By Chris Wright

United made it Manchester 2-0 North London in the second of Sunday's super-duper all-singing-all-dancing encounters, beating Arsenal 2-1 at the Emirates to whittle City's lead at the summit of the Premier League back down from six points to three.

This could be the first step in the Americanization of the game. Probably, few people would be willing to call it that, but some purists feel the pull. It's like a riptide over the Atlantic Ocean.
And, yet, other purists say they're ready for it.
The announcement was made this week by FIFA President, Sepp Blatter.

In case you missed Wednesday's games, or you just can't wait until this evening's contests, catch the highlights from the opening two matches of the 2011 Nike International Friendlies.
In the tournament opener, Brazil edged Turkey with an impressive solo effort from substitute Linik in the 64th minute.

An early WBA goal was the only thing that West Brom got right. Adebayor had a a penalty denied but followed up the rebound for a goal. Ade scored again in stoppage after Defoe put Spurs up 2-1 late in the game.Video: FoxSports
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By Alan Duffy

Old shirt? New shirt? What's the difference?

"Why always me?" well, Mario, maybe it's because you're a bit of an eejit!

In Italy's 1-0 defeat at the hands of Uruguay, the City star came on as a second-half substitute wearing the Azzurri's old shirt, rather than the swanky brand new one which had been unveiled in the run-up to this game.

Manchester United's Patrice Evra recently accused Luis Suarez of racial abuse, but this is not the first time Liverpool FC have been embroiled in a racism row. Retired Premier League referee Graham Poll how the FA dealt with a similar allegation involving Liverpool FC back in the late 1990s.

I picked a fine game not to watch live. You know something good has happened when you get a text message saying "Stop what you're doing. Right now. Ok. Watch the Fire NOW!". This option wasn't available to me but I checked my phone and saw the two goals in stoppage. I totally didn't scream like a little girl who just got her first My Little Pony toy.

By JOHN BOSCHINI

For the second consecutive year, the Carolina Railhawks scored four goals in the return leg against the NSC Minnesota Stars. Only this time, it wasn't enough.

Minnesota advanced to the NASL championship series on penalty kicks despite losing a wild 4-3 game in Cary on Saturday.

See, when it comes to firecrackers, the typical method of disarming one's self is to fire it onto the field of play, allowing it to glow brightly in the cushy comforts of the green grass. Some Swiss hooligans went against conventional thinking and fired one into the stands on the weekend, causing a stoppage in the Grasshoppers v Zurich derby, a game eventually (and smartly) cancelled.

With only one "natural" defender in Pep Guardiola's lineup on Monday night FC Barcelona took the Camp Nou pitch to open the 2011/2012 La Liga campaign after a one week strike stoppage.

Due to the unavailability of Pique, Puyol, Alves, Adriano and Maxwell Pep Guardiola decided to unveil a new formation for the La Liga champions.

photo by Michael Long

Game Time: 4 pm Saturday

TV: Comcast Sports Network

The Philadelphia Indpendence is back in the WPS Final for the second time in only their second year of existence. After dropping last year's final 4-0 to FC Gold Pride, this year's motto has been "unfinished business".

BY ADAM SERRANO

Chivas USA have another decision to make with their top spot in the allocation order.

Former United States Under-20 striker Sammy Ochoa was signed by the league on Wednesday and on Friday, the league will decide his placement via an allocation draft.

Their Words The whole game was quite a unique experience with the stoppage of the game yesterday when we were winning 1-0, sitting around in the locker room for another two hours last night and then getting up early this morning for kickoff. It took a lot out of both teams, but again, our boys came through.

The Fort Lauderdale Strikers had the difficult task in trying to defeat the Carolina RailHawks on Saturday night. The RailHawks have lost at home just once in the entire season. The defeat was in their home opener to the Puerto Rico Islanders in a match marred by poor weather and a play stoppage due to [.

In what bizarro world do we live that Brazil gets handed a beating at the hands of Uruguay? Apparently, the one where Alvarez converts a penalty after the Brazil keeper seemingly is snapped in half and as usual Brazil forgets what defense is as a completely unmarked Uruguay put the nail in the coffin with their 3rd goal in stoppage.

Forgive me for the interminable stoppage in writing over the last five weeks or so. I've been doing a little thing called climbing to second place in the Western Conference standings. I know, we've played a thousand more games than everyone else - ok, two - but second place, right? Right?

Right.

Reina
Flanagan Carragher Skrtel Aurelio
Lucas Spearing
Kuyt Meireles Cole
Suarez
Goals:
Downing 33'
Conspiracy theorists: compare the last two games to the three or four before it. Do you think Liverpool really wanted to be in next year's Europa League?

SEATTLE, Wa.—Jeff Parke scored on a header off Tyson Wahl's corner kick in the third minute of second-half stoppage time to give the Seattle Sounders a 1-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Saturday night. Sounders goalkeeper Kasey Keller made three saves for his third shutout of the season. Wahl's corner kick from the right [.

The best morning match will be Kickapoo vs Lee's Summit West. 11:30 am at Kickapoo.

