Ireland's exit was the stuff of nightmares if, like me, you have green blood coursing through your
veins, or just cheer the underdog.Thierry Henry of all people...I've met him twice away from
football and he is unfailingly charming off-field as he is scintillating on. But cross the white
line when the stakes are as high as a place in the World Cup finals and private pleasantries
evaporate in the
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Robert Enke's untimely death touched us all.It's almost hard to credit given that he achieved the
sort of dreams millions of us fail to realize - representing your country, signing for Barcelona
and being in line to play at the World Cup, but his personal reasons for dying were valid for him.
Ultimately individuals make their own choices.
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When it comes to the Premier League, the arguments could go on all night. The debate could turn
ugly. The question even secretly burns in the mind of true believers.Which English top flight club
has the most cumulative cool in the way of celebrity supporters?The four of us went off to research
five clubs each, then came back with the data, made our individual tables and then averaged them
out.
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*Even ardent Italophobes sometimes have to doff their cap to La Dolce Vita. The Stadio Olimpico was
so sparsely attended for tonight's Roma v Fulham clash, that despite being a veggie, I thought
about eating Saltimbocca alla Romana in honour of the stayaway fans.When they consider a game
meaningless, Italian tifosi vote with their feet.
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Recognise these happy chaps, wallowing in the champagne lifestyle as they take a stretch limo to
Stamford Bridge to watch Chelsea play Liverpool earlier this month..?They're none other than Daryll
(r) and Daryan Warner, sons of CONCACAF Chief Jack.Daryan administered father Jack's elaborate
ticket-scalping operation at the last World Cup, for which the FIFA Vice-President was found guilty
of
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Real Madrid's 0-4 calamity at Alcorcan, a wee club from the suburbs of the same city, is my
highlight of the week. Oh to have been an ADA fan that night! Here's the awesome fortress of the
Santo Domingo (cap. 4,000) and the Real lineup that made history: Dudek; Arbeloa, Albiol,
Metzelder, Drenthe; Diarra, Guti (Gago 46'), Van der Vaart, Granero (Marcelo 63'); Raúl (Van
Nistelrooy 72'),
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No shock after all as Argentina made it to the Finals after downing Uruguay 1-0 in Montivideo
thanks to an 84th minute goal from Mario Balotti. Emotional scenes followed the final whistle as
Diego Maradona and old Carlos Bilardo hugged each other in ecstatic relief. The albiceleste's task
had been made easier by Chile eliminating Ecuador, ensuring at least a play-off spot, Uruguay's
consolation.
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*As Greg noted, Highbury is now open as an apartment block.Having lived only a long ball from
England's most historic stadium for most of the past decade, I've followed the metamorphosis
closely, and I made sure I got on one of the last stadium tours to see it all before it fell. I'd
been several times as a fan but I was amazed by the locker rooms, literally a museum piece like the
rest of the
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"Win every game!" was the advice Graham Taylor offered to his successor as England manager in 1994.
Well Fabio Capello has done that competitively thus far, raising expectations in the land of false
football optimism once more.In their fascinating new book 'Soccernomics'/'Why England Lose(UK)',
out in the States October 27th, Simon Kuper & Stefan Szymanksi argue that the Three Lions have
actually
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Leaving Colombia after a short vacation, I have noted the parallels with my ancestral Ireland -
very friendly folk with a very unlucky history, and I wonder how Colombians come together when
their country is in the World Cup, given so many of them were up for their recent qualifier.I had
never seen a country so behind its national team like Eire was for USA '94, where every man, woman
and priest
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A colorful week in Colombia's capital for me, spiced up by snacking on the Beautiful Game. Like a
medieval pilgrim seeking a shrine, the first thing I seek in a foreign capital is its stadium, and
like my ancestors, I come home with tales and tacky trinkets. My family heirlooms will include a
South Korea World Cup CD case, a Sparta Prague ashtray and an Atletico Madrid singing alarm clock
with
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London - Coming home late tonight I rubbed my eyes in semi-disbelief at the news from Upton Park.
