Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanski titled the American version of their new book Soccernomics (review is here), but their title for the release in the UK is Why England Lose. In the book, Kuper and Syzmanski identified the US as a rising power in soccer and England as a permanent disappointment to their rabid fans.

Generation adidas fell 2-1 to the reserve side of Santos, a team from South Africa's first division. Rodney Wallace started and played 58 minutes, while Chris Pontius came on as a 54th minute sub.

Here's the full match report from MLS, with lineups after the jump:

Major League Soccer's Generation adidas team suffered through a frustrating afternoon Wednesday, falling 2-1 to Santos in Cape Town in the second game of their three-game tour against reserve sides from the Premier Soccer League, South Africa's first division.

Basking in the afterglow of a rare West Ham win, I have been browsing at some statistics on the most creative Premiership players so far in the English Premier League 2009/2010 season. What I used to gauge creativity is the amount of chances created and assists credited, which should be a fair enough assessment of a player's creativity.

Landon Donovan could be suited up for Everton on Jan. 9 against Arsenal if goes according to various reports today. America's best player landing in the Premier League, granted it will be on team perilously close to relegation.

If this were last December, I'd say awesome.

This December, eh, not so much.

Steven Gerrard and David Beckham star in a new Adidas TV advert for the Predator X boot. Both Stevie G and Becks are on the football pitch and engage in a playful competition between each other to figure out who has the best accuracy.

Zinedine Zidane also stars in the commercial.

I know version 1.0 was released just last week but a lot has changed since then in terms of players signing with the league and some not signing with the league. With the recent news of a few Generation adidas signings plus a few other rumors out there about other potential signings things needed to be reflected here.

Lionel Messi has won the 2009 Ballon d'Or by a landslide on Tuesday, December 1, 2009. He's the first Argentinian to win the award and had 473 out of a possible 480 votes to win the award. The Ballon d'Or is given by the France Football Federation and is for the best player in the European leagues.

Let me start by saying that this isn't a pop at Steve Gerrard! In my honest stinking opinion I reckon that he is the England national team's best player by far. Frank Lampard? Wayne Rooney? They couldn't lace Gerrard's boots.
But doesn't he go down a little easy?

Well, it's time to consider nominations for CONCACAF Player of the Year again. I was reminded of this courtesy of Nick Green's coverage of the FIFA Women's Player of the Year finalists.
In a nutshell, FIFA blew it. Three of FIFA's nominees would technically be eligible for my award - Marta, Kelly Smith, and Cristiane.

I strongly recommend all A-League club decision makers read this article in today's Sydney Morning Herald by Sebastian Hassett. It is from an interview with Sydney FC shareholder and TV and Hollywood star (former Adelaide City keeper) Anthony LaPaglia.
In summary, teams need:- community following and respect (keep going and trying new things until you find what works)- a marquee player that has resonance (now just the best player available and rarely an Australian)

''That takes effort and thought-out programs of how to reach out in a genuine way to the public and to say to them, 'You know what, we value your support and whatever small way we can help make it easier for you, we'd like to do that.

The best player in the world gets the game winner for Barcelona.

Lionel Messi is only 22, but he's been the best player in the world for a while. No one else can dribble like him, and when surrounded by great teammates, he makes the most of them. His award is well deserved as his team won 6 trophies in 2009.

Here's a touching tribute to him...

And this one is more rocking.

Another prize for Spanish Football & FC BARCELONA.The Football Magazine France Football has given its "Golden Ball" Awardfor 2009 to FC Barcelona player LIONEL MESSI. This accolade isconsidered the award,which is voted by the World Football journalists,the confirmation as the "Best Player In The World" for 2008-2009.

The 10th edition of the Number One BTV Cup wrapped up on Sunday with Brazilian club Duque de Caxias emerging victorious, beating Dong Tam Long An 2-1 in the final.
Brazil's second-tier club proved too strong for the V-League side. The victory didn't come as a surprise because Caxias had beaten DTLA 3-0 in the group stages.

This week's main report looks at the newly-crowned Ballon D'or winner, Leo Messi. The transcript can be found below, while vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Listen to the report here

Recently I was involved in a discussion with some friends over whether Brazilian star Kaka was a better player than his Real Madrid team mate Ronaldo.

Liverpool travels to Blackburn on Saturday 5th December hoping to register their third consecutive win in all competitions. A Blackburn Rovers who must be full of confidence, having came through a nervy penalty shootout to beat Chelsea and advance to the semifinals of the Carling Cup.
Though not a crucial match, a win for Liverpool will help the Reds consolidate their fifth position in the Premiership league table.

When Steven Gerrard, in the coming years, decides that his body and spirit can no longer carry the burden of expectation bestowed upon him by his adoring public, hangs up his boots for good and looks back on his career, the occasion of his 500th game is unlikely to be a highlight.
The Liverpool captain will fear, though, that it may provide an epitaph: Almost, but not quite.

On Monday FIFA revealed the final list of 5 players for both the men and women nominees who will battle it out for the coveted FIFA world player of the year award.

In the men's list the nominees are Andreas Iniesta, Kaka, Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Xavi while the women's list has Cristiane (Brazil), Inka Grings (Germany), Brigit Prinz (Germany), Kelly Smith (England) and Marta (Brazil)

Lionel Messi will be looking to end the year on a high by wining this award.

Wolfsburg 1-3 Manchester United

It was vintage Michael Owen, a magical hat-trick in which the striker had scored with his had, his left foot and his right foot. Fabio Capello is probably sitting in his living room right now scratching his head, probably telling himself that this never happened.

Did you ever wonder what factors were important to a college prospect selecting a school? For Akron freshman goalkeeper David Meves, it was the feel he got from the players and coaches that created the atmosphere that made him choose to play for Caleb Porter and the Zips.

