by FRANCO PANIZO

Thierry Henry's handball heard around the world helped secure France's passage to the 2010 World Cup, but the French may not be through to South Africa yet.

The Irish federation has appealed Wednesday's night 1-1 result (2-1 aggregate advantage for France), and is demanding that France replay the second leg of the playoff.

Click to continue reading...

by FRANCO PANIZO

Thierry Henry's handball heard around the world helped secure France's passage to the 2010 World Cup, but the French may not be through to South Africa yet.

The Irish federation has appealed Wednesday's night 1-1 result (2-1 aggregate advantage for France), and is demanding that France replay the second leg of the playoff.

Click to continue reading...

Donbass Arena opened on August 29th, 2009, and this week will host its first international and one of the biggest game's in Ukraine's history: the second-leg of their World Cup 2010 qualifier playoff against Greece. Ukraine are in great shape to qualify after a 0-0 draw in Athens this weekend.

The game could be taking place in no more beautiful setting.

Click to continue reading...

The football part of the operation Euro 2012 will start on Saturday. Franz Smuda, a man chosen to lead us to success in 2012, is going to debut as the manager of the Bialo Czerwoni in a game against Romania. The expectations are high, the players will do everything to show the famous Smuda offensive style.

Click to continue reading...

At the moment it's 99% certain that Franciszek Smuda will be the next coach of the Polish national team and a manager that will lead us in Euro 2012 at home turf. The new coach has to be picked before the end of October as someone has to call up players for the November friendlies. Smuda is the only one so far reported to have met with the FA's board.

Click to continue reading...

While everyone was busy anxiously awaiting FIFA's latest release and the seeding for the playoff spots, UEFA was busy concocting a ranking of their own and releasing it under unsuspecting eyes. At this point it means little and will only serve to put Euro 2012 qualifying seeding into perspective, still some way off yet, but it's always interesting to see how others differ from the entirely rubbish FIFA ranking system.

Click to continue reading...

As the pitch was besieged with red-hot flares and racist monkey noises during Saturday's Ukraine v England match, there was a third menace, literally flying under the radar with its threat of gliding danger. That threat?

Paper planes.

Says David James:

"They were big flares, granted, but you could argue that someone throwing a paper aeroplane on the pitch might take someone's eye out.

Click to continue reading...

In the opening minutes of Saturday's Ukraine v England match, England keeper Robert Green was forced to scurry out of his goal as the Ukrainian fans hurled flares onto the pitch. Once the threat of being pegged with a fireball and burning alive subsided, the unnerved goalkeeper promptly went on to earn the first red card for England since Wayne Rooney in the last World Cup.

Click to continue reading...

Um texto bem elaborado por Nuno Madureira, no maisfutebol, sobre o assunto em referência, que transcrevo em seguida e com o qual estou inteiramente de acordo. Em complemento à última entrada sobre o assunto, gostaria de acrescentar como exemplo, se o jogo Nacional/Vitória SC não se tem realizado, como esteve para acontecer, estando previsto o seu adiamento para 3ª feira, o problema que não surgiria entre os Clubes, a Liga e a Selecção. Click to continue reading...

Marc Wilmots, capped 70 times by Belgium, will assist new national coach Dick Advocaat, the Belgian football federation said Monday. After dabbling in politics, Wilmots, 40, returns to football with Belgium already out of the World Cup and now looking to qualify for Euro 2012. Dutchman Advocaat took over the beleaguered Belgians . Click to continue reading...

Republic of Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni on Friday penned a new two-year contract with the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) which will take him through to the end of the Euro 2012 qualifiers. The 70-year-old will attempt to book a trip to next summer's World Cup finals as the Republic lie . Click to continue reading...

Which players should the next coach keep? Which players we can count on with Euro 2012 in perspective? Who should we dispose of? These are the questions that the Polish fans have been asking themselves for the last week. We're not building a team for the remaining qualifiers, 2010 or 2011. We need a team for 2012.

Click to continue reading...

Inside Left gets another prediction horribly wrong as Scotland miss out on another World Cup. Nevermind, there's always Euro 2012 right? Click to continue reading...

O novo estádio do FC Shakhtar Donetsk
O FC Shakhtar Donetsk inaugurou no dia 29 de Agosto de 2009 o seu novo e moderno estádio. O novo recinto do clube Ucraniano, a "Donbass Arena", tem capacidade para 50.149 espectadores, sendo considerado pela UEFA um estádio de Elite 5 Estrelas, tendo certamente um dos palcos do Europeu 2012 a realizar na Ucrânia e Polónia. Click to continue reading...

Carlsberg, long-term sponsors of English soccer giants Liverpool and a number of other Premier League clubs, have extended their sponsorship of the Football Association, the governing body of English soccer, for the next four years.
While serious doubts remain about Carlsberg's future at Liverpool, the company has signed an extension to the partnership that sees it the official beer of both the England team and the FA Cup and the lucrative position as exclusive beer pouring partner at Wembley, the national stadium. Click to continue reading...

They partied like it was 2099 in Donetsk on Saturday, opening up one of the new jewels of European Stadiums. Donbass Arena, the structure Shakhtar has been hyping for eons now (which at this point is looking justified), finally had its ribbon cut with an over the top futuristic ceremony on Ukrainian holiday "Miners' Day", [. Click to continue reading...

It was supposed to refocus UEFA away from Western Europe the awarding of hosting rights to Ukraine alongside Poland for Euro 2012 seemed like a giant leap forward for Eastern European football when it was announced two years ago.

