Es divertido y ayuda a encarar las jornadas que se nos echan enicma con una sonrisa el acordarnos de los que han ayudado a colocar al fútbol en el lugar que ocupa. Hoy es turno para un jugador que quizás haya podido llevar mejor su carrera, pero cumplió siempre allá donde le reclamaron: Pierre Van Hooijdonk. Click to continue reading...

Kick in the Polloks
Rot-Weiss Essen 1-1 Preußen Münster (24:10:09)
- click on photos to enlarge image -
We had to deal with a swift blow to the body two weeks prior to this trip. A combination of NAC Breda, RKC Waalwijk, safety liaison officers and the Dutch police held a meeting in which they concluded that we (32 members of EFW) were a security threat. Click to continue reading...

EFW Oktoberfest 2009 has arrived
"Sometimes I feel like throwing my hand up in the air" sang Candi Staton in her hit tune 'You Got The Love'. Well, we know just how the Statonmeister felt because we feel like doing the same right here, right now. Lord, we just don't care - owing to the fact that the EFW team are going on an EFW - just how we like it. Click to continue reading...

Video Info:
03.10.2009 - Eredivisie
AZ Alkmaar - NAC Breda 1:0

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Just a quick note for those of you thinking of joining us on our inaugural 'EFW Oktoberfest' in Tilburg in a few weeks time. Can you please let me know by Wednesday (23rd) of this week if you're up for it. That is the day I have to let NAC Breda and Willem II know how many tickets we require. So far we have 30 punters on board and it looks set to be a belting weekend. Click to continue reading...

Seven finger-clickin' links for you, but first please enjoy this fan footage of Glenovan's Kyle Neill having his penalty saved and then missing the most open of goals on the rebound.... Name these Bundesliga based Brazilians (Bundesliga Offside) How NAC Breda got its name (Pitch Invasion) Actim hearts Eduardo (Avoiding the Drop) Improving the Premier League's new homegrown rule [. Click to continue reading...

So often as fans we take a team's name for granted. We grow up up with them, they're a part of the landscape in a fairly unobtrusive way and we only occasionally wonder at what they mean or why a team is called what it's called. It's a shame, really. The name of a team, as well as its nickname or emblem or colors or any other traits, can often tell a great story, can give interesting history lessons or sometimes are just downright bizarre.

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Como en el cuadro de Velásquez, la "Rendición de Breda" donde los holandeses recuperaron esta ciudad en manos de los españoles, El NAC Breda fué vencido 6 goles a 0, por el legendario y equipo semillero constante, Ajax de Amsterdam.

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The UEFA Europa League finished its Play-Off round to determine the teams for the group stage. Notable teams that advanced were Everton, Fulham, Villareal, Shakhtar, Ajax, Roma, and Hamburg SV. Here's a full listing of the matches along with video highlights.

