For some reason, it seems like ages since last had a round of club football, but we're sure happy that it's back on the agenda this weekend, because, well, this has been another particularly stressful week in the constantly varying Scottish football landscape. Most friendlies are futile. These days they serve only as an excuse to increase [. Click to continue reading...

A look at results in competitive games or 'proper' friendlies under Benny Dollo.
2008
Yemen H 1-0 (Bambang Pamungkas)
Malaysia H 1-1 (Bambang Pamungkas)
Vietnam H 1-0 (Bambang Pamungkas)
Cambodia* H 7-0 (Charis Yulianto, Budi Sudarsono 4, M Ilham, Bambang Pamungkas)
Myanmar* H 4-0 (Arif Suryono 2, Budi Sudarsono, Bambang Pamungkas)
Bangladesh^ A 2-0 (Firman Utina, TA Mushafry)
Myanmar^ A 1-2 (Ismed Sofyan)
Myanmar^ A 1-2 (og)
Myanmar** H 3-0 (Firman Utina, Budi Sudarsono, Bambang Pamungkas)
Cambodia** H 4-0 (Budi Sudarsono 3, Bambang Pamungkas)
Singapore** H 0-2
Thailand** H 0-1
Thailand** A 1-2 (og)
2009
Oman*** A 0-0
Australia*** H 0-0
Singapore A 1-3 (Eka Ramdhani)
Kuwait*** A 1-2 (Bambang Pamungkas)
Kuwait*** H 1-1 (Budi Sudarsono)
This does not include friendlies against club sides or non A internationals. Click to continue reading...

The US National wrapped up their European sojourn yesterday with a disappointing 3-1 loss to Denmark in Aarhus. After losing to Slovakia 1-0 on Saturday, the Americans head back to their clubs or...

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I don't care about friendlies. Whether we win, lose, play new players, old players, no players... It doesn't work for me. Too much factors in play to seriously come to conclusions... How motivated were the players? What were the special tasks the coach gave them? How motivated was the opponent? The Click to continue reading...

No ramblings. No preamble. No time. Have to run out for work, so not too much time to marinate on the USMNT/Denmark game. You're getting bullet points. Enjoy. * Danish Tex Mex? Who would have figured? I'm sure salted cod and salsa make an excellent burrito combo. * Missed the first 15-odd minutes watching the ends of the Algeria/Egypt hate-cast and the Ukraine/Greece snooze-fest. Click to continue reading...

Just before the Interlull Arsene Wenger said:

Traditionally November has not been a good month for us. But I explain that by the fact we had more injuries, it is the first period when they kick in.

Way to tempt fate, Arsene! I think he was probably referring to injuries that would occur through wear and tear.

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While most of them may be a bit young to have a realistic chance of playing in the 2010 World Cup, a team of MLS Generation adidas players are about to take a trip to South Africa for an experience they won't soon forget.

Stefan Frei, Patrick Nyarko and Chris Pontius headline a team of 18 MLS players that will travel to South Africa to participate in a series of friendlies and other events later this month.

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How about those Danish Van Houtens?What, you're telling me you didn't stick with 'The Simpsons' through season 19?Guess I'd have to call that a cromulent decision. If you read those last three seconds and your brain didn't turn into a puddle of chocolate pudding, you were probably able to deduce that I don't have a whole lot to offer for Wednesday's USMNT friendly against Denmark in Aarhus. Click to continue reading...

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The Scottish Football Association tonight confirmed George Burley's sacking as Scotland manager.

The SFA acted quickly after Scotland fans turned on Burley during Saturday's 3-0 friendly defeat by Wales.

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Welcome to the World Cup party New Zealand, Nigeria and Cameroon!
Egypt scored a goal in the 5th minute of extra time against Algeria to keep its W.C. dream alive, it needed a 2-0 result. The rematch between the two teams is Wednesday in Sudan.
Here are the results of the UEFA playoff first legs: Russia 2-1 Slovenia, Ireland 0-1 France, Portugal 1-0 Bosnia, Ukraine 0-0 Greece. Click to continue reading...

• If the Canadian Men's Team Plays a Match, and Nobody in Canada sees it, Does it Make a Sound? http://tinyurl.com/yz9kce2 #
• Canada prepares in Skopje http://bit.ly/1SZrEb #
• Johnson, Onstad & Hainault set to play key roles in MLS final four http://tinyurl.com/yckve6x #
• Stephen Hart looking forward to Canada friendlies http://tinyurl.

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A brief statement on Arsenal's website updates RVP's status. He will be traveling back to London this week and resuming his care with the Arsenal medical staff at London Colney.

They also confirm the 6 week convalescence period.

Elsewhere in the Arsenal blog world:

Arseblog mentions, the silver lining is the pretty straightforward series of fixtures till Xmas other than Chelsea and Liverpool (both clubs have their injury woes too).

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Martin Petrov is facing a couple of weeks on the sidelines after picking up a knee injury in the current international break.

The winger has a slight sprain of the inner ligament in the left knee and could be out for up to two weeks.

Petrov was with his national squad preparing for a couple of friendlies when he was forced to return back to City's Carrington training ground, where he is now undergoing rehab work.

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Willem's column in the AD: "What annoys me most about these friendlies Oranje plays, is that there isn't any experimenting. It seems it's all fixed already. Everyone knows his place and in order to change something, a lot needs to happen. Or so it seems. The regulars will be very happy and Click to continue reading...

Bob Bradley has, as expected, made a few changes to the USMNT roster for Wednesday's friendly with Denmark. Three additional players have been called in, with three departing. See the full roster...

