- Maxi Rodriguez

With news of Fabio Capello's departure from the England post yesterday came the expected flood of "experts" speculating on potential replacements based on nothing more than years' old rumors. With names ranging from the seemingly pre-agreed upon alternate Harry Redknapp, to Ian Holloway, Stuart Pearce and Guus Hiddink, there was a disturbing trend towards the English manager.

When even the Revolution are teasing swatches and releasing well-received jersey designs, it's obvious that MLS kits are seeing good days. Sales are up, sponsors are taking real estate away from awkward team names, badges are common, third kits are garish and beautiful, and little embellishments are actually adding soul to a league identity once formed from scratch by an apparel company's marketing division.

Because of MLS' relative newness to the sports scene, MLS fans have more "ownership" in the league's success. Unlike fans of the NFL, MLB and other mainstream sports, fans of Major League Soccer have real concern about their league and its place on the sports landscape. Fans work hard to bring friends to games, introduce family to the sport and cheer for MLS teams in international competitions.

The Bundesliga doesn't get the concept of extra time. On paper the Bundesliga referees get it. It's up to them to decide, how much time was wasted through substitutions, injury delays, time wasting or excessive goal celebrations. It's OK for them to routinely add only one or two minutes or call it quits after exactly 90 minutes.

Storied Argentine club Boca Juniors won their first Primera Argentina championship since 2008 this past weekend. Technical sponsors Nike have since released a Boca Torneo Apertura 2011 Championship version of the club's home jersey & celebratory t-shirt to commemorate the club's 51st title in domestic and international competitions.

The US National Team will play Venezuela and Panama in January. (Getty Images)

The usual pair of January friendlies for the US Men's National team have been announced today by the USSF. Jurgen Klinsmann will lead his team against Venezuela in Phoenix on January 21 and then again on January 25 against in Panama City against Panama.

The Malaysian football league may not have many teams. Just 14 in the top flight Super League and 12 in the Super League. But when you add the FA Cup and the Malaysia Cup what you have is a domestic season that begins in January and finishes at the end of October. Then the best players get to prepare for the SEA Games or the AFF Cup depending which year we are in.

Sources exclusive to Fake Sigi have revealed that the new Sounders jersey that was revealed online yesterday will only be the first step in a radical new makeover of the team's look for 2012. It is being said that, while not 100% final, Seattle players will wear clown makeup as part of their third uniform for 2012.

The Philly Soccer Page " KYW Philly Soccer Show: Kasey Keller
An American soccer legend is the guest this week as the KYW Philly Soccer Show is joined by Seattle Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller. The Washington State native had a long career in Europe and with the USMNT before returning to MLS to play in his home town.

Jurgen Klinsmann's appointment as the head coach of the US Mens National Team was met with excitement for many reasons. The stagnating program looked at Klinsmann as a proven winner who could help reestablish the USA as the dominant nation in CONCACAF while helping to build a system to make the Nats more dangerous in international competitions and against European opponents.

Having roster depth in the Premier League is crucial when trying to contend with the grind of the season which can consist of matches in both domestic and international competitions. Therefore, carrying a squad with a balanced mixture of youth and...
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Over the past couple of weeks, I've been writing about league characteristics, including average goals per match and league balance. As we've been digging a little more into the data, Benjamin Leinwand and I have noticed a slightly curious pattern: goals per match seem to be correlated with the number of matches played in a season.

Image credit: Sport.es/MundoDeportivo.com.

We know that there is an entire world of undiscovered talent and hotness in lower divisions and lesser known leagues. While international competitions like the Euro U21 brought us new pretties like Yann Sommer, we can't help but wonder about all of the other 'ballers who are missing out on our lusty affection.

Of all the things that impressed and elated me about the play of the U.S. team yesterday against Brazil, one might come as a bit of a surprise. It was this: during the waning minutes of the game, before Rapinoe's cross and Wambach's brilliant header, at least two players did their best to draw penalty kick calls against Brazil.

FIFA's Emergency Committee has temporarily lifted the suspension of Belize's football federation until 15 August, which will allow the second leg of their preliminary round match against Montserrat to go forward. FIFA suspended the FFB from international competition after the Belizean government ruled that the FFB was no longer authorized to represent the country in international competitions and then refused to offer security arrangements for the second leg match in Belize.

U.S. men's national team goalkeeper Tim Howard caused a stir following Saturday's Gold Cup final loss to Mexico when he lashed out at CONCACAF for the format of the post-game ceremonies at the Rose Bowl, which were held mostly in Spanish.

Howard's comments were a reaction to what Howard felt was a slight by CONCACAF of the host nation, and he was clearly upset during his profanity-laced tirade.

So Monday's here and Charlie Adam's not, but he also might be, or at least he's having the world's longest medical at Melwood. Either way it's a continual failure for people who think they know something and don't, and are so content to continue to disregard reality and push back what they thought was happening yesterday but is actually happening tomorrow that they're really gonna show you once he arrives.

We're in the midst of a difficult stretch around these parts, and around any parts involving Liverpool. There's no actual news to counter the steadily-flowing river of bullshit aside from the youth international competitions we've used as methadone, there's few fixes to be had. I suppose we can look to the opening of the transfer window on July 1st as some sort of false dawn for all the pants-tightening Mata news your little heart can handle, although I think we all know that in reality, July 1st is just another day to end up drunk and alone.

