Africa
Arguably the headline match of the day was the special play-off match between Algeria and Egypt to decide the final World Cup qualifier from Africa.
Both teams had finished with identical records in Group 3 of the final qualifying round which led to this hastily-arranged one-off match in Sudan to decide the winner. Click to continue reading...

Not nearly as bad as the Hand of the Frog - Henry's double handball that led France to the World Cup over the deserving Irish, we have the overshadowed goal that wasn't today from Daniel Nardiello, the Bury striker.
Funny stuff here. What a watered down pitch. Brilliant goalkeeping by the puddle there, as Kasper Schmeichel of Notts County was well beaten. Click to continue reading...

So President Nicolas Sarkozy went on Facebook to wish les Bleus good luck.

Pretty sure that will be all it takes to push them over the top.

GFC over at The Beantown Frog is cautiously optimistic about this leg of the match, predicting a 1-0 win.

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1. Guzan In Goal: Brad Guzan is coming off a superb performance in the League Cup for Aston Villa. On October 27th against Sunderland, Guzan stopped a penalty in regulation and then stopped three more in the shootout. Though hopefully he won't need to save any penalties on Saturday, he could use that big moment where he is the difference. Click to continue reading...

Tonight starts the conference finals in the 2009 MLS Cup Playoffs. We all know the pairings going into the conference finals and for the most part we know who the league and ESPN are hoping to see in the MLS Cup.

We have our favorites and we certainly have our underdog. These next two games will put either a really high profile match in MLS Cup 2009 or one that sees a couple of western conference clubs battling it out like last year's two eastern conference teams did in LA.

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This video quickly goes from the worst non-offside call in history to the worst offside trap in history to the worst goalkeeping in history. In essence this video should have all its copies burn and rid from the earth so as to avoid being viewed by a young, impressionable footballer. There are three clips: in the [. Click to continue reading...

Several Americans were in action in the European leagues on Sunday, November 10, 2009. Clint Dempsey, Jonathan Spector, and Tim Howard were playing in the English Premier League while Carlos Bocanegra was with Stade Rennais in France. Kenny Cooper continues to play for Bundesliga 2 side 1860 Munich and Steve Cherundolo is a regular starter for Hannover 96.

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Birmingham was hard done by Peter Walton's decision to award a PK after the French striker went down in the box from a tackle by Lee Carsley. Problem was Carsley never touched him. Steven Gerrard subbing for the injured Riera converted the penalty and Liverpool scraped a draw.

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So now that the passion/disappointment has simmered a bit after a below mediocre season, I figured I's sit and look at the team as a whole and write about what I thought should happen for 2010.

Peter Vermes = Technical Director: After 3 seasons in this position I feel Vermes has done a less than stellar job.

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With much of the qualification process almost complete and South Africa 2010 looming large, it would make sense to assess some of the world's best custodians who will be present during the World Cup. Goalkeepers such as Petr Cech will be excluded from the discussion since their nation failed to qualify for next summer's big event.

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It's probably not news to you that Juve and Italy's Gigi Buffon is quite good at the old goalkeeping. But just in case there was any doubt, take a look at his save vs Maccabi Haifa in Champions League Group A yesterday. First the close-range block, then the elastic lean backwards to palm it away from [. Click to continue reading...

The first Boys 1A game of the day saw the #1 seeded Totino-Grace Eagles (18-3-0) take on the Mahtomedi Zephyrs (14-3-3).

The game was a dual of sorts with possession build ups by the Eagles and a classic counter attacks by Mahtomedi. The Zephyrs passing over the TG defense and trying to break down the Eagles defense with their speedy forwards.

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The first Boys 1A game of the day saw the #1 seeded Totino-Grace Eagles (18-3-0) take on the Mahtomedi Zephyrs (14-3-3).

The game was a dual of sorts with possession build ups by the Eagles and a classic counter attacks by Mahtomedi. The Zephyrs passing over the TG defense and trying to break down the Eagles defense with their speedy forwards.

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There have been plenty of success stories at Sydney FC this season. The wonderful mobility of the Brosque-Bridge partnership, Stuart Musialik's return to form, the impressive fitness levels...not to mention the much-improved relations with the media, with Vitezslav Lavicka's courteous and dignified manner putting all four of his predecessors to shame. Click to continue reading...

Tim Howard: under siege these days at Everton.

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Every Tuesday I go out with some buddies to a local (and soccer-friendly, of course) pub.

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The north London derby of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur in recent years has been one of the marquee matches in the English Premier League. Both clubs have looked strong in the 2009-10 season and Saturday's match took place at the Emirates. Here's a recap of the EPL matches from Saturday, October 31, 2009 along with video highlights.

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Welcome back to TGIF, a feature that was the brain wave of Perry_Groves' Lovechild, where I try to bring together the themes of the week into hopefully a summary of the Arsenal World so far. This week there are many things to talk about, but the news of Professional footballers being given jail sentences again reminds us all that our players are just human after all, apart from Joey Barton who is clearly an extra terrestial who has hijacked a human body.

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Fran Merida scored with a stinging left footed shot in the 19th minute after Voronin gives it away to Craig Eastmond. It was Merida's first goal as a Gunner as Cesc Fabregas looked on ecstatic at his Spanish teammate's achievement.

Emiliano Insua answered back with an even more impressive dipping shot in the 27th minute which looped over Fabianski's head even with the Arsenal goalie completely extended.

