The prestigious International Consulting firm Deloitte has released its yearly study of the World Football Clubs with highest income generation for season 2010-2011. For the third year running both REAL MADRID CF & FC BARCELONA lead the list of top income generating Clubs. The tendency is that FC Barcelona has experienced a jump in income that has to do with their "winning ways", Global brand

ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO are in the final of the SPANISH CUP ( Copa del Rey ) after defeating 6 - 2 the 2º B Division Club MIRANDES ( 8-3 agg). The dream run for Mirandes hit the wall at the "San Mames Stadium" in the 2º leg return semi - final match after a fabulous & unforgettable run. Congratulations guys, thanks for the Football & courage displayed.

This goes to all the European brothers, especially to the French media LÉquipe , the populist "Le Monde" & Canal + TV France... France has´nt won anything significant in years. Please don´t use our Sportsmen & teams...Alberto Contador , Rafael Nadal, the Spanish National Football Team etc & etc..

Ya fue habilitado el nuevo Estadio de la Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla donde jugarán Los Lobos y este viernes 10 de febrero se celebrará el primer partido del presente torneo de la Liga de Ascenso en ese inmueble donde el equipo local enfrentará a Los Rayos del Necaxa a eso de las 16:00 hrs.

Thanks to my friend Chuck Stuart in Idaho Falls for the heads-up to an article in Soccer America (Jan. 31, 2012). To quote him: "When I read it, my jaw just dropped - the advice in the article just seems...

How many times out on the park have you heard that cry: "What is he looking at?" That and all its variants: "You're missing a great game!" or "How could she miss that?" and "It was right in front of...

SPANISH FOOTBALL action tonight with the Monday Night, & the last scheduled Round 21, match of LA LIGA. Godin scores for At.Madrid The home stadium of "El Reyno" for OSASUNA is a fort, a stronghold, that has seen many Clubs pass a hard time & had to exercise some hard work to get something positive from the visit.

The three best American soccer players in the world will be on the field together in a club match for the first time ever as Tim Howard and Landon Donovan lead Everton against Clint Dempsey and Fulham (3pm, Fox Soccer Channel).

Today's FA Cup Fourth Round showdown is being billed as a battle between Dempsey and Donovan, long-time USA teammates and two great players who draw different reactions from different fans.

The U.S. men's national team plays its second game in a week, and second of 2011 in Panama City tonight against CONCACAF foe Panama (8:30pm, Galavision/ESPN3.com).

The United States is coming off a 1-0 victory against Venezuela, but tonight should offer a much tougher test as the Americans face the Panama side that beat the Americans in the Gold Cup group stages before losing a 1-0 decision in the Gold Cup semifinals.

SPANISH FOOTBALL action with two 2º leg SPANISH CUP ( Copa del Rey ) quarter-finals clashes tonight with the following final results & scorers. Mallorca-Bilbao REAL MALLORCA hosted ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO with a 0 - 2 deficit from the 1º leg encounter. The home team was vibed up to attempt to turn around the result but failed to do so as the "Basque" Club defended well & played it cool to keep

Eddie Pope was kind enough to contribute mightily to the long-promised Top 5 List of transfers that weren't for Americans, so I'm going to air his full comments on the relevant matter contained within unedited. If you haven't seen it yet, you may wish to read that before the following text.--"At a couple points throughout my career, I had a lot of interest from many European teams.

Lets get the rant out of the way. Lescott should have been sent off for intentionally elbowing Kaboul in the head, and Balotelli should have been sent off for intentionally stamping on Parker's head. Turns out that the "loveable rouge" Balotelli who buys petrol for people, signs signatures for kids at an impromptu visit to schools and so on and so on, is actually just a nasty little **** who would stamp on a fellow professionals head.

Smiles mandatory, umlauts optional. "You want it to be one way ... but it's the other way." -- Marlo Stanfield. Back in the spring of 2010, during my epic, streets of Bodymore, Muderland-tinged World Cup preview, that quote was used to describe a lingering sentiment hanging around certain corners of the U.

