Photo by Brad Smith/ISIphotos.com

The U.S. men's national team's friendly against Italy is a little more than two weeks away, and it is the first chance that manager Jurgen Klinsmann has to have his "A" team assembled together in the new year.

With only a few friendlies remaining before World Cup qualifying begins in June, Klinsmann will look to the Feb.

photo by Stephen Brashear/ISIphotos.com

Fresh off a successful Olympic qualifying campaign, U.S. women's national team head coach Pia Sundhage has called up 28 players for its upcoming friendly against New Zealand.

Nineteen of the 20 players on the Olympic qualifying roster were summoned by Sundhage for the Americans' first game on home soil this year, including Alex Morgan, Hope Solo and Abby Wambach.

Cardiff City, the team from the Welsh capital, are heading to the Carling Cup final. The team defeated Crystal Palace in the first completed Carling Cup semi final. They will now play the winner of the Liverpool vs Manchester City tie which will be completed on Wednesday evening at Anfield.

Kenny Dalglish will continue to ease Steven Gerrard back into action, with Liverpool wary of asking for too much, too soon from their skipper.
Gerrard made his eagerly-anticipated return from injury on Boxing Day as he stepped off the bench during a 1-1 draw with Blackburn.
A 21-minute outing in that Anfield stalemate was only his sixth appearance of the season, with an ankle infection having kept him sidelined for long periods.

Jordi Gomez claims Wigan will welcome Liverpool to the DW Stadium on Wednesday confident in their ability to pull off another shock result.
The Latics impressed many observers on Saturday evening as they stunned Chelsea with a dramatic late show on home soil.
Gomez's goal two minutes from the end of that contest saw Wigan take what could be a priceless point from the title-chasing Blues.

[caption id="attachment_4685" align="alignleft" width="800" caption="Do you remember the first time?"][/caption]

While some (primarily English) observers consider Brazil's 1982 "jogo bonito" side to be the best team never to win the world cup (which is, in itself, ridiculous. The Grande Inter of the 1960s, just to name one, never won the world cup.

Martin Jol claims that Jay Spearing's challenge on Moussa Dembele could have broken the Fulham star's ankle.
The Liverpool midfielder was sent off for the second-half tackle, which won the ball but caught the Belgian's leg strongly when he followed through.
Speaking in his post-match press conference, Jol said: "I will be honest.

Liverpool U18s warmed up for the FA Youth Cup with a frustrating 0-0 draw with Stoke City at the Academy on Saturday afternoon.
Mike Marsh's men had gone into the game on the back of two impressive victories in Manchester but could not kick-start their campaign on home soil as they struggled to break down a stubborn Potters rearguard.

Glen Johnson believes it is just a matter of time before Liverpool start to build up a winning momentum again at Anfield – and is hoping the Reds can click back into gear on home turf starting in Sunday's clash with Manchester City.
Kenny Dalglish's side have drawn their last three games at Anfield but after the superb victory at Stamford Bridge, confidence is high going into the game with Roberto Mancini's Barclays Premier League leaders.

United travel to Wales this weekend to take on Swansea, and although bookmakers make them long odds-on at a top priced 1.53 it promises to be a much tougher game than the odds suggest.

Swansea have conceded just one goal on home soil this season, fewer than any other Premier League team on their own ground, and are now on an unbeaten run of 13 (won 9, drawn four).

by Adam Bate

There are many over-used and misleading phrases in football and "one-man team" is surely right up there. In 1969-70, Cagliari had a quality side. Players such as Ricky Albertosi, Pierluigi Cera, Comunardo Niccolai and Angelo Domenghini all played for the Azzurri. And yet, the simple and remarkable fact remains Gigi Riva won the Scudetto for Cagliari.

BY ADAM SERRANO

The Los Angeles Galaxy continued their methodical push to the MLS Cup as they advanced to the league championship with a 3-1 victory over Real Salt Lake at the Home Depot Center.

The victory put the Galaxy in their second final in three years as they will take on the Houston Dynamo on their home soil on November 20th.

Craig Bellamy has called on Liverpool to demonstrate their top-four credentials by securing victory over Swansea City this weekend and extending their unbeaten run to eight matches in the process.
The Swans will journey to Anfield on Saturday having enjoyed an encouraging start to life in the top flight after securing promotion from the Championship last term.

