The games didn't really have everything, did they? The results did some upsets, some heroics, a few of the expected teams going in but outside of the one game which forced a playoff (Egypt 2 Algeria 0), some of these games were completely zapped of the necessary drama.

(Not, of course, that one played in the Stade de France.

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If you really fancy a giggle then have a read of Stan Collymore's column in the Mirror. Now I would never claim to be the brains of Britain but this fella takes the biscuit.
He changes his mind more than I change my socks. And I do that at least four times a week.
Every week I look forward to reading his column because he makes me laugh. Click to continue reading...

Plenty of people have mourned the departure of Xabi Alonso.
He was a great player but hopefully Alberto Aquilani having made his home debut now will start to fill that gap.
But the two players I think we should have kept are Sami Hyypia and Alvaro Arbeloa.
Ok, it's possibly with hindsight but we're missing a dominant centre half – as evidenced by Birmingham's equaliser – and Sami is I'm told playing his socks off for Bayer Leverkusen, who are top of the Bundesliga. Click to continue reading...

The ex- Brazil international shows what he really needs to recover from injuries. One of the most pathetic moments of his career. More than taking care of your socks when France is kicking out of the World Cup:

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Fulham FC has revealed their third kit for the 2009/2010 Premier League season. Designed and manufactured by Nike, the third kit is midnight blue in color and will be worn for the first time in their upcoming away matches against Stoke City and Sunderland.

The new Fulham third shirt is midnight blue, while the shorts are white and the socks are also midnight blue.

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Morning everyone. A fantastic Tuesday to you all. Hope you all enjoyed the win over Birmingham at the weekend, which I missed because I was out of town at my cousin's first birthday party. Good result though, and we're right back in the title race with Chelsea losing. But on to other things.
A while back I talked about receiving an offer from SoccerPro. Click to continue reading...

You know, I never do the CAPTION THIS thing, but this one was too good to pass up . . . .

. . . . As if Red Bulls fan needed another reason to poke fun at their DC rivals.

My entry:

"At least they wore socks ..."

Thanks ESPN the Magazine!

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This post gives explanations of two more footballing clichés. You can find many more examples by going to our football cliché page here.

To run your socks off | Listen to the cliché here

This cliché is used when a team or an individual player is seen to work very hard during a game.

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IT'S all a bit confusing. On one hand Perth Glory, after two successive away wins, are on top of the ladder - something which has probably never happen in the four years of the A-League. On the other hand the manner which those victories came were unpleasant.
No wonder some Glory fans are happy, while some are still discontented. Click to continue reading...

Craig Bellamy is one of the maddest footballers ever but no one can deny him that he is an absolute world-class player. People have often disregarded his footballing qualities and chose to concentrate on his fiery temperament which is basically what makes him such a great player.

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OK, we just completed our second day of pre season soccer training.

Here is the format:
8.15am-10.30 Practice #3 Topic, Running with the Ball and Beating Players

1.00pm-2.00pm Team Meeting #3

2.30pm-4.30pm Practice #4 Topic, Crossing and Finishing

7.00pm-8.00pm Team Meeting #4

The format for the team meetings were as follows:

Housekeeping
Review of the previous practice including Key Points
Briefing on the upcoming practice
Watch 20 minutes of a tape of Man Utd's Treble Winning Season 1998-99

I can outline the practice plans for both of the above, simply send me an email and I will share them with you.

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Celtic 0 Arsenal 2 (Gallas 43, Caldwell og 71)
(Champions League Qualifier Leg 1)

An extremely dangerous qualifying round was all but negotiated hours ago with a highly professional display of passing and pressing, sheer hard work eventually breaking an impressive Celtic resistance, if not their spirit.

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So the first leg of the champions league play off is out of the way and i must say tonight i am somewhat satisfied. I feel as if tonight we played a great game, broke down celtic but also scrapped when needed. I was very imperesed once again� with our centre back pairing and was also very pleased to see some eagerness and ambition going forward.

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Aussie Agents up to their neck in it?
You can almost smell the greed of the Aussie Agent. An Agent who seals the deal for the likes of Brendan Santalab to get a gig in the A-League only to work his socks off to move him and any of his other players as quickly as possible to North Asia, the Middle East or even Europe. Click to continue reading...

Nikki B is a player who usually sparks a mass debate between Gooners.
He has his critics, mainly a section of the Gooner faithful that decided booing him was the best option last season. I didn't agree with it but it seems that the booing gave him a proper kick up the arse.
I think in a strange way it changed him for the better. Click to continue reading...

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For truly cutting-edge, continually-updated news about QPR and football - and only QPR and football - Visit the messageboard (and quasi-blog) QPR Report Messageboard. All perspectives genuinely welcomed!
- Swansea announced Jordi Lopez Signing
- Ex-QPR John Hollins Turns 63
- Gary Borrowdale Turn 24
- Premiership League Agents Fees to be Published
- £168,000 Watches Supposedly Given to Manchester City Players
QPR Official Site - FAURLIN EARNS PRAISE
- Jim Magilton praised the performance of debutant Alejandro Faurlin against NK Celje last night. Click to continue reading...

Photographs of the new Stoke City home jersey for the 2009-2010 season have been revealed on the club'a web site featuring the familiar red and white stripe design of one of the most historic clubs in English football.

Designed and manufactured by Le Coq Sportif, the new design is the perfect balance between tradition and style with a neat V-neck collar, and shirt sponsorship that fits in with the design rather than looking like an afterthought.