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Well all in all it wasn't a bad result. Though I watched the game alone I had a little liveblogging adventure with Daryl and various commenters. If you missed the game I'll give you a link to some highlights, and my pity (it was a good game). It was also, despite the fact it was a loss, was an encouraging result for England.

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This afternoon sees Indonesia Premier League side PSMS host Penang from the Malaysian Super League.
The game is the latest in a series of friendlies between sides from Indonesia and Malaysia.
Previously Sriwijaya defeated Perlis while Selangor beat Persib 2-0.
For PSMS the season begins in a couple of weeks while Penang must wait until the new year for their season. Click to continue reading...

Although there were four big play-off games in Europe for us all to watch along with numerous friendlies, possibly the biggest game of the day was held in Cairo between Egypt and Algeria.

A rivalry that goes back to 1989, the intensity leading up to the game today reached fever pitch only a few days ago when the Algerian team bus was attacked by fans with rocks.

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So it looks like we have been hurt by the international break once again with van Persie being stretchered off against Italy in a friendly with a pretty serious injury, reports have said he has either cracked his ankle or torn ankle ligaments but I'm told that he has broken his metatarsal.

After having a relatively injury free period over the past year his luck with injuries has taken a turn for the worse again and you have to feel for the guy, he looked in real pain when he was being taken off and I just hope beyond hope the injury isnt as bad as first feared, we should have Theo coming back along with Vela to soften the blow but van Persie has been enjoying the best form of his career this season.

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Well, turns out Jozy Altidore, Clint Dempsey & Co. have about as much drawing power in Eastern Europe as Anvil. For whatever the reason Friday night I decided to stay up through multiple power outages for the MLS Western Conference Final between the Galaxy and Dynamo. During the match the thought drifted into my head about Saturday's USMNT/Slovakia friendly -- why wouldn't Bob Bradley simply roll Click to continue reading...

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by FRANCO PANIZO

With the World Cup in sight, most of this weekend's attention will be towards the remaining qualifiers, but there are a few high-profile friendlies on tap today that might be just as exciting.

England-Brazil is one of those matches, as the Three Lions will took to topple Brazil for the first time since 1990, a stretch of seven games that includes a 2-1 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup.

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by FRANCO PANIZO

With the World Cup in sight, most of this weekend's attention will be towards the remaining qualifiers, but there are a few high-profile friendlies on tap today that might be just as exciting.

England-Brazil is one of those matches, as the Three Lions will took to topple Brazil for the first time since 1990, a stretch of seven games that includes a 2-1 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2002 World Cup.

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The United States national team is in Bratislava set to take on Slovakia for the first of two European friendlies.

The game marks the first ever meeting between the United States and Slovakia, and will give head coach Bob Bradley an opportunity to fine tune the U.S. team seven months away from the World Cup.

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The United States national team is in Bratislava set to take on Slovakia for the first of two European friendlies.

The game marks the first ever meeting between the United States and Slovakia, and will give head coach Bob Bradley an opportunity to fine tune the U.S. team seven months away from the World Cup in South Africa.

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Ahead of the Brazil game this afternoon we thought we'd post some videos of Brazil games gone by. Even though it's just a friendly, it's a biggie..it's Brazil!

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Friendlies against Slovakia and Denmark are coming up. While these are friendlies and a time for experimentation (injury forced or otherwise), there is something to be taken away from these matches;...

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For whatever the reason, the term "friendly" can be lumped together with diving (i.e. David Ngog) and the quantum physics intricacies of the offside rule as primary reasons why mainstream media types prefer to mock soccer, as opposed to caring about it. What exactly is a "friendly" anyway? Why not call it an exhibition? Click to continue reading...

The U.S. men's national team has reconvened in the Slovakian capital for the first in a series of challenging friendlies in the lead-up to next summer's World Cup. Click to continue reading...

Define Irony : A bunch of football players missing Internationals for an injury they got introduced in the previous Internationals.

So finally we get to watch some International action. And boy, don't I love it. England versus Brazil yeah. Does it get better than this.

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2009, has been a very complicated year for US National Team supporters. We've had the high of our first ever FIFA final combined with the low of a 5-0 loss to arch rival Mexico. We beat World Cup qualifier Honduras four times this year and gave Spain its only loss of the last three years.

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Albert Riera admits Liverpool FC are suffering from a mental block as they struggle to overcome their poor run of form and a crippling injury list.
The 2-2 draw with Birmingham City on Monday means the Anfield outfit has won only one of their last nine games to fall 11 points behind Premier League leaders Chelsea. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool will work feverishly during the international break to find a solution to Daniel Agger's on-going back problem.
The Denmark international played in last week's Champions League 1-1 draw in Lyon, and also in Monday's stalemate with Birmingham.
But boss Rafa Benitez revealed his concerns about the player's injury problem that has dogged him all season and needed an operation during the summer. Click to continue reading...

These are the young gentleman who saw time against Chelsea and Barcelona, and sparse minutes during the Open Cup, but did not see time in league play. Impressions of these players are strongest for those that have the opportunity to see practice, or have talked to those that have. As Developmental Players their small contracts don't count against the cap, but they also tend to have second jobs as well.

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This happened a couple of days ago, but, you know...(shrugs). 15 Arsenal players have been called up for duty over the international break. The entire list can be found here.

Of the 15, only 5 Diaby, Gallas, and Sagna for France, Arshavin for Russia, and Song for Cameroon are playing in meaningful senior international matches, as all of their nations are trying to qualify for the World Cup.

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In case you hadn't noticed, Marcus Hahnemann is back with the U.S. national team, having been called in for the upcoming friendlies vs. Slovakia and Denmark. Hahnemann is also looking a tad bit different from his days at Reading. The Wolverhampton goalkeeper has shed a few pounds.

Here is the new-look Marcus Hahnemann:

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