The ball from the infamous Tottenham-Liverpool match earlier in the year was sold online.
400 pounds to charity. Good stuff.
Did you buy it?
To the links:

• Poor form in selecting your team Bob. [NSC]
  
• Maradona banned for two months. [Reuters]
  
• Happy birthday to a blog bud.

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We keep it strictly binary this week.

0. The combined number of goals Bayern's strike duo Miroslav Klose and Luca Toni scored so far this season.

1. The number of goals former Bayern striker Lukas Podolski scored so far this season. Lukas Podolski joined Cologne in the summer, after Klose and Toni were continuously given the nod ahead of him.

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Still high-tide in rumors:

• Milan VP says Beckham return "very probable."
  
• Amr Zaki to join Portsmouth.
  
• D.C. gets 'keeper from Timbers.
  
• Mascherano unhappy at Liverpool.
  
• United eyeing three Inter dudes.
  
• Toni not leaving, says Munich.

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The good ship World Cup is almost ready to set sail for South Africa and the penultimate round of qualifiers ensured eight more countries secured their berth for 2010. Here's how they got there starting off with our first update from
Europe
Reigning champions Italy confirmed they'll be defending their title next year, but only thanks to a last-minute equaliser by Alberto Gilardino in Dublin. Click to continue reading...

Germany are through to South Africa... Klose flips and falls from lack of practice at Bayern obviously ;-) Click to continue reading...

(video highlights di Bayern Monaco-Juventus)
BAYERN (4-3-3): Butt; Lahm Batsduber Van Buyten Braafheid; Ottl Schweinsteiger Muller; Ribery Klose (76' Gomez) Robben (46' Olic). A disp. Rensing, H. Altintop, Breno, Pranic, Gómez, Tymoschuck. All. Louis Van Gaal.
JUVENTUS (4-3-1-2): Buffon; Grygera Chiellini Legrottaglie Grosso; Marchisio Felipe Melo Camoranesi (90' Tiago); Diego (60' Poulsen); Iaquinta Trezeguet (75' Amauri). Click to continue reading...

"Es müllert wieder!" This famous slogan is only known by older german football fans, especially for those in Western Germany. It´s a tribute to the best German striker ever named Gerd Müller. Müller played fifteen years for the Bavarian top-club FC Bayern Munich and is holding several scoring records.

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Die Fans des VfB Stuttgart hatten sich vom Saisonstart ihres Teams wohl mehr erwartet. Fünf Punkte aus vier Spielen und das gegen Gegner, die mit Ausnahme des VfL Wolfsburg wohl wirklich keine allzu schweren Brocken waren. Zuletzt konnte man am Samstag am Ende des Spiels gegen Aufsteiger 1. FC Nürnberg wohl mit einem Punkt noch zufrieden sein.

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Mit der Verpflichtung des niederländischen Superstars Arjen Robben, der bei Real Madrid keinen Platz mehr hatte, nachdem die Weltstars Kaka und C. Ronaldo das Trikot der Spanier tragen, hat der FC Bayern München einen echten Transfercoup gelandet. Somit wurde man also doch noch einmal tätig auf dem Transfermarkt – und reagierte damit eventuell sogar auf das Drängen der Fans, die (zumindest teilweise) in einem öffentlichen Brief ihrem Ärger Luft machten.

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This needs a comment.

Afterward, Donovan was dismissive of Rossi, saying, "If the guy doesn't want to play for us, then I don't really care about him."

Really. Are we going to get our knickers in a bunch if Vedad Ibisevic scores against the team? Because Bosnia might be in the same group in the World Cup.

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Er ist einer der besten Spieler Europas und er hat die Bundesliga zwei Jahre lang wie kaum ein anderer bereichert. Ein drittes Jahr wird es jedoch nicht geben - sein Weggang ist längst besiegelt. Das Fußballgenie aus Frankreich wird den FC Bayern verlassen, und ich bin überzeugt davon, dass die Verantwortlichen aus München das längst eingesehen haben und bereits mit den Einnahmen des Megatransfers planen.

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Armin Veh was announced as Wolfsburg's new manager after their title celebrations. The ex-Stuttgart manager will now try and replicate his 2008 Champions League form. It should be easier with the imminent loss of Dzeko and Misimovic.

Mario Gomez became the most expensive player in Bundesliga history, swapping Stuttgart red for Bayern red.

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Dos trayectorias diferentes se verán las caras esta noche en el recinto blaugrana: un Bayern herido de muerte, que deambula por su liga recibiendo palizas sonrojantes, y un Barça que convierte en victoria todo aquello que toca. Pero la Champions no entiende de favoritos, de rachas o de buen o mal fútbol.

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Villarreal y Barcelona ya conocen cuáles serán sus rivales en los cuartos de final de la Liga de Campeones, tras el sorteo celebrado esta mañana en la Casa del Fútbol Europeo de Nyon, Suiza. Los nuestros han tenido suerte, dentro de lo que cabe, ya que el conjunto castellonense se enfrentará al Arsenal, mientras que [. Click to continue reading...

If anyone has a question for Landon Donovan just click on this link, which will lead you directly to his website where you can post a question for him. As you can read from the questions and answers that have already been posted, Landon is pretty candid about his relationship with Miroslav Klose, Ruud Gullit's time as coach of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Bruce Arena's appointment as the new coach. Click to continue reading...

En los dos partidos que, obviando los de Real Madrid y Villarreal, completaban la jornada de Champions del día de hoy, Chelsea y Bayern de Múnich consiguieron imponerse a Juventus y Sporting de Portugal y llegarán con ventaja al partido de vuelta. Los londinenses se bastaron con un tempranero gol de Drogba en el minuto [. Click to continue reading...

