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.

Earlier this week, I realized I hadn't done a Hat Trick and Question of the Day since before the MLS SuperDraft. Yikes. There have been very good reasons for this though: Between covering the draft in Kansas City, looking at the St. Louis soccer landscape and interviewing both current and former members of the Fire organization, it's been a very good time to write for Hot Time in Old Town.

Former U.S. defender Harry Keough, who passed away Tuesday, was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976.

The U.S. Soccer community mourns the loss of former U.S. defender and National Soccer Hall of Famer Harry Keough, who passed away Tuesday at the age of 84.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The U.S. Soccer community lost a legend Tuesday, as Harry Keough, a national team captain during the memorable 1950 World Cup and a member of the National Soccer Hall of Fame, died at age 84.

Keough was one of the last surviving members of the 1950 team that beat England, 1-0, in what is considered to be one of the greatest upsets in all of soccer.

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.

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.

Didier Drogba could not be denied as he made up for a missed penalty by pouring in a brace. Ivory Coast added another through Yaya Toure as they send Equatorial Guinea, the co-hosts, out of the ACN. The Taranga Lions are through to the semi-finals.

Drogba will be missing today's huge showdown with Man Utd, and in his absence, Chelsea is hoping that misfiring Fernando Torres and Daniel Sturridge, take up the goalscoring slack.

By J Hutcherson - WASHINGTON, DC (Feb 2, 2012) US Soccer Players -- The ballot for the National Soccer Hall of Fame's Class of 2012 was released earlier this week, with two of the nominees presenting themselves as obvious choices. Claudio Reyna and Tony Meola should have no problem getting the requisite number of votes to make them first ballot Hall of Famers.

Mohamed Abou-treika whose accomplishments as a humanitarian are as luminous as his accomplishments on the soccer pitch announced his retirement from his beloved Al Ahly club. He was joined by fellow icons Emad Moteab and Mohamed Barakat, all stalwarts of the club as they made their announcement on Ahly TV.

Another week of Sporting KC Wizards updates. As mentioned yesterday, 8 former players are up for the US Soccer Hall of Fame. Coming up soon, Stephane Auvray will figure out his new team in India when the new premier league holds it draft for "lesser known" and Indian players. Also, Neal Kitson is on the move, joining Northampton Town of the Football League 2.

Photo by ISIphotos.com

U.S. Soccer released its ballot for the National Soccer Hall of Fame on Tuesday, with 31 former players -- and 12 first-time nominees -- making the final ballot for the Class of 2012.

Among the first-timers are former U.S. goalkeeper Tony Meola and captain Claudio Reyna.

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.

Today, US Soccer came out with their list of candidates available for selection to the US Soccer Hall of Fame. On that list are two current coaches of Sporting KC. Head coach and technical director, Peter Vermes is on the list again, as is assistant coach, Kerry Zavagnin, in his first year of eligibility.

For the seventh consecutive year, I'm one of the voters for the National Soccer Hall of Fame, and it's a responsibility I take very seriously. I've made each of my previous six ballots and the rationales behind them public, so there's no need to change now.

There are 12 newcomers on the 31-player ballot for 2012.

For the seventh consecutive year, I'm one of the voters for the National Soccer Hall of Fame, and it's a responsibility I take very seriously. I've made each of my previous six ballots and the rationales behind them public, so there's no need to change now.

There are 12 newcomers on the 31-player ballot for 2012.

Leo Messi scores his hat trick over the weekend. But this is not so much about his skills as sublime as they are but Ray Hudson's orgasmic Gol TV commentary that accompanies those goals. "Nothing less than the equivalent of a footballing bird of paradise. He is like Dr Spock, out off his Vulcan mind" .

David Hytner's article hints at Ivan Gazidis's plans to sell the Arsenal brand:

" Gazidis has identified a huge discrepancy between the worldwide reach of the Arsenal brand and the revenue that it generates. He believes that bringing the latter up to speed - the club have sophisticated strategies in place to do so - is the surest way forward.

Two Chelsea team mates conspire for Cote D'Ivoire's winning start to their 2012 ACN campaign. Salomon Kalou floats the ball from the left as Didier Drobga soars up to power his header. Looks like 34 year old Drobga still has plenty of oomph - is he really leaving for the Chinese Super League?

Yeah, Becks own underwear designs, part of H&M's David Beckham Bodywear collection will feature in a 30 second ad in the second quarter of this years Super Bowl, which will not feature the Green Bay Packers. Will it drive you to encase your goolies in a Becks underwear or will you come up fourth and inches?

Put this miss down as one for the season. 2 metres out in front of goal and Robbie Findley makes a complete mess after Leicester City's goalie fails to hold onto a cross. Findley's club, Nottingham Forest were humbled by City letting in four goals without scoring any in their FA Cup third round tie.

Indians will see Roberto Pires in action next month

Instant cricket, the 20/20 version has found a home in India's Premier league, one of the world's most lucrative sporting brands, till corruption eroded its worth. The success of the IPL is inspiring a new soccer league in India which will see the likes of Roberto Pires, Fabio Cannavaro, Juan Pablo Sorin, and others participating in a soccer competition styled on the IPL format.

szólj hozzá: Swansea City 3-2 Arsenal

Arsenal's bright start through who else but Robin Van Persie was dashed within minutes as Aaron Ramsey brought down Nathan Dyer, an absolute pest to the Gunners, and Scott Sinclair converted the penalty. The foul looked pretty soft. Andrey Arshavin who had threaded the pass through for RVP's goal was guilty of less precision in the second half as Ramsey could not latch onto his errant service gifting the ball to Joe Allen.

