There's a lesson fans need to learn when they're on the road trying to drive up to their football heroes : it doesn't always involve road rage (ouiiii Samir Nasri, je parle de vous!) Case in point... Schalke's Spanish hero, Raul Gonzalez, who is loving life in the Bundesliga at the moment.

Arsenal 1-1 Wolves

Twenty-seven attempts on goal, eleven attempts on target, thirteen corners, one goal. Frustrating, to say the least. The goals have dried up again at home (three in three league games – conceding two in the process), giving Wenger a fresh headache to mull over as we head into the New Year.

FERRARI 2-4 WHITWICK UNITED Saturday 17th December 2011 North Leicestershire League Cobbin Trophy 3rd Round Towles Playing Field, Burton on the Wolds
The original plan was to head down to Cheltenham to catch up with a mate of mine Colin Buchanan and watch a game within an hour's drive of his house, but Cheltenham Town were handed a plum FA Cup 3rd Round tie @ Tottenham Hotspur on January 7th and we have arranged to meet up then.

FERRARI 2-4 WHITWICK UNITED Saturday 17th December 2011 North Leicestershire League Cobbin Trophy 3rd Round Towles Playing Field, Burton on the Wolds
The original plan was to head down to Cheltenham to catch up with a mate of mine Colin Buchanan and watch a game within an hour's drive of his house, but Cheltenham Town were handed a plum FA Cup 3rd Round tie @ Tottenham Hotspur on January 7th and we have arranged to meet up then.

27.11.2011 - Ya se comentaba en los pasillos del Monumental sobre la "actitud" del joven (y talentoso) Erik Lamela que, sin más que un puñado de partidos en Primera División se atrevía a enfrentar a hombres como Ariel Ortega o Paulo Ferrari (entre otros).
Paradigma de una generación play(?

Today is the big press releases full of protected players day. Personally it feels like a healing balm to help with the festering burn wound that was yesterday's Cup final.

Here is your creamy filled list of protected goodness:

Sean Johnson - GK
Cory Gibbs - DEF
Jalil Anibaba - DEF
Gonzalo Segares - DEF
Pavel Pardo - MID
Logan Pause - MID
Marco Pappa - MID
Sebastian Grazzini - MID
Orr Barouch - FWD
Patrick Nyarko - FWD
Dominic Oduro - FWD

Join me for some frothy instant analysis after the break.

10.11.2011 - Así como el maduro Pelé (71) no puede dejar de hablar de Maradona, Cristiano Ronaldo vive cada vez más momentos a la sombra del nombre de Lionel Messi.
"Los que me gritan por Messi son anormales", tiró CR el mes pasado (09.10.

... and whinier than ever.
So, Ibrahimovic wrote a book in which he cries about how mean Mr. Pep bullied his existence and shattered his dreams. Because, you know, we can't expect him to be over it over a year later. Well I'm here to pick his whining apart quote by quote... starting from where he begins by pointing fingers at Messi (oh, this is going to be fun):
"Playing at Barca was a childhood dream and I was walking on air.

So the Italian press, including La Gazetta dello Sport (who published this photo of Samuel Eto'o in his Ferrari... oooh!) are all rubbing their hands over the prospect of the striker returning to Milan for a brief spell. Well, obviously he's not going to ditch his lavish private jet and everything that comes with playing for Russian Cha-cha-millionaires Anzhi in exchange for dreary, boring mozzarella cheese (kkk, quite the contrary actually).

Toward the very beginning of the season, Chicago Fire team writer Jeff Crandall asked myself, Guillermo Rivera, Sam Stejskal, and Orrin Schwarz to predict the next player who would hit double digits in goals scored in one season for the Chicago Fire for the first time since 2004. Despite the fact that Dominic Oduro was traded to the Fire mere hours before this conversation, none of us predicted Oduro even as a throwaway.

Hibernian striker Garry O' Connor (28) was in hiding last night after the 16 times capped Scottish striker was accused of failing a drugs test in 2009/10 while playing for Birmingham City in the Premier League.

And to add insult to injury it is alleged that O'Connor was also charged with fraud after his £100,000 Ferrari was mysteriously found crashed a few short miles from his home a few months ago.

Doni beats Carra in car top trumps, plus wicked whistle and daft quotes of the week

Reserve keeper Doni got a lesson in the 'Liverpool Way' this week when he pulled into the Melwood training ground car park in a gleaming new red Ferrari. Second later, no-frills veteran Jamie Carragher turned up in a Mini.

The latest addition to Becks' luxury car collection is a custom Ferrari 612 Ascaglietti worth some $300,000 and bearing the number ‘7' logo, The Daily Mail found out.
The black shiny car was spotted in the driveway of the family's Malibu summer beach house, where the Beckhams went surfing over the weekend.

