Support for FC Richmond soccer coach and former William and Mary player, Ian Stowe who is battling a tumor continues to come from all areas of the soccer community. Today the Richmond Kicker organization announced they will hold a benefit exhibition match to support #stowestrong.
From Kickers Press Release:
RICHMOND, VA – (Friday, February 10, 2012) – In support of Ian Stowe's battle with cancer, the Richmond Kickers and The College of William & Mary are pleased to team up for a benefit exhibition match on Friday, March 23.

Reports this morning suggested that Mame Biram Diouf has agreed a loan move to Hannover, however, more recently, claims have been made that he has signed a two and a half.

German site, Kicker, claims he passed his medical this morning and is ready for a permanent move for around £1.5m. Hannover are currently 7th in the league, 10 points behind Bayern Munich, having scored just 21 goals in 19 games.

Pill-ow talk Freiburg's club doctor has revealed he once received a 3am phonecall from a player who wanted to check he wouldn't be breaking doping rules by taking Viagra. Doctor Andreas Aust proved he has plenty of patience for his patients by taking the call and giving the mystery player the all-clear to play the [.

If Edson Buddle's absence from FC Ingolstadt's match-day roster this past weekend didn't raise eyebrows, what has transpired since surely will.

According to German outlet Kicker, Ingolstadt manager Tomas Oral has dismissed Buddle from the relegation-threatened team until after the winter break.

Bulgarien hat gewählt! Bojko Borissow ist Fussballer des Jahres 2011 und hat damit etwas geschafft, was vermutlich weltweit noch kein Fussballer vor ihm geschafft hat. Er ist als mittelmäßiger Kicker der Drittligamannschaft Witoscha Bistriza auf dem nationalen bulgarischen Fussballolymp gestiegen und darf sich jetzt hochoffiziell "Fussballer des Jahres 2011″ in Bulgarien nennen.

Bulgarien hat gewählt! Bojko Borissow ist Fussballer des Jahres 2011 und hat damit etwas geschafft, was vermutlich weltweit noch kein Fussballer vor ihm geschafft hat. Er ist als mittelmäßiger Kicker der Drittligamannschaft Witoscha Bistriza auf dem nationalen bulgarischen Fussballolymp gestiegen und darf sich jetzt hochoffiziell "Fussballer des Jahres 2011″ in Bulgarien nennen.

Just four guys. Having a bunch of skyward moments together.What's a Major League Soccer player to do now that it's the off-season? Well if Jurgen's not sending you abroad then you've got some time to kill.
For the Philadelphia Union's Danny Califf and Sebastian Le Toux it was hanging out with the other football's Eagles and their punter and kicker for "Eagle's Confidential".

Kinder lieben Fußball nicht weniger erwachsene Fußball-Fans. Das trifft heute nicht nur auf die Jungen, sondern auch auf die Mädchen zu. Immer mehr Mädchen kicken auf den Plätzen und auf dem Rasen im heimischen Garten mit gleicher Begeisterung wie auch die Jungen. Leider ist das Spiel mit dem tollen Lederball auch ein wenig abhängig vom [.

Luckily for Gatorade drinkers everywhere, Nick Novak is more accurate when it comes to urinating than it comes to kicking. The kicker for the San Diego Chargers successfully urinated in somewhat privacy in the game between the Chargers and the Denver Broncos.

Unfortunately for Chargers fans, Nick Novak wasn't successful kicking.

Roberto Martinez plays guerrilla football. Sure, he seems a decent guy – mild-mannered and well-behaved on the sidelines – but underneath beats the heart of Che Guevera. The Latics have been in trouble every season they have played in the Premier League. Yet, once more, Martinez's Latics narrowly escaped relegation last year, returning to the DW Stadium to play another day.

With the US U23 team set to open their first camp this week in the build-up to Olympic qualifying in March, the most surprising player on the roster is Stuttgart Kicker defender Royal Dominique Fennell.

Wenn ich innen spiele, habe ich das Gefühl, dass ich mehr spreche. Vielleicht liegt es daran, dass ich keine Puste mehr habe, wenn ich Außen hoch- und runterrenne...

Jerome Boateng, Abwehrspieler des FC Bayern München, will lieber in der Innenverteidigung spielen, da er dort mehr zum sprechen kommt.

When performing the penalty kick, all players should be outside the penalty box apart from the keeper and the kicker till the ball is kicked. If a team broke the rule, penalty is repeated only if that team took advantage of it:
- A defender enters the penalty box and his keeper saved it, is repeated.

