Lucas Piazon at São Paulo's youth sides training centre in Cotia

The interview with Lucas Piazon took place in São Paulo on May 28th the day of the Champions League final between Manchester United and Barcelona and just 48 hours before he was due to join Brazil's U-17s at their training centre in Granja Comary.

Another one of those viral sensations has hit the net after a bizarre handball incident in the FIFA Women's World Cup currently being held in Germany.

Australia were playing Equatorial Guinea today in their Group D game at the Ruhrstadion in Bochum when, in the 16th minute, defender Bruna quite clearly handled the ball and kept it in her hands before throwing it away in full view of the referee who left the incident unpunished.

From arrogant Swedes to bratty Brazilians, there are many players who will have a big spotlight on them in the upcoming season. While some of these players are about to make the biggest move of their career, others will need to solidify their position they hold at their current club. For some, this season could be the last one which they're considered worth looking at.

So, the Brazilians, the devine canaries, were supposed to take revenge.

Supposed to come at us like a tempest. To wipe out the humiliation of last year's World Cup defeat. At home, this time. New coach. All guns present. New Pele Neymar was there. Former new Pele Robinho too. And some [read more]

Since departing Anfield at the end of the January transfer window, Fernando Torres has been talking more about Liverpool Football Club than some of the current players seem to. Torres has spoken of turmoil at the club, his desire to win trophies and play in the Champions League.
Fair enough, this is a player that scored the winning goal for Spain at Euro 2008 and was part of the World Cup winning squad in South Africa.

English homophobia: uniting Brazilians and Finns Finnish football descended into a bout of televised homophobia this week. The match between KuPS and HJK featured HJK's Brazilian star Rafinha testing his language skills on opponent Pexi Oravainen. He was caught on camera unleashing a torrent of homophobic abuse towards the KuPS.

So the selecao promptly arrived at the Castro Park Hotel last night where they'll be bunking till this Saturday before flying off to Sao Paulo. They didn't do much except have dinner and possibly fight over the right to camwhore on David Luiz's PhotoBooth.

NFA U15 4-3 NEWCASTLE UNITED
Epic finish till the end of the 23rd Canon Lion City Cup opener that saw the match drawn by yours truly had the NFA U15 came from the jaws of defeat to see them beat the replacement side Newcastle United 4-3.
The epic finishing by Faridzuan Faud rocked the JBSBut the Baby Cubs got to watch their backline that was caught flat to allow baby Magpies to score in the first place.

Extended highlights of the USA/Brazil match, along with individual highlights of the big plays and all the penalty kicks, can be found here. And are totally awesome.

This was a moment.

All the stories about this moment that make it about something big: Women's soccer, American pride, personal glory or redemption, desire, belief, composure.

Spot-kick nightmare Brazil were knocked out of the Copa America by Paraguay last night after perhaps the worst set of penalties ever to be taken by an international team in a shootout. Despite Paraguay not having a shot on target during the match, they kept the Brazilians at bay and forced the match to spot-kicks.

Almost 50 years later, Penarol will get its chance at revenge.

The Uruguayan club received a crucial away goal from Matias Mier Thursday night that proved to be the difference in its Copa Libertadores semifinal matchup with Argentina's Velez Sarsfield. Velez' Santiago Silva missed a 76th-minute penalty that would've put his team through, as Penarol advanced, 2-2 on aggregate, to become the first Uruguayan side to advance to the final of the tournament since 1988.

Ok I set the alarm and got up for the Matildas game - I'm still on a high from their last World Cup and with Tom Sermanni changing the whole team - why wouldn't I get up.
I thought we might beat Brazil - more later.
I fell asleep after the game only to wake to see Dylan Tombides getting sent-off for kicking an opponent - just when Jan's boys seemed to have some pressure on the ballas well - and then Teeboy gets sent-off - that's what you get when you take a 15 year old to a World Cup - great experience for him - but he can't go to the next one due to FIFA regulations not his age he's only 15 - so his 30 minutes here he'd better remember.

Two goals from Marta helped Brazil beat Norway and move the Brazilians into the quarter-finals of the Women's World Cup.

Norway now face Australia in the final group match with the winner joining Brazil in the last eight. The South Americans need just a point from their final outing against Equatorial Guinea to guarantee top spot.

