Who can wait a month? I had to speculate the pots and make my own groups:

GROUP A -- South Africa, Greece, North Korea, Paraguay
GROUP B -- Brazil, Slovenia, Honduras, Nigeria
GROUP C -- Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Uruguay
GROUP D -- Spain, Slovakia, USA, Ghana
GROUP E -- Argentina, Netherlands, Mexico, Cameroon
GROUP F -- Italy, Serbia, South Korea, Chile
GROUP G -- France, Portugal, Australia, Algeria
GROUP H -- England, Switzerland, Japan, Ivory Coast

How about that Group E, eh? Click to continue reading...

VS. ,,

In the modern world of football, Europe is the most powerful confederation in FIFA and its a shame that FIFA's most powerful confederation doesn't lead the way in how it runs its World Cup qualification.

When it comes to World Cup qualifying, Europe can look to other FIFA confederations on how it should be done.

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VS. ,,
In the modern world of football, Europe is the most powerful confederation in FIFA and its a shame that FIFA's most powerful confederation doesn't lead the way in how it runs its World Cup qualification.
When it comes to World Cup qualifying, Europe can look to other FIFA confederations on how it should be done. Click to continue reading...

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...

Sort of a big week in the Canadian national scene with Stephen Hart slotted as the Real© Head Coach of the mens squad, but there were some other interesting stories this week.
Like:

• The Toronto Junior Lynx have been rated the number one academy club for the Mid West Region, making Chicago Fire's academy team look like the feathery little pipsqueaks they are.

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With the American team eliminated from the FIFA U-17 World Cup after a 2-1 loss to Italy, an evaluation of the team's performance -- in their knockout round match Wednesday with Italy and in the tournament in general -- is really a matter of recognizing that there are two sides to every coin. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool and Rangers are drinking in the last-chance saloon while Arsenal are hoping to toast their progress into the knockout phase of the UEFA Champions League. Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan, who have not won in the Champions League for over a year, must drop their reputation as draw specialists when they face Dynamo Kiev in Ukraine where the former Chelsea boss will once again be up against ex-Blues striker Andriy Shevchenko. Click to continue reading...

United went into last night's Champions League tie with CSKA Moscow needing just a point to ensure qualification to the knockout phase of the competition, it should have been a formality - in theory at least anyway - but it wasn't. United have made a habit of doing it the hard way and last night's performance was no different, after going 3-1 down it eventually finished up 3-3 on what was a night Click to continue reading...

A weakened Manchester United team came from two goals down to tie visitors CSKA Moscow 3-3 at Old Trafford earlier today. Goals in the final six minutes from Paul Scholes and Antonio Valencia gave Manchester United a well-earned draw and passage into the UEFA Champions League first knockout round. Alan Dzagoev, Miloš Krasić and Vasili Berezutski had [. Click to continue reading...

The Under-17 World Cup knockout round game between the United States and Italy is only available online (10am - ESPN360.com). Champions League on Fox Soccer Channel: Rubin Kazan - Barcelona at 12:30pm, Lyon - Liverpool at 2:30pm, and Arsenal - Alkmaar at 5pm (2:30pm on Setanta). All Times Eastern Click to continue reading...

Former DC United Coach Tom Soehn

Earlier this morning came the news that DC United coach Tom Soehn would not seek to extend his current contract with the team. Set to expire at the end of this year, Soehn will instead leave the club he has been a part of for the past six seasons – three years as an assistant and three as the head coach.

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"Rio Ferdinand has been in poor form this season by his standards and I think Sir Alex Ferguson would be shrewd to cash in on the star in January."
Stan Collymore couldn't be a bigger prick if he tried.

"I don't want to play United in the knockout rounds they're a very strong team and I have many friends there.

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Liverpool's second Carling Cup knockout in three seasons at the hands of Arsenal's army of high-flying young Gunners cast uncomfortable light once... Click to continue reading...

Manchester United will host CSKA Moscow today in their group B clash of the Champions League. United had won the same fixture two weeks ago in Russian capital and will look to win this one too. Currently, the Red Devils lead Group B and a victory at Old Trafford would send them progress into the knockout round with two Group B matches to spare. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard, midfielder Albert Riera and defenders Martin Kelly and Martin Skrtel will all miss Wednesday's decisive Champions League match at Olympique Lyon, manager Rafa Benitez said on Monday.
However, Benitez added that he was hoping Italian midfielder Alberto Aquilani would recover from a virus that kept him out of Saturday's 3-1 defeat at Fulham for the Group E match. Click to continue reading...

Following Thursday's narrow victory over Malawi, midfielder Luis Gil and his teammates find themselves poised to break into the knockout round with a win on Sunday in their final group stage game. Click to continue reading...

From Goal.com Noah Davis breaks down the action for the U-17 USA team as the United States enters the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria.

For Wilmer Cabrera's talented side, the tournament represents a chance to show the world how far the Stars and Stripes have come as a soccer-playing nation.