A "status-quo" result. REAL MADRID watched & were finally out played by FC BARCELONA to lose the 1º leg of the SPANISH CUP quarter-final at the "Santiago Bernabeu Stadium" with a 1 - 2 result. Healthy & optimistic score for Barça which will host the return 2º leg game next week in their home "fort".

While the Football World stands still & fixed to the Internet, Tv or a Radio with the 1º leg Spanish Cup match between Real Madrid & FC Barcelona, most forget that before & just finished was another SPANISH CUP ( Copa del Rey ) 1º leg match Quarter Final clash between ATHLETIC CLUB BILBAO & MALLORCA.

Its on again, the clash of the Football Titans, this time the 1º leg of the SPANISH CUP ( Copa del Rey ). At 22.00 hrs (10.00pm) Spanish local time REAL MADRID plays FC BARCELONA at the "Santiago Bernabeu" Stadium. Although the "atmosphere" is less tense than previous ocassion it is certainly the talk of the town & of the Football World.

I've never really cottoned to the phrase "on like Donkey Kong - but if you insist, go ahead. Pia Sundhage has named the 20 ladies responsible for punching the USWNT's Olympic ticket, with CONCACAF qualifying set to kick off Friday in Vancouver against the Dominican Republic.And as you can see, there is plenty of talent available for WPS pick-up.

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In the last few days, we've seen the reopening of the transfer window, an occasion that is slowly and steadily becoming bigger than football itself. So far, [read more]

The FIFA backed IFFHS ( International Football Federation of History & Statistics) has handed in their list of the "Best Midfielder in World Football" for 2011 ( game creator + assistances) . The FC BARCELONA & Spanish Football International XAVI HERNANDEZ tops the list over second placed team-mate Lionel Messi.

Joey Barton was sent off today for an alleged head butt against Norwich and it appears it may have been a rather harsh decision. Obviously it didn't take long for the learned Barton to vent his spleen on Twitter: "Hopefully referee sees it retrospectively and sees he's been conned. Its no consolation for us right now but at least its something.

SPANISH SPORTS paper "AS" has written an article on REAL MADRID CF & how the SPANISH FOOTBALL Club is scouting the International market for talented players. The main ingredientes are that they be "World Class", young with great potential & "cheap". With the economic times we are all living, the days of "splashing out + 50M€ for one player" are - for now - over.

So with Thierry Henry set to return to us on a two month loan deal, I thought it worthwhile to go back into history to see what Myles Palmer thought of our current strike force. Myles seems to rate himself quite highly but it appears that this confidence is more than a tad misplaced. Here were his early thoughts on Thierry Henry: "And remember, Thierry Henry is not a striker.

Imagine that you are asked the question: "...what is your "Best XI Team" for 2011. But theres more; forget about tactics, what Guardiola & Mourinho may say & just pick what you like, with money not being a problem, or Winter Market deadlines, managers, fans, media...no problems, just what you would wish your "dream" team to be.

SPANISH SPORTS papers become creative during the Xmas Break as Football "stops" but the selling of papers continue. One inventive daily is Barcelona based "Sport" which comes up with interesting content, this case, an info-graph dedicated to FC BARCELONA crack ANDRES INIESTA. The diagram is in Spanish but I believe it is intuitive enough for non-Spanish readers to get the gist.

SPANISH FOOTBALL SPORTS is all about you. The mission is to get all the Spanish Football News & Spanish Sports achievements to you in English. Why? Because you may not read Spanish for starters, & because "English" is currently the global language. With this in mind, I also wish to keep giving a better service & value to you.

Being a player of FC BARCELONA not only allows you to form part of the "Best Team in World Football, it also guarantees the player Football titles. Barcelona based Sports paper "Sport" has made up the below infograph to highlight the number-quantity of titles accumulated by each player - those who have a regular place - , while also give the viewer an idea of the collective dimensions.

