Close the polls, it's already over the goal of 2012 has landed.

It comes way of Bolivia and Erlan Mealla of Nacional Potosi, and it's so good you'd half expect it to be a viral. Maybe the graininess is a purposeful attempt to evoke a sense of legitimacy?

It seems punishment for such a fantastic goal, but he needs to be put on camera and deprived of sleep until he can do it again.

By Alan Duffy

OMG... Da playrz h8 me... Im a total ****... FFS!!! :(

We've all done it, had a few too many down the pub only to drunkenly text someone, usually an ex or someone we fancy. However, I doubt many of us have sent a late night text informing professional footballers that they had been dropped for the following day's game.

Deepdale players discover they now need to be deep sleepers New Preston boss Graham Westley hasn't exactly endeared himself to some of his charges after sending a 2am text message that informed four players that they were being dropped. Westley sent the group text in the early hours of Saturday morning ahead of his side's [.

Surely the media have something else better to do than to make up total rubbish to put to print to attract readers to their articles. I admit, from time to time the right headline grabs attention but in doing that, you have to have a basis and substance to engage the person reading your article to remain interested in it, not to dis-regard it within the first couple of lines.

Love this quote from Robert Khoo, the business manager of Penny Arcade:

Everything that you do is a commodity. In many many instances, the only difference between you and the next guy is how much you're willing to sacrifice... your sleep, your social life... it's not a healthy lifestyle, that of an entrepreneur, but I wouldn't trade it for anything.

As we saw from the second half of the Wolves game, this Arsenal team is more than capable of creating chances and dominating the opposition all over the pitch, but as we saw from the first half at 1-0 against an 'easy' team, they go to sleep.

We've recently seen United win 5-0 twice in a row always hungry for more goals, always wanting to thrash the opposition, something Arsenal have only really managed once this season away to Wigan.

As we saw from the second half of the Wolves game, this Arsenal team is more than capable of creating chances and dominating the opposition all over the pitch, but as we saw from the first half at 1-0 against an 'easy' team, they go to sleep.

We've recently seen United win 5-0 twice in a row always hungry for more goals, always wanting to thrash the opposition, something Arsenal have only really managed once this season away to Wigan.

Images via tumblr. Cheers to Kat for the tip!

... Olalla Dominguez giving Justin Bieber some serious side-eye?

Yes, Kickettes, it flippin' well is. As most of you are probably aware, the Bieb-u-lator was at Stamford Bridge the other day for a kickabout with Frank Lampard and Olalla's hubby Fernando Torres.

Been a little under the weather this weekend, so I've been moving slowly - another way of saying sleep all day. I nearly plum forgot about the owed Carlos Bocanegra goal clip and took a while to notice Tony Taylor's strike in a losing cause on Sunday. It's now Monday, which means tons to do, which means quit the moaning and get 'er done.

Kenny Dalglish believes it is time Luis Suarez was afforded some protection after describing chants of 'cheat' during Liverpool's defeat at Fulham as 'scandalous'.
Uruguay international Suarez has seen his reputation come under attack this season amid accusations that the striker is a diver.
During Monday night's 1-0 loss at Craven Cottage, Suarez saw a goal disallowed for offside and he also had a couple of penalty shouts.

By Chris Wright

In this morning's 'storm in a teacup' news, Luis Suarez is supposedly in trouble with the FA after it was flagged up that the Uruguayan made an 'inappropriate gesture' towards the Fulham fans after Liverpool's defeat at the Cottage last night...

Suarez took a merciless hounding from the home fans ('cheat, cheat, cheat', etc) after trying and failing to wean a penalty out of referee Kevin Friend in the second half and was more than happy to offer the Fulham fans his feedback on their constructive criticism as he left the pitch at the final whistle.

By Chris Wright

In this morning's 'storm in a teacup' news, Luis Suarez is supposedly in trouble with the FA after it was flagged up that the Uruguayan made an 'inappropriate gesture' towards the Fulham fans after Liverpool's defeat at the Cottage last night...

Suarez took a merciless hounding from the home fans ('cheat, cheat, cheat', etc) after trying and failing to wean a penalty out of referee Kevin Friend in the second half and was more than happy to offer the Fulham fans his feedback on their constructive criticism as he left the pitch at the final whistle.

