The UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs had their second legs on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. One of the match-ups was Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina, where Portugal led 1-0 after the first leg. Who was able to win and advance to South Africa next summer? Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

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From Soccer America The final six teams in the 32-team World Cup 2010 field will be determined today four in Europe, one in South America/Concacaf and one in Africa necessitated by the tie between Egypt and Algeria in their qualifying group. For a look at all six games, with television information and predictions .

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Edin Dzeko - Bosnia's dangerman (AFP)When FIFA announced back in September that they were going to seed the UEFA European playoffs for World Cup 2010 qualification, they instantly drew the ire of... Click to continue reading...

Sir Alex looks to bring in another striker, but does he need to?

Portsmouth Vs Manchester United Tickets Still Available!

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VfL Wolfsburg striker Edin Dzeko linked with moves to AC Milan, Arsenal, Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City over the summer is now a target for Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson, according to the Manchester Evening News.

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According to Stuart Mathieson at the Manchester Evening News, Wolfsburg stiker Edin Dzeko is at the top of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson's wish-list.

It is also reported that Manchester United are set to offer goalkeeper Edwin Van der Sar a new 12-month contract.

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The four European World Cup Play-offs games are delicately posed heading into the second leg on Wednesday. Here is a look at each game, plus the big winner take all game in Africa.

Republic of Ireland 0-1 France
France were the one European team to win away from home on Saturday, putting them in the strongest position of all the teams playing on Wednesday.

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¿Hay algún jugador que le impresione particularmente en su próximo rival?
Sin duda Edin Dzeko. No es coincidencia que haya sido nombrado entre los 30 candidatos para ganar el Balón de Oro de France Football. Es un jugador muy impresionante, y lo ha hecho muy bien recientemente, pero obviamente no es el único. Click to continue reading...

With the Premier League news slowing down, and the World Cup qualification news speeding up, I figured I'd take the down time that so often comes with international breaks, put the Fantasy Premier League to the side, and focus a bit on predicting the European World Cup qualifiers...
Caveat: While my predicting/gambling skills have been refined over the past ten years through various online and offline channels, I rarely go with deep statistical analyses to back up my predictions. Click to continue reading...

On Saturday 14th November 2009, Portugal play Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first leg of their World Cup playoff. This is a really tough one to predict for me, as Portugal have really struggled in the group stage and Bosnia appear to have a strong side. Sports retailers will certainly be hoping for a Portuguese victory, as they are likely to be one of the best selling World Cup Jerseys likely to be among the best selling kits next summer.

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On Saturday 14th November 2009, Portugal play Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first leg of their World Cup playoff. This is a really tough one to predict for me, as Portugal have really struggled in the group stage and Bosnia appear to have a strong side. Sports retailers will certainly be hoping for a Portuguese victory, as they are likely to be one of the best selling World Cup Jerseys likely to be among the best selling kits next summer.

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Wolfsburg edged closer to booking a place in the knock-out round out the Champions League thanks to a very positive performance on the pitch. Besiktas were consequently bundled out of the competition, owing to an early goal from Zvjezdan Misimovic, and a late strike each from Christian Gentner and Edin Dzeko. Click to continue reading...

Group A
Bayern Munich 0-2 Bordeaux -- A frustrating home loss for the Germans will add some more heat to coach Louis Van Gaal's seat. Bayern will likely miss out of the round of 16 thanks to goals from Yoann Gourcuff and Marouane Chamakh. The French team advanced.
Maccabi Haifa 0-1 Juventus -- The Italian side was riddled with injuries, but only needed a 45th minute goal from Camoranesi for the road win. Click to continue reading...

VfL Wolfsburg vs Besiktas

Last year's Bundesliga champions have been disappointing this season. They have only shown glimpses of the wonderful attacking football that we were all spoiled with this past year.

Grafite is back from a club-enforced break following his red card against Besiktas a fortnight ago.

