All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award winning Dirty Tackle...

A puddle of mud proves to be Notts County goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel's best friend. [Extra Footie]

It was inevitable: the Elizabeth Lambert dating video parody. [Tauntr]

Bookmaker stops taking bets on new Scotland manager because their chief executive is on the SFA board.

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For many years Carlos Bilardo campaigned for his players from the 1986 World Cup to be brought as managers to all levels of the national team. These players who eventually became managers are refered to by the Argentine media as the "86 Generation".

Players like Jorge Luis Burruchaga, Hector Enrique, Sergio Batista, Jose Luis Brown, Nery Pumpido, Oscar Garre, Julio Olarticochea.

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The FIFA 2009 U-17 World Cup wraps up on Sunday, November 15, 2009 with the championship and third place matches. Nigeria will play Switzerland in the championship match while Colombia plays Spain in the third place match. The matches will be covered live on our other site, Free Live Sports TV, at the following links below.

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The FIFA U-17 World Cup continues on Thursday, November 12, 2009 with the semifinals taking place. The four teams in action are Colombia, Spain, Switzerland, and Nigeria. Both matches will be streamed live on our other site, Free Live Sports TV, at the following links below.

Colombia v Switzerland LIVE FIFA 2009 U-17 World Cup Semifinals Thursday, November 12, 2009 15:00 GMT, 10:00 EST

Spain v Nigeria LIVE FIFA 2009 U-17 World Cup Semifinals Thursday, November 12, 2009 18:00 GMT, 13:00 EST

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Whenever a ball goes into the stands during a match, I always wonder what would happen if the person who grabs it decides that he's keeping that sucker and that there's nothing anyone can do about it.

Well, that's exactly what happened during the Switzerland v Germany match at the U17 World Cup.

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The game is in the 20th minute and U.S. ace Jack McInerney has just seen a penalty kick saved by the the Italy keeper.As always, you can follow along at the U.S. Matchtracker or watch on ESPN360.Back with the major updates only, followed by the wrap...--29'Beretta puts Italy ahead 1-0.- Greg Seltzer Click to continue reading...

The same way the U20 World Cup generated some analysis, the failure of the U17 deserves even more talk. First of all, being eliminated in group that had Mexico, Switzerland and Japan is a shame. There is simply no excuse.

This pathetic elimination was so bad that no projections for the future can be made.

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The group phase of the U-17 World Cup is now over, and Mexico and the USA are the only two CONCACAF sides in the knockout stages. USA defeated UAE 1-0 on Sunday to finish second in their group, while Mexico beat Japan 2-0 on Friday to finish second in Group B. Now the Mexicans will face South Korea in their round of 16 match, and the Americans will play Italy. Click to continue reading...

Thanks to Jack McInerney's second goal of the tournament and a second consecutive shutout, the U.S. Under-17 National Team has topped the UAE 1-0 to finish second in group play.Provided Italy gain at least in draw in their ongoing match with Uruguay, they will be the Americans' World Cup round of 16 opponent. Click to continue reading...

It was a 54th minute Alex Shinsky that the keeper should have done better on that won the day for the U.S. Under-17's.The World Cup group win moved our boys level on points with second place UAE, their closing day opponent. Here are the highlights.- Greg Seltzer Click to continue reading...

Tonight on 30 Rock, Liz and jack visit Kenneth's hometown. Oh my, this should be good...#1 - Via Columbus Dispatch all-star Shawn Mitchell, Crew defender Chad Marshall has been suddenly upgraded all the way to probable. Meanwhile, Real Salt Lake have picked up a few small knocks here and there.An upset course diverted? Click to continue reading...

Argentina is off to a good start in the U-17 World Cup.

Another win today.

2-1 over Germany.

The goals were scored by River Plate defender Esteban Espíndola and Boca Juniors forward Sergio Araujo.

With the win today Argentina advanced to the second round.

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No LIVE today for our U-17 World Cup kickoff, but I will come back at halftime with an update and a few words, naturally followed by all the roundup regalia after the final whistle.Here is your USA line-up, we start this one off at the top of the hour:Edwards; Kitchen, Herold, Watts, Polak; Gil, Palodichuk, Duran, Shinsky; Jerome, McInerneyAs always, you can follow along at US Soccer's Click to continue reading...

All of the American's matches in the U-17 world cup will be televised here in the States:

-Mon Oct 26
Spain v USA 2pm ET on ESPNU & Galavision
-Thu Oct 29
USA v Malawi 11am ET on ESPNU
-Sun Nov 1
USA v UAE 10am ET on ESPNU

These are all available on ESPN360 as well.

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On FIFA's web-site promoting the start of the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria the event is hyped as a chance to "discover the stars of tomorrow."Â And while there is an impressive list of former participants (including, for example, Ronaldinho, Michael Essien, and Luis Figo) another look at the history of the U-17 World Cup offers more cautionary tales than burgeoning stars.

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by Jason Gatties, Guest Contributor (Craven Cottage US) The United States U-20's fizzled in Egypt. Luckily, we have the U-17's to look forward to. It all kicks October 26th versus Spain (ESPN 2 &...

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Argentina made its debut in the the U-17 World Cup. This year held in Nigeria.

Argentina won 1-0 over Honduras with a goal by Boca Juniors forward Sergio Araujo.

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After their irmãos lost to Ghana in the painful U-20 World Cup final last week, Lucho Nizzo's kids are raring to go and win the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria, which kicks off tomorrow! We could probably call them fetos (fetuses) for now, but Coutinho doesn't look like one, so we'd best find another name.

