Some good news for Madrid fans as arch rivals Barcelona slumped to a 3-2 loss Osasuna yesterday forcing Barca coach Pep Guardiola to admit that his side is now at the mercy of Madrid and only a slip up from the capital club would give his team a lifeline.

Madrid could go 10 points clear at the top of the table should they win at home to Levante today an opportunity i am sure Mourinho would not want to miss.

Don't be a mug and stick with Spurs. Know what I mean ‘Arry? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

So it's "arrivederci" to Mr Capello and with that once again The FA are in search of fresh man with fresh ideas to manage the England football team. The now infamous "impossible job" is waiting ominously to be filled by a brave managerial soul and the national media appear to be in no doubt as to whom that man should be, yes it's the half human half bloodhound hybrid, Harry Redknapp.

As we all know, Harry Redknapp has not even thought about becoming England manager. Given that the possibility of him doing just that is on all major news bulletins, OTP wondered what exactly he is thinking about. 1. Business investments 'Arry's still not got round to investing that money that Milan Mandaric gave him to [.

It's time for a quick roundup of the action from the Argentine foreign legion in Italy, Spain, Mexico and Portugal, as Lionel Messi found the net after four games without a goal, Chelo Delgado scored a fine goal in Mexico, ... Continue reading →

It's time for a quick roundup of the action from the Argentine foreign legion in Italy, Spain, Mexico and Portugal, as Lionel Messi found the net after four games without a goal, Chelo Delgado scored a fine goal in Mexico, ... Continue reading →

The inevitable African Cup of Nations championship matchup between the continent's two powerhouses has made way for a title game involving an underdog side that is a win away from capping off a Hollywood-worthy script.

Upstart Zambia shocked favored Ghana, 1-0, to advance to the tournament final and prevent the Black Stars from seeking redemption for their loss in the 2010 final.

The are important matches in domestic cup play across a number of countries, none of which is more intriguing than the Coppa Italia battle between AC Milan and Juventus.

The top two teams in Serie A open their anticipated semifinal tie at the San Siro after easing past top-notch competition in the quarterfinals.

It is now emerging that Neymar will not be leaving Santos after all. Premier League club Chelsea have confirmed that they have ended their pursuit for the teen star after he committed his future to Santos until 2014.

Villas-Boas revealed that his side have failed in trying to sign Neymar and that he has already chosen his next destination which will most likely be Barcelona.

Tello scores goal in victory over Real Sociedad (Photo: AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)

Lionel Messi scored one and assisted another as Barcelona successfully fought off their San Sebastian rivals in a freezing, sub-zero encounter at the Camp Nou.

Pep Guardiola rolled out the reserves for this one, choosing to rest key starters ahead of his team's Copa del Rey semi final clash with Valencia on Wednesday.

Photo: Nicolae Stoian

Philadelphia Union

What a difference a week makes. The headline for last Tuesday's news roundup? "Saddest day for me:" Sebastien Le Toux confirmed he had been traded to Vancouver a day after Faryd Mondragon's return to Colombia was confirmed and WPS announced that it had cancelled the 2012 season.

FC Barcelona was adjudged the World Team of the Year by the Laueres Award comittee, in a grand ceremony held in London. This is the first time FC Barcelona is winning the prestigous award, which in some circles is called "The Osacr of Sporting World". Club president Sandro Rosell received the award for Barca.

Reggie shows the ball how to bow at his feetEvery club has one of them now and again. A colourful and flamboyant character who has such a lofty opinion of their own skills that they can't help but tell the world. Often this can be an endearing quality to fans but only when there is actual skill to back it up.

A goal from Sergio Ramos was enough to gave Real Madrid a slender 1-0 win against city rivals Getafe to maintain their seven-point lead over title rivals Barcelona at the top of the Spanish Liga.

The visitors dominated possession but created few clear-cut opportunities and the match was eventually settled by Ramos's 18th-minute goal, the Spanish international defender meeting Mesut Özil's corner with a flying header that powered into the top right coner.

