It's been a nice return to club football this weekend after all 32 countries are now locked in & booked for South Africa next Summer. What a week it was though for memorable moments and unforgettable photos in world football. Long will football fans remember the handball heard 'round the world, the pain and dejection on the Irish players faces and moments of pure passion and joy from other countries who will be playing their part in 2010.

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Gooners should be forgiven for indulging in optimism. With 36 goals in 11 matches, talk of Arsene Wenger's gun slinging side has done much to impress, and you can sense the Frenchman is a few wins away from making some sort of bold prediction, ala the Invincibles. To be five points from leaders Chelsea with a game in hand, and especially with such a heavily-populated injury list, the Professor must believe his seemingly eternally-young side has the best shot at a domestic title since the Gunners' monumental collapse two years ago.

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During this long PFC off-season, while on hiatus from the team and on-field play, there are many steps you can take on your own, even indoors, to better improve your game. Incorporate these simple, yet effective, ball drills in your overall plan.
Wall Drills: It's as simple as the name in theory, but it can be essential to improving ball skills. Click to continue reading...

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Goalkeepers can often be overlooked when talking about the best football players, but a great goalkeeper can inspire the rest of the side to play with confidence and help them perform better than they look on paper. this was surely the case with Lev Yashin, quite arguably the best goalkeeper at any World Cup.

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First of all, I need to apologize. I interviewed Tim back at the end of August and am just now getting this out. I feel I did a disservice to the time he was so kind to give me. But, better late than never, so I have transcribed our talk about new South Americans in the Bundesliga.

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                                                         Photo by ISIphotos.com

With Clint Dempsey sidelined for Saturday's World Cup qualifier at Honduras due to a shoulder injury, U.S. head coach Bob Bradley will have to select a replacement for Dempsey from a handful of good candidates.

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                                                         Photo by ISIphotos.com

With Clint Dempsey sidelined for Saturday's World Cup qualifier at Honduras due to a shoulder injury, U.S. head coach Bob Bradley will have to select a replacement for Dempsey from a handful of good candidates.

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I am really curious about the Livorno players' high jersey numbers. They started with only Nico Pulzetti sporting a single digit number. It reminded me of a spring training baseball team loaded with minor leaguers trying to make the big squad.  The game featured lots of end to end action in this game, and the teams were relatively evenly matched, save for two players: Gianlugi Buffon and Mauro Camoranesi.

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Feels like I just wrote that same headline 2 weeks ago. I don't mean to try to use this as an excuse, but it's worth pointing out that the last match Seattle played was here in DC on 9/2. In the mean time, United played two other matches during that week and a half that the Sounders were resting.
After a terrible start from United, I felt similar to the way that BDR felt earlier this week - like this match could have easily gotten out of hand. Click to continue reading...

"Boys, diving is back on the menu".

That might be the most potent message after seeing England's game against Slovenia. And no, UEFA is not going to do any retrospective video refereeing because it is lowly Slovenia. Rooney can pull a player's shirt blatantly, fall down, and pretend he got fouled without retribution.

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Eduardo's controversially won penalty helped set Arsenal on the way to the Champions League Group Stage with a convincing win over Celtic.
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Arsenal 3-1 Celtic (5-1 agg)

The beauty of football is that it is a game that is spoken in one universal; a shot, a header, a chess trap or a save can be watched and easily understood by everyone but a dive?

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It's only the second match of the new season for the Hammers and already the London derby is upon us. Spurs have played superbly in their opening matches, beating Liverpool at home 2-1 and then putting on an attacking display against Hull City 5-1. A new Jermain Defoe has emerged from the summer break. Click to continue reading...

Emilio Renteria is now a member of the Columbus Crew. The 24-year-old Venezuelan has European experience with Spain's Levante (2001-04) and spent last season as part of the Caracas squad that made the Copa Libertadores quarterfinals. "Emilio has been on our radar for some time now and we're pleased to get him signed," said Crew technical director Brian Bliss. Click to continue reading...

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Arsenal went into Celtic Park and did what they needed to do, getting a 2-0 result, practically ending the tie, Celtic will not beat us by two goals at the Emirates. It was a game where we were blessed with some good luck, both goals were fortunate for us, but all our players worked their ass off the entire match, and were rewarded for it.

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TOTTENHAM HOTSPUR Last Season: 8th 5 Key Players: Defoe, Modric, Keane, Lennon, King Style of Play: Wide play, quickness, quick build-ups. Not the best defensively, mind you... Key Additions: Crouch (Portsmouth), Walker (Sheff. Utd), Naughton (Sheff. Utd.), Bassong (Newcastle) Key Losses: Zokora (Seville), Bent (Sunderland) When We Play Them: August (a), January (h) Rafa's Record: 5 wins, 1 loss, 4 draws In 3-5 [. Click to continue reading...

