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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Hospitals across Europe have seen a lot of action over the last seven days. Warm wishes go to the following parents and their family and friends (whom we would hope purchased all the items from their baby registries). Here's a quick update:

Juve keeper Gigi Buffon and his long-time gal Alena Seredova (pictured last month at her 2010 calendar launch) are the proud parents of another healthy baby boy.

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Hospitals across Europe have seen a lot of action over the last seven days. Warm wishes go to the following parents and their family and friends (whom we would hope purchased all the items from their baby registries). Here's a quick update:

Juve keeper Gigi Buffon and his long-time gal Alena Seredova (pictured last month at her 2010 calendar launch) are the proud parents of another healthy baby boy.

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Join celebrated football pundit, author, radio show host and DJ Andy Brassell every Monday on the Soccerlens Show.

This week's episode focuses on the swine flu outbreak at Paris Saint-Germain, which led to a late postponement of the PSG-Marseille game that riled not only the supporters of both sides (and led to some unsavoury scenes between the two sets of fans) but also Marseille themselves, who were adamant that the match should have gone ahead.

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Jogaram em Guimarães, pelas eliminatórias da Europa, no estádio Dom. Afonso Henriques, para um público de 29.350 pessoas, as seleções de Portugal (10º no ranking da FIFA) e Malta (146º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
10-02-1985 - Malta 1x3 Portugal (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
12-10-1985 - Portugal 3x2 Malta (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
29-03-1987 - Portugal 2x2 Malta (Amistoso)
20-12-1987 - Malta 0x1 Portugal (Amistoso)
09-02-1991 - Malta 0x1 Portugal (Amistoso)
20-02-1991 - Portugal 5x0 Malta (Amistoso)
24-01-1993 - Malta 0x1 Portugal (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
19-06-1993 - Portugal 4x0 Malta (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
06-09-2008 - Malta 0x4 Portugal (Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo)
O quarteto de arbitragem desse jogo, foi assim definido:
Árbitro: Alan Kelly-IRL
Primeiro Assistente: Marc Douglas-IRL
Segundo Assistente: Kenneth HENNESSY-IRL
Quarto Árbitro: Anthony BUTTIMER-IRL
Aos 14 minutos do primeiro tempo, o camisa 17, NANI abriu o placar para a seleção de Portugal. Click to continue reading...

The draw for the group stages of the Champions League was made today and it threw together some mouth watering Spain v Italy matchups.

Defending Champions Barcelona were drawn against Inter Milan, Dynamo Kiev and Rubin Kazan. Barcelona will open up defense of their title away to Inter Milan on September 16th.

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. There were some interesting results in the play-off stage in the Champions League, and some teams progressed with pride into the biggest club competition in Europe, while for some other, it was a case of a slip between the cup and the lip. Cypriot First Division club APOEL FC overturned a 1-0 deficit with a 3-1 [. Click to continue reading...

According to Ben Blackmore at Setanta Sports, Everton are close to signing Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Moutinho. Moutinho's release clause is worth €20 million but the club might settle for €14-15 million. Moutinho said,

"I am able to play in a foreign league and The Premier League is the best thing that could come .

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After months of scintillating football, tremendous goals and a fair bit of controversy too, the Champions League reaches its climax in Rome on Wednesday but who could possibly take the crown of goal of the tournament?

The ball has hit the net a total of 327 times in Europe's premier club competition this season so there's certainly a fair few to choose from.

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UPDATE: Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Moutinho has signed a new deal with the club that will keep him there until June of 2014. Moutinho had been linked with Everton several times.

April 8th, 2009 According to The Daily Mirror:

Everton are stepping up there pursuit of Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Moutinho.

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Después de que algunos grandes clubes europeos, como el Arsenal o el Manchester United, fallaran en el intento por hacerse con sus servicios, el Bolton podría ser el que se llevara el gato al agua y terminara contratando a Miguel Veloso, centrocampista del Sporting de Lisboa. Según han confirmado desde el seno del equipo inglés, los [. Click to continue reading...

What do Werder Bremen, Villareal, Atletico Madrid, Panathinaikos, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Dynamo Kyiv, Celtic and Fenerbahce have in common (hint: the answer is not "They're all in the Champions League group stage which starts today")? Give up? Well, all of these clubs are in fact in the group stage of the Champions League, but the answer [. Click to continue reading...

EVERTON

In: Louis Saha, Marouane Fellaini, Lars Jacobsen, Carlo Nash, Segundo Castillo (loan)
Out: Andrew Johnson, Lee Carsley, Stefan Wessels
Spent: £16.5M
Received: £10.5M
After a summer of extreme inactivity, David Moyes went on the equivalent of a desperate dash round the shops on Christmas Eve. Click to continue reading...

Everton striker Andy Johnson is on the verge of a £12 million move to Fulham following a medical at Craven Cottage.
The 27-year-old has not travelled with the Everton squad to the United States on a pre-season tour and is about to become Fulham's record signing.
The money would allow Everton manager David Moyes to strengthen his squad and he is now likely to increase his efforts to sign Sporting Lisbon midfielder Joao Moutinho. Click to continue reading...

The sale of Andy Johnson for a whopping sum - which could inflate as high as £13m - could open the way for a fresh Joao Moutinho bid from Everton; with only one experienced striker in the Toffees squad, is this a gamble worth taking? Johnson, a tireless runner and a ... Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Good morning everybody. While we await word on where Kenny Cooper is headed, and wait for an official announcement of the Chicago-Toronto FC trade that will send Brian McBride to the Chicago Fire, here are some stories from across the pond to get your day started.

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Bengals receiver Chad Johnson reported to training camp yesterday sporting the finest in Portuguese soccer wear. Ocho Cinco sported a Sporting Lisbon shirt yesterday as he checked into training camp. No word on if Johnson feels that Sporting was wrong for rejecting a 11.8 pound bid from Everton for Sporting midfielder Joao Moutinho. Click to continue reading...

I'm switching back and forth from ESPN Deportes and regular ESPN for this, the first major clash of the quarterfinals.
The nearly-consensus #1 player in the world and his posse versus the German machine of soccer efficiency.
Mario Kempes is calling out Ballack and Ronaldo, saying they have to step up for their teams. Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...