Didier Drogba had a golden chance to win it for Ivory Coast in regulation but missed his spot kick by a MILE. That set the stage for a nail biting PK shootout with both teams deadlocked after 120 minutes + which was won by Zambia as Sunzu Stophira converted his penalty after Gervinho's miss.

The amazing Chipolopolos pull off the impossible as Gervinho misses his PK. The art of war, Sunzu Stophira made no mistake with his chance as Zambia win their first ACN.

A fairy tale end for a country who lost so much 19 years ago in one of sport's heart breaking tragedies minutes away from Libreville, the venue for today's finals.

Filthy lucre: The ruble, the new green

Fabio Capello is reportedly in Moscow after his skiing holiday in Switzerland. The big drop is he's meeting with Anzhi Makhachkala officials who are looking for a replacement for their coach Yuri Krasnozhan.

The Russian coach is an acolyte of Alan Soziyev, the former director general of the club, who departed the club after his contract was terminated by mutual agreement.

Full credit to Osasuna who played like they had nothing to fear against their vaunted opposition. Pep Guardiola resting Xavi, Iniesta, and Fabregas on the bench for the Bayer Leverkusen CL first leg sent in Thiago Alcantara, Pedro, and Sergi Roberto. The latter breaking into the first squad, all of four games old, completed the rejiggered midfield.

szólj hozzá: Inter - Novara 0-1 Caracciolo

Novara, at the very bottom of the Serie won yet again in a clean sweep of Inter with Andre Caracciolo scoring a flamboyant winner. Massimo Moratti dismissed Gian Piero Gasperini after Inter's 1-3 flame out against Novara in their first encounter.

S1-2A by fasthighlights

Sunderland has always been a tough side to crack and yesterday was no different on a horrible pitch at the Stadium of Blight. The first half was marked by the usual spectacle of Arsenal bossing the ball with little to show. Sunderland known for its strong defending did just that but their counterattacking was laboured.

Liverpool's management had seen and heard enough. Kenny Dalglish's head in the sand post match interview coming on the heels of Luis Suarez's dastardly snub of Patrice Evra's handshake were considered damaging enough for their MD, Ian Ayre, to come out condemning their striker.

In particular, Suarez's promise to shake hands with Evra made earlier in the week and then reneging caused much anger.

Legend. Arsenal true blue. Competitor. Finisher extraordinaire.

You couldn't write a better script for Thierry Henry to end his England return. An added time goal for the winner against Sunderland. A bookend to the bookend he installed with his instant winner against Leeds. Both Wenger's subs made massive contributions to the victory as Aaron Ramsey scored the equalizer and Andrey Arshavin sent in a pinpoint cross to Henry lurking in front of goal to elevate his leg and guide the ball past Simon Mignolet.

Brad Friedel, amongst his peers, still going strong at 41 years old

A recent post by Jamie Trecker poses the question will the USA ever win the World Cup? And when will the USA ever produce its own Pele, if ever?

Trecker goes on to say that the USA has always produced top quality goalkeepers, the country's most visible export to overseas leagues in this sport.

A pearce-ing scream: The U21 coach is taking over for the Holland friendly

The players are all coming out of the woodwork. After keeping miserably silent and not offering an ounce of support for their former manager. Man, those must have been the toughest five years of their lives? But they're now tweeting their approval of Harry Redknapp as favourite to lead the Three Lions.

The winning goal for the Taranga Lions was all Gervinho in the 44th minute. The Arsenal winger robbed the ball well behind the half line, and then turned on the burners to blow past the Malian defense down the left channel, cutting in for a superb finish.

Arsenal cannot wait to have him back.

The amazing Chipolopolos scored the winning goal in the 77th minute as substitute Emmanuel Mayuka found space and on the turn curled a right footed shot past Adam Kwarsey in goal. It was probably the second chance for the Zambians and very much against the run of play.

The Black Stars should have gone ahead early as Asamoah Gyan missed out on a golden chance when his penalty was stopped by Kennedy Mweene (bringing back painful memories of his World Cup PK miss against Uruguay).

The Anfield tabby who made an appearance in the Liverpool vs Spurs match has become a major sensation like Susan Boyle, out of nowhere. Probably the most exciting event in that match other than Luis Suarez's kick to Scotty Parker's stomach that sent the Spurs midfielder to the ground grovelling in pain.