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Soccer by Ives is reporting that Luis Gil's move to Arsenal has not been completed. Gil has received interest from other European clubs and is looking to turn his trip to the U-17 World Cup into a new contract.

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The issue of exclusivity as it pertains to the American soccer community is a sticky one. On one hand, soccer fans tend to be overly passionate about the sport, often to the point of excluding other...

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And there are some very puzzling absences from first glance (forgive if I've missed an injury, I haven't been on the computer at all). In any event, here is your 2009 U.S. U-17 World Cup squad.G: Keith Cardona (NY Red Bulls; Glen Rock, N.J.), Earl Edwards (La Jolla Nomads; San Diego, Calif.), Spencer Richey (Crossfire Premier; Seattle, Wash. Click to continue reading...

Head Coach Wilmer Cabrera has announced the roster he will take to the Under-17 World Cup in Nigeria. The team arrives in Nigeria tomorrow, with their first match set for October 26th against...

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The U.S. will open Group E play in Kano, Nigeria against Spain on Oct. 26, at 7 p.m. local time (2 p.m. ET). The team will stay at Sani Abacha Stadium to play Malawi on Oct. 29 at 4 p.m. (11 a.m. ET) before moving to Ijebu-Ode and Gateway International Stadium to finish the first round against United Arab Emirates on Nov.

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I love a World Cup (any World Cup) for the rare opportunity of putting whole imagined nations on public display. Though the main event in South Africa is still eight months away, one junior version (U-20) just finished in Egypt and another (U-17) is just about to begin in Nigeria.

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Maybe you had too much too fast. Maybe you had too much too fast.
Or just over played your part.
Nothin shakin on shakedown street. Used to be the heart of town.
Dont tell me this town aint got no heart. You just gotta poke around.

Freddy Adu was once pure potentiality.

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It's been in the back of my mind all summer that the U-17 and U-20 World Cups were approaching, but I wasn't sure who, what, where, when, why, etc. Well, the U-17 World Cup draw just happened, and it doesn't look too bad:

GROUP E

United Arab Emirates

Malawi

Spain

USA

Based on my limited knowledge of the U-17 game, I'd say the USA should be a favorite to make it out of their group.

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I've enjoyed Justin Rodriguez' stories for Soccernet on the US youth system. His latest is a feature on Jack McInerney. For those of you who don't know/remember McInerney, he is the kid who seemingly came out of nowhere to score 5 goals and 3 assists in the U-17s' 3-game CONCACAF Championship campaign.

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Best Performance: The US' 2-1 victory over the Pato led Brazil squad at the U-20 World Cup in Canada

Biggest Revelation: Sal Zizzo. The UCLA product playing out wide in the US midfield for the U-20s got himself a contract in the Bundesliga with his outstanding World Cup.

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Tickle

• U-17 World Cup Final. About as entertaining a nil-nil gets. Nigeria and Spain both displayed astonishing technical ability for a bunch of teenagers and the teams played some quick, attractive stuff. Chances may have been at a premium, but that's de rigueur for cup finals and there were some spectacular efforts from distance and a few good saves from the keepers.

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The US U-17's went crashing out of their World Cup in Korea after losing 3 of their 4 games. In the process, there weren't any real standout players. Sure, there was the mandatory flashy, quick dribbler like Alex Nimo and even a goal-scoring defender like mighty mite centerback/captain Mykell Bates, but what stood out the most is that there really wasn't a central focus to the team, a talented hub around which the team revolved. Click to continue reading...

You can see all the highlights for yourself on the FIFA website, right here.
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Germany 2-1 USA
Already recapped.
England 3-1 Syria
A penalty and two team efforts saw England advance over the Asians on Thursday. Click to continue reading...

Hmmm. Highlights here.
The Germans were easily the more dangerous side, outshooting the US 18-10. FW Richard Sukuta-Pasu scored a brace on the day and was nearly joined on the scoreboard by half a dozen of his teammates. Toni Kroos, a member of the Best XI lineup I posted a few days ago, threatened a good many times from midfield.
On a positive note, the US young guns used their dead-ball and box-packing skills to their utmost, captain and defender Mykell Bates scoring another with his head in the box (this one a messy affair, as opposed to the glorious header versus Belgium which put them through). Click to continue reading...

The summer of disappointment got worse for US Soccer today with a 2-1 Round of 16 loss to Germany today. The US controlled much of the play, but as is typical with American youth teams in major competitions, the finishing was poor and all the high energy play led to being susceptible at the back. It is a story we have have seen before most recently at the 2003 and 2005 U-20 World Cups where the US controlled play against opponents superior in technical skill but could not finish opportunities. Click to continue reading...

Well, at least the US gave their best performance of the tourney to go out with, if not a bang, at least a non-whimper. The 2-1 defeat by Germany was justified, though at times I felt like giving the US an "are you Bolton in disguise?" chant as all the danger seemed to come from set plays and giant tosses into the box. That said, they did create chances, but didn't have the finishers to put them away - a quality that Germany sadly possessed, though they did manage to squander quite a few chances of their own. Click to continue reading...

What's it like to be the coach of the world's worst team? When a moral victory is keeping your opponent under ten goals or just scoring a goal, it can't be much fun.
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Literally kicking another manager's ass, as in foot to butt, in front basically the whole world is not a good idea. Click to continue reading...