Having worried swine flu would claim me after three colleagues had succumbed, I thought I was
hallucinating when I saw the English disease had broken out again in the year 16*.Last night the
BBC showed First Blood, in which Sly Stallone plays a veteran plagued by flashbacks.
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It's Thursday so it's UEFA Europa League time and the first of of two legs with a place in the
group stage for the winners:19:15 Rapid Vienna v Aston Villa (Friedel)19:30 Steaua Bucharest v St.
Patricks Athletic (Guy)20:30 Lech Poznan v Club Brugge (Jeffrey)21:00 Everton (Howard) v Sigma
Olomouc21:00 Fulham (Dempsey) v Amkar Perm21:00 Stabaek (Diskerud) v ValenciaIn addition, NAC
Breda, with ex
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*The English sack race bagged after just ONE game??? League One Norwich have fired their coach
Bryan Gunn after 90 minutes of the new league season, a 7-1 home hammering by Colchester. Here are
the Canaries in better days beating Bayern Munich at the Olimpiastadion in the 1993 UEFA Cup with
an all-British eleven.
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"The best thing about him is his personality, his character - which is brilliant...and he has the
ability to put a smile on your face. He was like a father to me." Ronaldo, speaking in 2003"He is
immortal because he leaves in everybody who knows him a mark of his personality. A great coach but,
more than that, a great person,"- Jose Mourinho, todayFunny things, obituaries -they bring out the
best
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Waiting for Grant Wahl's magnum opus, I have been devouring Outcasts United by Warren St. John.The
format is familiar - an embedded reporter follows a team for a season, inviting the reader into the
family with engaging off-field human stories.The club in question are The Fugees, a team of
asylum-seekers from warzones worldwide planted by the UN into a conservative Georgia town unused to
foreign
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* Steven Gerrard's acquittal for affray is hard to believe given the six other accused weren't so
lucky and he had confessed to throwing "two or three punches" and being "7/10" drunk according to
the police's scale, where ten is paralytic. I'm a big Gerrard fan but not here. During the trial,
Gerrard bamboozled the London media with a northern dialect word "mither" - meaning 'bother'.
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*("there's only one Goochy") Milan have released the first pictures of our man in the red and
black, yay! Thanks to www.acmilan.com ...Gooch debuted for the rossoneri at the start of the second
half of their 2-1 reverse to Club America in Atlanta tonight, in front of 53,600 fans.*US
Confederations Cup tormentor Luis Fabiano is probably not hooking up with Gooch at San Siro after
all*Spanish
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Oguchi Onyewu took part in his first AC Milan training session this morning in Atlanta and met the
press as a Milan player this evening at the Georgia Dome.Milan's website described him at the
presentation lovingly as "a colossus, but beneath that mountain of muscle lies a gentle soul, so
much so he calls himself emotional.
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"Becks faces baying mob" screamed the cover of one of London's free toilet tissues yesterday. It is
the silly season with not enough Swine Flu deaths, suicidal bankers or killer sharks in UK waters
to make a good lead story out of.Much ado about not much I want to say: The booing was nothing on
the scale of Mo Johnston's defection to Rangers 20 years ago, or an average EPL outing for
Cristiano
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AC Milan have reported Oguchi Onyewu took his first steps as a rossonero today:* He landed at
8.50am local time at Malpensa airport* He took an initial medical at 10.15am at 'The Birches'
clinic* After lunch, at 3.30pm he went for fitness assessments at Milanello, the club's training
ground* Tuesday training sessions are scheduled for 9.
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"They didn't respect each other, they didn't like each other, they didn't talk to each other and
they merely tolerated each other on the field" - Alexi Lalas on David Beckham's LA love-in with
Landon Donovan."David doesn't say too much, but if he does you know he means it and that it is well
aimed" -Donovan speaking to the New York Times, May 2008.
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Oguchi Onyewu signing for AC Milan is a great thing, isn't it? Never mind Alexi Lalas' stint at
makeweights Padova; Gooch is the first Yank at a Serie A giant and one of the world's elite. A
three-year deal expiring at the end of June 2012 is good news all round. I've seen a salary of
$1.1million a year reported but don't quote me on that.
