SEATTLE -- The teams arrived in Seattle last night, all staying near the teeming town center, presumably to be close Pike Place Market in case they get the urge to throw some fish.

From a competition standpoint, I find it interesting that the teams didn't arrive a little earlier. On the one hand, I do get it: they want proper training during the week, and that's more manageable in nicer conditions.

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Right from the start, the Ukrainians went at Greece like a nuclear train heading full speed for a reactor and that is exactly how it ended for them... in disaster! After missing a host of early chances to go ahead, a clever Greek style* through ball by Giorgios Samaras found ... Click to continue reading...

A sad piece of news in the footballing world, Robert Enke, Hannover 96's goalkeeper and Germany's 1st choice candidate committed suicide on November 10th 2009. The 32 year old goalkeeper left a note for his family and then committed suicide by stepping in front of a train. His two year old daughter had died in 2006 because of a heart defect, and this seems to be what started his depression. Click to continue reading...

Germany and Hanover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke has died after being hit by a train in an apparent suicide, local police said on Tuesday. The 32-year-old, seen challenging Cesc Fabregas for the ball in a July pre-season friendly, had won eight international caps and had been expected to be in Germany's squad for the 2010 World [. Click to continue reading...

Former Benfica keeper and German Robert Enke has passed away at the tender age of 32. Enke who played for Benfica from the 1999-2000 season until 2001-02 before being sold to Barcelona was the current starting keeper for Hannover 96 in the German Bundesliga and is said to have commited suicide after throwing himself in front of a train in the small town of Neustadt. Click to continue reading...

"German international goalkeeper Robert Enke has been killed after being hit by a train at a level crossing, police said on Tuesday. Police said that the death could be a suicide." - AFP Words fail me. Click to continue reading...

Sad news from Germany this evening: goalkeeper Robert Enke of Hannover 96 and Germany committed suicide by diving under a train in the town of Neustadt am Rübenberge near Hannover. He was 32 years old, had won eight caps for Germany and would have been a strong contender for one of the goalkeeping positions in the German squad for the finals: he leaves behind a wife and an adopted eight month old daughter.

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Tragic news coming through this evening: German national team and Hannover 96 keeper Robert Enke has died through what most outfits are calling an apparent suicide by train. "The victim is apparently national team goalkeeper Robert Enke from Hannover 96," a media officer for the Niedersachsen police told Reuters. Click to continue reading...

"German international goalkeeper Robert Enke has been killed after being hit by a train at a level crossing, police said on Tuesday. Police said that the death could be a suicide." AFP

Words fail me.

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Sad reports are surfacing over the past hour that German national team goalkeeper Robert Enke has committed suicide. We have not yet seen official confirmation and will continue to look for it, but Enke reportedly had thrown himself under a train.
So, while we spend our days discussing David N'Gog's Tom Daley-esque diving skills and find humor from all corners of this beautiful game, we sometimes need to put it all in perspective. Click to continue reading...

Hannover 96 goalkeeper Robert Enke died on Wednesday after being hit by a train. The 32-yer-old Enke had eight caps for the German National Team and played with Benfica and Barcelona. He was a teammate of United States internationals Steve Cherundolo and Sal Zizzo. He was in goal for Hannover's 2-2 draw with Hamburg on Sunday. Click to continue reading...

(That headline may crash Google. Apologies.) The #7 Red Devil to Madrid train has treated the Spanish quite well so far. Whilst Cristiano Ronaldo appears irreplaceable and integral on the pitch, GoldenMcNuggets was irreplaceable off of it. In the club shops, on clothing store racks, plastered on billboards Beckhamania did more for Spanish finances since [. Click to continue reading...

Another headline that's surely never been written in the history of the English language.
This story takes us to Scotland, where it turns out a bunch of Aberdeen fans were dressed as sheep as they rode the train to an upcoming soccer match against Hibs in Edinburgh.
One unfortunate 24-year-old dude was apparently set alight and ran through the cars with his sheep-suit engulfed in flames. Click to continue reading...

Fancy dress supporter train blaze An Aberdeen supporter dressed as a sheep was set alight on a train on his way home from their match against Hibs on Saturday. The 24-year-old suffered serious burns to his arms and legs when his suit caught fire on a train in Fife. The victim reportedly ran through the carriage ablaze [. Click to continue reading...

Andrea Dossena would like to return to Italy, according to his agent.
The Liverpool left-back has recovered from a groin injury and could feature in the Carling Cup tie at Arsenal.
The 28-year-old was strongly linked with a move to Napoli this summer after just one season in the Premier League with Liverpool following his move from Udinese. Click to continue reading...

MORNING folks.
Yesterday FP had a chance to check out a bit of Perth Glory's training session and attend the presser. Also made a couple of interesting observations while he was there.
Firstly, while club stalwart Jamie Harnwell is a few weeks away from recovering from his injury, he had a bit of a run and looked pretty comfortable. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United secured three points in Moscow without the services of our four best performing players this season: Ryan Giggs, Wayne Rooney, Patrice Evra and Darren Fletcher.

Ahead of our trip to Anfield on Sunday, half of these players will be available, but who do you think we need the most?

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Now that the U.S.have qualified for South Africa the question arises: should you attend in person?

I will not pretty much for the reasons spelled out by excellent Sports Illustrated writer Grant Wahl, who just spent seven months in the country while writing the book "The Beckham Experiment," in this article: crime, bad weather (it's winter down there), a lack of transportation options and expensive, hard to come by accommodation.

