Is there any reason why the ACL final is played in Tokyo? Beyond the fact probably that they bid
the most, they provide most of the sponsors, they are the best organisers and the wives of the
senior officials can enjoys a few days shopping in Japan.
But beyond that and in footballing terms why is the final there?
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Any Liverpool fan would remember the skills and talent of Danish turned honorary Scouser, Jan
Molby. Voted in at no. 16 on the list of 100 Players Who Shook The Kop, he was a player with as
immense a talent as was his waistline. Before the elegant Xabi Alonso, Liverpool fans marvel at the
sublime passing skills and long range shooting of Jan Molby.
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It's the FA Cup First Round this weekend so, in the first of five pieces about the Oldest
Cup Competition In The World (and there's a phrase that is probably copyrighted by The FA), we take
a look back at Wycombe Wanderers' run to the semi-finals of the competition in 2001.
The FA Cup is a competition that throws up surprise results every season, but some records
remain and one that may never be broken is that no-one from the bottom two divisions of the
Football League has made The FA Cup final.
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Tim Howard: under siege these days at Everton.
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Every Tuesday I go out with some buddies to a local (and soccer-friendly, of course) pub.
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The journey continues for Wenger and Arsenal as they knock Liverpool out in the fourth round
Carling Cup clash at Ashburton Grove. As it often is with the second cup competition in England,
Wenger put his faith in the lesser lights of his squad. Silvestre took the armband with Senderos as
his centerback partner in front of the returning Fabianski.
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Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has hinted he wouldn't be happy if the club was to be taken over.
With major shareholders Stan Kroenke and Alisher Usmanov both spoiling for a potential takeover
bid, Wenger said:
"Our way is the right way because it doesn't depend on any
individual.
"It acknowledges the club is basically the property of the supporters. Click to continue reading...
I had a response to my email (see Cup Kafkaesque) to Jonathan Pike today.
Here it is:
The Premier Cup is, as the name would suggest, the premier competition in Somerset; however I am
aware that it has lost some of its lustre among the competing clubs in recent years and I know that
a number of the clubs have at times questioned the relevance of the competition, especially in
comparison with league fixtures or lucrative FA competition matches.
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The title to this article might suggest that I am providing some late coverage on Arsenal
striker Nicklas Bendtner's recent car accident while driving to practice in his Aston Martin. In
reality, though, this article is written in vehement defense of the player, who has certainly had
more than his fair share of critics, to put it bluntly.
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Thai Port v Nakhorn Ratchasima 3-1
BEC Tero v Bangkok United 2-0
TTM v Surat Thani 3-0
Bangkok Glass v Osotsapa 2-2 (Osotsapa win on penalties)
Has any team ever reached the semi finals of a cup competition in the same season in two separate
countries before? 'Cos TTM Samut Sakorn have done just that in both Thailand and Singapore.
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Things have been quiet of late what with Ramadhan and the Eid festival but that's all coming to an
end and how.
We'll start off with the SLeague in Singapore. Despite all the doom and gloom merchants who come
crawling out of (Sentosa artificial) rocks every time some bad news is percieved to hit the game
there things ain't so bad in Lion City.
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ERIC SAMUEL
Former national coach B. Sathianathan has accepted an offer from Kelantan to take charge of their
team for the Malaysia Cup competition which kicks off on Saturday.
Sathianathan, who met KFA president Tan Sri Annuar Musa in Kota Baru yesterday, said that details
of the contract would be drawn up soon.
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So the big boys have joined the rest of England's many, and are now starting their quest for the
country's second most important domestic cup competition trophy. The League Cup is still considered
by many teams as a viable competition. Its allure is also improved by the fact that it hands the
winners a passport to [.
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ERIC SAMUEL
PETALING JAYA: Peter Butler has resigned as coach of Kelantan, throwing the team's preparations for
next week's Malaysia Cup competition into disarray.
