Soccer outside Europe has gained in popularity in recent years, with David Beckham making a high profile move to the MLS in North America, a transfer that transformed soccer into a sport with a widespread global profile and exposed a new generation of potential players to the game, but the latest FIFA tournament, the African Cup Of Nations, has failed to catch the public's imagination.

Over the years in the world of sport, there have been stories abound concerning the ways in which players and coaches have found themselves embroiled in controversy surrounding tax payments, with certain individuals keen to pay as little tax as possible, but one strange factor about all of these stories is the reason behind the tax evasion; for people who earn so much money, why would they risk getting into serious trouble with the tax authorities?

Leeds United have signed MLS star Robbie Rogers on an 18-month contract from Columbus Crew.
The 24-year agreed personal terms on January 10 but had to wait for his work permit to be approved before he could become officially part of the squad at Elland Road.
Rogers was given a taste of football in England in a behind-closed-doors friendly against Newcastle last week but was unable to feature for the reserves because not all of his paperwork had been completed.

Milan - Lazio 2:30pm - ESPN3.com We normally don't promote online-only options with limited distribution, but if you have access to ESPN3 this is a good alternative on a slow day for live soccer. Milan host Lazio in the quarterfinal stage of the Coppa Italia. Credit soccer tournament creativity, the round of 16 and semifinal stages of the Coppa are single elimination, switching to two-legs for the semifinals, and then back to a single game.

What a time to be a Tottenham Hotspur fan! Sitting third in the English Premier League and very close to being able to topple the current league leaders should they win this weekend at the Ethiad Stadium in Manchester, the chances are that some of the more hardened and cynical Spurs fans may well be thinking that something dodgy is going on!

Fernando Torres has certainly been putting in the hard work on the training pitch for Chelsea, with this hard graft appearing to pay dividends in recent games during which he has almost been able to capitalise upon the absence of Didier Drogba by displaying a few good performances up front, but Torres has still failed to win over the Chelsea fans by doing the one job that is expected of him: scoring goals.

Central Coast Mariners showed the true qualities needed from a team capable of winning the league – the ability to win ugly. An Oliver Bozanic goal in the opening 10 minutes was enough to earn the league leader a narrow 1-0 victory against a lacklustre Sydney FC – who slumped to their third straight defeat in the process.

Thomas Broich's importance to Brisbane Roar was always fairly clear but the club's recent losing streak has more than highlighted just how urgently they need the German back fit. Broich's absence from the team has coincided with a run of defeats – as predicted by numerous soccer betting tips that has the potential to undo all the hard work the club did on their way to a record 36-match unbeaten run.

New England soccer fans who can't get enough of the sport will have plenty of opportunities to watch live soccer this summer, thanks in part to the arrival if three new USL Premier Development League (PDL) teams in the region. Boston Victory Soccer Club, Connecticut FC Azul and Worcester Hydra FC have all been announced over the past month as expansion clubs in the PDL.

We continue our new series on the Free Beer Movement. It's called "Brews and Views" and we pose a question or topic to various prominent soccer persons and, well, they give us their view on it.
We've got loads of get people that have already responded to our call for essay submissions and each week we'll feature a unique perspective on the current topic/question at hand.

If you haven't heard already there's some heartbreaking news out of Dallas this morning: FC Dallas announcer & former player Bobby Rhine passed away yesterday after suffering a heart attack. He was 35 years-old.
My introduction to MLS was a Dallas Burn – Tampa Bay Mutiny match at the Cotton Bowl during my college years in 1998.

KINGS OF THE DRAW! KINGS OF THE DRAW! KINGS OF THE DRAW!

Shoot me.

Add DC United to the list of teams that have succumbed to the Chicago Fire's unstoppable draw powers. Another disappointing, disgusting 1-1 home draw. Look things have gotten so bad that my indoor team wore Fire kits for our game tonight and we DREW 6-6 in INDOOR SOCCER.

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We have a range of exciting work going on with footy blog these days so I thought it was a good time to hop in and post a few updates.

I have been getting quite a few emails about previous site functionality, namely links to various footy matches streaming live.

After some deliberation we felt it was time to take footyblog legit with more news, analysis and a few other really exciting features as well.

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Contributing Editor Graham Fox
As the wild cats roar in the dark, a tribe gathers in a stone room, the air full of dried herbs.

The nights have been cold.

The elders say the time for planting and growth is here (the stars foretell it), yet the frost still attacks the crops. The tribe needs the sun.

OK, so I managed to pull it off this weekend and watch all the soccer that I wanted. I am blessed with the fact that my wife Jenn, is almost as soccer crazy as I am.

We hung out together and watched soccer on tv, she was led on the couch (9 months pregnant) while our 2 year old son ran around the living room.

The Sounders are back in action this Saturday against Real Salt Lake. They'll be battling fatigue for the full 90 at one of the hardest stadiums in MLS to get a win. Also, some are calling this a must-win match for RSL as they attempt to arrest a spat of poor form in league play. It would be nice to come back from the disappointing loss on Wednesday to Dallas FC with a road win, but it will be a tough challenge for a fatigued team.

Wow, what a finish to the Premier League!

I watched the events unfold at a local English Pub in Santa Monica, the Cock and Bull....always great to go "home."

Incredible last 20 minutes or so. Before the games started there were 81 possible permutations!

So Blackburn had a dream first half going up 3-0, unreal, couldn't have written that script.

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Bart: Who's up at 3:17 AM watching TV?Homer: Alcoholics, the unemployable, angry loners... -- The Simpsons, "Mr. Plow."So ... umm, yeah.Suppose you could easily transpose the first part of that exchange to read, "Who's up at 3:17 PM watching (live soccer) on TV?" The answer probably doesn't need to be altered, outside of adding college students to the mix.

*An 89th minute winner by Jesus Padilla gave Chivas USA a 1-0 win over the Vancouver Whitecaps today in a scrimmage in Arizona. The club heads back to Southern California today.

Chivas USA starting lineup: Thornton, Pearce, Conrad, Valentin, Jazic, Lahoud, Mendoza, Gavin, Gordon, Trujilllo, Moreno

*The Galaxy and Vancouver will play out in Arizona Sunday.

Today we'd like to introduce you to the newest member of The Viper's Nest crew, Glenn Williams.

*Reporter Phil Collin sums up the Galaxy and Chivas USA MLS drafts wherein we also learn who will return (via Coach Bruce Arena) from last year's Brazilian "draft." Two out of three ain't bad.

*It looks like someone at Tottenham has been reading "The Beckham Experiment."

*Speaking of, we can all watch Beckham chewing on his nails live when Spurs plays Manchester United at 8 a.