Clint Dempsey will try to keep his torrid hot streak in the English Premier League going against a Manchester City side looking to hold on to first place in one of today's best matches.

The Cottagers are in need of points to move further away from the relegation zone, but earning any in Manchester against a City side coming off a loss to Everton won't be easy.

Manchester United legend Sir Bobby Charlton has revealed who he thinks the best player in the world is and it's not a former United great. While many Manchester United fans still name Cristiano Ronaldo as the best and most complete player in the world, Charlton has hailed the qualities of Barcelona's Lionel Messi.

It's been a good while since the last lot of Argentines Abroad, partly because of the Claudio Yacob exclusive on Tuesday night, partly because of an enormous storm in Buenos Aires over the last 24 hours which left me stranded ... Continue reading →

02.02.2012 - A días de protagonizar en la tapa de TIME (versión Asia), Lionel Messi vuelve a posar para portadas. Esta vez para la revista Esquire (en versión griega).
Esquire es una reconocida revista para hombres fundada en 1933 por Arnold Gringrich y florecida durante la Gran Depresión.

By FRANCO PANIZO

A day after a riot at a club soccer game in Egypt left at least 74 dead and many others injured, Egypt's prime minister has dissolved the Egyptian FA's board.

Kamal el-Ganzouri announced the decision to dissolve the board during Thursday's emergency parliamentary session, and also said that the governor of Port Said (where the game took place) and the area's police chief have resigned.

By Chris Wright

Watch, mere mortals, and weep as the slightly more 'agricultural' 50% of Barcelona's central defence pulls off not one, but two 360° roulette tricks in a row as he maraudes his way through Valencia's midfield during last night's Copa del Rey semi-final first leg.

Attack is the best form of defence Barcelona skipper Carlos Puyol got momentarily confused during last night's match against Valencia and thought he was his FIFA 12 alter ego being controlled by a fearless seven-year-old. The veteran stormed out of defence and threw two outrageous roulettes to beat two defenders!

The first leg of Barcelona's Copa del Rey semifinal against Valencia was a bit of an odd game for them. Not because they failed to win away from home -- that's become something of a norm this season -- but because Lionel Messi had a penalty kick saved (plus he's got some kind of beard-like facial growth going on) and Carles Puyol scored their only goal.

Valencia keeper Diego Alves makes a great save from a Lionel Messi spot-kick to give his side a 1-1 draw to bring to the Nou Camp in their Copa del Rey semi-final second leg.

FC Barcelona took a good step towards proceeding to Copa Del Rey final with a 1-1 draw at Mestella. Considering how tough we have found recently in Valencia, this draw is as good as a win - especially because of the away goal. In the 27th minute Jonas put Valencia ahead, but Carles Puyol equalised for Barca in the 36th minute.

Though a lot of anticipation culminated in the final days of January, most European clubs stayed put with their rosters for the remainder of the season, with little to no... Read more »

Barcelona president Sandro Rosell has criticised the performance levels of Spanish referees this season.

Rosell's club felt aggrieved by the decision of the Spanish federation's competitions committee not to punish Real Madrid utility man Pepe for appearing to stamp on Barca forward Lionel Messi's hand earlier this month.

For many years no football club would go near Indonesia. Scared off by terrorism and a perceived political instability overplayed by foreign embassies instead they concentrated their South East Asian efforts on the more visitor friendly countries of Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand.

Now, however, it appears Indonesia is once again open for business and everyone wants a slice of the pizza.

Earlier this month FIFA handed out their annual awards highlighting the best the game had to offer in 2011 and recipients included the likes of Lionel Messi, Neymar and Pep Guardiola.

Algunas ediciones regionales de la prestigiosa revista estadounidense Time tendrán en su tapa de febrero a Lionel Messi, protagonista de una entrevista en la que se analiza por qué el mejor jugador del mundo no llega a ser del todo querido en la Argentina.
Titulada "King Leo", esta tapa circulará desde el 6 de febrero en las versiones de la revista en Asia, Europa y el Pacífico Sur.

