So Werder Bremen thrashed Freiburg 6-0 last night in the Bundesliga (See, they don't even need Diego aka Survivor Contestant No. 91255 these days). As for Hugo Almeida, we've not heard from him for a while so it was finally nice to see the Portuguese striker helping himself to a double.

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Is this the "new" mass threat to World Football (Soccer)?Dodgy referee decisions, intencional red cards to leave your team with less men, own goals, off-sides not called, goalkeeping mistakes...theoptions are long as "betting" money has entered as a possible factor ingame results. In Germany they are investigating up to 200 games; local,Europa League & Champions League. Click to continue reading...

Just over a week ago I was in Berlin. There chiefly to witness a moment of history, namely the celebrations to commemorate 20 years since the fall of the Berlin Wall, I also made my way to the... Click to continue reading...

FIFA has made official its National Team Ranking for December issuingtheir table today. As advanced earlier in the week, SPAIN regains theNº1 spot from Brazil.Here are the Top 10 places:1. Spain 1622 pts2. Brazil 15923. Holland 12794. Italy 12155. Portugal 11816. Germany 11707. France 11228. Argentina 10859. Click to continue reading...

In the wake of Ireland's heartbreaking aggregate defeat to France, where Thierry Henry's handballed assist for William Gallas to score an equaliser in extra time denied a team who had performed magnificently to haul themselves level, we pay tribute to five of the greatest footballing heartbreakers in recent memory.

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If you haven't seen it already, Eboue scored a goal for Ivory Coast in an international friendly against Germany yesterday.

The goal was brilliant showing he may very well be the perfect striker: the strength of Drogba, the creativity of Henry, and the finishing of Owen. He's the complete package, folks.

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The Germans become comic book heroes before our very eyes. Looking back at Russian disappointment. (Russian Football Now) Hands were flying in Brazil yesterday too. (See The Cup) The US World Cup uniform leaks. (Football Fashion) The pitch invader from Sweden-Denmark gets a huge fine. (BBC) Take the stadium aerial challenge and waste loads of time at work. Click to continue reading...

The LA Galaxy have pulled out of a post-season tour of Germany that would have seen them play friendlies against Kaiserslautern and Schalke. The Galaxy cancelled the tour due to "a lack of communication and performance" by the promoter IMC Group.

The club said in a statement:

"Unfortunately, IMC Group Inc has not performed their obligations of the agreement thus far, nor do we have faith that they will be able to do so in the future.

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In partnership with Russian Football Now, EPL Talk presents the thirteenth episode of RNF's podcast.

Russia was many's dark-horse in South Africa. One problem: getting there.

Slovenia completed their upset of Russia with a 1-0 win in Maribor, going through on away goals after a 2-2 aggregate.

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In yesterday's friendly match between Ivory Coast and Germany, Arsenal midfielder Emmanuel Eboue was lucky to escape unhurt after being hit in the stomach by German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer who was trying to clear a ...

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From the Galaxy press release:

"As part of the tour, the Galaxy were scheduled to face FC Kaiserslautern on Thursday, November 26, and a second opponent on Tuesday, December 1 in Germany .

"We are very disappointed to announce the cancellation of our 2009 Postseason Tour due to a lack of communication and performance by the tour's organizer and promoter IMC Group, Inc," said President of Business Operations Tom Payne.

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Last week football in Germany was brought to a standstill by the sad news of the passing of Robert Enke. Only 32 years old, the national keeper took his own life after years of suffering depression. It seems that only very few were made aware of his condition his closest family members, some medical practitioners and one or two friends.

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Chelsea forward Salomon Kalou and Abdoulaye Meite were both in the Ivory Coast squad to face Germany in Wednesday's international friendly (2-2 draw). Neither was available for Saturday's World Cup qualifiying win over Guinea after the two went all hyphy on each other in training. The two have since made up (awww).

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The Desert Foxes (not making this up either) beat Egypt 1-0 with a first half goal from Anthar Yahia of Germany's VfL Bochum. Last appeared in the finals in Mexico 86, where they drew with Northern Ireland but lost to Spain and Brazil.

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Eintracht Frankfurt manager Michael Skibbe admits the club might be priced out of a move for Andriy Voronin.
The Liverpool striker has been linked with a move away from Anfield after failing to establish himself in the Reds first team, with manager Rafael Benitez preferring David Ngog as back-up for star forward Fernando Torres. Click to continue reading...

It is the last international match day of the year and we will be treated both to some decisive World Cup qualifiers as well as some quality international friendlies.

You already know about today's qualifiers, but there are also some great friendlies, including Germany-Ivory Coast, Italy-Sweden and Netherlands-Paraguay.

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In honour of today's Algeria vs Egypt showdown in Sudan, had planned on putting together a Top 10 Biggest International Rivalries post. But halfway through I realized it wasn't a great idea. Your own national team's rivalry will always feel bigger than anyone else's, so why include some in a Top 10 but not others?

