Liverpool and Brazil midfielder Lucas Leiva has conceded that he would like to emulate his uncle Leivinha by making the final squad that will travel to the World Cup in South Africa next year.
Leivinha played in the 1974 World Cup for the Verde e Amarelo and earned a total of 21 caps, scoring seven goals in the process. Click to continue reading...

I just saw a news report on Goal.com saying that Mexican striker Antonio DeNigris has died on a heart attack yesterday. He was 31. He had played in Turkey and Greece in recent years (his last club was Larissa). Sixteen caps for the Mexican national team. More later. Wow. RIP. Click to continue reading...

In the famous words of Alan Partridge the French spend all their time chomping on onions going he hor, he hor, he hor! This of course, is not true, as a European footballing nation only the Italians and the Germans have a better record. Jealous? We sure are.

For those of you who were to young to remember, the French had a sensational side in the 80's winning the European Championship in 1984 and reaching the World Cup Semi's in 1982, before the Germans cheated their way to the final.

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The Real Madrid & Spanish International Goalkeeper IKER CASILLASreaches a milestone tomorrow when he lines-up to play the FriendlyInternational against Argentina: his 100th International Cap.(Iker Casillas debut year 2000)The 28 year old Spanish National Team Captain will only have aheadof him Real Madrid team-mate Raúl (102 Caps) & ex-GoalkeeperAndoni Zubizarreta (126 Caps), both of which with Click to continue reading...

Bixente Lizarazu. 97 Caps for France, one World Cup winners medal, one European Championships medal, one Champions League winners medal and six Bundesliga titles.
Did you know that he is also the current European jiu-jitsu champion in the under 76kg category for blue belts aged 35-40? Click to continue reading...

Sad news from Germany this evening: goalkeeper Robert Enke of Hannover 96 and Germany committed suicide by diving under a train in the town of Neustadt am Rübenberge near Hannover. He was 32 years old, had won eight caps for Germany and would have been a strong contender for one of the goalkeeping positions in the German squad for the finals: he leaves behind a wife and an adopted eight month old daughter.

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Hannover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke died on Wednesday after being hit by a train. The 32-yer-old Enke had eight caps for the German National Team and played with Benfica and Barcelona. He was a teammate of United States internationals Steve Cherundolo and Sal Zizzo. He was in goal for Hannover's 2-2 draw with Hamburg on Sunday. Click to continue reading...

Last week I posted what I believed to be Rafa Benitez's 10 biggest transfer blunders. This week, as promised, I take a look at the 10 best signings during the Boss's 5 years in charge. And there have been some absolute corkers!
When you think back to the squad Rafa inherited (Traore, Biscan, et al), it is clear that our squad is now superior in almost every way. Click to continue reading...

For the second straight season, the Columbus Crew's Chad Marshall was selected as the league's best defender. Marshall was named as the MLS 2009 Defender of the Year Thursday, joining Carlos Bocanegra and Robin Fraser as the award's only two-time winners.

2009 has been a tremendous success for Marshall, named in July as an All-Star, and earning five caps with the U.

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For the second straight season, the Columbus Crew's Chad Marshall was selected as the league's best defender. Marshall was named as the MLS 2009 Defender of the Year Thursday, joining Carlos Bocanegra and Robin Fraser as the award's only two-time winners.

2009 has been a tremendous success for Marshall, named in July as an All-Star, and earning five caps with the U.

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No wonder Sir Alex Ferguson admires him so much. Igor Akinfeev may have conceded three goals though none of them was his fault but he had pulled off a number of world-class saves which had frustrated Manchester United.

He is only 23, but he has been first choice 'keeper at CSKA Moscow for six years now, and was just 17 when he broke into the Russian side making him the youngest ever.

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Alejandro Bedoya caps off his first season of professional soccer when Orebro play host to Trelleborgs FF on Sunday at Behrn Arena. Click to continue reading...

Google the word "AD Alcorcon". Chances are the first thing you will notice is the glaring typo made by every football website across the globe. But there's no typo. Alcorcon did beat Real Madrid 4-0 on Tuesday night.
Madrid name team worth £125m, with 465 caps and 95 honours - and are humbled 4-0 by third division Alcorcon
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Tottenham Hotspur legend Martin Chivers will be a guest on an upcoming episode of the EPL Talk Podcast, the daily Premier League interview and analysis show.