Es la primera vez que un jugador de fútbol aparece en solitario en la portada de esta revista, de las mas importantes del mundo el TIME, ya han aparecido deportistas como Tiger Woods, Muhammad Alí, Bjön Borg o la super estrella Michael Jordan.

La revista estadounidense TIME ha elegido al jugador argentino del FC Barcelona Leo Messi como protagonista de su próxima portada.

AAAAHHHHHHHH I AM ARTUR BORUC AND THIS IS A LIST OF THINGS THAT MADE ME ANGRY THIS WEEK:

1. WHAT'S GOING ON -- THERE'S SOMETHING GOING ON OVER THERE BUT I CAN'T SEE IT?!?!??!??!?! WHAT IS IT?!?!??!?!??! WHAT IS GOING ON!?!??!!??!?!?!??! AHHHHHHHH I HOPE IT'S ON THE NEWS LATER!

If you're heading to the bookstore this weekend, look out for Leo Messi on the cover of the latest 'TIME' magazine (International Edition). When your face graces the cover of TIME, you f**king MADE IT! Unfortunately, the lovely Yanks don't seem to think a Messi cover is worthy of the USA edition.

As pointed out by just about everyone, this image is a perfect representation of where football stands in average America it's simply too good not to share.

A milestone achievement by one of the greatest athletes on the planet at the age of only 24 earns his own Time magazine cover 'cept in the US of A.

For those of you who missed the Copa Del Rey matches between Barcelona and Real Madrid, you missed some of the best soccer the modern world has to offer. Unfortunately,... Read more »

Generation 2022: Al-Kass Under-17 International Cup Scouting Report is a post from: Just Football

Always on the lookout for new talent here at Just Football, we sent our man in Qatar to check out the inaugural Al-Kass International Under-17 tournament. A warm welcome to Raphael Nawari, who reports on a competition full of promising youngsters:

In a small secluded part of the world, the new stars of tomorrow are taking part in a newly formed tournament, which in years to come will be considered as one of the better known youth tournaments, rivalling the Milk Cup and others where the likes of Wayne Rooney, Ronaldinho and Lionel Messi have graced us with their precocious talents.

Messi coverboy on Time Magazine (Photo: Time)

TIME COVER: EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW WITH LIONEL MESSI
This week's international edition of TIME features football star Lionel Messi on the cover with the title, "King Leo." In an exclusive interview with TIME's Bobby Ghosh, the Argentina native and FC Barcelona superstar speaks to TIME about handling criticism from his fellow countrymen and how he still has room to improve his unreal skills.

By Chris Wright

One player sure to be high on everybody's list, Zat Knight that is

A few players have hithered and thithered about since the turn of the year but, after a fairly dormant month on the transfer front and with only 385,589 precious seconds left until the January window SLAMS SHUT is closed carefully and contentiously by the relevant personnel, we impatient fools at Pies reckon it's high time to start making big things happen in our minds.

Messi and Tevez beating Maradona in Soccer Tennis

It doesn't exactly solve the "Who's better?" debate, but it's certainly a nice Friday Flashback. There's nothing like seeing El Diego put the old boots on and duel with the best. With Enzo as his partner, Maradona took on Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez.

26.01.2012 - Leo Messi llegó a la portada de la revista Time (edición Asia, no USA). En una bajada polémica y (por las dudas antimaradoneana) la editorial dice: "Es el mejor jugador del mundo y posiblemente de todos los tiempos. Entonces ¿por qué no lo quieren en la Argentina?

El Barcelona sufrió el miércoles como local y empató 2-2 con el Real Madrid para clasificar a las semifinales de la Copa del Rey del fútbol español, en un partido en que el equipo blanco se recuperó de una desventaja de dos goles y tuvo varias opciones para ganar.
El conjunto catalán, que pasó de ronda con un marcador agregado de 4-2, tuvo muchos problemas ante su clásico rival, especialmente en defensa.

There were to be no historonics before Barcelona's Copa del Rey tie with Real Madrid after the first leg at the Bernabeu was marred by an intentional or not? stamp on Lionel Messi by Pepe as both Men showed their manliness with a good old customary handshake!