Uruguay struggled to tame Costa Rica before booking their place in the World Cup finals with a 1-1 draw at home in the second leg of their South America/CONCACAF play-off on Wednesday. The match was held up for nearly five minutes near the end because of fighting between a Uruguay camera crew near the touchline and the Costa Rica bench amid a nervous denouement. Click to continue reading...

It's not strictly Arsenal-related, I know, but by now I'm sure you've all seen the controversial goal which put France into the 2010 World Cup.

If you haven't: there was a cross into the box which fizzed past the far post, and looked like it was headed over the touchline for a goal kick. But off one hop, it hit the arm of Thierry Henry, and deflected back into play in a perfect spot for him to center it directly into the path of the oncoming William Gallas, who headed home the winning goal.

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I understand it is normal at the end of AFC games for both teams to line up at the end of the game in the centre circle and shake hands with their opponents and match officials. Last night Kuwait didn't, preferring to slink off down the tunnel.
All in all I don't think the Kuwaitis will look back on their Jakarta trip with a great deal of fondness. Click to continue reading...

With less than 20 hours before kickoff in Montevideo, Costa Rica and Uruguay are just about out of time to make modifications ahead of the decisive second leg. René Simões will be back on the touchline after his suspension in the first leg on Saturday and is looking for "fresh legs" for tomorrow's match. Click to continue reading...

Chelsea v Manchester United
English Premier League
Sunday, 08 November, 2009
Stamford Bridge

The last 5 titles in the Premier League have been shared by Manchester United and Chelsea, and as the two best sides in England go head to head on Sunday, it's bound to be a memorable game no matter what the outcome.

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Welcome to the jungle.

All eyes on Sharon Bent this weekend. After cutting the bouncy shinned striker loose in the Summer- not in altogether harmonious circumstances- Benty will no doubt be looking to prove a point. Whether it be cannoning one of his knee, face, balloon or all of the above, the Spurs defence will need to keep close tabs on a man positively seething with indignant wrath.

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Rafael Benitez grimaced on the touchline as nine-man Liverpool were given a mauling in a humiliating defeat at Craven Cottage.
Liverpool defenders Philipp Degen and Jamie Carragher were sent off for reckless fouls and by the end the Fulham crowd were chanting "Easy, easy" as Liverpool resembled a shambles. Click to continue reading...

Sometimes you just have to win ugly. Do whatever it takes and just get the job done. In what was our worst performance of the regular season we ran out 2-0 winners away from home to qualify for Play Offs with 2 games remaining.

This was a tough game for us. We were playing on the worst field in the league, rock hard, bumpy, bone dry, uneven.

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A typically youthful Arsenal Carling Cup side (save captain for a day Mickael Silvestre) defeated Liverpool's mixed bag lineup 2-1 on Wednesday. It was obviously tough fourth round draw for both clubs and ended in controversy when Alberto Aquilani, making his Liverpool first team debut after coming on as a substitute, took an overhead shot at goal in injury that hit Philippe Senderos on the arm.

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Hell Must Have Frozen Over!

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Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson has accepted a charge of improper conduct after his comments regarding referee Alan Wiley.

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Here's 10 things you wouldn't have known about Liverpool-United matches till you saw today's. Well, you might still not know some of them, but you'd at least suspect them.

1. Rafa's good at Math. He knows that if United are the champions above everyone else, and he beats United, then he's the champion.

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This will be an interesting one. Harry's been in our minds and hearts for a year now and what a year it's been! I remember his first game in charge. We beat Bolton 2-0 and he was out on the touchline, full of enthusiasm. It really was such a change from the lost looks Juande used to pull.
Not much has changed to be honest. Click to continue reading...

Come Sunday, expect the television cameras to be zooming in on the faces of Rafa Benitez and Sir Alex Ferguson as they try to detect whether the pressure is getting to either manager. Attention will be paid to body language and how each manager interacts with one another, what the handshake is like and to make sure they exchange pleasantries after the final whistle is blown.

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Ever wondered what the hell managers are on about on the touchline? well this very well made sketch gives all the answers.

Bought to you by What's funny about 1431 and actors Matthew Steer and Jamie Glassmore.

Buy me a Beer

Related posts:

1. Did I Just See That.

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In Saturday's match between Aston Villa and Chelsea, while Chelsea were still winning 1-0, Nicolas Anelka was tripped up by the touchline and ended up falling backwards into Martin O'Neill, completely taking out the opposing manager and leaving him with owies on his knee and elbow.

Of course, after that everything went to crap and Villa would go on to win 2-1, so I think the lesson here is to never cause physical pain to Martin O'Neill.

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After the two-week international break, it was refreshing to see the return of the Premier League. Within minutes I could see why I had missed it so much. Vocal crowds singing songs, the fast pace of the football and the entertaining open style of play.

The four takeaways I had from this game were:

1. Is Aston Villa the reverse of a flat track bully?

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Nobody is happy with losing at Chelsea. But some of the doom and gloom and rubbish being spouted in Liverpool's direction is well over the top.
If you're asking me whether I think we can still win the league, the answer is simple.
Yes. Of course we can. We definitely can.
And as for people blaming Javier Mascherano for their first and decisive goal – well I just don't buy it. Click to continue reading...

Major League Soccer is now some distance beyond meaningless matches in 2009 - apart from one, which I'm sure you'll identify - and the playoff spots are starting to become occupied. One or two teams have slipped badly in recent weeks and they need to pick up their form quickly to avoid their season becoming a disaster. Click to continue reading...