Play-Offs Agg First leg Second leg Sivasspor 0-5 FC Shakhtar Donetsk 0-3 More » 0-2 Report » MFK Košice 4-10 AS Roma 3-3 More » 1-7 More » FK Bakı 2-8 FC Basel 1893 1-3 More » 1-5 More » FK Teplice 2-3 Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC 1-2 More » 1-1 More » FC BATE Borisov (aet) 4-1 PFC Litex Lovech 0-1 More » 4-0 More » Bnei Yehuda Tel-Aviv FC 0-2 PSV Eindhoven 0-1 More » 0-1 More » EA Guingamp 2-8 Hamburger SV 1-5 More » 1-3 More » Trabzonspor 2-3 Toulouse FC 1-3 More » 1-0 More » PFC CSKA Sofia 2-1 FC Dinamo Moskva 0-0 More » 2-1 More » PAOK FC 1-1 SC Heerenveen (ag) 1-1 More » 0-0 More » NAC Breda 2-9 Villarreal CF 1-3 More » 1-6 More » FC Metallurh Donetsk 4-5 FK Austria Wien (aet) 2-2 More » 2-3 More » SK Sturm Graz 2-1 FC Metalist Kharkiv 1-1 More » 1-0 More » SK Rapid Wien (ag) 2-2 Aston Villa FC 1-0 More » 1-2 More » FC Dinamo 1948 Bucureşti (9-8p) 3-3 FC Slovan Liberec 0-3 More » 3-0 More » FC Steaua Bucureşti 5-1 Saint Patrick's Athletic FC 3-0 More » 2-1 More » FC Twente 3-1 FK Qarabağ 3-1 More » 0-0 More » SC Vaslui 2-4 AEK Athens FC 2-1 More » 0-3 More » SK Slavia Praha 4-2 FK Crvena Zvezda 3-0 More » 1-2 More » FK Sarajevo 2-3 CFR 1907 Cluj 1-1 More » 1-2 More » FK Partizan 3-1 MŠK Žilina 1-1 More » 2-0 More » Brøndby IF 3-4 Hertha BSC Berlin 2-1 More » 1-3 More » FC Sion 2-4 Fenerbahçe SK 0-2 More » 2-2 More » KKS Lech Poznań 1-1 Club Brugge KV (3-4p) 1-0 More » 0-1 More » AFC Ajax 7-1 ŠK Slovan Bratislava 5-0 More » 2-1 More » KRC Genk 3-6 LOSC Lille Métropole 1-2 More » 2-4 More » S. Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer on TeleFutura: Dallas - New York at 3pm. USL-1 on Fox Soccer Channel: Montreal - Austin at 4pm. EPL on Setanta: West Ham United - Spurs at 8:30am. On Fox Soccer: Fulham - Chelsea at 11am and Burnley - Everton at 6pm. Eridivisie on ESPN Deportes: PSV Eindhoven - NAC Breda at 8:30am. Click to continue reading...

The UEFA Europa League Play-Off round began with the first legs on Thursday August 20, 2009. The second legs will be on Thursday August 27, 2009. Here's a list of all the matches from the first legs along with video highlights.

Thursday August 20, 2009 Recap

English clubs Everton and Fulham started off strong in the first legs as both won.

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It's Thursday so it's UEFA Europa League time and the first of of two legs with a place in the group stage for the winners:19:15 Rapid Vienna v Aston Villa (Friedel)19:30 Steaua Bucharest v St. Patricks Athletic (Guy)20:30 Lech Poznan v Club Brugge (Jeffrey)21:00 Everton (Howard) v Sigma Olomouc21:00 Fulham (Dempsey) v Amkar Perm21:00 Stabaek (Diskerud) v ValenciaIn addition, NAC Breda, with ex Click to continue reading...

On behalf of some of my MLSR colleagues, I have the following tidbits mainly from Tribal Football:
-Jozy Altidore could be going on loan to Hull City
-Michael Bradley could go back to PSV Eindhoven or Feyenoord
-Freddy Adu wants to go Dutch, not just for the big teams like Ajax and Feyenoord, but even NAC Breda or FC Groningen if he gets a chance to play and develop
-Bryan Arguez is on trial with Belgium giants Charleroi
-Tony Taylor, a USMNT U-20 striker, is on trial with IK Start
What do you think? Click to continue reading...

I've had several people write in to ask if NAC Breda technical director Earnie Stewart might go after Eredivisie winker and former D.C. United teammate Freddy Adu.I have your answer: no. I spoke with Earnie today, and he says their squad is complete.I'm actually trying to figure out the one or two Dutch clubs that are interested, more by eliminating possibilities first. Click to continue reading...

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Freddy Adu is looking for a new club for the upcoming season, and while has yet to reveal which clubs are interested in him, he has revealed a potential destination: Holland.

Adu told Sportweek that he is eyeing a switch to the Eredivisie. While the club or clubs have yet to be identified, one possible destination could be NAC Breda, where Adu's former D.

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Freddy Adu is looking for a new club for the upcoming season, and while has yet to reveal which clubs are interested in him, he has revealed a potential destination: Holland.

Adu told Sportweek that he is eyeing a switch to the Eredivisie. While the club or clubs have yet to be identified, one possible destination could be NAC Breda, where Adu's former D.

Click to continue reading...