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Maradona addressed the media in a press conference today.

Maradona talked about the issue of player injuries and how that affects the way the players train with the national team. Maradona confirmed that Higuain will be in the starting lineup against Peru.

Interestingly, Maradona said that one of the reasons why Higuain has an edge over all the other forwards called up is because he
turned down the French national team twice.

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I've been on a train today.
Nice to have a day out of the relentless tasks at the office and a bit of time for reflection.
I took the opportunity to read a book I was recently given called "Personal Brand Essence".
Whilst there wasn't anything essentially new in the text, it was thought provoking. Click to continue reading...

The ISL season starts on Sunday and with it an absolute corker between Arema and Persija in Malang. Last season of course Persija used Arema's stadium 'cos Jakarta police had decreed no football during the election.
Now of course there is the Singapore collection. Lining up in the Arema blue will be Noh Alam Shah and Muhamed Riduan while Mustafic Fahruddin and Baihakki Kaizin will be sporting the Persija orange. Click to continue reading...

Professional athletes train in a different way than mere mortals do, Kickettes.

They don't just stumble in late to a spinning class and then secretly keep the bike setting on low nor do they end up just using their gym membership to buy a smoothie from the cute gym smoothie maker. Oh, no.

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Professional athletes train in a different way than mere mortals do, Kickettes.

They don't just stumble in late to a spinning class and then secretly keep the bike setting on low nor do they end up just using their gym membership to buy a smoothie from the cute gym smoothie maker. Oh, no.

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It may have been the worst kept secret in Minnesota, but the word is official now. Cody Cropper, the 16 year old goalkeeping phenomena from Maple Grove, MN is on his way to Leicester City FC to become their newest youth academy player.

Meet Cody Cropper – Leicester FC's Newest Youth Academy Player

As reported at IMS back in August, Cody Cropper was in England from mid-July through mid-August with English Championship League team, Leicester City FC.

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It may have been the worst kept secret in Minnesota, but the word is official now. Cody Cropper, the 16-year-old goalkeeping phenomenon from Maple Grove, MN is on his way to Leicester City FC to become their newest youth academy player.

Meet Cody Cropper – Leicester FC's Newest Youth Academy Player

As reported at IMS back in August, Cody Cropper was in England from mid-July through mid-August with English Championship League team, Leicester City FC.

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Not being overly fond of flyovers and roundabouts and having already paid a visit some years ago to Peterborough's capacious Cathedral yard, I chose to indulge in my traditional pre-match entertainment last weekend in nearby Stamford. Taking a 2pm train into the city for the football, I was surprised to be accompanied by hosts of fans in red, white and green on my walk to the station – a new away Click to continue reading...

I believe the Brits refer to the upcoming matches as "squeaky bum time."

(Oh, please. Don't blame me. I didn't create the expression.)

To get our minds off of how much these upcoming qualifiers really, truly matter, here are a couple of videos you might enjoy.

First, best video game video ever: Patrice Evra's career, as seen through old school video games.

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A planned week of train strikes on the National Express line from Southend Victoria to Liverpool Street has been called off.
Industrial action was due to have taken place on the week beginning 21st September.
Members of the ASLEF union have now accepted a 3.5% pay deal over two years, with the addition of a "productivity settlement", which could result in an extra 0. Click to continue reading...

Barca are set to face Sporting Gijon in their opening match of the Liga, in what will hopefully prove to be a great start to the season. It mightn't be that easy, especially given the absence of Leo Messi, who went straight from Monaco after the Supercup to join up with the Argentine national team in Rosario, in preparation for their upcoming World Cup qualifier against Brazil. Click to continue reading...

77 8900818DI TRAIN APER LAVOLPE
Originally uploaded by Ray Ramos 89

Ricardo Antonio Lavolpe es el peor ( o mejor segun se vea) vendedor de humo en la historia del futbol mexicano.
Hay quienes lo defienden y aman el supuesto estilo de juego que incluso el mismo ya desmintio que existe.

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Even though I live in London, usually, I'd rather be flayed alive than travel to South Norwood, the home of Crystal Palace's Selhurst Park. It's an absolute mare to get to, either struggling though all the worst that London traffic has to offer, or making around 73 changes on the train. Even so, there seemed [. Click to continue reading...

It all started when Marcello Lippi said he thought Juventus would win Serie A this season. That was the spark that ignited Jose Mourinho's insatiable temper and has led to begin an all-out attack on Lippi that would make your dad cry. Even though Lippi was quick to apologize and say it was just his opinion, mind you, Jose has unloaded with some daggers:

Lippi passed judgment on television the other night," slammed Mourinho.

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The games are coming thick and fast in the Premier League with six games today and tomorrow. I got 5 out of the 10 right for the weekend 's games which puts me one game up on Mark Lawrenson of the BBC.

Sunderland v Chelsea
Both sides got off to a winning start on Saturday so both managers will be hoping to get something from this game.

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The games are coming thick and fast in the Premier League with six games today and tomorrow. I got 5 out of the 10 right for the weekend 's games which puts me one game up on Mark Lawrenson of the BBC.

Sunderland v Chelsea
Both sides got off to a winning start on Saturday so both managers will be hoping to get something from this game.

Click to continue reading...

Free wi-fi on trains? Whatever next, Charlton winning away? Welcome aboard the Grand Central service to Kings Cross, where I'm slunk in an unsociable corner hunched over a tiny laptop. Every now and then, there's a sing-song - because Charlton won away. (in fact, as I type, two are being turfed off the train at York. Click to continue reading...