Azman Ibrahim, the chairman of the team management committee, said Butler had on Thursday informed
the Kelantan FA (Kafa) via fax of his intention to resign with immediate effect as his wife was
ill.
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From The Writings Of Jonny Carter: September 2009Â
Champions of Spain versus Champions of
Italy
- 9 months till the final
Â
The lure of European football transcends merely the million dollar incentives; rather the
Champions League represents a team's arrival at the highest echelon of world football.
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Arsenal will face West Bromwich Albion in the third round of the Carling Cup, competition which
Arsene Wenger usually approaches by making use of the reserve side.
Below is the complete set of fixtures for next month, games to be played week starting September
21:
Arsenal v West Bromwich Albion
Chelsea v QPR
Bolton v West Ham
Barnsley v Burnley
Hull v Everton
Leeds v Liverpool
Manchester United v Wolves
Manchester City v Fulham
Sunderland v Birmingham
Peterborough v Newcastle
Carlisle v Portsmouth
Nottingham Forest v Blackburn
Stoke v Blackpool
Scunthorpe v Port Vale
Preston v Tottenham
Aston Villa v Cardiff
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ERIC SAMUEL
Sarawak have conceded that they will merely be making up the numbers in the Malaysia Cup
competition.
Caretaker coach Abdul Wahet Uji said that with the limited financial resources, the Crocs would
have to look at ways to fulfil their obligation to complete their fixtures in Group B.
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MLS Rumors 27 August @ 04:30 PM EST
It was a rough night for those who follow MLS with every baited breath and look for moments that
can help with the growth and credibility of the league.
It was shocking to see how poor Columbus was at Estadio Azul in a 5-0 loss to the 'Cementeros'. Â
Not to mention that a former FC Dallas reject Ramon Nunez led the way in the first eight minutes
setting up a goal and then scoring from long range.
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You look at a lot of sides or managers who are aiming for grander things in the long run, and it is
often the Carling Cup that has been the first stepping stone on that journey.
Whilst the nature of cup competition are a little difficult to predict, this competition is the one
that looks most likely to yield a trophy during 2009/10.
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MSL in such a pathetic state it badly needs a revamp
ERIC SAMUEL
NO wonder the Super League is being labelled the Super Flop.
On May 23, only 11 fans paid to watch UPB-MyTeam FC play out a drab 0-0 draw with Police in a Super
League match.
This is the pathetic state of affairs of the Malaysian Super League (MSL), which will be going into
its seventh season next year.
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When I found out the news that Harry Redknapp was preparing a £2 million bid for Portsmouth's
David James, a sigh of inevitability passed through my lips. Was this as really as interesting as
it's going to get at Tottenham?
Now I understand that Spurs must be a very well run club in order to make the sufficient profit
that allows its numerous mangers to spend vast amounts of money on players, near enough every
season.
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Note: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
The languagecaster team have often been asked why we chose to focus on language learning through
football. Well, apart from being two language teachers with a love for the game, we thought it
might be interesting to offer teachers some alternative content for their language classes.
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Near the end of last season, Fernando Torres stated that winning the Champions League is more
important than winning the league title. Sacrilege, surely? Whilst Torres is perfectly entitled to
his opinion, such a belief is contrary to a long-standing principle of Liverpool FC's
philosophy.
In an interview in April 2009, Torres stated:
"Domestic titles are very important but to win the Champions League you are saying we are the best
team in Europe.
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BWFC 24 12 August @ 02:00 AM EST
A trip to The Wirral for Bolton Wanderers who been drawn against Tranmere Rovers in the League
Cup.
Tranmere Rovers booked their place in the second round of the competition by beating Grimsby
Town 4–0.
The exact date for the tie is yet to be announced but it will take place the week beginning
August 24th at Prenton Park.
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Would you believe it: how about an expensive marketing campaign focused on the history of a club
and the sport, promoting an actual competitive domestic match in American soccer.