If you read this blog regularly then you know I'm a big proponent of statistical analysis. You also know that I think it's just one component of a bigger picture. Watching the USA-Brazil Women's World Cup quarter final on Sunday wasn't about the numbers. I don't think many models would have been able to predict how the game unfolded and what the outcome would be.

Paraguay shocked Brazil in a penalty shootout to advance to the Copa America semifinals today. In 24 hours both Argentina and Brazil have been knocked out of the Copa America on penalties.

Amazingly, Paraguay is yet to win a game in the tournament, but it will face either Chile or Venezuela, for the right to reach the Copa America Final.

Bem-vindo a Selecao Bootcamp, a Fútbolita tradition! And yes, the Brazilians have been very flashy as of late especially with Dani Alves channeling his inner Usher above as he arrived from Barcelona with Thiago Silva (they usually put players from the same area onto the same flight to South America, Real Madrid's Marcelo included).

Photo by Bill Barrett/ISIphoto.com

The Tim Ream buzz in England continues to spread throughout the Premier League.

After reports surfaced that Arsenal had a summer bid for the New York Red Bulls centerback rejected and was scouting Ream during the MLS playoffs comes word that West Brom has invited Ream for a trial and is reportedly into offering a loan to the 24-year-old defender.

With a new year upon us, the January transfer window will be opening up soon. While normally we don't see super-stars switch allegiances in this period, but 2011 could be different. The names of Klose, Toni, Gilardino, and Kaka have been circulating, but can we really expect these players to move in January?

Just seconds into the first of the 4 v 4 games during today's training, Tobin Heath pulled off a move that really only Tobin (and your top Brazilians) can do. Squared up on Heather O'Reilly, she put her foot on the ball, pulled it behind her leg and in one motion, swept it through the legs of O'Reilly, illiciting whoops and hollers from her teammates.

Roger Espinoza earned his 16th cap of his international career over the weekend playing for Honduras in Houston against El Salvador. Espinoza came on as a substitute in the 54th minute. At that point Honduras had a 2-0 lead over El Salvador, but two goals in the span of 3 minutes saw El Salvador tie the game at 2-2.

The 2011 Copa Libertadores final will see two of South America's pioneering club sides take the competition back to its halcyon days of the 1960s. Uruguayan giants Peñarol are one of the grand old clubs of the continent having won South American football's greatest club competition on five occasions, just two behind record champions Independiente.

By Gordon Fleetwood

The date was September 30, 1962, and the place was a stadium in the Belgrano district of Buenos Aires. There, two heavyweights were getting ready to end their momentous fight. The victor would walk away as king of South American club football. On one side stood the incumbent, Peñarol, led by their star forward, the great Alberto Spencer.

By NESTOR F. SEBASTIAN

Two of South America's most storied clubs -- Brazil's Santos and Uruguay's Penarol -- face off in the return leg of the Copa Libertadores final tonight (8:30 p.m., Fox Sports en Espanol) after a goalless match last week at the famed Centenario stadium in Montevideo, Uruguay.

JUVENTUS FC 0-4 NFA U15
The juniors from the Italian "Grand Ol' Lady" - Juventus were simply outclassed by the NFA U15 in the 3rd/4th placing match of the 23rd Canon Lion City Cup.
NFA U15's skipper Adam Swandi's somersault celebration wowed the JBS crowd.Back the partisan crowds at the Jalan Besar Stadium, the Baby Cubs (as I nicknamed them as) wowed their fans with a much calm and composed display as compared to their opener against Newcastle United.

South America's premier international football tournament, known to all and sundry as the Copa América, will take place in Argentina from July 1st. For the home nation it is imperative that they reclaim an international trophy as their success starved supporters haven't experienced any silverware since the 1993 tournament.

World Cup summer: The USWNT trains in cool and rainy Wolfsburg Tuesday ahead of Wednesday's game against Sweden (AP Photos).

Ahead of Wednesday's third and final World Cup group game against Sweden (live at 11:45 a.m. on ESPN) - with the top spot in the group and the likely added incentive of avoiding Marta and the Brazilians at stake - AP Sports Writer Nancy Armour dissects the USWNT journey under Coach Pia Sundhage:

WOLFSBURG, Germany (AP) -- Pia Sundhage came into the first meeting with her new team, pulled out her guitar and began playing the Bob Dylan classic, "The Times They Are A-Changin'.

