Germany and Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm visited the FIFA Headquarters in Zurich earlier this week and gave an interesting interview, where he spoke about his charity foundation, the Champions League final and winning the World Cup next year (in Brazil?!)
On the Champions League Final
"Everything has to come together for a Champions League final.
Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Manchester United, Juventus: 4 Champions, 4 Different Styles is a post from: Just Football
by Tim Palmer
Real Madrid's dropped points at Espanyol last weekend helped seal the title for Barcelona, confirming the four winners of Europe's four major leagues in England, Germany, Spain and Italy.
Bayern Munich star Franck Ribery says he will never talk to team-mate Jerome Boateng again after the Germany international soaked him with beer during the club's title celebrations. The devout Muslim took Boateng's actions to heart, believing he should have known the soaking would not sit well with Ribery's religious beliefs.
Champions League: The most successful countries and cities - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
This year's Champions League will obviously go to Germany and it will be the seventh time a German club will be crowned the champions of Europe. Which makes one wonder, how many Champions League trophies have gone to the other top European football nations.
Bayern Munich were so keen to get home and start celebrating their Champions League semi-final win over Barcelona that they left star midfielder Javi Martinez behind at Camp Nou. The former Athletic Bilbao man's reward for another imperious performance against the Catalans was to be left hanging around in Barca's car park waiting to be [.
Without Lionel Messi Barcelona never seemed really to believe in a historic comeback from 0-4 down to Bayern Munich. And without Carles Puyol down in defense FC Barcelona looks like a pretty ordinary side. It must be time for some reflection and perhaps a new coach? Tito Vilanova simply is not cut out for leading the side.
I now owe you all three 2.Bundesliga goal clips. In addition to the Alfredo Morales title-clincher I've yet to find, both John Anthony Brooks and Bobby Wood rang the bell today.Wish me luck finding them all...- Greg Seltzer
Sandhausen forward Andrew Wooten bagged a second half brace to help the home side to a 3-1 win over Ingolstadt. The American fired home on 58 and 83 minutes to bring his season total to seven, second best on the squadClip to come...- Greg Seltzer
It's been a busy week, with friends staying over and family in town up to Queen's Day, plus a serious hiphop workshop and some serious goodie-digging. But I always make it up, so here's some stray stats found recently while researching this bit. First off, though, we'll answer a request to post the full list of all-time top AZ Alkmaar single campaign scorers up from Jozy's Altidore's running sum
Manager Jupp Heynckes of Bayern Munich (Google Creative Commons)
Bayern Munich's dream season is coming to an end with the Bundesliga title already secured and two finals yet to be played in order to win the treble. The68-year-old architectof all this, Jupp Heynckes has taken theBavariansto the very top of almost every competition played this year.
This has been somewhat of a "dream" season for Borussia Dortmund. The German team was not able to win the Bundesliga, however, they were able to make it to the UEFA Champions League final, a match that has yet to be played. In the final, they will face their fierce league rivals, Bayern Munich, who have already secured the league title.
Borussia Dortmund are apparently looking to do their best replication of the Westfalenstadion at Wembley Stadium on May 25th, as the side are set to take on Bayern Munich in the Champions League final. The Telegraph recently released news of how many BVB fans actually applied for Champions League final tickets and the numbers are astonishing.
Lukasz Piszczek of Borussia Dortmund (Google Creative Commons)
Lukasz Piszczek is being hunted down by London's finest in order to replace Bacary Sagna this summer.
The 27-year-old Poland international has been an integral part of Borussia Dortmund' side this season. Jeremy Wilson of The Telegraph reports that Arsene Wenger has requested several reports on Piszczek in the past few months, indicating that there is some interest in seeing the right-back at Arsenal if Sagna were to leave this summer.
May 25th is rapidly approaching, and so is Mario Gotze's rehabilitation process. A left hamstring injury in the second leg against Real Madrid forced the German international to exit the match not even 20 minutes in, and caused instant uproar whether or not he would be able to feature in the Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
Bayern Munich may have secured their Bundesliga title with six games to go, but it wasn't until today that the German Champions really got the chance to celebrate their fantastic achievement. In their last home game of the season against Augsburg, the German giants secured another three points with a three-nil victory.
Bayern Munich celebrated their final home match of the season with a big win over Augsburg. Thomas Muller, Luiz Gustavo and Xherdan Shaqiri all scored goals for the Champions League Finalists.
The post Bayern Munich v Augsburg Highlights: German Champions Celebrate Bundesliga With Win appeared first on SWOL.
Borussia Dortmund welcomed newly-crowned German champions to their patch at the weekend drawing 1-1 after goals from Mario Gomez and Kevin Grosskreutz. There was no winner then, but there will be May 25 when they meet in the Champions League final.
Dortmund boss Jurgen Klopp liked his team's fight and determination in a match that in terms of the Bundesliga title meant nothing, but meant everything to the people involved.
Current and last year's German champions will meet in a few weeks time to see who will be crowned European champions.
Borussia Dortmund held on in Madrid to beat Real 3-4 on aggregate on Tuesday, but Bayern Munich bested the now former Bundesliga champions by defeating a Messi-less Barcelona 3-0 in the Camp Nou (7-0 on aggregate).
Christian Eriksen of Ajax (Google Creative Commons)
After Bayern Munich announced the signing of Mario Gotze, many football fans started to wonder who would be chosen to replace the German star at Borussia Dortmund.
The news of the Gotze transfer came at the wrong time as Borussia Dortmund was only days away from facing Real Madrid in the Champions League semifinals.
