Wayne Rooney was made England captain last weekend for England against Brazil due to injuries to John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. Man United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has said that if Rooney wants to be Man United captain, he will have to wait.
Sir Alex has been quoted as saying: "I have never really been an advocate of centre forwards being captain. Click to continue reading...

Spain regain top slot in this month's Fifa world rankings. Brazil are second followed by the Netherlands, Italy and Portugal. England are in 9th place. Argentina are 8th.
France are in 7th after Thierry Henry handed them victory in their World Cup play off encounter with Ireland in Paris. Cameroon are the highest African team in 11th. Click to continue reading...

This week we focus on teams that are on a run, who have several wins on the trot, or having a hard time breaking a winless streak. As always we cross the globe to choose our matches England, Germany, Italy, Holland, Brazil, and Japan. This week's guest predictor is Mike who is a fan of Manchester City.

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With 32 names in the bag (irrespective of how they got there) thoughts can now turn to the subject of the draw for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.
The first thing to be decided is which countries to seed. This is calculated just before the draw and is based on past performances in recent World Cups and the FIFA World Ranking. Click to continue reading...

Who can wait a month? I had to speculate the pots and make my own groups:

GROUP A -- South Africa, Greece, North Korea, Paraguay
GROUP B -- Brazil, Slovenia, Honduras, Nigeria
GROUP C -- Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Uruguay
GROUP D -- Spain, Slovakia, USA, Ghana
GROUP E -- Argentina, Netherlands, Mexico, Cameroon
GROUP F -- Italy, Serbia, South Korea, Chile
GROUP G -- France, Portugal, Australia, Algeria
GROUP H -- England, Switzerland, Japan, Ivory Coast

How about that Group E, eh? Click to continue reading...

FIFA has made official its National Team Ranking for December issuingtheir table today. As advanced earlier in the week, SPAIN regains theNº1 spot from Brazil.Here are the Top 10 places:1. Spain 1622 pts2. Brazil 15923. Holland 12794. Italy 12155. Portugal 11816. Germany 11707. France 11228. Argentina 10859. Click to continue reading...

In the wake of Ireland's heartbreaking aggregate defeat to France, where Thierry Henry's handballed assist for William Gallas to score an equaliser in extra time denied a team who had performed magnificently to haul themselves level, we pay tribute to five of the greatest footballing heartbreakers in recent memory.

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All 32 teams for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa are now known.
The complete line up is:
Europe
Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland
Africa
Algeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa (hosts)
Asia
Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea
South America
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
North & Central America, Caribbean
Honduras, Mexico, USA
Oceania
New Zealand
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World Cup South Africa Click to continue reading...

Glen Johnson and Fabio Aurelio have become the latest Liverpool players to visit radical therapist Mariana Kovacevic in an attempt to end their injury problems.
Albert Riera and Yossi Benayoun flew to Belgrade earlier this week to see Kovacevic, who has become famous for treating sportsmen with the liquid from horse placenta. Click to continue reading...

The Germans become comic book heroes before our very eyes. Looking back at Russian disappointment. (Russian Football Now) Hands were flying in Brazil yesterday too. (See The Cup) The US World Cup uniform leaks. (Football Fashion) The pitch invader from Sweden-Denmark gets a huge fine. (BBC) Take the stadium aerial challenge and waste loads of time at work. Click to continue reading...

November 19th 1969. 40 years ago, Pele scored his goal number 1000. No matter what the youngest say, there will be no better player to step on earth.

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Alan Kardec, Douglas Costa and Giuliano are the three musketeers ya'll should be looking out for in the selecao. Granted, they didn't bring home the U-20 World Cup trophy, but thankfully, they have a pretty awesome sense of humour to make up for it... although Giuliano needs to stop showing off his body.

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On Friday December 4th we will find out how the group stages will look for the XIX World Cup to take place in South Africa next Summer.
We now know the 32 countries that qualified for the world Cup:
For CONCACAF it was The United States, Mexico and Honduras.
For CONMEBOL it was Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, Argentina and Uruguay. Click to continue reading...

Eduardo has committed his future to Arsenal by signing a new long-term contract at Emirates Stadium.
The 26-year-old Brazil-born Croatia international suffered horrific leg and ankle injuries against Birmingham in February 2008 and was sidelined for almost a year as he battled his way back to full fitness. Click to continue reading...

As you're probably aware, Brazilian football (CBF and CONMEBOL for that matter) have no respect for the international break. So two matches took place in Brazil on Wednesday night one for Copa Sudamericana and one for the Brasileiro. And it was enough for the biggest collective nervous breakdown, I've ever seen.

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The Desert Foxes (not making this up either) beat Egypt 1-0 with a first half goal from Anthar Yahia of Germany's VfL Bochum. Last appeared in the finals in Mexico 86, where they drew with Northern Ireland but lost to Spain and Brazil.

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This is a leak of the USA Nike World Cup 2010 home kit that has made its way to the internet. If real, the new U.S. National Team jersey features a diagonal stripe may be inspired by that worn by the 1950 World Cup team that famously upset a heavily favored England 1-0 in Brazil. [...] Click to continue reading...