Chivers made 367 appearances for Tottenham Hotspur between 1968 to 1976, scoring 174 goals. He also won 24 caps for England between 1971-73.

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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger is determined to see off all rivals for Belgian whizkid Eden Hazard.
The Mirror says Wenger is sending scouts to watch 18-year-old Hazard in virtually every that he plays for French club Lille.
Belgian international Hazard, who has already won six full caps, fits the Wenger mould perfectly as he is young, very skilful and is not yet an established star. Click to continue reading...

Here's a short video tribute to Charlie Davies who was seriously injured in a car crash this last week. Charlie is a player who seemed to be really coming on and finding himself in the game. Our thoughts are with Charlie Davies, and his family and friends

Charlie Davies, No.9 Age 23 National Team USA Current Club Sochaux Current League France Ligue 1 Last Club Hammarby Last League Sweden Allsvenskan College Boston College Total Club Goals 29 Total Caps 17 Total International Goals as a Senior 4
Social Bookmarking Click to continue reading...

It is Ange Postecoglou a football insider, contrasting to Frank Farina sitting outside the football paradise club.
I would be very surprised if many people in Brisbane know who he is. He has 4 Socceroo caps and won 2 NSL titles as a player and 2 as a coach.
Club Chairman Chris Bombolas more or less conceded in a heated interview with ABC Radio host Kelly Higgins-Divine that it was the 4 owners who voted as a block of the 7 board members to determine Frank Farina's fate. Click to continue reading...

Wenger target considers Serie A departure.

Watch Ukraine Vs England Live Online!

Udinese midfielder Gokhan Inler has hinted that he may leave the club next summer.
The 25-year-old defensive midfielder has made more than 50 appearances for the Serie A side since arriving from FC Zurich in summer 2007, helping the Zebrette reach the UEFA Cup quarter-finals last season.

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"I didn't mean to stamp on Carvalho, but I know what it looks like and I do wince when I see it."
Wayne Rooney is still adamant it was an accident.

"In terms of a game where everything just clicked, it has to be Barcelona away in the Champions League. Of all the goals I scored, I always preferred the ones that were brilliant team goals, and the interaction was at its peak.

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Ireland defender Sean St Ledger admits Saturday's World Cup qualifier against Italy is the biggest game of his career.
The central defender has started Ireland's last five games and is set to continue at Croke Park as Giovanni Trapattoni's men attempt to pip the Azzurri to top spot in Group Eight. Click to continue reading...

AAAAHHHHHHHH I AM ARTUR BORUC AND THIS IS A LIST OF THINGS THAT MADE ME ANGRY THIS WEEK:

1. LOSING THE OLD FIRM DERBY AHHHHHHHHH WE KEEP LOSING BIG MATCHES AND IT'S HORRIBLE!!!!!!!!!!!!! I TRIED YELLING AT MY TEAMMATES TO MAKE THEM STOP DOING THIS TO ME BUT THEIR EARS JUST START BLEEDING AND THEN THEY HAVE TO GO TO THE EMERGENCY ROOM AND THEY END UP PLAYING EVEN WORSE AFTER THAT WHICH MAKES ME YELL AT THEM AGAIN AND AHHHHHHHH IT'S A VICIOUS CYCLE THAT WILL NEVER STOP!

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Arsenal's Belgium defender Thomas Vermaelen has been given the captain's armband by new national coach Dick Advocaat, according to press reports here on Thursday. He takes over from Timmy Simons who is no longer in the national side. Vermaelen has 23 caps for Belgium and has made an excellent start to the . Click to continue reading...

Anytime you give a WAG the platform to say stuff, it's a dangerous proposition. They are a wily group emotionally unpredictable and heaven help you if Luis Vuitton is closed.

Perhaps this is why Julio Cesar's wife (and former girlfriend of Fat Ronaldo) Susana Werner decided to play the part of amateur contract negotiator and post the following on her blog:

"It's a week of great emotions.

