There are plenty of people, not least within the governing bodies of football itself, who would have it that football and politics don't mix. This is, of course, bunkum, whether we like it or not. The game holds such influence over so many people that it sometimes seems impossible for politicians not to be able to link the two, from the relatively harmless, "You only win the World Cup under Labour" slogans of Harold Wilson's British government of the late 1960s to the altogether more sinister machinations of the state organisations and their leaders that ran clubs in Eastern Europe during the Cold War.

Alessandro Del Piero may have spent the night in an Italian hospital over the weekend, but that didn't stop him from being semi-consciously cute.

More weekend news after the jump!

Saturday

- Truth be told Andrei Arshavin admitted to stealing his current wife away from her then-boyfriend when the two first met.

Football Team of the Decade: 1960s - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

The 1960s just might be football's golden decade. George Best, Garrincha, Pele in his prime and much much more. Recently on the Total Soccer Show podcast, we picked our starting XI from the 1960s. None of of us were alive back then, but thanks to television, YouTube and brilliant books like Jonathan Wilson's Inverting the Pyramid, we were able to weigh the various options at each position and argue out the perfect starting XI to represent 10 of the most glorious years in the history of the beautiful game.

Image via sports.ru

You all remember Yulia Voronin, right? She of the tracksuit that will never die? Of course you do.

Mrs. Voronin, whose husband Andriy formerly played for Liverpool and currently plays for Dynamo Moscow, has given a truly spectacular interview to a Russian sports site.

When does a waterlogged pitch become a flood? Judging on the evidence of the match between Krylya and Dynamo Moscow, there is a different threshold as to precisely what constitutes a waterlogged pitch. This match is part football, part bog-snorkelling. Despite a continuing downpour onto an already saturated pitch, the referee shows no signs of [.

He maybe a goal-machine on his day but Brazilian born, German International striker Kevin Kuranyi shows us that even the most potent strikers can have an off day with this miss for his Russian club Dynamo Moscow at the week-end.

By Chris Wright

Given that Dynamo Moscow almost definitely signed Kevin Kuranyi as a 'striker' last summer, we reckon that the Russians probably now have decent grounds to sue his worthless arse for flagrantly violating the Trades Description Act against Volga over the weekend.

When Barcelona meets Real Madrid Wednesday afternoon for the third time in a span of less than two weeks it will have a major defensive reinforcement.

Captain Carles Puyol has been included in the squad for Barcelona's UEFA Champions League semifinal first leg with Madrid.

Ah, the obligatory transfer roundup post. Before we begin the beguine though, let's look back five years and put this window into a bit of perspective.

2006 January Transfer Window IN
GK Tony Warner Cardiff City Undisclosed
MF Simon Elliott Columbus Crew Free
GK Antti Niemi Southampton Undisclosed
MF Michael Brown Sheffield United Undisclosed
DF Wayne Bridge Chelsea Loan 2007 January Transfer Window IN
FW Vincenzo Montella A.

STUTTGART, Germany — Johannes Flum's first-half goal earned Freiburg a 1-0 win at Stuttgart in the Bundesliga on Sunday, ending the home side's unbeaten start to 2011. Flum scored in the 24th minute, when he latched onto a through ball from Maximilian Nicu to shoot with his right foot under Sven Ulreich.

DOHA, Qatar — A 117th-minute strike from Harry Kewell powered Australia to a 1-0 quarter-final victory over holders Iraq at the Asian Cup on Saturday and into a showdown with Uzbekistan for a place in the final. The Galatasaray forward met a pinpoint cross from Matt McKay towards the end of extra time and angled [.