Image via Wikipedia It's a shock and disbelief for many of the supporters and Irish fans where Ireland's hopes were dashed after the equalizer by William Gallas. Before crossing the ball Thierry Henry was seen to handle the ball twice which was not observed by the sideline officials and resulted in the equalizer. Click to continue reading...

Consider this the Evening Links and Thoughts for the night. I'm a bit busy at work at the moment so things just didn't come together like I wanted today. Plus I'm still in shock over the Henry handball from the France-Ireland game earlier.

Evening Links and Thoughts appear on WVHooligan typically each day (Monday – Friday).

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Slovenia managed a shock victory over Guus Hiddink's Russia to reach the World Cup Finals.

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We're guessing the buyer wasn't Pepe Reina The red beach ball which helped Sunderland to a shock victory against Liverpool has sold for £411.77 at auction. The inflatable, which deflected Darren Bent's shot past Pepe Reina, was auctioned to raise money for the Alder Hey Imagine Appeal. It is not known who won the auction, but the [. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal fans should not panic over Robin van Persie's shock ankle injury.
The Sun says the stats show Arsenal actually pick up MORE points when he is missing.
Arsene Wenger's side have won 70 of 126 games with the Dutchman in the side since his 2004 debut - a win percentage of 56 per cent. Click to continue reading...

It's amazing, isn't it, how sometimes a game of football has the capacity to command your complete attention to the exclusion of everything else around you?
And then of course there are times when it doesn't.
I meant to pay close attention to it.
I sat down and watched the national anthems and minute's silence for Enke. Click to continue reading...

The city of Alcorcón celebrated their shock victory over Real Madrid in style yesterday, as thousands lined the road to catch a glimpse of their heroes. Fans crowded around the team bus to welcome back their boys and we have to admit, it's certainly a beautiful image!

It's always sad when a death occurs in the football family.

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Although they lost the away leg of their Copa del Rey fixture against Real Madrid 1-0, third division Alcorcon still completed their shock 4-1 aggregate upset over Spain's most expensive team and advanced to the fifth round (of eight) in the tournament.

For Alcorcon, this was their championship, though, and without a doubt the club's defining moment (it was only founded in 1971).

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Beginning Saturday, eight nations in Europe will compete for the last four remaining UEFA spots in the 2010 World Cup. Winners of the two leg playoffs will secure a spot in the World Cup draw on December 4, and the losers endure the pain of watching next summer's tournament from home.

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Guingamp pulled off a shock result by beating FC Nantes 2-0 away from home.

Nantes we favorites to win the game as Guingamp were struggling in the relegation places ahead of the match and Nantes were set to regain a promotion place.

Christian Bassila gave EAG the lead in the 32nd minute, heading home an Alharbi El Jadeyaoui corner, Gilmar then sealed the victory in the 72nd minute when he headed Guingamp into a 2-0 lead.

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Liverpool failed to close the gap on Chelsea tonight as they could only manage a two all draw against Birmingham at Anfield.
David Ngog opened the scoring for the Reds with a thunderous volley into the roof of the net on 12mins.
However Birmingham were soon level when Christian Benitez Headed a goal from a free kick on 28mins. Click to continue reading...

This morning when I woke up and checked my email, my eyes nearly popped out of their sockets (think the 1:06 mark of this classic clip) when I read the U.S. Soccer Federation missive about the roster for the upcoming USMNT friendly against Slovakia. (Saturday, 10 a.m., FSC)As the old saying goes, don't blog angry, so I took a little time to collect myself and my shock that Edgar Castillo, et al, Click to continue reading...

RK TEAM P W D L GS GA W D L GS GA W D L GS GA GD Pts 1 Chelsea 12 10 0 2 29 8 6 0 0 16 1 4 0 2 13 7 21 30 2 Arsenal 11 8 1 2 36 14 5 0 0 20 4 3 1 2 16 10 22 25 3 Man United 12 8 1 3 23 12 5 1 0 13 7 3 0 3 10 5 11 25 4 Tottenham 12 7 1 4 23 17 4 0 2 12 6 3 1 2 11 11 6 22 5 Aston Villa 12 6 3 3 20 12 4 1 1 12 5 2 2 2 8 7 8 21 6 Man City 11 5 5 1 21 14 3 2 0 13 8 2 3 1 8 6 7 20

With 1/3 of the Premier League already past us, Arsenal are now in 2nd place, 5 points behind Chelsea having played 1 game less than the current leaders.

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Real Madrid faced rivals Atletico Madrid on Saturday, November 7, 2009 in the Spanish Primera Division or La Liga. Who won the match and was Real Madrid able to win to keep pace with Barcelona? Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights

Real Madrid beats Atletico Madrid 3-2 Video Highlights

Real Madrid started off strong in the match but Atletico Madrid would make a late charge in the second half.

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Ligue 1 teams had an amazing week in the Champions League (not so much in the Europa) that somewhat validated my prediction of French teams being real contenders this year. While Bordeaux won with class and Lyon once again upset Liverpool in the same manner they did 2 weeks ago, Marseille destroyed Zurich and are now in a position to make Real and Milan sweat. Click to continue reading...

At least Barca drew with Rubin Kazan this time, but in no way did they impress. Something about Champion's League play has the boys from the shore playing snake-bitten...and I think I know what it is.

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Take a look at the crew from Barcelona and answer me one question. Even though they are the reigning European Champions (and have a huge bullseye on their backs) do you think they kind of expect to be in the Final 16?

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Is this the curse of Rubin Kazan? Even exasperated Pep has run out of hand movements to last the entire game... and you know that's bad!