Cesc Fabregas and Xavi guide Barcelona to their 12th Copa Del Rey final. Leo Messi had a hand in both goals. Gol TV's inimitable Ray Hudson, "Messi, like a gazelle through the cheetahs" couldn't have said it better. They meet Athletic Bilbao in the final most likely on 25th May.

Harry Redknapp, David Bernstein, and Fabio Capello in Les Liaisons Dangereuses

A day ago, Harry Redknapp was in the dock on tax evasion charges. If proven guilty, it would end his chances to be England manager, a post that he has long coveted. Worse, as a convicted felon, the punishment could mean jail time and a leave of absence from football for a long, long time.

Slowly some of those long standing absences are working their way back into the Arsenal squad and not a moment too soon. The latest update has Kieran Gibbs ready and available for next week's Arsenal Champions League first leg against AC Milan if Wenger so desires. Thomas Vermaelen stuck at left back might finally get some relief and relocate to his more familiar centre back role with Laurent Koscielny.

C'mon 'Arry break out in a smile now!

Harry Redknapp's been found to be as clean as a whistle. The three week trial which took place at Southwark crown courts came to an end as both Redknapp and his former Pompey boss, Milan Mandaric were cleared of tax evasion charges with the prosecution building their case around the Peter Crouch sale which involved two transfer amounts totaling £189,000.

The world's most over rated striker receives a three match ban for slapping Napoli's Salvatore Aronica. To be fair Aronica also indulged in some extra-curricular activities against Antonio Nocerino but Ibra's was a reputation call. He will miss crucial matches against Udinese and Juventus.

Fabio Capello showing what he thinks of the FA's decision to nix Terry's captaincy

The FA and Fabio Capello are increasingly at odds with each other over John Terry's captaincy. The Italian was vocal in his support of the Chelsea defender using the cover of the deferred legal case as a presumption of innocence till proven guilty.

szólj hozzá: Liverpool Tottenham HIGHLIGHTS

Who let the cat out? A tabby provided the most excitement in the Liverpool vs Spurs match, a cagey affair. Luis Suarez came on in the 66th minute after his nine match ban and promptly plonked Scott Parker on the abdomen with a scything foot, an accident more than anything else, but with Suarez the line is finely drawn.

Co-hosts Gabon looked like it was going to be headed to their best showing in any ACN when Eric Mouloungui shot them into the lead in the 55th minute. But Mali had other ideas as Cheick Diabate equalized in the 84th minute. At the end of extra time, with the two teams deadlocked, the fate of the match was decided on PK shootout.

Captain John Mensah puts Ghana ahead through his third international goal. Saber Khelifa equalized after beating Samuel Inkoom to a lofted ball. The match headed to extra time and in the 110th minute, Abedi Pele's son, Andre Ayew scored the winner after Tunisia's goalie, Aymen Mathlouthi coughed up Inkoom's cross right into his path.

Inter's wheels are coming off. After such a strong push to within sniffing distance of Milan and Juve, they have lost to lowly Lecce, drew Palermo and yesterday, Roma took the lumber to them. Juan gets the Giallorossi on the board, Fabio Borini's lovely brace follows, and the Bojan Krkic finishes emphatically to give Roma a thumping 4-0 victory.

szólj hozzá: Chelsea v Man Utd 3:3 MOTD

This was one of the most gripping matches in the season. United improved immeasurably when Paul Scholes was introduced in the 64th minute, one of the key moments of the match. On the other hand, Andre Villas- Boas went negative when he took Daniel Sturridge off for Oriol Romeu in the 71st minute playing it safe protecting a 3-2 lead.

Joey Barton's reaction to the FA's handling of the John Terry racial abuse case

A series of Tweets from Joey Barton on the John Terry racial abuse saga has England's Attorney General breathing hard down his neck. Barton's tweets summed up:

"This John Terry saga, has turned into one of the most hideously managed spectacles I have ever known.

Demba Cisse the most expensive player in the January transfer and the other half of the Senegalese strike force alongside Demba Ba, provided an instant impact as he scored a majestic goal on his debut. Majestic.

Ba and Cisse were away on ACN duty and how they were missed, especially Ba, who gave Newcastle the lead in the 30th minute for his 16th Premiership goal.

