Chasing the Big Leagues FC Zwolle (Dutch Eerste Divisie) is a post from: Just Football

Just Football's Tales from Tier Two series, in association with @tiertwofooty, concludes now with a look at the runaway leaders of the Dutch Eerste Divisie:

FC Zwolle

FC Zwolle are in pole position to return to the Dutch Eredivisie eight years since they were cruelly relegated after both Volendam and Vitesse claimed rare victories as Zwolle were being thumped 7-1 at Feyenoord.

Chasing the Big Leagues FC Zwolle (Dutch Eerste Divisie) is a post from: Just Football

Just Football's Tales from Tier Two series, in association with @tiertwofooty, concludes now with a look at the runaway leaders of the Dutch Eerste Divisie:

FC Zwolle

FC Zwolle are in pole position to return to the Dutch Eredivisie eight years since they were cruelly relegated after both Volendam and Vitesse claimed rare victories as Zwolle were being thumped 7-1 at Feyenoord.

Steve McClaren's back in Enschede. No one cares. What matters is that Steve is back to speaking Dutch again.

Heading back into the archives for one of the gems of the footby-related YouTubery, we have Shteeve van Klaaren. Or however you choose to mangle it in order to get something vaguely Dutch.

The Dutch Cup clash suspended over the above fan attack has been declared to resume in mid-January, with AZ keeper Alvaro Esteban getting off without a suspension. Plus we get what might be the photo of the year, possibly courtesy of John Woo. Silver linings and all. (Olaf Kraak/AFP/Getty)

A drunk fan decided that the best way to utilize his buzz during the Dutch Cup clash between AZ and Ajax was to attack AZ's keeper Esteban Alvarado because...well, he was drunk. So the keeper defended himself, then attacked the intruder with his boots and boiling anger. Understandably. However, the referee decided he should then send off Alvarado, which then prompted AZ to walk off the pitch.

The move to Holland has done wonders for Jozy Altidore's scoring touch.

The American forward scored the lone goal in AZ's 5-1 defeat to Heerenveen. Altidore leveled the score in the 20th minute of the match, when he played a give-and-go with a teammate, the forward cut through two defenders before firing in the goal.

After battling through a round of midweek Europa League contests, the Americans in Europe took on teams in their respecitve domestic leauges. Here is a recap of this weekend's games.
Jozy Altidore started and played 86 minutes in AZ Alkmaar's 3-0 victory against ADO Den Haag in the Dutch Eredivisie, and the side remains at the top of the table by a margin of five points.

Out of their legendary academy and youth setup comes Ajax's D1 team, which is comprised of those with a birth year of 1999. So in the general vicinity of 12 years old, says the trusty abacus. Which means...

They're probably too young to be scoring goals like this beauty.

Probably a little bit early for machine gun celebrations too.

Who doesn't love the Wikipedia game? (Employers, actually, but work with me.) Start out somewhere random and hours later, land somewhere even more random after 42,817 clicks of the mouse. Like starting at Anis Ben-Hatira and ending at Mata Hari.

Apparently it works with football videos too.

Yet another teenager being lined up for a move to Arsenal, but this one is slightly different because he has already an experienced international as he has won 10 full international caps at the tender age of just 19. Ahmed Musa plays for VVV-Venlo in the Dutch Eredivisie, where he has already played over 30 [.

We shouldn't be too surprised that the U.S. attack currently has all the potency of a spaghetti dinner.

First, there's no Landon Donovan. Over the last few years, the U.S. attack is cut pretty much in half when Donovan hasn't been around. His contributions to the U.S. effort have long been, in my opinion, routinely underrated.

Tim Howard got his start with the MetroStars
Several members of the U.S. squad have embarked on their professional careers in New Jersey. Juan Agudelo and Tim Ream currently ply their trade for the New York Red Bulls. Jozy Altidore, Michael Bradley and Tim Howard began their careers playing for the former MetroStars.

