Without a doubt, the book that Simon Kuper (British author and Financial Times sportswriter) is most famous for is Soccernomics. Soccernomics takes a look at the analytical side of the sport; the statistics, the psychology, and the economics behind why certain trends and results in soccer are the way they are.

Castles. Hedges the size of grandstands. Corner flags that have seen better days. New York Cosmos fans. Luxury suites the size of an outdoor toilet. And real, genuine, muddy football. Pitch Invasion tours a sampling of Non-League football in England throughout 2011, courtesy of the wonderful work and dedication to the lower levels of the English game by photographer Paul Paxford.

One of the neat experiences I've had coaching youth soccer is having a player who can do a flip throw. We actually have two players on our 96 girls team that can do it, though one is a striker and only throws in on occasion. The other is one of our starting defenders and was a competitive gymnast before she started playing soccer.

The full FA report from the Luis Suárez Patrice Evra racism case

The FA's report into the Suárez case gives a detailed insight into the events that led up to and followed the striker's insults In the 58th minute of the game, Mr Suárez fouled Mr Evra between the edge of the Manchester United penalty area and the corner flag at the Kop end.

- Maxi Rodriguez

It's a cliche, especially in the sports world, to describe a certain "electricity in the air" surrounding a sporting event. Used to describe everything ranging from the enthusiasm that precedes a Vegas title fight, to the excitement that surrounds certain sports memorabilia conventions, the idiom is a crutch for the generic sportswriter in the face of stifling deadlines.

Ho, ho, ho Argentine midfielder Jonatan Germano thought he had the perfect seasonal celebration when he scored for Melbourne Heart against Brisbane Roar: he put on a Santa hat and did a happy dance over near the corner flag. Scrooge McReferee was having none of it though and booked Germano for his exuberance in the [.

You can't swing a corner flag these days without whacking a soccer podcast.
Truly, we're stocked up on those puppies like quarts of egg nog at the local Piggly Wiggly.

But some broadcasts and podcasts do manage to distinguish themselves -- like the one I'm on, if I do say so.

CARSON, Calif. -- No Major League Soccer team with a Designated Player had won an MLS Cup prior to Sunday night.

In one moment, three DPs combined to buck that trend.

Landon Donovan finished off a pass from Robbie Keane in the 72nd minute to break a scoreless deadlock and deliver the MLS Cup to the Los Angeles Galaxy following a 1-0 result over the Houston Dynamo in front of 30,281 at the Home Depot Center.

By Alan Duffy

Bristol Rovers' Memorial Stadium, scene of the crime

Reports that Bristol Rovers midfielder Jordan Goddard relieved himself in front of visiting Corby Town fans during their recent FA Cup game are now being investigated by the Pirates.

By Alan Duffy

Luscious-locked footballing woman's crumpet, David "Because I'm worth it" Ginola is to sue his former France boss Gerard Houllier over offensive comments allegedly made by the former Liverpool manager in a new book, Coaches' Secrets.

For TSG's USA Slovenia Preview, click here.

World Cup 2010 gave US fans four full games of drama. Group stage game two was of course against the relatively-unknown Slovenia. Charlie Brown put a hurt on the Yanks in the 1st half, but the States would storm back and make more than a game of it.

2007 seems a long time ago. That was the last time Thailand won the SEA Games, a competition they had come to view as one they were entitled to win. After all, 2007 was their 8th consecutive triumph, a run dating back to 1993.
No more. They were humiliated in 2009, failing to get past the group stage for the first time in yonks conceding late goals in a draw against Vietnam and, crucially, the deciding game against Malaysia when the eventual winners scored in injury time.

February 19th 2005: United won 2-0 on Rooney's return to Goodison Park since leaving Everton to progress to the FA Cup semi-final. Roy Carroll with hit with an object thrown from the crowd, 30 fans were arrested and 5 police officers were injured.

August 13th 2005: Rooney scored United's second goal in a 2-0 win on the opening day of the following season.

February 19th 2005: United won 2-0 on Rooney's return to Goodison Park since leaving Everton to progress to the FA Cup semi-final. Roy Carroll with hit with an object thrown from the crowd, 30 fans were arrested and 5 police officers were injured.

