A Bad screen grab tells it all An image the Irish will never forget and an image the Referee never had a chance to see. As the Swedish ref is right about now showering down , he will have no doubt have been told or even see the "hand of God" issued by Mr [...] Click to continue reading...

Is this the curse of Rubin Kazan? Even exasperated Pep has run out of hand movements to last the entire game... and you know that's bad!

Anyway, after pulling off a shock victory at Nou Camp, everyone from the strange bloke who looks like Robert Pattinson on crack to the stray cat next door is wondering if the mighty Barca are really faltering.

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Funny that on today of all days, SAF was asked questions about whether the group stages of the Champions League were just a cash grab or if there was any purpose behind them. Well, I have to say that for FC Zurich there is without a doubt a purpose behind the group stages. In the same way that every American who was present for the World Cup draw against eventual champions Italy in 2006 will Click to continue reading...

Here's to you Bilic A little meaningless talk before the England Croatia match. When is Slaven Bilic going to ply his trade in the EPL? We could use a little provocation. [Daily Mail] The minnows look for some payback for losing their ri... Click to continue reading...

Here's to you Bilic A little meaningless talk before the England Croatia match. When is Slaven Bilic going to ply his trade in the EPL? We could use a little provocation. [Daily Mail] The minnows look for some payback for losing their ri... Click to continue reading...

More drama in Argentina. [WSJ]Nicklas Bendtner offers to pay fans for his number switch. [Arsenal]The US still can't bring it in Mexico. [LA Times]Serie A makes some waves in Asia. [Indy]How to meet your favorite footballers.&... Click to continue reading...

More drama in Argentina. [WSJ]Nicklas Bendtner offers to pay fans for his number switch. [Arsenal]The US still can't bring it in Mexico. [LA Times]Serie A makes some waves in Asia. [Indy]How to meet your favorite footballers.&... Click to continue reading...

More drama in Argentina. [WSJ]Nicklas Bendtner offers to pay fans for his number switch. [Arsenal]The US still can't bring it in Mexico. [LA Times]Serie A makes some waves in Asia. [Indy]How to meet your favorite footballers.&... Click to continue reading...

More drama in Argentina. [WSJ]Nicklas Bendtner offers to pay fans for his number switch. [Arsenal]The US still can't bring it in Mexico. [LA Times]Serie A makes some waves in Asia. [Indy]How to meet your favorite footballers.&... Click to continue reading...

More drama in Argentina. [WSJ]Nicklas Bendtner offers to pay fans for his number switch. [Arsenal]The US still can't bring it in Mexico. [LA Times]Serie A makes some waves in Asia. [Indy]How to meet your favorite footballers.&... Click to continue reading...

Was Tigres' penalty-kick win over Chicago in last night's SuperLiga championship game the end of the line for the summer money-grab tournament?

Thanks to a (cough cough) paid crowd of 20,000 at TOYOTA Park (biggest for a final in the short history of the tournament), overall attendance for the 2009 version of the event matching MLS and MFL teams got a bit of a boost, but the numbers are still way down from 2007:

Year G Total Average 2007 15 247,251 16,483 2008 15 195,390 13,026 2009 15 135,882 9,059 TOTAL 45 578,523 12,856

Having the home field for every game, MLS teams went 12-8-9 against their Mexican counterparts in the three years (losing two of three finals in penalties).

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I admit I laughed when I saw the cardboard cut out. But Frank made it very clear it was not his idea.
After some 'interviewed questions' - a lot seemed to be about how long the preseason was - the journalists were invited up front to ask questions. All the questions seemed to be about Miron and Clive's stand. Click to continue reading...

Sorry this took a minute.
Earlier this week:
Quote: "I intend to stay until the end of my contract and maybe further," Beckham said Monday about his plans with the Galaxy. "I've always said that. I've always said, even when I went to Milan, that I'm committed to the Galaxy and to MLS, and that hasn't changed. Click to continue reading...

The transfer season arms race at the top of Spanish football continues as today's Gazetto Dell Sport and Marca indicates Inter striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic may be heading for FC Barcelona. in a 42 million euro deal Its understood that Barça President Joan Laporta and Inter Boss Massimo Moratti came to an understanding on the transfer during a meeting last night in Milan. Click to continue reading...

When one guy does the crotch grab/pelvic thrust move, it's slightly odd. When three guys do it in (attempted) unison, we've all become guests at a surprise perv party.

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Ignoring for a moment that complete cash-grab that this is, do you suppose they realize Michael Jackson was a slightly controversial figure? No one's denying his musical genius, but the man also had a tendency to rub people the wrong way - those people typically being little boys, should you believe the pedophilia accusations. Click to continue reading...

It sucks to play for third or fourth place... but at least you'll get to enjoy the rest of your 'trip' knowing that nothing else can be done. Stable Boy Torres thinks there's no such thing as 'favourites' in the Confederations Cup anymore. Yeah, because Spain were favourites and are now forced to play in the losers pool.

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While the media has been convinced that Portsmouth have sold Glen Johnson to Liverpool in a £17 million deal for days now, there has yet to be any official confirmation of that fact. Unless you count the Liverpool official online store's slip up last night when they listed "Johnson, TBC" on the shirt personalization drop-down menu for a few hours.

