The Africa Cup of Nations group stage draw was released on Friday at the Talatona Convention
Centre in Luanda with the hosts Angola being drawn in a somewhat easy Group A alongside Algeria,
Mali and Malawi. This tournament will be a must win for the 'Palancas Negras' after they failed to
reach the Finals of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.
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For the third time in row Barca failed to win their La Liga match after an international break.
They are known to carry their form in La Liga to the UEFA Champions League, and if that happen we
will definitely see holders Barca getting knocked out of the Champions League in the group stage.
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Anfield Talk 21 November @ 08:35 PM EST
Rafa Benitez has called on Lyon to restore France's battered reputation - and help Liverpool
complete another Euro miracle.
The Reds need Lyon to go from 'cheats' to emblems of fair play against Fiorentina on Tuesday - even
though the French club has already qualified for the Champions League group stage.
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Soccerblog 20 November @ 09:37 AM EST
17 arrests for a match fixing scandal which affects 200 matches in nine European countries.
The matches include the Bundesliga second division, and the leagues in Belgium, Switzerland,
Croatia, Slovenia, Turkey, Hungary, Bosnia and Austria. 12 Europa matches and 3 CL matches are said
to be manipulated this year, and it is unclear as to whether it is the group stage or qualifying
rounds.
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SoccerLens 20 November @ 05:58 AM EST
Following their defeat to Chelsea, I read a couple of articles writing off Manchester United's
title hopes. This feels absurdly early to me, so ahead of this weekend's Premiership matches here
are 4 reasons why I reckon Manchester United will be lifting the Premier League title in May
2010.
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Footy Factor 20 November @ 05:14 AM EST
2010 is on the horizon and it's safe to say that it's been a wonderful decade for football. We
here at Footy Factor have taken the opportunity to celebrate the greatest teams, players,
and matches of the past 10 years. Next up...
Upset of the Decade
Winner: Senegal 1 – France 0 (2002 World Cup, Group
Stage).
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After an extended vacation, I am back writing the blog. The coming week could turn out to be the
most important week for FC Barcelona this season. After achieving a historic treble, no team would
like to be thrown out of UEFA Champions League in the group stage, but the chances are pretty high
for that to happen.
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The 2010 World Cup Qualification process has finished and all of the 32 teams have been
determined. There aren't too many surprises as many of the favorites such as Brazil, Spain, Italy,
and England will all be there. Some nations such as France and Argentina struggled to advance but
in the end will be there in South Africa.
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I was pleasantly surprised to see the U.S. beating Denmark 1-0 at the half when I was able to tune
in yesterday.
Jeff Cunningham with the goal? That was hard to comprehend too.
I must have been a bad luck charm because right after a starting watching, Denmark couldn't stop
scoring and the Danes eventually pulled out the 3-1 win.
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EPL Talk 19 November @ 07:29 AM EST
It has been all about Thierry Henry and his "Hand of God" this past 24 hours. Articles,
comments, they are everywhere, lambasting the striker for his role in the controversial equaliser.
I am a Gooner, and Henry scored the goal which mesmerized me into pledging my allegiance to
Arsenal.
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Now that we know the teams that will be making it to South Africa for the World Cup finals, i
think its time we all took the bold step of picking our favorites to win the tournament. I know
many of you might say that the right time to do this will be after the group stage draw that will
happen in about two weeks time on the 4th of December.
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The World Cup winners in 1930 and 1950 became the last team to qualify for South Africa 2010
thanks to a draw with Costa Rica at the Centenario in Montevideo. Substitute
Sebastian Abreu - who plays for Aris Salonika in Greece -Â put
the hosts ahead 70 minutes but Costa Rica equalised when Deportivo Saprissa's Walter
Centeno scored four minutes later.
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So we approach the end of another Asian Cup qualifying round and how much closer are South ast
Asian nations to qualifying? In 2007 thanks to some political compromise there were four countries
in Asia's flagship national team competition; Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. For 2011
in Qatar they may be just one.
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At the Olympic Stadium, Greece drew 0-0 with Ukraine in the first leg of their World Cup
playoff. Tomorrow night, the 2nd leg with take place at another Olympic Stadium, this time in Kyiv.
It really should be a tough affair with it all to play for and a place in the tournament in South
Africa.
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On Saturday night, Russia defeated Slovenia 2-1 in the first leg of their World Cup Playoff, in
Russia. Russia had gone 2-0 up, thanks to a double from Diniyar Bilyaletdinov, however Slovenia
scored in the 88th minute with a goal from Nejc Pecnik, that has kept the Slovenians alive in the
tie, especially with a crucial away goal.
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A Singapore defeat is always good news for the media there. Reluctant to write about the game
generally, once the national team fails to win the World Cup or even win a group stage game all the
whiners come crawling out from under their toadstools they call home and sing the usual refrain.
Chuffed to pieces they are at being given another opportunity to rant and rave.
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Europe
With four places left to be filled, the eight best runners-up from the group stage took to the
field on Saturday to kick-off the first leg of the European play-offs.
In Dublin, Ireland battled tenaciously against the visiting French team but somewhat frustrating
played true to form, i.
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Well, I just finished gnashing my teeth, rending my clothes, and dropping down to my knees, head
thrust upward, yelling "Why, God? Why?!" I think now I can almost think rationally about this.