Polish strike sensation Robert Lewandowski is currently enjoying his time at the pinnacle of world football. With the Champions League Final on the horizon, the Borussia Dortmund hitman has embedded his name in shortlist of Europe's top strikers this season. As if his season wasn't already going well before the Champions League semi-finals, the Dortmund man struck four times against Real Madrid an achievement very few people have ever obtained.
The injury to Toni Kroos could not have come at a much better time for Dutch winger Arjen Robben. After being relegated to the role as a substitute only a few months ago, the former Chelsea and Real Madrid winger once again found himself in the limelight after helping Bayern Munich beat Barcelona 7-0 on aggregate in the Champions League semi-final.
Leon Osmsn of Everton attempts to tackle Liverpool's Stewart Downing (Flickr Commons)
Though many of the major leagues are just weeks away from reaching the end of their campaigns, there appears to be no sign of the action slowing down just yet. This weekend plays host to some of the biggest games of the football calendar, with high-profile fixtures featured from right across the globe.
Mario Gotze of Borussia Dortmund (Google Creative Commons)
Not even 20 minutes into the second leg at the Santiago Bernabeu, Mario Gotze was carted off the pitch after suffering an apparent upper leg injury. According to ESPN FC, the 20-year-old suffered a "suspected thigh tear at the Bernabeu" and is unlikely to feature in the Champions League final at Wembley Stadium later this month.
Bayern Munich smashed FC Barcelona for the second straight time to bring the aggregate of the second Champions League semi-final to a whopping 7-0. The German giants first defeated Barcelona last week in Munich 4-0 before delivering the final 3-0 blow to the Spanish giants at Camp Nou.
Real Madrid v Borussia Dortmund Highlights Two second half goals made for a very dramatic end to Real Madrid's second leg against German power Borussia Dortmund, but it was too little too late for Jose Mourinho's men. After suffering a 4-1 defeat in Dortmund, Madrid needed at least a 3-0 victory in Spain to ensure their passage to the Champions League Final.
After a resounding 4-1 victory over the mighty Real Madrid in Germany last Wednesday, Borussia Dortmund will travel to Spain on Tuesday looking to advance to the UEFA Champions League final at Wembley Stadium.
The world sat stunned last week as Robert Lewandowski scored four goals in a rout of Real Madrid that nobody, surely including Dortmund players and fans, expected.
After a 1-4 defeat to Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League semi-final first leg, Real Madrid will look to come out of the gates in full-force this week at the Santiago Bernabeu. Both Borussia Dortmund and Bayern Munich asserted their German dominance over the coveted Spanish counterparts of Madrid and Barcelona and will look to do so again in the second leg as well.
Nearly everyone in the world of football will remember Zinedine Zidane's infamous headbutt on Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup Final in Berlin. The Frenchman, arguably the world's best player at the time, finished his career in spectacular fashion, sending Materazzi to the pitch with a powerful headbutt to the Italian's chest.
As if Robert Lewandowski wasn't already one of the main spotlights for the summer transfer window before Borussia Dortmund's midweek demolition of Real Madrid, the Polish International only raised his stock with his four goal performance against the the Spanish giants. His agent has already stated that he's on his way out of Dortmund, but where will he end up?
Around this time in most knockout competitions, supporters from all of the remaining clubs start making their claims for why their team deserves the trophy more than the others. But, with the massive squads and budgets at Barcelona, Real Madrid, and Bayern Munich, it is probably safe to say that no team currently in the Champions League semifinals deserves the winner's crown more than Borussia Dortmund.
AVB Should Spurs fail to qualify for the Champions League this weekend, there will undoubtedly be a stream of bullsh*t dictating that darling 'Arry did a better job to get fourth last season. However, just look at it like this. Should Spurs beat Sunderland on Sunday (like that, alliteration fans?) they will have their highest [.
It seems to me that every year there are hundreds of Arsenal transfer rumours linking us with just about every goalkeeper in the world, whether they are available or not! This year seems to be no exception, despite both Wojciech Szczesny and Lukasz Fabianski having quite good runs between the sticks.
1. It's hard to see this as anything other than the end of an era for 'the' Barcelona side we all know. Minus Messi, the rest of the team either older and achier members of the great side or lesser additions are no longer up to the high standards they've set themselves. Expect [...]
1. Another Champions League side has proved that its whole is greater than the some of its parts. Well done to Borussia, who were assembled on a shoestring budget in comparison to Real. 2. The first 70 minutes was essentially watching 11 men in white shirts gradually run out of ideas against the Germans.
If Luka Modric's inflated beanie could talk, it would say : "Aaaaand, why are we playing this game again?!" and admittedly, that is what many of you must be thinking ahead of tonight's Madrid-Dortmund second leg encounter. Following their humiliating 4-1 loss in Dortmund, Jose Mourinho, who is expected to leave Real at the end of the season, has seemingly thrown in the towel.
The U.S. Men's National Team's first match of a busy summer will be a tough test, with the Belgian National Team preparing to bring a strong squad to Cleveland for the friendly on May 29th.
As for the USMNT's second friendly? It won't be a cakewalk, but it also won't be as tough as some would have expected when the match was first announced.
The United States women's nation team kicked off their European tour with a barn-buring 3-3 draw against Germany. The match coincided with U.S. Soccer's 100th anniversary as well. Germany fought back twice (down 1-0 and 3-1) to earn a share of the result in a battle between women's soccer's number one and number two teams.
Fifa's World Rankings for May 2013 were published today at FIFA HQ in Zurich, Switzerland. The Fifa World Rankings are now published on Thursday and not Wednesday as before.
Euro 2012 winners Spain are once again on top of the FIFA rankings followed by Germany, Argentina, Croatia, Portugal, Colombia, England, Italy, Netherlands and Ecuador.