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IT WAS bound to happen sooner or later. North Queensland Fury, with the wily Robbie Fowler, were always going to get a win at home after weeks of impressive fighting football.
But without taking anything away from the Fury, Perth Glory will feel that they let a golden chance for a win away from home went begging. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool face Manchester United (home), Arsenal (away), Fulham (away) and Lyon (away) in their next four games - and they need a special miracle to take win all four games.

It's not impossible though - United are not exactly the invincible beast of 07/08 and if Torres is fit he should be able to give the United backline a good scare.

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Something strange is happening at the City Ground. Five wins in a row, a chest-puffing knockout on live television, a last gasp winner on a damp Tuesday evening. Clean sheets. Clean sheets? I'm fairly sure I wasn't the only person pinching myself when Guy Moussi dementedly volleyed in his winner on Tuesday evening. Click to continue reading...

A year after every MLS team failed to reach the knockout round of the CONCACAF Champions League, the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew has stepped up to make sure Major League Soccer will be represented in the current Champions League Tournament.

The Crew tied the Puerto Rico Islanders, 1-1, on Tuesday night to lock up a quarterfinal berth.

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A year after all but one MLS team failed to reach the knockout round of the CONCACAF Champions League, the defending MLS champion Columbus Crew has become the first Major League Soccer team to earn a place in the quarterfinals.

The Crew tied the Puerto Rico Islanders, 1-1, on Tuesday night to lock up a quarterfinal berth.

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D.C. United gained in improbable 1-1 draw in Toluca tonight to temporarily put the Black and Red into second place in their CONCACAF Champions League final group stage match. Now they must wait until Thursday where Marathon now needs a win to advance to the knockout phase next winter. Click to continue reading...

PSNL Fans were hoping to face Slovenia before this mornings draw, as 40% of all votes turned in the past few days here on P.S.N.L. supported this matchup for Portugal's knockout playoff game for a World Cup spot. The Portuguese will be taking on Bosnia-Herzegovina which was the second most popular choice from fans at 23%. Click to continue reading...

The Twitterverse Players League has moved to the knockout rounds! Below are the eight Round of 16 matches. Only one player can advance to the quarterfinals from each head-to-head battle, so be sure...

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It's just like one of those cheesy sports movies. The team seems unconquerable going into a huge tournament. They suffer a few losses and realize they are human. Then they band together and begin to turn it around and play together as a team.  But the conflict arises when the star player goes down with a serious injury leaving him teammates devastated and feeling as if they are against all odds.

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Jason and Zach review the group stages of the Twitterverse Players League and hold the draw for the first knockout round of the Competition. DOWNLOAD THE DRAW HERE

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Brazil v. Ghana
2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup Final
Cairo International Stadium (Cairo, Egypt)
Friday, 16th October, 20:00 EET

After three exciting weeks of action in Egypt, the 2009 FIFA U-20 World Cup culminates tomorrow in Cairo with what should be an exciting final between four-time champions Brazil and Ghana.

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The name Bosnia and Herzegovina may not have an extremely familiar ring to it, but perhaps you know the squad by their previous title, Yugoslavia. In 1993 following the split of socialist Yugoslavia, a new team was born. Unfortunately, Bosnia and Herzegovina has yet to make a name for themselves on the biggest and brightest stage (the World Cup), but the squad has proven to be a contender for the tournament several times throughout their brief history.

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The second set of groups is headed to the vote; jump in now and assure your guy gets through to the knockout round. Voting for these groups will run from today, Monday October 12th through Friday...

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Interesting link from reader Dan Loughlin.

Their approach is to think of a soccer game as an experiment to determine which of two teams is the best. The question then is this: What is the probability that the outcome of the experiment truly represents the relative abilities of the two teams?

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The first set of groups is headed to the vote; jump in now and assure your guy gets through to the knockout round. Voting for these groups will run from today, Monday October 5th to Friday October...

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I have a quick look at how my pre-tourney Under-20 World Cup predictions have done so far, plus my second chance knockout predictions.If you recall, this is what I had for the round of 16 match-ups (correct bracket slot = blue, correct knockout qualifier = green & big fat oops = red):Paraguay over USA (extra time)Ghana over Costa RicaSpain over Korea RepublicCzech Republic over Hungary (extra Click to continue reading...

The first set of groups is headed to the vote; jump in now and assure your guy gets through to the knockout round. Voting for these groups will run from today, Monday October 5th to Friday October 9th. Tweet the link to the voting page with the #TPL hashtag and you'll be entered into the prize drawing to be held at the conclusion of the group stage. Click to continue reading...

I sent out a tweet about the U-20 World Cup early last week, and had a post in the works, but I never got around to finishing it until now. The group stage of the competition is over and the bare facts tell the story: none of the CONCACAF qualifiers finished in the top two of their respective groups, two finished in third place, and other other two bottom of their group. Click to continue reading...