Photo by Howard C. Smith/ISIphotos.com

The United States-France friendly is sure to capture the attention of American soccer viewers, but it's a big day around the soccer world as a whole, with 2012 European championship playoffs, World Cup qualifiers and other friendlies taking center stage.

Swansea City AFC will return to the top flight of soccer in England, the Premier League, for the first time since 1983 after triumphing in the English Football League Championship playoffs. As the Swans prepare for their August 13th season opener against Manchester City, the Swansea City adidas 2011/12 away kit was presented to some 2,000 [.

Though failing to earn promotion to the English Premier League via the English Football League Championship playoffs for the last two years, Cardiff City FC remains a force in England's second tier of soccer. With an eye another promotion run next season, Cardiff City has unveiled its PUMA 2011/12 away kit.

Swansea City AFC will return to the top flight of soccer in England, the Premier League, for the first time since 1983 after triumphing in the English Football League Championship playoffs. As the Swans prepare for their August 13th season opener against Manchester City, the Swansea City adidas 2011/12 home kit has been launched.

Though failing to earn promotion to the English Premier League via the English Football League Championship playoffs for the last two years, Cardiff City FC remains a force in England's second tier of soccer. With an eye on next season, Cardiff City hired former Scotland international and Watford FC boss Malky Mackay as manager on Friday [.

With the conclusion of the Championship playoffs at Wembley on Monday, we now know the three teams promoted to the Premier League for the 2011-12 season. It's a return for Queens Park Rangers and Norwich City, which were both involved in the first three seasons of the re-branded Premier League in the 1990s, while Swansea will get its first taste at the Liberty Stadium.

If off-season alterations surrounding the 2011 Premier Development League campaign for Baton Rouge were not apparent before, this weekend saw both the squad and its supporters face them properly. After two seasons in the Southeast Division of the Southern Conference, the club has been returned to the Mid-South from which it began in 2007, playing principally Texas-based sides as opposed to the Southeast's cadre of Florida teams.

It is back to the drawing board for Cardiff City following their second successive failure in the Championship playoffs.

The Bluebirds' 3-0 aggregate defeat to Reading in last week's semi-final was a bitter pill to swallow for the supporters, particularly with their side still well in with a shout of automatic promotion just days before the season finale.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

England's League Championship playoffs have been called the most lucrative games in global soccer and with the millions of pounds in Premier League funds going to the winner, it's difficult to argue with that sentiment.

The teams that finished the 46-match regular season third through sixth in the league table square-off over two legs before the winners meet at Old Trafford in a one-off final.

Fox Soccer Plus has the first-leg of the Championship playoffs between Nottingham Forest and Swansea City at 2:30pm. Telemundo has Chivas – UNAM Pumas at 8pm. All Times Eastern

In the third round of the Israeli Championship playoffs, Leo Kurpnik and Maccabi Netanya hope to push their unbeaten run to 16 while Bryan Gerzicich and Kiryat Shmona look to keep their Europa League hopes alive.

Leo Krupnik and Maccabi Netanya played to a hard fought 3-3 draw at home against Bryan Gerzicich and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona in the second round of the Israeli Championship playoffs.

Leo Krupnik and Maccabi Netanya will host Bryan Gerzicich and Hapoel Kiryat Shmona in the second round of the Israeli Championship playoffs as both teams look to make a push for the Europa League.

The Israeli Championship playoffs opened on Saturday with Leo Krupnik and Maccabi Netanya pulling the stunning upset over Maccabi Haifa while Bryan Gerzicich and Kiryat Shmona fell to Maccabi Tel Aviv.

The Israeli Championship Playoffs begin on Saturday with Bryan Gerzicich and Kiryat Shmona taking on Maccabi Tel Aviv while Leo Krupnik and Maccabi Netanya face a powerful Maccabi Haifa team.