Tevez's 52 goals in 91 City appearances may again prove appealing to Mancini

Alexandre Pato put the spokes on a PSG move as he came out with a statement.

" Milan is my home. I did not want to interrupt my career with the Rossoneri after winning my first two trophies with this shirt.

There is a big laundry list of things new manager Mark Hughes needs to get QPR off and running. The London side have scored just 19 goals, one more than Wigan's output, the worst in the Premiership. Apart from the scoring woes, one of Hughes's biggest priorities will be to get Barton to act like the senior citizen he should be at 29 years of age.

He is back. The look in his eyes says it all.

Arseblog:

" His reaction is raw, visceral. From sheer delight to chest thumping, from crowd waving to an embrace with Arsene Wenger, it's a moment that nobody will forget."

A Cultured Left Foot:

" the years rolled away as Song slid the ball through the line of defenders, the left edge of the penalty melted as Henry's body shape dictated where the shot was going and inevitably ended.

szólj hozzá: Arsenal v Leeds 1:0 HIGHLIGHTS

The stage was set after 68 minutes of frustrating football with Arsenal brought to a standstill by a Leeds Utd team that parked the bus. The moment everyone was waiting for with bated breath. Number 12 strode in to a standing ovation - Thierry Henry had arrived home to a flood of good time memories.

16 year old Romarinho, the son of one of the most prolific goalscorers in history, Romario, scores a vital winning goal for Vasco's youth team in their opener against Sao Francisco.

Romarinho begins his career at Vasco, like his father, before he moved onto PSV and thereafter Barcelona cementing his place as one of the world's most feared poachers.

David Beckham's MLS fans will be delighted by the news that he will not leave for PSG. They have many more years to look forward to new tattoos being added to his various body parts and then orifices. Oh! yes, and a few sublime deliveries. Forgot about that.

szólj hozzá: Wolwes 1-2 Chelsea Highlights

Frank Lampard should have been sent off for his dangerous tackle. The Blues did enough for a must win against Wolves who made it very interesting. Ramires put AVB's boys up but Wolves answered back through Stephen Ward. It was left to Lampard, an increasingly likely transfer prospect to score the winner.

Sebastien Squillaci: Flumm-oxed

1. There are no free passes in the Premiership: Even the so called lesser teams have their moments under the sun. You underestimate them at your own peril. Teams that got bitten badly this past weekend: United, City, Chelsea, and Spurs.

szólj hozzá: Fulham vs Arsenal 2:1 MOTD

Depressing. Very depressing. As bright and incandescent as Arsenal were the first half, the second half was an absolute blight. The Gunners looked drained, bereft of ideas, and they let Fulham walk all over them. It was an reversion to many a game last season where Arsenal showed distinctly no ambition other than to run out 90 minutes.

John Terry's BFF, Wayne Bridge rumoured to be on Wenger's radar

A bridge to nowhere. With Thomas Vermaelen out with a calf strain, there is officially no left back specialist left on the Arsenal senior roster. In the match Wenger subbed off Vermaelen replacing him with Francis Coquelin who looked a bit suspect when tracking back but looked in his element pushing up the channel.

szólj hozzá: Sunderland v City 1:0 HIGHLIGH

Sunderland continued the theme of the underdogs upsetting the favourites this weekend as they stunned City at the Stadium of Light with as Ji Dong-won's last second goal. Clearly offside. But the Black Cats won't be complaining. And it was a lovely bit of skill by the South Korean as he slalomed around Joe Hart to caress the ball into an open goal.

szólj hozzá: Chelsea v A.Villa 1:3 MOTD

David Luiz was AWOL as Villa took advantage of Chelsea's non-existent central defense to first slip in Steve Ireland, then Stilyan Petrov, and finally Darren Bent. The last two came within minutes of each other towards the end of the match. Stamford Bridge erupted in boos.

szólj hozzá: Man Utd v Blackburn 2:3 MOTD

David De Gea's horrendous flapping at a corner led to Grant Hanley following up on his header by bulling through to the ball again for Blackburn's winner and his debut Premier League goal. It was a shocking win for the cellar dwellers and it completely knocked the sails off the celebratory mood enveloping Old Trafford before the game on the occasion of Sir Alex's 70th birthday.

szólj hozzá: ARS-QPR www.megafutboltv.com

An Arsenal side on a swoon of sorts was able to pick itself up against QPR as Robin Van Persie once again showed how to finish an opportunity. The goal was RVP's 35th, an Arsenal record for a calender year, and falling short of Alan Shearer's prodigious output by a mere goal.

Dr. Thomas Fleck, an icon in youth soccer coaching education, passed away on Saturday, December 24, at the age of 74.
A 40-year member of the National Soccer Coaches Association of America, Fleck served as president of the NSCAA for two years (1984-85), Fleck was instrumental in the establishment of the NSCAA Academies, the association's soccer coaching education division.

Barcelona eases past Saudi Arabian club Al Sadd as Adriano scores a brace in the first half taking advantage of some shoddy defending. Seydou Keita and Maxwell rounded off the tally in the second half.

Barca's entry into the finals was not without a price as David Villa broke his leg and could face up to six months off the field making him a serious doubt for the Euro campaign.

The recent release of the designs for the new Philadelphia Union home and away kits got me thinking about the evolution of the kit designs of other teams in Philadelphia soccer history. Today, the regular release of new jerseys is an important part of the marketing of a professional team, not to mention a lucrative source of revenue.