Holy Zombie Jesus, did a lot go down since the last time the Premier League kicked off a fortnight ago. First and foremost, my assumed title chase between Chelsea and Arsenal got thrown a wicked Barry Zito circa-2002 curveball. (Ok, for Brits, a wicked Googly.) Chelsea is going to have to play at least a couple matches -- and almost certainly the Nov. Click to continue reading...

World Cup Qualifying is completed is completed. I've updated the 2010 World Cup Eliminations Timeline, which tells you exactly which date each team was eliminated and in what order. That won't require another update until June.
But the real exciting news is that with all the qualifiers completed, we can now focus on the World Cup seeds and the draw. Click to continue reading...

Bad Thierry Henry. You cheated and you are the hero of all of France for it. Somewhere Michel Platini is dancing because you did it. Somewhere Sepp Blatter and the rest of FIFA are doing an Arsene Wegner impression. In Ireland your face will end up on dart boards and was the reason that children cried themselves to sleep last night. Click to continue reading...

...Or at least if you had just read the reactions from the fans and trigger-happy journalists, you'd think this is what Henry had actually done:

On a serious note, the 'victims' the Irish team have been refreshingly objective about the situation and have laid the blame squarely on the horrible refereeing and to a much lesser extent on their own poor finishing as the real reasons why the French and not the Irish are headed to South Africa.

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Jimmy Conrad got his 27th cap earlier today coming on for Jonathan Spector in the 70th minute of the United States 3-1 loss to Denmark. The US led 1-0 at the half thanks to a Jeff Cunningham goal, but struggled right out of the game in the second half, giving up 3 goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Click to continue reading...

Kaka and Dani Alves welcome you to Day 4 of the Brazilian Bootcamp! And you really need to clap your hands at that photo. What on Earth were those two thinking?! They're putting all of us in the spirit of el clasico next week.

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ESUFC gave Sodium all they could handle for 60 minutes of regulation in the OPL Semi-Final match. Back and forth all game the play went. Each keeper being called upon keep their team in the game. Play was physical as free kicks were awarded to both teams throughout the game.
In the end it was Jill Farley from her midfield position that brought the ball deep down the left side and ripped what we thought was going to be an awesome cross, INTO THE NET! Click to continue reading...

It's time for a little payback lady warriors.
In the Semi Finals we play ESUFC Arsenal. The last time we played them they beat us 2-1. Remember that? Remember how it felt to be beat by them? A team we hadn't lost to in what, 2+ years? A team we beat with 11 players in the Oswego Cup?
Remember that today as you take the field Sodium and know that if you give 100%, play as a team, be patient and play your game, you won't have to feel that feeling again. Click to continue reading...

For the first time since the last time in 1982,New Zealand have qualified for the World Cup Finals.It will the first time that both the Kiwis and the Socceroos will both be going to a World Cup finals.New Zealand beat Bahrain 1 - 0 in the second leg to make history.

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Going against what this writer wanted, New Zealand became the 24th nation with a ticket for South Africa by beating Bahrain at home. The only goal of the match was scored by Rory Fallon in the final moments of the first-half. The first-leg of this playoff ended 0-0, which gave Bahrain the chance of qualifying with a draw different from the nil one.

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There are tempestuous days ahead.
There has been a small rainstorm brewing for some time.
And now the storm clouds are really starting to gather.
The winds are beginning to howl.
I tell you, there's going to be a hurricane.
Don't believe me? Click to continue reading...

The Italy U-21's continued their very disappointing qualifying campaign with another loss, this time away to Hungary. The Azzurrini needed a win to get back on track, but now qualification is getting more and more difficult. The Hungarians won 2-0, with goals coming from Nemeth and Koman (both players played on the Hungarian side that knocked the Italy U-20's out of the U-20 World Cup last month).

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8 p.m. Western Conference Final Galaxy-Houston Dynamo Home Depot Center or ESPN2.

Tickets are still available.

Required reading:

* Game preview.

* How the Galaxy got here.

* How the teams match up.

* The dynamic Dominic Kinnear.

* The Galaxy counter with the MLS Coach of the Year.

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Fábio Aurélio

On Thursday, the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) announced that Liverpool's Fábio Aurélio has a problem with his left calf muscle  and would not face England in Qatar on November 14th and Oman three days later. The last time the leftback was called up for Brazil was by Carlos Alberto Parreira for the Confederations Cup in 2003.

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Beginning Saturday, eight nations in Europe will compete for the last four remaining UEFA spots in the 2010 World Cup. Winners of the two leg playoffs will secure a spot in the World Cup draw on December 4, and the losers endure the pain of watching next summer's tournament from home.

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Beginning Saturday, eight nations in Europe will compete for the last four remaining UEFA spots in the 2010 World Cup. Winners of the two leg playoffs will secure a spot in the World Cup draw on December 4, and the losers endure the pain of watching next summer's tournament from home.

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John Tarkpor will possibly line up for his new club, Persebaya, against his old club, Persitara, after a long winded, drawn out pre season transfer that had both sides fighting over his registration.
Persebaya won and on his debut, alongside fellow new signings Claude Ngon A Djam and Takotoshi Uchida they got thumped 4-1 by fellow newly promoted side PSPS Pekanbaru. Click to continue reading...