Jerome Amione, currently with Atlante, scored the lone goal as Mexico's youth again shows it's international dominance in the Pan American Games as they win the gold medal 1-0 on home soil. Congrats to Tri Colores.Video: yornom2011
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By Chris Wright

We've already seen a player notch with his crotch today, so bona fide Brazilian futsal legend Falcao's injury-time goal against Russia in the Grand Prix final continues the theme nicely in so far as the tricky-dicky 34-year old veteran scored the late winner with his left breasticle to secure a 2-1 victory at the death and, by extension, that Brazil lifted the trophy on home soil.

Written by MickyDidIt89

After logging off last night , I became the recipient of some most disturbing news. I have been ousted as The Chairman of my local Wiff Waff Club (Ping Pong to some). It is a very small select club which makes pinpointing the bad seed very straightforward.

Defender Martin Skrtel admits a degree of relief as Liverpool return to Anfield this weekend.
The Reds welcome Wolves on Saturday and Skrtel returns from a one-match ban after missing out on the club's 2-1 Carling Cup win at Brighton on Wednesday.
Slovakian Skrtel was red carded at Tottenham last week but he is looking forward to getting back to home soil after three away games on the trot.

• Kop That: Kenny Dalglish resolute in pursuing Liverpool's unfinished revolution | Paul Hayward http://t.co/IEyxLhn5 22:45:10, 2011-09-23
• Kop That: Kenny Dalglish criticises 'paranoia' over Liverpool's Andy Carroll http://t.co/YAaI20xj 22:45:05, 2011-09-23
• Kop That: What are the odds Manchester United's unbaten start lasts longer than Manchester City's?

Home soil comforts Skrtel

Defender Martin Skrtel admits a degree of relief as Liverpool return to Anfield this weekend.

View the full story here: Sky Sports

A news article on 2011-09-23 16:54:58 from: Sky Sports

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

The opening round of group matches in the UEFA Champions League were completed on Wednesday with a shock in Milan, predicted wins for the likes of FC Bayern and Real Madrid proving true whereas the Manchester duo of City and United had to be content with a point in two difficult matches.

Ondřej Čelůstka proved to be the hero in the San Siro stadium as his 76th minute goal proved to be the winner in a 1-0 victory over 2009-10 Champions League winners Internazionale.

While much has been made of Major League Soccer teams' recent success in Mexico and Central America during the CONCACAF Champions League, MLS teams have done fine for themselves on home soil, as well.

None of the five MLS clubs in the tournament has lost to non-MLS opposition at home so far during the CCL group stage, and the Colorado Rapids will look to maintain that streak when they welcome Mexican club Santos Laguna to Dick's Sporting Goods Park (10 p.

Brazil v Ghana All eyes on the Selecao - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

It is the nature of modern football that in any match involving Brazil, the spotlight rests solely on their ambitions for their next title.

This time, as hosts of the next World Cup, they have only friendlies (and the Confederations Cup) to fine-tune their preparations in the next 3 years and as such, every friendly will be an examination of Brazil's credentials to lift the World Cup on their home soil.

Jurgen Klinsmann's second game as the man in charge did not go exactly as expected. Playing on home soil against an experimental Costa Rica squad the expectation for the United States was to get a result Instead, the loss to Costa Rica, while not a disaster in any sense, did provide some answers as we move forward with the Klinsmann era.

By Puck Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome back into the Happy Hour. I know you are all extremely angry about the US loss last night. Or maybe you aren't angry at all that Jurgen managed to lose on home soil to a CONCACAF foe in his second match—a feat that it took Bob three years to [...]

Last year the Seattle Sounders set a record with 31,311 tickets sold when they beat the Columbus Crew in the 2010 US Open Cup Final. As the club attempts to push back their own record (because we know they will) they start the journey with 15$ seats that go on sale on Tuesday September 6th, 2011. It is nearly certain that the various Supporters Groups will have their large swaths of tickets, and of course this gives the people of Seattle an opportunity to see a Championship on home soil (or rubber).

Wojciech Szczesny has revealed that he is set to be Arsenal's first-choice goalkeeper this season.

The No.1 position at Emirates Stadium has been problematic for the past couple of seasons, with Arsene Wenger trying out a number of different options.