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Today, October 25th, is the fifteenth anniversary of the second and most famous of the three appearances of Brian Potter's senior football career, and this site has very kindly indulged me by allowing me to write a tribute to the great man. You've almost certainly never heard of him, and mention of his name usually makes people think of Peter Kay, but no, it's not that one.

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West Ham 2-2 Arsenal

There are draws that seem like wins, and there are draws that seem like defeats. Today's was both depending which team you support.

Deeply frustrating if you're an Arsenal fan though. Coming back from two goals up might be a theme of the weekend, but it doesn't make it any less infuriating, does it?

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Â

There is reason to be concerned.

If AZ Alkmaar was a foreshadowing, the Gunners did their best to not heed the warning. Â Anyone who has watched this team over the past five years knew what was coming, both in the Netherlands and at Upton Park. Â It's just too predictable.

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Ducky's Note: The Other Big Four is back! As is Vishwa.

"Â PIRLO+ SPACE+TIME = DISASTER"

- ONE OF THE MANY PROPOSED SOLUTIONS FOR THE SPACE-TIME CONTINUUM.

" PEPE+DEFENDING=PEPE+DEFENDING WITH RAUL ALBIOL= DIDA+ GOALKEEPING=Â 0"

-ONE OF THE MANY PROPOSED SOLUTIONS FOR THE QUESTION OF LIFE, THE UNIVERSE AND PHILIP METZELDER.

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D.C. United 1: 0 Columbus Crew
Six Word Novel Recap A decent team, with terrible supporters.
Let me just start by saying that Steve Cronin impressed the hell out of me last night. He played confidently, and he did not hesitate to come off of his line or even out of the box. At one point last night, he ran almost to the corner flag to shield a Crew player off the ball until it ran out for a goal kick. Click to continue reading...

Either it's a harbinger for the misery to come or the prologue to one of the greatest sports upsets ever, but  England will arrive in South Africa next summer brandishing new lows in their quality of goalkeeping. Never before have the Three Lions been represented at the World Cup by a keeper who has just finished the season with a side that got relegated. Click to continue reading...

The US is going to another World Cup. (Getty Images)

Editor's Note: Geoff Reid appears at WVHooligan each week. Today he is back to recap the recent World Cup clinching match for the US against Honduras. Feel free to leave Geoff your thoughts below.

It's been a few days since the US national team secured qualification for South Africa next summer so now would be a good time to recap the latest events that took place in San Pedro Sulsa on Saturday night.

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I'm still in a bit of shock after Sunday's match because I just didn't think it was possible that the Timbers would be upset in their playoff run. They seemed to have the perfect combination of offense, defense, and goalkeeping that successful teams need to win Click to continue reading...

Honduras will be without Captain Amado Guevara for the mammoth clash with the United States on Saturday. While the USA is without Clint Dempsey, the Americans come in with a full complement of players otherwise. (Except for Mo Edu, who of course has been injured for some time now.)

Confidence has been high at US Camp this week in Miami.

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Two weeks ago ex-Manchester United and Millwall player Eamon Dunphy wrote that this year's title would be fought out between Man United and Chelsea after the Manchester derby.

Two weeks later a lot has changed. United perform poorly against Sunderland and this Monday Dunphy states it's going to be a battle between Arsenal and Chelsea.

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First off, the highlights:

AEKMAN74 posted a review earlier on this match which covered most of the main points so be sure to check that out as well. I'd just like to add a few things.

We lined up with Saja as keeper, Araujo, Arce, Majstorovic, and Georgeas (who played left back) playing defence, Hersi, Geurreiro, Jahic, and Manduca playing Midfield, with Scocco and Blanco playing attack.

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It looks like we could finally have some good goalkeeping news. Ben Foster hasn't had the best of times in the Man United goal but now we could have Edwin Van Der Sar back.
Van Der Sar is set to return for Man United's reserves against Everton today. trip to the Stobart Stadium, Halton in Widnes kicks off at 19:00 this evening. Click to continue reading...

When: Today, 1pm
Where: USF Soccer Stadium
Thirteenth ranked Rutgers (9-1-2), winners of five of their last six matches comes to town to face a South Florida (5-4-2) team that is enjoying a four game unbeaten streak thanks to some hard fought victories.
The Scarlet Knights have been a dominant team, shutting out seven of their opponents and outscoring them 23-6 so far this season. Click to continue reading...

Before today's games my colleague Taylor Fisher predicted a Portsmouth victory in today's game away to Wolves. Indeed he was right and the 1-0 victory puts new life in to Pompey's season. Wolves have had a patchy start to the season and their opposition exploited their weaknesses and have given Paul Hart some relief from the turmoil surrounding the club.

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When: Tonight, 7:30pm
Where: USF Soccer Stadium
Tonight's match is a clash between Big East Red Division rivals. USF (6-1-1 overall / 2-1-1 Big East) is currently second in the division while the visiting Bearcats (7-3-0 overall / 2-2-0 Big East) sit fourth. The Bulls are ranked number six in the NSCAA poll and hold an all time edge in the series over Cincinnati 7-6-3. Click to continue reading...

I came in from the match last night, coughing up phlegm and regretting my attendance, to my traditional 'just returned from the football' conversation with my mother, where she feigns interest in my evening out.
She tends to know the score and little else. Occasionally she reads a match report. Click to continue reading...

I'm sure many of us are still riding high on the peak of cloud nine following the last gasp events of Sunday afternoon and who in their right mind can blame us! In fairness, you could even be forgiven for allowing this evening's fixture against Wolves to have slipped the mind and altogether dipped off the radar.

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