I remember so very well where I was when Steve McClaren was stood stony-faced beneath an umbrella in the pouring rain as England surrendered their opportunity to feature at Euro 2008. I was in a pub in Holloway in North London, and the patrons of the establishment had come together under a cloud of false hope.

The Noordwijk Experiment Ajax and the 3-4-3 is a post from: Just Football

by Mohamed Moallim

The last time Ajax regularly played three at the back, Sandra Bullock was one of the hottest young actresses in Hollywood with a bright future ahead, and the same could be said for Ajax who dined at the top of Europe's elite table.

Ola John is the youngster in question and he plays for FC Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie and he claims today that Arsenal were interested in him during the recent summer transfer window. John, 19, is the younger brother of Collins John who used to play for Fulham, has been a target for Manchester United [.

The Netherlands secured first position in UEFA EURO 2012 qualifying Group E with an 11-0 win over minnows San Marino in Eindhoven on Friday. The win is the biggest in the Oranje's history and sees the team remain perfect with seven wins from seven matches in qualifying thus far. Arsenal captain Robin van Persie score [.

For such a high-priced signing, a lot of us didn't know a whole lot about Bryan Ruiz. Unfortunately, I haven't found many good information sources for the Dutch Eredivisie, but Ruiz does have a handful of Champions League and international appearances that I can pull shooting data from. A few things I was able to find:

• Has a 60-40 preference toward his left foot, but seems competent with both.

FC Twente. The pride of Holland. Great management. Wonderful finances. Tremendous scouting. Attacking football vision. Title winner a season back. Runner up this year. With a number of exciting Dutch players (Brama, Tiendali, Berghuis, Luuk de Jong, Willem Jansen) and a number of great finds for the Dutch eredivisie ( [read more]

Forward Jozy Altidore is one member of the U.S. MNT player pool not on the roster for the game against Mexico. After a hamstring injury cut his Gold Cup short, Altidore made the move to AZ Alkmaar in the Dutch Eredivisie. He's been working his way back to full fitness and today he scored on his debut for the club in AZ's 3-1 win against PSV to start the season.

What's funny about this is just into the second half, Twente's Steven Berghuis was sent off for diving which, while technically ahead of impact itself, also looked like he was smartly avoiding a compound fracture and months in traction. The ref was simply taking care of things in advance, it seems, for this inevitable travesty by Peter Wisgerhof.

What's funny about this is just into the second half, Twente's Steven Berghuis was sent off for diving which, while technically ahead of impact itself, also looked like he was smartly avoiding a compound fracture and months in traction. The ref was simply taking care of things in advance, it seems, for this inevitable travesty by Peter Wisergof.

Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse is a Dutch football club from Arnhem which was founded on 14 May 1892. Commonly called just Vitesse or Vitesse Arnhem, the club currently competes in the Dutch Eredivisie where it finished the 2010/11 season in 15th place. A regular qualifier for the UEFA Cup in the 1990s and 2000s, Vitesse has [.

Stichting Betaald Voetbal Vitesse is a Dutch football club from Arnhem which was founded on 14 May 1892. Commonly called just Vitesse or Vitesse Arnhem, the club currently competes in the Dutch Eredivisie where it finished the 2010/11 season in 15th place. A regular qualifier for the UEFA Cup in the 1990s and 2000s, Vitesse has [.

It's now officially official that Chris Eagles and Tyrone Mears have signed for Bolton Wanderers in a deal worth around £2.75 million for the pair. It's common knowledge that the pair both played under Owen Coyle in his time at Burnley but each of their histories are much more extensive.

With that, we give you the opportunity to learn a little more about Chris Eagles.

Film Review by Eric Beard

Creating an appropriate balance between educating a viewer and watchability is one of the most difficult tasks for anyone putting together a documentary, but the means in which the tragic stories portrayed in Soka Afrika were managed kept true to an equilibrium of fine filmmaking.

2009/10 Dutch Eredivisie champions FC Twente have officially launched their BURRDA 2011/12 home kit. Twente switches gear provider to the Swiss firm after donning Diadora in recent times. The new kit was used for the first time in a 1-0 pre-season win over visiting Galatasaray on July 20th. Managed by former England boss Steve McClaren from [.

