"O massacre português (em Outubro 2004) deixou a Rússia em estado de choque. Por todo o país, nos blocos de prédios, nos bares, nas aldeias com os seus televisores antiquados, tombou um enorme silêncio - mais do que um choque, foi uma enorme sensação de vazio que tomou conta do país inteiro. Click to continue reading...

O Colónia de Petit e Maniche, ganhou pela primeira vez no campeonato alemão e logo fora de casa, em Estugarda. Estava a ficar apertada a vida dos nossos internacionais. Click to continue reading...

I missed the first round of games on family vacation. While I still have the Gladbach-Bochum game on DVR to watch for fun, my first game of the season, albeit delayed, was Dortmund's 1-0 victory at home over Köln. It was a thoroughly deserved victory where Dortmund put the Billy Goats to the sword and could have easily won by half a dozen goals, so commanding was their display.

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"Vim para Colónia para ter sucesso"
Volte-face e Maniche vai jogar na Alemanha. O médio de 31 anos, que estava em final de contrato com o Atlético de Madrid, tinha tudo acordado com os turco do Ankaraguçu, mas divergências de última hora levaram o internacional português a assinar um contrato de duas épocas com a também equipa do ex-benfiquista Petit, o Colónia. Click to continue reading...

Goalkeeper

Jaroslav Drobny (Hertha Berlin)
Make no mistake about it, Berlin's rise from bottom half side to title contenders was based on defense. They were a hard side to break down and on the off-chance that a team did, there was Drobny to get by.

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I doubt many people expected Cologne's visit to Allianz to produce one of the best games of the weekend, but Christophe Daum and his scrappy side went to Munich (with only one win in their last 15 visits) and shocked the Bavarians. Two beautifully crafted counters along with 45 minutes of organized defending was [. Click to continue reading...

"It would have been unthinkable in our day." - The Kaiser on Ribery's Pink revolution. (BILD) Meet Klinsmann Coleiro from Malta. (American Arena) Mourning the death of loved ones through impressive goal tallies. (DW Ballspiel) Bundesliga takes football fans to the 21st century - i.e. the present. (Telegraph) Basically the same article again, but structured in a clean and [. Click to continue reading...

Schalke has a superb record against Köln, but manager Christopher Daum has only ever lost twice in seventeen matches against them in the Bundesliga. That form continued today as Köln walked away deserved 1-0 winners against the league leaders. Indeed, the score line doesn't do justice to the performance by Köln. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has suggested that it was the Arsenal youth academy which kept Reading in the Premiership last season.
Reading currently have three former Arsenal youth academy players in their squad, one who is eligible to play against Arsenal tomorrow (James Harper) and two out on loan (Graham Stack and John Halls).
Last season, the Royals were reliant upon Harper and another former Gunner, Steve Sidwell, in the heart of their midfield. Click to continue reading...

Group A
Portugal can do themselves a huge favor by winning at Azerbaijan. The Portuguese appear to be playing with fire after throwing away opportunities to assure themselves an early qualification with three consecutive draws in their last three group dates, two of those being home ties. They are plagued with injury with Jorge Andrade, Marco Caneira, Petit, Hélder Postiga, João Tomás and Pepe out as well as Tiago, who is suspended, but should have plenty, including the return of Ricardo Carvalho, to get the three points. Click to continue reading...