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Dinamo Internazionale had the early game, against familiar foes Liverpool Scallies at Ferraro 6 9:55 KO. There was a notably no-show, so Scotty Hutz went in between the sticks. I don't think Scotty has played in goal for three years and he did a great job even though the first Liverpool goal was a compete fluke. Click to continue reading...

Dinamo Internazionale had the early game, against familiar foes Liverpool Scallies at Ferraro 6 9:55 KO. There was a notable no-show, so Scotty Hutz went in between the sticks. I don't think Scotty has played in goal for three years and he did a great job even though the first Liverpool goal was a compete fluke. Click to continue reading...

West Ham United's new home kit won't be released until Monday, but we have a leaked picture of what is presumably it thanks to Football Shirt Culture.

Designed and manufactured by Umbro and sponsored by SBOBET, the new jersey features a checkerboard design on the front in claret, and a very minimal blue trim as opposed to previous seasons when the sleeves were blue.

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The new Wrexham AFC Home Shirt for the 2009-10 Conference season has been revealed. The new Wrexham home kit is designed by Umbro, and is sponsored by Leasedirect Finance Ltd. The new jersey is primarily red in colour, but the sleeves are white ( similar to the 2001 shirt). White shorts and socks complete the strip. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal's new third kit for the 2009/10 season has been officially unveiled on the Arsenal website.

Designed and manufactured by Nike, the white shirt features redcurrant stripes and a polo collar. Further shirt details include a panel of horizontal stripes at the back of the shirt.

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A-League side Gold Coast United have revealed their shirts that will be worn for their 2009-10 league campaign. The Queensland based side are making their debut in the 2009-10 A-League season. The home shirt is yellow in colour, with blue shorts and royal blue socks completing the outfit. Gold Coast United have gone for an all white away [. Click to continue reading...

The England boys were out training yesterday prepping for the game against Andorra today (come on, Engerland!)

As you can see, BFF's Frank Lampard and John Terry decided to express themselves through their sock heights. Shall we analyse?

John Terry's decision to wear thigh-highs: initially one would assume he is taking the role of seducer in this relationship.

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The England boys were out training yesterday prepping for the game against Andorra today (come on, Engerland!)

As you can see, BFF's Frank Lampard and John Terry decided to express themselves through their sock heights. Shall we analyse?

John Terry's decision to wear thigh-highs: initially one would assume he is taking the role of seducer in this relationship.

Click to continue reading...

If you've got £100 million and a Hotmail account, Magpies could be yours Newcastle owner Mike Ashley has proved once and for all that he has less class than the knee-high white Donnay socks he flogs at Sports Direct by putting the club up for sale by email. A statement on Newcastle's official website (talk about [. Click to continue reading...

Well, for all the build up, "Survival Sunday," turned out to be "Sleepy Sunday" in my opinion. I had the misfortune to endure the game between Hull City and the Manchester United 3rd Team and boy did it suck. The only ray of sunshine was the thunderbolt from Darren Gibson to win the game. He then went on to prove that his strike was out of the norm with two more shots from a similar position that sailed at least 20 feet over the bar.

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Photos courtesy of Moroka Swallows team site

Mark Haskins, 28-year-old midfielder for South Africa's top tier league team Moroka Swallows, is coming to LA for a trial with the Galaxy. No time line has been set for his trial. Anyone know anything about him? Style of play?

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Hello everybody and welcome to this fascinating discussion of Arsenal's new away kit for the 2009/2010 season. I am writing about away kits simply for the fact that I don't want to talk about transfers yet, which is all the newspapers are talking about already. So you're stuck with away kits today. Click to continue reading...

After speculation and leaks, Arsenal have unveiled their new away kit.� The kit is "midnight-blue" with a pin stripe effect and polo collar, said to be worn by Arsenal's all conquering 1930s teams (lets hop this inspires this team).
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The Arsenal website states that the design celebrates "the sartorial excellence of the Club's London birthplace," whatever that may mean!

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Not that we're experts in the ways of the lithe, gorgeous and super-rich or anything, but don't the shin pads go underneath the socks?

Perhaps we're missing the point.

We're also wondering when advertisers are going to realise women also just happen to watch the footy and might like some sexified adverts also.

Click to continue reading...

Not that we're experts in the ways of the lithe, gorgeous and super-rich or anything, but don't the shin pads go underneath the socks?

Perhaps we're missing the point.

We're also wondering when advertisers are going to realize women also watch the footy and might like some sexified adverts too?

Click to continue reading...

Afrer a week of updating a teaser for the Blackburn Rovers Umbro 2009/10 away kit, the real thing has been unveiled courtesy of expert modeling by defender Neil Warnock! The new kit will see the Rovers wear a white away shirt for the first time in their history along with striking red shorts and socks. Click to continue reading...

Blackburn Rovers have officially unveiled their new away football kit for the 2009-10 season.

The new Blackburn Rovers away kit, designed and manufactured by Umbro and sponsored by Crown Paints, features a white shirt with red and blue trim, and red shorts and socks.

What do you think of the new Blackburn Rovers away kit?

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Alan Shearer has come out today and praised the effort and play of Newcastle captain Michael Owen on Monday night. Michael Owen - worked his socks off for Newcastle on Monday night � Alan Shearer talked to the Evening Chronicle today about Michael's contribution on Monday night: "There were some big performances out there against Boro. Click to continue reading...