I know I normally take the weekend's off but I do think this news is noteworthy enough to get me to the laptop to type it out. Steve Goff reported earlier today that former New York Red Bull academy player and Rutgers star Dilly Duka is set to sign with Major League Soccer.

Instead of exploring options in Europe like he had hoped after he left Rutgers earlier this fall, Duke now is set to sign a four-year deal with the league.

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Perhaps not remembering what happened to Duane the last time someone wanted to move the Columbus Crew, Jason Davis over at MatchFit USA decides he wants to take a crack at getting rid of the team everyone loves to hate now that they win a lot.

Last night, only 10,109 could be bothered to watch the men in yellow go down to Real Salt Lake.

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This season has not started the best for Everton, so far they have been unable to recapture the form they showed last season in the league and  sit a lowly 13th. Couple this with two heavy defeats and the hands of Benfica in the Europa league and things aren't looking so rosy for David Moyes and his men.

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Columbia Hickman Kewpies, Matt Baker (2010)

Columbia Hickman Kewpies 2
Jefferson City Jays 0

From the Columbia Missourian Hickman wins boys soccer district championship

"I used the media release from last year that said ‘Kewpies lose to Jefferson City,'" Taylor said.

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Columbia Hickman Kewpies, Matt Baker (2010)

Columbia Hickman Kewpies 2
Jefferson City Jays 0

From the Columbia Missourian Hickman wins boys soccer district championship

"I used the media release from last year that said ‘Kewpies lose to Jefferson City,'" Taylor said.

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KOTA BARU: Kelantan have declared Sunday as a state holiday to mark the team's appearance in the Malaysia Cup final against Negri Sembilan at the National Stadium in Bukit Jalil on Saturday.
Deputy Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob declard Sunday a state holiday "to celebrate Kelantan's historic appearance in the final of the Malaysia Cup after 39 years". Click to continue reading...

Worrying faces at REAL MADRID & concern from CRISTIANO RONALDOas the latest diagnostics on his injured ankle is not good news.Apparently scans show that his ankle is not progressing as positivelyas thought, thus the Portuguese star has flown to Amsterdam to seekadvice from World expert Dr. Van Dijk. This is the same doctor thatoperated Ronaldo last time that his questioned ankle had problemsback Click to continue reading...

France have released the new home shirt they will wear at the 2010 World Cup should they beat the Republic of Ireland in their playoff. The new France shirt is manufactured by Adidas although this is expected to be the last time that Adidas manufacture a home shirt for the French ... Click to continue reading...

Many have taken the piss out of the atmosphere at the Emirates in the past. They did about Highbury too. But they can't deny that it wasn't a wall of noise on Saturday against the Spuds!
It was electric and a right smack in the face for those who have a dig about us Gooners being the silent type. Click to continue reading...

Defiant Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez is adamant his side can claim a vital victory in Lyon on Wednesday night.
The Anfield boss watched on as his side capitulated 3-1 against Fulham on Saturday, a result which leaves them languishing outside the top four and one which made it six defeats in the last seven matches. Click to continue reading...

Well here we go again.

Having lost the past two semi-finals, or conference finals, or whatever you're calling them, the Fire are entering the post season yet again with the taste of a lot of post season success, turned disappointment in their mouths.

Two years ago, we rocked DC United's world after they won the Supporter's Shield, and we snuck in -thanks to Thorny's 90′-, by dropping them first round only to be taken out by a Taylor Twellman bicycle kick from hell.

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Nerves

There's no doubt, as a fan, you get a huge buzz from games like these.

Though whether I actually enjoy them at the time well that's a moot point. There's just so much tension, and unless the game is clearly won (and my mathematical equation for when that point is reached has had to be revised in light of what happened last year), then I tend to be too uptight.

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Hello Gooners. Hope you are all well this friday. Don't know about you but I am super pumped up for this north london Derby. Not that I wasn't pumped for it all these years....

..Living in a place about 200 miles from North london, it used to be pretty hard to develop that aversion for Spurs.

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Ok, so it has not been the best start to the season by a long way, but I am sick and tired of reading on a daily basis people continually ripping into Liverpool and Rafa Benitez. Yeh we had a good season last year (from a premier league perspective) and yeh we have not had the best of starts to this years campaign, but to continually keep saying they are out of it and then the next week they are back in it is starting to do my head in.

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The MLS playoffs are an exercise in which lunacy often prevails. In the past five postseasons, the lower seeds have won their first-round series almost half the time. Top seeds have found the going especially rough, falling six out of ten times during this period. In fact, you have to go back to 2003, when Chicago and San Jose both triumphed, to find the last time that the No. Click to continue reading...

Don't you just love it when you begin something and think you are close to finishing when you realize you are better off starting all over again? I've had that happen here with what I thought was going to be a new look for this place. I had spent a couple weeks on a new design when I just basically hit a wall with it and couldn't get myself to go any further with it.

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While at yesterday's final grass installation, there was a rare positive vibe with the team, not just for the Arena's near completion, but for the season to come. Whether it was players, management or press, everyone seemed to look towards the future with longing eyes.

A lot of the hot button issues were discussed, and others simply insinuated.

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After Jermaine Pennant came out from his Spanish Villa and criticised Benetiz for miss-management of players, it felt like the final nail in the coffin for the Spanish manager.

A poor result in mid-week against a Lyon team not at the peak of their powers looked like silencing Rafa once and for all.

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