Image by Victor Decolongon of Getty Images

And those words are: Should've taken three.

I can't remember the last time my frustration from a Los Angeles Galaxy performance was based on the fact that they clearly outplayed their opponent for an entire game, but could not deliver the death blow.

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CLICK HERE for my Week 19 Examiner.com MLS Preview, which leads with the Chicago Fire-Seattle Sounders FC showdown. The match takes place at 2 p.m. (CST) Saturday at Qwest Field in Seattle. The game is televised on ESPN.
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Fire adjust offensively to fill McBride's scoring void
The Chicago Fire are 1-for-1 so far without veteran forward Brian McBride, who is out several months with a right shoulder injury. Click to continue reading...

In keeping with the theme of catching up with belated news, here are the highlights from United's ongoing journey through Asia. United are off to a 2-0 start with five goals in their favor. The fact that they've played the same team twice and allowed a near comeback is nothing to... er... be worried about.

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Hopefully, you'll all remember what Nike SPARQ testing is. Standing for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness, the battery of tests that Academy players underwent at the Winter Showcase and then again in the Spring Showcase help to measure each individual athlete's overall athletic ability. They can then train for specific weaknesses, helping to improve their ability over time. Click to continue reading...

Hopefully, you'll all remember what Nike SPARQ testing is. Standing for Speed, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness, the battery of tests that Academy players underwent at the Winter Showcase and then again in the Spring Showcase help to measure each individual athlete's overall athletic ability. They can then train for specific weaknesses, helping to improve their ability over time. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal transfer rumours are once again abuzz.

It has brought back Edin Dzeko and Klaas Jan Huntelaar in the picture. Marouane Chamakh has already been mentioned as a possible replacement.

Then there is Demba Ba of Hoffenheim. He was Vedad Ibisevic's hunting partner and his 14 goals in 33 appearances helped the newly promoted club to a surprising 7th place finish.

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                                                                             Photo by ISIphotos.com

So what exactly did we learn from the U.S. men's national team's 4-0 drubbing of Grenada on Saturday?

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                                                                             Photo by ISIphotos.com

So what exactly did we learn from the U.S. men's national team's 4-0 drubbing of Grenada on Saturday?

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We told you about the SPARQ (Strength, Power, Agility, Reaction and Quickness) testing happening down at the Development Academy Spring Showcase over Memorial Day weekend, and the results are in.
ESPN Rise has published the best scores from the weekend, which was higlighted by 14-year-old Caleb Richardson from the U-15/16 Dallas Texans. Click to continue reading...

So what about Costa Rica?

U.S. national team fans have been hearing all about Saprissa Stadium and the U.S. team's history of poor results there, but we haven't heard much about the actual opponent the Americans will face.

So what can be said about 'Los Ticos'? It is a young and talented team with some good weapons in attack, but a defense that the U.

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Frankie Hejduk's injury suffered on Wednesday night before an MLS match was disastrous as the US enters the most important stretch of matches since 2006. It was Hejduk who was the best US player at World Cup 1998, and filled the most critical and problematic role left back in 2002. In 2006, Hejduk's injury in a pre World Cup friendly foretold the poor World Cup in front of us.

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The season brought no trophies to Anfield... Manchester United tied the league title record... The big money summer signing proved a flop... Seven miserable home draws... Mid-season position squandered... Lengthy injuries to the big guns...

And Liverpool still had an outstanding season.

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                                                                     Photo by ISIphotos.com

Most times a home team will come away extremely disappointed with a draw, but the Red Bulls can't be too upset with their 1-1 tie on Saturday night against the Houston Dynamo.

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                                                                     Photo by ISIphotos.com

Most times a home team will come away extremely disappointed with a draw, but the Red Bulls can't be too upset with their 1-1 tie on Saturday night against the Houston Dynamo.

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Ronaldo, the prolific big boned striker and all-time leading World Cup goal scorer thinks the 2010 World Cup in South Africa is the perfect venue for his retirement.
The current Corinthians striker, who led Brazil to the 2002 World Cup title, said "A chance to play in the World Cup would prolong my professional career. Click to continue reading...

It's official. I had thought we probably wouldn't see him again as soon as I heard what the injury was. Whenever the words "fracture" and "vertebrae" appear together in the same sentence, it's not a good thing.

And since we don't really have much to play for in our remaining three games, there's just no reason to risk re-injuring it.

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Intelligent Athlete Academy has revolutionized sport specific training with their Virtual Sports Performance Systems. This is just ONE example of thousands of drills and personalized sport specific training solutions at Intelligent Athlete Academy. Our Virtual Sports Performance System provides PERSONALIZED workout programs to each athlete developed by LEADING performance specialists in EACH SPORT. Click to continue reading...