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Ahead of Barcelona's match against Athletic Club Bilbao the team was handed another blow going into a very important week for the team. Eric Abidal was diagnosed with the H1N1 virus also known as "swine flu" on top of already being sidelined for up to three weeks with a leg injury.

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La speranza resta sola

E' proprio vero, a volte la sorte ti volta le spalle. Ma quando anche la giustizia ti abbandona allora la rabbia è più che legittima. Allo stadio Saint Denis di Parigi, c'era il macht di ritorno tra Francia e Irlanda per l'accesso ai mondiali in Sudafrica. Click to continue reading...

1. Two-face, footie version -- via Dirty Tackle
2. Bosnian superfans -- via Futbolita
3. Messi getting wiggy -- via La Permanente a Messi
4. Toni's got a gun! -- via Kickette
5. Egypt v. Algeria -- via Goal!
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From the country that brought you "Maradona, the coach", even greater wisdom has now conceived the Plan for Argentina to Win the World Cupâ„¢: a virtual petition demanding Messi get the perm job Maradona wore to the '86 Final. I love this; the best people's movement since the petition to bring back Family Guy when it got canceled. Click to continue reading...

The following list of elite midfield players in the world will exclude the likes of Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka since they sometimes play as forwards or as support strikers depending on the strategy deployed by their team. Kaka has previously played as a second striker during his spell with Milan while both Messi and Ronaldo have played in various attacking positions for their club (mostly on the wing though).

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La liguilla ya esta lista, los cuartos de final son Monterrey vs guajolotas, puebla vs cruz azul, san luis vs toluca y santos vs morelia, para mi el campeon sale del santos vs morelia pero en la semana vemos cada uno de los juegos y sus respectivos pronosticos, en via de mientras vamos viendo los links acumulados en la semana:

• Zapatillas de valet para Lavolpe, de esperarse, aunque termina siendo una victima mas de los directivos rojinegros la verdad es que tampoco puso mucho de su parte
• con razon mi vieja me dice, "hiciste ejercicio?

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After the World Cup he says he's done.

"I cannot play when I am 50."

I thought he would. Though he's only 33, and I've been under the impression that he's been in his 40s for a while now.
Oh well, to the links:

• Scotland fires head coach. [FourFourTwo]
  
• Neville wants an elite pool of refs.

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Que es esto? Hay gente que dice que el exito de papa Maradona en el mundial '86 no era por su gran talento o por los jales que se daba antes de los partidos, no señor! El exito siempre era debido a su cabellera y ahora quieren que Messi se haga la permanente para que le traiga los mismos poderes misticos que una vez ayudaron a Maradona volar en Mexico '86. Click to continue reading...

Alguna vez fue "El Caso Mascherano", hoy parece ser que "La permanente a Messi" es un tema nacional y un nuevo caso de publicidad no tradicional de parte de algún producto o empresa.
Resulta casi descabellado pensar en Lio con una peluca estilo Valderrama o "Plumero" Gomez pero, tal vez, sea la formula para que el jugador del Barcelona nos lleve a nuestra 3era Copa del Mundo. Click to continue reading...

A number of players can stake a claim for being part of the best team in the world at this early period of the European domestic leagues. However, very few players standout the way those listed below have in terms of their contribution to their team, their role as leaders, and certainly their crucial involvement in their respective clubs.

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Jornada de selecciones entre amistosos y partidos de repesca para el Mundial.
España supera a la Argentina de Maradona por 2-1. España jugó bien ante un duro rival. Xabi Alonso tras una gran combinación y luego de penalti hizo los dos tantos españoles. Messi de penalti logró el tanto argentino. Click to continue reading...

Argentina were thoroughly outclassed by the European champions on Saturday night in the Vicente Calderón, losing 2-1. Xabi Alonso scored twice for the home side, the second a late penalty, whilst Lionel Messi got a temporary equaliser also from the spot after just over an hour. I wasn't in the best shape last night, hence [. Click to continue reading...

Here's a TyC Sports interview with Messi in Madrid in which he discusses the WC qualifying campaign, the upcoming WC, and the treatment towards him by the Barcelona fans and Argentina fans.

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What is Spain's key to beating Argentina tonight? If you believe Uncle Del Bosque, it's being tranquilo ("even when you're on a plane that's about to crash..." a Brazilian reporter once told us).

"We must always be thinking about maintaining our enthusiasm, because there is no comfort zone.

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Morning all, welcome to the blog on this sleepy Saturday.
As we are coming nearer and nearer to the end of the Interlull (which, if anyone was wondering, is a crass combination of international and lull) the news is starting to ramp up.
Of course, as most of you would be aware, coach Dave Mitchell held a presser yesterday as part of Perth Glory's midseason review, which was nothing more than a normal presser. Click to continue reading...

All-out footie mixtape king Alarazboy has figured out exactly why the likes of Zlatan, Henry & Messi are so rigoddamndiculous; they're all mutants. Surely FIFA has something in the rule books about that right? If not they will just as soon as "Super Baby" Benjamin Aguerro, son of Sergio Aguerro/grandson of Diego Maradona, reveals to the world in an Argentine U-3s match that he has the ability to both levitate during set pieces and disappear/reappear at will a la Nightcrawler. Click to continue reading...