Does it make me a guy that after the game was over all I wanted to do was curl up and go to sleep? Okay, I stayed for a little bit of cuddling and pillow talk, but when it was over I was done.

In the last few posts I've talked about manifest destiny and how this was our time. But all along the way I have been bracing myself for the possibility it might not happen.

Feliz Sabado! It's our weekend wrap-up again, and first on the menu is Cristiano's enthusiasm for playing dress-up... típicas! Earlier this week, your favourite Portuguese hunk (don't try to deny this, grandmas!) launched his special CR7 collection, which features a series of his favourite white sneakers, the Nike5 Street Gato ("cat" in Spanish), specially-designed T-shirts in red, white and blue, a CR7 matchball and even shin-guards!

Akron's Caleb Porter was named head coach of the United States under-23 men's national team, which will try to qualify this spring for the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Porter now has to balance both jobs as he wears multiple hats, with his Akron Zips in the NCAA National Tournament and the US Under-23 team going through preparations for qualification for the next Olympics.

THFC1882 welcomes back Rob for another guest blog. In June Rob wrote this about Harry Redknapp. So have the last five months changed Rob's opinions? Has the manager won him over? Read on to see what Rob has to say:

Five months ago I asked this blog site if I could do an article on Harry Redknapp.

Scott Parker. Man. Beast. Legend.
Scott Parker doesn't sleep, he waits...There is no theory of evolution, just a list of animals Scott Parker allowed to live.Giraffes were created when Scott Parker uppercutted a horseM.C. Hammer learned the hard way that Scott Parker can touch this.When the boogeyman goes to bed at night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris, Chuck checks his for Joe Jordan and Joe Jordan checks his for Scott ParkerScott Parker can slam a revolving doorScott Parker was once stabbed by a knife.

Alright, I promised a few tales from my trip, so let's get to it. Buckle up, it's a coaster ride.The night before I have everything in place and ready, I get to sleep not quite as early as I'd hoped, but certainly early enough. Everything had been settled and booked, and it looked like smooth sailing.

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place: and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead: Short days ago,
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved: and now we lie
In Flanders fields!

Today's Schedule: Packed
After four days of training camp the U-23 Men's National Team is taking the field today in two scrimmages. The squad is being split, with one team heading 30 km east to Bochum to take on VfL Bochum and the 2nd Bundesliga side's complex. That group of players was up early this morning to grab an 8 a.

The majority of the players have arrived and the first day is winding down here on the outskirts of Paris. The treatment room is wrapping up for the night as players head to sleep ahead of two sessions tomorrow.
Most of the players were in by the late afternoon. They arrived at the hotel before going on a quick jog to loosen the legs.

If you live in the United States, hopefully you enjoyed an extra hour of sleep this morning to prepare for a very hectic day of Premier League soccer. Kicking off the day is Newcastle United against Everton. In the past ...
This is a content summary. Visit http://www.epltalk.com to read the entire article

I believe that sports should be a meritocracy, that is the only way they can have any meaning, otherwise they are subject to the same random lottery that the rest of life is.

The only way you can separate the good from the average from the bad is through repetition, through a lengthy process that separates the wheat from the chaff.

I woke up this morning after another miserable sleep (my entire family has been sick all week) and patiently waited for the alarm to sound at 0530 hours. I then proceeded into my methodical habits for early morning Arsenal matches of slipping on whatever clothing was lying around, and immediately making a strong pot of coffee.

Billy Kennedy, the head coach of the Texas A&M basketball squad, has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease. He has decided to leave the team to deal with the disease, however he's expected back at some point.

The diagnosis points to Kennedy's disease being in an early-stage. He had tests run recently have complaining of pain in his shoulders and neck that lead to exhaustion and a lack of sleep.

There are few things more fun than going on a roadtrip to watch your team play. As you may remember, I documented my experience going with ECS to Vancouver. Well, if you're looking for something to do this weekend, ECS wants to make sure you are more than welcome to join them.

From the look of it, there is no organized bus trip, but they are organizing carpools and helping people finding lodging.

