As a result of their dramatic 2-0 win on Saturday (the crucial second goal was scored in injury time), Egypt will meet Algeria for a third time on Wednesday in Sudan: whoever wins goes to South Africa. To describe this game as 'a local rivalry' is an understatement: the Algerian team bus was attacked at the weekend and both sides ending up blaming each other the Algerians blamed Egyptians who had been wound up by satellite TV broadcasts (insert Fox News joke here), the Egyptians claimed that it was arranged by local Algerians to make them look bad.

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USL releases statement regarding USL-1 and TOA's filing of papers to create new Division II league.

While yesterday was an eventful day with the Team Owners Associations (TOA) releasing an official statement saying it had filed papers with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to start a new Division II league in the US, it seems today could also be full of fireworks.

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USL releases statement regarding USL-1 and TOA's filing of papers to create new Division II league.

While yesterday was an eventful day with the Team Owners Associations (TOA) releasing an official statement saying it had filed papers with the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) to start a new Division II league in the US, it seems today could also be full of fireworks.

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What a night at Toyota Park.

After losing the first leg of their Eastern Conference Semifinal series with New England 2-1, the Fire stormed back in dramatic fashion tonight, getting a 2-0 victory to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals on a 3-2 aggregate score.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco and John Thorrington scored the goals for the Fire, who will take on fourth seeded Real Salt Lake in the Conference Final next Saturday at Toyota Park.

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To say it was a week to forget for Evertonian's is an understatement.
Three games, three defeats, 10 goals conceded and a casualty list befitting a small battlefield, it is no wonder Toffees fans are wearing concerned expressions at the moment.
What makes it more galling for Blues fans is its predictability and familiarity. Click to continue reading...

Wayzata 2-1 Bloomington Jefferson

Rainy, windy, and cold is what the game report said filed by the referee at the class 2A boys State Soccer Tournament quarterfinal. But that would be an understatement for the weather conditions where brutal might have been more descriptive.

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Wayzata 2-1 Bloomington Jefferson

Rainy, windy, and cold is what the game report said that was filed by the referee at the class 2A boys State Soccer Tournament quarterfinal. But that would be an understatement where brutal might have been more descriptive. None the less, the Bloomington Jefferson Jaguars (12-4-4) played the Wayzata Trojans (10-6-4) to a 0-0 draw up until the 82 minute.

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Remember back to 2005, when David Arvizu was hailed as the next great American forward prospect? To say things haven't worked out as planned is an understatement. After a pretty forgettable performance in Peru at the FIFA U-17 World Cup, he's pretty much disappeared from the American soccer scene after some listless seasons in MLS. Click to continue reading...

One of the misfortunes of living outside the United Kingdom and supporting English football is that when a legend dies, there are incredible heartwarming documentaries and news programs shown in the UK profiling that hero but they're unavailable due to rights restrictions where I, and many of you, live.

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The clip above is from Diego Maradona's presser following Argentina's WCQ victory on Wednesday night. To say he was more than a bit smug with regard to his side's qualification is something of an understatement. For those of us that don't speak Spanish, let me provide you with a translation courtesy of my guy JP. Click to continue reading...

Cheer Up Alan Shearer's Top 10 TV Football Moments
3. Ilunga Mwepu
No disrespect to the intelligent, knowledgeable CUAS readership here, but I bet there's hardly any of you who know who Ilunga Mwepu is.
In the 1970s he played his club football for TP Mazembe and he now lives in Malta, where he is an assistant coach in the Adelaide Cini Championship with Girgenti Athletic. Click to continue reading...

To say that the Fire and the Galaxy are merely similar is a colossal understatement. It's taking the easy way out. I mean, one would almost have to write a book to properly describe the seemingly dozens of statistical similarities between the Fire and L.A. Lucky for you, Fire Confidential is in the "writing" business so I think it's time I used this handy little media outlet and provided a little statistical evidence for my opening claim.

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I wasn't expecting to go to a fussball match while I was in Switzerland since I was going to be there midweek last week. Once I found out that the Swiss Super League was having a midweek matchday, though, I decided that I had to make it out to Letzigrund Stadium.

If you have been following the Champions League, then you know that Letzigrund Stadium is home to current competitor FC Zurich.

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To say that AC Milan's performances have been below par this season is probably an understatement....
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I just wanted to offer my thoughts, which are forming as I write, on the performance in Belgium on Wednesday evening, especially after reading yesterday's piece on Le Grove. First, let me say that the first forty-five minutes may have been the worst I have seen played by an Arsenal side in all my ten years of supporting the club.

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Well, that wasn't very much fun. I haven't found a good "highlights" video yet, but will post it when I do.

I guess my thought is this let's not overreact. Yes, this is a bad result for us. Yes, I thought the match was pretty evenly matched, so to come out of it with 0 points. Yes, it sucks to watch Adebayor stomp a player in the face, get away with it, then score a goal and celebrate in front of Arsenal's fans (stay classy, Ade.

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Good
Well in World Cup qualifiers week it was good for Spain, England, Brazil and Paraguay who all booked their places for the biggest football festival next year in South Africa, the World Cup. Spain and England have 100% records so far. The Spaniards beat Estonia 3-0, while England crushed the team that denied them a place in the Euro 2008 competition, Croatia, 5-1.