August 13th 2005: Rooney scored United's second goal in a 2-0 win on the opening day of the following season.

Years ago Clint Dempsey put out an awful rap video. We here at PitchFlop had yet to forgive him that when Dempsey strangely celebrated his only goal (our only goal!

Is there any sadder image in sport than the face of an older striker after scoring a goal? After scoring, young men sprint to the corner flag, their eyes ablaze, their mouths agape, and feverish plans to dance & shout & cry race through their minds. By contrast, an aging striker will pump his fist at a teammate or may wave to the crowd.

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. - The New England Revolution broke the curse tonight against FC Dallas, carrying a first-half lead all the way through and seeing it out to pick up their first win since July, and their first at home since May. The captain Shalrie Joseph and Rajko Lekic scored en route to the 2-0 victory.

Roberto Martinez picked a ball up from by his feet, rolled it across a tray of thick brown paint and tossed it across the field to Victor Moses. Moses stopped its flight with his chest and let it fall to his feet. He moved forwards with the ball, lifted his head and sent the ball arcing across the field at knee height.

Goals abounded in Chester, Pennsylvania tonight as the New England Revolution and Philadelphia Union drew 4-4 on a wild evening that saw a three-goal lead reduced to nothing. The Revs went into the half up 4-1 after goals from all over the field, but they appeared to lose their swagger and retreat within themselves in the second half, allowing the Union to claw back into it and eventually level the score.

FistedAway are pleased to welcome back the influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology, Ashley Jung. Ashley previously psychoanalysed the goal celebration of Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka in an attempt to help us understand the deep rooted psychological reasoning behind it.

FistedAway are pleased to welcome back the influential thinker and the founder of analytical psychology, Ashley Jung. Ashley previously psychoanalysed the goal celebration of Chelsea striker Nicolas Anelka in an attempt to help us understand the deep rooted psychological reasoning behind it.

Must-read piece by Steve at Cottagers Confidential. Hadn't considered the goal kick angle, and part of it might be Roger Johnson, but still. (also, what happens to second balls off these goal kicks?) Question: why don't we build from the back with every goal kick? Field position, no doubt, but you don't find players lamping the ball to the corner flag like in rugby, which would make more sense as a ploy.

Galaxy 2 San Jose Earthquakes 0

Sixgun Keane: Robbie Keane came out firing on all cylinders with the opening goal on his MLS debut Saturday in the Galaxy's win over the Earthquakes (AP Photos).

Staff Writer Phil Collin has the game story.

If you haven't seen Robbie Keane's goal yet, be sure and check it out below.

With Robbie Keane on his way to LA Galaxy THFC1882′s Rob Handworker takes a look back on the strikers Spurs career.

On signing him for Tottenham from Leeds Utd in 2002, our manager the God Glenn Hoddle said that Keane was ideally suited to Tottenham and could make White Hart Lane his "spiritual home" for years to come.

Sporting KC striker Teal Bunbury has struggled to find playing time and the net of late, but he made it count last week when he scored a dramatic late-game equalizer against New England. His 89th minute tally ensured a share of the points and kept Kansas City's 13-game unbeaten run intact.
Bunbury, always the ham, celebrated by running to the corner flag and playing "bobblehead" for the fans.

Last night was a night of the unexpected. Nobody expected a crowd of 88,000, least of all PSSI officials who had apparently only prepared 64,00 tickets.
Nobody expected Indonesia to come flying out the traps and dominate the first half in the complete manner they did.
But in another way it was wholly predictable.

The Quakes ended their 4 game streak of being shutout by the opposing team by scoring two goals against Vancouver. Both goals were scored by Chris Wondolowski, bringing his season total up to 8, which is good enough to be tied for 4th in the Golden Boot race. Unfortunately the defense fell asleep a bit Wednesday night by allowing two relatively easy goals for Vancouver, both of those goals being scoring by Eric Hassli, who is also tied for 4th in the Golden Boot race with 8 goals on the season.

