I'll admit that hearing many a pundit say that a World Cup without France would lose some of its bite made my blood boil. Â I have nothing against French Football, and in fact cheered for them in each of their four knock out stage matches of Germany 2006.

But from my perspective an Irish defeat today in Paris would be a defeat for football.

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Rafa Benitez gave a bizarre interview to the Times yesterday, and Liverpool fans should be worried that the pressure may be getting the better of their leader. When a manager spends time talking about the support he is getting from the management, threatening to quit, and talking about the legacy he wants to leave behind, he sounds less like a manager worried about this weekend's game against Man City and more like a man who wants to put this whole mess behind him.

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"Praising John Terry for the win at the bridge is like awarding the Oscar for the best dialogues to "CAST AWAY". Abstruse, incongruous, inaccurate and so totally dumb."

                               -         A prominent dig at keyrock's prominent post

According to an old drunkard, who i met yesterday, breaks are supposed to be used for relaxation.

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Jose Mourinho could be set for a Premier League comeback with Manchester City after hinting he wants to return to England.
The under-fire Inter Milan coach, who could be fired if the Italian giants to not reach the knockout phase of the Champions League, said: "I am ready for the next phase of my career. Click to continue reading...

2009, has been a very complicated year for US National Team supporters. We've had the high of our first ever FIFA final combined with the low of a 5-0 loss to arch rival Mexico. We beat World Cup qualifier Honduras four times this year and gave Spain its only loss of the last three years.

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It is easy to take for granted, after all it is now almost ten seasons in a row of qualification for the knock out phase of the Champions League, what a fantastic record, it's just the cherry on top that Arsene is after now. No one really expected Alkmaar to pose much of a threat and this proved to be the case. Click to continue reading...

Despite the plethora of Champions League games available to me this week I flicked my sports channel over to the game in Milan to see whether the Milanistas could re-create their spectacular victory in the Bernabeu two weeks ago. And, despite their failure to upset the football betting odds and re-enact their Madrid heroics following 90 scrappy but passionate minutes, there were still signs that they have turned the corner.

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Liverpool only managed a 1-1 draw away to Lyon tonight which may not be enough to qualify for the quarter finals of the Champions League. A depleted Liverpool team had most of the possession away to Lyon and had a few good attempts on goal saved by the Lyon keeper, until sub Ryan Babel scored with a magnificent thunderbolt shot on 83 mins to give the Reds a deserved lead. Click to continue reading...

Sevilla and Stuttgart played out a draw in this Champions League encounter giving the Spaniards the vital point that secures their place in the knock out stages.

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When we beat the Mancs last week, everyone including his pet rock was jumping with joy I am certain. Everyone except those in the clueless bandwagon. Then, afterwe lost to Fulham, the dam burst further!

How do some fans miss the obvious I do not know. We have been overachieving with Rafa at the helm and yet these people scream murder and want Rafa to be sacked.

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We'll have live commentary of the US-Italy U-17 World Cup knock out stage match beginning at 11 am ET/8 am PT.

No related posts.

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Wolfsburg edged closer to booking a place in the knock-out round out the Champions League thanks to a very positive performance on the pitch. Besiktas were consequently bundled out of the competition, owing to an early goal from Zvjezdan Misimovic, and a late strike each from Christian Gentner and Edin Dzeko. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal vs AZ Alkmaar

AZ Alkmaar have made the short trip to London to take on Arsenal looking to build on their surprise 1-1 draw out in Holland last time out. A furious Arsene Wenger will be out to tighten up his leaky defence and see the job done in a week where he spoke about his desire to win the Champions League trophy.

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Sevilla vs Stuttgart

Group G leaders Sevilla can book their place in the knock out stages with a win over struggling Stuttgart as the Group's prize positions begin to take shape.

Sevilla's rampant form has seen them blitz their way to the top, with 9 points from a possible 9.

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Lyon insist they will not be lulled into a false sense of security ahead of their crucial Champions League clash with Liverpool.
The English giants are staring at a premature exit after Lyon's 2-1 victory at Anfield a fortnight ago left them with two defeats from three in Group E.
Rafa Benitez's men were reduced to nine as they suffered a 3-1 defeat at Fulham on Saturday - their fifth loss in 11 Premier League games - and have a host of injury problems for the trip to France. Click to continue reading...

Who: Manchester United vs. CSKA Moscow
What: Champions League Group B Match Day 4
Where: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
When: 19:45 BST (2:45 EST)
Why: The Old Trafford faithful need a first hand viewing of CSKA keeper Igor Akinfeev before every English tabloid spends the summer linking him with a transfer to the club.

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Who: Manchester United vs. CSKA Moscow
What: Champions League Group B Match Day 4
Where: Old Trafford, Manchester, England
When: 19:45 BST (2:45 EST)
Why: The Old Trafford faithful need a first hand viewing of CSKA keeper Igor Akinfeev before every English tabloid spends the summer linking him with a transfer to the club.

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The football just keeps coming with Champions League action tomorrow night. There'll be a press conference and team news today so we can preview the game properly tomorrow.

A win would assure qualification for the knock-out stage of the competition so there'll be no rest for the main men. Robin van Persie will lead the line again and after two goals against Sp*rs the manager seems to think 25 goals for the season is an achievable target for him.

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Tuesday night was a special night for Arsenal, not only because we took one more step towards the knock-out stage of the Champions League, but Samir Nasri played for Arsenal reserves away to Wolves.

