SoccerBlogs

Photo by Reuters

By DAN KARELL

Venezuela stunned Colombia with a 1-0 win at home, highlighting a four-match night of CONMEBOL World Cup qualifying matches on Tuesday.

The win moves Venezuela into fifth place in the nine-nation group, meaning if everything ended today, Venezuela would be in a play-off home-and-home with the fifth-placed team from Asia.

Uruguay going out of World Cup as Suarez could face ban - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Luis Suarez always grabs the headline in one way or the other. The Liverpool forward is well known for his gift of sublime skills and extra-ordinary 'genius' abilities on pitch, but he has a darker side too which time and again comes into the forefront eclipsing all his good work.

By Tom Robinson

Much like the most recent Copa America, the under-20 South American Championship also saw its fair share of upsets as the continental apple cart was well and truly upset when Argentina and Brazil crashed out early, leaving some of the less fancied nations to take centre stage.

Argentina beat Uruguay, Ecuador beat Chile, Colombia topped Paraguay, and Bolivia drew with Peru in CONMEBOL World Cup Qualifying on October 12, 2012.

Peru jumped out to a first half lead but Bolivia rallied to earn a draw. Both teams are in the bottom of the standings and not expected to qualify for Brazil 2014.

After an hour of scoreless soccer between Argentina and Uruguay on Friday, Lionel Messi took matters into his own hands and led his country to victory.

Messi opened the scoring in the 65th minute, playing a pass to Angel Di Maria, who beat his defender and put a cross back in to Messi for the goal.

Con la participación de 53 países dará inicio este fin de semana la Homeless World Cup en la Ciudad de México. Los encuentros tendrán como sede el Zócalo capitalino del 6 al 14 de Octubre, en donde se construirán 3 estadios de Street Soccer con una capacidad para 5,000 aficionados.

En la rama femenil participarán 14 escuadras divididas en dos grupos, el grupo A lo integran: México, Chile, Holanda, Colombia, Hungría, Paraguay y Estados Unidos mientras que en el grupo B se encuentran: Brasil, Inglaterra, India, Kirguistán, Nigeria, Canadá y Argentina.

Colombian sources continue to develop the story that Fredy Montero is to be loaned from the Seattle Sounders FC to Millonarios. Latest update includes an option to buy and significant financial incentives for Seattle to agree, as well as an agreement from MLS to the deal.

Not quite sure what to make of this rumor, but apparently Colombian club Millonarios is trying to work out a deal for Fredy Montero.

Offseasons have never been dull for the Philadelphia Union.

Two pieces of information about Carlos Valdes' possible move during the Major League Soccer preseason were revealed today. The first was somewhat expected, as reports out of Colombia went back and forth on Valdes going to former club Santa Fe on loan, before claiming that the deal fell apart because the Union refused to accept the terms.

Typically Twitter has played the role of the medium through which Philadelphia Union players have disclosed transfers, but this time it was straight from the player's mouth, not fingers, on the radio.

Carlos Valdes has been linked to a return to his former club, Santa Fe, and a preseason of playing soccer in Colombia.

Forcing his way into the Colombian National Team's starting lineup was the easy part for Carlos Valdes. Now the defender will have to keep himself in the picture as Colombia is headed toward the final stretch of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Reports out of Colombia have indicated that Valdes has chosen to pursue a loan with his former club Santa Fe in order to keep in form and provide Jose Peckerman, the Colombian head coach, with a reason to select him for any friendlies prior to the start of the 2013 Major League Soccer regular season.

Not quite sure what to make of this rumor, but apparently Colombian club Millonarios is trying to work out a deal for Fredy Montero. My immediate reaction to this rumor was to completely blow it off, but I guess there are some ways it could make sense.

First off, I'm not quite buying the idea that the Sounders would just transfer Montero to Millonarios.

By FRANCO PANIZO

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. Neymar was first the hero, then the scapegoat.

Neymar wasted a prime opportunity to help Brazil defeat South American foes Colombia in a friendly on Wednesday night, missing a late penalty kick that forced the Selecao to settle for a 1-1 draw with the Colombians in front of a crowd of 38,624 at MetLife Stadium.

The youthful inconsistency of Neymar was on full display in Brazil's 1-1 draw against Colombia. The 20-year-old Ballon d'Or nominee equalized for Brazil with a typically wonderful run into the box and between a couple of defenders (video below), but when he had the chance at what could have been a winner from the penalty spot in the 81st minute, he blasted the ball into the sky like he was mission control at NASA.

Brazil take on Colombia in a friendly on Wednesday in the Metlife stadium, New Jersey. The Seleção are without Marcelo, Alex Sandro, Adriano and Hulk who are all injured. Chelsea's David Luiz, Ramires and Oscar should all start.
See the Brazil squad in full here
Brazil (probable): Diego Alves, Daniel Alves, Thiago Silva, David Luiz, Fábio Santos, Paulinho, Ramires, Oscar, Kaká, Lucas Moura (Thiago Neves), Neymar
Coach: Mano Menezes
Colombia (possible): David Ospina, Carlos Valdés, Cristián Zapata, Mario Yepes, Pablo Armero, Juan Valencia, Fredy Guarín, Aldo Ramírez, Macnelly Torres, James Rodríguez, Falcao García
Coach: José Pekerman
Date: 14 November 2012
Kick-off: 00:30 (London), 22:30 (Brasília)
Venue: Metlife stadium, New Jersey

Man United's Number 1, David de Gea, has been a resident of Manchester for two years now, but it seems that he's doing his bit as Madrid's cultural ambassador and trying to convince the youths there into learning Spanish instead!

Soccer players have long recognized that chances cannot go unfulfilled, least they dry up and prevent future progression toward the biggest stages of a career.

For some players this means not messing around with Europe looking on through scouts. Others focus more on the representation of their countries, which may slip away from their grasps at any moment.