La Gazzetta Dello Sport profiles Jozy Altidore under this headline.

It is the usual missive on his massive presence.

What's intriguing is that he is juxtaposed against Freddy Adu.

Altidore's move to Hull is seen as a step in the right direction whereas Adu's European perambulations are going nowhere.

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The Emirates pays tribute to the legend

Arsene Wenger on Bobby Robson:

"It was a shock because Bobby was a man of exceptional stature and someone I loved because he had an optimistic view of mankind and a positive vision for football," said Wenger.

"We will miss him badly because people miss people of his stature and vision.

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The call has been put out. The FIFA World Cup 2010 needs volunteers! Are you up for the challenge? If you can speak excellent English and one additional language, you can answer the call to action. Here's an overview of the open call courtesy of Chad Thomas at African Soccer Renaissance. Make sure you check out his international radio show on SABC 2000. Click to continue reading...

Here's today's Studio 90 News, which features brief interviews with Michael Parkhurst and Steve Cherundolo:

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The Colbert ReportMon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30cIs it Time to Care About Soccer?www.colbertnation.comColbert Report Full EpisodesPolitical HumorJeff Goldblum Click to continue reading...

What a ride! The South Africa Confederations Cup 2009 has been extremely entertaining. As the tournament progresses, it has played its part in providing the twists, cliffhangers and high dramas crucial to any cup tournament success.
As for the final rounds itself, we have had some great games from the semifinals right up to the final match itself. Click to continue reading...

An international conspiracy:

John Harkes in the Brazil vs USA final said at one point that US defenders will have to be careful with their tackles given how the referees have been carding them. The Italy match got the ball rolling on that controversy. Thereafter, it was a cumulative process as the US picked up their share of yellows and reds generating a buzz that FIFA did not want to see the US succeed against the bigger teams.

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The Confederations Cup 2009 was a great tournament. Especially for US National Team supporters, the Cup provided lows, highs, and highs that quickly turned into despair.
Here at Advantage Played, I like to look to do some of my analysis after the games have all been played. Now that we are moving rapidly away from the Cup, it is easy to look back as the US National Team feed of each other's negative energy to create something wonderful. Click to continue reading...

Final
USA 2 Brazil 3
Johannesburg
The 2009 Confederations Cup Final lived fully up to expectations last night. From the moment we heard the distinctive sound those vuvuzelas to the moment when Brazil lifted the trophy for a record third time, everything seemed to be perfectly predictable and ultimately satisfying. Click to continue reading...

Any chance that this Confederations Cup victory was anything but business as usual for the Seleccao should be dispelled. The USA pushed them very hard. The win is being compared to some of the great all time comebacks in Brazil's storied footballing history.

1958 World Cup: Sweden lead 1-0 through Liedholm just 3 minutes into the game.

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Barack Obama's motivational influence now extends to soccer matches.

Kaka, the player of the Confederations Cup reveals that the Seleccao took the two goal deficit to the locker room and rallied using Obama's now famous campaign slogan. "Yes, we can!" It worked as they fought back and won scoring two goals by Luis Fabiano and the match winner by Lucio in the second half.

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The Confederations Cup has ended with a great match between Brazil and the surprising US, and I guess it is time for some conclusions:I have to admit that the tournament was not such a bore as I had initially predicted it would be. There were some very dramatic matches, surprises and good goals, promising well for the World Cup. Click to continue reading...

Brazil celebrate

Brazil picked up their third Confederations Cup after coming back from two goals down against the United States.

The USA took a shock lead when Dempsey's snap shot caught out Brazil's static defence on the 10th minute.

With 27 minutes on the clock, the US doubled the score after a superb counterattacking move from their own half, ended with Donovan outfoxing Ramires before hitting a perfect shot past Júlio César.

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USA win the moral victory but Donovan says it isn't nearly enough.

>> SoccerBlog.com EXCLUSIVE ADIDAS offer: Step into Messi's Shoes!

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That USA defeated Spain in the semifinal of the Confederations Cup was perhaps the best that could happen, since the USA contributed to a quite exciting final against Brazil, where two outstanding counter-attacks in the first half made them believe that they could actually do it. 2-0 at half-time was probably more than most dared believe! Click to continue reading...

Here's what U.S. MNT head coach Bob Bradley and midfielder Landon Donovan had to say after the tough loss. Let us know your thoughts after the game.
U.S. head coach Bob Bradley
On the match:
"It was a tough one. Obviously, a good first half, but we give up the first goal so early in the second half that we put ourselves in a tough spot. Click to continue reading...

;Brazil scores 3 second half goals to beat the United States 3-2 - Video Highlights - Brazil overcame a 0-2 deficit to beat the United States 3-2 to win the FIFA 2009 Confederations Cup. It was a match where the United States took control in the 1st half only to give it away in the 2nd half.

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I can only shake my head at what we can expect from Brazil in the 2010 World Cup. That really should be what we take back home. We know their talent but today showed a team that would not go away. Hats off to the USA for pushing them to the limits but if the meme pushed by Alexi Lalas and John Harkes is "we let one get away" then I am sorry, that really is the wrong message.