The latest addition to Becks' luxury car collection is a custom Ferrari 612 Ascaglietti worth some $300,000 and bearing the number ‘7' logo, The Daily Mail found out.
The black shiny car was spotted in the driveway of the family's Malibu summer beach house, where the Beckhams went surfing over the weekend.

Soccer By Ives reported yesterday that the Chicago Fire will announce next week that they have signed 17-year old Kellen Gulley as a Home Grown Player. Gulley will become the second Home Grown Player in the history of the organization. The first Home Grown Player was Victor Pineda who signed with Chicago on August 17, 2010.

Mike Banner is healthy; Gabriel Ferrari is not

The MLS Injury Report updated today and Mike Banner has moved from OUT to off the report. Gabriel Ferrari is not only back on but listed as OUT with a right ankle sprain. Steven Kinney and Marko Maric remain on the DL.

Overall this doesn't impact the team too much as Ferrari's three appearances came as substitutions in a string of three games in a row between June 18th to June 26th and he hasn't made the bench since.

18.07.2011 - El ex dirigente menemista se despachó contra Sergio Batista (DT), Julio Grondona, Pastore, Mascherano, Tévez, Bielsa y más...
"...hoy alguno se debe estar lamentando haber echado a Maradona..."
"... no nos fuimos en la primera ronda porque nos tocó Costa Rica.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Nyarko, Paladini, Husidic, Pappa

F Oduro, Chaves

Bench: Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Videira, Chaves, Ferrari

Red Bulls

GK Condoul

D Solli, Keel, Mendes, Miller

M Richards, Tainio, Ballouchy, Lindpere

F Henry, DeRosario

Bench: Sutton, JOnes, Schneider, Da Luz, Kassel, Rooney, Hertzog

River vivió una de las peores noches de su historia en esta ciudad. La derrota por 2 a 0 ante Belgrano en la ida de la Promoción lo dejó al borde de descender y ahora está obligado a vencer a los cordobeses el domingo por dos goles en el Monumental para mantener la categoría.

El plantel millonario dejó Córdoba al mediodía y llegó al Aeroparque con una celosa custodia policial.

River quedó muy cerca del abismo. En un partido que dejó al descubierto todas las limitaciones y nerviosismo que viene arrastrando en los últimos dos meses, el conjunto de Juan José López cayó 2-0 ante Belgrano en Córdoba y ahora está obligado a ganar el domingo por la misma diferencia para mantenerse en la Primera División.

23.06.2011 - Ríver cayó (0-2) en Córdoba por la ida de la Promoción. La decisión de apelar a chicos como Funes Mori, la mano de Adalberto Román, el golpe de Lamela (sin pelota), las amarillas de Almeyda y Ferrari y Arano poniendo pases gol continúan una sucesión de desaciertos que comenzó con el nuevo siglo.

Por Gastón del Torto / @g_deltorto
La famosa frase de Rodolfo De Paoli nunca cayó tan bien como para este momento de River. Cayó derrotado frente a Belgrano en Córdoba 2-0 y no dispondrá de Adalberto Román, Paulo Ferrari y nada menos que Matías Almeyda para el partido revancha en el "Monumental", el próximo domingo a las 15.

Starting Line Ups

Fire

GK Johnson

D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares

M Oduro, Paladini, Husidic, Nyarko

F Chaves, Barouch

Bench : Conway, Mikulic, Ristic, Bone, Pappa, Videira, Ferrari

RSL

GK Rimando

D Russell, Olave, Borchers, Beltran

M Grabavoy, Beckerman, Warner, Johnson

F Espindola, Aghasyan

Bench : Reynish, McKenzie, Schuler, Gil, Gonzalez, Williams, Toia

Belgrano: Olave; Turus, C. Pérez, Lollo y Tavio; Mansanelli, R. Rodríguez, Farré y Maldonado; Vázquez y Pereyra.
Ríver Plate: Carrizo; Ferrari, Ferrero, Román, Arano; Pereyra, Almeyda, Cirigliano, Lamela; Mauro Diaz y Funes Mori.
El historial general marca, sobre un total de 25 choques oficiales (24 AFA), 18 triunfos para River, 5 empates y 2 victorias de Belgrano.

Nazarit suspended for two games

Charlie Corr over at ESPN Chicago just posted that Christian Nazarit will be suspended for two games following his extended elbow/punch to the face of a Revolution player during Saturday's 1-1 draw.

Orr Barouch and Gabriel Ferrari should see extended minutes in the next two games.

Hello you sweet, seductive, sexy road draw. Welcome back.

Quick and Dirty:

Dominic Oduro scored in the 32nd minute after Patrick Nyarko beat Sainey Nyasi to a ball in the Chicago defensive half. He then lobbed it towards Oduro who snatched the ball in stride, headed off to the races, and confidently finished a low shot into the bottom left hand corner of the net easily beating Matt Reis.