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The last 16 Clubs still left in the SPANISH CUP have been matched up in todays draw held in Madrid. The below image ( courtesy of marca) shows all the interesting games. The next phase kicks off with the 1º leg on the 4th of January 2012 & the return match the 11th of January of 2012. There is a possible "collision course" between Real Madrid - FC Barcelona in a Q/Final if both win their next

Forced goodie, it is - just not for the reason I'd anticipated. Mexican tabloids have sniffed a little something out and ran wild with bemus-able imagination on it, claiming Puebla are in advanced talks to sign an American they figure is either Juan Agudelo or Daniel Williams.Little girl not having it is wondering: "Is that the best they could come up with?

Just a bit of gossip from the Spanish Sports papers that I thought you may want to know. Apparently, the hottest "rooster" in Brazil, SANTOS dancing star NEYMAR, expressed his true desires after being danced around by the FC BARCELONA chant & mantra in yesterdays "FIFA Clubs World Cup Final". Neymar Rumour has it that Neymar whispered into the ear of Barcelona Coach Guardiola, when they had

FC BARCELONA proclaimed themselves the 2011 "FIFA Club World Cup Champion" after defeating Brazilian Club SANTOS 0 - 4. Its the second title of this character for Barça which won their last back in 2009 in Qatar. Lionel Messi FC Barcelona demonstrated - if there was any doubt - that the Club is currently the "Best in the World", & their midfielder LIONEL MESSI once again raised for the

FC BARCELONA defeated AL_SAAD 0 - 4 in the semi final of the "FIFA World Clubs Championship" in Japan & will meet Bralizian Club SANTOS in the weekend final. Barça was never really troubled the whole match & one gets the idea that their opponents, although professional & putting in a very good game, had the joy of playing with their Football Heroes.

The title of the Spanish Sports paper says it all : "Barcelona puts Guaje on the market" VILLA FOR SALE. A SPANISH FOOTBALL Bombshell? Madrid media propaganda? Destabilizing tactics from Madrid? Interested party testing the waters? The players sending an S.O.S messaje? Bullshit? Truth? One cannot also doubt that the newspaper looks to sell & get some "free marketing" ( as here ), but.

The championship favorites take on the ultimate Cinderella story as No. 1 ranked North Carolina faces Charlotte in the NCAA Men's College Cup Final today in Hoover, Alabama (4pm, ESPNU).

The Tar Heels entered the tournament as favorites, and showed their quality in beating a tough UCLA side in penalties in the semifinal.

With the "Clasico" dust finally settled in Madrid, after the FC BARCELONA "hurricane" brushed pass on their way to Japan defeating REAL MADRID 1 - 3 on their home turf, I can now sit down & reflect on certain observations - some already said below in the match post - that I would like to reinforce, add to & of course, add some humour.

Sorry guys, I was out last night & could not post the Ajax 0 - Real Madrid 3 + Villareal 0 - Napoles 2 Champions League summary. However found these diagrams of all the Champions League Clubs that go onto the next phase, with the two SPANISH FOOTBALL representatives FC BARCELONA & REAL MADRID. Below are the Clubs that finished first of their Group with those in second place.

The latest edition of our new NSC custom acts as annex to today's Postcard From Europe with Big Bad Brad.On whether he could take over as cup goalie should they reach the late stages or a final:"That hasn't been discussed. We have a great group of goalkeepers, so there's no way that would be discussed.

The draw for this upcoming summer's Euro 2012 tournament is set to go in Kiev, Ukraine, with 16 teams eager to find out who they'll be competing against for the continent's championship. With co-hosts Poland and Ukraine placed in the first pot, there's bound to be some treacherous group pairings for some of the world's top teams.

It's time for us to have the latest installment of the SBI Live Q&A.

With the 2011 MLS season behind us, and the off-season in full swing, it's the perfect time to have another live Q&A.

Want to talk off-season MLS transaction? U.S. national team results and the future?

This is a great story from "Mundo Deportivo". Young 11 year old TAKEFUSA KUBA, alias "TAKE" to his young mates, has a dream, to become the first Japanese player in the history of FC BARCELONA. Young TAKE is actually a "crack star" with the Barça "Alevin C" (junior) Team. Before signing with Barça the youngster had European Clubs already knocking on his door.