Cup, that'd be magic especially for soccer fans in the United States.

Driving to the World Cup Viewing Parties at Wowies in Boca Raton today, I saw a billboard on the side of the highway advertising a World Cup party at a local casino. Then, after arriving at my destination to watch the lackluster opening games (including the mind-numbing France against Uruguay match), it suddenly hit me that the World Cup is everywhere.

Everything you want to know about the Strikers you can find out by just going to www.ftlauderdalestrikers.com It's a site created by Jeffrey Duly, a soccer fan who grew up following the most successful team in South Florida soccer history. Jeffrey was kind enough to answer a few questions about the Strikers of old and the Strikers to come.

photo credit: h.koppdelaney

Every team needs a coach and every film project needs a director. Who should be the leader of STO's Soccer the Movie?

Lets rank some of the biggest filmmakers out there and decide which one would be the most worthy of directing a European football movie.

photo credit: spacepleb

April Fools' Day is being celebrated all over the globe today, which means you better be on the lookout for pranks perpetrated by your pals. If you are easily embarassed or generally gullible, chances are someone will dupe you like the dunce you are. You can avoid being "punk'd" though by fooling others instead of falling victim to their practical jokes.

Sky Sports' voice of football and his back-up team of experts are here to answer your questions and queries on all things statistical and historical from the beautiful game.

Steve Nicol's recent rant about the lack of referee protection for his creative players (namely the much improved Sainey Nyassi) was interesting on a number of levels. When I first read the quote, I was struck by the unabashed choice of words that sounded as to me as if Steve was expecting, or at least wouldn't be surprised by, a league-imposed fine.

The Sports Business Journal is reporting on MLS first quarter merchandise sales. The article includes a number of interesting tidbits, including that the Union has already sold seven figures worth of merchandise this year and it is expected to reach eight figures. The article also reports that MLS has tripled its reach into soccer speciality stores while adding to its footprint with big box retailers such as Target and Wal-Mart.

We're going a long long way baby
EFW are delighted to bring you the Fat Boy Slim World Cup Tour Diary which will be written by our new signing - Charlton Athletic fan Stuart Mair. He'll be accompanying Norman and pals to South Africa:
Planet Football is definitely in our orbit.

Over the last two weeks, ESPN has bludgeoned mainstream American sports fans with its outstanding coverage of the World Cup. This has included all platforms, including the game broadcasts, pre-game shows, Sportcenter, ESPN Radio, website and more. Other national outlets such as Sports Illustrated and USA Today have also provided extensive coverage of the tournament.

How appropriate to have the Grand Final of this event held at the Grand Ol' Lady (National Stadium - pictured above) before its scheduled demolish in days to come.
A total of 200 teams from both Senior and Junior categories emerged after two weeks of intensive competitions around the island to pit for the ultimate prize.

Many of us are returning from a month of skipping out on work or, if you are like me, watching World Cup games at your desk while pretending to work. I know the Cup is not over but I find myself already looking ahead to Euro 2012 and World Cup 2014.

Like so many others, I am also transitioning back to watching MLS.

This morning, we turn the page over to former American Soccer Daily co-hort Aaron Gidding, who has come to discuss the ugly business of national politics pushed on, in and around the beautiful game...Both in the run up to and during the 2010 installment of the World Cup the media coverage has routinely highlighted various national clichés with which to identify the participating teams.

So it's come to this, a once-great European side reduced to selling their best players and bringing in a crocked creative midfielder? This isn't going to be Inter Milan's best year. Wait, that was last year, it's Liverpool this time.

When it comes to Liverpool you're guaranteed two things; Drama and impassioned fans.

Speculate no more, the new Cosmos are setting a plan in motion. With a little help from the original team's most famous alumnus, Pelé, and a catchy slogan, "Twice in a lifetime", the reborn Cosmos are launching a youth development program and have stated their goal join Major League Soccer at some point in the future.

Following on from the Gaffer's suggestion for articles to use as resources one of the key elements of a Football match are the Tactics each team employs. Unfortunately for converts the terminology can be impenetrable – 4-4-2 & 4-3-3 are just random numbers and with two teams lining up it can be hard to understand how it all works.

Before the game I was quite anxious. In the last two seasons we've seen young teams struggle in this competition away from home against top 6 Premier League sides. Thankfully, Arsene had learnt his lesson and he put out a really strong starting eleven. And once I saw the Tiny Totts' starting line-up all the anxiety was turned into anticipation of a big win.

The Daily Journal of Commerce in Oregon is reporting that a final deal for the Timbers to move forward in the renovation of PGE Park could be in place by Thursday. Construction has already begun on the PGE renovation despite the absence of a development deal thanks to a 3-2 vote last week.