It has been a bleak season for VfL Bochum. The club sits 17th in the table, switched coaches
instead of fortunes and only had Hertha Berlin to cheer them up. A trip to the national team can be
a welcome change of scene for the players. Bochum's central defender Anthar Yahia and their striker
Zlatko Dedic chose to make the most of it by sending their nations to South Africa in a decisive
World Cup playoff.
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The Gazzetta dello Sport is arguably the most famous sports newspaper in Italy, selling more
copies than rivals Corriere dello Sport and Tuttosport. It is world famous for it's pink pages and
has been printed in pink since 1899. The current head editor of the Gazzetta, Luigi Garlando, has
always been a critic of Lippi since his return to the national team, has always been pro-Cassano,
and doesn't understand why Lippi hates to answer questions at press conferences.
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Eight days ago I tried to read up on African Champions League winners TP Mazembe, while keeping
an eye on the game between Hannover and Hamburg. It was a frustrating experience, because I had to
realize that neither my multitasking, nor Hamburg's ability to defend a lead was quite up to the
challenge.
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Since Lippi has taken over the national team for a second time, the big question has always
been, "Why aren't you calling up Antonio Cassano?" Cassano has widely been recognized as the best
Italian player at the moment and there is no other talent in Italy that can even reach his level at
the moment (maybe an in-form Totti).
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"German international goalkeeper Robert Enke has been killed after being hit by a train at a
level crossing, police said on Tuesday. Police said that the death could be a suicide." AFP
Words fail me.
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After the international break, the man of the moment is undoubtedly Alberto
Gilardino. The Fiorentina striker scored 4 goals in 2 matches with the Azzurri, including
the impressive hat trick in 14 minutes vs. Cyprus. He now has 16 goals in 38 appearances (now level
with Gianluca Vialli and Luca Toni) for the Azzurri and looks to be the headline striker heading
into South Africa this June.
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Now that the Germans have qualified for next year's FIFA World Cup, here are a few names not known
outside of the country you should watch out for. Chances are, your club will sign them up leading
to the 2010/11 club season... Heiko Westermann, CB, Shalke 04 Solid for both club and country,
Heiko Westermann [.
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The ArseNole 14 October @ 09:53 AM EST
Hello everyone. It's been kind of a sad last 24 hours or so for fans of the US Men's National Team,
with the news that Charlie Davies, USA and Sochaux striker, was seriously injured in a one car
crash Tuesday morning. A woman, named Ashley J. Roberta, was killed in the accident. Davies and
Roberta were both passengers in the car, and the name of the driver has not yet been released.
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The US U-17s are playing the Wizards reserves tonight at the Wizards Swope Park Training Facility.
They will be on the turf field with the lights. Open to the public, free of charge and a good
chance to see some of the future stars. Hillcrest Road has the U-17s roster. See you there!!
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I wanted to post a few shots from the US - Honduras/Wizards - Chivas watch party at the 810 Zone on
the Plaza. First, I want to say thank to the 810 Zone for hosting it. Since the rights to the game
were owned by Honduras, the game was only on pay per view. It was not cheap so very few places
bought it.
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As everyone knows by now, Roberto Donadoni was relieved of his duties as Napoli manager and was
replaced by former Sampdoria boss Walter Mazzarri. We can't deny that Donadoni was one of the
greatest wingers Italian football has ever produced. But his managerial career so far? Not great.
We really don't know where Donadoni is at as a manager or if he will ever improve.
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Despite having a strong U-21 side, Italy's other youth national teams don't really have a
glorious history. All of Italy's youth focus is directed to the U-21 team, and you never hear
anything about the other sides. In addition, besides the U-21 team Italy's youth sides have never
really won anything, despite participating at many tournaments.
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There are many legendary football players. There are many legendary hair styles. But only a
select few managed to combine the two. Germany and Borussia Mönchengladbach playmaker Günter
Netzer is one who had the hair of legends.
This post sets out to tell its' story.
Season 1965/1966 to 1966/1967
Here's the template from which to start.
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International week is boring. There's really no news from Serie A, and we get a week of Lippi
dodging questions about Mourinho and Cassano. Here's the highlights from today's game. Italy won
2-0, finally a decent performance. Pirlo excelled as a trequartista,
Zambrotta actually ran up and down the wing, De Rossi is the most
important part of our midfield, Iaquinta and Gila actually had
pretty good chemistry, Grosso is still awesome, Buffon is back to
being Buffon, Marchisio put in a good performance, and Simone
Pepe still manages to fall over his own two feet.
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The Back Post 09 September @ 12:22 PM EST
Wizards at DC United on Metro Sports - The Wizards need to win (or at least tie) to maintain their
slim playoff hopes. Kansas City is 9 points back from DC but they have two games in hand so a win
would pull the Wizards into striking distance.USA vs. Trinidad & Tobago on ESPN Classic - The US
Men should win but they need to make sure they do tonight.
