Aston Villa 1 (Platt) Bradford City 0. Old Second Division. 1988. This was the first football match I ever watched and I instantly fell in love with Villa's goal scoring hero, a fish shaped man called David Platt. I later came to realise he wasn't that good but the point is that, at the time, I thought he was a footballing god.

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Well all in all it wasn't a bad result. Though I watched the game alone I had a little liveblogging adventure with Daryl and various commenters. If you missed the game I'll give you a link to some highlights, and my pity (it was a good game). It was also, despite the fact it was a loss, was an encouraging result for England.

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What: England vs Brazil (or Brazil vs England), friendly game of football
When: Saturday November 14th, 2009. 5pm kickoff UK time. 12noon US eastern time.
Where: Khalifa International Stadium, Doha, Qatar
I Don't Live There!

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The England squad to play Brazil next Saturday in an International friendly has been announced. The main news for Man United is that Michael Owen has yet again not been included in the squad. This isn't much of a surprise, he hasn't played that much for United, so why would he get into the England squad? Click to continue reading...

England winger James Milner is praying that Fabio Capello will give his understudies a chance to take the spotlight before deciding on his squad for next year's World Cup. While the likes of John Terry, Frank Lampard and Wayne Rooney are certain to be on the plane to South Africa, Milner ... Click to continue reading...

Glen Johnson has pulled out of the England squad to face Brazil on Saturday in Doha after picking up a slight injury in Liverpool's 2-2 draw against Birmingham City at Anfield on Monday night.
The 25-year-old played the full 90 minutes of the Premier League game before joining up with his England team-mates, where he underwent a routine recovery session while the rest of the squad trained at London Colney. Click to continue reading...

Here's the squad for the game on Saturday (ITV, 4:15pm):

Goalkeepers: Ben Foster, Robert Green� & Joe Hart

Defenders: Wayne Bridge, Wes Brown, Gary Cahill, Glen Johnson, Joeleon Lescott, John Terry, Matt Upson & Steven Warnock

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Tom Huddlestone, Jermaine Jenas, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Shaun-Wright Philips & Ashley Young

Forwards: Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe & Wayne Rooney

Missing: Ashley Cole (fractured leg, will apparently miss a few weeks),� Carlton Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Steven Gerrard (who - despite being supposedly injured -� started on the bench at Anfield before being used as a sub v Birmingham this evening), Emile Heskey, David James and Aaron Lennon.

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Fabio Capello has named his England squad for the November 14th friendly vs Brazil in Qatar. There was a bit of complaining in the run up, with Fergie suggesting the whole thing was a waste of time, and Rafa Benitez asking that Steven Gerrard be excused.

Capello ignored Fergie and selected as many Man Utd players as he wanted (including Wes Brown, who I'm glad to see back in the squad).

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Bolton Suffer Heavy Defeat (Again)

• Saturday, November 7, 2009
• Venue: Villa Park
• Attendance: 38,101
• Referee: Mark Clattenburg

• Luke Young [5]
• Tamir Cohen [23]
• Gabriel Agbonlahor [43]
• Johan Elmander [45]
• Gary Cahill [45
  +2]
• John Carew [53]
• James Milner [72]
• Kevin Davies [74]
• Carlos Cuellar [75]
• Craig Gardner [88]
• Paul Robinson [90
  +2]

Looking a recent results against Aston Villa a trip to Villa Park was bound to be a tricky challenge.

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Yesterday's review of the current squad, took a look at the Newcastle defence, an area that this season we've been surprisingly strong in, given our poor reputation in recent years. Tonight looks at arguably the fulcrum of a successful team, the midfield, the place that could and should control a game and dictate the style of [. Click to continue reading...

Another Premier League weekend is now in the books, and with some key� match ups� and exciting derbies now past us, here are the things that we learned from this weekend of Premiership action.

10Boring as Hull. Anyone who watched the Hull City v Portsmouth match on Saturday will know exactly what I mean.

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The English Premier League began its Saturday with the early match of Wolverhampton Wanderers v Aston Villa. Here's a recap of the Saturday, October 24, 2009 match along with video highlights.

