Fernando Torres will defy doctor's orders to try to haul Liverpool out of their slump.
Groin-strain victim Torres wants to play against Birmingham on Monday despite being told not to play for THREE weeks.
It could spark a row with Spain who agreed not to pick Torres, 25, for their prestige date with Argentina. Click to continue reading...

Last week I posted what I believed to be Rafa Benitez's 10 biggest transfer blunders. This week, as promised, I take a look at the 10 best signings during the Boss's 5 years in charge. And there have been some absolute corkers!
When you think back to the squad Rafa inherited (Traore, Biscan, et al), it is clear that our squad is now superior in almost every way. Click to continue reading...

Look at that sweater. That is not a sweater that a sane man wears. Since taking over as manager at Barcelona, Pep has been something of a touchline fashion icon, but this...this is madness.

Look at it it's like he cut two different sweaters down the middle and sewed them together to form one headache-inducing schizophrenic bastardization of clashing designs.

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We start off this week's predictions with the Asian Champions League final as football increases in popularity in Asia this competition is going to get a bigger and bigger profile. Staying in Asia, we have a crunch game for the leaders of J-league, then some big games involving some the front runners in England, France and Spain, before we go south to a basement battle in Argentina.

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I've lifted the F-bomb ban on Cut of the Day because it's Friday and I wanna...#1 - In the aftermath of last night's Real Salt Lake upset of the champs, James Edward pops the surprise cork and Shawn Mitchell does the Crew autopsy.#2 - After another loss to Benfica at home last night, Everton keeper Tim Howard knows his side is in a real scrap for the Europa League knockouts. Click to continue reading...

The Madrid derby takes center stage in Spain this weekend and once again we're hearing that Pellegrini's head is set to role if Real don't get the desired result... however before that can happen, our amigos at Heads or Tails inform us that the league may be stopped this weekend ... Click to continue reading...

Wenger revealed that Merida had agreed a new contract deal at Arsenal Football Club, but he has not yet signed it.
Major speculation loomed this week on the future of Arsenal's promising young midfielder, with his current contract expires next summer, and rumors has it that Atletico Madrid is keen to keen to bring Merida back to Spain. Click to continue reading...

With much of the qualification process almost complete and South Africa 2010 looming large, it would make sense to assess some of the world's best custodians who will be present during the World Cup. Goalkeepers such as Petr Cech will be excluded from the discussion since their nation failed to qualify for next summer's big event.

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These are all from the Champions League and Europa League, and they are all of superb quality...Let's begin with a thunderbolt from Liverpool's Ryan Babel. I'm tellin' ya, Rafa... don't sell this one away on the cheap.Atlético Madrid's Sergio Aguero rescues his side a point against Chelsea with a choice free kick. Click to continue reading...

Asociación de Fútbol Argentino (AFA) president, Julio Grondona and veteran midfielder Juan Sebastián Verón have officially presented the Argentina World Cup 2010 home kit to the public. The new Albiceleste first choice strip will make its on the field debut in Madrid on November 14th when Argentina meets Spain in a friendly. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres underwent tests on Thursday at a Liverpool hospital on the serious groin injury which is threatening to ruin his season. Torres played with pain throughout the match, before flying back with the Liverpool party on Thursday morning.

This morning he went to a Liverpool hospital where more tests were carried out on his injury.

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Portugal will most likely be missing Cristiano Ronaldo when it hosts Bosnia-Herzegovina on 11/14/09 as it looks to build some momentum prior to the return leg in Bosnia on the 18th of November. Unfortunately for the Portuguese the latest report claims Ronaldo will be out for about a month which means he will not feature in both matches for the national team.

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The Spanish U/17 National Team put on the magic to defeat 4-1Burkina Faso & in doing so qualify for the Q/Finals at the U/17World Championships being held in Nigeria.Spaniard SERGI ROBERTO scored a HAT TRICK ( 19th, 56th &67th min) with fellow team-mate CARMONA scoring a penaltyin the 83rd min. For Burkina their player IBRANGO managed agoal in the 26th min. Click to continue reading...

Juan Pablo Sorin officially ended his playing career yesterday in the farewell game between Cruzeiro and the club where he began his footballing career, Argentinos Juniors.

Sorin's had a really impressive career.

From his success with River Plate to his transfer at a very young age to Juventus.

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While all were oohing and aahing over Barcelona's sex on a pitch football and the free-spending ways of Florentino Perez returning to Madrid, the biggest difference maker in Spanish football was lurking under the Spanish limelight. In fact it was lurking so far under the Spanish limelight it was in Britain. Click to continue reading...

Image via Wikipedia Although many have called it unfair, the seeding system adopted for the play off matches to decide the final four European teams that will make it to the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa, has produced four potentially exciting match ups. The two leg matches will be played on November 14th [. Click to continue reading...

According to Fran Merida's agent, the 19-year old is tempted by a move to Atletico Madrid. Impressive with Spain's Under 20 side in the World Cup Finals and scorer of an amazing goal against Liverpool ...

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According to Fran Merida's agent, the 19-year old is tempted by a move to Atletico Madrid. Impressive with Spain's Under 20 side in the World Cup Finals and scorer of an amazing goal against Liverpool ... Click to continue reading...

Not a lot today.

• Maicon laughs off City link.
  
• Leverkusen send injured Renato back.
  
• Vieri to Botafogo?
  
• City to replace Robinho with Ronaldinho?
  
• Altidore returning to Villareal?
  
