Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has named a 24-man squad for the upcoming international friendly against the Czech Republic in Dublin on February 29th.
Speaking after the squad announcement, the Irish boss said, "This game is the beginning of our Euro 2012 preparations.
"As we face this fixture, it is important for our players to remember the attitude and performance that brought us qualification.

Sunderland's experienced Ireland international defender John O'Shea has spoken of the positive impact James McClean has had on the team since emerging on to the scene as a substitute in the 2-1 win over Blackburn on December 11.
McClean's impact has gradually increased and he has started in each of Sunderland's last three games.

Mirror: What are the odds Phil Jones ISN'T in England's Euro 2012 squad? Derek McGovern's Bets of the Day

Manchester City in round three and now Liverpool in round four. If Manchester United are going to win the FA Cup they're going to do it the hard way... with Phil Jones in the side.

Sunderland may not be in trophy-winning form this season, but their victory in the always-eventful 'sack race' may prove to be a blessing in disguise.

After looking tame and lacking confidence for much of this campaign under Steve Bruce, with a paltry 11 points from 14 matches their return, new club chairman Ellis Short felt the club needed to go in a new direction.

1. Where do you play Jones?

Phil Jones could have never envisaged such a start to his Manchester United career. Despite playing more minutes than anyone else, there is still the same burning question surrounding Jones – where do you play him? Certainly, it would appear that central defence is his strongest position but it is fairly clear that, this season anyway, his chances there will be limited.

1. Where do you play Jones?

Phil Jones could have never envisaged such a start to his Manchester United career. Despite playing more minutes than anyone else, there is still the same burning question surrounding Jones – where do you play him? Certainly, it would appear that central defence is his strongest position but it is fairly clear that, this season anyway, his chances there will be limited.

Ireland confirmed their place at next summer's European Championships with a 1-1 draw against Estonia in the second leg of their Euro 2012 play-off.
Already four up from the first leg, Ireland looked to be coasting when Stephen Ward fired home the opener after keeper Pavel Londak failed to hold Kevin Doyle's header.

John O'Shea and Kevin Doyle are back in the Ireland team for tomorrow night's Euro 2012 play-off second leg against Estonia in Lansdowne Road.
Stephen Kelly at right back and Jon Walters in attack are the players that make way for the returning duo.
O'Shea comes back into the side following a hamstring injury, while Doyle returns from suspension to partner Robbie Keane in the Irish attack.

Stephen Kelly is out of Ireland's Euro 2012 play-off decider against Estonia on Tuesday night at Landsowne Road.
The Fulham defender has been ruled out with a groin injury, although John O'Shea has recovered from a hamstring problem and is likely to slot into the right-back position.

Giovanni Trapattoni has included Shane Long in his 26-man Ireland squad to face Estonia in the Euro 2012 play-offs next month.
West Brom ruled Long out for 'up to six weeks' after he was injured by Alan Hutton's two-footed lunge during the first half of their 2-1 Premier League win at Villa Park.

Simon Cox will start in attack alongside Kevin Doyle for Ireland in tomorrow's vital Euro 2012 qualifier with Armenia in the Aviva Stadium. It was widely expected that in-form West Brom striker Shane Long would partner doyle, in the event of Robbie Keane failing his fitness battle.
Stephen Kelly comes in for the suspended Stephen Ward.

Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has named his team for Friday's Euro 2012 Group 2 qualifier with Andorra.
John O'Shea replaces Stephen Kelly with Sean St Ledger coming in for the suspended Richard Dunne from Ireland's last game in Russia.
Trapattoni has resisted the temptation to bring Keith Fahey into the midfield after he hinted at using the Birmingham midfielder in training earlier this week.

Ryan Giggs has warned the youngsters coming through the ranks at Old Trafford that talent alone is insufficient to make the grade at United.
The veteran midfielder feels a number of the club's teenagers are good enough to pull on the famous red shirt but the important step is to have the fight and determination to succeed at the highest level.