I don't think my article on Landon was advocating a move to Bayern Munich, but I can see where some have taken it that way.
Here's what one reader had to say:
With all due respect I don't think Landon Donovan would even make the Bayern Munich matchday party more than 12 or 15 times in a season. Click to continue reading...

Here are some words and phrases you can hear on languagecaster's Full Podcast's Good, Bad and Ugly section - a review of the footballing news. For more English practice check out our worksheets, football glossary and English for football phrases as well as the Learners' Podcast. to net: to score a goal Example: Miroslav Klose and Theo [. Click to continue reading...

I think that most people would have assumed before this game that a hat trick from Miroslav Klose would have meant a rout by Germany, but it wasn't quite the case as Finland had an answer for each of Klose's goals.
Finland 3-3 Germany Wolrd Cup Qualifiers Highlights Click to continue reading...

2010 World Cup qualifying round-up: Miroslav Klose spares Germany's blushes in Finland
Miroslav Klose hit a hat-trick for Germany but his goals only managed to salvage a 3-3 draw for a side who were just seven minutes away from losing to Finland for the first time in 85 years.
From Telegraph. Click to continue reading...

In the comedy series "Little Britain", Andy Pipkin, the pretend-disabled scrounger, states that he wants to go to Finland despite the fact that he previously said that the country had "a maudlin quality to it, rendering it unsuitable as a holiday destination." After convincing his hapless carer Lou to book them on a flight to Helsinki, Andy decides on take-off that he actually wanted to go to Florida all the time. Click to continue reading...

Apologies for starting this year's Bundesliga blog off with an entry based on ugly rumours (by which I mean allegations and not ex-British PM Tony Blair's ill-fated Stones-esque college band).
Since Euro 2008 ended, I've been feeding my soccer hunger by trawling my favourite sites for any morsel of information that can keep me sated. Click to continue reading...

I was reading this article on ESPN's website and it got me to thinking, how does Bayern Munich expect to measure success during Jurgen Klinsmann's time as manager. Are they expecting to go on a run of Champions League victories? What exactly is the measure of success? They won the Champions League Cup back in 2001. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

Ex-Houston Dynamo striker Joseph Ngwenya's name has popped up in the news recently after the 27-year-old began a trial three-week spell with German superpower Bayern Munich. If you'll direct your attention to Texas you'll see a collective mouth-watering from the Dynamo faithful.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

Ex-Houston Dynamo striker Joseph Ngwenya's name has popped up in the news recently after the 27-year-old began a trial three-week spell with German superpower Bayern Munich. If you'll direct your attention to Texas you'll see a collective mouth-watering from the Dynamo faithful.

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Tottenham are still in contention to sign Bayern Munich star Lukas Podolski according to reports in the Daily Telegraph today. If the German international was to link up with Juande Ramos' side that could see Robbie Keane's rumoured move to Liverpool go through.
The 23 year old who is currently playing in the Bundesliga is thought to be one of Juande Ramos top Summer transfer targets, especially after his eye catching performances for Germany in Euro 2008. Click to continue reading...

I wanted to get this post up sooner, but I've been blog-less for the past few days as a result of a beer-filled long weekend out of town. I did watch the final on Sunday, though, and although I was cheering for Germany, I can't say I'm disappointed that Spain won -- they were the best team both over the course of the tournament and in the final itself. Click to continue reading...

If would have told you one year ago that a member of the Houston Dynamo would be on trial with German juggernauts Bayern Munich you would have told me I was high, high, high. And even if you thought I wasn't under the influence you would have thought it was DeRo or Chingy that was getting the eye from abroad. Click to continue reading...

I have tears of joy. Watching Spain get over their mental block against their more heralded European rivals, doing it their way, playing beautiful, attacking soccer and finally winning what was rightfully theirs. There is a God occasionally and he chose the right time to be munificent.

There was Ballack his face streaked with congealed blood and the nonplussed Metzelder and Mertesacker, their faces frozen in disbelief and dismay, as they contemplated another championship without a title.

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The final! Will Spain throw off the mantle of underachiever? Will Germany triumph, sending the momentum of its fans gained during the World Cup into a frenzy?
Funny how Foudy talks about how goalkeepers need games to be sharp in reference to Jens Lehmann. Foudy didn't say anything like that when saying she wouldn't want to play in front of Hope Solo after Solo protested getting replaced at the Women's World Cup by Scurry, who had hardly played. Click to continue reading...

It seems that Spain is the favorite with most nationalities outside of Germany. With Michael Ballack looking doubtful - and Jogi Loew talking about playing Tim Borowski (ugh!) then it looks as though the balance of power may have swung to the Spanish.
This will not bother the Germans at all. Click to continue reading...

Finally Spain have done a tournament they can be prowd of. In the semi final they had a boring 1st half, but woke up 2nd half and showed the whole world how to play nice. They finished with 3-0 over Russland. Aragones is a clever old man, but how will he try to beat Germany? Germany had [...] Click to continue reading...

Finally Spain have done a tournament they can be prowd of. In the semi final they had a boring 1st half, but woke up 2nd half and showed the whole world how to play nice. They finished with 3-0 over Russland. Aragones is a clever old man, but how will he try to beat Germany? Germany had [...] Click to continue reading...

World Soccer news
For week of June 26th
The Germans defend Luca Toni: It's the Italians' fault!
Luca Toni spent the whole European Championship without netting a goal, but his German fans know that it was down to the Italian negative tactics.
"What did the Italians do to Toni? Click to continue reading...

Some news to read as you realize you missed the last ride on the brothel bus: Arshavin has already had five offers (Newcastle United Blog) Klose but no cigar (For Girls Who Can't Do Football) Eight out of ten for Turkey-Germany, and Loew guides the Mannschaft home (Eleven Devils) Kickin' it with Philip Lahm Click to continue reading...