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FIFA has announced its shortlist of 23 players for the Men's World Player of the Year award, and 10 players for the Women's World Player of the Year Award. National team captains and coaches will now vote (but not for players from their own country) and this final five will be revealed in early December, with the winners announced at FIFA's World Player bash in Zurich on December 21st.

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Algumas estatísticas das eliminatórias da Copa do Mundo:
Continente Africano.
Já fizeram gols no Continente africano, pelas eliminatórias da copa, 268 jogadores, e os 5 maiores artilheiros do continente africano são:
1º - Moumoni DAGANO - Burkina Faso - 11 gols
2º - Frederic KANOUTE - Mali - 8 gols
3º - Samuel ETOO - Camarões - 8 gols
4º - Razak OMOTOYOSSI - Benin - 7 gols
5º - Didier DROGBA - Costa do Marfim - 6 gols
Maior número de cartões:
1º - Mohammed KALLON - Serra Leoa - 4 cartões amarelos
2º - Stephane SESSEGON - Benin - 4 cartões amarelos
3º - Yazid MANSOURI - Argélia - 4 cartões amarelos
4º - Saidou PANANDETIGUIRI - Burkina Faso - 4 cartões amarelos
5º - Alaeldin YOUSIF - Sadão - 4 cartões amarelos
Continente Europeu
Já fizeram 384 jogadores, gols nas Eliminatórias da Europa. Click to continue reading...

The 30-man list of nominees for the 2009 Ballon d'Or has been announced. The list consisted of a Who's Who of European football. The most glaring thing is that there is no Italian player nominated in the top 30.

2009 Ballon d'Or Nominees

Andrey Arshavin (Arsenal)
Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Frank Lampard (Chelsea)
John Terry (Chelsea)
Fernando Torres (Liverpool)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Nemanja Vidic (Manchester United)
Karim Benzema (Real Madrid)
Kaka (Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid)
Thierry Henry (Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Barcelona)
Andres Iniesta (Barcelona)
Lionel Messi (Barcelona)
Xavi (Barcelona)
Yaya Toure (Barcelona)
David Villa (Valencia)
Luis Fabiano (Sevilla)
Diego Forlan (Atletico Madrid)
Diego (Juventus)
Samuel Eto'o (Inter Milan)
Julio Cesar (Inter Milan)
Maicon (Inter Milan)
Edin Dzeko (Wolfsburg)
Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich)
Yoann Gourcuff (Bordeaux)
Lionel Messi is arguably the favourite for this award this year. Click to continue reading...

Who deserves the plaudits?

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Veteran Manchester United winger Ryan Giggs is one of five British footballers nominated for the 2009 European Player of the Year award.

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France Football magazine has announced the following 30 nominees for their 2009 Golden Ball (Ballon D'Or) Award:
Andrei Arshavin (Russia and Arsenal)
Karim Benzema (France and OL/Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Spain and Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal and Manchester United/Real Madrid)
Diego (Brazil and Werder Bremen/Juventus)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast and Chelsea)
Edin Dzeko (Bosnia and Wolfsburg)
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon and Barcelona/Inter Milan)
Cesc Fabregas (Spain and Arsenal)
Fernando Torres (Spain and Liverpool)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay and Atletico Madrid)
Steven Gerrard (England and Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Wales and Manchester United)
Yoann Gourcuff (France and Bordeaux)
Thierry Henry (France and Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden and Inter Milan/Barcelona)
Andres Iniesta (Spain and Barcelona)
Julio Cesar (Brazil and Inter Milan)
Kaka' (Brazil and AC Milan/Real Madrid)
Frank Lampard (England and Chelsea)
Maicon (Brazil and Inter Milan)
Lionel Messi (Argentina and Barcelona)
Luis Fabiano (Brazil and FC Seville)
Franck Ribery (France and Bayern Munich)
Wayne Rooney (England and Manchester United)
John Terry (England and Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Serbia and Manchester United)
David Villa (Spain and Valencia)
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10 Premier League players have been named in the 30 strong list for the European Player Of The Year Awards- three of which are Man United players.
Here is the list-
Arsenal- Andrey Arshavin and Cesc Fabregas
Atletico Madrid- Diego Forlan
Barcelona- Thierry Henry, Xavi, Yaya Toure, Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Andres Iniesta and Lionel Messi
Bayern Munich- Franck Ribery
Bordeaux- Yoann Gourcuff
Chelsea- John Terry, Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba
Inter Milan- Samuel Eto'o, Julio Cesar and Maicon
Juventus- Diego
Liverpool- Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres
Man United- Nemanja Vidic, Ryan Giggs and Wayne Rooney
Real Madrid- Karim Benzema, Iker Casillas, Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo
Sevilla- Luis Fabiano
Valencia- David Silva
Wolfsburg- Edin Dzeko
Barcelona dominates the list with six players and in all honesty. Click to continue reading...