SIR BOBBY CHARLTON believes that Wayne Rooney can be the leader of the young Manchester United pack evoking memories of Eric Cantona.
United great Charlton praised the important role Cantona played in helping nurture the careers of David Beckham, Gary Neville, Nicky Butt and Paul Scholes in the 1990s.

Ireland boss Giovanni Trapattoni has rewarded Shane Long for his strong start to the season at West Brom with a starting place for tomorrow's vital European Championship qualifier against Slovakia, with Kevin Doyle the player to miss out.
Kevin Kilbane has failed to recover from a back injury and will return to Derby County this afternoon.

Irish boss Giovanni Trapattoni says winger Aiden McGeady is "100 per cent" and ready to play in the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Slovakia and Russia. The Spartak midfielder played three minutes of the Moscow derby on Sunday after missing much of the summer with an ankle injury sustained on June 10th, but met up with the Ireland squad at the first opportunity this morning and trained in Malahide.

Listening to the Liverpool v Sunderland match on Saturday afternoon, I was struck by the back four selected by Bernard Cribbins at Anfield.
Bardsley
Brown
Ferdinand
Richardson
Now, I don't know about you, but that sounds like a Manchester United Carling Cup defence from about 2007.

Liverpool will be desperate for a winning start against Sunderland after Kenny Dalglish's first pre-season since returning to the Reds dug-out.
There is renewed optimism at Anfield with the Reds legend having spent big this summer in a bid to continue their strong finish to last season and re-establish themselves as genuine Premier League title contenders.

Match Preview: Liverpool vs Sunderland

Liverpool welcome a significantly strengthened Sunderland side to Anfield this afternoon as the curtain comes up on the 2011/12 Premier League campaign. The Reds, too, have had a busy summer making them the bookies' favourites to take all three points on the opening day of the season.

Manchester United will be striving to go one better and win the Champions League next season, but they are a transformed side that has lost a lot of experience during the summer.

The key trio of Paul Scholes, Edwin van der Sar and Gary Neville have all retired from Old Trafford while Sir Alex Ferguson has allowed the experienced stalwarts of John O'Shea and Wes Brown to join Sunderland.

Ireland manager Giovanni Trapattoni has announced a provisional 32 man squad to face Slovakia and Russia in September's crucial Euro qualifiers.
Kevin Doyle is his biggest concern, having departed the squad on Tuesday with a recurrence of a knee ligament injury suffered in the 2-1 win over Macedonia in March.

As expected with the Premier League season less than two weeks away, various newspapers and the media are having their say on Chelsea and everybody else and it's an interesting read. One of these articles is featured in The Sun this morning and it has stated the following:

Good enough to win title?

Editor's Note: We continue a great new feature on the Free Beer Movement site. In collaboration with the quality soccer site, "The Other 87 Minutes" we present the "Tuesday XI" (and sometimes the "Tuesday Ten") a thoughtful list on a variety of topics in the world of soccer.

Photo by nikefutebol

Things are starting to look quite different at Old Trafford after what has been one of the most eventful transfer seasons in the recent history of Manchester United. The old faces of United's past glory years are starting to disappear. With the transfers of Wes Brown and John O' Shea to Sunderland, Sir Alex has proven that he'll strongly rely on the rapidly developing Brazilian twins Rafael and Fabio da Silva.

One of Arsenal's promising youngsters is at the crossroads in his career at Arsenal. Former youth team captain Jay Emmanuel-Thomas will find out whether he will remain an Arsenal player or become yet another one of our youngsters to be sold to a Championship team.

Ipswich Town are reported to have offered Arsenal £1M for the utility dynamo.

What, me worry? Sir Alex Ferguson dismisses suggestion Rooney can replace Scholes - ESPN Soccernet "We lost five experienced players in the summer. Five players who gave the club great service - Wes Brown, John O'Shea, Edwin van der Sar, Paul Scholes, Gary Neville. At the time, you think it's a big slice out of the cake, but we have replaced them by adding De Gea, Jones and Young, and also

Steve Bruce insists Liverpool have made no indication that they want Lee Cattermole, despite ongoing speculation over the midfielder's future.
Cattermole was linked to the Black Cats at the start of the summer, but Liverpool then negotiated a big-money deal for Jordan Henderson. However, speculation surrounding Cattermole refuses to go away.