Aston Villa draws with Wolverhampton 1-1 Video Highlights

The match began with both teams getting chances and some open play.

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We've waited more than five and a half years. So another 37 hours is just about manageable.
But the sense of anticipation surrounding the return of Aston Villa to Molineux encapsulates exactly why we all want to follow a Premier League club.
Liverpool at Anfield, Man Utd home and away, and Villa at Molineux - the four games that make my season, make me thrilled to be a Wolves fan in the Premier League. Click to continue reading...

Jogaram em Londres, no estádio de Wembley, para um público de 76.897 pessoas, jogaram as seleções da Inglaterra (7º no ranking da FIFA) e Belarus (73º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
15-10-2008 - Belarus 1x3 Inglaterra
O quarteto de arbitragem foi assim definido:
Árbitro: Lucilo Cardoso BAPTISTA-POR
Primeiro Assistente: Joao SANTOS_POR
Segundo Assistente: Venancio RAPOSO-POR
Quarto Árbitro: Paulo COSTA-POR
Aos 4 minutos do primeiro tempo, o camisa 9, Peter CROUCH abriu o placar para a seleção da Inglaterra. Click to continue reading...

Jogaram pelas eliminatórias da Europa, na cidade de Dnepropetrovsk, no estádio Dnipro Arena, para um público de 31.000 pessoas, as seleções da Ucrânia (22º no ranking da FIFA) e Inglaterra (7º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções apenas jogaram:
31-05-2000 - Inglaterra 2x0 Ucrânia (Amistoso)
18-08-2004 - Inglaterra 3x0 Ucrânia (Amistoso)
01-04-2009 - Inglaterra 2x1 Ucrânia (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
O quarteto de arbitragem foi assim definido:
Árbitro: Damir SKOMINA-SVN
Primeiro Assistente: Primoz AHAR-SVN
Segundo Assistente: Marko STANCIN-SVN
Quarto Árbitro: Darko CEFERIN-SVN
Aos 12 minutos de jogo, ocorreu a primeira expulsão no jogo, do goleiro 1, Robert GREEN, da seleção da Inglaterra. Click to continue reading...

You can watch Aston Villa v Chelsea Live online by signing up with us here on Live Sport Network, the leading source to watch live football on the web.

Aston Villa welcome Chelsea at Villa Park in an early Premier League kickoff on Saturday 17 October 2009 as both teams try to build upon their good starts to the season.

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Fabio Capello is not one to give too much away, his demeanour surly enough for ITV's Clive Tyldsley to describe the Italian as "old poker face" during last night's dead-rubber win over Belarus at Wembley. But prior to the game, the England manager had given the story-writers plenty to work with by suggesting that his squad for next summer's World Cup had "seven or eight" spots available.

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Taking a cue from Dan, I wanted to add my tuppence about Chris Smalling.

There has been a buzz about Smalling since we snatched him from Middlesbrough.� I can't remember the details, but Smalling, a Maidstone Utd player, seemed to have signed up with Boro, only to have something change at the last minute.

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Who will make that plane? (I.e who should be in the squad for the World Cup Finals as opposed to who will construct the airplane itself.)

With England firmly through to the World Cup Finals next summer we can look forward to long balmy nights in and outside pubs/bars enjoying the festivities and also having a team to support, hopefully Ireland will also make it through the play-offs as well.

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1. Peter Crouch's gangly legs are not supposed to be involved in six-yard tap-ins. They were made for bicycle kicks. 2. David Beckham has brown hair, a ginger moustache and a black beard. What is that all about? 3. Twin, dwarf, right-footed wingers is probably not a viable tactical option against decent opposition. Click to continue reading...

Go figure.

Next for Beckham - the Nobel Prize.

Oh, and Becks says his loan deal to AC Milan is "95 percent done."

"It's 95 percent done so I don't know why it wouldn't happen now," Beckham was quoted as saying by AP. "It will be sorted out in the next month, and I will probably be going there at the end of December.

