Tires are no match for Wayne Rooney. [101GG] Fixing the SPL in a Dutch...vacuum. (Inside Left) Robin Van Persie could be the new Raul. (Theory not as outlandish as it sounds.) (SoccerLens) Nigerian U17 captain a sprightly 25. (The Spoiler) The lingo of Italian tactics. (Football Italiano) Igor Akinfeev don't get no love. Click to continue reading...

With Rangers getting closer and closer to almost becoming Leeds United, maybe its time for both Celtic and Rangers to run away from the Scottish Premier League and head for greener pastures. Rangers 's club's bankers Lloyds are owed £30million by the end of the campaign. With a TV contract that is nothing to celebrate the only way that they maybe be able to meet the payment is to sell half of the first team. Click to continue reading...

H'way, h'way, it can't be true? The deviants down the road are scavenging from our rotting squad? To be honest, I'm not sure where the rumour has materialised from but it's said that they have joined a group of potential suitors for the highly-rated young Dutch stopper. We're led to believe that there were a dozen [. Click to continue reading...

Stuff to read while you envelope yourself in the world of baldness...... Usain Bolt will teach Cristiano Ronaldo to dive faster. (Unprofessional Foul) The Top 10 games from the 2008-09 Prem. (The Spoiler) 18yo Aussie star charged for sex with a 13yo. (The Australian) Sponsors boycott FSC due to Steve Cohen's Liverpool remarks. Click to continue reading...

After almost a three-month break the Champions League is back and languagecaster previews the 8 mouthwatering ties that lie ahead. Will it be another all-English final or will the winner come from Spain, Italy or ... Greece? In addition we: Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Introduce a new football expression in [. Click to continue reading...

ca⋅coph⋅o⋅ny    /kəˈkɒfəni/ [kuh-kof-uh-nee] –noun, plural -nies. 1. harsh discordance of sound; dissonance 2. a discordant and meaningless mixture of sounds 3. Music. Ryan Babel rapping Fortunately it's once again in his native Dutch, so it's only lyrically offensive to those who understand a lot of extra vowels and excessively long words. Click to continue reading...

On this week's show Damon and Damian take a look back at the highs and lows from 2008 for their respective clubs: Liverpool and Tottenham. We also: Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Introduce a new football expression in English for Football And continue the predictions battle in the predictions competition For learners of [. Click to continue reading...

Another win for Damian last week reduces Damon's lead to only nine points. The festive period sees our two 'experts' predicting results from matches in the Premier League, the Dutch Eredivisie and the South East Asian championship final. DB DF RES A. Villa - Arsenal 1-1 2-1 Stoke - Man Utd 1-1 1-0 Rangers - Celtic 0-2 1-1 PSV - FC Twente 2-1 1-1 Fulham - Chelsea 1-1 0-2 Vietnam - Thailand 1-2 0-1 Click to continue reading...

During its history the UEFA Cup has been the red haired step child to the Champions League, but this year in its final year as the UEFA Cup, it has some interesting match-ups in the the Round of 32. There are a couple of former European Cup winners and even some up and coming clubs.
Here is how I see the round going:

• Paris St Germain v Wolfsburg: PSG, the only top flight club in Paris has shown a rebirth this year after a couple of years battling relegation.

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Damon increases his lead to a massive 20 points after his 5-4 win last week. This week we have games from the Premier League, Serie A's Rome derby, the Bundesliga, Ligue 1, the Dutch Eredivisie. In addition, we have World Cup qualifiers from Asia and Central America, as well as two international friendlies, including Diego [. Click to continue reading...

On this week's show we take a look back at the fantastic Barcelona side of the early 1990s under Johan Cruyff's management, the Dream Team. We also: Review the football news in the Good, the Bad and the Ugly Introduce a new football expression in English for Football rent a car bulgaria And continue the predictions battle in the predictions [. Click to continue reading...

The Champions League group games started this week and languagecaster takes a look at how teams from la Liga and the Premier League fared. For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources with: Worksheets and transcripts Vocabulary lists ** NEW ** Football language glossary Transcript Damian - The Spanish Teams Spanish teams usually feature among the favourites at the [. Click to continue reading...