Liverpool could be set to make a £10million move for Lee Cattermole with the Sunderland player devastated at losing the captaincy to new boy John O'Shea.
Black Cats boss Steve Bruce has handed his recent signing from Manchester United the armband, delivering a massive blow to the tenacious Cattermole.

It can often be slightly disappointing when home grown players leave Manchester United to try their luck at another club. That was certainly the case earlier this week when Wes Brown and then John O'Shea left United to join up with Steve Bruce at Sunderland. Between them, the now ex United duo have won over 20 major trophies - many more than the likes of Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard and Alan

Sunderland have completed the signing of Manchester United and Ireland defender John O'Shea.
O'Shea, 30, has signed a four-year deal at the Stadium of Light after the clubs agreed an undisclosed fee.
Manager Steve Bruce said: "O'Shea's wealth of experience and versatility will be great attributes for us.

All of the optimism surrounding Chelsea after its hiring of manager Andre Villas-Boas appears to have subsided a bit after what appears to be a serious injury to a key player.

Midfielder Michael Essien reportedly ruptured knee ligaments in training and is set to miss a large part of the upcoming season, according to reports from England.

Manchester United have shown their faith in young England defender Chris Smalling by signing him on a new five-year contract at the club.

The former Fulham defender enjoyed an impressive first season at Old Trafford and Sir Alex Ferguson clearly sees him as the future of the club as well as an adequate replacement for either of first choice duo Rio Ferdinand or Nemanja Vidic.

Sunderland have raided Manchester United and have welcomed both Wes Brown and John O'Shea to Steve Bruce's squad. Both players were deemed non-essential to the future of United, and Ferguson decided to unload them. In addition to those two...
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Sunderland have raided Manchester United and have welcomed both Wes Brown and John O'Shea to Steve Bruce's squad. Both players were deemed non-essential to the future of United, and Ferguson decided to unload them. In addition to those two...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.

Sunderland boss Steve Bruce bagged himself a pair of veteran United defenders yesterday in John O'Shea and Wes Brown.
Sunderland's doors have been wide open this summer. Brown and O'Shea mark the 7th and 8th signings made by the club this year, and at least two others (Manchester United's Darron Gibson and Blackpool's David Vaughan) have been strongly linked with a move as well.

I love John O'Shea. Okay, it's in that manly football fan kind of way, but still – I love John O'Shea. He's my kind of player — not overly talented, not overly athletic and not overly handsome. But he will do a job for you anywhere, anytime, any...
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For the third straight month, Thierry Henry tops the Major League Soccer Castrol Index.

Henry maintained his status as the league's top player according to the metric. George John, Nat Borchers, Landon Donovan, Omar Gonzalez, Chris Wondolowski, Ugo Ihemelu, Alvaro Fernandez, Donovan Ricketts and Jeff Parke follow Henry, respectively, to round out the top 10.

Liverpool is the latest club to join the race to sign Irish and Manchester United defender, John O'Shea.
The Waterford man is surplus to requirements at Old Trafford and will leave the club this summer.
It had originally been expected that he would join Sunderland, but the player has held out for the best deal available and is now being chased by five clubs.

By FRANCO PANIZO

The Philadelphia Union bolstered its attacking options with the signing of Serbian forward Veljko Paunovic on Monday.

Paunovic joins the Union having previously played for Partizan FK of the Serbian SuperLiga and in Spain's La Liga.

Ireland captain Robbie Keane has been passed fit for the Euro 2012 qualifier against Macedonia in Skopje on Saturday night.
Keane, who suffered a groin injury during a training session on Thursday, will partner Simon Cox in attack.
Darren O'Dea starts in defence along with Stephen Kelly, John O'Shea and Kevin Kilbane.