The Ballon d'Or award has released their shortlist of candidates for this year which includes favorites Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo. The list includes 30 players in Europe but has no Italian players even though they are reigning World Cup champions. Who will win this year's award? Messi is probably the favorite for the award but it is still up in the air.

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Ryan Giggs joins Wayne Rooney and Nemanja Vidic in the short-listed 30 players for the prestigious Ballon d'Or award.

Andreï Arshavin (Russia, Arsenal)
Karim Benzema (France, Lyon/Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Spain, Real Madrid)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Portugal, Manchester United/Real Madrid)
Diego (Brazil, Werder Brême/Juventus Turin)
Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast, Chelsea)
Edin Dzeko (Bosnia, Wolfsburg)
Samuel Eto'o (Cameroon, FC Barcelona/Inter Milan)
Cesc Fabregas (Spain, Arsenal)
Fernando Torres (Spain, Liverpool)
Diego Forlan (Uruguay, Atletico Madrid)
Steven Gerrard (England, Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Wales, Manchester United)
Yoann Gourcuff (France, Bordeaux)
Thierry Henry (France, FC Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Sweden, Inter Milan/FC Barcelona)
Iniesta (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Julio Cesar (Brazil, Inter Milan)
Kak� (Brazil, Milan AC/Real Madrid)
Frank Lampard (England, Chelsea)
Maicon (Brazil, Inter Milan)
Lionel Messi (Argentina, FC Barcelona)
Luis Fabiano (Brazil, FC Séville)
Franck Ribéry (France, Bayern Munich)
Wayne Rooney (England, Manchester United)
John Terry (England, Chelsea)
Nemanja Vidic (Serbia, Manchester United)
David Villa (Spain, Valence)
Xavi (Spain, FC Barcelona)
Yaya Touré (Ivory Coast, FC Barcelona)

"Giggs In Ballon d'Or Shortlist" was originally published at The Republik of Mancunia. Click to continue reading...

Jogaram em Tallin, na Estônia, no A. Le Coq Arena, com um público de 6.450 pessoas, jogaram as seleções da Estônia (103º no ranking da FIFA) e Bósnia-Herzegovina (42º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
05-09-1998 - Bósnia 1x1 Estônia - Eliminatórias Eurocopa
09-10-1999 - Estônia 1x4 Bósnia - Eliminatórias Eurocopa
17-08-2005 - Estônia 1x0 Bósnia - Amistoso
10-09-2008 - Bósnia 7x0 Estônia - Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo
O quarteto de arbitragem desse jogo, foi assim definido:
Árbitro: Nicola RIZZOLI-ITA
Primeiro Assistente: Renato FAVERANI-ITA
Segundo Assistente: Andrea STEFANI-ITA
Quarto Árbitro: Andrea DE MARCO-ITA
Aos 30 minutos do primeiro tempo, o camisa 11, Edin DZEKO abriu o placar para a Bósnia-Herzegovina. Click to continue reading...

