By 11 Gunners When David Beckham curled one of his trademark free kicks at the 'Theatre of Dreams', little he would have known that a nation was awakening into a sporting renaissance of sorts. The day was 18th August and the year was 2001, when Premier League games were being aired Live for the [. Click to continue reading...

Rafa Benitez said he would quit Liverpool if Fernando Torres is sold. The Spanish striker could have been sold last summer to Manchester City if Benitez had accepted their offer – and there will no doubt be more enquiries coming in for Torres until the day he does actually leave.
But what is remarkable about the offer made to Liverpool last summer is the scale of the City bid: £70million for Torres plus and additional £30million for Javier Mascherano. Click to continue reading...

Dreams everywhere crushed I'm sure:

"Joining City is not something that will ever happen. When you have got red blood, you cannot see yourself with blue blood. You go there and they have blue ketchup... it's just like `What are they doing?'
"I am not being disrespectful but I grew up a Red, hating City.

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For a 120 minutes the Irish National Team played their hearts out and with one hand Henry took their dreams of a World Cup away. Here is how the Irish newspapers covered the events yesterday in Paris.
Irish Times
Irish Independent
Irish Examiner
Irish Daily Star
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For the second episode of my international radio broadcast Eat Soccer!, I had the wonderful opportunity to introduce the listeners to one of the most courageous, motivated athletes I know. Brandon Culpepper is an American football player, and he took time out of his busy NFL schedule to give soccer players tips on how they can develop the courage to pursue their dreams to play soccer. Click to continue reading...

Robert Enke's untimely death touched us all.It's almost hard to credit given that he achieved the sort of dreams millions of us fail to realize - representing your country, signing for Barcelona and being in line to play at the World Cup, but his personal reasons for dying were valid for him. Ultimately individuals make their own choices. Click to continue reading...

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a richer dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's, breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.

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Rafa Benitez is refusing to look any further ahead than Liverpool's next game as he hopes his side experience a change in fortunes.
The Reds drew 2-2 with Birmingham at Anfield on Monday night to leave them 11 points adrift of Premier League leaders Chelsea.
Benitez's men had already been ruled out of the title race by some critics, but the Spaniard has always remained adamant that his side were contenders. Click to continue reading...

The Seattle Sounders shut down any hopes for the F.C. Dallas winning the Major League Soccer Cup this year by eliminating them from the playoffs. Saturday night's game at the Qwest Fields in Seattle was a saddening loss for Dallas when they let in two goals, ending the game 2-1.

Sigi Schmid waves to the fans, in a 3-0 Seattle Sounders victory over the New Your Red Bulls, Thursday, March 19, 2009.

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Pardon the super cheesy title, but after reading Miralem Pjanic's super inspiring interview this morning, I felt...well, super. Lyon are in first place in their CL group, Liverpool are in the unwelcome position of being in third, and both teams are coming off of weekend losses in their domestic leagues.

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US MNT Player Power Rankings (10/15/09): The US Men's Soccer Team has qualified for the 2010 World Cup, which kicks off a mere 8 months from now. Now that we're in, the big question is who will represent the Red, White, & Blue at the world's biggest sports spectacle.

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Rumors that a certain former England coach was on the verge of taking the helm of North Korea's football team, which qualified for the World Cup for the first time in 44 years, sent FootyFactor headquarters into a tizzy yesterday.

In the history of odd couples, we cannot think of a more far-fetched but perfectly harmonious pair than North Korean dictator Kim Jong-il and Swedish hard man Sven Goran Eriksson.

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Jay Needham and Alta's dreams of promotion all but ended Sunday afternoon with a defeat at Tromsdalen while Connor Tobin did not see time in Nybergsund's victory over Stavanger. Click to continue reading...

Dan Steinberg of D.C. Sports Bog will have a full report about D.C. United's involvement in ESPN The Magazine's soon-to-hit-newsstands Body Issue, but below is a very small sneak peak. United players are seen right round the 54-second mark, with a short comment from Ben Olsen about his dreams of coming out on the field naked.

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There is alot of bravado spoken when the subject of my football team's home is mentioned. The title 'Theatre of Dreams' (dubbed by Bobby Charlton) was once embarrassingly mentioned by fans in the late 1980's. The two words 'theatre' and 'dreams' were a million miles away from hooligan England in those days, where the reality was [. Click to continue reading...

Loved this quote from the Bangkok Post
Worawi yesterday appointed Anucha Nakasai as national team manager.

Anucha is a former MP for Chai Nat.
"He has played football mainly in charity events," said Worawi.
Anucha thanked Worawi for giving him an opportunity to work with the national team. Click to continue reading...

Every fan dreams of stepping up and scoring for their club. Few ever get to do it. Mostly due to the fact that they are not professional footballers. But one man appears to have found a loophole. As Spartak Moscow's Brazilian midfielder Alex was preparing to take an equalizing spot kick against Saturn Moscow on Saturday, a [. Click to continue reading...

Miracles are banned at the Theatre of Dreams OTP field operative Matt Fairgrieve spotted this beauty on a recent tour of Old Trafford. Seemingly Man Yoo feel the need to rub their disabled supporters' faces in it a bit. Having said that, this Burnley fan will be stuffed when the Clarets visit United. Click to continue reading...