Starting Line Ups

Fire GK Johnson D Anibaba, Cuesta, Gibbs, Segares M Nyarko, Pause, Husidic, Oduro F Chaves, Nazirit

Bench : Conway, Ristic, Robinson, Bone, Paladini, Barouch, Ferrari

Revolution GK Reis D Barnes, Coria, Soares, Alston M Tierney, Joseph, Phelan, Nyassi F Mansally, Lekic

Bench : Shuttleworth, Loewy, Guy, Kinne, Schilawski, Sousa, McCarthy

Por Gastón del Torto / @g_deltorto
Pedir a esta altura del campeonato que River juegue bien significaría vivir en una nube. Si pocas veces lo hizo en el torneo, cómo lo va a hacer justo ahora. Exigirle buen trato de pelota, triangulaciones y movimiento sin pelota sería lo correcto pero también estaría alejado de lo que pueden dar ahora.

Por Gastón del Torto / @g_deltorto
Que difícil es ver un partido del fútbol argentino después de haber visto al Barcelona. Aún más si de ese encuentro participa River. Un equipo que fecha a fecha evidencia una merma en su nivel. Es cierto que tampoco era una maravilla pero sin duda se contrastaba con dicho presente.

Jemanden haben zu wollen und jemanden zu verpflichten, sind zwei unterschiedliche Dinge. Ich hätte auch gern Messi und einen Ferrari.

Mike Rigg, sportlicher Leiter von Manchester City, spricht in der BILD-Zeitung über das große Interesse des FC Bayern München an dem deutschen Nationalspieler Jerome Boateng, der bei Manchester City unter Vertrag steht.

After his dreadful own goal in the Superclásico derby against Boca Juniors in round 14, River Plate goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo was hoping to keep out of trouble in their game against San Lorenzo in the 15th round however he had no such luck letting a long range shot from opposition striker Jonathan Ferrari slip through his hands.

Por Gastón del Torto / @g_deltorto
Hace más o menos un mes, River pensaba en pelearle el título a Vélez, en conseguir un lugar en la Copa Sudamericana 2011 y, porque no, también en la Libertadores del próximo año. Pero no es menor el dato que de los últimos seis partidos, el conjunto "Millonario" apenas ganó uno, contra Racing.

Después de que el padre de Rogelio Funes Mori haya salido a decir que su hijo "por ahí ni vale 200 pesos", un usuario de Mercado Libre creyó que el delantero de River Plate tenía un valor de venta y lo publicó por $ 199,99.
Con la descripción de "Vendo intento de jugador. Inutil. Funes Mori", largó la subasta en el reconocido sitio de compra-venta de nuestro país.

Por Juan Cuccarese / @jcucca
Por la decimocuarta fecha del Torneo Clausura 2011, en La Bombonera se disputaba una nueva edición del Superclásico del fútbol argentino. Boca llegaba con un triunfo a cuestas, y una remontada futbolera considerable; mientras que River llegaba con una derrota de local frente a All Boys y una peligrosa cercanía a la promoción.

Who's Left? Fire Injuries Pile Up

Latest Chicago Fire injury report adds Josip Mikulic (shoulder) and Michael Videira (concussion) as doubtful to an already lengthy list. With these injuries, who will Carlos de los Cobos field against Vancouver?

OUT: MF Mike Banner (L Achilles tendinitis); DF Steven Kinney (R Achilles repair); FW Gabriel Ferrari (L hamstring strain); DOUBTFUL: MF Marko Maric (L ankle sprain/contusion); DF Cory Gibbs (L hamstring strain); MF Logan Pause (R hamstring strain)

A red one to match their unis apparently. It's big and fast... performance you ask? Well... *mumble mumble* He was on the US U20 National team. What's that? What's he done since then? Well, played all over Europe... Series A with Sampdoria and played against Inter in the Coppa Italia. What else?

Fire forward Gabriel Ferrari -- ISI PhotosThe Chicago Fire signed 22-year-old forward and former U.S. U-20 international Gabriel Ferrari on Thursday.
"During Gabriel's time in camp, we were impressed with his size, speed and work ethic up top," Fire technical director Frank Klopas said in a statement.

Gabriel Ferrari's test drive with the Chicago Fire was successful.

The Fire signed Ferrari, a former United States U-20 striker, on Thursday after he was on trial with the team throughout the preseason.

Ferrari, 22, was a product of the New York Red Bulls youth system before signing with Sampdoria in Italy's Serie A three years ago.

Chicago Fire sign Davis Paul

The Chicago Fire have officially signed Davis Paul. It's not really all that surprising but there it is. Congratulations to Davis on making the team and we wish him luck. Still waiting for any official news on Gabriel Ferrari and Pari Pantazopoulos...

The Fire have announced the signing of Orr Barouch and Mike Videira bringing the total number of "signed" players on the roster to 25. Barouch, a 6'-2" nineteen year old forward and product of the Tigres UANL youth system scored 4 goals against the New York Red Bulls reserves last month. Videira, 25, has MLS experience with New England and can play midfield or defense.