Meves also considered Indiana, Wake Forest and UCLA during the recruiting process before selecting UA.

Owen, show us how close you are to a return.

It's been a rough few months for Manchester United players as the rigors of competing in multiple competitions have taken their toll. Sir Alex Ferguson's defensive dilemma has been well documented in recent weeks so weary eyes now turn to the almost 29-year-old Canadian born England and Manchester United midfielder, Owen Hargreaves.

I didn't expect Ryan Giggs to win the BBC Sports Personality. The bookies didn't expect him to win (20-1 they had him), nor did the man himself. Footballers don't normally get nominated for BBC's prestigious, let alone win it. Just another award to the add to the never-ending list of achievements for the Premier League's most decorated player.

We're doing a World Cup team history post for every team at the 2010 World Cup. This is Part II of our Argentina World Cup team history, covering 1986 to 2006. Part I (1930-1982) can be found here.

1986 World Cup in Mexico

It probably doesn't get much better than this.

With J Hutcherson -- It's doubtful that there's any soccer circuit in the World where there aren't complaints about fixture congestion. You can also take it for granted that there are coaches in all of those leagues more than willing to test squad depth. Major League Soccer has gone from running the reserves in the Open Cup to creative coaching decisions like benching the best player on a team for the first-leg of a playoff.

From left: Lara Campbell, DU; Becca Mays, Metro State; Nikki Marshall, CU; Kayla Mitchell, Mines; and Nichole Kluk, Fort Lewis. (photos by Jonathan Ingraham, Tom Auclair and George Tanner/ ColoradoSoccerNow.com)

I was very thankful in 2009 to see many excellent college soccer teams and players on the field in Division I and II.

Well, the polls on the goalkeeper position are closed, and our winner, in a very, very tight vote, was Jens Lehmann, taking 63 (52%) votes to David Seaman's 58 (48%). Manuel Almunia picked up a solitary pity vote. Next up: right-back.

Not too many options here, either, although I think it does present an interesting dilemma about what your criteria is in selecting who should be on the "All-Decade" team.

Lionel Messi was rightly named the FIFA World Player of the Year this week with a record breaking number of votes. Cristiano Ronaldo was voted second, Xavi third, Kaka fourth and Andrés Iniesta fifth.

The coaches and captains of international teams are given the opportunity for this prestigious award, with the first round of voting taking place in October.

Hot off of a very successful week with his club, Lionel Messi has been awarded the prestigious Ballor d'Or for being the best player in European football. He is the first Argentinean to win the award and the sixth Barcelona player.

He beat out Ronaldo by a record margin after getting the important win against Real Madrid on Sunday.

Man United striker Wayne Rooney has been shortlisted for this year's Ballon d'Or (in other words the best player in the Europe. Rooney's name is alongside two other Premier League stars and four...
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Messi won the Golden Ball award by the biggest margin ever. Out of 480 possible votes, he received 473 votes. Leaving no doubt who the best player in the world is.

GRANDE LIO!!!!!!

Time for young Nicky to carry the team

Even up to today it still hurts to look back at Sunday's match. The pride hurts knowing that we are still a distance away from our challenger in the quest for the league title. Arsenal have not had the best of results against the Top 4 in the past year or so.

Congratulations to Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who takes the Ballon d'Or this year. He was voted head and mini-shoulders above the rest of the competition by journalists as the best player in Europe.

It's the first time an Argentinian player has won and Leo won big beating last year's winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, by the biggest vote margin in the competition's history.

Congratulations to Barcelona's Lionel Messi, who takes the Ballon d'Or this year. He was voted head and mini-shoulders above the rest of the competition by journalists as the best player in Europe.

It's the first time an Argentinian player has won and Leo won big beating last year's winner, Cristiano Ronaldo, by the biggest vote margin in the competition's history.

Every once in a while you'll get a match that lifts gloom and renews portents of doom for another day. The question of doom in essence is ridiculous, relatively speaking. After all we were, before yesterday, five points off the pace, having sold our best player and performing marginally better in comparison to last season.

Match Observations: West Ham United 0-4 Manchester United

Paul Scholes played majestically for Manchester United at Upton Park on Saturday, as United had cruised to a comprehensive victory with goals from Scholes, Darron Gibson, Antonio Valencia and Wayne Rooney.

So the Central Coast Mariners were the big winners in today's W-League awards, with no surprises in Michelle Heyman as the Julie Dolan Medal for Player of the Year. But Perth Glory, who missed the finals, and Canberra, who just snuck in, also both came away with plenty.
All the award-winners below, what do you think?

This weekend's highlights include several game winning goals from the usual suspects ,as well as, a hat trick from Lisando Lopez.
Lisandro Lopez's hat trick against Lille was very impressive but unfortunately not enough to win the game. He continues to prove why he is considered by many the best player in France.

This weekend's highlights include several game winning goals from the usual suspects ,as well as, a hat trick from Lisando Lopez.
Lisandro Lopez's hat trick against Lille was very impressive but unfortunately not enough to win the game. He continues to prove why he is considered by many the best player in France.

"You sir, are a fucking disgrace."

"Mmm hmm. So sue me."

Much tabloid chatter this morning about Cesc Fabregas's Chelsea quote:

"An average team that has the best striker in the world can always do something and Didier Drogba makes all the difference to them.

Michael Owen once again demonstrated class is permanent in his clinical performance away at Wolfsburg. Three well taken goals will have no doubt helped stake his claim for a regular place in the United line-up and will have done his confidence a world of good.

Seeing Owen in that form was like rolling the years back and made me wonder if I'd rather see Defoe or Owen come off the bench in an attempt to save England in the last 20 minutes of a WC quarter final.