• Napoli getting Dosena?

Jozy back to Spain? Click to continue reading...

I think headaches should be outlawed on Wednesdays. I mean, you are as far removed from the most recent weekend as you are from getting to the next one. That's enough misery. A headache on Wednesday is overkill. I vote "no" on Wednesday headaches. What say you?#1 - Chivas USA netminding monster Zach Thornton was tabbed as the MLS Goalkeeper of the Year for a second time today. Click to continue reading...

Tonight Rafa Benitez is on the managerial tightrope when his side faces Lyon in the Champions League. Liverpool have to win, if Fiorentina and Lyon win then Liverpool can say goodbye to major silverware this season and Benitez can probably say goodbye to his job.

Benitez's side is decimated by injuries and an awful lot of responsibility is on the shoulders of Fernando Torres tonight if he plays.

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The U17 World Cup from Nigeria
Round of 16
USA v Italy - see it live at 9am Central time only on ESPN360.com
dN
Lots of pregame info from US Soccer.
dN
USA starting 11:
G
Earl Edwards
D
Eriq Zavaleta
Zachary Herold
Jared Watts
Tyler Polak
M
Luis Gil
Nick Palodichuk
Marlon Duran
Alex Shinsky
F
Jack McInerney
Stefan Jerome
dN
The winner of this game will play the winner of Switzerland v Germany in the Quarterfinals on Sun Nov 8. Click to continue reading...

The rise of La Liga and its increasing appeal to foreign players can be attributed to more than just Real Madrid spending money like a teenage girl with a trust fund. Everyone agrees that the "Beckham Law", which allows footballers to pay almost half the taxes that normal people do, has been a big draw, especially as the tax rate has risen in the UK.

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The UEFA Champions League had a full set of group stage matches on Tuesday, November 3, 2009 including Chelsea traveling to play Atletico Madrid in Spain. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Chelsea draws with Atletico Madrid 2-2 Video Highlights

It was a quick start as Atletico Madrid came out with confidence playing at home.

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Liverpool youngster Mikel San Jose may be set to return from his loan spell in Spain ahead of schedule.
The 20-year-old defender agreed to join Athletic Bilbao on a season-long deal over the summer, but has grown frustrated at a lack of opportunities in his homeland.
He has been awarded just seven minutes of action this term and feels he needs to explore other avenues. Click to continue reading...

After finishing second in Group E at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, the U.S. continues its run in the Round of 16 when they face Italy on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. CT). Despite an opening loss to eventual group winner Spain, the Americans bounced back for key wins against Malawi and United Arab Emirates to earn six points and a chance to play against the Group F winners.

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After finishing second in Group E at the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup, the U.S. continues its run in the Round of 16 when they face Italy on Wednesday, Nov. 4 at 4 p.m. local time (9 a.m. CT). Despite an opening loss to eventual group winner Spain, the Americans bounced back for key wins against Malawi and United Arab Emirates to earn six points and a chance to play against the Group F winners.

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A little lunchtime viewing for you all...Let's begin with ESPN's MLS playoff first leg wrap, just in case you missed some of it.Yesterday we saw the MLS Goal of the Year nominees, and now it's time to run down the Save of the Year candidates.As always, we look back at MOTD2's 2 Good 2 Bad.We got back to ESPN to talk Champions League for two glamour teams in a pickle: Liverpool and Real Click to continue reading...

One of the most intriguing aspects of Spanish football is the way in which the different sets of supporters around the country react to defeat.
It's becoming better known nowadays that Spain is really a loose collective of chalks and cheeses, where you can cross a regional border and suddenly feel as though you are on a different planet - so it comes as no surprise that each football club in the country is un mundo (its own world). Click to continue reading...

NOTHING excites us more than meeting a fellow chica who plies her trade in the truly madcap world of the football media. So when Futbolita encountered Kay Murray, the fresh face of Real Madrid TV (which telecasts on Sky TV and Digital in Spain), it was a bit like talking to a long lost hermana. Click to continue reading...

According to Tony Barret in The Times, Fernando Torres has been struggling with a hernia he developed while playing for Spain last month.Great news is it not?The only proper striker we have at the club is playing through the pain to try and save the club from disaster.With so many players in the squad injured at the moment, we will struggle to put out 11 fit players on Wednesday in Lyon. Click to continue reading...

How fun must it be to work on It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia? This show is like Seinfeld with the evil turned up to 11. Sometimes, the best comedy of manners is the one without any (also see Curb Your Enthusiasm)...#1 - A few local all-stars hook us up with the view heading into respective first round deciders:- Bernardo Fallas on HOU/SEA- Nick Green on LA/CHV- Shawn Mitchell on CLB/RSL#2 - Click to continue reading...

While Maradona is busy making a shamockery of the Argentinean national side, the man who typically lurks behind Diego & Pele whether prudent or not in the discussion for the world's greatest ever player has returned to football. Johan Cruijff, arguably the greatest ever player/coach combination in football history, has returned to the bench Catalonia and don't you call it Spain.

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Sometimes it is very easy to tell merely a couple of months into the season whether or not the current league leader will run away with the title come the business end of the season. However, as fans of the sport, we often hope that a title race is full of twists and turns all the way till it reaches a dramatic finale.

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The transfer window is slowly approaching. It is still months away from when it officially opens for business, but do not be confused...  transfers are already being worked out. How do I know this? Because it is the nature of modern day sport.

Every day of the year is considered a chance to improve your squad in the modern day transfer market.

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