This past week(s) we've have a couple united boys playing for their countries, attempting to qualify for South Africa. While its not directly "United Related", there's no way I cannot bring up the most blatant handball since Maradonna's "Hand of God".

So a quick roundup of the scores and the United personnel playing before I get to more on to what is going to be the single most discussed play in recent times:

France 1 1 Ireland (2-1 Aggregate)
France : Patrice Evra
Ireland : John O'Shea, Darren Gibson

Portugal 1 B&H (2-0 Aggregate)
Portugal : Nani

Okay, so the handball (seen/touch/heard) 'round the world.

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Africa
Arguably the headline match of the day was the special play-off match between Algeria and Egypt to decide the final World Cup qualifier from Africa.
Both teams had finished with identical records in Group 3 of the final qualifying round which led to this hastily-arranged one-off match in Sudan to decide the winner. Click to continue reading...

Carrying on from our look at the goalkeepers and defenders in Part II, it's now time to address the midfield and forwards. Once again, note that I'm including the loanees and injured reserve guys in this roundup. Midfielders John DiRaimondo: With... Click to continue reading...

Europe
With four places left to be filled, the eight best runners-up from the group stage took to the field on Saturday to kick-off the first leg of the European play-offs.
In Dublin, Ireland battled tenaciously against the visiting French team but somewhat frustrating played true to form, i. Click to continue reading...

Afternoon all, welcome to the blog.
Apologies for the lateness of this post, usually FP tries to have something by 8.30ish every morning, but delayed today's post in case any Perth Glory news came about.
Sadly, nothing has arrived as yet.
Just a quick point: FP will be away from Perth for about three weeks, working on another project. Click to continue reading...

Zico takes Japan in vintage early 90's style. Roman spends enough on lunch to feed someone for life. (Bild) Reason #8 billion social networking was a bad idea. (The Spoiler) The American foul roundup. (Climbing The Ladder) Don't set your sheep suit on fire. (The Beautiful Game) Bulgarian football is the new awesome. Click to continue reading...

Financial troubles continue at Liverpool and Newcastle while mystery continues to surround the ownership of both Notts County and Leeds United. Wyn Grant takes us through the latest financial issues in his monthly roundup. The on-again off-again sale of Newcastle United is now in the off position while Liverpool's poor start to the season is mirrored by a deepening financial crisis.

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HOWDY guys.
FP used to hate Saturday's when he was working at one of the major supermarkets (doesn't matter which one, they as bad as each other).
But now Saturday's are a day for a bit of R and R.
This has nothing to do with Glory, but sharing is caring, right?
Anywho, Glory take on Melbourne Victory tomorrow, and with game-day so close there's quite a bit going on. Click to continue reading...

Joe Royle, Football and Management legend and current ESPN UK co-commentator joins us on the EPL Talk Podcast.

Hear Royle's thoughts about the opportunity to work with the legendary Jon Champion on ESPN, as well as his memories of the epic second division playoff final at Wembley between Manchester City and Gillingham.

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No LIVE today for our U-17 World Cup kickoff, but I will come back at halftime with an update and a few words, naturally followed by all the roundup regalia after the final whistle.Here is your USA line-up, we start this one off at the top of the hour:Edwards; Kitchen, Herold, Watts, Polak; Gil, Palodichuk, Duran, Shinsky; Jerome, McInerneyAs always, you can follow along at US Soccer's Click to continue reading...

Morning all and welcome to the daily backpage news roundup...

The Sun -Â Wenger has a Fran plan
ARSENE WENGER is determined to fight off Atletico Madrid and Seville who are eyeing young Spanish star Fran Merida.

The Daily Mirror - Ramsey calls for consistency
Arsenal midfielder Aaron Ramsey insists Wales must start learning to be consistent throughout a match, rather than just in purple patches.

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This will be the only league roundup in the world, because for some reason Major League Soccer insists on playing games while everyone else in on international duty.
There were four games -- two of which included San Jose -- so not much to get excited about.
For Sounders FC fans, Seattle's wildcard hopes were significantly boosted thanks to a tie by Toronto FC and a loss by New England. Click to continue reading...

AP photos

The win over El Salvador completes a remarkable turnaround in the fortune of the Mexicans.

Blanco, too, looks rejuvenated. Oh, and former Chivas USA striker Paco Palencia came on as a sub for him - and scored.

A roundup of the World Cup qualifying results today is here.

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Sigh. International breaks are so boring. Not too much going on in the lead up to the games over the weekend, but a few things have popped up so I thought I'd do a roundup/link dump of what's been going on this week.

First, Adebayor said he "regrets" stomping on former teammate Robin van Persie's face last month.

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Apparently some pranksters with a line-marking machine vandalized a soccer field. Here's a quote in reaction.
"To be shafted like this is a bitter pill to swallow, it's a balls up which may leave our next fixture in doubt."
Too funny.
Now the links:

• Europa League roundup.

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Off the Pitch Week in Review is a new weekly feature on Match Fit USA, intended as a timeline-style roundup on events surrounding American soccer that have occurred everywhere but the field in the...

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So, no points in New England. It happens. Everyone got all excited when we went ahead, but when you're relying on world class goals (and damn, that was amazing), you're going to come up short.
As for the Revs, I can't see New England going very far in the playoffs, especially if Ralston's badly injured. Click to continue reading...