Another week of Premiership action is now in the books, and Thursday means one thing: it's time for the Thursday Throwdown from A to Z. Here we go...

AÂ is for Anelka. Chelsea fans should be counting their lucky stars that both Nicolas Anelka and Didier Drogba are in spectacular form.

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Without passion, you're a fashion
How long can you fake it?
A few choice lyrics from "Lien On Your Dreams" by Black Rebel Motorcycle Club which I would like to dedicate to any Euro-centric soccer fans out there in America who tonight feel the need to start an "English-style" supporters club for their local side. Click to continue reading...

I don't know about the rest of you, but when it comes to sports, I'm a numbers guy. I love statistics! It could be as simple as how many points Manchester United is away from winning their fourth Premier League title in a row (that number should be three points lower after Wednesday, but Burnley really messed with that stat) or as complex as what Everton's home record is when Yakubu scores with his right foot opposed to his left.

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Last week we learned details of another soccer specific stadium plan headed by a group not associated with Jeff Cooper, a St Louis attorney who has MLS dreams.
Today we hear from Cooper regarding that groups proposal.
Courtesy of St Louis Today:

The developer of a $572 million Major League Soccer stadium and mixed-use center in Collinsville said a similar idea brought before Richmond Heights, Mo.

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You can really beat that for an opening day result, can you?
6 goals away from home. No matter who you're playing in the league, that's an exceptional performance.
And for some, an unthinkable result. After all, Arsenal haven't spent huge-wads of cash this summer. There's been no 'bail-out' of the squad. Click to continue reading...

visit Moor night their of League Red the a over the Dreams and face promoted 1-0 Birmingham Old Sunday functional although and have score with and both [...]
Full story at Trulyreds.com. Click to continue reading...

 The love between two Liverpool players is being celebrating with a fitting tribute by Manchester United fans. Originating from a chant by the Evertonians, and now sang with glee at The Theatre of Dreams, the relationship between Fernando Torres and his "husband" Jamie Carragher is now visually displayed in the form of a United T [. Click to continue reading...

The first day of a new season in football is always special. You get to see your favorite team in action after a break, there are a few new faces that you see in the promoted teams and most importantly, you are ensured for another thrilling and great season of football.Today, the title holders Manchester United played hosts to Birmingham City at the Theatre of Dreams. Click to continue reading...

I am somewhat perturbed this morning having woken from a dream in which Emmanuel Eboue was my dad and he was teaching me to a drive in an old Ford Capri which had a distressed piglet in the back seat. Honestly, you don't need dreams like that.

We'll start this morning with the latest regarding transfers.

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This coming season promises to be the most exciting in years. Of course, every coming season promises to be the most exciting in years. This is one of the many truisms of English Football. Last season we gaped open mouthed as Manchester City clumsily wooed Global Franchise Entities with the promise of dreams and Ferrero Rocher.

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Shaun Wright-Phillips held a charity motorcycle ride in London yesterday and showed up on the back of Wayne Bridge's bike, wearing a World War II helmet (0:23 into the video). I'm hoping he did this for comedic effect.

It's hard to make too much fun of Shaun, though, as the ride benefited the Education for the Children Foundation.

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Tampines Rovers v Home United 2-3 (Fahrudin Mustafic, Seiji Kaneko; Peres De Oliveira 3) 2,723
Three straight defeats for Tampines Rovers has effectively ended their title dreams. And to think just a week ago they were looking longingly at first place after leaders SAF had slipped up drawing 0-0 at home to DPMM. Click to continue reading...

Nike is usually one of the best at producing quality, entertaining advertisements. This is not one of them. This is something that will eat your dreams.

As @Kickette says, the Werder Bremen players' wavy flesh set against a soul-sucking black void of a background makes them look like some kind of freaky aliens sent to crack open my skull and fiddle with my insides.

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Showdown Sunday alright and Richard's Bok SAF can look back on a job well done, collecting a crucial three points in a feisty affair at Tampines Stadium.
And yet it could have been so different had Aliff been able to convert Noh Alam Shah's cross while the score was still scoreless. But Tampines were made to pay for that miss and also a night when their delivery into the box was too poor too often. Click to continue reading...

Gonzalo Higuain is apparently not ruling out the possibility of playing for the French national team.

In an interview with the French magazine So Foot, Higuain said "You never know" in response to being asked if he would like to represent the French national team in the 2010 world cup.

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This comes to us courtesy of an excellent site, PitchInvasion.net:

Yes, MLS fans' dreams might be about to come true: Pitch Invasion has learned that the MLS Board of Governors are seriously considering a complete overhaul of the MLS playoff structure, that would both enliven the playoffs and ensure the regular season beomes a meaningful contest for first place with serious advantages gained for the post-season.

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I wanted to say thank you to one of my excellent soccer camp sponsors, Pelican Athletic Club! They are one of the premier athletic clubs in the Greater Mandeville area. I grew up working out there and I still continue to work out there.

My contact, Lara Newman, has been a pleasure to work with and she is so supportive of my mission to help young people reach their dreams.

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