Please excuse the non-football post. I appreciate that in the modern world we can't move for charity requests. Whether it's those people on the pavement who won't take a fiver but will badger you to commit to a year of donations, or people like me asking for money, charity is everywhere.

So here goes: my sister's running the Loughborough 10k to raise money for Cancer Research UK.

Nemanja Vidić and wifey Ana are celebrating the birth of their third child another son! named Petar. Mum and son are said to be doing just fine whilst enjoying their stay in the newly refurbished maternity ward at Wythenshawe Hospital.

We don't know exactly when the new bubba was born or what his height, weight and footballing potential was at birth but as soon as we find out, we'll pass the news on to you all.

54 years ago in Munich, 8 of Manchester United's brightest stars were killed when the aircraft that was bringing them back home crashed. Along with them, 3 of the backroom staff, 8 journalists and 2 other passengers also perished bringing the total casualty count to 21. Nothing could have prepared the city of Manchester and indeed the whole footballing world for a tragedy of that scale.

Joe Paterno wasn't one of us. He was a football coach, and damn good one a that, but an outsider to the world of soccer. He may have won 409 games with Penn State and made himself one of the most storied characters in the history of collegiate football, but he definitely wouldn't have known Kyle Beckerman from David Beckham.

Having already confirmed to miss out the whole season due to a serious knee injury, Lucas Leiva decided to return back in England for his rehabilitation process, leaving Brazil where he previously received treatment.

Lucas revealed that his recovery process is right on schedule and getting back to Liverpool would be much better for him since he can stay close with his teammates and also fans, who have been very supportive during his tough times.

Match report Video -

It's interesting that even this morning the focus appears to be on a controversial substitution when the bigger issue is the fact we've just lost our third league game in a row, taking our total of defeats in the league this season to eight.

When Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain's number went up in the 74th minute many of the 60,000 at the stadium made it quite clear what they thought of the decision.

Thanks for your ongoing support during the whole of 2011. From Spanish Football Sports Blog have a great night & may you jump into 2012 with great spirits. Hope to have you continuing your support because 2012 promises to be a huge year in Football & Sports. Look after yourself & see you here again soon.

Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week seventeen of the Premier League. Note: Readers can follow Matt on Twitter @thehackreport Cheers 1. Russell Martin: Norwich's center back was all over the pitch against ...
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Like to wish all the Spanish Football Sports readers from around the World a Merry Christmas. Enjoy the festive season with your loved ones & friends. Hope you get your presents, & if not, at least lots of human warmth. Look after yourself as we have a packed 2012 coming up with Spanish Football news, Euro Championships & plenty of Sports action.

Images via tumblr. Cheers to Kat for the tip!

... Olalla Dominguez giving Justin Bieber some serious side-eye?

Yes, Kickettes, it flippin' well is. As most of you are probably aware, the Bieb-u-lator was at Stamford Bridge the other day for a kickabout with Frank Lampard and Olalla's hubby Fernando Torres.

Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week sixteen of the Premier League. Note: Readers can follow Matt @thehackreport Cheers 1. Michael Carrick: Perhaps his best match in a United uniform. 2. Radek Cerny: ...
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‘Oh, is there a match on darling?' It's sweet of Adriana to sound even vaguely excited on my behalf.

It's the first time today that I've thought about football. I've known for a while that I would be working late so I put it to one side, and anyway sitting next to Adriana for the afternoon's meeting is distraction enough.

Psst, you might have noticed we've scaled Pitch Invasion down to periodic lengthy essays and photo features. We're happier this way, without feeling we need to post every day and with more focus on crafting quality posts (hopefully!).

But we still find interesting stuff elsewhere every day.

Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week fifteen of the Premier League. Note: Readers can follow Matt @thehackreport Cheers 1. Nani: The Manchester United winger netted two goals and an assist in the ...
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Inter Milan overcame Fiorentina 2-0 thanks to goals by Giampaolo Pazzini and Yuto Nagatomo to move up to ninth in the Serie A. Inter Milan picked up a much needed win thanks to goals from Giampaolo Pazzini and Yuto Nagatomo to gave coach Claudio Ranieri some early festive cheers after a wretched few weeks.

I'm going to make this quick, because it's too late to garner much attention anyway.

Tomorrow we face Everton at the Emirates. I feel like I could just copy this preview from any game they've played over the past few seasons: They're a pretty good team, but they are struggling to score goals because they don't really have a good striker.

Presenting Landon Donovan and a random Chanel model, who could quite easily star alongside one another in a remake of the Disney movie where twins switch places, 'Freaky Friday.'

Only theirs would be called, 'Freaky, Fraternal-Twins-Separated-At-Birth-Holy-Cow-They-Look-So-Much-Alike-We-Can't-Get-Over-It Friday.

Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week fourteen of the Premier League. Note: Readers can follow Matt @thehackreport Cheers 1. Tim Krul: Yes, Krul let three goals in, but he made several critical ...
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Tears and cheers of Craig Bellamy: Liverpool striker sets up two in first game since Gary Speed's death

Kenny Dalglish paid tribute to Craig Bellamy after the striker fought back pre-match tears to help fire Liverpool to their first League Cup semi-final since 2005.

Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week thirteen of the Premier League. Note: Readers can follow Matt @thehackreport Cheers 1. Tim Krul: The Newcastle keeper's five saves helped the Toon Army take a ...
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Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week twelve of the Premier League. Note: Readers can follow Matt @thehackreport Cheers 1. Micah Richards: Richards continued his season long campaign to be called the best ...
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This is it folks! All the drama and tears and cheers have led us to the end of MLS playoffs. Most fans are left rueing squandered chances, bad decisions, and a lack of that intangible but often referenced "heart", but a few lucky fans get to experience the true excitement of their team in a MLS Cup. It's something you can only really feel when your team could win it all.

Nicklas Bendtner will start against Finland this evening @ the Blue Water Arena in Esbjerg, Denmark. Its the last International game for a while before the EURO 2012′ in the summer, so players will be eager to put on a show. N.B-52 has been in world-class form for Denmark, fresh from their Qualification for EURO 2012′, he's scored 4 goals in as many games, against the likes of Portugal & Sweden and a brace against Norway, also grabbing an assist from D.

Players don't make passes at girls with moustaches. Don't try to fool with us, Olivier Giroud. By the way, any chance of a small favour? Images via fff.fr.

Right. Stop what you're doing, take the necessary precautions regarding colleague/spousal/parental nosying and feast your eyes on this selection of French NT players in varying stages of fully-clothed hotness.

Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from gameweek eleven of the Premier League. Note: Readers can follow Matt @thehackreport Cheers 1. Jay Bothroyd: The QPR striker was pesky all day as he netted an ...
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Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week nine of the Premier League. Cheers David Silva: The Manchester City midfielder has been one of the best players in the league so for this season. Queens ...
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How long has it been since I've mentioned Sporting KC? What, 5 to 7 days? Better get busy then 'cause I'm slipping.
Here's a 'corporate cool' video from Cisco --the electronics people, not the esophagus-rotting swill favored by trashy, suburban teens-- on LIVESTRONG Sporting Park and Sporting KC's tawdry love affair with all things technologically advanced.

Sunderland got their first win of the season this afternoon, beating Bolton Wanderers at The Reebok Stadium. Two late goals was enough for the Mackems' with Sessegnon turning sharply in the box before firing hard and low and he then setup featured player Nicklas Bendtner on the left side, before N.

Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week eight of the Premier League. Cheers The International break is over: While there were some intriguing international matches, it's good to see clubs take the pitch ...
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Tiote and van der Vaart were convinced that, despite their differences, they could dance their troubles away.League wins at St James Park are as rare for Spurs as days where Harry Redknapp doesn't provide the press with a story-leading quote. If you remove the great Timothee Atouba's fantastic winner from the 1-0 steal back in 2004, our away record against Toon would look fairly terrible.

Both teams came out the tunnel to an amazing atmosphere in Copenhagen, Denmark. You could sure tell that the crowd was up for it. It was 'winner takes all' and Denmark deservedly took the plaudits and prize. The Dane's played 1/2 touch football all night, the Portuguese struggled to get near them in long periods of the game.

Members of the U.S. Soccer Supporters Club watch training from the sideline and wait to meet the players

More than 1,500 fans turned up at Red Bull Arena on Monday night to watch the USA's public training session. U.S. head coach Jurgen addressed the fans before the team conducted a 75-minute session, inspiring cheers and applause with some fine finishing in their shooting exercises.

So when I was dicking around with a project I'm working on involving writing sonnets, I started writing one to memorialize the importance of Starfire Sports Complex, with the knowledge that due to possible changes in the US Open Cup we may not be able to get as many home matches in next year's cup.

Denmark face Portugal on Tuesday evening with a win guaranteeing qualification to Euro 2012. Its a big task for the Dane's though, against a really strong Portugal side boasting some world class players in their ranks the likes of Ricardo Carvalho, Fabio Contentrao, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luiz Nani.

The Seattle Sounders won their third consecutive US Open Cup and were the first MLS team to do so. The Sounders defeated the Chicago Fire by a score of 2-0 but don't let the scoreline fool you, the game was competitive and entertaining. The Fire were looking to become on the third team in history of the tournament to win the competition five times, they failed in that endeavor but not without a valiant effort.

Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week seven of the Premier League. Cheers Norwich: The scoreboard doesn't reflect how well this newly promoted side played at Old Trafford. Jonas Gutierrez: He evaded three defenders ...
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In the build up to Denmark's vitally important qualifiers against Cyprus and Portugal, N.B-52 has joined a new club on loan in the Barclays Premiership Sunderland Afc, he's done well there thus far, getting his first goal on the weekend, and having 2 assists already in his name, one of them a fine assist cutting in from the left side before whipping in a telling cross for his Sunderland team-mate Elmohamody to head in, building up a telling partnership with Phillipe Sessegnon.

Sunderland went down 2-1 when they travelled to Carrow Rd, Norwich on Monday evening, where N.B-52 played the 90 mins. Sunderland are in action in the Barclays Premier League again tomorrow afternoon when they entertain West Bromwich Albion. It could be an interesting game with both sides playing positive football.

Here's a look back at the good, the bad, and the ugly from week six of the Premier League. Cheers Chelsea: The Blues have played much better the past few weeks alerting fans that it could be a three-team race ...
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Nicklas Bendtner has started the last 2 games for Sunderland a.f.c in the past fortnight and looks like he's getting back into the swing of things by playing his part in two of The Mackems goals last Sunday in a 4-0 win against the rugged Stoke City. Morten Olsen has selected him in his Denmark squad for more crucial qualifiers coming up next month.