Not sure why you'd want to imitate Maradona these days.
Might be shot by accident.
Pretty funny though.
To the links:

• One crazy road trip. [Off the Post]
  
• Brian McBride Q&A. [Goal! NY Times]
  
• Where are all the EPL draws? [Unprofessional Foul]
  
• The week's best quotes and chants.

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Don't worry, it's going down.
And South Africa is happy to report it leading into the World Cup. Though robberies are up and that pushed the overall crime up.
Only slightly more than 18K were murdered last year. But I think when it comes to that stuff, no news is good news.
To the links:

• A little Carling Cup roundup.

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We're only 5 games in, but the SPL is already beginning to take on a familiar shape: the Old Firm at the top, a clutch of also-rans in the middle and the rest following on below. Click to continue reading...

It's been a while since I've done a roundup of the leagues in Central America, but now's a good time now that we're approaching the midway point of the short seasons: In Guatemala, Municipal have opened up a four point lead over their closest rivals Xelajú. The big surprise in the Apertura has been the performance of promoted side Juventud Retalteca. Click to continue reading...

A quick roundup of the news in bullet form. I'll be doing this a bit, school is killing me at the moment.
1. We beat Santo Andre 1x0 with the goal from Germano in fairly drab game. It seems that against weaker teams the guys take it easy. Missing Ganso is a going to be a huge problem. I'm still wondering how he got called up but Dentinho is still with Corinthians. Click to continue reading...

Only the pure facts and highlights today. If you want something to read, check out the roundup note about Leo Beenhakker.

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My final transfer Top 5 List of this short string arrives tomorrow - only it will be looking ahead to January and will focus on potential MLS departures...#1 - If you weren't really paying much attention to UEFA World Cup qualifying yesterday, here is your group-by-group rundown roundup.#2 - My USMNT v T&T Player Ratings are up. Click to continue reading...

by Usman Azad, Football Perth Editor
WELL, FP is back for another day - after spending a few hours yesterday with his cousin trawling through Perth like a couple of wizened tourists.
Though FP was playing the role of the embarrassed tour guide, his cousin was genuinely fascinated by the city. Click to continue reading...

Christophe Jallet celebtates his goal against Lille

It was a weekend of big matches with champions Bordeaux taking on runners-up Marseille and fallen giants Lyon against a team who have put together some impressive results so far Nancy. Â A few changes were made overall to the Ligue 1 table, with newly promoted Montpellier rocketing into 4th place and Lille slipping into the relegation zone all after 4 matches played.

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If reports in the Portuguese media are to be believed Rodrigo Possebon, who was loaned out to SC Braga, has returned to Manchester. Google translate is not the best, but according to this link, he's been axed because of a squad trimming exercise by the coach.

I also saw it mentioned on the United Youth site in its roundup of our loanees.

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Stuff to read while you get jealous of a corner flag..... The high price of an excessive foul - pay attention, Axel. (ESPN) Germany's simple yet stylish WC 2010 kit. (Football Fashion) Marco Materazzi getting way too used to suing people. (Dirty Tackle) The opening roundup of La Liga's opening weekend. Click to continue reading...

Here we go:

• City closing in on David Bentley?
  
• Fergie rules out late moves.
  
• Juve signs Grosso.
  
• Gudjohnsen and Monaco.
  
• Interest in DaMarcus Beasley?
  
• Earthquakes are buying.
  
• Tottenham eyes Kranjcar.
  
• Here's an extensive roundup.

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Soccerlens has brought you extensive transfer window coverage for several years now - and this year we're asking you to join us in compiling the most comprehensive transfer news database on the Internet.

Like before you'll have Eddie's excellent daily roundup of the latest transfer rumours and confirmed transfers plus regular updates to our transfer lists for 9 European leagues from Shahryar.

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Arsenal's Emirates Stadium might still be shiny, but it lacks history and has been criticised for its soulless feel, a fact recognised by Arsene Wenger. "Highbury had a natural soul, because of the history," said Wenger "We have to create history here at the Emirates.

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Absolutely no time tonight, and none tomorrow either (blame the end of the cricket season, which may stop me seeing the United game live next week), so instead, here's a bullet point roundup:

• United losing was great news, but they aren't a spent force without Ronaldo. It would be foolish to write them off, and I hope no-one does.

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Something to click after you enjoy this freekick from goalkeeper Márcio in Brazil Série B... A different breed of soccer mom (Unprofessional Foul) The most Googled Premier League XI (The Spoiler) First look at Football Manager 2010 (FM Roma Offside) Roundup of reactions to Mexico 2-1 USA (Du Nord) Abstractly illustrated Premier League preview (Sport is a TV Show) English football [. Click to continue reading...

After absorbing everything from yesterday's 2-1 loss at Azteca, here are some final thoughts:

• It's disappointing but not damning. Six points against El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago will make me forget about it.
  
• I know Mexican fans have a reputation for being bad, but I am thoroughly disgusted with what I read about here, and from Grant Wahl's little notebook (at the end).

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GO USA!!! Go watch and cheer on the US!!!Hillcrest Road has a roundup of all the watch parties and viewing methods. Thanks Kyle. Click to continue reading...