With the season starting slightly earlier this year due to the World Cup, most teams in the Premiership have played 8 league games already. Last season, the 8th round of matches was played two weeks later, on the weekend of October 18th/19th. By the end of it, Tottenham were staring up at every other team in the league with a lowly 2 points.

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As the Olympiacos team bus got closer and closer to the Finsbury Park area, I am sure veteran goalkeeper Antonios Nikopolidis began to relive some of the greatest moments of his career at the highest level. From his invaluable contribution in Greece's historic Euro 2004 win to his consistency during his club's league triumph over the last three years, Nikopolidis is no stranger to success at a grand stage.

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Does anyone really need any commentary on last night's 2-nil victory over Olympiakos? It was just pure, absolute domination for 90 minutes. Olympiakos registered only one true scoring opportunity but Mannone came up trumps when called upon not long after the restart.

As the match was getting into the later stages and it looked like it might be one of those nights when Arsenal just can't get the ball to actually cross the goalline, I was thinking to myself that, if this match finished scoreless, it would've been the most one-sided nil-nil draw I had ever seen.

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Rafa Benitez has come under fire from former Liverpool winger Jermaine Pennant, who accuses him – among other things – of unfairness, favouritism and stifling his natural game. Is there any truth to Pennant's observations?
In a recent interview, Pennant, who is now at Real Zaragoza, observed:
"When I was on the touchline all I could hear was Benitez giving me directions. Click to continue reading...

Jermaine Pennant claims Rafael Benitez attempted to turn him into a "robot" during his days at Liverpool.
The winger spent three years working under the Spaniard at Anfield before making a switch to Spanish outfit Real Zaragoza this summer.
Pennnant struggled to secure regular first-team football while on Merseyside, with Benitez renowned for his rotation policy. Click to continue reading...

"Sometimes you have a noisy neighbour and have to live with it. You can't do anything about them if they keep on making noise but what we can do, as we showed today, is you can get on with your life, put your television on and turn it up a bit louder."
Sir Alex Ferguson refuses to switch off where Man City are concerned. Click to continue reading...

Gary Neville has been issued with a warning for running down the touchline after Michael Owen scored an injury time winner. How bizarre. No, not Neville celebrating a winning goal scored by Owen, I know that still takes some getting used to, but for Neville to be warned for celebrating a goal. Again, not because Shay Given did exactly the same thing after Bellamy made it 3-3 but because Neville's passion is something that should be celebrated, not punished.

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I would never be one to suggest that constipation is a good thing.
But a positive side effect of having occasionally eaten too many pies is the requirement to stay a little longer in the bathroom than perhaps one usually would.
Such delays enable one to spend some time perusing the copy of "1001 Football Moments" residing on top of the laundry basket. Click to continue reading...

AP Photo/Luca Bruno

There was much build up around the Inter vs Barcelona match up, aka. Eto'o vs Ibrahimovic, but in the end the two teams battled to a draw at the San Siro. For FC Barcelona the emotions were mixed heading back to the Camp Nou as the team left Milan unscathed but should have walked away with a win having many opportunities on goal.

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At least, that's what Wendy Parker would have you believe. Besides her article on Pitch Invasion, she's slagged me off on her twitter account, soccer news aggregator site, and even her Atlanta Soccer News site. The basic premise is the same, but it seems Wendy got increasingly worked up as she plotted, wrote, and then basked in the afterglow of the article that was largely written in response to me. Click to continue reading...

England qualifications are not used to happen this way. Where was the last-gasp heroic goal, the nervous, stuttering qualification that went down to the wire, the sharpening of knives for the manager? Where was the unconvincing qualification, overlooked as assorted players and journalists chest-thumped that, having qualified, England could go onto win it, fooling nobody in the process?

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Dinamo Lokomotiv against Los Andes was always destined to be eventful. In the first round we called a forfeit on them because having wasted 20 minutes of playing time they then fielded unregistered players - 'why can't you just play ?' - whined one particularly odious fat cheat.
Because you fools are a disgrace to the game. Click to continue reading...

Dinamo Lokomotiv against Los Andes was always destined to be eventful. In the first round we called a forfeit on them because having wasted 20 minutes of playing time they then fielded unregistered players - 'why can't you just play ?' - whined one particularly odious fat cheat.
Because you fools are a disgrace to the game. Click to continue reading...

Official suspends match to talk to police The Spanish third division match between Jumilla and Puente Tocinos last weekend was halted when the referee answered a tannoy announcement about his car. The official waited for a break in play before heading to the touchline to talk to police. According to reports, the ref's Audi had its windows [. Click to continue reading...

Australia's remarkable run of results has come crashing to a halt at the Seoul World Cup Stadium as� Korea downed the Socceroos 3-1 � tonight in an International Friendly. With both teams safely through to the World Cup Finals as top of their Asian qualifying groups, this was a chance for both managers to test some new players, and Aussie coach Pim Verbeek rang in the changes in what was a homecoming for him, as he coached South Korea before taking the Australian job.

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Amazon have dropped a Manchester United album full of terrace chants after an official complaint from Arsenal FC The song they are directly referring to is the "Sit Down You Paedophile" song, lovingly sang by United fans, too the touchline on visits from the North London crybabies giants, or on the rare occasion that Graham Rix [. Click to continue reading...

I've been sent a couple of good ones recently so here they are.� Please add yours on to the comments here.� The best ones will be added to the main page.

Breaking News: Hearts striker Christian Nade has been diagnosed with MRSA, the flesh eating disease. Doctors have given the fat bastard 40 years to live.

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