Sure, Copa América has Messi, Forlán, and Neymar. Yes, it will be a very interesting test for Mano Menezes. Yeah, it's nice to see the young Brazilian and Argie talent that's been shining in leagues around the world. And I'll grant you that, despite lackluster performances from Brazil in its first game and Argentina in its first two, there are good reasons to expect both to put on an offensive show in this Copa America.

Hat trick hero Sawa, will be leading Japan against host nation Germany in the second quarter final

Well we've come to the knock out stages of the Women's World Cup. 8 Teams left and 8 teams are either on their way home or drowning their sorrows in a Bavarian Beer Hall, getting ready to watch this weekend's exciting matches.

Empty lake, empty streets,
the sun goes down alone.
I'm driving by your house
though I know you're not home...
-Don Henley, Boys of Summer

Tomorrow the USA plays Brazil in the Women's World Cup quarterfinals as a bit of an underdog. The 2007 defeat at the hands of the Brazilians looms large over the loss to Sweden in the final group game a few days ago.

Bolivia became the first nation to be eliminated from the 2011 Copa America, going down 0-2 to Colombia in Santa Fe.
It was Chelsea target Falcao who scored both goals for Los Cafeteros, the first having sprung the Bolivian offside trap high up the field in the 14th minute, and the second a penalty just short of the half hour.

Wow, just when I thought that a good team couldn't find a way to miss 3 pks (granted 2 were okay and saved), along comes Brazil and they find a way to shank 4. In their defense, one did look like the pitch under the ball was torn up and the ball floated after he planted his foot, but regardless. Brazil is out of Copa in the quarters to Paraguay.

Shambolic, catastrophic, embarrassing, shocking, unprecedented, entertaining, humorous all accurate descriptions of Brazil's role in the penalty shootout with Paraguay last night. In becoming the first team in history to miss every spot kick in a Copa America shootout, Brazil exited unceremoniously from a tournament in which they never looked the threatening force everyone expected.

Editor's Note: We continue a great new feature on the Free Beer Movement site. In collaboration with the quality soccer site, "The Other 87 Minutes" we present the "Tuesday XI" (and sometimes the "Tuesday Ten") a thoughtful list on a variety of topics in the world of soccer.
Make sure you head over to "The Other 87 Minutes" and check out all the.

And they say no-one learns anything from friendlies? We learned that Raul Meireles is significantly hotter than we first thought during his side's game vs. Luxembourg. So there! Image: AP Photo/Daylife

With England's game vs. Holland cancelled, we gave our UK office the night off. Apologies to anyone who may have encountered them in their local bar last night.

It's here at last, sort off, some games may be re-scheduled, due to the terrible rioting the country has seen over the past week, but hopefully things will run smoothly over the coming weeks. Back to the footy, there have been untold comings and goings in pre-season on and off the football field.

By DAVID MOSSE

No country has been more irritated by the emergence of Spain in recent years than Brazil, which always took for granted being the main attraction at every tournament and the great purveyor of The Beautiful Game. A quarterfinal clash at the FIFA Under-20 World Cup might not seem like much, but Brazilians hope Sunday's triumph over Spain in penalty kicks was a small step towards putting their universe back in order.

By DAVID MOSSE

If Brazil intends to avoid the drama of another penalty shootout on Saturday when it takes on Portugal in the final of the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, Ney Franco's side must become the first team to find the back of the net against Portugal, whose remarkable shutout streak in this tournament reached 570 minutes following Wednesday's 2-0 semifinal victory over France.

The 2011 Recopa Sudamericana (South American Super Cup) was won by Brazilian side Internacional on Wednesday night. The 2010 Copa Libertadores champions were 2-1 down from the first leg to 2010 Copa Sudamericana winners Independiente before they turned it around in the return fixture with a 3-1 win.

Quite interesting comparisons being made ahead of Man United's match against Benfica tonight in the Champions League with Benfica coach Jorge Jesus claiming that Wayne Rooney is more Brazilian or Argentinian than English.

An interesting point, Rooney perhaps does play with the ability that often comes with Brazilians and Argentinians; he's not dissimilar from the likes of Carlos Tevez in the way he's stocky, powerful and a great goalscorer.

Kashiwa Reysol's FIFA Club World Cup dream ended today at the hands of South American champions Santos FC. Neymar was amongst the goals for the Brazilians as they claimed a 3-1 win against the J-League champions whilst earlier in the day North and Central American champions Monterrey CF won the 5th/6th place play-off, getting the better of African champions Espérance Tunis by the odd goal in five.