Zambia cruised past Sudan, 3-0 to the semi-finals of the ACN, the first time since 1996. Sudan made things difficult for themselves after Ali Saif Eldin was sent off for his second violation when he brought down Rainford Kalaba in the 63rd minute. By that time the Chipolopolos (The Copper Miners) were already a goal up from Sunzu Stoppila.

szólj hozzá: Arsenal Blackburn 7:1 HIGHLIGH

In which RVP scores a sublime hat trick. In which the Ox is unleashed. In which Song continues to find his passing groove. In which Thierry Henry scores his first Premiership goal on his return. In which Theo Walcott made the right choices. In which Frances Coquelin showed why the flanks are so important.

Anton, or is that your name? Now, touch my skin. Worship it.

One should ask the FA why they did such a thorough job investigating Luis Suarez's racial abuse of Patrice Evra and then drop the ball on John Terry doing the same against Anton Ferdinand? Suarez gets an eight match ban, while Terry gets rewarded with a deferment of his trial till after the 2012 Euro is over and retains his captaincy of the Three Lions to boot.

Egyptian soccer is in chaos, mirroring what that country is going through. The Egyptian prime minister dissolved the Egyptian Football Federation, Port Said's governor and police chief were sacked, and the Muslim Brotherhood launched a scathing attack on the Interior ministry, deeming it responsible for the violent Port Said clashes that left 74 dead and scores injured.

Valencia served a reminder of its proud heritage as a football team holding Barca and then denied Leo Messi a PK goal in the Copa Del Rey semi-finals first leg.

Jonas gave the home side the lead at the Mestalla but Carles Puyol who seems to have made a career scoring very important headers equalized for the Blaugrana.

bolton 0-0 arsenal by Futbol2101

What does it take for any other player other than RVP to score goals? It is now official, he's not pretending any more - Theo Walcott has a mind made of mush in front of goal. Always. Aaron Ramsey is another. The Ox too for all his brightness was presented with a clear chance.

Arsenal can confirm that Jack Wilshere has suffered a small stress fracture to the right foot which is in a different location to his original injury. He will be reassessed in two weeks by Arsenal's medical team. If all goes well (keeping fingers crossed), Wilshere might be back in time for Arsenal's Ides of March schedule.

Gunners, waiting for Götze? No longer, Thomas Eisfeld, 19 years old, who's supposed to be even more Götze than Mario Götze and comes from the same club arrives at the Emirates for a princely sum of £420,000. Which means dear Gunners, if you're waiting for the real thing, you're doing it at your own hazard.

szólj hozzá: Everton v Man City 1:0 MOTD

Darron Gibson, did his former club Man Utd a huge favour by striking the one lethal blow last evening. Landon Donovan continuing his great assist work. City were undone before one could say Denis Stracqualursi.

Goodison Park is not exactly happy hunting grounds for City, winning only two of their last 15 encounters in that venue.

There was some fond hope that the man handcuffed to the goalpost was making a grandiose statement about the unholy sums of money destroying football (read City). Or maybe he had tried handcuffing himself to a badger the previous evening with unsatisfying results and wanted something different.

A few months ago, everything was going swimmingly for City. All they seemingly had to do was to show up for win after lopsided win. But then there was a gradual slide in theor fortunes. At the end of January their season is but a litany of thwarted ambitions. Out of the Champions League in December and by last week, the Carling Cup and the FA Cup, their accelerated program to win the Premiership title seems to have hit a wall and in danger of being snatched by those other pesky Mancunians and the upstart Spurs.

Arsenal have signed this guy to partner RVP. Alive and kicking?

If you are an Arsenal fan, your level of excitement should be deader than a dodo.

Wayne Bridge goes to Sunderland and Arsenal can heave a sigh of relief. Ravel Morrison, the Man Utd teenager with a self destructive streak but the skills of a young Paul Scholes, goes to West Ham.

Dan Borislaw hijacking the magic out of women's professional soccer

What a blow to women's soccer after that magnificent exposition by the US national team at the CONCACAF Olympics qualifiers. The WPS has decided to cancel the 2012 season after running into a retaliatory lawsuit bought by the former owner of the magicJack, Dan Borislow.

Novak Djokovic beat Rafal Nadal in a herculean Australian Open finals that lasted 6 hours. The same day Arsenal had to summon every fibre to overcome a two goal deficit to overcome Aston Villa and prevent a FA Cup exit.

And then there is the US Women's team that blanked Canada, 4-0, en route to winning the CONCACAF qualifiers to the London Olympics.