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By now he has made his decision. Amauri wants to play for the Italian national team. Dunga
doesn't want to call him up for Brazil, and Amauri knows that Lippi is interested in calling him up
to the Azzurri. Amauri thought he would be getting his passport sometime this month and that Lippi
would call him up for October's World Cup qualifiers, but that is not the case, as a new Italian
law (passed on August 8th) will now prevent Amauri from getting his Italian passport until March
2010.
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Now that I'm back,I will be constantly updating on Singapore football.Don't forget to pay a
visit Kallangroar.com for the latest news of our very own and beloved Lions!
With some important fixtures in two months time,back to back clash against fierce rival
Thailand,also the upcoming important Sea Games in Laos as well for our Young Lions.
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MLS Rumors 31 August @ 03:47 PM EST
The San Jose Earthquakes announced today that forward Cornell Glen and midfielder Simon Elliott
were called up for national team duty. Glen is on Trinidad and Tobago's roster for two important
World Cup qualifiers, while Elliott will play for New Zealand in a friendly against Jordan.
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MLS Rumors 25 August @ 04:25 PM EST
From the San Jose Earthquakes Front Office, midfielders Arturo Alvarez and Ramon Sanchez have been
named to the roster for the El Salvador national team for two upcoming World Cup qualifying matches
in September. The players will join their national team teammates following the Quakes match this
Saturday, Aug.
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It was a weekend for rookies and red cards in MLS. And it was a weekend of good and bad for U.S.
players abroad. Charlie Davies followed up on his bright performance in the U.S. shirt with two
goals as a second-half sub. His French club, Sochaux, fell to Bordeaux, but it sure wasn't Davies'
fault. [.
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GO USA!!! Go watch and cheer on the US!!!Hillcrest Road has a roundup of all the watch parties and
viewing methods. Thanks Kyle.
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A bunch of my "co-workers" are coming down this afternoon, and I just thought I'd say howdy and
tell you be on the lookout for them. These co-workers, I think you know them. I write about
them. Most of 'em are pretty decent guys. We get along OK. But it seems like you've had some
issues. Man, [.
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My ESPN Soccernet piece went up today regarding the U.S. roster for next week's U.S.-Mexico
skirmish down at Estadio Chaos. Here's what the piece doesn't say: I have this sneaking suspicion
that it might be a big night for The Bradley Bunch. It's just a hunch. Then again, my last hunch
regarding U.S.
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Well, it's that time of the summer again. I'm off to the old country tomorrow, so the blog will
be inactive for a couple of weeks. However I will be back right before the start of the Serie A
season so I'll be able to maybe get a mega-preview up like last season and we'll wrap up the
important news that happened while I was gone.
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So, I'm sitting inside this lovely stadium outside Salt Lake City a couple of hours before the
All-Star game, considering the Wasatch mountains in the background, thinking about stadium
development in MLS and generally just taking in the blessed splendor of life when I find myself
suddenly thinking about .
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If this C-list United States team manages to make the Gold Cup final in New York – and that is a
muy grande "if" – I'm thinking the Americans are going to struggle against Mexico. I was the
Dallas Cowboys' spectacular new edifice to watch Mexico pick apart the overmatched side from Haiti.
And this one [.
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Pretty much sums up the game quite nicely.
I think there are way too many problems with this team and it wouldn't really be good to
reiterate my feelings after you've all seen my thoughts after every national team game (Never have
been in favor of Lippi's return; we need a fantasista *cough* Cassano *cough*; the stupid 4-3-3
formation; etc.
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For analysis, check the Italy World Cup Blog. Here are the goals:
National Anthem and Line-ups:
1-1 Giuseppe Rossi
2-1 Daniele De Rossi
3-1 Giuseppe Rossi
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Today was the FIFA deadline to submit the final 23 man roster going to the Confederations Cup,
and Marcello Lippi has picked his 23 man squad. He had already chosen 13 names, but he added on 10
more. There are no real surprises (besides the inclusion of Davide Santon), and the squad is mostly
what we've seen for recent qualifiers and friendlies.
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Today the list of 35 players was announced that will play in a friendly on June 6th in Pisa vs.
Northern Ireland and the upcoming FIFA Confederations Cup. 22 players were called up for the
Northern Ireland game, while 13 will skip that match and go straight to South Africa. Lippi said in
recent weeks that the roster for the Northern Ireland match would be mainly experimental and would
give national team experience to the players that merited a call-up based on their play throughout
the Serie A season.
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When you read news about Serie A you always hear about the big stars and how they are
performing, but you rarely hear about other players that are having a good season. We always hear
about Kaka, Ibrahimovic, Totti, Del Piero, Buffon, etc but we never hear about Consigli, Guarente,
Sorrentino, Marcolini, and Padoin for instance.
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The U.S. Soccer Supporters Club (is that kinda like a fan club?) just sent an email announcing
that they're launching the Official Fan Membership Program of U.S. Soccer (maybe that's the fan
club). Either way, looks like some cool stuff in store for fans of U.S. Soccer (both the men's and
women's national teams).
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