From Old Trafford, Attendance 74,037 , Referee Viktor Kassai Manchester United 2 1 Wolfsburg

Ryan Giggs (59)
Michael Carrick (78)

Edin Dzeko (55)

Manchester United Team Statistics Wolfsburg 2 Goals 1 8 Shots On Target 2 7 Shots Off Target 8 3 Shots Blocked 2 4 Corners 5 8 Offsides 0 10 Fouls 13 1 Yellow Cards 1 0 Red Cards 0 56. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United v VfL WolfsburgOn form Ryan Giggs encompasses everything that is great about football. He is now the ninth player in Manchester United history to score 150 goals for the club. The Welshman had bagged his 150th goal after helping United in their 2-1 Champions League win over Wolfsburg. Click to continue reading...

.Manchester United came from the behind and showed tremendous resilience to defeat Wolfsburg 2-1 at Old Trafford. Ryan Giggs displayed yet another stunning show at the Theater of Dreams, as Sir Alex Ferguson's men overcame a stiff hurdle from the German Champions. Red Devils had a slow start and things got worse for them, as Owen had [. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United kept their winning form going with a well deserved win against the German champions Wolfsburg in their Champions League group B match. Manchester United came from behind to beat Wolfsburg 2-1 on a night of contrasting fortunes for Michael Owen and Ryan Giggs. The match started with a shocker for United as Edin Dzeko's opener for the German champions silenced the United fans. Click to continue reading...

As relative tame as Tuesday's half of the UEFA Champions League Matchday Two was, Today's half has the makings of an unforgettable round.

Four high-profile match-ups headline the eight-match menu, including Bayern Munich-Juventus, Manchester United-Wolfsburg, Real Madrid-Marseille and FC Porto-Atletico Madrid.

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As relative tame as Tuesday's half of the UEFA Champions League Matchday Two was, Today's half has the makings of an unforgettable round.

Four high-profile match-ups headline the eight-match menu, including Bayern Munich-Juventus, Manchester United-Wolfsburg, Real Madrid-Marseille and FC Porto-Atletico Madrid.

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The Wolves are on the hunt at Old Trafford. And I don't mean the ones that got slaughtered by Sunderland over the weekend. This is the real deal, the German Wolves known as Verein für Leibesübungen Wolfsburg-Fußball GmbH but more conveniently referred to as VfL Wolfsburg. As the reigning Bundesliga champions, this is their first foray into the UEFA Champions League, and what better way to be introduced into the top tier of European football than with a trip to the reigning English and World club champions (it really hurts me to not be able to put European champions).

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• Hertha Berlin - where dreams metaphors become reality. (Ballspiel)
• Kicking you while you are down: Raphael Honigstein hands out some more Hertha bashing. (Guardian)
• Let Uli Hesse-Lichtenberger turn you into a VfL Bochum fan and then make our Bochum Offside your browser's new start page.

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Edin Dzeko is back with a bang! The Bosnia international striker, who spent most of the summer pushing for a dream move to AC Milan, has finally underlined his commitment to Wolfsburg with an outstanding decisive brace away to Schalke 04.

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Diego can shine on the big stage for Juve (photo Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters) Click to continue reading...

The UEFA Champions League group stage draw was always going to provide some juicy match-ups, but this year's draw was filled with them.

Inter Milan and defending champion FC Barcelona will clash in a battle of top teams who traded star forwards this summer as Samuel Eto'o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic pay visits to their old stomping grounds.

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The UEFA Champions League group stage draw was always going to provide some juicy match-ups, but this year's draw was filled with them.

Inter Milan and defending champion FC Barcelona will clash in a battle of top teams who traded star forwards this summer as Samuel Eto'o and Zlatan Ibrahimovic pay visits to their old stomping grounds.

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Week 2 of the German Bundesliga was much like the opening week as the two big teams of the league nearly duplicated their results from the opening round.
Champions Wolfsburg continued to show that they are the best team in Germany with their 3-1 road win against FC Cologne. Edin Dzeko scored his 1st goal of the season and Nigerian Obafemi Martins added The Wolves 3rd goal in the 86th minute for the win. Click to continue reading...