Liverpool clash with Manchester City this weekend and Rafael Benitez will be hoping the international break will have given his side the opportunity to turn their recent shoddy form around.
Roaming right-back Glen Johnson, according to Benitez, has received the experimental placenta massage that Arsenal striker Robin van Persie elected to try following the injury he sustained while representing Netherlands. Click to continue reading...

With 32 names in the bag (irrespective of how they got there) thoughts can now turn to the subject of the draw for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.
The first thing to be decided is which countries to seed. This is calculated just before the draw and is based on past performances in recent World Cups and the FIFA World Ranking. Click to continue reading...

Who can wait a month? I had to speculate the pots and make my own groups:

GROUP A -- South Africa, Greece, North Korea, Paraguay
GROUP B -- Brazil, Slovenia, Honduras, Nigeria
GROUP C -- Germany, Denmark, New Zealand, Uruguay
GROUP D -- Spain, Slovakia, USA, Ghana
GROUP E -- Argentina, Netherlands, Mexico, Cameroon
GROUP F -- Italy, Serbia, South Korea, Chile
GROUP G -- France, Portugal, Australia, Algeria
GROUP H -- England, Switzerland, Japan, Ivory Coast

How about that Group E, eh? Click to continue reading...

World Cup Qualifying is completed is completed. I've updated the 2010 World Cup Eliminations Timeline, which tells you exactly which date each team was eliminated and in what order. That won't require another update until June.
But the real exciting news is that with all the qualifiers completed, we can now focus on the World Cup seeds and the draw. Click to continue reading...

All 32 teams for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa are now known.
The complete line up is:
Europe
Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Switzerland
Africa
Algeria, Cameroon, Cote D'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa (hosts)
Asia
Australia, Japan, North Korea, South Korea
South America
Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, Uruguay
North & Central America, Caribbean
Honduras, Mexico, USA
Oceania
New Zealand
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World Cup South Africa Click to continue reading...

With Uruguay seeing off Costa Rica, the field for World Cup 2010 has been completed.Africa - Algeria, Cameroon, Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria, South AfricaAsia - Australia, Japan, North Korea, South KoreaEurope - Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, SwitzerlandNorth America - Honduras, Mexico, United StatesOceania - New Click to continue reading...

It is the last international match day of the year and we will be treated both to some decisive World Cup qualifiers as well as some quality international friendlies.

You already know about today's qualifiers, but there are also some great friendlies, including Germany-Ivory Coast, Italy-Sweden and Netherlands-Paraguay.

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In honour of today's Algeria vs Egypt showdown in Sudan, had planned on putting together a Top 10 Biggest International Rivalries post. But halfway through I realized it wasn't a great idea. Your own national team's rivalry will always feel bigger than anyone else's, so why include some in a Top 10 but not others?

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Last weekend and midweek action involved another round of international games. Some matches were important like the playoffs for the right to feature in the 2010 South Africa World Cup Finals but all too many were unimportant games that counted for absolutely nothing. The question that pops to mind was should the top players be excluded from playing in them to avoid injury? Click to continue reading...

Livorno midfielder Antonio Candreva made his debut for Italy at the weekend in a 0-0 friendly with the Netherlands with the versatile midfielder attracting a lot of interest from the likes of Inter Milan and Juventus .

Candreva's club form has not gone unnoticed with teams said to be circling for the players signature.

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This weekend saw another round of international games, some important like the playoffs for the final positions at the World Cup, but all too many were unimportant games that counted for absolutely nothing t should the top players be excluded form playing in them to avoid injury?

I know that this brings up loads of potential problem like who do you classify as a top player etc.

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The Netherlands might be the number 3 in the world according to FIFA, Oranje will go into cup 3, according to Marca. France is said to go in cup 1, although Les Blues still have to qualify. If Ireland qualifies at France' expense, Holland moves up one cup. The preliminary categories: Pot 1: Click to continue reading...

Van Persie was stretchered off against Italy.

Going into the international break this weekend, I had a feeling that something bad was going to happen. It's the feeling that many football fans have before every international week; the feeling of impending disaster as we wait to see who the victims of these meaningless matches are.