Did anyone else notice that Kevin Prince-Boateng scored a hat-trick for Milan at the weekend? Hmm. That was an odd sentence. Equally puzzling were Harry Redknapp's claims that he'd definitely take Carlos Tevez on loan in January, if such an opportunity were to arise. I bet you would, sunbeam. The kicker for his current employers- and I'm sure they'll love this- is that they'd once again be required to foot a substantial amount of the Argentinean's running costs.

Im vorigen Jahr wurde die Frage gestellt, was ist der FC Bayern ohne Robben wert; jetzt soll er keinen Stammplatz mehr haben. Das kann doch nicht sein, das ist der Witz des Jahres und eine Unverschämtheit, Arjen infrage zu stellen.

Uli Hoeneß, Präsident des FC Bayern München, macht seinem Ärger über die Medien und die ewige Robben-Diskussion im Kicker-Interview Luft.

Im vorigen Jahr wurde die Frage gestellt, was ist der FC Bayern ohne Robben wert; jetzt soll er keinen Stammplatz mehr haben. Das kann doch nicht sein, das ist der Witz des Jahres und eine Unverschämtheit, Arjen infrage zu stellen.

Uli Hoeneß, Präsident des FC Bayern München, macht seinem Ärger über die Medien und die ewige Robben-Diskussion im Kicker-Interview Luft.

"Michael Farfan proving to be the steal of the draft."

"Le Toux for MVP? Believe it."

"Could Zac MacMath make an NFL roster as a kicker? The truth may not surprise you."

"Danny Califf officially changes name to 'Thor.'"

"Sheanon Williams races a cheetah.

Who said kickers aren't real football players. On Monday Night Football, the Dallas Cowboys won thanks to their sure-footed kicker. Dan Bailey was 6-for-6 on field goals to lift the Cowboys to an 18-16 victory over the Washington Redskins.

Said Bailey: "We had good snaps, good holds, great protection.

It was one month and 13 days ago we last visited the Be the GM series. A gauntlet had been laid and 'twas accepted by none other than Michael_D and playtherapy. For those who missed it, these two rose to the occasion as the challenge was the hardest ever to be levied by a DT writer. On top of the challenge, a reward was mentioned and I am going to live up to such, however I am changing the rules (as I am apt to do when I have a whim).

John Gilkerson is looking to help his team the NSC Minnesota Stars grab the final playoff spot in the North American Soccer League (NASL) as the regualar season wraps up.
Gilkerson is a former Richmond Kicker and a native of Winchester, VA. who began his professional career in 2008, when the New York Red Bulls selected him in the Major League Soccer Supplemental Draft.

One rumour gained momentum yesterday regarding Florent Malouda and reported interest from German giants Bayern Munich. German Magazine Kicker is reporting that Bayern have shown "big" interest in the Frenchman and a bidding war could start as the January window opens.
I think it was surprising to see Malouda re affirm his commitment to Chelsea during the transfer window and especially on deadline day.

Images via Terra and Sport.com.

In a promo event on Wednesday, Malena Costa modeled one of three designer frocks by Victorio & Luccino in the running to be the featured gown for the star of the Codorniu cava holiday commercial. Not only did she model a dressed named after a delicious bevie, but the kicker is she's also set to receive a boozy title.

Im Training kommen mehr Bälle aufs Tor.

Manuel Neuer, Torwart des FC Bayern München, ist bei dem lockeren 7:0 Heimsieg für den FC Bayern München über den SC Freiburg etwas gelangweilt. (Quelle: Kicker)

If you want to wait until the very end of your 2011 fantasy football draft to select your kicker, that's probably a good idea. There is so much parity in kickers especially this year that the quality isn't going to dip very far. In fact, you may strike gold with one of these sleeper kickers in 2011:

David Buehler, Dallas Cowboys
David Buehler may have the strongest leg in the NFL.

The Seattle Sounders would host the U.S. Open Cup final for a second straight year if they beat FC Dallas on Tuesday. The game would be held at CenturyLink Field on Oct. 4 and will be played against the winner of the Chicago Fire-Richmond Kickers semifinal.

Either finals matchup would be intriguing, even if the Sounders would be considered prohibitive favorites.

