If you haven't seen it already, Eboue scored a goal for Ivory Coast in an international friendly against Germany yesterday.

The goal was brilliant showing he may very well be the perfect striker: the strength of Drogba, the creativity of Henry, and the finishing of Owen. He's the complete package, folks.

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Bad Thierry Henry. You cheated and you are the hero of all of France for it. Somewhere Michel Platini is dancing because you did it. Somewhere Sepp Blatter and the rest of FIFA are doing an Arsene Wegner impression. In Ireland your face will end up on dart boards and was the reason that children cried themselves to sleep last night. Click to continue reading...

Robin van Persie's injury has given Eduardo the opportunity to step in as replacement striker for Arsenal.
Persie has led the line in style, notching seven goals in 11 Premier League outings, as the Gunners have made steady progress, but the Holland international is now out injured for up to six weeks. Click to continue reading...

Livorno midfielder Antonio Candreva made his debut for Italy at the weekend in a 0-0 friendly with the Netherlands with the versatile midfielder attracting a lot of interest from the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus .

Candreva's club form has not gone unnoticed with teams said to be circling for the players signature.

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On the surface Van Persie's latest setback is a major blow to our team. Dare I say it, it could prove to be even more significant than Cesc's injury last year which ruled him out for 4 months.

We've played without either Arshavin or Cesc in games this season. Yet it is only the Carling Cup where Van Persie hasn't featured.

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A Slovakian team that was (apparently)Â good in European qualifying, but not well ranked by FIFA, Â played a defensive, counter-attacking game against the USA in a partially filled stadium, on a pretty ugly field and won 1-0 on a weak penalty call. Â Â Not what you call must-see-TV, so it is probably good that not many people saw it.

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KV crosses the reader-contributor divide to give us his take on the subtleties of Arsenal's 4-3-3 system.
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From time immemorial variation has led to the survival of species. Slight variations have caused species to evolve through the years, making them more adept to the environment.

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It doesn't take a genius to work out that Man Utd are not the team they were last year with the only loss to the team being Cristiano Ronaldo. Wayne Rooney has been given much more of free role and is playing better than he ever has but he can't do it alone. Just like Ronaldo needed Rooney in the team Rooney, needs a Ronaldo and Antonio Valencia just isn't it. Click to continue reading...

Chris Hughton makes three changes to the side which won at Sheffield United on Monday night. As expected Steven Taylor returns for Tamas Kadar, Danny Guthrie comes in to give some creativity in midfield in place of Nicky Butt, and Marlon Harewood will get his big chance in front of the Newcastle fans this afternoon. Click to continue reading...

I'm still going with the Crew. They'll need to come out with a positive attitude and some creativity to break down Salt Lake, but there's no question they're capable of it.
A lot has been made of Schelotto getting benched, but I don't think it will be a problem in the end. Warzycha's approach to this series was to make it two different games - defensive and nasty in Salt Lake, and wide open and attacking in Columbus. Click to continue reading...

Stephen Ireland has spoken about the recent incident where he was taken to hospital following the Fulham win:

"Thankfully it wasn't too serious because at the time I thought that was the end of me but I don't even know what it was. I've had every test that there is and still don't know what it was.

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By the time the final whistle blew today I was wondering when United were going to get started. That's the measure of Champions isn't it, being able to win when still in first gear? Well that's all fine and well but with Chelsea and Arsenal building up their goal differences each week, we could do with battering the teams we totally outplay.

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Sure we were playing against a third division side last night, but did anyone really think that we'd tear it up like we did against Zaragoza? The way we see it, 2-0 is a great achievement for a lineup of mostly substitutes and B-teamers. Because without those six starters who were rested, there goes most of the defensive strength, the midfield dominance and the attacking creativity. Click to continue reading...

After Jermaine Pennant came out from his Spanish Villa and criticised Benetiz for miss-management of players, it felt like the final nail in the coffin for the Spanish manager.

A poor result in mid-week against a Lyon team not at the peak of their powers looked like silencing Rafa once and for all.

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Alberto Aquilani's recuperation continues with a 15 minute reserve match run-out against Sunderland reserves last night. Here is a short video from Caughtoffside.com highlighting the Italian's eye for a pass, vision and close control.
Aquilani has the makings of a very good playmaker, in an advanced midfield role. Click to continue reading...

Without Cristiano Ronaldo, the Merengues lacked creativity and an attacking spark.

Karim Benzema and Kaka both had an unmemorable outing. It was the supporting cast of Granero, Marcelo and Raul that provided the threat and in the second half Royston Drenthe had his moments.

Pellegrini turned defensive with Lass and Alonso creating redundancy in the holding midfielder positions, with Alonso a bit more adventurous.

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Alberto Aquilani could make his first playing appearance in a Liverpool shirt on Wednesday night in a reserve team outing.
The £20million summer signing from Roma is still to feature for the Reds this term as he continues to work his way back to full fitness following a summer knee operation. Click to continue reading...

Lyon travel to Anfield currently on top of Group E for Matchday Three in the Champions League.

