In the wake of Ireland's heartbreaking aggregate defeat to France, where Thierry Henry's handballed assist for William Gallas to score an equaliser in extra time denied a team who had performed magnificently to haul themselves level, we pay tribute to five of the greatest footballing heartbreakers in recent memory.

Click to continue reading...

Wenn man einen Trainer verpflichtet, muss man auch ohne Wenn und Aber zum Trainer stehen. Auch in Krisen-Zeiten.

Ottmar Hitzfeld, ehemaliger Trainer des FC Bayern München, spricht in der BILD-Zeitung über den stark kritisierten derzeitigen Bayern-Trainer Louis van Gaal.

Click to continue reading...

Louis van Gaal ist spätestens seit der zweiten Niederlage gegen Girondins Bordeaux und dem damit verbundenen Fast-Aus in der Champions League-Gruppenphase ein heißer Kandidat für die nächste Trainerentlassung der Bundesliga. Ausgerechnet Bayerns Ex-Meistertrainer Felix Magath kann am Wochenende mit seinen Schalkern in München das Schicksal des Holländers besiegeln.

Click to continue reading...

Introducing a new series of features on national teams travelling to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa. We start with Switzerland.
Stealth technologists would do well to examine the characteristics of the Swiss national team. It seems that despite their successful qualification for the World Cup, no-one seems to be paying any attention to them. Click to continue reading...

Schaut man sich die Besetzung des deutschen Rekordmeisters, des FC Bayern München, im Sturm an, so liest sich das ganz gut: Mario Gomez, Luca Toni, Miroslav Klose. Alle Stürmer der Spitzenklasse. Eigentlich, denn hier liegen in der noch jungen Saison die Probleme des Münchner Star-Ensembles. Am Anfang sah ja noch alles ganz gut aus: Rekordeinkauf Mario Gomez traf recht zuverlässig und dann wurde auch noch Arjen Robben verpflichtet, ein weiterer Top-Mann für die Abteilung Offensive.

Click to continue reading...

With the new season so close now it's surprisingly quiet. This is probably because of the round of international matches that the powers that be have arranged this week.

Instead of players being at their clubs, putting the final touches to their pre-season preparation, they're away with their countries.

Click to continue reading...

For all its parity with the other three big European leagues, the Bundesliga coaches have had considerably less sway in influencing other European big leagues.

Felix Magath's success with three Bundesliga teams should have seen his stock rise across Europe but has Chelsea come knocking? He is moving to Schalke.

Click to continue reading...

Turkish media has recently reported that:
1- Real Madrid's Javier Saviola will sign with Galatasaray.
2- Ottmar Hitzfeld will be Galatasaray's manager next season.
3- Either PSG's manager Paul LeGuen or FC Cologne's Christoph Daum will return to Fenerbahce.
4- Sochaux Turkish forward Mevlut Erdinc will transfer to Aston Villa, Fulham or Wigan Athletic. Click to continue reading...

Juergen Klinsmann, who had been unsuccessfully courted by U.S. Soccer to replace Bruce Arena in 2006, has been sacked from his first coaching job since guiding host Germany to third place of 2006 World Cup. Bayern Munich dismissed Klinsmann on Monday following the latest disappointing result -- a 1-0 loss to Schalke 04. Click to continue reading...

Klinsi is in deep, deep trouble. With the loss to Schalke, Bayern slips to third and is now in danger of falling out of CL contention altogether. Wolfsburg meets lowly Energie Cottbus today and can move six points clear of Bayern. The top of the table is getting crowded. Hertha is in second, a point clear.

Click to continue reading...

Wenn Trainer anfangen, über Erfolge zu reden, während alle um sie herum die Wunden bitterer Niederlagen und Enttäuschungen lecken, wird deutlich, dass diese Trainer längst ausserhalb des Vereins stehen. Dass sie sich in einer Phase der Selbstverteidigung befinden, die bereits in Selbsttäuschung übergegangen ist.

Click to continue reading...

According to The Sun newspaper Manchester United will replace Sir Alex Ferguson with a young manager, now that isn't really a surprise to me but how young is young? It looks like managers like... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] Click to continue reading...

Roy Keane talking about Jack Warner: "He's a clown." Oh yeah! I have had my problems with Keane but this is priceless. See video in the Jack Warner/Sepp Blatter/FIFA Idiocy & Scandal News section.
~and~
Luxembourg scored one of the great upsets of all time on Wednesday, beating Switzerland 1-2 Zurich. Click to continue reading...

At long last, the European section of the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign got underway this weekend*, so let's take you through the action in each group.
Group 1
Carlos Queiroz's first competitive game of his second spell in charge of Portugal couldn't have been more successful as his side demolished Malta 4-0. Click to continue reading...

I was reading this article on ESPN's website and it got me to thinking, how does Bayern Munich expect to measure success during Jurgen Klinsmann's time as manager. Are they expecting to go on a run of Champions League victories? What exactly is the measure of success? They won the Champions League Cup back in 2001. Click to continue reading...

The European dream is behind us, now we're no more than spectators watching everyone's else tragedies and dreams unfold. This blog supports the Netherlands from now onwards, no doubt about that! Perhaps it's time to start thinking about the future and talk about what our new coach, Ottmar Hitzfeld, will Click to continue reading...

Some facts about Switzerland's last Euro 2008 game while you go ahead and thank Kuhn for all he's done. 1. Kuhn's last game as Switzerland coach Kuhn, the first coach to lead Switzerland to three consecutive tournaments, will leave the job to legend Ottmar Hitzfeld following the Portugal game. His tally? Click to continue reading...

From an American perspective, the best part of Euro 2008 is the fact that all 31 games are airing live on the ESPN/ABC family of networks. Not since Euro '96 have American fans been able to enjoy the tournament on basic cable and the coverage will go a long way in raising the event's overall profile in the States. Click to continue reading...

This season's Bundesliga has certainly provided its fair share of excitement and tension, even if the favourites did rather run away with the title leading from the front from day one. Mad4football takes a moment to look at some of the ‘Tops' and ‘Flops' of the past season. Click to continue reading...

1. Nuremberg complete relegation double. Schalke scored two goals. Schalke almost scored two own goals. In between Nuremberg squandered their chances, like they squandered their chances all season. Eventually those were Nuremberg's final 90 minutes in the Bundesliga. Nuremberg are now in sole possession of two less than flattering relegation records. Click to continue reading...

First-timer meets long-timer in the quarterfinals of the UEFA Cup, as European newcomer Getafe face off against Bayern Munich. While Getafe are experiencing Europe for the first time, Bayern have been there and done that, six times in fact (four European Cup/Champions League titles, one Cup Winners' Cup title, and one UEFA Cup [. Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...