You might have caught wind of reports that the Portland Timbers were getting ready to sign 20 year-old left back Juan David Duque out of Colombia. Stumptown Footy had solid looking reports up on January 25 and February 1. Here we are on February 8 though and still no Juan David Duque inking a deal.

For the first time in franchise history, the Houston Texans have made it to the NFL Playoffs. On Saturday January 7, 2012, the Texans hosted their first ever Playoff game at Reliant Stadium, and prior to that game there was an indication that the Texans' front office had paid attention to the tifo displays that have occurred down the road at Robertson Stadium, former home of the Houston Dynamo, because, as evidenced by the above picture, they managed to orchestrate a tifo display worthy of any major football club in Europe.

This is a pretty awesome collection of, from best I can tell, is what this group considered the best Tifo from around the world this year. ECS's Decades of Dominance was one of two MLS entries to make the cut, as a Red Bulls Tifo was also in here. The MLS stuff is around the 4:00 mark. (h/t @bestsoccershow)

At first I got really excited about this article at Pitch Invasion on the default MLS uniform font. I think expanding the font palette is a good idea, as is giving teams more leeway in choosing their own font (probably).

But then the article delves into some bad photoshop with some strangely complimentary remarks about these pieces of crap.

This is how tifo is made, in this case by ultras of Fenerbahçe in Turkey, honoring their Brazilian star and captain Alex.

1e47? If you've ever seen an impressive pre-match tifo on the continent and thought to yourself that it cannot be easy to coordinate such a large scale public art display, then Steaua Bucharest are here to prove you right. The Romanian side suffered a nasty back-to-front digit (oo-er) in their ranks ahead of recent match.

1e47? If you've ever seen an impressive pre-match tifo on the continent and thought to yourself that it cannot be easy to coordinate such a large scale public art display, then Steaua Bucharest are here to prove you right. The Romanian side suffered a nasty back-to-front digit (oo-er) in their ranks ahead of recent match.

Section 8 Tifo Build this Sunday 12/18 - Holiday Party and Virtual Food Drive Reminders

If you are handy with tools and even if you aren't, head on over to ChiTown Futbol (2300 S. Throop) at 4:00 PM this Sunday, December 18th. Section 8 Chicago is working of those great tifo displays all off-season long.

By Chris Wright

Real Madrid fans unfurled this almighty casino-themed tifo during their side's 4-1 win in the Madrid derby on Saturday which, call me cynical, may just have been laid on by the club's principle sponsors an online betting firm.

Anyway, corporate tie-ins aside, it was a sight to behold.

By Chris Wright

Spotted (you'd be hard-pressed to miss it) in the Sudtribune Stand at the Westfalenstadion last weekend, Borussia Dortmund fans put on quite a show with a colossal 'skull' tifo display ahead of their game against Wolfsburg here's the video, along with a brief 'Making Of' segment.

Awesome ECS tifo from Wednesday's playoff match. Last of the season. Way to go out. (Photo courtesy of @Brazbit)

Fortuna Düsseldorf ultras in action during a game away from home against MSV Duisburg.

Photo credit: Sandra liveitdown on Flickr

It seems like a dream but it's true, the Fort Lauderdale Strikers made it to the NASL finals and will meet the Minnesota Stars in a 2 game series that starts next Saturday in Minnesota.
Over 4200 people showed up to see the Strikers beat the Islanders 2-1 (5-2 aggregate) thanks to a brace by Brian Shriver.

Success! The Seattle Sounders defeated the Chicago Fire 2-0 to win the U.S. Open Cup for a third straight year. I admit I had my moments of doubt. Their defense almost seemed prescient in their ability to intercept passes and shots. Luckily, Fredy Montero scored the go-ahead goal just when I was mentally preparing for a grueling overtime.

I'll admit, I'm still in a bit of aw over this Tifo. Very impressive stuff. Here is the video of it going up last night. I swear I'll have some actual posts up at some point today, or this week (its an international week on the calendar so I'm taking it a tad easy).

I'll get into the USOC final at some point today, I think. But I had to post this first. Just absolutely amazing Tifo from the Seattle crowd last night.

(H/T to those on Twitter posting this...there was a couple of you)

I'll get into the USOC final at some point today, I think. But I had to post this first. Just absolutely amazing Tifo from the Seattle crowd last night.

(H/T to those on Twitter posting this...there was a couple of you)

Our friends at Football in Miami and Beyond pointed out a recent TIFO by Tampa Bay supporters. Looks a little familiar.