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# Landon Donovan has slated David Beckham for his flexi-time at the Galaxy - I wish more players
would speak their mind like this; they are in the entertainment business after all.Comments are
extracts from Grant Wahl's 'The Beckham Experiment' -Excerpts here on SI. Read the full story to
understand where Cakes was coming from.
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The UEFA U21 Championship finished last night as Germany trounced pre-tournament favorite England
with a clinical 4-0 victory in Malmö, Sweden. England coach Stuart Pearce had packed an arsenal of
EPL hardware including Gabriel Agbonlahor, James Milner and Theo Walcott, and the Three Lions
looked all set to bag the trophy until an attritional semi-final with Sweden left them without
their two
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1 - No complaints about the result. Brazil were too hot to handle in the second half. They had a
decent goal disallowed and created several goalscoring chances, 59% of possession and 31 shots to
our nine. We did well to hold out for so long and get so close.2 - I've always been a Bob Bradley
supporter but he has surely earned the right to carry on through 2010, barring more Costa
Rica-esque
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Fulham fans won't forget the day a music legend came to the Cottage for the day.In April 1999,
Michael Jackson showed up at Craven Cottage unannounced as a guest of owner Mohamed Al-Fayed for a
League One clash against Wigan.Jacko walked around the field beneath a Fulham umbrella before
donning a Cottagers scarf to sit in the Riverside Stand and watch them win 2-0.
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London- Watching the Miracle of Bloemfontein from England was doubly delightful as the BBC were
forced to eat their words on the US for the first time since World Cup 2002.Korea was a flash in
the pan, as the 2006 edition and the US defeat to England at Wembley last year confirmed, you
see.3-0 and 4-0 to the Spanish, confidently predicted the punditry duo of former Arsenal and
England defenders
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'Coming up roses in Bloemfontein, it's death in the afternoon for Spain'I always love the way
nobody can agree on what they just watched together.The US played amazingly, or Spain played
dismally. This was bigger than beating Portugal and Mexico in 2002, or not as big as the World Cup,
where Spain will not make the same mistake.
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So in the end everyone has their price and in Man U's case it was $131m to send Cristiano Ronaldo
to the Bernabeu.Real Madrid don't take no for an answer and like a besotted lover, waited forever
outside the Glazers' door at Old Trafford despite an official complaint to FIFA, regular rebuffs
and ardent denials, Sir Alex Ferguson's "I wouldn't sell them a virus" being the most memorable of
them.
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Carlo Ancelotti has been Chelsea messiah for one day, but has already been crucified.England's
press have passed a guilty verdict on the new man at Stamford Bridge before he has set down a
single cone in a training session. Former Blues & Marseille striker Tony Cascarino even said he
would be "amazed" if Ancelotti lasted a full season.
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"When I think of the current generation, Lionel Messi is top-level. And although he has never taken
my breath away, Kaka has impressed. Zinedine Zidane was brilliant but without a doubt, Paolo
Maldini has been my favorite." - Alex FergusonAs most European leagues wind up, it is time to raise
a glass to Paolo Maldini, who finally hung up his AC Milan cleats today at the age of 40, after a
stunning
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UEFA Champions League Final: Barcelona v Manchester UnitedForget Dan Brown. The real intrigue in
Rome is across town from the Vatican, and I'm licking my UEFA lips.It's the Catalans v the Red
Devils for dinner with a large helping of pre-match relish. Never mind a scandalous Norwegian
robbed Chelsea of a chance of revenge for Moscow, just sit back and enjoy the football feast.
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A ton of tension but not an iota of incident -the dullest final day of the EPL I can remember only
goes to prove the league does not lie.Middlesbrough and Newcastle both ran out of steam long ago
and Man U's B-team's victory at Hull leaves them with no-one to blame but themselves, apart from
Mike Ashley, whom Toon fans also hold responsible for Darfur, the global recession and the weather.
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On the concluding day of the English regular season, Americans should be involved in two of the
three games to decide relegation from the Premier League, one to decide European qualification, and
the League One play-off final.Clint Dempsey's Fulham are gunning for Europa League qualification. A
win at home to Tim Howard's Everton will be enough to send the West Londoners into Europe for only
the
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