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Soon after the start of Saturday's 0-0 friendly between Italy and Netherlands, an Italian fan ran out onto the pitch wearing a Superman t-shirt with "Cassano in Nazionale" (Cassano in the national team) written on the front and back. Once he got his shirt message of support for the ignored Sampdoria striker seen (hooray for s-words!

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As an Arsenal fan, this is disastrous news.

RVP is feared to have torn his ankle ligaments as he went down after a heavy challenge from Giorgio Chiellini in the Italy vs Netherlands friendly. He is undergoing an ankle scan in the Netherlands to ascertain the exact damage.

Wenger must be going out of his mind.

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There are a number of International Friendlies on Saturday, November 14, 2009 as most nations are done with 2010 World Cup Qualification. Some of the friendlies including Brazil v England, Slovakia v USA, Spain v Argentina, and Italy v Netherlands. All of these matches and more will be covered live at our other site, Free Live Sports TV, at the links below.

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The UEFA region has several qualifying matches in the next few days for the 2011 U-21 European Championships. This tournament is a chance for the future stars of each country to get experience on an international stage. On Friday, November 13, 2009, there are several matches including Hungary v Italy, Belgium v Ukraine, Â Spain v Finland, Northern Ireland v Germany, and Netherlands v Liechtenstein.

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The U17 World Cup wraps up this weekend. One of the semifinals begin tomorrow (Thursday) with COLOMBIA-SWITZERLAND, live at 8:55 am on Galavision. The Final is Sunday November 15th, and ESPN2 will be broadcasting the game live at 11:45 am.

In addition to the U17 games, Saturday begins the final qualifying rounds for World Cup 2010.

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Netherlands manager Bert van Marwijk has named his 23-man squad friendly international matches against Italy on November 14th and Paraguay on November 18th. Squad: Goalkeepers: Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax Amsterdam), Michel Vorm (Utrecht), Piet Velthuizen (Vitesse Arnhem) Defenders: John Heitinga (Everton), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg SV), Edson Braafheid (Bayern Munich), Gregory van der Wiel (Ajax Amsterdam), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), [. Click to continue reading...

Bulgaria's greatest, Georgi Asparuhov, life tragically cut at 28. Rooney misses a sitter. (Studs Up) The incredible new lows of Mike Ashley. (Three Match Ban) Stamford Bridge name TBA; football's name also TBA. (Futfanatico) John Barnes: Savior of Rwanda, not Don Cheadle. (Fisted Away) Adriano: The face of crack. Click to continue reading...

'Put paid to what you say and put your money where your mouth is' sang Miles Hunt during The Wonderstuff's top 16 hit 'Unbearable'. Well, Mr Hunt, have we got news for you my friend. European Football Weekends - fresh from our tour of the Netherlands and Germany - are back with a bang. We have unearthed some petty cash from underneath the sofa and we're sponsoring the match ball as our heroes Lewes FC take on Hampton and Richmond Borough this coming Saturday. Click to continue reading...

Marco Bresciano has been recalled for the Asian Cup qualifier against Oman at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat on November 15. Bresciano returns to the squad after a knee injury prevented him from the recent international friendly against the Netherlands in Sydney and the Asian Cup qualifier against Oman in Melbourne last month. Click to continue reading...

While Maradona is busy making a shamockery of the Argentinean national side, the man who typically lurks behind Diego & Pele whether prudent or not in the discussion for the world's greatest ever player has returned to football. Johan Cruijff, arguably the greatest ever player/coach combination in football history, has returned to the bench Catalonia and don't you call it Spain.

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Do you know who the unofficial world football champions are? It's not Italy, they're the official world champions by virtue of being World Cup holders. The unofficial world champions are in fact the Netherlands. Who says? The Unofficial Football World Championships people says, that's who.

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Ok, so he is not called McDonald but he is Ronald, and after tonight, he will wish he had a farm

So three years ago, the Mighty Arsenal travelled to the Netherlands to play AZ Alkmaar in a ‘show off game' to mark the opening of the DSB Stadium. Three years have now gone by and tonight we play them again in what will be their UEFA Champions League debut season.

