It was a tedious morning of "Henry is a disgrace" and "Henry, Eduardo, we investigate the cheats in football." Then BBC Radio Five Live decided to get Republic of Ireland assistant manager Liam Brady on. Liam sounded as if he had not slept for a week.� But he spoke slowly and clearly, and utterly refused to be [. Click to continue reading...

Congratulations FIFA, they've got the World Cup they wanted now haven't they, and I hope their proud of how they got it. It was a ridiculous decision to seed the World Cup play-offs in the first place, and ultimately prevent the the hard-work in qualifying of teams like Ukraine, Bosnia and of course the Republic of Ireland.

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Finally, Chelsea found their "hand" and used it to great effect in their 1-0 win over Manchester United yesterday.� The match was a rough and tumble affair that featured very little in the way of scoring opportunities for either squad but did feature virtual girth of tension and upheaval at Stamford Bridge.

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It's a lovely fall day here at Fullback World Headquarters, so let's take a few moments to enjoy the crisp, cool air...the leaves going to gold and scarlet...the bright sun and billowing white clouds...and some American Footie news! Deuce's Bum... Click to continue reading...

If Wayne Rooney dived in the world cup final and was awarded a penalty that led directly to England winning the world, would he be targeted and denigrated by the press and fans the next day, just like Eduardo was after the Celtic game? Arsene Wenger doesn't think so, and I think he's right.
In a recent interview, Wenger said:
"England are in the World Cup and if Rooney does that [Dives] in the last minute of the game and England win the World Cup, do you really think Rooney will be slaughtered the next day? Click to continue reading...

This is a story about an honest, fair-minded, and well-meaning football club, and how they were pushed to the limit by a group of thugs, cheats, and bullies. It's an old story. It's a story that happens all over the world whenever a kid who's good at computers is forced to eat leaves by a kid who isn't good at computers; whenever a gleaming professional wrestling champion climbs into the center of the ring for a spontaneous awards ceremony only to be taken down by a folding chair from behind.

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A blatant attempt to con the referee If you think the Premier League is full of cheats and players setting out to con the referee, perhaps you should divert your attention to the Swedish League. Never mind players diving or playacting - some of the more conventional ways to cheat as far as a footballer is concerned [. Click to continue reading...

In what appears to be a fillip to divers everywhere, UEFA last night rescinded Eduardo's two match ban. The ban, retrospectilvey meted out for his theatrics against Celtic, was seen as an attempt to crack down on the cheats - this turn of events will only serve to encourage them... Or will it?

The strangest thing about this whole shambles is that UEFA say Arsenal have proved there was contact - how on earth have they done that?

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How do you help a teammate get over a totally ridiculous ban? By making him even more of a laughing stock of course!

PADDY KENNY has been tagged 'Benylin Bill' by his Sheffield United team-mates in a bid to buck him up after his drugs ban.
Keeper Kenny, 31 who bought cough medicine at a chemist to ease a chest infection has been suspended for nine months after ephedrine was found in his system.

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The press are having a field day. Arsene Wenger 'has' labelled Manchester United anti-football. Now I don't for a second agree with that and I certainly do not believe that Wenger is having a direct pop at United. His frustration is more than likely being aimed at the referee and I make him right.
United fouled Arsenal plenty of times in the match and that is something I expected to happen anyway. Click to continue reading...

A gnawing and suspicious paradox lies at the heart of African national team experiences in world competition: African teams tend to do much better at the youth level than they do at the senior level.� Take the fact, for example, that African teams have won 5 of the 12 FIFA U17 World Cups (with the 2009 version scheduled to be hosted by Nigeria in October and November), but not a single African team has ever made it as far as the semi-finals of a full World Cup.

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Something to read while you watch Jose Bosingwa learn not to hog the FA Cup celebrations... World Cup Qualifying LiveBlog on (USA WCB)* The 101 best goals of the season, according to (101GG) Cheats! (SoccerLens) Michael Owen will sue you if you say he's finished (WAAtP?) Interview with Jhon Kennedy Hurtado (Seattle Offside) Alan Shearer's £1 shop (The Spoiler) Players with more [. Click to continue reading...

Integrity, sportsmanship and pride. If there are three words that make up the foundation of the sporting world, these three would most certainly be at the top of the list. All sports are built on a drive to improve, the chance to compete against your peers, and the opportunity to build strong bonds with others.

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And so it is that we come to the last day of the season and find ourselves hosting the club that most embodies all that went wrong with Arsenal this year.

It was a fiery match with Stoke, who will finish the season as the dirtiest team in the league, accused by Arsene Wenger of kicking Arsenal off the pitch.

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No doubt when you saw this you were shocked.
I certainly was.
I simply couldn't believe someone could so blatantly cheat.
The condemnation has been universal.
But then I got to thinking.
There are little cheats going on all the time.
Some of it fairly low level. Click to continue reading...

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• All signs point to action! How will UEFA react to Dida's shameful behavior following the fan incident in the Milan v. Celtic Champions' League match? As we mentioned last week, he definitely shouldn't quit his day job to get into acting. Tomorrow is the day of reckoning. Will Dida be punished? If he is, will MLS even notice and decide to punish their own SAG-rejects (see: Ruiz, Carlos)?

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• Burch from distance!
• John Terry gets some not-so-instant, just-add-Clint karma, busting his cheekbone just a week after his arrogant attempt to snatch the red card and play referee himself. Add this to the Carling Cup final boot to the head and you've got to say, "is it the willingness to stick a head in bravely, or a vengeful universe getting its due?

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I mean - besides the obvious. We all know he's a bit of a flopador and in love with his own trickery. You can just picture hardasses like Mastroeni and C.J. Brown pulling the old Indy Jones bit and watching him flash all his Ronaldinho wannabee moves before kicking him in the nether regions and charging away with the ball.
But that's not the bit I've currently got between my teeth though. Click to continue reading...

Well, the Baby Nats proved against Poland that they could come back from a goal down, and they did it again against a feisty Uruguay squad. It wasn't quite the spectacular explosion of goals that the earlier triumph was, but it was certainly more dramatic and nail-biting.
Uruguay clearly came into this game ready to rough up the US attackers and did so without much opposition from the awful referee, who seemed to alternate between letting brutal play go with nary an admonishment, yet blew the whistle for seemingly innocuous bumps off of the ball - for both sides. Click to continue reading...