That particular evening, Foppe de Haan asked Evander Sno to come by in his room. The Olympic's coach had made an overview on video of all Sno's ball contacts and decisions of the last match. The current Ajax player was supposed to soak it all up and learn from his Click to continue reading...

Steven Gerrard is currently sidelined and will miss out on England's crucial opening World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia, both away. Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez hopes that his talismanic captain will return for the key Premier League crunch game versus Manchester United.

Steven Gerrard recently underwent a groin operation that ruled him out of England's opening World Cup qualifying campaign. Click to continue reading...

Just a couple of quick things.

First off, we've started discussion forums over on The Offside for fans to discuss anything about the team that they feel like discussing. Are you tired of waiting for us to write a post on the news you've just read? Feel free to start a discussion thread over there.

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Wow - I read today in the Swedish press that Pia has turned down an invitation from Dubya to visit the White House and be graced by his presence. I didn't actually think I could like him less today than I did on July 28 (just to select a random date).  But after watching his smirking [...] Click to continue reading...

I opened up MSNBC this morning and saw the news that Obama has picked Biden. Probably a smart move ... experience and gravitas and whiteness and all. I was kinda hoping for something more interesting - but would rather win. So Biden seems good. Biden I can live with. (But wouldn't [...]SHARETHIS. Click to continue reading...

According to BigSoccer (thanks Dandal and the Swedish press) Pia will be with the USWNT through the 2012 Olympics. That is wonderful news!  Here's a thread about Pia's performance ... note how the comments "evolve" as the USWNT moves deeper and deeper into the tourney! Also on BigSoccer, an interesting thread about Carli Lloyd. Click to continue reading...

Call it change. Call it luck. Call it redemption. Call it bravery. Call it what you will - it's gold and it's real and it stays! The USWNT defeated Brazil 1-0 yesterday in extra time after putting on a gritty performance on the pitch on a wet, humid, Beijing night. [...]SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Congratulations to the Golden USWNT . Click to continue reading...

Seeing Nicole Petignat on Monday reffing the USWNT-Japan game brought back some really, really bad memories. Having a moment or two, here, I thought I'd Google her and see what came of it. I found, as one might expect, that she's probably human, and probably interesting, and probably not the evil (or at least unnecessarily [. Click to continue reading...

... but first, congratulations to Usain Bolt on his phenomenal victory in the 200! He is just amazing to watch ... how beautifully effortless and strong. Can't wait to see it tonight! On the USWNT front, we've got Lindsey Dolich with her pre-game report and Jeff Carlisle on the USWNT mindset heading into the [. Click to continue reading...

Reuters is getting pretty excited about a men's Olympic semifinal between Brazil and Argentina.

Rightfully so. Should be exciting and the winner should win the final fairly easily -- don't make me regret that Nigeria.

Then again, like Pies, I'm more excited for a cards, Jenga, Connect Four showdown between Anderson (Brazil) and Tevez (Argentina). Click to continue reading...

Spurs are thought to be weighing up a swap deal for AZ Alkmaar's Sebastien Pocognoli with left-back Lee Young-pyo moving in the other direction. AZ are understood to be big fans of out-of-favour Lee while Tottenham have been linked with Belgian defender Pocognoli recently after a number of impressive displays for his country at the Olympic [. Click to continue reading...

The news wires are now full of player profiles, match reports, you name it, as the US women's soccer team gears up for its gold medal match versus Brazil on Thursday morning. This team is living up to the Nike Women's World Cup hype of several months ago ... the greatest team you've never [...]SHARETHIS. Click to continue reading...

The USWNT and Brazil both won in convincing fashion and will face off on Thursday morning (9AM ET) in the gold medal match. Germany and Japan (maybe it's me ... but doesn't that sound awfully World War Twoish?) will square off in the Bronze medal match-up (6AM ET). Kudos to Japan for making [...]SHARETHIS. Click to continue reading...

We've got some more quick updates and prognostications about tomorrow's USWNT match with Japan - first, from Japanese coach Norio Sasaki, who is full of confidence after Japan's run through Group G. It may prove to be a sad irony of the Olympics, however, that Japan's stellar play, particularly against Norway, may be the [. Click to continue reading...

Michael Phelps broke Mark Spitz' gold medal record last night -an amazing feat, indeed. I don't know about you, but I find such milestones diminished by the hype ... the marketing ... the hoopla ... the commentary. The events and the raw footage about the events is enough. The look on Michael [.. Click to continue reading...

First, congratulations to gymnasts Nastia Liukin and Shawn Johnson on their gold and silver in the all around, and to Michael Phelps on his 6th gold and 6th world record. On the Browne front, I love it that Jackson Browne is suing the McCain campaign for stealing his music. How dumb are they? Another [. Click to continue reading...

Here is one of my favourite quotes: "An opportunity is worth to a person exactly what their preparation enables them to make it". This quote came from Mark Zupan's book, You Gonna Play: How Murderball Saved My Life, about an American quadriplegic athlete who competed at the Olympics. Let's draw an analogy to the Olyroos Olympic [. Click to continue reading...

Beijing Olympics Highlights: Nigeria are meeting Ivory coast Saturday August 16th. Watch the highlights here at footiedb.com Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

Beijing Olympics Highlights: Argentina are meeting Netherlands Saturday August 16th. Watch the highlights here at footiedb.com Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

Beijing Olympics Highlights: Italy are meeting Belgium Saturday August 16th. Watch the highlights here at footiedb.com Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

Beijing Olympics Highlights: Brazil are meeting Cameroon Saturday August 16th. Watch the highlights here at footiedb.com Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

Tomorrow at 6AM we'll start the next leg of the Olympic tournament journey. There's not a lot in the way of soccer news in the interim. The WNT Blog is a good place to track the USWNT's travels and preparation for tomorrow's showdown with Canada. An upbeat and determined Canadian squad is [...]SHARETHIS. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The task was already going to be tough, but when U.S. Olympic defender Michael Orozco drew a red card just four minutes into the U.S. team's crucial Olympic match against Nigeria, the job turned into trying to swim in a shark tank with your foot cut off.

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Wow, wow, wow. Even the Phillies' loss has not dampened my amazement and feeling of great good fortune. The USWNT is through to the quarterfinals (not too surprising) and has won their group (pretty darn surprising) and is starting to score some goals (excellent news). To date, five different people have scored, [. Click to continue reading...

Beijing Olympics Highlights: South Korea are meeting Honduras Wednesday August 13th. Watch the highlights here at footiedb.com Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today! Click to continue reading...