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• Boston College Holds Off No. 2 North Carolina, 2-1 ~ http://bit.ly/1v15vP #
• World Cup 2010, from South Africa, begins in 235 days! #
• Jenna Dobkins scores in the 5th minute for the Missouri State Bears versus Drake.
  http://tinyurl.com/yjzqno9 #
• Missouri State Lady Bears holding 1 to 0 lead against Drake at half time.

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Springfield SC 1
St Louis Scott Gallagher Netherlands 0
Lydia Holtmann scores for SSC as they capture the U14 title

Springfield SC - 3
Missouri Elite FC 1
Elite opened the game with a 1st minute goal by Kelsey Bartell, who ran onto a through ball from Lori Schrier and shot, grabbed the rebound and slipped the ball past the defense, to give the ladies in blue an early lead they held to halftime.

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Springfield SC 1
St Louis Scott Gallagher Netherlands 0
Lydia Holtmann scores for SSC as they capture the U14 title

Springfield SC - 3
Missouri Elite FC 1
Elite opened the game with a 1st minute goal by Kelsey Bartell, who ran onto a through ball from Lori Schrier and shot, grabbed the rebound and slipped the ball past the defense, to give the ladies in blue an early lead they held to halftime.

Click to continue reading...

Brazil stay at the top of this month's Fifa world rankings. Brazil are followed by Spain, the Netherlands, Italy and Germany. England stay in 7th place. Argentina are 6th.
France are in 9th. Cameroon are the highest African team in 14th. Russia are 12th, with the USA in 11th.
1 Brazil
2 Spain
3 Netherlands
4 Italy
5 Germany
6 Argentina
7 England
8 Croatia
9 France
10 Portugal
11 USA
12 Russia
13 Switzerland
14 Cameroon
15 Czech Republic
16 Greece Denmark
17 Chile
18 Mexico
19 Côte d'Ivoire
20 Serbia
Full world rankings
Last month's Fifa World Rankings
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Soccer betting tips
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Soccer News soccer football fifa Click to continue reading...

And the honor this week goes to my favorite WAG, Sylvie van der Vaart. Click to continue reading...

With the final games of the 2010 World Cup qualifying upon us on Wednesday, we take a look at the remaining matches that matter.

Already qualified: Ivory Coast, Ghana, Korea DPR, South Korea, Japan, Australia, England, Spain, Netherlands, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Serbia, Mexico, U.S., Brazil, Paraguay, Chile, South Africa (hosts).

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It was decided in today's game that Germany and Italy will be joining the ranks of other countries who have made it into the World Cup qualifying matches. Denmark as well as Serbia can be proud to also have the chance to play in the World Cup after beating out France. So far, the countries that still remain undecided are Switzerland and Slovakia, whose fate will be decided this Wednesday.

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These Countries Will Be There:
South Africa (CAF - as hosts)
Japan (AFC)
Australia (AFC)
South Korea (AFC)
Netherlands (UEFA)
North Korea (AFC)
Brazil (CONMEBOL)
Ghana (CAF)
England (UEFA)
Spain (UEFA)
Paraguay (CONMEBOL)
Cote d'Ivoire (CAF)
Germany (UEFA)
Denmark (UEFA)
Serbia (UEFA)
Italy (UEFA)
Chile (CONMEBOL)
Mexico (CONCACAF)
USA (CONCACAF)
Here's the situation for those still on the path. Click to continue reading...

SOME very interesting news from The West Australian in today's paper - Tony 'James Bond' Sage has revealed that the three Socceroo hopefulls, Chris Coyne, Jacob Burns and Mile Sterjovski, would be let go on loan BEFORE the A-League finals if it helps them get a ticket to the World Cup.
Now this isn't actually new, we heard about this when the trio we snapped up on free transfers back in August. Click to continue reading...

How can you not love these guys? That run in the '06 World Cup was a blast.
And led by awesome-dude Tim Cahill the team is going to help out the earthquake and tsunami victims in Samoa and Indonesia.
Not just a neat goal celebration.

Football Federation Australia (FFA) said it will donate one dollar for every fan who attends the Socceroos' matches against the Netherlands in Sydney on Saturday and against Oman in Melbourne next week.

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