The Colorado Rapids are undefeated when Scott Palguta scores.

Admittedly, the reserve defender has only scored twice in his career, with both goals coming this season. Each strike, however, has been the winner in 2-1 decisions for the Rapids (6-5-9, 27 points).

Palguta, who came on when Danny Earls couldn't continue after 23 minutes, was in the right place at the right time to stroke home a rebound from a Conor Casey header and put the Rapids up 2-0 on the visiting Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night.

TSG's Maura Gladys on the USWNT

The real life Jason Bourne went top shelf, left post with an affirmative 12th minute strike...

Going into the United States' Group C match against Colombia, many were referring to the showdown as a statement match, where the U.S. needed to prove its dominance as a top team in the tournament.

By Chris Wright

England Women got their World Cup campaign underway with a slightly disappointing 1-1 draw against Mexico in Wolfsburg yesterday afternoon going ahead through Fara Williams' looping 21st-minute header before being pegged back just 13 minutes on down the line thanks to a bit of a special effort from Monica Ocampo.

Mr. Tuesday will be along with a full re-cap tomorrow of the United States 2-0 win over Canada in Gold Cup Group Stage Game 1.

Bob, on it tonight...

• Bradley goes two traditional attack schemas and both work.

The first half saw the US deploy the "speed flank" of Steve Cherundolo, Landon Donovan and Juan Agudelo (with Jozy dragging across) on the right.

That was painful. Fulham were excellent, but so bad were Birmingham that the victory seemed almost cruel.

Why should I care? I think it's that about a year ago Birmingham and Fulham seemed so similar: defensively very sound, occasionally prone to lack of invention, but good enough to win enough games to stay in the league.

Where did the players go?

That was not an entirely impossible result but still tough to accept. Only 2 changes were made to the side that controlled and beat Manchester United just a week ago. The difference in performance and attitude from that game to the Stoke one yesterday was incredible.

Clemente Lisi writes of the dying art of the corner kick.
Your team is down a goal and putting the pressure on its opponent as the minutes tick away. Just when the game seems lost, your team is able to win a corner kick. With the exception of being awarded a penalty shot, getting a late corner is a solid scoring opportunity.

When Phil Neville blasted home his goal on Saturday, the first thing I thought was, "DAMN! I wish that had been Tony Hibbert!"
Nothing against Phil of course, having him score a goal is nearly as magical, but let's face it...you were itching for a good, clean riot.
Admit that you expected Neville's shot to end up in the street.

When Phil Neville blasted home his goal on Saturday, the first thing I thought was, "DAMN! I wish that had been Tony Hibbert!"
Nothing against Phil of course, having him score a goal is nearly as magical, but let's face it...you were itching for a good, clean riot.
Admit that you expected Neville's shot to end up in the street.

That's how you start a season! The Rapids celebrated their championship and then did what champions do, put an end to an expansion team's hope early and often.
8 minutes in Omar Cummings proved that he's only gotten better, splitting two defenders at the corner flag and pulling his patented run at the box and cross move.

Photo by Jose L. Argueta/ISIPhotos.com

By THOMAS FLOYD

WASHINGTON - After 17 months of anticipation, Charlie Davies' return to top-flight action was, in one way, anticlimactic.

Having not played a first-team minute since suffering life-threatening injuries in a horrific October 2009 car accident near Washington, Davies pulled off his warm ups and prepared to enter D.

MANCHESTER UNITED silenced their ‘noisy neighbours' Manchester City yesterday at Old Trafford thanks to a sensational Wayne Rooney strike.

Rooney produced the stuff of dreams at ‘The Theatre of Dreams' to make a salient point to his detractors that his star has not faded, and if anything that he can regain last season's form to lead United to an unprecedented 12th Premier League title.

me, as a photographer shooting match pictures at a sunset timing of 5pm, at least (the constant need to adjust the setting according to the lighting was so taxing).
I need to crop and sharpen the image of the shot above
Honestly speaking, based on where I MUST be positioned (close to the corner flag) during the opening match of this new season, I think I'm not in the right position to pass any rating of this game between Courts Young Lions and SAFFC.