But now, it looks like all the decision has done is given UEFA its hardest decision for some time: whether to remove the hosting rights from Ukraine, as stalled preparations for Euro 2012 are shedding an unpleasant light on all of the problems the game and the nation's infrastructure has there.

Click to continue reading...

Poland is preparing to host (half of) Euro 2012, and campaigns by the Polish FA and government to crack down on ultras groups at clubs across the country are producing a visceral backlash.

We've covered Polish fans' protests before here, but events have taken a further turn with the recent news that new legislation this summer means ultras caught lighting pyrotechnics inside a football stadium will face up to five years in prison.

Click to continue reading...

The Polish international winger competed in over 80 league matches with Legia Warsaw. I believe it is time for Guerreiro, originally from Brazil, to take his samba style to either Holland or Belgium.
As Poland gears up for the 2010 WC and Euro 2012, Guerreiro will be vital to the nation's success at each tournament. Click to continue reading...

As preparations continue for Euro 2012, Poland appears to have its house in order. Ukraine? Not so much. The New York Times has the latest from Eastern Europe in an update made all the more entertaining because of the fantastic intertwining of the news with a classic Seinfeld moment. Click to continue reading...

With the majority of media outlets today reporting on UEFA's comments on the selection of host cities for EURO 2012, don't forget that we recently profiled the Euro 2012: The Stadiums.
It will be a shame if Donbass Arena, Ukraina Stadium, and Dnipro Stadium miss out on the chance to host Euro matches. Click to continue reading...

"Unbelievable!", that's how most people greeted the decision about Krakow not being the host city for Euro 2012. Michel Platini announced today that Euro 2012 will be hosted by four Polish cities: Warsaw, Gdansk, Poznan and Wroclaw. As for Ukraine, the decision hasn't been made as UEFA has still some reservations about Ukrainian candidate cities.

Click to continue reading...

Pogoń Szczecin 1-1 Polonia Słubice (03:05:09)
- click on photos to enlarge image -
After watching games at Hansa Rostock and VfL Wolfsburg the previous two days, this Sunday was initially set aside for a regional match in Berlin. We hadn't factored in EFW member Michael Stoffl though had we? Click to continue reading...

Uefa will announce the list of host cities for Euro 2012 next week and everyone wants to keep hold of their slice of the financial pie.
Ukraine's road to 2012 remains rocky as cities face stadium scrap.
Click to continue reading...

The task of leading "tricolori" has been solved as the job has been handed to Răzvan Lucescu by the Romanian Football Federation. With a goal of reviving Romania's Euro 2012 efforts, the Federation has chosen a young manager who has already experienced tremendous success leading FC Braşov and Rapid Bucureşti Click to continue reading...

Belgium, currently sitting fourth its World Cup qualifying group, appears destined to miss out on international competition yet again.
The squad has managed just seven out of a possible 18 points in Group Five. Up first, the federation needs to find a coach after sacking Rene Vandereycken. Click to continue reading...

Michel Platini has assured Ukraine that they will not lose the right ti co-host the European Championships in 2012 with Poland after previously threatening to remove the hosting rights due to the financial and political problems in the country. "It's impossible that Ukraine would lose Euro 2012." Platini added that "today the . Click to continue reading...

I couldn't believe it either. Then I saw the trailed over at The Original Winger.
What say you?
The links:

• Sergio Ramos apologies for sneaking out to go watch a bullfight. [ESPN]
  
• Team too good to be relegated. [Off the Post]
  
• Some D.C. United contest to check out.

Click to continue reading...

BBC with an exceptional article detailing some of the more sinister elements found within the a href="http://www.ffu.org.ua/eng/" __eventidglow127485756="83"Football Federation of Ukraine (FFU)/a. Earlier this year, Soccer City FC profiled the a href="http://www.soccercityfc.com/2009/03/euro-2012-stadiums. Click to continue reading...

The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, more commonly known as Euro 2012, will be played in the summer of that year. The top 16 soccer nations in Europe – Spain, Italy, Germany, and England, to name a few – will travel to the host nations of Poland and the Ukraine for the tournament. After winning the bid in 2007, a massive overhaul of the infrastructure began in the two countries. Click to continue reading...

  When Manchester City signed Shay Given from Newcastle on Sunday, most at Eastlands will have been pleased by this capture. But not quite everyone.  Given will instantly become City's first choice goalkeeper, displacing Joe Hart. This in turn will leave the young goalkeeper as nothing more than a bench warmer, at least for the remainder [. Click to continue reading...

  When Manchester City signed Shay Given from Newcastle on Sunday, most at Eastlands will have been pleased by this capture. But not quite everyone.  Given will instantly become City's first choice goalkeeper, displacing Joe Hart. This in turn will leave the young goalkeeper as nothing more than a bench warmer, at least for the remainder [. Click to continue reading...

Italy could enter the race to host the 2016 European Championship, according to the latest Press reports. It has been suggested by the Corriere dello Sport that the Italian Federal Council has made provisional enquiries to UEFA. Having lost out to Poland and Ukraine in the fight to host Euro 2012, Italy are expected to make a strong bid for the 2016 tournament. Click to continue reading...

It was not quite as astounding as what went on in the global economy, but the week in football was certainly an eventful one.
I was certainly dumbfounded, but perhaps should not have been, by FIFA's woeful CHF 30,000 ($27,500) fine for the Croatian FA after their fans made monkey noises at black England players last month. Click to continue reading...

Poland preparation for the 2010 World Cup qualifiers as well as their hosting of Euro 2012 is under threat after they were threatened with suspension from international competition due to government interference. Poland and Ukraine are set to co-host Euro 2010 and only last week Platini backed the 2 countries to . Click to continue reading...