Poland vs Argentina 2011 Score:- Poland 2-1 Argentina ( Adrian Mierzejewski, Pawel Brozek/ Marco Ruben) June 5, 2011- International Soccer Friendly- Warsaw, Poland 5/6/2011 After a 4-1 loss to Nigeria, a weakened Argentina side slump to their second straight loss in international competitions as Poland beat them 2-1.

Juan Agudelo: Among the MissingAs the Red Bulls prepare themselves for Saturday's evening's home match against Columbus Crew, they do so without six key squad members. Dane Richards is away at Jamaican National Team training in Brazil, Dwayne DeRosario is with Canada, Tim Ream and Juan Agudelo suit up tomorrow against Spain in Foxboro and Rafael Marquez gears up for the Gold Cup with Mexico.

Nigeria vs Argentina 2011 ( Super Eagles vs Albiceleste) Score:- Nigeria vs Argentina 4-1 ( Ikechukwu Uche*2, Victor Obinna, Emmanuel Emenike/ Mauro Boselli) 1 June 2011- International friendly Nigeria rout Argentina 4-1 to record their first major victory in international competitions at senior level over the Albiceleste.

After delaying the release of the U.S. national team roster, head coach Bob Bradley finally came out with his list of the 23 men who will wear the red, white, and blue in the U.S. team's June 4 friendly against Spain and in the CONCACAF Gold Cup June 5 through 25. As has become expected, the roster is a mix of youth and experience, and it is not without its areas for concern.

By NESTOR F. SEBASTIAN

The samba beats were quieted Wednesday night.

In what had to be one of the strangest yet historic evenings in Copa Libertadores history, four Brazilian teams were out-fought, out-played and simply out-spirited as they fell in the Round of 16 stage, leaving a more well-proportioned quarterfinal round.

Guest blog post by Mohlomi Maubane in Soweto, South Africa
One of South Africa's iconic tournaments, the Telkom Charity Cup, is no more. PSL chairman Irvin Khoza's announcement this week brought down the curtain on what was arguably one of the most loved tournaments in the country.

Apologies for the temporary hiatus from blogging. Thankfully Jeff did a great job of recapping the recent matches against Luxembourg and Croatia.

Probably the biggest recent story in group D is the suspension of Bosnia from all international competitions. I do believe this destroys any hopes of them qualifying for the tournament as I do not think they will be able to fix things before their next qualifier on June 3rd.

On an enthralling Sunday evening, a brave, surprising second-half display by Sevilla brought some of the lost excitement back to La Liga. After a few seasons performing remarkably in both domestic and international competitions, this season's Sevilla appeared to have lost not only their uncanny ability to rebuild their side over the summer while remaining competitive, but also their unparalleled will to fight from equal to equal with the rest of the top-tier clubs.

Last Tuesday Haiti's Under-17 National Football team was sent home from Jamaica after two players and a coach were diagnosed with malaria. The decision was presented as a public health measure the Jamaican public health ministry described the sickness as "imported" and resulted in an effective forfeit for the team from the CONCACAF competition.

AC Milan coach Massimilano Allegri considers Tottenham Hotspur to be a real threat in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday despite the absence of injured wide man Gareth Bale, so impressive when Spurs played Inter Milan in the group stages.

Massimiliano Allegri, Milan coach

It doesn't matter if Bale doesn't play because Tottenham have done well recently without him.

AC Milan coach Massimilano Allegri considers Tottenham Hotspur to be a real threat in the first leg of their Champions League round of 16 tie on Tuesday despite the absence of injured wide man Gareth Bale, so impressive when Spurs played Inter Milan in the group stages.

Massimiliano Allegri, Milan coach

It doesn't matter if Bale doesn't play because Tottenham have done well recently without him.

Major League Soccer announced on Friday that they will be releasing the full 2011 schedule on Thursday, February 1oth.

"Assembling the schedule begins after MLS Cup and involves several interdependent factors including competitive fairness, international competitions, stadium availability, broadcast windows and club preferences," the league said in a statement on Friday.

Major League Soccer has announced that it plans to unveil the 2011 MLS regular-season schedule next Thursday, Feb. 10.

"Assembling the schedule begins after MLS Cup and involves several interdependent factors including competitive fairness, international competitions, stadium availability, broadcast windows and club preferences," the league said in a statement released Friday.

The Dan Borislow quote machine out of Washington/Florida keeps rolling along. How much press has this bizarre team gotten on the basis of the owner alone? Anyway, via AWK, this quote that was buried in a story on women's sports struggles:

"You look at when women's soccer was really doing well and had high visibility here, you have to look at the [World Cup] and the Olympics," he says.

Ashley Cole, the man everyone loves to hate. The boo boy of Arsenal fans and England fans in general. The best left back in Europe, as any Chelsea fan will tell you.

Delivering a kick up the arse...

A few days ago, UEFA released their 2010 Team of the Year.

Update: Between writing and posting this the English FA seem to have announced that a 2013 home international tournament would be a one off to celebrate their 150th anniversary. Ah, well. Still think I'm right.
And so the home internationals might be on the verge of a return thanks to the money of Vauxhall.

The Sports Business Journal has reported on the findings of the 2010 "Turnkey Intelligence sponsor awareness survey" which gauged loyalty and awareness of sports fans to the products and companies that pour money into their sports. MLS sponsors such as Visa, AT&T and Pepsi enjoy significant recognition among fans of Major League Soccer who showed high cognizance that these companies are official league sponsors.