According to a report in the Madrid newspaper El Pais, Maradona has a business relationship with Gabriel Heinze's brother who owns a marketing business that promotes sporting events and represents sports figures.

Maradona is a client of Heinze's brother. The company has a business deal with Maradona in which they handle promoting the "Maradona brand".

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El 29 de octubre será el día límite para que Manuel Pellegrini salve su puesto. Su destino es el Camp Nou y el juego que todo el periodismo deportivo ha esperado con ansias.

La gente ya no aguantó más el pasado martes y al termino del partido contra el AD Alcorcón, silbaron al técnico chileno mostrando su gran preocupación ante lo que viene.

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Argentines Abroad is delayed slightly this week by the Monday night fixture bumping the normal domestic coverage a day on, and the fact I've been writing an article for another site (more of which later in the week). That's useful in some ways because the Copa del Rey in Spain has ensured there's action to [. Click to continue reading...

The solitary 81st goal that Rafael van der Vaart scored was all Real Madrid could come up against lowly Alcorcón.In contrast Barcelona continue to score prolifically bashing Cultural Leonesa 5 - 0 in the process.Goals from Bojan Krkic (two),Pedro, Messi and Xavi.

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As a fan of Barcelona I was thinking the other day about the club's rich history as well as their successes in the UEFA Champions League. Barcelona have won the UEFA Champions League three times in their history with two coming in the last four years which is extremely impressive.

It got me thinking; which Champions League winning side was better?

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Is it Cristiano Ronaldo? Kaká? Ronaldinho? Messi? Rooney?...No, holdon folks, its Mads Hansen & probably the worst defenders ever seen... :Thanks Rob for the link! Click to continue reading...

Everyone's sure to be happy with last night's result – we know we are. The boys came out to win and they did it, attacking well from the very beginning, with Pedro being surprisingly awesome. Pep was resting several starters for this match, with Xavi, Messi, Dani, Iniesta, Bojan, and Pinto on the bench. Click to continue reading...

With all the money being thrown around this year The Yank has come up with the perfect solution to any debt-plagued squad. Quit spending money on a bunch of different players that only specialize in one position and instead focus on one really good player and then once he is under contract clone him several times.

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Pedro scored 2 goals against Real Mallorca - It was his eighth goal of the season in five competitions, a feat unmatched in Barca history.The other goals came from Henry and Messi and Barca ended the game with the scorecard reading 4 - 2.

The Ronaldo less Real Madrid held on to win a hard fought 3 -2 victory over Real Mallorca

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Albert Camus, the philosopher, author and football fanatic, was once asked that if he had to choose between football and the theatre, which he would choose. He replied "Football, without hesitation" And its little surprise, football has everything theatre has, and more. It has a story, but is unwritten. Click to continue reading...

Last week, I asked you to vote for you favourite 20 players of the decade, here in this very post, are the Top 100 players of the last 10 years, voted for by you, the readers and bloggers of the offside. First thing I want to say is thank you, everyone for the absolutely amazing response [...] Click to continue reading...

Asociación de Fútbol Argentino (AFA) president, Julio Grondona and veteran midfielder Juan Sebastián Verón have officially presented the Argentina World Cup 2010 home kit to the public. The new Albiceleste first choice strip will make its on the field debut in Madrid on November 14th when Argentina meets Spain in a friendly. Click to continue reading...

Como seria de esperar, Lionel Messi arrrebatou a esmagodra maioria dos votos dos 187 leitores que participaram na votação sobre quem será eleito o melhor jogador do mundo este ano pela FIFA. O argentino recolheu 89 votos, enquanto Cristiano Ronaldo se ficou pelos 39. O brasileiro Kaká somou 28, mais 16 que Fernando Torres. Click to continue reading...

As I let you know back when I posted up this year's FFT100, I'm a bit of a junkie for lists. They are utterly meaningless, and yet compelling at the same time. With it being the end of the decade, there are tonnes of lists of the best albums, films, videos, celebrities etc floating around. [...] Click to continue reading...

FC Barcelona has essentially put their Champions League qualification at risk by drawing against the Russian champions. With this draw we stand at second in standing and have a chance to end the night at third in overall standing if there is anything other than a draw in the match against Inter and Kiev. Click to continue reading...

The freezing cold is what worries us most about this match, as Barca face Rubin Kazan in the snowy, below-zero temeperatures that are the norm in Ruissia this time fo year. Rubin are used to it, but some of our boys have never played in such extreme cold. The oppositon themselvs are no piece of cake either, on top of that; they're the only team that has beaten us so far this season. Click to continue reading...

Barcelona vs FK Rubin Kazan

Barcelona are on a revenge mission in Russia after being beaten at the Camp Nou a fortnight ago by the Russian champions.

Barca are dejected after Rubin's win.

Group F is the closest group in this year's group stage of the Champions League. Click to continue reading...

Cristiano Ronaldo signed for Real Madrid in the summer and had been a star performer in his Real Madrid shirt before being sidelined by injury and the former Manchester United star has said he would love to see former team mate Wayne Rooney move to the Bernabeu to play alongside him again.

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Nobody would have ever imagined that Barca's travel to Russia would turn out to be this significant in terms of Barca proceeding to the group stage. A lose against Rubin tomorrow night will reduce Barca's chances of proceeding to next stage very much. A draw might not be bad, but may result in Barca seeking help from others in the group for qualification. Click to continue reading...