Thanks to the excellent Football in Miami and Beyond blog for pointing this out.

Strikers fans made the trip to St Pete to support their team only to be disappointed by a 2-0 loss. The Strikers played well, dominating certain moments of the game but the turning point was the red card given to Cristian Arrieta. It was enough to change the tide and give Tampa an advantage that proved too much for the Red & Gold.

The Brotherly Game: FIFA Fines USSF For AO YSA Chants During USMNT-Mexico Game In Philly

Same source says that there are discussions between USSF and the AO about banning AO endline tifo from the next USMNT home game.

The Strikers played a poor game versus rivals FC Tampa this past Saturday in front of about 3700 fans that came out to enjoy a great pre-game atmosphere thanks to over 15 Miami Food trucks. As usual the supporters started their tailgate early and even created a TIFO poking fun at FC Tampa aka Rowdies.

No trophy is on the line today - merely pride. For one participant in Round 3 of the Cascadia Cup 2011 pride is nearly all they have left as the Portland Timbers season is in shambles. For the Seattle Sounders though this is a game where a statement can be delivered. While the national media will focus on the intense passion in the stands, including a "creative" tifo display that is admittedly going to be small that tends to ignore that Seattle has played in passionate stadiums in the past.

Well there isn't much to talk about in this game. Houston came in happy to defend and take a 0-0 draw, or get a counterattacking goal to steal a 1-0 win. Colorado carried possession most of the game and created more chances, but couldn't convert and Houston got its 0-0 draw.
My key to the game was the Rapids getting a lift from the home crowd and controlling the game.

Almost 6,000 people showed up at Lockhart Stadium this Wednesday despite the rain and conflicting U2 concert. It's all because our most hated rival came to town. FC Tampa Bay (aka Rowdies) came into South Florida in search of points and unfortunately they took one point with them.
The Strikers dominated this game with an incredible 24 shots of which only 6 were on goal.

Seattle Sounders Show Fort Solidarity

Should have clipped this sooner, but the Revs next opponents in Seattle showed their own support of the Fort on Thursday. Note the banner to the right of the "Gorilla FC" tifo that says "Free the Fort." This was on national TV on Thursday.

The tifo against the Vancouver Whitecaps was maybe not as audacious as the one against the Portland Timbers, but it was very impressive in its own right. Love that ECS keeps coming up with awesome displays.

On the outside looking in. Through the fence peering into LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.A magically night for American soccer in Kansas City as LIVESTRONG Sporting Park made its debut in Major League Soccer. The on-field product couldn't match the beauty of the stadium itself as Sporting KC and Chicago Fire settled for a 0-0 draw.

The other team in the Cascadia Cup rivalry is often overlooked. The Vancouver Whitecaps fans are just hard to hate. The Southsiders in their brief MLS history have conflicted with their front-office over seemingly small things, like who gets to travel here this weekend. In the USL/A-League era they, like Seattle, had a small but dedicated group.

I hope everyone is dried out from the storms drenching Qwest field this weekend. The 1-1 tie against the Portland Timbers was a bit of a let-down for sure, but it was a decent result considering the huge hit injuries have had on the Seattle Sounders. One thing that certainly wasn't a let down was the massive tifo put together by the ECS for the match.

Back in April, Portland had raised the tifo bar in the Cascadia region of North America at their home opener in Major League Soccer at Jeld-Wen Field:

(Though, honestly, I preferred this Kings of Cascadia display from last year less self-reverential. And of course, the Space Needle tifo.

I won't pretend to be an expert on the various MLS supporters have displayed over the years, but I have to imagine that Saturday's nine-parter from ECS has to be among the most impressive. Best? I'll let people that pay a lot more attention to that than me make that call. That Mario Bros.-inspired one that the Chicago Fire's Section 8 did last year was pretty cool (although I still don't get the relevance).

Qualche settimana fa il sito www.juvenews.net , ha lanciato un invito al popolo bianconero per assumere iniziative e far sentire alla dirigenza, e non solo, il comune sentire di una parte di tifo che non condivide la gestione mediatica su temi importanti come calciopoli.

Seattle Makes MLSSoccer.com with best TIFO displays during their coverage of supporters week.

This was a combined effort of the Supporters Groups, the Alliance Council and about 30,000 fans. Good on you all.

This is tifo in the process - you could be the next Section 8 Chicago tifo idol.

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When people ask me what 'tifo' is, I tell them it is the ultimate marriage of sport and art.