5:15pm KHS South Championship

5:15pm KHS South 3rd Place

2:00 pm Parkview grass field 5th
place
Howell
Heritage -

12:00 pm Parkview grass field 7th place
Jeff City
Republic -

Morning Games

FRANCIS HOWELL wins
JEFF CITY -

HERITAGE wins
REPUBLIC -

SPRINGFIELD CATHOLIC 3 (halftime)
OAK PARK 2
Oak Park scores in stoppage of 1st half to narrow the gap

LEE'S SUMMIT WEST 1 (halftime)
KICKAPOO 0

Catholic (1-0)
Kickapoo (1-0)
Lee's Summit West (1-0)
Oak Park (1-0)
Jefferson City (0-1)
Heritage (0-1)
Francis Howell (0-1)
Republic (0-1)

Well that was some ugly soccer played on Saturday night. The Rapids midfield couldn't hold the ball and the Colorado forwards couldn't do much with it when they did get it. Despite that the Rapids managed to get a win over Chivas while only getting a combined 11 minutes out of the C+C Goal Factory.

There are reports that the Japanese national team will withdraw from this summer's Copa América to be held in Argentina. After last weekend's massive earthquake and tsunami in the country, the entire sporting calendar -- as well as the rest of the Japanese economy and society -- has been thrown in turmoil.

Brad Guzan got the start in goal for Hull City on Tuesday, beating Derby County 1-0 at Pride Park. Guzan needed six saves for the shutout, with Anthony Gerrard scoring in the 71st minute. Also in the Championship, Eddie Johnson got the start and played 58 minutes in Preston North End's 2-2 draw at Nottingham Forest.

BIRMINGHAM, England — Carlos Vela saved Roy Hodgson from defeat in his first match as West Bromwich Albion manager as the Mexican striker's last-gasp goal earned a 1-1 draw against local rivals Wolves on Sunday. Hodgson was moments away from opening his reign at the Hawthorns in the worst possible manner as Albion trailed to [.

BIRMINGHAM, England — Nikola Zigic gave Birmingham City a 1-0 away to West Ham on Sunday that moved the Blues out of the relegation zone and dropped their fellow strugglers to the foot of the Premier League table. The giant Zigic secured a precious three points for the Blues, now 16th in the standings, when [.

BARCELONA, Spain It's not like it was a gigantic to surprise to any experts who bet on soccer or any soccer fans in general, but it's still worth noting: Barcelona has advanced to the Copa del Rey final. Barcelona already had an astounding 5-0 lead over Almeria after the first leg between the teams [.

MADRID, Spain — Real Madrid will face arch rivals Barcelona in a mouthwatering Kings Cup final after Jose Mourinho's Madrid side defeated holders Sevilla 2-0 at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday to reach their first final since 2004. Togo forward Emmanuel Adebayor scored his first Real goal deep in stoppage time to add to an [.

MANCHESTER, England Wayne Rooney returned to scoring form with two goals in Manchester United's 3-1 Premier League win over Aston Villa at Old Trafford. Rooney bookended the first half with a goal after just 48 seconds and another in stoppage time. He came into the game with one goal from open play since last [.

DOHA, Qatar — Dominant three-time champions Iran cruised past the United Arab Emirates 3-0 at the Asian Cup Wednesday to finish the group stage as the only side with a 100 percent record. Striker Arash Afshin opened the scoring in the 70th minute only to be sent off for a fierce challenge on UAE goalkeeper [.

By Tony Edwards - SAN JOSE, CA (Jan 11, 2011) US Soccer Players -- It looks easy being an assistant coach in Major League Soccer. Sit on the bench in a polo shirt. Lean in and talk to the head coach during the game. Maybe once in a while the camera catches you gesturing to a player or talking to one during a stoppage in play.

ROME, Italy — AC Milan grabbed an injury-time leveller to share a 4-4 draw with Udinese at the San Siro on Sunday in a thrilling game that gave them a six-point lead at the top of Serie A. Udinese had led 3-1 at one stage and also moved into stoppage time with a 4-3 lead [...]

DOHA, Qatar — A 92nd minute goal by Maya Yoshida saved three-time champions Japan from a shock defeat at the hands of underdogs Jordan as the two sides drew 1-1 in their opening Asian Cup match Sunday. Hasan Abdel Fattah's shot on the stroke of half-time ricochetted off VVV Venlo defender Yoshida into the net [.

The nice things about close games where both teams score, is that the teams know that they both can put the game away if they just concentrate on playing. It can also lead to some amusing incidents. For example, at the later end of the 2nd half, with the score tied, I cautioned a defender who yanked the heck out of a striker's shirt; the striker got free enough to stumble and fall in the penalty area, and the defender was horrified that I was going to call a PK.

LONDON, England – Chelsea's bid to retain the Premier League title suffered another blow as struggling Aston Villa snatched a dramatic 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. Carlo Ancelotti's side were on course for a crucial win after late goals from Didier Drogba and John Terry, but Ciaran Clark equalised in stoppage time and [.

LIVERPOOL, England Joe Cole may have earned under-pressure Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson some breathing space with a last gasp winner against Bolton at Anfield. With the club's owners reportedly seeking a replacement, the summer signing's first league goal and Fernando Torres' equaliser came at just the right time for the former Fulham boss.