Anyway, after pulling off a shock victory at Nou Camp, everyone from the strange bloke who looks like Robert Pattinson on crack to the stray cat next door is wondering if the mighty Barca are really faltering.

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Some pretty pedestrian stuff so far this week, perhaps everyone still in shock after our thrashing on Saturday. First of all a surprising statistic has been released: Bolton's attendances rose last season by 8%, one of only two clubs to see a rise in attendance. I don't know if you noticed but last season (and more so this current season) the Reebok has been looking strikingly empty.

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PSM Makassar v PSPS Pekanbaru 1-2 (Christian Carrasco; Dzumafo Epandi 2)
This was PSPS's first win of the season and it must have come as a great shock to everyone. Fact is PSM don't lose often at home.
The fans were none too impressed and responded to going 2-0 down by throwing objects on to the pictch. Click to continue reading...

Following a shock 3-2 defeat against Milan at home in the Champions League, and an even more shocking defeat to Alcorcon 4-0 in the Copa del Rey, many Real Madrid fans are calling for injured star Cristiano Ronaldo to return to action to "save" the team before it is too late. The ahem always modest Ronaldo has quickly calmed the Madrid faithful by saying "We are not going through a great moment Click to continue reading...

Following a shock 3-2 defeat against Milan at home in the Champions League, and an even more shocking defeat to Alcorcon 4-0 in the Copa del Rey, many Real Madrid fans are calling for injured star Cristiano Ronaldo to return to action to "save" the team before it is too late.

The ahem always modest Ronaldo has quickly calmed the Madrid faithful by saying "We are not going through a great moment but neither am I the savior.

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Former Newcastle United chairman Freddy Shepherd has blasted Ashley over his plans to sell the stadium naming rights. Freddy said: "I suppose nothing surprises me about the current regime, so news they are ready to sell the naming rights isn't exactly a shock. "I appreciate we are living in a commercial world, but there are some things money [. Click to continue reading...

Phil Brown, ex manager and current suntan oil salesman?

The Independent says that Adam Pearson's shock arrival from Derby means that current chairman Andy Duffen and Phil Brown's biggest ally might be on his way out. If that happens then Brown's tenure at Hull is in danger. The abrasive Hull coach has had a unsettled relationship with some players and was booed by fans when he took off Stephen Hunt against Portsmouth.

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The journey continues for Wenger and Arsenal as they knock Liverpool out in the fourth round Carling Cup clash at Ashburton Grove. As it often is with the second cup competition in England, Wenger put his faith in the lesser lights of his squad. Silvestre took the armband with Senderos as his centerback partner in front of the returning Fabianski.

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No surprise there, then: in a tanking economy where even the nation's most popular league, the NFL, has had trouble selling tickets and Major League Baseball's attendance fell 6.9%, it's not a shock to learn that as Soccer America reports, MLS' attendance fell overall by 2.9% in the regular season just concluded, falling from 16,460 in 2008 to 16,037.

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MORNING folks.
Yesterday FP had a chance to check out a bit of Perth Glory's training session and attend the presser. Also made a couple of interesting observations while he was there.
Firstly, while club stalwart Jamie Harnwell is a few weeks away from recovering from his injury, he had a bit of a run and looked pretty comfortable. Click to continue reading...

With seven teams now finished the regular season and now playoffs to plan for, the attention turns to 2010. That can include a myriad of things -- from a new stadium to a brand new coach. FC Dallas, who ended the season one win away from the playoffs, didn't do enough to save General Manager Michael Hithcock's job, as the club parted ways with him today.

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Arseblog as usual gives an well balanced summation and my two cents is that the "killer instinct" message should be obvious by now. It cannot be emphasized enough but now it needs to be internalized. I also think it comes from a leadership vacuum on the pitch.

This season, most matches need at least two goals for padding.

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Jack Bell creates a list of 10 most memorable games at Giants Stadium.

Some of the highlights.

Last summer's USA vs Mexico Gold Cup final turned out be an embarrassing 5-0 rout. David Beckham's New York introduction in 2007 resulted in a 5-4 pulsating shootout between the Galaxy and the Red Bulls.

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Relegation battlers secured a shock win in the capital thanks to a Tavano goal.

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A brace from Porto striker Hulk helped Portuguese champions to come back from a shock early goal from APOEL.

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0-1 Pereira (Own Goal)

1-1 Hulk

2-1 Hulk

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Rubin Kazan have created one of the biggest shocks in Champions League history when they stunned a seemingly indestructible Barcelona side 2-1 at the CampNou.
Player Ratings
Pep ready to fight after shock home defeat Click to continue reading...

Last night was a lesson, a great one, and, luckily, it was one which didn't cost us anything. There were some serious freak results in the Champions League last night, and while we all know we should have won, when you see Barca getting beaten at home by Rubix Cube, Liverpool losing at home to Lyon after leading, and Rangers getting thrashed by Uzi or whatever they're called, a draw away at the home of the Dutch Champions doesn't seem too bad.

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Richard Farley the host of the Inside the Six podcast and co-host of Russian Football now joins Kartik Krishnaiyer to break down Liverpool's loss at Anfield to Lyon. We also discuss Arsenal's draw in Holland, Rangers collapse at Ibrox, and Rubin Kazan's shock victory at the Nou Camp. Richard Farley is one of the foremost experts on European leagues outside the Premier League, and it is a pleasure to welcome him as an EPL Talk contributor covering the Champions League for the podcast.

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With the Ballon d'Or nominations finally releasing this weekend, the headlines have mostly been devoted to the fact that world champions Italy have no representation whatsoever. But why blame the press for paying excessive attention to an irrelevant detail? After all, the award itself is destined to be heading Lionel Messi's way, which means very little is there to be talked about in terms of debating the winner, right?

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