A couple of months we profiled the International Football Factories on the Turks, now its time to give the Oranje their shot.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
Part V Click to continue reading...

Stuff to read while you listen to a sermon about sex from a porn addict..... The exodus of Dutch talent from the Netherlands. (ESPN) The magic of the Real Madrid mercato lacked this summer. (Reuters Soccer Blog) "Jimmy Bullard - England's saviour?" (SoccerLens) Who Ate All The Pies bids adieu. (Who Ate All The Pies) What West Ham & Newcastle's [. Click to continue reading...

Michael Bradley was a Metrostar. Just ask Alexei Lalas. And with his recent sale from the Dutch Leagues Heerenveen to Germany's Borussia Monchengladbach, rumored to be around $5 million dollars, would you believe that the Red Bulls may be entitled to a piece of the action?

Here it is in a nutshell - MLS will get 20% of the transfer amount ($1 mil).

Click to continue reading...

In this weeks Learners" Podcast we take a look at the groups in the Champions League and highlight some of the teams and their chances. There is also another English for Football phrase. For learners of English check out our Football Language Resources with: Worksheets and transcripts Vocabulary lists ** NEW ** Football language glossary Transcript Here's an early season [. Click to continue reading...

With Argentines being crowned Olympic Champions it's always good to see who may have made some money based on their performances in Beijing.
Here are five that I think made them selves some serious cash during the Olympic soccer tournament. 1. Angel Di'Maria, Argentina (above): Everyone talks about Messi and Roman but the Benfica wingers performance was key. Click to continue reading...

The season is almost here and boy I can not wait. Usually I leave the ranking of the top teams in Europe to my friend over at World Club Rankings, but since it a new season I figured I would give it a shot.
Here is the Only Time Will Tell preseason European Top 25.
1. Manchester United: With Ronald back my team tries to repeat what it did last year. Click to continue reading...

Dutch and Real Madrid striker Ruud van Nistelrooy has announced that he is retiring from international competition. Ruud said, "After stuyding the schedule of Real Madrid and the Dutch team I realized playing for both teams would mean too tough a physical load for me. Therefore I made this choice. Click to continue reading...

Bundesliga Hamburg and Dutch International soccerstar Rafael Van der Vaart reported by Skysports.com and Spanish magazine Marca set to join Spanish Champion club Real Madrid for €10 Million Euros transfer fee next week. Van der Vaart previously linked with Real Madrid for months and Van der Vaart also said before that "If I leave Hamburg it will only be for a big club like Real Madrid.

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Hey everyone,

So on our way to get some cheese steaks at the infamous Ginos and Pats in Philadelphia, we wound up in Amish Country.

Don't worry - I will make sure I eat my fair share of assorted jams and corn for all of you.

Oh, and if Dave Van Den Bergh is reading, I will save you a slice of shoofly pie (is it really a Dutch treat?

Click to continue reading...

After their Euro 08 victory, Spain have moved from number 4 to number 1 in the new FIFA world rankings. Spain is the 6th different team to hold the number one spot since 1993, when FIFA first starting using the ranking system. This is the first time that Spain has ever been ranked number one. The top five is:1. Click to continue reading...

Steve O'Connor's replacement at the AIS Dutchman Jan Versleijen is rumoured to have been given a contract worth between $300k & $350k a year; but has a get out clause after 6 months if the U20 Aust Team do not get through their World Cup qualifiers!
Great commitment!
Not sure what the AIS development program is supposed to do after 6 months (allows him to head back to UAE if he wants? Click to continue reading...

Come back Craig we loved you as a critic:)
SBS Commentator Craig Foster has written a piece in the SMH, see full article below, on the Dutchification of Aussie football.
In general it's fine but there are a few glaring mis-placed passes.

While the Socceroos' performances against Iraq raise concerns about their ability against stronger opposition, Verbeek has answered every question put to him, and his management of the logistical challenges of Asia has been perfect.

