Nike is a relative newcomer to the boot game. What Nike has lacked in substance they've usually made up in style. Their autumn ad campaign channels Irvine Welsh's finest prose by asking us to choose; choose control, choose speed, choose accuracy, choose touch or choose 5-a-side. I chose control, specifically Nike's CTR360 Trequartista AG.

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There's all kinds of MLS and soccer lovin' going around this morning in our fine land. Devin Barclay, now a rock star on Ohio State's campus, played parts of five seasons in MLS from 2001-2005. He suited up for Tampa Bay, San Jose, D.C. United and the Columbus Crew before hanging up the cleats and--eventually--picking up some other cleats. Click to continue reading...

MARKHAM - He is creative not only on the pitch, but in his costumes as well.
That's right fans, Pistolas FC Captain Charles Eppich, pulled off another fantastic costume this year, replicating the short and stubby former Argentina great Diego Maradonna.
He went all out too, finding a pair of old cleats that he drilled two holes large enough to slip them on up to his knees, to capture the stature of Argentina's latest coach. Click to continue reading...

TORONTO - Pistolas FC player Romerinho is set to debut his new 2010 cleats during the Toronto-Mississauga Cup next Saturday, October 24th, 2009.
Thanks to our friends at http://www.soccerpro.com/, Romerinho has snagged a snazzy pair of Addidas F30 FG TRX's, which he will sport during all games of the tourney. Click to continue reading...

Huge props to the Seattle Soccer Examiner guru David Falk for this incredible story find.
Apparently the official Columbus Crew blog has discovered the conspiracy behind Guillermo Barros Schelotto's penalty miss against Seattle last Saturday.

After referee Ricardo Salazar whistled Jhon Kennedy Hurtado for bodyblocking Eddie Gaven in the box, Hurtado and James Riley undertook a lengthy appeal.

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It has been a slow and depressing past couple of weeks with the United States U20 team falling out of the World Cup so early. To raise spirits, and bring back some of the creative flair this site has shown, I composed a poem for you guys about American soccer. I am predominately a fiction writer, but I hope you guys enjoy this little change up.

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Lies and slander this morning from Steve Sirk, who has ungratefully forgotten who delivered him from the championship-free existence of a Clevelander, and who claims, in Guillermo Barros Schelotto's words, we "broke the floor" before his penalty attempt Saturday night:

After referee Ricardo Salazar whistled Jhon Kennedy Hurtado for bodyblocking Eddie Gaven in the box, Hurtado and James Riley undertook a lengthy appeal.

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It's getting close to just saying "let's prepare for 2010". After today's result down in Houston, the Wizards playoff hopes get even more faint. Up a man for over 70 minutes, the Wizards had to fight back from a goal down to salvage a draw against the Houston Dynamo this afternoon.
KC came out and tried to push the game from the start getting into Houston's end multiple times early on. Click to continue reading...

A lot of people, particularly Chicago Fire fans, are asking what exactly referee Mark Geiger saw when he awarded the penalty that lead to the Columbus Crew tying the game and leaving Chicago with a sort-of-deserved point. At full speed, the replay looks very much like Steven Lenhart kung-fu kicking Wilman Conde. Click to continue reading...

"You ask 100 people, 99 will say it's very bad and the hundredth will be Mark Hughes."

 Arsene Wenger upon video review of Emmanuel Adebayor's tackle whereby he dragged his cleats on Robin van Persie's face.

Arsenal lost to Manchester City 4-2 in their 12 September 2009 match.

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In the US Open Cup final earlier this week, I (and plenty of other soccer fans) witnessed one of the dirtiest plays in soccer since the last World Cup. Although this play was not as legendary as the infamous Zidane headbutt or even the classic Wayne Rooney stomp of Christiano Ronaldo's family jewels, it was still shocking to see.

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After following the Twitter comments of Houston Dynamo supporters on Wednesday night and reading the various reactions of bloggers on Thursday, I was finally able to actually see the match that has stirred up so much controversy.
Houston's CONCACAF Champions League group stage match in Panama against Arabe Unido was at best a bad anomaly and at worst a shambolic example of what a complete joke CONCACAF is. Click to continue reading...

How would someone characterize US Soccer's Summer of 2009? The extreme optimist would say that the US made a non-CONCACAF tournament major final for the 1st time by ending Spain's world record streak, then with a "B" side made it to the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.

The extreme pessimist would say that the United States squad blew a massive opportunity to establish themselves as a major world footballing nation with their collapse in the 2nd half Confederations Cup final.

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How would someone characterize US Soccer's Summer of 2009? The extreme optimist would say that the US made a non-CONCACAF tournament major final for the 1st time by ending Spain's world record streak, then with a "B" side made it to the final of the CONCACAF Gold Cup.
The extreme pessimist would say that the United States squad blew a massive opportunity to establish themselves as a major world footballing nation with their collapse in the 2nd half Confederations Cup final. Click to continue reading...

An early red card for Boston and another coaching change in New Jersey brought a colorful beginning to Week 18 in Women's Pro Soccer. Â These two random incidents caused a bit of commotion heading into these final weeks of the regular season, but the red card was by far more controversial.

