Could this man be back as Nigeria's coach?

A Diego Maradona comparison is too tantalizing. A team that has managed to qualify for the 2010 World Cup despite the incompetence of the coach. Nigeria needed help from Mozambique who beat Tunisia, 1-0. For their part Nigeria overcame Kenya, 3-2 with a brace from Obafemi Martins in a tense match.

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I realize that the last official football match to take place at Giants Stadium was almost two weeks ago between the Red Bulls and Toronto FC, but I still figured I'd throw my two cents in on what was once a football mecca in this country. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about the Meadowlands is very mixed feelings.

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TORONTO - Pistolas FC player Romerinho is set to debut his new 2010 cleats during the Toronto-Mississauga Cup next Saturday, October 24th, 2009.
Thanks to our friends at http://www.soccerpro.com/, Romerinho has snagged a snazzy pair of Addidas F30 FG TRX's, which he will sport during all games of the tourney. Click to continue reading...

It's a Saturday night, and I didn't want to watch the damn game at a pub on an f'ing delay for whatever reason MLSE had in mind. And technically, should "f'ing" begin with an "an" instead of an "a", because if you say it, it's more like 'effing'... semantics.
We've got a damn rain delay. Sure, there's thunder and lightning, but big deal. Click to continue reading...

France doesn't have a lot of local rivalries like England for example, since Lyon-Saint Etienne and Lille-Lens do not really portray all the elements of the derby. However, this country has a derby between Olympique Marseille and Paris Saint Germain, a fierce rivalry that doesn't go such a long way.

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AZ Alkmaar v Arsenal
Tuesday 20th October 2009
DS Stadium - Alkmaar
UEFA Champions League
Kick-off: 19:45 UK (20:45 CET)

Champions vs 4th placed team games are rarely this mismatched - the Dutch champions go into this game as underdogs despite playing at home (courtesy of a poor start to the season) while England's fourth-best team have punters and pundits salivating over another potential European master-class from Wenger's men.

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Does anyone know who Adailton is? Or Pablo Counago? And what have they got in common?
Give up? Ok, no need to rush to google: the answer is that they both finished the FIFA U20 World Cup as top scorers (1997 and 1999 respectively) and were considered among the best talents of their generation. Click to continue reading...

Overnight the peoples of Ivory Coast, Chile, Serbia, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Mexico popped the champagne. Now there are 19 on the party list, and there's mass patriotic emotion attached to the competition for the final 13 places. I'll have a look at some of the more interesting ones (to me ok).
Last night New Zealand held Bahrain to a 0:0 draw on Bahrain's turf. Click to continue reading...

Gobsmacked this morning to glance at the local rags and actually see some coverage of Singapore football. Especially as there are no SLeague games tonight.
One rag has a trip down memory lane as it looks at what has happened to the team of 1977. Usually I like this things but then that's in the context of the here and now. Click to continue reading...

It has been announced that since the takeover of Birmingham city by a Hong Kong businessman that David Gold was asked to take a role as Vice President of the club and the new owner, Carson Yeung, was going to bring in someone who heads one of his companies. Â At that idea, Gold quit.

Can you blame him?

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"Seeing these smiling faces is the greatest pleasure. They have been magnificent all season. They have been our 12th man. I have always said our fans are the best in England. Now I know they are the best in Europe too." (Rafa Benitez)

Yes indeed, Rafa Benitez may be many things but naiive he most definitely is not!

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The ‘spectacular sporting project' that Florentino Perez envisioned might just be starting to gel smoothly. The question however is if this new ‘galacticos' era will bring Madrid the titles they have very much craved for. There is no doubt that with players such as Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo Real is a formidable side although I still feel that their glory days are long gone.

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The World Cup is not leaving Africa. Not for another six years at least. The only other team that stands a chance of wining the cup is Brazil. Either way, history will be made in South Africa. I say this with no disrespect.

Here's why. Brazil is aiming at getting their sixth title – no other team on the face of the planet comes close to that record.

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Every year since Liverpool last won the title in the 1989/1990 season, their fans harp on about this year being their year. This season the glory days will return and they will win the title, something they used to be able to claim they had won more than any other team.

Since Liverpool last won the league, United have won an incredible eleven titles, as well as two European Cups, but this doesn't seem to dampen the scouse spirit.

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For this week's Compilation Friday we've got a lesson in recent history with France's all-time leader in caps, Lilian Thuram (142). In this video featuring his glory days with Juve, you'll see his mastery of the body check a move that can be just as devastating as a good slide tackle, but without the grass stains.

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In the first edition of 'Milan Legends', we take a look back at one of Milan's greatest ever players, Andriy Shevchenko. With his move back to Kyiv signalling the end of a glorious career, it is timely to recount Shevchenko's glory days in Milan. The Ukranian helped Milan to numerous titles as well as writing himself into the record books as he became the second all-time highest goalscorer at the club. Click to continue reading...

The changes that have been made over pre-season are really beginning to shine through as the season continues to start well. Wenger was confident going into this season which implied something had changed. With two senior players leaving and only one coming in, many doubted Wenger.

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Three games, three wins. Its taken us nearly fifty years to repeat that opening sequence. The last time we did that we won the Double. Now I have to be careful here because last time I mentioned these facts in a thoughtful and sensitive piece entitled provocatively 'Can we win the league this year? I stirred up a mini hornets' nest of people accusing me of selling the club down the river and of Click to continue reading...