All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award-winning Dirty Tackle...

Sheffield Wednesday mascots Barney and Ozzy shamelessly assault FA Cup mascot Buddy. [YouTube]

Man City's 88-year-old mascot. [Kickette]

Classic goalkeeper shirts as art.

GolTV has Siena and Napoli in the Coppa Italia at 2:45pm. This is the opening leg of the semifinal stage. Milan and Juventus are in the other half of the bracket. Copa Libertadores on Fox Deportes: Internacional - Juan Aurich at 5pm, Catolica - Bolivar at 7pm, and Emelec - Olimpia at 9:30pm. All Times Eastern

Corinthians have finally settled on what must be done to get melt away all the fat and the craziness: lock him in a hotel and force feed him healthy foods.

It's been almost a full year since Adriano joined Corinthians after his three-year contract with Roma was terminated seven months in.

Fox Soccer Plus has Sheffield Wednesday - Blackpool in an FA Cup Fourth Round replay. Copa Libertadores on Fox Deportes: Defensor Sporting - Velez Sarsfield at 5pm and Fluminense - Arsenal at 7pm. For those of you who don't regularly follow the Libertadores, we're starting the Second Stage. That means eight groups of four teams each with 16 advancing to the knockout stage.

adidas celebra toda la pasión, identidad y orgullo Universitario
del Club Tigres con una nueva piel de campeones

· El jersey incorpora el sentimiento del equipo y de la afición en uno solo, enalteciendo la casa de su nacimiento, la UANL.
· Tigres estrenará esta camiseta en su primer juego de Copa Libertadores 2012.

29.12.2011 - Tal como afirmaramos aquí (antes de la firma contractual), Alfio Basile fue presetado hoy como nuevo entrenador de Racing, lo que ya "sabía" desde hace unos meses.
Único partícipe de los tres títulos internacionales de Racing (Copa Libertadores 1967 y Copa Intercontinental 1967 como jugador y Supercopa 1988 como DT), el Coco ("fanático del tango, Pappo y el flaco Spinetta") inicia su cuarto ciclo como Director Técnico en el club que lo vio nacer al fútbol.

In a couple of days, the world's finest clubs will meet in Japan to battle it out for the coveted title of the best club in the world. The teams that make up this years challengers include:

Al-Sadd Club, Auckland City FC, Club de Futbol Monterrey, Esperance Spotive De Tunis, FC Barcelona and Santos

Brazilian club Santos released it list of players who will feature in the competition with both Ganso and Neymar making the cut.

De acordo com alguma imprensa brasileira, o desengonçado avançado colombiano poderá vir a reforçar o plantel do Santos, cuja maior estrela é Neymar. Com 26 anos, Renteria foi um dos destaques do Once Caldas, do seu país, na última Taça dos Libertadores da América e deve chegar por empréstimo Vila Belmiro.

Por Maxi Bibbo / @maxi_balcarce
Independiente quiere recuperarse del baldazo de agua fría que sufrió en Japón, cuando el Júbilo Iwata nipón le ganó 5-4 en los penales de la final de la Suruga Bank. Para ello, los de Antonio Mohamed se miden contra Internacional de Porto Alegre por el primer partido de la serie definitoria de la Recopa Sudamericana.

Por Gastón del Torto / @g_deltorto
Ahora si se desvirtuó todo. Después del revuelo que armó la noticia de la salida de Sergio Batista del seleccionado (tema que un sector dio a conocer hace una semana, siendo recién hoy la reunión) apareció un nuevo foco central. En el acto más alejado de la coherencia que se han conocido en los últimos años, Julio Grondona y la AFA en general, aseguraron a través de Juan Carlos Meiszner por "Despertate", que la posibilidad de armar un campeonato de 40 equipos, uniendo la primera división con la "B" nacional, está muy latente en el seno y que podría comenzar a regir a partir de la próxima temporada.

Ese túnel recorre los 110 años de la Historia de River Plate. Desde el 25 de Mayo de 1901 año en que se fundo el Club, videos y mas videos, objetos trascendentes como ¨revistas, marcas, automóviles, recortes , todo lo que marcaron once décadas, donde River gano todo lo que pudo, hasta 2011, donde el equipo debía seguir escribiendo su historia, como lo muestra el piso, así hasta llegar a los trofeos.

For the first time in their history, Argentina's biggest club River Plate have been relegated to the second division after a 3-1 aggregate defeat to Belgrano at the Estadio Monumental.

The result was followed by mass riots as furious River Plate fans set fire to cars and clashed with police outside the stadium.

Game Intelligence digs out the crumbs of football news that slipped down the back of the sofa this week... Neymar F.C. wins Copa Libertadores If you believe the accounts of the world press, Neymar was the only man on the ... Continue reading →

By DAVID MOSSE

Velez Sarsfield took care of business on Sunday with a 2-0 win over Atletico Huracan, then watched on television as Lanus fell to Argentinos Juniors, handing the Clausura title to Ricardo Gareca's side with one round remaining. Velez was the best team throughout the competition and likely would have secured the trophy sooner had it not been pre-occupied with the Libertadores.

09.06.2011 - A días de su anteúltimo partido como jugador profesional (último en la Bombonera), Martín Palermo (37), respondiendo a una pregunta, eligió sus 5 mejores goles (en este orden):
"Contra River, el día que entré después de la lesión por la Copa Libertadores (2000), el de Independiente desde la media cancha (2007), el de cabeza ante Vélez (2009) y los que les hice a Perú por las Eliminatorias (2009) y a Grecia en el Mundial de Sudáfrica (2010), los dos con la camiseta de la selección argentina".