The big news is that the injury is not quite as bad as it had been first thought. Originally,
everyone was reporting 2-3 months, some of the more sensationalist English papers were saying out
for the season.
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A number of players can stake a claim for being part of the best team in the world at this early
period of the European domestic leagues. However, very few players standout the way those listed
below have in terms of their contribution to their team, their role as leaders, and certainly their
crucial involvement in their respective clubs.
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The days of the great broad expressway to South Africa 2010 are decisively past: the struggle
now has moved onto a narrow mountain pass. Every victory won today was as thin as it may be
decisive. And it wasn't merely Europe – many held their breath across the world today. Few
have cause to exhale yet.
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It was an important day in all the regions as the final spots for the 2010 World Cup Finals in
South Africa are being deteremined. In UEFA there are eight teams competing for four spots in two
legged ties. The first leg was on Saturday with the second coming on Wednesday, November 18, 2009.
There are two playoff matches between regions including the AFC/OFC Playoff and CONCACAF/CONMEBOL
Playoff.
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by TRAVIS CLARK
One game, everything to play for. When tonight's World Cup playoff between Bahrain and New
Zealand (2am, FSC) kicks off, the winner claims a spot in South Africa, while the loser faces the
prospect of missing the tournament once again.
Neither side is a prominent soccer nation, yet the underlying feeling is that the winning
nation's program would receive a much-needed shot in the arm.
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So we are just shy of being one-third of the way through the season and we're already at our
third (!) interlull. When we return, it will be crunch time with 11 matches in the next 42 days,
including Chelsea at home, Liverpool away, the final CL group stage fixtures, and, of course, City
away in the Carling Cup quarterfinals.
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See The Cup 12 November @ 02:32 PM EST
Recently, Palmeiras and Sport played some thrilling and decisive matches, with one side side
usually celebrating at the end. Sport eliminated Palmeiras from Copa do Brasil. Palmeiras
eliminated Sport from Libertadores and before that they battled in the group stage.
Last night in Sao Paulo, Palmeiras and Sport tied in 2 goals for the 35th round of
Brasileirao.
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2009, has been a very complicated year for US National Team supporters. We've had the high of
our first ever FIFA final combined with the low of a 5-0 loss to arch rival Mexico. We beat World
Cup qualifier Honduras four times this year and gave Spain its only loss of the last three
years.
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Soccerblog 12 November @ 07:46 AM EST
Nassim Ben Khalifa, the face of the U17 Swiss squad
In a few minutes the Swiss U-17 squad will take the field to face Colombia in the U17 World Cup
semi-final. It is worth commenting that one has to look once or twice to find a name of Swiss
extraction in the squad.
Nassim Ben Khalifa, their pre-eminent striker is a second generation Swiss with Tunisian
roots.
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On Saturday 14th November 2009, Portugal play Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first leg of their World
Cup playoff. This is a really tough one to predict for me, as Portugal have really struggled in the
group stage and Bosnia appear to have a strong side. Sports retailers will certainly be hoping for
a Portuguese victory, as they are likely to be one of the best selling World Cup Jerseys likely to
be among the best selling kits next summer.
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On Saturday 14th November 2009, Portugal play Bosnia-Herzegovina in the first leg of their World
Cup playoff. This is a really tough one to predict for me, as Portugal have really struggled in the
group stage and Bosnia appear to have a strong side. Sports retailers will certainly be hoping for
a Portuguese victory, as they are likely to be one of the best selling World Cup Jerseys likely to
be among the best selling kits next summer.
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Tonight Chelsea travel to Madrid for the reverse fixture in our Champions League group stage
against Atletico Madrid. In our first game we totally outplayed Madrid and kept Forlan and Aguero
quiet. Expect it to be alot different as they are unbeaten at home this season. It will be
interesting to see if Ancelotti rotates the squad from our last game.
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The
FIFA World Cup 2010 welcomes
Chile to South Africa after they qualified in an
impressive second place. This will be the first time they have qualified for the finals since 1998
(they were banned from qualifying for 1990 and 1994 after their 'keeper feigned injury during a
qualification match against Brazil).
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SoccerLens 09 November @ 03:20 AM EST
The timing could never had been better. Precisely ten years after the fall of the Berlin Wall,
another barrier in Europe is being taken down: the wall between the strong and the weak of European
football; between the Champions League and the Europa League; between the Big Four and the Little
16.
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Soccer Source 09 November @ 12:25 AM EST
There was a lot of action in topflight soccer last week, with a full suite of Champions League,
Europa League and domestic competition on tap. After the dust settled, however, the number one team
is the same one it's been for three weeks running now. Not that anybody should be surprised by
that. There was plenty of movement elsewhere in the top 25 however.
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The group stage is now in the books, with a few notable names getting tripped up at the first
hurdle as the field narrowed from 32 to 16. Now things start to get really interesting as we move
to the single elimination phase of our program. While my...
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Anfield Talk 08 November @ 01:19 PM EST
Liverpool will not be forced to sell off key players if the club make an early exit from the
Champions League, co-owner Tom Hicks said.
"None of our star players will be sold, regardless of results," the American told the Sunday
Mirror. "The club is doing very well due to rapidly growing commercial revenues.
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This weekend could be the most important weekend of Chelsea's season and they may be looking
back fondly in May when they are lifting the Premiership trophy.
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It was confirmed on Friday that the Chelsea transfer ban was being suspended by the Court of
Arbitration for Sport.
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