It takes a real man to stand up in the face of pressure and for Rafael van der Vaart, the lucky stars were on his side last night! Tipo scored Madrid's decisive (and winning goal) against Sevilla in the 90th minute. He received a yellow card moments later for removing his shirt but the way he celebrated his goal speaks volumes about his desire to contribute to the Madridistas!

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Last night's friendly taught us much about the England team as the build-up to the World Cup began, but none more so than that Michael Carrick is the key to exploiting the limited strengths of our national team in South Africa as compared to the likes of favourites Brazil and Spain.

Firstly, significantly, England's intensity did not drop in the second half, as it has done in non-competitive matches for years now.

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This weekly feature is here to teach about the true greats of The Beautiful Game and how they are interconnected through generations of stories, feats, and tall tales.
These are the players that have made the game what it is today.
These are... World Cup Legends
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If Beckenbauer brought the position of the libero to the forefront of the world game, Gaetano Scirea was the one that made the position exclusively Italian per excellence. Click to continue reading...

Una anécdota que está dando que hablar en el país europeo. Tras el clásico de la serie A italiana del Internazionale contra el Milán AC, Materazzi celebró la victoria de su equipo en el derby italiano (2-0) poniéndose una mascara del primer ministro de Italia, Silvio Berlusconi.

Al finalizar el encuentro, jugadores como Maicon corrieron a abrazar a Materazzi, que sorprendió a todos con la careta del 'cavaliere'.

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In the last instalment of these ruminations on Jonathan Wilson's excellent book: the question of perhaps the most important tactical innovation of all, namely the sweeper.
Wilson's coverage of the topic is extensive, beginning with the birth of the idea in Switzerland in the 1930s, when Karl Rappan introduced his verrou system. Click to continue reading...

Jonathan Wilson, who writes a detailed and thought-provoking blog on the Guardian website, has written perhaps the most talked-about football book of the last few years in Inverting the Pyramid, and your tragic correspondent has finally gotten around to reading it.
There is no debating the book's importance. Click to continue reading...

Aplicamos la Ligavista al Senyor Romero, el karmero mayor, responsable del genial blog Futbolistas con karma, dónde se repasa a aquellos futbolistas que no pasaron inadvertidos dónde jugaron debido a sus fracasos, mal juego, extravagancias, etc, lo que se resume en "karma". Click to continue reading...

The most interesting match of tomorrows round of the Champions League has to be the clash between Juventus Torino and Bayern Munchen. Why is it so important? First of all these two teams have great history in the competition, Juve have won the competition 2 times, 1985 and 1996, and Bayern won it no less than 4 times: 1974, 1975, 1976 and 2001. Click to continue reading...

North Korea's inclusion in the Group of Death in South Africa is excellent news for those of us supporting the DPRK at the Finals. Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast are all advocates and practitioners of the era's attacking football philosophy. Watch them come unstuck.

In 1966, in North Korea's last appearance at the Finals, the prevailing world soccer philosophy was defensive.

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italia en Sudáfrica 2010 Calendario x Fecha y hora lugar contra Primer juego Segundo juego Tercer juego Las últimas tres participaciones de italia en mundiales Mundial Posición final Avanzo hasta Eliminado por Compartió fase de grupos con: Francia 1998 5 Cuartos de final Francia Chile, Austria, Camerún Corea Japón 2002 12 Octavos de final corea México, Croacia, ecuador Alemania 2006 1 final Ghana, república checa, usa Su mejor participación fue en:

varias, tiene cuatro campeonatos

Se le recuerda especialmente por:

el Catenaccio, el arte de defender

Jugadores sobresalientes Nombre posición Club Gianluigi Buffon portero Juventus Fabio Cannavaro defensa Juventus Andrea Pirlo medio Milán Mauro Camoranesi medio Juventus Alberto Gilardino delantero Fiorentina

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© hefebreo for Fútbol México, 2009.

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Internazionale boss Jose Mourinho is already plotting his exit from Giuseppe Meazza, after less than two years in the Nerazzurri hotseat.Â

The Portuguese boss is just halfway through his contract with Inter but he is already talking up his plans to return to the Premier League.Â

When boss at Premier League club Chelsea Mourinho won back to back league titles as well as the FA Cup and League Cup essentially every prize available to an English coach domestically.

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En primer lugar, pido disculpas por la tardanza. El mercado laboral es un sucio candado a mis aspiraciones como blogger, y los horarios ciernen sobre mi persona un cruel catenaccio del que es muy difícil librarse.
Entrando en materia, hay pocas cosas que decir. Mala, muy mala de hecho, jornada de Champions para los equipos españoles. Click to continue reading...

It has been 16 months since the „Special One" took over Inter's bench and now we are free to say that he made no impact. There hasn't been any progress and it is time for Massimo Moratti to ask himself what was wrong with Roberto Mancini.

The fact that Inter defended the title cannot be considered success and most of Italian football fans will agree with me on this.

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Brazil. To anyone who follows world soccer, it's not news that Brazil doesn't samba across the pitch any longer, and hasn't for a long time. These days they look like a talented team, but not one with a style that sets them significantly apart from other talented teams. But while joga bonito may have seen better days in Brazil, this is also not the leadfooted defensive-minded Brazil that shocked many of us in the 2007 Copa América. Click to continue reading...