• Manchester City follow Arsenal's lead on youth | Manchester City - Times Online

  tags: City

• Manchester City relieved as Robinho misses Oman test - but Nilmar shines to stake claim for Eastlands star's Brazil place | Mail Online

  tags: City

• Grieving Vincent Kompany axed from Belgium squad as Dick Advocaat punishes Manchester City star's late shows | Mail Online

  tags: City

Posted from Diigo. Click to continue reading...

The Brazillians have long been regarded as the Kings of football, widely considered the most stylish, attractive and best football team in the world.

The samba stars have produced a long line of brilliant individuals: Pele, Zico, Romario, Rivaldo, Ronaldinho, Ronaldo, the list goes on.

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• For the love of Kun, the Rojiblancos have been slapped with a fine of 150 euros (about the cost of a decent La Liga ticket these days). Anyway, RFEF meted out that small punishment after Atletico's fans were said to have thrown objects at Pellegrini from the stands during the Madrid derby on November 7.

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Join celebrated football pundit, author, radio show host and DJ Andy Brassell every Monday on the Soccerlens Show.

England's second-string lost to Brazil on Saturday in Doha, an event that was expected but led to the expected round of national team bashing by the English press.

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Yes, despite cara's hectic schedule with the selecao late last week, Brazil's Felipe Melo found the time to answer Futbolita's questions. En realidad, we spent the whole day running in the airport and walking in the rain last Friday before the all-important call from Felipe's agent came through!

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Nilmar again and an own goal.

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You had to feel sorry for those fringe England players pushing their claims for a World Cup squad place against Brazil. There were few chances to shine and they were outgunned individually and collectively.

Unsurprisingly England's under-strength line-up looked like a collection of players.

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After the Brazil v England game in Doha on Saturday night, Fabio Capello remarked, amongst other things, that Brazil were a better side than Spain and were more likely favourites for the crown in South Africa. In justifying this view, he said that Brazil were physically stronger, and that they defended better. Click to continue reading...

Over recent days it has been widely documented that Man United goalkeeper Ben Foster may have to leave Old Trafford in order to play for England in next year's World Cup.
England manager Fabio Capello has said that in order for players to go to the 2010 World Cup, they must be playing regular football for their club. Click to continue reading...

Kaka and Dani Alves welcome you to Day 4 of the Brazilian Bootcamp! And you really need to clap your hands at that photo. What on Earth were those two thinking?! They're putting all of us in the spirit of el clasico next week.

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There are a few international friendlies on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 including #1 ranked Brazil traveling to face Oman. The match will be covered live at our other site, Free Live Sports TV, at the following link. The match starts at 14:30 GMT or 09:30 USA EST.

Oman v Brazil LIVE International Friendly Tuesday, November 17, 2009 14:30 GMT, 09:30 EST

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According to Spanish daily MARCA, the bowls for the World Cup final draw have already been arranged. Now, the arrangements are pending approval by the FIFA Executive Committee, and MARCA tends to be wrong quite a bit, so take this with some grains of salt. Given all that, the composition of the bowls is the following: Seeds (Bowl 1): South Africa, Brazil, Spain, Italy, Germany, Argentina, England, France (if they beat Ireland) Bowl 2: the remaining UEFA teams Bowl 3: the CAF/CONMEBOL teams Bowl 4: the AFC/CONCACAF teams (Japan, North Korea, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, USA, Mexico, Honduras) The. Click to continue reading...

Earlier this summer, the football world was shocked by the tragic death of Espanyol captain Dani Jarque, dead of a heart attack at the age of 26 years.

And now, Antonio De Negris, a striker for Greek team Larissa, and a former Mexixcan international who was capped 16 times is dead at 31 years of age of a suspected heart attack.

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Poor Amauri... at the rate things are going for RobinHood's long lost cousin, he'll never find a national team to call his own! Before you blame it on Little John, it's all because Dopey and Lippi can't make up their minds.

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Easily the greatest penalty shootout celebration in history. (0.20) Fabio Capello is not such a hit in Spain. (La Liga Loca) The dam is breaking in Manchester. (EPL Talk) Raymond Domenech: not so smart. (The Spoiler) Amaral writes a nice, though curious, parting letter. (SoccerLens) Robin van Persie to get mystery placenta juice treatments. Click to continue reading...

According to Simone Bargellini at Sky Sports News, Palermo goalkeeper Rubinho has no desire of leaving despite being targeted by Fulham. Rubinho's agent Joao Santos told Mediagol.it,

"Rubinho has a four-year contract with Palermo and he is an important player at the club .

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Welcome to the World Cup party New Zealand, Nigeria and Cameroon!
Egypt scored a goal in the 5th minute of extra time against Algeria to keep its W.C. dream alive, it needed a 2-0 result. The rematch between the two teams is Wednesday in Sudan.
Here are the results of the UEFA playoff first legs: Russia 2-1 Slovenia, Ireland 0-1 France, Portugal 1-0 Bosnia, Ukraine 0-0 Greece. Click to continue reading...

Meet Darrinho Darren Bent ensures his return to international football was a success by switching his allegiance from England to Brazil. He may well bite his nails: OTP reckons the good people of Umbro won't be overly impressed by his choice of clothing.

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