Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson is hopeful his team can prevent neighbours Manchester City from becoming the dominant force in English football, in much the same way he did with Jose Mourinho's Chelsea team.

The London club won two titles under Mourinho after spending big on players, but Sir Alex rebuilt his squad and wwnt on to win the Premier League in 4 of the next 5 years.

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It's a common sight everywhere in Brazil to see the fun-loving natives get together spontaneously for a game of kick-about on any space they can find.
Be it that it could be an obscure back alley of any street, the famed Copacabana beaches or on those lush manicured pitches dotted around this football crazy nation, so long inches of space are made available you bound to see the Brazilians coming together to enjoy a game of street soccer.

By Jimmy LaRoue

NORFOLK–Standing in the stadium concourse signing autographs after another difficult loss Sunday, Norfolk SharX coach Jon Hall had a rhetorical question when asked whether he's seen improvement in the first-year MISL team:

"What do you think?

With many of Europe's top leagues now well under way it is at this time of year that we look back at those championships which take place through the summer months. In this two-part special we focus on twelve countries ranging from Armenia to Kazakhstan, Latvia to the Republic of Ireland and from Iceland to Belarus and highlight those who are celebrating title success, cup final triumphs or in despair following relegation.

NBA superstar LeBron James says reading up on the history of Liverpool FC has humbled him, with the Miami Heat player revealing his newfound admiration for manager Kenny Dalglish and captain Steven Gerrard.
James, 26, recently became a minority shareholder in Liverpool and made his first visit to Anfield last month to watch the Reds draw with Manchester United.

Welcome one and all. The first post in the Scottish Football Blog's 24 hour blogathon. Enjoy.
A perfect starting point, then, suggested by the Twitter fixture that is @steakheed
This might seem like a bit of a cheat. People who read this blog will know I don't shy from a spot of Hibernian navel gazing.

There were plenty of standout defenders in MLS this year, and several who could make cases for being the top defender in the league, but it is tough to argue that there was a better defender in 2011 than Omar Gonzalez.

The LA Galaxy centerback was the leader and foundation for the best defense in MLS, improving his game in every facet and going from being an All-Star caliber defender to a dominant force who was key to LA winning the Supporters Shield and reaching the MLS Cup Final.

Man City the odds-on EPL title favorite, but watch out for Spurs - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Manchester United have been a dominant force in the English Premier League era, winning an amazing 12 titles in 19 seasons. Four of those titles have come in the last five seasons, including last season, when they beat out Manchester City and Chelsea by nine points.

Manchester City have been rising as a pretty dominant force in the premier league since last season and currently already managed to top the league table, however, they're yet to pick up a victory in Europe.

Answering this issue, the Eastlands star midfielder, David Silva, thinks that the fact that they've only played two matches in the Champions League and all of them were against top teams, could be the reason they haven't managed a victory as just yet.

The new season gets underway tomorrow, and in traditional style I'll be making some sensible and less than sensible predictions for coming nine months. It hasn't been the best of summers, and I sincerely hope that our transfer activity isn't finished, otherwise we're pretty thin on the ground, but at the same time I don't think we're nearly in as bad shape as some are making out.

Mazembe won the last two titles. Who will take their title this year?

With much political and civil unrest disrupting a great deal of the 2011 CAF Champions League it is an achievement in itself that the group stages will be played as originally scheduled. Many games were either postponed, re-scheduled or teams disqualified from the tournament for various reasons in what has been a difficult tournament to organize.

Hope Solo goes up against Brazil today

In a short while, team USA plays what will be one of its most important matches - important because the trope of the USA being a dominant force in women's soccer rides on how they perform in this World Cup. The competition has seen Norway and Germany crash out, two traditional rivals of the US and in their place France and Japan have been installed as rising powers.

szólj hozzá: Switzerland 0-2 Spain As if to prove by just how far they are the dominant force in world football at the moment, and to show how much better they were than any other team in the tournament, Spain decided to clinch the European Under 21 Championship by beating Switzerland goalkeeper Yann Sommer [.

Barcelona may have won everything last year, and the year before that.... and if my memory serves me correctly, the year before that as well. And before that 2, no, wait, that was when Real Madrid won the league, so not so long ago Barcelona were not this much dominant force in the world of [.

Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard hopes new signings over the summer will ensure that the team can once again compete at the top of the Premier League.
After failing to qualify for the Champions League last season, the Reds have now been unable to reach the Europa League following their sixth-placed finish this term.

Class in sports can be interpreted is many ways. Be it through behavior, performance or one's influence on a game, an individual or team can show their class to the world. There have been many exceptional teams throughout the history of soccer that have shown class on and off the field. While it's difficult to choose just one, the 1953 Hungarian National Team showed true class in a performance that had long reaching historical repercussions on the game.

A leadership entirely out of touch with the needs of the consumer.
A belligerent refusal to listen to any sort of reason.
An arrogant belief that it doesn't matter how badly you build it, they'll come anyway. Because, hey, that's what they've always done.
A fixation with how things are done "down south" with no apparent realisation that Scotland's experience and England's experience no longer bear direct comparison.

Italy's elite clubs are struggling in the Champions League and have struggled since 2000 despite two trophies won by Milan and one by Inter in the last decade.

Italian clubs were the dominant force in the 1990s with Milan and Juventus winning the Champions League with Juve reached three consecutive finals.

The TV rights for the next three years of the Campeonato Brasileiro are up for grabs. Traditionally, TV Globo, the country's largest broadcaster, has had little opposition. But with the emergence of Record, there is now real competition for the rights of the Brazilian national league.

Globo's contract with the clubs comes to an end this year.

A contribution by Jay Bell

Major League Soccer continues to fight a battle for respect. Most leagues fight that same battle.

Most leagues do it through competition.

All of the Confederations have their own versions of Champions Leagues and some also have second tier club competitions.

A crucial encounter. Rather than a pleasant wine contest between Cotes du Rhône and Bordeaux, tonight's game will leave at least a big gun with a sour taste in the mouth... And, it'd better be Bordeaux, if you ask me.

Remember... this must have been a century ago : Bordeaux versus Lyon, a Champions League quarter final.

Manchester United full-back Gary Neville has announced he is to retire from football with immediate effect. Neville represented the Red Devils 602 times but has struggled with injury and his appearances in a Manchester United shirt were limited to 31 appearances over the last four seasons.
Neville enjoyed an illustrious career, winging the Premier League 8 times and the Champions League twice, most famously against Bayern Munich in 1999.

By Guy Gorman

"We deserve success." Do you really? It is a strange saying in football as it implies that the maintenance of the status quo – chosen clubs at the top, others always scrapping for points at the bottom – is fair for everyone. After all, Liverpool has won 18 league titles, so for them not to mount a strong title challenge in recent years is surely an affront to the football gods.

Big week in Europe as the Bundesliga returned the action, Barcelona extended its unbeaten run to a club-record 28 games, while in Italy the Serie A title race got tighter.

Spain
A four-point gap has opened up at the Liga summit after Real Madrid were held to a 1-1 draw by bottom club Almeria, while Barcelona beat Málaga 4-1.

The South American Youth Championship takes place in Peru from Sunday with ten teams hopeful of grabbing the title along with one of the four available places up for grabs in the FIFA Under-20 World Cup which takes place later in the year. The tournament which brought the likes of Lionel Messi, Javier Mascherano and Alexandre Pato to worldwide acclaim welcomes in a new generation of potential superstars and Stoppage Time International Football Blog looks back at the history of the event and previews this year's tournament.