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An early red card for Boston and another coaching change in New Jersey brought a colorful beginning to Week 18 in Women's Pro Soccer. Â These two random incidents caused a bit of commotion heading into these final weeks of the regular season, but the red card was by far more controversial.

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Alex Scott was red carded in the 5th minute and the Breakers played heroically for 88 minutes ... but fell to the Freedom 1-0 ... and fell in the standings to 4th place. With two games remaining, this is getting WAY too interesting for my taste.

Wambach scored the winning goal for the home team .

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As part of our series called "10 v 11" interviews with MLS players, MLS Rumors was fortunate enough today to talk with MLS All Star and Houston Dynamo midfielder Stuart Holden regarding his brand new customized boots, thanks to Adidas,.
Here is what he had to say:
MLSR: Stuart as a player, how was it to work with Adidas knowing they have worked with players like Zidane and Messi? Click to continue reading...

The 4th Law of Soccer deals with equipment. I will spare you the "naughty" jokes from the discussion of rules related to "balls" earlier, but I will mention that the 4th Law is more important than it sounds. In fact, it sets out some interesting rules many folks have never heard anything about.

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A great article in the New York Times this weekend got me thinking. Well, that's not true, but it did get me thinking about this topic again (probably for the 400th time).
Why is soccer in the US a sport of the upper class?
The US is the only country that suffers from this. Elsewhere, the game is truly the people's game. Click to continue reading...

MARKHAM - It seems sombody's been watching the Confederations Cup Tournament a little closely; and his name is Steve Ward.
Longtime Pistola Steve Ward had a breakthrough season in the goals department last year, only moments after buying a new set of cleats (ironically, those goals came on headers). Click to continue reading...

Since we already have a winner of Chris Rolfe's autographed cleats and I didn't expect it to go that fast I am going to do a last chance round of prizes for my Online Soccer Academy players.

This will be a continuation of the contest we did last week for Chris Rolfe's autographed cleats.

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Our good friends at Dynamoplanet.com brought to light a story which also shows when sports and politics crosses paths.Â
The picture above in Seoul, South Korea for a friendly shows some members of the Iranian National Team wearing green arm-bands as a sign of support to the protesters of suspect election results in Iran. Click to continue reading...

Background: Much like my main man, Carlos Valderrama, a big reason I like Steve Ralston for this list is the fact he was one of the original Tampa Bay Mutineers. Ralston would probably be on this list even if not for his TB heritage, as he is the league's all-time games played and assist leader.

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Maradona needs your help! Step into Messi's shoes, and be the 12th man for Argentina.

This exclusive SoccerBlog.com offer is brought to you by the folks at adidas:

Sign up for SoccerInsights - SoccerBlog.

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"When I think of the current generation, Lionel Messi is top-level. And although he has never taken my breath away, Kaka has impressed. Zinedine Zidane was brilliant but without a doubt, Paolo Maldini has been my favorite." - Alex FergusonAs most European leagues wind up, it is time to raise a glass to Paolo Maldini, who finally hung up his AC Milan cleats today at the age of 40, after a stunning Click to continue reading...

Just prior to the start of the Women's Professional Soccer season, global sport lifestyle brand PUMA and WPS announced an exclusive partnership making PUMA an official founding partner of the new league and an official sponsor of all WPS franchises.

The multi-year partnership makes PUMA the official sport and lifestyle apparel, footwear and equipment supplier of WPS, including the official WPS Match Ball.

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WOULD YOU WEAR THIS JERSEY?

The defenders converge on Messi as he runs toward goal, but their efforts are futile. Â The defenders' quick feet move to tackle the ball, but Messi's feet are quicker, and with a dozen slight but perfectly timed touches at speed he threads cleanly through the defensive thicket until there is only an open net before him.

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Two things ran through my head when first seeing these boots, how many different materials make up...
please leave your comments and opinions @ serieaweekly.com Click to continue reading...

I am a soccer player and plan on stepping up to the varsity team at my school, one problem...I'm very smal (100 lbs) and the others girls are way bigger. Any quick ways to have this body by January?http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=90079&rendTypeId=4 And what are the best cleats for girls? Price range: $25-$100 Jackets and shorts too! Click to continue reading...

U.S. National Team and Chicago Fire forward Chris Rolfe was nice enough to spend some time with us on MontzTV on his day off. The interview covers Chris's journey from youth soccer to the pros, what it is like to play for the U.S. National Team, and he gives his advice for young players that want to live the dream one day too!

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Don't look now, but SoccerDad's youngest is finally getting to play some soccer! After kicking a ball around on the sidelines since he could walk while his older siblings played, Chase starts playing this Spring. He's SO excited and his older brother and sister got him all decked out with cleats, shin guards, and a [. Click to continue reading...

Don't look now, but SoccerDad's youngest is finally getting to play some soccer! After kicking a ball around on the sidelines since he could walk while his older siblings played, Chase starts playing this Spring. He's SO excited and his older brother and sister got him all decked out with cleats, shin guards, and a [. Click to continue reading...

Nike just released a limited edition version of their Mercurial Vapor IV cleat in bright pink - called the Berry. BRIGHT! Click to continue reading...