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The Dutch came into the Euro tournament playing some of the most exciting soccer we have seen in a while. In the group stage they were creative, explosive, and scored tons of goals on their way to an easy Group C victory. However, their opponents in the Quarterfinals, Russia, came into the game playing in the exact same style. Click to continue reading...

Unbelievable.
I was so anxiously awaiting tonight's Euro 2008 match because I hadn't watched the Dutch team yet the entire tournament. Why? Don't ask. So tonight, Lynda and I went over to the neighbor's cottage to watch some television while she's out of town for a couple of days. We don't have a television at the moment, and yes, our neighbor knows we're in her place. Click to continue reading...

With the Euro group stages ended, here is a look at the team of the group stages:
Goalie: Giggi Buffon, Italy
Defenders: Sergio Ramos, Spain
Defenders: Pepe, Portugal
Defenders: Vedran Corluka, Croatia
Defenders: Gio Van Bronkhorst, Dutch
Midfielders: Wesley Sneijder (right), Dutch
Midfielders: Arda Turan, Turkey
Midfielders: Luka Modric, Croatia
Midfielders: Deco, Portugal
Strikers:: David Silva, Spain
Striker: Nihat Kahveci, Turkey
Subs:
Ronaldo, Portugal
Rafeel van der Vaart, Dutch
Orlando Engelaar, Dutch
Lukas Podolski, Germany
Marco Senna, Spain
Roman Pavlyuenko, Russia Click to continue reading...

Now that group play has finished, we know which teams advanced, and what the Quarterfinal matchups are. In my Euro 08 Preview I predicted who I thought would advance. Lets see how I did. Group AMy Prediction: Actual:Portugal          PortugalCzech Republic TurkeySwitzerland      SwitzerlandTurkey             Czech Republic Portugal played how I thought they would, and I Click to continue reading...

In a rematch of the 2006 World Cup Final, Italy and France were playing to try and keep their Euro 08 hopes alive. Both teams knew that a Romania win would eliminate them both, but they had to focus on their own game. Italy controlled the play early on, but it was in the 24th minute that the game changed. Click to continue reading...

FFA appointed a new Ref's Assessor to look at the whole Refereeing stuff. Yep, he's Dutch.
Football Federation Australia (FFA) today announced the appointment of Mario Van der Ende to conduct an independent review of Australian match officiating standards, systems and practices.
"This is the review we had to have," said FFA CEO, Ben Buckley. Click to continue reading...

Going into the final Group C games, a Romania win against the Netherlands would mean that Italy and France would both be eliminated from the tournament. The question that has been coming up all this week is, "Should the Dutch Lose the Game on Purpose?"  I personally don't think the Dutch would throw the game because the players have too much pride in both their game, and their country, to Click to continue reading...

To the Question, Who Will Win Euro 08? 23% said "Other"22% said Portugal21% said Spain15% said Italy10% said Germany7% said France I am going to assume that the majority, if not all of the votes for "Other" were for the Netherlands. THANKS FOR VOTING AND KEEP VOTING..... Click to continue reading...

Here's a brief video I shot of the Dutch friends we made in Bern. It's one of those delightful football songs that's almost impossible to get out of your head after you've heard it. If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting! Bookmark to: Click to continue reading...

hENRY and the Cup of Fire
Originally uploaded by spidernaut Los franceses ya tienen muchas cosas de que preocuparse:
Una , su mal juego,
Dos sus figuras desaparecieron como por arte de magia ,
Tres los Holandeses están jugando casi perfecto
y Cuatro la forma en que la afición dutch ha hecho que la selección francesa se desconcentre, si no vean este vídeo , ya lo han hecho con los galos, ahora van por los rumanos. Click to continue reading...

Rumours abound. I want a house in Sydney, and so does the prospective new Dutch AIS Coach.
The AIS look set to appoint an overseas coach, if you believe the pitchside talk, yes he's Dutch. No surprise there.
Previous AIS Coach Steve O'Connor was on somewhere around $100,000. The new position was advertised at $200,000. Click to continue reading...