A massive number of clubs are involved in the Second Qualifying Round (80 in total).

The winners of the 23 First Qualifying Round ties were joined in this round by a further 57 clubs that includes the domestic cup winners from the national associations ranked 30 to 53 in the UEFA coefficient, the runners-up from the associations ranked 19 to 34, the third-placed sides from the associations ranked 16 to 21, the fourth-placed sides from the associations ranked 10 to 15 and the fifth-placed sides from the associations ranked 7 to 9.

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A huge congratulations today to Louis van Gaal's AZ Alkmaar side who yesterday became the Dutch Eredivisie champions. They suffered a surprising 2-1 defeat to Vitesse on Saturday, but Ajaz's failure to ebat PSV yesterday (they were hammered 6-2) handed AZ only their second ever league title.
They are actually the only team outside the Netherlands' "big three" (PSV, Ajax, Feyenoord) to win the top flight title since 1964 (AZ themselves won it in 1981) although they have been there or thereabouts for three out of the last four seasons. Click to continue reading...

Giving a new meaning to penalty box Apparently punching a guy in the stomach is a red card offence these days! I just don't know what the world is coming to, and neither does NAC Breda's Anthony Lurling who clearly thought his body blow was within the laws of the game. Spotted on 101GreatGoals Click to continue reading...

Evander Sno came through the Ajax youth system but left for Feyenoord at 18 years old. The defensive midfielder was never used in the Feyenoord 1 squad and was hired out to NAC Breda. He made his move to Celtic and was praised as one of the world's new talents. He Click to continue reading...

El AZ Alkmaar donde milita Héctor Moreno inició con una derrota la temporada de la Liga Holandesa al caer en casa dos goles a uno ante el NAC Breda. Con dos goles del delantero Matthew Amoah, al minuto 25 y 56, el conjunto de Breda sorprendió a los de Alkmaar, choque donde Mounir El-Hamdaoui, al 38, [. Click to continue reading...

El AZ Alkmaar donde milita Héctor Moreno inició con una derrota la temporada de la Liga Holandesa al caer en casa dos goles a uno ante el NAC Breda. Con dos goles del delantero Matthew Amoah, al minuto 25 y 56, el conjunto de Breda sorprendió a los de Alkmaar, choque donde Mounir El-Hamdaoui, al 38, [. Click to continue reading...

Good afternoon to the folks on the West side of the country (and the MLS standings). Here are some news items and notes for you to peruse as your day winds to a close:

FC Dallas signs Sikora

FC Dallas said goodbye to Colombian midfielder Juan Toja over the weekend, but have already replaced him.

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Post-1994 World Cup: Breaking Into First Division Soccer
After the 1994 World Cup in which the US team showed great progress from 1990, the European soccer establishment started to notice two things; that the Americans do indeed play soccer and that a few more of their players are worth signing. Click to continue reading...

Hot young Maryland prospect Chris Agorsor proved again last week why he could be one of the most exciting young prospects in US Soccer, helping his team win the Development Academy U-17/18 championship at the Home Depot Center in southern California. Jaime Cardenas of the LA Times has a great writeup on the tournament here. Click to continue reading...

This comes courtesy of a reader who wishes to be anonymous:
Two sources show Victor Sikora, formally of Ajax, is in Dallas and will start training this week. No word if it's a trial or just in town and needs the work outs. Sikora plays for NAC Breda on loan from Ajax Amsterdam.
If you know anything more about the winger's intentions please drop us a line. Click to continue reading...

After some weeks of negotiation, it was today announced that hapless ex-England manager Steve McLaren has agreed to be the new manager of Dutch top-flight side FC Twente. An interesting career decision it is, but a good one, I think. Twente are a nice side, have just qualified for the Champions League and are in a league where the dominance of the top three sides is not as strong as it has been in previous eras. Click to continue reading...

Celtic have been beaten out to the signature of Maceo Rigters, the top scorer in June's U-21 Championship. Blackburn Rovers have signed the talented striker from NAC Breda for an undisclosed fee.
The young Dutchman has signed a four-year deal at Ewood Park. Click to continue reading...