Samir suffered a broken leg in pre-season before he was able to kick a ball, with Rosicky fitness unsure and Walcott suffering an injury; it was a severe blow to Arsenal fans.

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It may still only be October but should Liverpool lose to Manchester United on Sunday their title challenge will effectively be over. They've already lost four times in the league this season and boss Rafael Benitez's woes continued in midweek when French outfit Lyon pulled off a surprise 2-1 victory at Anfield.

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I never thought I would see the day but there are increasing calls from the Inter faithful for Jose Mourinho to leave.

The self styled "special one" who won the Champions League in 2004, as well as league titles in Portugal, England and Italy, is under intense pressure as Inter's alarming European form continues to slide downwards.

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That was disappointing! Letting an inferior team equalize to force a draw at the dead brings back painful memory for a lot of Arsenal supporters.
Ronald Koeman did what he said to the press: his team maintained ball possession against Arsenal and actually had slightly more possession overall in the match. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United scored a late goal to win against CSKA Moscow in their UEFA Champions League Group match. Antonio Valencia scored late in the 86th minute to give United their third consecutive win and strengthen their position in Group B with 9 points. United will now host the same team at Old Trafford in two weeks time and if they can win that game, qualification to the knock out stages Click to continue reading...

QUESTION ON MY MIND
Will we ever know what happened in the Charlie Davies car accident? Who was driving? How did the crash occur? What was he doing out past 3am? Maybe he had special dispensation from the coach to be out late. Who knows.
Maybe this info is too private, but I know that these are things the fans would like to read about. Click to continue reading...

The next few days promise to be big ones in US professional football. Major League Soccer has proven this summer and into the fall to be the most compelling and competitive first division the English speaking world. The MLS season comes down to the next few nights of football: every match in the final weekend has an impact upon the title race, unlike the final weekends in most European leagues.

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Arsenal vs AZ Alkmaar:

Top of the Group Arsenal are rapidly closing in on qualifying for the knock out stages, and 6 points from their double header with Dutch Champions AZ Alkmaar will see Arsène Wenger's men home.

The first of which takes place at AZ's DS-Stadium, a ground which Arsenal officially opened during a pre-season friendly in 2006.

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While the Aughts have been full of speculation/proposal about the Old Firm joining the EPL, the 90's was about the Old Firm joining what was dubbed as the Atlantic League. It was a joint proposal from the big clubs in the Netherlands, Scotland and Portugal. ESPN is reporting that there may be another attempt at this break away league, which would involve the aforementioned clubs along with Belgium and the Scandinavian clubs.

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Since the brilliant US win over Honduras on Saturday, the internet has been abuzz with discussion of the potential for the USMNT to receive a top seed in the World Cup. Assuming a victory on Wednesday, the US is likely to be ranked ninth when the new FIFA ranking is released.Â

However, the chances of the US being a top seed are remote based on the criteria used by FIFA.

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STARTERS
Awesome Awesome Awesome Golazo!
This is one of the greatest goals I have ever seen!
A header goal from 40 yards out! Martin Palermo of Boca Juniors with the near impossible. Thanks to Robert for this one!
dN
The USA U20 is out of the World Cup. Click to continue reading...

The 2009 U-20 World Cup began with high expectations for Team USA. With twelve professional players, and withdrawals and extenuating circumstances elsewhere the US looked a sure bet to make noise.

Now, the US must count on other results to continue in the competition. The US has advanced to the knock out stages of six consecutive U-20 World Cups, but making a seventh is now in severe doubt.

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The United States redeemed their shock result to open the U-20 World Cup, a 3-0 defeat to a Germany, with a tour de force, 4-1 win over Cameroon. Cameroon is a talented team that had previous beat South Korea 2-0.
South Korea proved their own chops on Tuesday, drawing with Germany. Click to continue reading...

Steven Gerrard has revealed his dismay after Liverpool FC's Champions League horror show in Florence which has thrown their quest to reach the knock-out stages into disarray.
Liverpool were soundly beaten 2-0 by Fiorentina in the Stadio Artemio Franchi after Stevan Jovetic's first-half double, and now face tricky back-to-back clashes with Group E leaders Lyon, who have won each of their two matches so far. Click to continue reading...

The international rivalry between the Houston Dynamo and Pachuca continues tonight at 9:00 pm central time as the Dynamo host Pachuca at Robertson Stadium in the group stage of the CONCACAF Champions League. Over the past three years, these two teams have met five times, with each picking up two wins and only one match resulting in a draw. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal announced their financial results for the year ending 31 May 2009 and the news is great on all fronts.

Revenue from football activities is up £18million due to our extended runs in both the FA Cup and the Champions League. When people say qualification to the knock-out stage of the Champions League is worth £20million that is not far off the mark.

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The Crowd=The Passion

Goats v Bulls ,

My name is Simon a 30 something Brit now living here in sunny California ,

I was born in Swindon England where I lived pretty much all my life ,

My team is my home town club Swindon Town F.C. , an unfashionable

Small team from Wiltshire , for 30 years I followed my Robins from the lows of

The old division 4 to the dizzy high of the premiership only to fall from

Grace to the foot of England's professional leagues ,

On arrival to the states I was keen to check out the local "soccer" for my personal

Views about football and my ultra mentality I could not follow nor shout for galaxy ,

For their golden boy becks and his one time links to Manchester Utd , but for now I shall

Save those views for another time ,

Chivas USA came to my attention and now for the last year the goats have substituted my Robins ,

For my footballing fix.

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