I recently picked up a copy of the Kicker Sonderheft, a football fan's wet dream come true of trivia, facts n stats about the German game. In Germany.
Inspired by this unchanging tome my latest Jakarta Globe looks at Asians in the Bundesliga and why we're not likely to see any South East Asians venturing too far from home any time soon!

Alan Pardew has today addressed the Joey Barton issue. Joey Barton was big trouble at the Leeds United on Sunday afternoon, and had a blow up with his manager for a number of reasons, one was he was not captain for the game, and the other was he was not the dead ball kicker in [...]

[Photo: Kicker]As I promised would be the case, David Yelldell is officially the #2 keeper at Bayer Leverkusen, and thus - with starter René Adler sidelined for a couple few months - will soon be starting Bundesliga and Champions League matches for the Aspirin Boys.As it turns out, the fans do not like this decision, but that can't stop him from proving them wrong.

Shambolic, catastrophic, embarrassing, shocking, unprecedented, entertaining, humorous all accurate descriptions of Brazil's role in the penalty shootout with Paraguay last night. In becoming the first team in history to miss every spot kick in a Copa America shootout, Brazil exited unceremoniously from a tournament in which they never looked the threatening force everyone expected.

Frank Rost joins the New York Red Bulls as their third DP. (Getty Images)

The New York Red Bull goalkeeper issue has been a well documented thing all season long. The Red Bulls announced today the signing of veteran goalkeeper Frank Rost. Rost comes to New York after playing in the German Bundesliga for nearly 20 years.

Bislang ging Schalkes Trainer Ralf Rangnick davon aus, dass er die ungefähr 20 bis 25 Millionen Euro, welche der FC Schalke durch den Verkauf von Nationaltorhüter Manuel Neuer an den FC Bayern München eingenommen hat, zumindest zum größten Teil wieder komplett in neue Spieler investieren kann.

There was no more margin for error in today's WWC quarterfinal game between the US and Brazil. The team that lost goes home, while the winning team books a ticket to the semifinals on Wednesday. Twitter and Facebook blew up as the match progressed and more and more fans logged on to see what was happening.

There was no more margin for error in today's WWC quarterfinal game between the US and Brazil. The team that lost goes home, while the winning team books a ticket to the semifinals on Wednesday. Twitter and Facebook blew up as the match progressed and more and more fans logged on to see what was happening.

The United States' 2-1 loss to Sweden in its final group game in the Women's World Cup is the kind of game that makes you want to re-evaluate everything about a team. It makes you want to re-think the lineup, the tactics, the style, the philosophy, the youth system, the type of athletes we crank out, everything.

Most of you know I'm a big backer of improving the US Open Cup. It seems like each year we all get into how to improve this old tournament. I call it old because it is and because of how it is structured.

Anyways, Jeremiah Oshan over at SBNation (cheap plug on my part), had a great post yesterday about how to improve the USOC.

**This week's guest post comes courtesy of Tony, who's been commenting regularly as Tropics Red. He discusses the impact that the surge of young talent might have on Liverpool's transfer strategy and the squad in general, as well as a look towards next season.

Der FC Bayern bastelt weiter an seiner Mannschaft für die nächste Saison, die wenn möglich die Champions League – deren Finale 2011 in der Münchner Allianz Arena ausgetragen wird – gewinnen soll. Dabei soll zur Verstärkung der Defensive neben Rechtsverteidiger Rafinha sowie Nationaltorwart Manuel Neuer auch Jerome Boateng von Manchester City verpflichtet werden.

Die Zusammensetzung der Kader der 18 Erstligisten in Deutschland nimmt langsam Form an, denn immer mehr Neuverpflichtungen für die kommende Spielzeit werden bekanntgegeben. Beim Hamburger SV beispielsweise nutzt der neue Sportchef Frank Arnesen seine Kontakte zu seinem vorherigen Verein FC Chelsea.

Diese Regelung bringt die anderen beiden Ligen wieder auf den Boden der Tatsachen zurück. Und dann ist Waffengleichheit sichergestellt. Dann kann man einen fairen sportlichen Wettbewerb antreten.

Reinhard Rauball, Präsident der Deutschen Fußball Liga (DFL), äußert sich im Interview mit dem Kicker zur Financial Fairplay Regelung der UEFA.

The only thing more lifeless than United's performance yesterday is my right knee, which I haven't been able to feel since jarring it while playing the other game we borrowed from the Brits. And became World Champions at (Are the Woolwich terrace-kicker-types reading?). I can understand that there really wasn't a great initiative to go out roaring yesterday.