SoccerBlogs

That is the face of a man just caught buying 36 bottles of Jagermeister on a stolen credit card.

No really.

The oh-silly-you-you-caught-me look works here, but Jozo Gaspar did lose his job coaching in Croatia as a result, considering he took the plastic from the wallet of one of his own players.

Real Madrid striker Gonzalo Higuain is hoping his side can complete the signing of Tottenham midfielder Luka Modric as quickly as possible ahead of the new season.

Modric has been linked with a host of Europe's top clubs including Manchester United, Chelsea and PSG, but appears to be closing in on a switch to the current La Liga champions.

Brazilian International Neymar (Google Creative Commons)

FIFA World Cup Qualifiers Betting Odds and Predictions

Friday, March 22, 2013

Israel +575 vs. Portugal -205, Draw: +280; Total 2o -150 (8:45 a.m. ET/5:45 a.m. PT):Despite having one of the world's two best players in Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal has been tepid at best on the world stage in the last decade in international competitions.

World Cup Qualifiers: England drew as Wales, Scotland & N. Ireland lose - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

It was a sad Monday night for the British nations at the World Cup qualifiers. England were held to a 1-1 draw by Montenegro despite taking the lead while Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland all suffered defeats at the hands of Croatia, Israel and Serbia respectively.

Through Ryu's Lens: One for history, Croatia take on Serbia

"I asked the players: ‘Where were you born? Have any of you ever played in Croatia?' The answer was no," he said. "The players are so young they don't know what we had and what we lost.

Italy, Ireland, Netherlands, Russia, Greece, Belgium, and Bosnia-Herzegovina all won in UEFA World Cup Qualifying on October 16, 2012.

Croatia 2-0 Wales

A solid win for Croatia behind goals from Eduardo and Mario Mandzukic.

27′	Mario Mandzukic	1 0
58′	Eduardo	2 0

Macedonia 1-0 Serbia

A second half red card proved to be costly for Serbia as Macedonia's Agim Ibraimi converted the ensuing penalty kick.

Below are predictions for all the UEFA World Cup Qualifying matches on October 16, 2012.

Croatia v Wales, 2:00 PM

Croatia wins 3-1

Macedonia v Serbia, 2:30 PM

Serbia wins 2-0

Belgium v Scotland, 2:45 PM

Belgium wins 2-0

Czech Republic v Bulgaria, 2:00 PM

Czech Republic wins 4-1

Italy v Denmark, 2:45 PM

Italy wins 1-0

Faroe Islands v Ireland, 2:00 PM

Ireland wins 3-0

Austria v Kazakhstan, 2:35 PM

Austria wins 4-0

Germany v Sweden, 2:45 PM

Germany wins 3-1

Andorra v Estonia, 1:00 PM

1-1 draw

Romania v Netherlands, 2:00 PM

Netherlands wins 2-1

Hungary v Turkey, 2:30 PM

0-0 draw

Cyprus v Norway, 1:00 PM

Norway wins 1-0

Iceland v Switzerland, 2:30 PM

Switzerland wins 2-0

Albania v Slovenia, 2:45 PM

Slovenia wins 1-0

Russia v Azerbaijan, 11:00 AM

Russia wins 5-0

Israel v Luxembourg, 12:00 PM

Israel wins 4-0

Portugal v Northern Ireland, 3:45 PM

Portugal wins 3-1

Latvia v Liechtenstein, 1:00 PM

Latvia wins 2-1

Bosnia-Herzegovina v Lithuania, 2:00 PM

Bosnia-Herzegovina wins 4-0

Slovakia v Greece, 2:30 PM

0-0 draw

Ukraine v Montenegro, 2:00 PM

Ukraine wins 3-0

San Marino v Moldova, 2:30 PM

Moldova wins 1-0

Poland v England, 3:00 PM

England wins 3-2

Belarus v Georgia, 12:00 PM

Belarus wins 2-1

Spain v France, 3:00 PM

Spain wins 3-2

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Below are predictions for all the UEFA World Cup Qualifying matches on October 12, 2012.