So much of this "summer of soccer" in the U.S. has been huff and puff about games that don't
matter (aside from the $$$), with the series of high-profile friendlies sweeping the nation
featuring Real Madrid, Barcelona, Chelsea et al.
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The Weekend Roundup is back early because QoS got an early start to the season with Cup games the
last two weekends
Colorado Rapids - After the loss to Columbus, Colorado has fallen into a tie with Chivas for 4th
place in the West and with Toronto for 7th place overall. Due to the games in hand the Rapids have
the edge over Toronto and DC for the next-to-last playoff spot.
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Don Garber
The Big Story
Don Garber's been all over the place on the anniversary of his ten years as MLS
Commissioner. A particularly interesting in-depth interview is on Reuters Soccer Blog. Garber all
but confirms Montreal as the next expansion team ("A very strong position yes.
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It maybe mid-summer but two of Europe's biggest leagues are already underway for the new
season.
In Holland the Eredivisie kicked off while in Germany the season started with the domestic cup
competition, DFB-Pokal.
Both countries had unlikely league champions last season with AZ Alkmaar upsetting the odds in
Holland and Wolfsburg winning their first ever Bundelsliga title.
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RoM ran yet another competition in the past week giving you the opportunity to win some goodies
from the Audi Cup. Congratulations to Scott Bennett from Canada who was one of hundreds who
correctly named Wayne Rooney as the Man of the Match in United's 2-1 win over Boca Juniors.
"Winner: Audi Cup Competition" was originally published at The
Republik of Mancunia. Click to continue reading...
Red Rants 27 July @ 01:45 AM EST
So after completing the Asian money-making exercise leg of the pre-season, United return to
Europe with a stop in Germany (Munich, in particular) to play in the Audi Cup. This 'Cup
competition' involves United playing two matches on Wednesday and Thursday (of this
week). With such a demanding schedule, I honestly hope they are in the plane to Munich, like
right now.
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Soccer By Ives is reporting that Gazzeta dello Sport is reporting that Livorno is
reporting that they are planning to put in a bid for Donovan to MLS. For those unfamiliar with
Livorno, they earned promotion to the Serie A last year. Although are not historically good
(before the 2004-05, they had not taken part in the top flight since 1949), they have emerged as a
respectable club in the last several years, even participating in the UEFA Cup during the 2006-07
season.
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MIKE JACOBS 21 July @ 12:13 PM EST
For those who wonder about the idea of 'running the score up' against an opponent, read the AP wire
report of a pre-season exhibtion between Villarreal and Navata. Where this seems to be a common
practice in college football, this has reached a new level in soccer.
GERONA, Spain (AP) -- Villarreal has begun its Spanish league preparations with a 27-0 victory
over minnows Navata in a preseason friendly. Click to continue reading...
By Graig Carbino - ALBANY, NY (Jul 19, 2009) USSoccerPlayers -- Three minutes. For 180 seconds on
Saturday night in Philadelphia Panama could see themselves finally reaching their soccer summit. In
the lead courtesy of a Blas Perez goal, the Panamanians were finally going to beat the United
States in Gold Cup competition.
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Nine different players have scored the 10 U.S. goals through four games at the Gold Cup. Until
Stuart Holden became the first repeat scorer against Haiti, the first seven marked first time that
seven straight goals in a Gold Cup have come from seven different players. Freddy Adu, Stuart
Holden, Robbie Rogers, Charlie Davies, Santino Quaranta, Brian Ching and Davy Arnaud set the U.
Click to continue reading...
Grant Wahl is reporting on his blog that FIFA have ruled that Michael Bradley is to serve a
four-game suspension for his post-game confrontation of Jorge Larrionda. Despite the seemingly
harsh penalty, it turns out that it doesn't mean much. Bradley will be allowed to serve his
suspension during the Gold Cup a competition for which he wasn't even called up.
Click to continue reading...
