By Chris Wright

Germany have finally gotten around to launching their new change strip for Euro 2012 and, as we stated when it was originally leaked ages and ages ago, it's a work of true retro kunst harking back to their beautiful green strip from 1972 and marking the 40th anniversary of their first European Championship win.

Sky Sports understands Swedish teenager Abdul Aziz has been forced to cut short his trial with Liverpool because of a heavy bout of flu.
Sky Sports revealed earlier this week how the 14-year-old from ISK Norkopping had been handed a two-week trial with the Reds.
Their scouts had sent back glowing reports to the Premier League club about Aziz's scoring exploits with his club and Under-15 national team.

So yesterday was a day without Wikipedia.
How did we all cope?
Maybe by using the various workarounds that let you bypass Wiki's self-imposed protest blackout. Or whiling away the hours following STV's #fitbawiki chat on Twitter.
Or you could have gone old school and picked up a book.

Having already knocked out Villarreal and Real Racing Club in this years Copa del Rey, Mirandés, are bow looking to knockoff another of La Liga's big names, Espanyol, in the quarter-finals.

The Spanish third division side are currently enjoying the experience of a lifetime – playing and beating the elite.

In the last month, Paul Scholes and Thierry Henry have made goalscoring returns for Manchester United and Arsenal respectively, and clearly inspired by their exploits, 40-year old former Liverpool striker Stan Collymore has made the bold claim that he is fit enough to come out retirement and do the business at the highest level.

January 18, 2012 will mark Frank Klopas' 4th full year as technical director for the Chicago Fire. The club has enjoyed a roller coaster ride, from the highs of cup finals to the lows of missing the Playoffs. In this time, Klopas has been responsible for signing players both foreign and domestic. With the transfer window opening in the past couple of days, I believe an examination of the Fire's international signings under Klopas is important, especially considering that the search for international talent for the 2012 season is well under way.

Was there really any doubt that Clint Dempsey wasn't going to run away with this award?
As some of our commentors pointed out during the voting, it seemed a bit one-sided. Not just because of their own qualifications, but the over-whelming case that could be made for Sir Deuce.
With nearly 40 goals for Fulham in the English Premier League and counting Clint Dempsey has made the biggest splash of any American aboard, ever.

Liverpool's Jose Enrique insists he 'deserves a chance' to prove his worth for Spain ahead of Euro 2012

The full-back has never featured for his national side above under-21 level, but believes his Anfield exploits should gain the attention of boss Vicente del Bosque

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-27 11:40:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Ally McCoist has urged striker Nikica Jelavic to reject the chance of a move away from Rangers, with Liverpool one of the reported suitors.
Speculation over the last fortnight has placed the Reds in the mix for the striker, who moved to Ibrox Stadium for £4 million last August.
His form in the SPL has alerted a number of clubs south of the border, with The Daily Mail claiming today that Reds boss Kenny Dalglish is one the interested parties in the 26-year-old.

After a long time, Europe's premier competition has thrown up a few surprises and plenty of excitement. At the time of the draw few, if any, would have expected United to bow out. Fewer still would have expected the Gunners to qualify from a tough group before the other three English clubs and with a game to spare.

After a long time, Europe's premier competition has thrown up a few surprises and plenty of excitement. At the time of the draw few, if any, would have expected United to bow out. Fewer still would have expected the Gunners to qualify from a tough group before the other three English clubs and with a game to spare.

Young boys in the park with jumpers for goalposts, or battering a ball against a garage door, dream of pulling on that jersey, of scoring the winner at Wembley, of lifting the World Cup. Of making a name for themselves. And yet some players make a name for themselves inadvertently, their footballing achievements and exploits overlooked or forgotten.

Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors are South Korean champions for the second time in three years following their play-off triumph over Ulsan Hyundai.

Jeonbuk were huge favourites going into this year's final having finished top of the regular season standings whilst their opponents Ulsan had knocked out FC Seoul, Suwon Samsung Bluewings and Pohang Steelers en route to this year's showpiece.