Stream Links from LFC Globe

After a poor showing on the weekend against Sunderland, Liverpool are in need of a quick rebound. League standing aside, Liverpool have struggled to produce much in the way of attack in the past month.

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Liverpool's new CM going for a bit of a jog with senior physiotherapist Rob Price
Is this the man that will save Liverpool from embarrassment? That will solidify the club's Top 4 status (at least), send Anfield faithful on a deep run in the Champions League (at least) and perhaps even challenge for the Premier League title (doubtful)? Click to continue reading...

If the draw at Bolton a few weeks back was a game the Tottenham of old would have certainly lost, then today's hard fought 2-1 win down at Portsmouth was definitely in the same bracket. Ahead through a well placed header from Ledley King and a marvellously worked goal from Jermain Defoe, Spurs then contrived to find themselves under overwhelming pressure for much of the second half. Click to continue reading...

Sunderland hosted Liverpool in the English Premier League on Saturday, October 17, 2009. Was Liverpool able to win without Gerrard and Torres or did Sunderland continue their strong start to the 2009-10 season? Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Sunderland beats Liverpool 1-0 Video Highlights

Liverpool were without captain Steven Gerrard and leading scorer Fernando Torres as they struggled at Sunderland.

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Southend is putting together an ambitious bid to become the UK's first ever City of Culture.
The year long accolade - beginning on 1st January 2013 - would enable the winning location to host big ticket national cultural events, as well as putting on a year-long programme of their own. Click to continue reading...

One of the things I hate about people, life if you may, is when promises are broken. If you can't keep 'em, don't make 'em! I once told my friend I'd visit him when he was living in a different city. But due to one thing or another, I never got around to it.

If we are to believe what Ramsey has said recently, Wenger is looking to start him in 15-20 games this year.

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Sorry for the lengthy absence - I am back. And seething with anger. This isn't exactly going to be a warm-fuzzy post about how I love TFC. It's a little negative, so brace yourself for it.
If football matches were only 75 minutes long, we'd be 3 points off of first in the league, and we'd have a playoff spot locked up. Click to continue reading...

The chattering from the American peanut gallery is that Clint Dempsey should be permanently dropped. The theory is that Dempsey doesn't give a proper effort and has held the US team back.

So the fans who advocate the permanent benching of Dempsey are comfortable:

• Dropping the only American to score in World Cup 2006
• The only American field player, who is a standout player for a European club side of some note.

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With only one goal scored in our last two home games, against middle of the table teams, Chris Hughton was asked today whether he thinks the team has enough creativity and class. Chris Hughton - we have enough creativity in the team When asked about the possible lack of creativity in the side Chris said today: "I don't [. Click to continue reading...

This is the kind of space Xavi thinks he deserves.

The theory is that because of the low amount of scoring in football, using particularly protective and cynical tactics ruins the sport whose nature inhibits a high amount of goals per match. Football's common nickname is "The Beautiful Game," but from where did that phrase initially originate?

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I saw this photos three different ways yesterday.
1) The Body Issue feature on ESPN.com
2) In print when my ESPN The Magazine arrived
3) Online via Kickette and the D.C. Sports Bog
This might be unsafe for work, but no warning would've stopped you from loading the page in advance. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

If the U.S. are planning on getting a result against Honduras on Saturday night, they'll have to do so without Clint Dempsey. The Fulham midfielder left Sunday's 2-2 draw against West Ham in the 83rd minute with a shoulder injury.

Today U.

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                                                 Photo by ISIphotos.com

If the U.S. national team is planning on getting a result against Honduras on Saturday night, they will have to do so without Clint Dempsey.

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The University of Wisconsin women's soccer team parlayed some toughness, some creativity and some...
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Yesterday's game gave Arsenal fans and the world an indication of what Arshavin and Rosicky playing in tandem can do.

Both players are skilful, have plenty of tricks, great vision, an array of passing, are always on the move and can shoot. It is a luxury to have one player like that, but to be fortunate to have two is amazing.

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Thomas Rongen changed half his team, but stuck with his formation, and a decision that started out looking like it might be a stubborn mistake wound up being a smart move that has the U.S. Under-20 national team in great shape at the Under-20 World Cup.

The Americans trotted out a 4-3-3 formation for the second straight match, doing so despite the same formation being largely ineffective in a 3-0 loss to Germany.

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Thomas Rongen changed half his team, but stuck with his formation, and a decision that started out looking like it might be a stubborn mistake wound up being a smart move that has the U.S. Under-20 national team in great shape at the Under-20 World Cup.

The Americans trotted out a 4-3-3 formation for the second straight match, doing so despite the same formation being largely ineffective in a 3-0 loss to Germany.

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They came, they tried, and they failed.

Arsenal bagged all three points against Greek side Olympiakos to cement their place at the top of Group H.

Robin Van Persie and Andrei Arshavin grabbed the goals for the home side after a dominant display pleased the Emirates crowd.

The score line did not deem fair as keeper Nikopolidis kept the Gunners at bay.

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