American forward Jozy Altidore is on the verge of heading to Dutch Eredivisie club AZ Alkmaar on a new permanent contract.

The Jozy Altidore-to-AZ Alkmaar link continues to persist.

The U.S. striker is reportedly seen as a fit for the Dutch Eredivisie club, which just offloaded striker Kolbeinn Sigthorsson to Ajax. Financial complications could prevent the move from happening, according to reports from the Netherlands.

Rather alarming news from out of Enschede today, as FC Twente's stadium De Grolsch Veste has collapsed and there are people trapped underneath, with rumors, if no confirmations, of "casualties".

This is no small stadium; not, considering, their presence in the Champions League, and though it was under construction, which sounds the culprit, this has the potential to be both tragic and widely impacting in the world of football.

FC Utrecht is a Dutch football club founded on July 1, 1970 and based in the city of Utrecht. The club is known to its fans as Utreg and currently campaigns in the top-tier of Dutch soccer the Eredivisie. Notable former FC Utrecht players include Dirk Kuyt, Dick Advocaat and Michael Mols. FC Utrecht has [.

Torsten Frings, the newest DP in MLS and in Toronto. (Getty Images)

On a day when Toronto FC is set to take on their Canadian rivals, the Vancouver Whitecaps. The club has gone out and made a big splash in the transfer market. The club announced today the signings of German World Cup midfielder Torsten Frings and former PSV Einhoven striker Danny Koevermans as the club's newest Designated Players.

USA National Team defender Oguchi Onyewu is now a member of Sporting in Portugal's Primeira Liga, signing a three season contract. Onyewu leaves Milan in Serie A after spending the second-half of the 2010-11 season on loan to FC Twente in the Dutch Eredivisie. He was part of the squad for the USA's recent Gold Cup run, but did not play.

What happened to the stars of Euro 2009?

Two years ago at the UEFA U-21 Championship in Sweden, I made a list of the players to watch out for in the future - those young guns who looked set to make the next step to the big time.

I've been traveling to Switzerland, Germany, and now England these last few days, so I thought it was only fitting to post the analysis below from London where I am currently enjoying the good weather and great company of friends and colleagues. When having conversations, especially here in England and over a pint or two of good beer, it's not unusual to hear complaints about leagues becoming too unequal.

Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax) is a professional soccer club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. The club is historically one of the three clubs that dominate the Dutch national football league (Eredivisie) along with PSV and Feyenoord and is the current Dutch Eredivisie champion.

Dutch powerhouse PSV Eindhoven have launched their Nike home away for the 2011/12 season. After a 3rd place league finish for the second season in a row, the Boeren will be looking to return to the summit of Dutch football and their first Dutch Eredivisie title since 2008. The Nike 2011/12 PSV away kit will be [.

Wisconsin native Charles Kazlauskas and Helmond Sport hope to continue their run to the Dutch Eredivisie with a deciding home and home playoff against Excelsior.

Ajax have claimed the club's 30th Dutch Eredivisie title wonderfully. The Dutch season was right down to the wire, with the final game between Ajax and Twente deciding who would win this season's Eredivisie. While Ajax were a point behind first-placed Twente in the table, a victory against last season's champions would seal the Ajax their 30th title.

Amsterdamsche Football Club Ajax (also referred to as AFC Ajax, Ajax Amsterdam or simply Ajax) is a professional soccer club from Amsterdam, Netherlands. The club is historically one of the three clubs that dominate the Dutch national football league (Eredivisie) along with PSV and Feyenoord. Witn 29 Eredivisie, 18 KNVB Cups and 4 UEFa European Champion [.

Sports parent alert?

What would seemingly be the product of the maniacal machinations of the PR department deep down seems anything but, and it's quite frightening.

That one year old 'phenom' who can put his toys away, basically? He just signed a ten year deal with VVV Venlo.