Manuel Almunia and Lukasz Fabianski have both been inconsistent, while German veteran Jens Lehmann was even brought back to the club on a short-term deal in March following an injury crisis.

Columnist: Ram GurungNepalifootball.com
Nepal into the semisNepal U16 entered the semis by winning against Sri Lanka U16 side which opened the flood gate in the second half of the encounter. The defeated side will be playing the playoff against the Maldives after the semi finals of the tournament.

Former Japan international Naoki Matsuda has died. The 34-year-old collapsed during training with Japan Football League club Matsumoto Yamaga on August 2.
The tenacious defender played more than 360 top-flight games for Yokohama F. Marinos and was one of the most popular players of the J. League era.

Juergen Klinsmann is the new head coach of the United States Men's National Team. I'll let Bill Archer as Fake Ives Galarcep pose today's topic for discussion:

So what do you guys think of this hiring? Will the US be a better team now? Will we be able to beat Mexico once again? Do these pants make my ass look fat?

* Saturday night in Rio sees the draw for the 2014 World Cup qualifiers for all except South America (CONMEBOL).
All eyes will be on the European draw where 1998 World Cup winners France have been downgraded to the second pot, meaning they will play one of the top seeds England, Spain, Holland, Germany, Portugal, Italy, Croatia, Norway or Greece.

By DAVID MOSSE

A busy summer of international soccer winds down with 24 countries vying to win the FIFA Under-20 World Cup in Colombia, which takes place from July 29 to Aug. 20. Argentina and Mexico are both back in the fold after failing to qualify two years ago, and the two teams clash Friday in one of the very first matches of the tournament, as the South Americans begin their quest for a record seventh title.

Adidas have agreed a new sponsorship deal with the Argentine soccer team until December 2022, despite the teams early Copa America elimination to Uruguay on Penalties on home soil. Argentina have been wearing Adidas shirts since the 1974 World Cup where Germany also wore the same sponsored shirts.

The manager says he intends staying on and seeing his contract through to the end of the 2014 World Cup. The Copa America exit clearly hurts but the larger picture is the World Cup and its preparations.

Batista mentioned that the team did not play upto expectations against Bolivia and Colombia.

Fit to be champions? The U.S. team stays limber on the eve of Sunday's Women's World Cup semifinal showdown Wednesday against France (AP Photo).

The game kicks off at 9 a.m. Wednesday on ESPN and is preceded by a 30-minute pre-game show.

Incidentally, ESPN said today that the U.

Lionel Messi finally found his feet as he helped Argentina to a 3-0 win over Costa Rica last night as the Argentine's made the Copa America Quarter-Finals on home soil

By Chris Wright

Despite being thumped 6-1 last time they played Bolivia in 2009 (chiefly due to the fact there is next-to-no oxygen in sky-high La Paz), Argentina were overwhelming favourites to sweep La Verde aside in their Copa America opener last night though it didn't go exactly to plan on home soil.

Local media in Argentina may still be caught up in the historic relegation of River Plate, a side that until a few days ago had never in its long and illustrious history found itself out of the Argentinean Primera, but for the rest of the world the bigger story in South America is the 2011 Copa America that kicks off on Friday at 9:45PM local time (8:45PM EST & 1:45AM in the wee hours of Saturday GMT), when the hosts face Bolivia in Group A action.

It's no secret. Tim Howard was not pleased with how the Gold Cup awards ceremony played out. For those of you who haven't seen, this is what he had to say:

CONCACAF should be ashamed of themselves. I think it was a [expletive] disgrace that the entire postmatch ceremony was in Spanish.

Tim Howard, sore loser

Saturday's Gold Cup post game ceremony conducted by Univision's Fernando Fiore mostly in Spanish brought on a expletive laden rant by the US goalkeeper. He perceived in it a slight akin to a gatecrasher eating with chopsticks when everyone else is using forks.

by ROBBIE BLAKELEY

Brazil coach Mano Menezes has arrived in Argentina ahead of the Copa America looking to give the Seleçao a new identity,and the fans a reason to cheer, after the bitter disappointment of last year's World Cup.

Having taken over from Dunga in August, Menezes is heading into his first tournament as national coach with little doubt the next three and a half weeks will be taken seriously.