Desde el primer minuto que Xolos ascendió a primera division nacional mexicana empezaron a sonar los rumores de refuerzos del equipo Xolos Tijuana para el torneo Apertura 2011. Pero ¿cuales serán los verdaderos futbolistas que pisen el césped sintetico del estadio caliente?

Penarol won the first semi-final leg against Velez Sarsfield 1 0 bringing back memories of the invincible Centenario! The success of the Celeste in the last World Cup has been contagious for Uruguayan clubs as well! The last time the Aurinegros won the Libertadores was in 1987.

When I saw this video and saw it is about Boca Juniors, I thought this should be at one of the craziest and most passionate places on the planet of football, in Argentina. I directly recalled clips showing 1978 World Cup finals and the "paper rain" from the fans. I thought it must be one of the most crazy derbies or Libertadores finals.

By NESTOR F. SEBASTIAN

Four groups down, four to go. Copa Libertadores finally wraps up its group-stage matches this week as 12 teams battle for the seven remaining spots available in the Round of 16, with defending champions Internacional of Brazil looking for a win at home against a tough Ecuadorean side, Emelec, while Mexico's America just needs a draw in Uruguay against Nacional.

Rogerio Ceni, Sao Paulo goal keeper since 1990 till now, scored yesterday his 100th goal in a 2-1 victory over Corinthians from a 25 yards wonderful free-kick.
Rogerio is the all time history top scorer as a goal keeper. He won 1992 and 1993 Copa-Libertadores with the golden Sao Paulo team and winner Intercontinental Cups for both years vs.

Caso acabasse hoje, esses seriam os jogos da Segunda Fase da Copa Santander Libertadores de 2011.
Jogo 1 - Junior Barranquila-COL x Univ. San Martin-PER
Jogo 8 - Colo-Colo - CHI x Estudiantes -ARG
Jogo 4 - Internacional-BRA x Cerro Porteño-PAR
Jogo 5 - Argentinos Juniors-ARG x LDU-EQu
Jogo 2 - Cruzeiro-BRA x América-MEX
Jogo 7 - Godoy Cruz-ARG x Grêmio-BRA
Jogo 3 - Libertad-PAR x Velez Sarsfield-ARG
Jogo 6 - Universidad Católica-CHI x Emelec-EQU

Caso acabassem hoje, os jogos da Taça Libertadores de 2011, os jogos da próxima fase seriam os seguintes:
Jogo 1 - Junior Barranquila (COL) x Universidad Catolica (CHI)
Jogo 8 - Colo-Colo (CHI) x Estudiantes (ARG)
Jogo 4 - Internacional (BRA) x LDU (EQU)
Jogo 5 - Argentinos Juniors (ARG) x Emelec (ECU)
Jogo 2 - Cruzeiro (BRA) x Univ.

- Jason Davis
Within the American soccer bubble, the CONCACAF Champions League is a pretty big deal. Or rather, the idea that an MLS team needs to win the title in said lead is a pretty big deal. Don Garber talks about it constantly. American soccer fans, no matter which MLS team they support, bemoan the league's lack of success.

Participacion de los equipos Mexicanos en Libertadores, Jornada 2
Martes 22 de Febrero de 2011
DU Martin vs San Luis 18:30 hrs
Miércoles 23 de Febrero de 2011
Internacional vs Jaguares 18:50 hrs
Jueves 24 de Febrero de 2011
Argentinos Jr vs América 18:30 hrs
Gracias por tu visita Estadísticas de Fútbol

The soccer world is set to lose one of its most illustrious active members today when Brazilian legend Ronaldo calls it quits on an 18-year career.

The 34-year-old striker told a Brazilian newspaper that he was unable to maintain his fitness and that he is retiring. During his club career, Ronaldo played at Cruzeiro, PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and AC Milan before wrapping up at Corinthians in his native country.

Former Major League Soccer coach Juan Carlos Osorio, who turned down an offer from Chivas USA so he could guide Colombian champ Once Caldas in Copa Libertadores, on Wednesday was appointed head coach of Honduras' national team.

Mexican coach Juan de Dios Castillo resigned a little more than a week after leading the Hondurans to the Copa Centroamericana title and an expected berth in the June 5-25 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

Mexico coach José Manuel de la Torre has announced his first list of call-ups since his appointment as national team coach this summer. It is an entirely domestic-based list, but more players from Europe will be called up next week. There aren't any players from Jaguares de Chiapas, San Luís, or América because of their clubs' participation in Copa Libertadores, but it's possible that they would appear in the friendlies against Venezuela and Paraguay.

Hoy es sábado. Me levanto por la mañana, trato de prender la tele y veo las noticias. Son ya las 10 de la mañana y el día parece tranquilo, nada fuera de lo común.

Después de un desayuno de campeones (Pan con mantequilla y su respectiva leche) me dirijo al closet en busca de lo básico para comenzar este día.

Botafogo are the defending Carioca champions

As controversial as they are a regular feature of the Brazilian football calendar, the state championships are back in the next couple of weeks. Though derided as an unnecessary burden on teams and players alike it seems that these championships are going to remain for a long time as they are part of the country's football tradition.

El año iniciara movido el torneo de futbol latinoamericano mas importante tendra lugar y ya estan listos los encuentros de los equipos Sudamericanos y mexicanos en este certamen que ha causado gran expectación en la afición.

PRIMERA FASE (repechaje)
Partido 1: Corinthians (Brasil) vs.