By Chris Wright

Suddenly Cameron Jerome's nonsensical red card against Maccabi Tel Aviv last night makes sense...

We put it to you that Anastassios Kakos is in fact the evil twin brother of our beloved Howard Webb (everybody knows the evil twin always grows a convenient 'Ming the Merciless' goatee so as to avoid confusion) and has vowed to wreak his terrible vengeance on the world one naff striker at a time after being kicked out of the Magic Circle for several 'rabbit-related misdemeanours'.

Ah, sleep. That's the stuff.

We start this morning with Arsene Wenger saying pretty much what I said yesterday. There is nothing more important than the next game. At his press conference yesterday, he said:

What we are hopeful for and what we can achieve is to win our next game.

Good morning. I woke up late and I have somewhere to be this morning. Funny how you never wake up late when you have nowhere to be. And it's all my alarm's fault.

I don't know about you but I need to change the sound every so often, otherwise I just get used to it and I'll sleep through it.

When I went to sleep yesterday Manolo Jimenez was still in charge of AEK. When I woke up it was Nikos Kostenoglou. 'A decision both AEK and me agreed on', as Jimenez put it, 'AEK will always be in my heart, but it was time for a change.'

Jimenez has been our headcoach for about a year, and the first one since 2002 who was succesful when it comes to prizes: the Greek cup.

I know you are all a bundle of nerves anyway, so how about a little extra adrenaline just to make sure that you don't get a single ounce of sleep tonight. The U.S. Open Cup Final is going to be unbelievably awesome.

You're never going to sleep a night nightmare-free again. He's on "one of those dancing shows". This will likely not end well.

You could scoop the makeup off his face like ice cream. Though I don't know how makeup with a beard works.

I'll presume most women don't either.

Having taken half a day and a poor night's sleep to deliberate and pacify the murderous, emotionally-based reactions within, it is time now to think clearly and analytically about what went on last night. Not a reaction to the whole game, mind you - CMajor should be along for that sometime today - but a reaction to the undeniable and no-longer-ignorable conclusion that is being drawn across the board in New England Revolution fan circles and maybe, just maybe, to those less passionate about the team.

Gonzalo Segares -- Getty ImagesBy Charlie Corr
ESPNChicago.com
BRIDGEVIEW, Ill. -- The Chicago Fire have found a rare winning stretch, so the team would prefer few to no changes toward its lineup now that it has a good thing going. Chicago posted back-to-back league wins, followed by a Lamar Hunt U.

By Chris Wright

It's worth pointing out up top that he's already denied it, but the Sun are claiming this morning that Man City chief exec Garry Cook has been reported to the FA after being accused of inadvertently sending a frankly appalling email to Nedum Onouha's cancer-suffering mother.

That goal by Götze and the following shot of Löw with the crowd in the background sums it all up. But here are some quick post match thoughts nonetheless.

Christian Gratzel had a bad game. Before showering the German team with praise, it should be said that two and a half of Germany's six goals were gifts from the Austrian goalkeeper.

Seems many think that Becks was juiced by Keane's addition to the squad. Keane has been invited to the post-game presser. Here he is now with Arena.
"This was a hard game for us tonight. I thought San Jose was dangerous." Arena says. The coach says he thought the Galaxy looked tired at points, and it was good to get new players like Keane and Hejduk some work.

Seems many think that Becks was juiced by Keane's addition to the squad. Keane has been invited to the post-game presser. Here he is now with Arena.
"This was a hard game for us tonight. I thought San Jose was dangerous." Arena says. The coach says he thought the Galaxy looked tired at points, and it was good to get new players like Keane and Hejduk some work.

- Jason Davis
An American club went to Mexico and won a game last night. We should be doing back flips, right? Throwing ragers, cracking the seal on our best bottles of special edition liqueur, inviting the breakers of "The Streak" (FC Dallas, in case you hadn't heard) to our homes to eat our food and sleep with our wives.

Photo: Kate Goughary

Will Juan Pablo Angel be joining the Union?

Speculation began to gain momentum when Faryd Mondragon, a close friend of Angel, tweeted, "What a dream come true will be to have my "brother" Juan Pablo Angel to play for the Philadelphia Union, he will fit perfectly in our Team!