Macedonia v Croatia, 2:30 PM

Croatia wins 4-1

Serbia v Belgium, 2:30 PM

Serbia wins 1-0

Wales v Scotland, 2:45 PM

1-1 draw

Czech Republic v Malta, 12:00 PM

Czech Republic wins 3-1

Armenia v Italy, 1:00 PM

Italy wins 2-0

Bulgaria v Denmark, 2:00 PM

Denmark wins 1-0

Faroe Islands v Sweden, 12:00 PM

Sweden wins 3-0

Kazakhstan v Austria, 12:00 PM

Austria wins 2-1

Ireland v Germany, 2:45 PM

Germany wins 2-0

Turkey v Romania, 1:30 PM

Turkey wins 2-1

Estonia v Hungary, 2:30 PM

1-1 draw

Netherlands v Andorra, 2:30 PM

Netherlands wins 5-0

Albania v Iceland, 1:00 PM

0-0 draw

Switzerland v Norway, 2:30 PM

ESPN 3 (USA)

Slovenia v Cyprus, 2:45 PM

Slovenia wins 4-0

Russia v Portugal, 11:00 AM

2-2 draw

Luxembourg v Israel, 3:00 PM

Israel wins 3-1

Liechtenstein v Lithuania, 1:30 PM

2-2 draw

Slovakia v Latvia, 2:15 PM

Slovakia wins 2-0

Greece v Bosnia-Herzegovina, 2:45 PM

0-0 draw

Moldova v Ukraine, 2:00 PM

Ukraine wins 3-1

England v San Marino, 3:00 PM

England wins 4-0

Finland v Georgia, 11:30 AM

Finland wins 2-1

Belarus v Spain, 2:00 PM

Spain wins 1-0

Follow @jonfeyerherm

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By Chris Wright

Not that they matter one iota, but England have moved up into third place in FIFA's World Rankings an all-time high despite not playing a single competitive game in the month of July.

Yep. Due to whatever ridiculous� algorithms� FIFA use to construct their pointless dung heap, now only Germany and all-conquering reigning World and double European champions Spain are above Roy Hodgson's boys in the standings.

When Nicklas Bendtner showed the world his Paddy Power underwear after scoring against Portugal in Denmark's 3-2 loss at Euro 2012, he probably had no idea how much controversy his seemingly innocent actions would stir. But it's not actually Bendtner's action that has caused the newest uproar, it's UEFA's reaction that has fans bewildered.

Gareth Bale signs 3-year deal with BT Sports - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Tottenham winger Gareth Bale has agreed to sign a three-year contract with BT Sports where the Welshman will take up ambassadorial role and feature as a guest pundit for the new BT Sport channels.

The 23-year-old already has an existing relationship with BT as he promoted its Life's a Pitch website and starred in advertisements regrading availability of Sky Sports 1 and 2 on the BT Vision pay TV platform in 2010.

Kenny Miller of Scotland celebrates with Jamie Mackie (Photo by Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images)

As match day three for World Cup Qualifiers gets underway this week, let's take a look at Europe's most difficult group to predict, Group A. After two matches played Serbia, Belgium and Croatia remain dead-locked at the top with four points.

Today I have a relatively short train journey taking me from Lviv to Kiev, only nine hours.

So I thought I could use the time to understand the rules UEFA have issued to decide how group placings are decided in the event of teams finishing level on points.



a) Higher number of points obtained in the matches played between the teams in question.

The first round of the tournament has just come to an end with Poland, Russia, Holland, Denmark, Ireland, Croatia, Sweden and Ukraine all knocked out. Teams through to the Quarter Finals are Greece, Czech Republic, Portugal, Germany, Italy, Spain, France and England. I've made a few observations from the Euro's so far, and here they are:

Italy know how to defend

This applies to both Croatia and Italy really, and partly Germany too.

Liverpool and Chelsea have further competition in the race to sign promising defender Dejan Lovren as AC Milan is also interested.
According to talkSPORT, the 23-year-old interesting Anfield manager Brendan Rodgers and Stamford Bridge scouts has also impressed the San Siro club.
Lovren has excelled since he made the switch to Lyon from Dinamo Zagreb in 2010 and Liverpool's interest may well be down to them looking for a long-term replacement for Jamie Carragher.

Real Madrid have agreed to a transfer fee for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Luka Modric reportedly for around $52 million or £33 million.

It's a move that should benefit both sides as Spurs get money to rebuild their squad and Real Madrid add depth with a highly regarded attacking midfielder.

Below are television listings for all the French Ligue 1 matches on August 24, 2012.

Evian v Lyon, 2:45 PM (USA EST)

beIN Sport (USA), Al Jazeera Sport (Middle East), Arena Sport (Croatia/Serbia), C+ (Poland), Sport Italia 2 (Italy), Sport TV4 (Portugal), ESPN (UK/South America)

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Ben Weich writes for the EPL Talk and Soccer Fan Base blogs. You can follow Ben on Twitter @BenWeich

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kp8QHXtQoIo

While there may have been more beautiful goals scored, few have been as remarkable as this one. This was a hugely important goal, not only for French football but also for the country as a whole.