Rumour has it that although the initial diagnosis wasn't a positive one, until the swelling goes down enough to perform an MRI the exact nature and extent of Lucas' injury won't be known. By most accounts that means later on today there's a good chance we'll find out just went wrong, which jumble of letters describe the part that went wrong, and how long he's likely to be out because of it.

Silao Malo scored the only goal of the game as Samoa defeated their neighbours American Samoa by one goal to nil in the final round of first stage FIFA World Cup qualification matches in the Oceania region.

American Samoa, a team who have become famous for suffering heavy defeats and propping up the FIFA World Rankings in recent years, had captured the hearts and minds of many football fans with their exploits this week.

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo is giving fellow La Liga rival Lionel Messi a run for his money for the 2011 FIFA Ballon d'Or award as the Portuguese striker capped a fantastic few days his had with Los Merengues by not only bagging a hat trick in last night's fixture against Osasuna, but also by winning his second Golden Boot award.

Dempsey proves his worth in energy

Clint Dempsey knows he's not the most ­spectacular player in the Fulham team. The recent scoring ­exploits of Andrew Johnson, emergence of Bobby Zamora as an ­England player and wing artistry of Damian Duff have tended to hog the ­headlines.

You may recall that a month or so ago we shared a video of what was generally believed to be the longest headed goal in the history of football. Jonas Samuelson had scored this header from his own half in a Norwegian league match, leading to a well-deserved fifteen minutes of fame.
Well, he must be livid.

It's Blind Items Monday again time for you to put on your thinking caps and solve this week's football puzzles by our hardworking sources! Also, if you have a story or unconfirmed rumour to share based on your experiences or someone you know please write to us at blinds @ futbolita.

Ah, welcome back to our weekly Monday Blind Items! In favour of Trick or Treat week (Halloween!), our sources are throwing in some easy (or tough) football puzzles. Remember, the first names that come to your minds may not be the right ones. Good luck! (PS : We can provide really obvious pointers, but as with all other Blind Items, we are unable to confirm the names.

Chelsea have offered striker Salomon Kalou a new deal to replace his current contract that ends next summer. The 26 year old striker has in the recent past become surplus to the squad after the arrival of Mata, Toress and Lukakhu.

Of course, there are very many different views as to whether Kalou deserves to be a Blues player, however, the truth of the matter is that his talent cannot be doubted.

Please support our site by enabling javascript to view ads.

For too long adrenaline junkies and adventurers haven't had a central place to be inspired, share and learn about our lifestyle online. So, Degree Men created one – dedicated to bringing your next adrenaline-fueled quest to life.

Liverpool veteran Jamie Carragher believes the Reds are lucky to have a player of Luis Suarez's ability within their ranks.
The 24-year-old has made an instant impact at Anfield following his arrival from Ajax back in January, scoring seven goals in just 18 appearances for the club thus far.
It's his all-round performances that have been earning rave reviews on Merseyside this season though, and Carragher believes the Uruguayan striker is quickly become a crucial ingredient in the Reds' side.

In the late nineties, Fulham supporter Ormondroyd started following his exploits around the country by producing an illustrated match report for each game. As Fulham were at the lower reaches of the Football League at the time, his accurate depictions of Northampton's Sixfields Stadium, and Notts County defender Matt Redmile may have been lost on the world at large however, he was soon spotted by the Guardian and started producing a weekly strip on the football world in general.

After Persib appointed a Wikipedia page less Croatian coach, Drago Mamic, now Persija have jumped on the bandwagon. They have appointed Dejan Gluscevic to be their coach for the upcoming season...which should start next month.
For all Dejan's track record, check this Jakarta Casual post from last year, like Drago he lacks his own Wikipedia which of course is totally irrelevant but still funny!

Many of Spurs current squad are in international action tonight but in the meantime, on loan right back Adam Smith has impressed on his debut for the under 21's in their 4-1 win over Israel last night.

Smith, who is currently playing his football at MK Dons enjoyed a solid performance and had a hand in England's second goal before he was joined on the pitch by Steven Caulker.