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A valiant effort from the U.S. eventually fell just short as a 2-0 lead became a 3-2 halftime loss... Brazil scored in the 46th, 74th and 85th minutes in their come-from-behind effort in Johannesburg, South Africa.
The U.S., however, still took its best-ever finish in a major international championship, finishing in second place. Click to continue reading...

Brazil scored just seconds after the start of the second half, cutting the U.S. lead in half ... The Americans have been able to hold on to the 2-1 lead since then, as we're in the 73rd minute in Johannesburg .... Click to continue reading...

Did you rub your eyes your eyes in disbelief?? It is true. Dempsey's flick into the net in the 10' from a swerving right on the money cross by Jonathan Spector.

And then a breakout started by Ricardo Clark feeding the ball to a speeding Landon Donovan who dishes off left to Charlie Davis as they eat up the turf past the threadbare Brazilian defense.

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The U.S. capitalized on a counter attack that started in their own half ... Clark touched ahead to Donovan who played it wide to Davies. Davies did well to get it back to Donovan as he was entering the box. Landon touched it around the lone defender and finished past Julio Cesar to double the USA lead in the Confed Cup Final! Click to continue reading...

Clint Dempsey gave the U.S. an early lead when he finished off a Jonathan Spector cross beautifully. Spector lifted it into the box, where Dempsey had found a small bit of space, and the Fulham man touched it just enough to bounce it into the far post.
The Americans have a 1-0 lead in just the 10th minute! Click to continue reading...

The United States faces Brazil in the final of the FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa. Live coverage will begin around 2:20 PM EST.

United States v Brazil - Confederations Cup Final - Sunday - 14:30 EST (20:30 local time) -Â Can the US stop Brazil, who've yet to lose a game in the tournament?

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Spain defeats South Africa 3-2 to take 3rd place - Video Highlights - Spain recovered from a disappointing semifinal match against the United States to defeat South Africa for 3rd place in the 2009 Confederations Cup. The match was a thriller to the end with several goals in the final minutes.

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Kaka vs Landon Donovan

On the face of it. No comparison. Real's $90 million for the Brazilian to $1 million for Donovan's DP status at the Galaxy. However, when it comes to influencing their national squads, Donovan's role is far more important. In this match itself, Donovan has to do what he did against Spain, not just prove to be the creative spark on attack but help the defense neutralize Kaka.

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Bafana Bafana scored first but only after 73 minutes of goalless play. Katlego Mphela (video) scored off a cross from very close to the goal .Dani Guiza's equaliser for Spain took only three minutes more.Spain's second goal came off what was meant to be a cross by Dani Guiza.

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An injury time free kick from Liverpool midfielder Xabi Alonso helped Spain secure third place in the 2009 Confederations Cup as they beat hosts South Africa 3-2 in Rustenburg. Some of the Spanish players prior to this clash said that they'd rather "be on vacation" than play this third place playoff, and for much of the [. Click to continue reading...

Joel Santana's squad needs to work on stopping those back breaking free kicks which seem to doom them at the last minute. This time it was Xabi Alonso's extra time free kick in the 107th minute that sank South Africa.

Vicente Del Bosque went to his deep bench strength. Sergio Ramos whose poor clearance led to Dempsey's goal was replaced by Raul Albiol.

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Try you hand at it while you are waiting for the game to start.Go here and blow the vuvuzela.It's fun.No wonder so many people at the games can't stop themselves from giving it one more blast.

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Jonathan Wilson's excellent article talks about the intricate system of midfielders that the Brazilians have recently used with their 4-2-3-1 formation. The Brazilians call it a diamond with Gilberto at the base, Ramires to the right, Melo to the left and Kaka as the play maker at the apex.

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.....and as we wait for the big game to kick off here's a collection of the best of the best so far - Best goal,Best player,Best scene,Best surprise,Best save and a few more,The actual trophy that they are playing for looks pretty neat.I like the blue band running across it.

More things to do while you wait for the kickoff: Read the story of the history and evolution of the tournament from what was initially called the Artemio Franchi Trophy to it's present form here.

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Brazil go through the motions

On Sunday, Holders Brazil take on the USA in the final of the Confederations Cup in the Ellis Park stadium in Johannesburg.

Brazil have won the competition twice (97 and 2005) and a third win would make them the most successful side in the tournament's brief history.

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In case you haven't seen it over at ussoccer.com, here's today's Studio 90 News. The Studio 90 crew talks to Brazilian-born Benny Feilhaber about his roots in the South American country and tomorrow's big game:
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Semi Final
Brazil 1 South Africa 0
Johannesburg
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the fireworks we saw in the previous match between Spain and the US were unsustainable. When the host country South Africa played Brazil on Thursday evening there was little in the way of eye-catching surprises or extraordinary upsets, but it's fair to say we came relatively close to one. Click to continue reading...