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Well the deadline has passed and none in and none out. To say I'm dissapointed is a slight understatement, I don't know why though, we all know what the situation is with our finances. I suppose it was more in hope than expectation that I was waiting for something to happen. I really wanted to believe the [. Click to continue reading...

It could be argued that the greatest condemnation of the Football League's "Fit and Proper Person" test was that Ken Bates could pass it. This, however, may no longer be the case - not because of anything Bates himself has done, but because of the serial mismanagement of AFC Bournemouth's affairs last season – which has emerged from the Football League's explanation for maintaining the strictest possible transfer embargo on the South Coast club.

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First off, Miami FC received a spanking of unnatural proportions! To say they choked is an understatement!
This is what the USL site said was the beginning of the end for the Blues:

It started with Daniel Paladini's free kick in the 30th minute. From 30 yards out, Paladini took the shot as Miami goalkeeper Pat Hannigan was still trying to set the wall.

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It was a great experience to go to another MLS stadium last weekend, not least because we were hosted by the Fire Supporters Club who looked after us grandly. I wanted to share a few observations picked up over the weekend because I think they are of interest to all soccer fans. Maybe we could even learn some things from them. Click to continue reading...

Sol 0 Sky Blue FC 1

It's a well-deserved lead for the underdogs against a flat Sol. Coach Abner Rogers removed midfielder McCall Zerboni for defender Sharolta Nonen after the straight red, but the Sol will need to do more than that to come from behind. Which team had the most rest coming into this game anyway?

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Five without a win in league play, 10 in all competitions, the Wizards are struggling mightily. They are current 9 points out of a playoff spot with the Wizards having 11 games to play. Tomorrow the Wizards play the last place team in the Western Conference, San Jose in what is basically a must win for both teams if they have hopes of making the playoffs. Click to continue reading...

It's an understatement to say that Tom Hicks and George Gillett have not endeared themselves to Liverpool fans over the last two and a half years. Since the undynamic duo took over, a catalogue of public embarrassments have made Liverpool into a laughing stock at times, all of which could have been avoided had the board simply chosen Dubai International Capital (DIC) as the club's new owners. Click to continue reading...

He is one goal from tying the Red Bulls all time regular season scoring record. He is the owner of the best goals to games ratio of any long term player in franchise history. He practically took the team on his back last season and dragged them just shy of the finishing line in the MLS Cup. To say that Angel will rank as one of the greatest Metro Bulls ever is an understatement.

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To say I was frustrated after Wednesday's 1-0 loss to Puerto Rico Islanders in the CONCACAF Champions League would be an understatement. We dominated them, and were by far the better team. In the end though, that doesn't really matter. We still lost, and we have it all to do next week in Puerto Rico. Click to continue reading...

With the lack of internet over the weekend I nearly missed this post. Thankfully WVHooligan writer Geoff Reid did not miss out on it. He sent me this post over from CenterLineSoccer about the possible roof that could be on the new San Jose Stadium.

Here is what Jay Hibbs has to say about the roof.

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The man never stops even when we seem tired of talking about him.

This Sunday, he had his footprint taken to be kept at the Mineirao stadium. Before the match, Cruzeiro, this Sunday's rival, honored the player they projected to the world. And when the action took place, Ronaldo gave an assist, missed a penalty in lazy fashion and scored a goal.

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The English First Division came into being in 1888 and within 4 years, a young man named Steve Bloomer signed for Derby County from local league side Tutbury Hawthorn. Whilst he may have been highly thought of in the local area, such was the turnover of young men trying their hand at football; Bloomer could have easily been another statistic of those days of the Football League's infancy.

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Courtesy of Laurie at The Seattle Offside:

It's no secret that there is no love lost between Portland and Seattle when it comes to our soccer teams.

Okay, that's a bit of an understatement. "Teams and supporters groups would cheerfully rip each other's hearts out and consume them while they're still beating" might be slightly more accurate.

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What a difference a year makes.

That is the first thought that comes to mind in this rematch of the MLS Cup Final, as the Bulls travel out to Columbus to face the Crew. And wouldn't you know it; the Crew will be given their championship rings in a pregame ceremony. How fitting.

Schelotto and his league leading 10 goals will be aiming their cannons at the Red Bulls early and often.

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Once the world's most expensive player, it would be an understatement to say Brazillian Denilson's career has been on the slide ever since that £28million transfer to Real Betis.
The latest stop-off on the 'way down' for Denilson, is Vietnam's Hai Phong Cement FC, where after months of negotiation he was given a pay-as-you play contract of $12,000 for every match he played and a $5,000 bonus for every goal he scored. Click to continue reading...

On Sunday June 21st -Â The USA were facing sure elmination unless they beat Egypt and would need Brazil to beat Italy. On top of that.. they would need a 6 goal swing in their favor to edge Italy for 2nd place. it would be an understatement but the odds were surely against them. It [...] Click to continue reading...

I had commented on it last week, but now the proverbial you-know-what has indeed hit the fan in the Setanta offices, at the announcement it has lost the rights to show 46 matches of the English Premier League with immediate effect.

£30 million in debt, Setanta failed to meet the Friday-deadline put in place, and the league will now put the 46-live matches out to auction.

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Cinderella stories happen everyday, everywhere in this world. In particular, when it comes to the world of football, we have seen quite a few of them. After all, who would have thought that Senegal would knock France out of the World Cup in 2002? Or who would have picked Greece to win it all in the European Cup of 2004?

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