TORONTO - With the Olympic Soccer Tournament in Beijing now over, and European leagues still in the very early weeks, all attention now shifts to the MSC Centennial Cup Championship, which begins this Sunday August 31st.

More importantly, it is the do-or-die season for all clubs, and all nerves, injuries - in fact the whole season - doesn't mean a thing, as the elimination season starts now. Click to continue reading...

For much of the men's Olympic soccer tournament, the focus has been on Argentine star Lionel Messi, and given his undeniable skill on the ball, much of that attention is deserved. But history has shown countless times that one-man teams don't win tournaments, and this was proven once again in Saturday's final, with Angel di Maria's goal giving Argentina a 1-0 victory over a game Nigeria side. Click to continue reading...

Someone pointed out to me the moment he knew the U.S. was going to defeat Brazil for the gold medal.

It was during the break for the overtime periods, when Brazil's players fell to the ground to rest, exhausted. The U.S. players were obviously fitter, and a tired Brazilian defense would probably give up chances. Click to continue reading...

With Argentines being crowned Olympic Champions it's always good to see who may have made some money based on their performances in Beijing.
Here are five that I think made them selves some serious cash during the Olympic soccer tournament. 1. Angel Di'Maria, Argentina (above): Everyone talks about Messi and Roman but the Benfica wingers performance was key. Click to continue reading...

Why not? I was late to my computer, but no one has scored yet.


Ambruse Vanzekin (G)
2 Chibuzor Okonkwo (D)
4 Onyekachi Apam (D)
5 Dele Adeleye (D)
13 Adefemi Olubayo (D)
8 Sani Kaita (M)
12 Ajilore Oluwafemi (M)
10 Isaac Promise (F)
9 Victor Nsofor Obinna (F)
11 Solomon Okoronkwo (F)
14 Peter Osaze Odemwingie

Argentina

18 Sergio Romero (G)
2 Ezequiel Garay (D)
3 Luciano Fabian Monzon (D)
4 Pablo Zabaleta (D)
12 Nicolas Pareja (D)
5 Fernando Gago (M)
10 Juan Riquelme (M)
14 Javier Mascherano (M)
11 Angel Di Maria (F)
15 Lionel Messi (F)
16 Sergio Leonel Aguero (F)

15 - Nigeria isn't backing down. Click to continue reading...

The USA Women got revenge on Brazil, and their own former head coach Greg Ryan for that matter, by returning to China one year after their World Cup semifinal meltdown and winning the Olympic Gold medal 1-0 in Extra Time. Fantastic win! See Olympic Soccer Scoreboard section for more.

~and~

Bruce Arena on why he hired Dave Sarachan as his assistant coach in LA: "I realized that if I was going to take on this challenge I'd need to have a second-in-command who, when I get assassinated, could take over right away. Click to continue reading...

Football Philately
11 Postage Stamps Celebrating The Sport Of Football

1. Angolan stamp - World Cup 2006



2. Brazil, 1969 - Pele's 1,000 goal



3. England - World Cup 2006



4. Australia - 1976 Olympic soccer tournament



5. Click to continue reading...

American Danny Szetela, just back from playing in the Olympic soccer tourney in China, is back into the swing with his Serie B club Brescia. Last night he started and played a solid 30 minutes in a 4-1 preseason friendly win over Darfo (...don't ask). Coach Serse Cosmi substituted five of his starters by the half since he had a four goal lead and perhaps wanted to rest his players for Saturday's Coppa Italia match. Click to continue reading...

The United States women have just clenched the gold medal for soccer (football) during the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games. They defeated Brazil 1:0 in what can only be described as a passionate fight. Brazil will receive silver for their accomplishments in the games. Congratulations US Women! Image courtesy of Newscom. Click to continue reading...

This is it, people. For country, for glory, for gold.
The U.S. versus Brazil.
Anthems. All the U.S. players are singing along.
Solo, Mitts, Rampone, Markgraf, Chalupny, Tarpley, Boxx, O'Reilly, Lloyd, Hucles, Rodriguez.
Brazil
Barbara, Simone, Tania, Renata Costa, Erika, Maycon, Daniela, Formiga, Ester, Cristiane, Marta,


Kickoff! Click to continue reading...