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As you might expect, we have plenty of things going on today. Two or three plenties worth, actually...#1 - Let's begin with my double interview with Real Salt Lake strikers Robbie Findley and Yura Movsisyan.Other RSL tidbits:- Rogue Cavaliers Brigade blog Denz's Sopabox has interview videos- Have a ticket but no flight yet? Click to continue reading...

There I was sitting at my desk at work and a news story came through to me about Saloman Kalou . It said that he was involved in fight with West Brom's Abdoulaye Meite and that the two have since made up but will miss the friendly against Germany on Weds!
I know what you are thinking. Click to continue reading...

photo by ISIphotos.com

Kenny Cooper has been struggling for playing time with TSV 1860 Munich lately, and now it appears he will have to wait even longer to get on the field.

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Russia are only one game away from qualifying for the 2010 World Cup and have released the new home shirt that they will wear should they reach the finals in South Africa. Russia finished second in their qualifying group for the World Cup 4 points behind Germany, who never lost a ... Click to continue reading...

Liverpool and Brazil midfielder Lucas Leiva has conceded that he would like to emulate his uncle Leivinha by making the final squad that will travel to the World Cup in South Africa next year.
Leivinha played in the 1974 World Cup for the Verde e Amarelo and earned a total of 21 caps, scoring seven goals in the process. Click to continue reading...

In partnership with Russian Football Now, EPL Talk presents the fourteenth episode of RFN's podcast.

Russia has pulled ahead of Slovenia after leg one, but thanks to a late goal from the Slovenes, the favorites are in a precarious place ahead of Wendesday's second leg.

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FIFA will hand in its December 2009 Football rankings in a few days,but until then we can advance that SPAIN will regain the Nº1 Nationposition after defeating Argentina 2-1 last Saturday.Spain overtakes Brazil who is the only country in which Spain hasn´t played or defeated, being a World Champion. Click to continue reading...

If like me, you were wondering and wondering what got Hannover 96 and Germany keeper Robert Enke so depressed to end his life last week, his father has revealed a stunning cause: fear of failure on the pitch.And here's the kicker... Dirk Enke is a sports psychologist.Somehow, this episode just became much sadder and much more confusing. Click to continue reading...

Seriously we love this shirt and even though no one in the COS Towers office has any allegiance whatsoever with Germany we would gladly own this fine footballing garment (Adidas, I hope you see this and kindly send us a shirt in the post). We have no qualms about naming it the best shirt of this century and have duly done so.

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The UEFA region has several qualifying matches in the next few days for the 2011 U-21 European Championships. This tournament is a chance for the future stars of each country to get experience on an international stage. On Friday, November 13, 2009, there are several matches including Hungary v Italy, Belgium v Ukraine, Â Spain v Finland, Northern Ireland v Germany, and Netherlands v Liechtenstein.

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We've all done it. Tried to decipher the means, motives and mayhem behind a certain situation all within the whirling storm of our minds, failing to do the one oh so simple thing which could solve all our problems. On occasion causing a much larger problem through the tangents of an imagination enough to make [. Click to continue reading...

Landon Donovan started a 10 day trial with Germany's Bayern Munich (ASN, Nov. 11, 2009).

The trial soon turned into a loan spell amid (inaccurate, as it turned out) reports in the German press that a permanent deal was imminent. Donovan would return to Los Angeles in March.

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With the Bundesliga winter break fast approaching, it's looking more and more unlikely that Jermaine Jones will be able to return to the pitch for Schalke 04 in 2009. The Bundesliga's winter break begins on December 19, and will last until January 16, meaning the 28-year-old midfielder would have another two months to recuperate from his shin injury.

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The city of Alcorcón celebrated their shock victory over Real Madrid in style yesterday, as thousands lined the road to catch a glimpse of their heroes. Fans crowded around the team bus to welcome back their boys and we have to admit, it's certainly a beautiful image!

It's always sad when a death occurs in the football family.

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The tragic death of German goalkeeper Robert Enke has given us all some much-needed perspective. As much as top professional players are glorified, they are still people like you and me.

Enke threw himself infront of a train on Tuesday night, after suffering from depression since 2002.

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Around Germany today, people were still in shocked over the death of former National Team goalkeeper Robert Enke. According to reports in Europe, Enke committed suicide after battling depression for many years. The story was front page all over Germany this morning
Here is how some of the German newspapers cover Enke's death

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Japan are in South Africa for a friendly on Saturday and while they're not going to the lengths that Germany are falsely rumored to be for the World Cup, they are taking precautions that are a bit worrisome for a country about to host one of the world's biggest sporting events.

Team media director Ichirota Fukushi tells The AP:

"The players are free to go to the beach in front of the hotel, but we've told them not to go out after dark.

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ESPN has taken more than their fair share of stick for their football/soccer coverage, and for good reason. They're American (despite dubbing themselves The Global Leader) and, by and large, they do American sports well. Others: not so much.

But they've gone off-script with their latest venture, the Soccer Power Index, designed to render World Cup 2010 moot.

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