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Argentina boss, Diego Maradona in his desperation has called up Martin Palermo into his Argentine squad for the crucial World Cup qualifier against Peru and Uruguay. The last time Palermo was called up was ten years ago, when he was 25. To say this is a waste of national caps may be too judgemental but I would have thought that there could be better alternatives to Palermo as replacement for the injured Diego Milito. Click to continue reading...

Sorry it took me so long to change the Cut...Let's begin with the week's finest from MLS.Nicklas Bendtner caps Arsenal's thrashing of Blackburn with a wicked drive.I'm sorry... how does Ronal-flippin-dinho get the space to do this 10 meters from goal when Atalanta are protecting a 1-0 lead in the late going? Click to continue reading...

October 3, 1976 - Tampa Bay Rowdies midfielder Dennis Wit made his USA debut in a scoreless draw against Mexico. The match was part of the failed USA campaign to qualify for the 1978 World Cup. Wit had joined the Rowdies earlier in the 1976 season in a trade from the San Diego Jaws.
Wit played just fourteen matches for Tampa Bay during his two season tenure (1976-77). Click to continue reading...

Those were my no-brainer picks for the three finalists, too, in the annual award given to the best national team player of the year.

Here's how Fútbol de Primera, which organizes the award, described the three finalists:

*Jozy Altidore (Hull City, on loan from Villarreal) - A first-time finalist at age 19.

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This weekend, Washington Capitals owners Ted Leonsis made a series of "pledges" to Caps fans on his personal blog. Here they are:
Quote:

• We will always operate the team as if it is a public trust. It is our job and responsibility to hold a mirror up to our community and be a reflection of the best of our fan base;
• We will always strive to be transparent and open and communicate often and honestly with our fan base;
• We will be interactive and high tech/high touch as an organization;
• We will always remain humble and hungry and sweat all of the details;
• We will be first class in all of our efforts.

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Saint Etienne started this season just like they ended the last one, with poor performances and they quickly found themselves in the relegation zone. Seeing that the team have taken the wrong path, the club management decided to act and brought a couple of very good players in the dying moments of the transfer window, but it was Argentine striker Gonzalo Bergessio who stole the spotlight in the last few weeks and he certainly looks like the man that can turn things around for Les Verts (The Greens).

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Ireland central midfielder Glenn Whelan has signed a new four-year contract with Stoke City.
The Dublin born player joined the Potters in January 2008 from Sheffield Wednesday for £500,000.
"I'm obviously delighted, once we got it all sorted, it was just a case of getting it signed and I'm really happy. Click to continue reading...

I'm calling out to U.S. fans who have DVDs of any US MNT matches to send them in for use in compiling U.S. MNT statistics.

After the U.S.'s loss in the Gold Cup final, U.S. Soccer 'upgraded' its site and removed all of its stats beyond goals, caps, minutes, and cards. Based on the early success of this site, U.

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Background: What is Mark Dodd doing on this list? Well, on June 4, 1998, Dodd played between the pipes for the Dallas Burn against the LA Galaxy. 90+ minutes later, Dodd had conceded a whopping eight (yes, eight) goals, a single game MLS record that has never been broken.

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Along with Daniel Pacheco and Krisztian Nemeth, Finnish teen Lauri Dalla Valle is one of Liverpool's most exciting prospects.
Liverpool have done pretty well so far when it comes to Finnish players - Sami Hyypia and Jari Litmanen were fantastic for the club, and if Dalla Valle displays even half of the quality and professionalism of those two, we'll have a very special player on our hands. Click to continue reading...

For this week's Compilation Friday we've got a lesson in recent history with France's all-time leader in caps, Lilian Thuram (142). In this video featuring his glory days with Juve, you'll see his mastery of the body check a move that can be just as devastating as a good slide tackle, but without the grass stains.

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Last time we beat anyone 5-1 in a World Cup qualifier, our opponents reached the final and we got knocked out by the team that beat them.

But at least we have the chance to stop that from happening again - and here are the caps and exclamation marks I promised earlier:

WE QUALIFIED EASILY WITH A 5-1 WIN OVER CROATIA!

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