Danny Wilson's move to Liverpool last summer was a mistake, at least that is according to former Rangers captain Richard Gough.
The young defender was signed in July 2010 by then Reds manager Roy Hodgson, having won the Scottish PFA Young Player of the Year award for his exploits at Ibrox the previous season.

Maxi Rodriguez hopes his new squad number will inspire him to a best ever goals tally in a Liverpool shirt.
The Argentine enjoyed a rich vein of form in the latter stages of 2010-11 including hat-tricks in consecutive games but has already set his sights on surpassing those exploits this time around.

KD: Copa heroics spur him on

Kenny Dalglish believes Luis Suarez's Copa America exploits are behind the striker's sensational start to the new campaign.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2011-08-27 11:06:00 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

Mauro Rosales and the Seattle Sounders are, indeed, discussing a contract negotiation. This should come as a surprise to no one, as Rosales has arguably been the Sounders' MVP and is probably the most underpaid player in the entire league.

"It goes without saying that he's earned being taken care of in the future," Sounders GM Adrian Hanauer said.

After 13 seasons, Jimmy Conrad is hanging up his cleats.

Conrad is scheduled to announce his retirement at a press conference at the Home Depot Center on Thursday, signaling the end to a standout career.

Known mostly for his play in San Jose, Kansas City and with the U.

Call them showboats or call them fluff, call them arrogant or call them hype. It doesn't matter because these athletes produced. Andre Agassi, Dennis Rodman and Deion Sanders gave the sporting public some of the best drama of all time.

Our first View from the Enemy of the day is from Kris Balkin from Cottagers Confidential, who has shed some light on that awful Michael Jackson statue and Mark Hughes' ridiculous departure.

Scott the Red: Were you happy with your Fulham's performance last season?

Kris Balkin: More than.

Untold Arsenal on Twitter @UntoldArsenal Antony Kastrinakis Goes Missing! (and Untold Media Watch Update) By: Anne As a follow-up to my last article, Antony Kastrinakis: defacing the Arsenal, in which I detailed the exploits of a certain Arsenal-hating journalist employed by the Sun, who publishes under the name of "Antony Kastrinakis," I thought I would [.

Barcelona have confirmed an agreement has been reached over the signing of Udinese's Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez on a 26 million euro transfer. The deal also includes a potential 11.5 million euros in add-ons.

"Udinese and FC Barcelona have reached a final agreement for the transfer of Alexis Sanchez," Barca said in a statement.

It has been a protracted transfer that seemed to be going on for ever, bt Barcelona have announced that they have finally signed Udinese's Chilean forward Alexis Sanchez for 26 million euros with a potential 11.5 million euros in add-ons.

"Udinese and FC Barcelona have reached a final agreement for the transfer of Alexis Sanchez," Barca said in a statement.

Kenny Dalglish can't wait for Luis Suarez's return to Liverpool

Liverpool boss Kenny Dalglish is looking forward to Luis Suarez's return after his exploits in the Copa America. The Anfield favourite hit a double to help Uruguay beat Peru in the semi-final, putting his country on the verge of a record-breaking 15th title in the South American competition.

I didn't see most of the knockout round games the USA played at the Women's World Cup. As much as I love Abby Wambach and friends, there are at least two other people in this world who trump their athletic exploits. And so I spent the Brazil match in a car. I spent the France match . . . also in a car.

By Chris Wright

After turning a few heads across the pond with their exploits at the Women's World Cup, certain members of the USWNT have returned to the States as celebrities and David Letterman has been quick to pounce inviting Hope Solo and Abby Wambach round for a chat and a game of 'kick the ball in the moving NY taxi'.

John W Henry Gives Renewed Hope to Aquilani & Ngog

John W Henry has hinted that the future of David Ngog and Alberto Aquilani is at Liverpool following the duo's impressive performances during club's tour in Asia. The quote, which will offer the pair a renewed sense of purpose, has become typical of an owner who is more than willing to get involved with the on-pitch exploits.