Here's a follow-up to my recent post about where one could get one's soccer fix after the Aztex season finished. While I still miss the games out at Dragon Stadium, it's hard to argue there's not enough soccer to keep a fan busy.

• Stoke City - their season is underway, so there are games every weekend.

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Maurice Edu has pretty much gone around the world in six days.

He left Beijing when the United States was eliminated from the Olympic soccer tournament last Wednesday, and flew to Toronto. Then he went to Scotland to sign a contract with Glasgow Rangers before heading to Guatemala for the U.

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This makes the second time I've picked Brazil to win a major tourney. I did it during the World Cup of 2007. We know how well that turned out.

Honestly, I'm not picking against the U.S. because Abby Wambach isn't there. I'm picking Brazil because I think they're that good and they've finally ready to own that and win the big one. Click to continue reading...

I guess soccer isn't as far along as I thought. I know it's not an upper-tier sport here; I'm not delusional. But I thought that soccer deserved enough respect to have an important match broadcast uncut, commercial-free, as it is around the globe.

But MSNBC doesn't quite feel that way, and that much was evident during the Brazil-Argentina match this morning. 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...

If you were to select an ideal group of semifinalists, you'd probably want a healthy dose of the tournament's big guns along with an overachieving team that has played the role of ultimate party crasher. On that basis, the four teams that have reached the semifinals of the men's Olympic soccer tournament are as absorbing a quartet as you'll find. Click to continue reading...

For those of you who may be time-shifting your Olympic soccer viewing, I'll hide all discussions of what goes on in China behind the jump for the first 24 hours after a US game is final. After that, if you haven't watched it, tough luck. Click to continue reading...

Olympic Soccer is coming to a close this week, with the Women's finalist having been determined this morning (no spoiler's here for those who have taped it or are watching online later). The Women's Gold Medal game is Thursday morning at 8:00 am CT, with the Bronze Medal game at 5:00 am.

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Olympic Soccer is coming to a close this week, with the Women's finalist having been determined this morning (no spoiler's here for those who have taped it or are watching online later). The Women's Gold Medal game is Thursday morning at 8:00 am CT, with the Bronze Medal game at 5:00 am.

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Argentina and Brazil advanced to a South American showdown and Belgium scored three goals with a man disadvantage to shock Italy 3-2 in men's Olympic soccer on Saturday, earning a semifinal match against Nigeria and a chance at its first medal since winning gold in 1920. Click to continue reading...

Here we go, here we go.

USA: 1-Hope Solo; 17-Lori Chalupny, 15-Kate Markgraf, 2-Heather Mitts, 3-Christie Rampone-Capt.; 7-Shannon Boxx, 11-Carli Lloyd, 9-Heather O'Reilly, 5-Lindsay Tarpley; 16-Angela Hucles, 8-Amy Rodriguez

Japan: 1-Miho Fukumoto; 2-Yukari Kinga, 3-Hiromi Ikeda, 4-Azusa Iwashimizu, 7-Kozue Ando; 14-Kyoko Yano, 8-Aya Miyama, 10-Homare Sawa, 15-Mizuho Sakaguchi, 11-Shinobu Ohno, 17-Yuki Nagasato. Click to continue reading...

Japan's Women Football team celebrates 2-0 win over China to play in semifinals round during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. The game was played August 15 at the Qinhuangdao Stadium in Qinhuangdao, China. Canada unfortunately lost to the United States. Image courtesy of Newscom. Technorati Tags: summer olympics,beijing olympic soccer,olympic soccer games,olympic football Share This Click to continue reading...

From the US Soccer website

The U.S. team will play Japan in the semifinal at Beijing Workers Stadium on Monday, August 18th. The match kicks off at 8:00 am CT and will be broadcast live on MSNBC, Universal HD and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.

The Americans have made the semifinal round in all nine world championships FIFA has held for women?

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From the US Soccer website

The U.S. team will play Japan in the semifinal at Beijing Workers Stadium on Monday, August 18th. The match kicks off at 8:00 am CT and will be broadcast live on MSNBC, Universal HD and the NBC Olympic Soccer Channel.

The Americans have made the semifinal round in all nine world championships FIFA has held for women's soccer, including the last four Olympic Games.

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It's not as if the final four haven't met before.

In fact, it was only days ago. Here's my picks for who will go through, and yes, I have changed my mind since the start of the tournament.

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