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England finished their UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying schedule on Wednesday against Belarus. Neither team had anything to play for as England has already qualified and Belarus' chances are all gone. The match was at Wembley Stadium. Here's a recap along with video highlights.

England cruises past Belarus 3-0 Video Highlights

England played an average match as they were never really pushed by Belarus.

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Weirdly, I'm kind of excited for England vs Belarus. Neither team has anything to play for, but with Rooney and Gerrard out injured (or as The Fiver put it yesterday: "Wayne Rooney has pulled out of the game against Belarus at Wembley with a severe case of having his wages paid by Manchester United.

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Steven Gerrard will miss England's final World Cup qualifying match against Belarus at Wembley tomorrow after limping out of training this morning.
Fabio Capello, the England manager, confirmed the Liverpool captain had been sent back to his club to have his troublesome groin injury assessed. Click to continue reading...

Capello chose to leave out Darren Bent - currently the top English scorer in the Premier League - of his England squad for the final two World Cup qualifiers against Ukraine (away) and Belarus (home).

Ben Foster misses out through an unspecified injury, while Walcott was deemed unfit despite recently returning from injury for Arsenal.

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After making some big mistakes over recent matches, you wouldn't have been surprised if Ben Foster was left out of the England squad. Right now he has no confidence and he doesn't need to damage it anymore.
Foster has been left out of the England squad but he has been left out due to injury. Click to continue reading...

Looking for bargain players below the top price in each position? There are some great valued players to be had if you're looking to free up some cash for that "big" signing. Kevin picks out two from each position and tells you why you should be investing in these great valued players.

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I've deliberately avoided all the post World Cup qualification hooplah. Mostly because the usual questions: "Can we win it this time?" etc, make me want to stab myself in the leg with a pencil. And anyone who uses the phrase "Can England win it? Yes. Will they win it? No." should be reminded that
a) It's not clever or original if a thousand other people have already said it first, and
b) You deserve to be stabbed in the leg with a pencil.

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Every club has one. That vital cog that keeps the team wheels turning. With the season in its infancy, supporters up and down the land are still harbouring dreams of glory (or at the very least over achievement, given that short of a billionaire Sheikh turning up on your doorstep, thoughts of the title are confined to a privileged few these days).

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The English Football Association and specifically Fabio Capello has named his roster for the upcoming UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifiers against Slovenia and Croatia. The roster has many of the players from the previous matches and Michael Owen was once again left out. Here's the full roster for both matches that will be at Wembley Stadium.

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Martin O'Neill's side went two nil up thanks to goals from James Milner and John Carew only to concede a crucial late away goal that saw the Austrian side go through to the group stages of the Europa League on away goals.

1-0 Milner

2-0 Carew

2-1 Jelavic

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

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Aaron Lennon looks like being handed a call-up to the England squad for the qualifying clash with Croatia and in the process, will look to stake his claim for a place in the 2010 World Cup team.

The Tottenham winger has been in sparkling form in the first few weeks of the new Premier League season, starting all three games and scoring at West Ham, something which hasn't gone unnoticed by Fabio Capello.

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Newcastle United's much coveted centre-back Steven Taylor has gained another potential suitor in Premier League runners-up Liverpool.
The Newcastle Evening Chronicle claims the Reds are keen on the former England Under-21 captain, but will join Aston Villa and Everton in the battle for his signature. Click to continue reading...

Another Centre Back, but a very capable one!

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Newcastle United's much coveted centre-back Steven Taylor has gained another potential suitor in Premier League runners-up Liverpool.

The Newcastle Evening Chronicle claims the Reds are keen on the former England Under-21 captain, but will join Aston Villa and Everton in the battle for his signature.

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A nice opening weekend. As I watch Liverpool - Tottenham battle it out at White Hart Lane, I thought I'd share some of my observations from the Premier League's first gameweek.
Due to a combination of multi-screen viewing and Tivo-ing (Setanta on my PC and ESPN / FSC on the tele) I was able to take in 8 matches over the past two days. Click to continue reading...