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Some interesting stats on squad size in the Premier League. [Daily Mail]Henry Kissinger loves the beautiful game. [NY Times]The Gaffer has some stipulations for FSC's airing of the Champions League [EPL Talk]Some truly terrible kits. [Telegraph]Musings over the Champions League. [ESPN] Click to continue reading...

Bayern Munich are sick of bailing out 1860 Munich. [Independent]The world's cheapest car and the planet's biggest club. [Reuters India]Another Gunner gets his head turned by the Rossonieri. [Daily Mail]Manchester City don't give up the hope of attracting some of Europe's best. [Times]Posh worries as Italian ladies love the Beckham. Click to continue reading...

Ola senhoras . . . Guus Hiddink gets it wrong as he claims Twinkletoes' plaudits have come because he's such a glamorous boy. He should be impressed by Ronaldo's performance over the last year, despite his love of fashion and er, the ... Click to continue reading...

DB isn't used to recyclingAfter an underwhelming loan deal to AC Milan, at least some things are looking up for Goldenballs. For the first time in ten years, Becks can finally drink the real thing in public. [Daily Mail]People always say ... Click to continue reading...

Musical chairs in the Emirates boardroom?There's a power shift in north London, as long-time board member Nina Bracewell-Smith has left the Arsenal board "with immediate effect" and new CEO Ivan Gazidis will join them at the first of t... Click to continue reading...

Are you good enough?The dream of playing for your favorite team is possible, and you don't need to be a scab player during a strike to get onto the pitch, at least for the San Jose Earthquakes. The Northern California team is holding tryou... Click to continue reading...

From the land of the strange comes this article where Inter Milan are reportedly going to hire Diego Maradona as a consultant and scout in South America. What exactly is he supposed to do - go around South America watching matches and making player recommendations to Inter? It makes no sense and seems like it just is a grab at publicity. Click to continue reading...

We all know Arsene Wenger hates to pay retail, but a possible shock move for out-of-favor leftback Mikael Silvestre from Old Trafford to the Emirates may be one of the deals of the transfer window. The former French international could be pulling on an Arsenal strip for around $1.4M (750,000 GBP), eschewing an opportunity to sit on the bench for the Red Devils. Click to continue reading...

I've been watching from the start, but had some connection problems.
4 - DeRo from distance, off the post.
6 - Announcers discuss Igwe, correctly asses that Jay Heaps was unjustly suspended from the final in the Atlante scrum.
8 - Joseph with a scorcher from distance. High.
10 - This game has had a ton of intensity from the start. Click to continue reading...

Personally, I think he's crazy, but according to the London Times, Ronaldinho is on his way to Manchester City. I know that Manchester City are an up and coming club in the English Premier League, but there are so many other clubs out there that he could go to and this just seems to be a money grab for him. Click to continue reading...

It's made for TV. It's on at weird times. It inevitably means that DC will play Chivas. It's the Superliga, America's favorite made-for-TV money grab that has occasional moment of compelling action. It gets underway this weekend, here are my thoughts on the clubs involved. Today we discuss Group A. Group A Atlante - This not [. Click to continue reading...

Holland - Rode their luck but they were once again awesome.
Portugal - Not been troubled yet but not really firing
Spain - Made to work hard by Sweden...compacent?
Germany - Hit the wall...suddenly looked very frail and average.
Italy - Seriously underperformed and in the end they are lucky to still be in the tournament
Croatia - Superb performance against the Germans. Click to continue reading...

Goldenballs overtakes Ronaldinho in the Rich List again, but that may change soon if everyone's favorite toothy Brazilian makes a move to the luxuriousness of Manchester City, which will happen when AC and I top the next Rich List. Interestingly, at least six of the top ten aren't playing their best footie in quite some time, including the the aforementioned little Ronnie (too busy partying), Click to continue reading...

Don't get the idea that we make any sort of generalizations at all (e.g., Italian soccer is corrupt, there are no technically competent English players, Brazilians take their tradition of samba to the pitch, etc.) and we're certainly not racist, but here's a little footy-related post from one of my favorite blogs. Click to continue reading...

Wolfsburg striker, Marcelinho, certainly has a way with the ladies. Remember Joey Barton's technique with the lasses that catch his eye? Well, Brazilian definitely scores points for tenderness, stroking her face and all. Too bad about the beer bottle to her friend's face. Marcelinho accused of attack [Setanta Sports] With a target of winning the World Cup by 2050, Japanese Soccer is setting its Click to continue reading...

Nice work from the team over at Sniffing the Touchline, with a little rundown of some truly classic (and by classic, I mean embarrassing) attempts at a second career by some footballers with delusions of grandeur. Call it a gross generalization, but I never thought athletes and music were a likely match, unless you're 7 feet tall with a lazy eye. Click to continue reading...

I do love a good list, but this may as well be the top ten cars you'd buy if you were still 16. It is interesting how the Audi A3 made the list, considering just how plebeian it must seem to most players. Top ten cars of Premier League stars [Telegraph] And since we're on the topic of lists, here's another 5. Click to continue reading...