by TRAVIS CLARK

After three years of World Cup qualifying, the 32-team tournament field is set for next summer. Attention now turns to the December 4 draw in Cape Town, when the 32 nation field will learn their fate.

It was a hectic day across several continents as the final six spots were sewn up.

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by TRAVIS CLARK

After three years of World Cup qualifying, the 32-team tournament field is set for next summer. Attention now turns to the December 4 draw in Cape Town, when the 32 nation field will learn their fate.

It was a hectic day across several continents as the final six spots were sewn up.

Click to continue reading...

Seguimos con el análisis de los equipos que hicieron historia. Así, aprovechando la reciente visita del Milán a Madrid (con sorprendente victoria milanista) queremos recordar en Retrofootball el equipo que cambió la manera defender a finales de los años 80.

Un entrenador semi-desconocido por aquel entonces, llamado Arrigo Sacchi, logró formar una "squadra" temible que ahogaba desde la defensa a cualquier rival.

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Image by Getty Images via Daylife Life's A Beach for Rafa Benitez with punters responding to Liverpool's worst run of form in 22 years with a wide variety of betting requests speculating on the manager's demise. Responding to the range of requests Paddy Power are offering 10/1 that Liverpool's crunch game against arch rivals Manchester United [. Click to continue reading...

Çok büyük bir ihtimalle Bernabeu'dan fark yiyip döneceğiz ama yine de umut olmadan bu oyunun bir zevki kalmıyor. Shevchenko, Rui Costa, Rijkaard,Donadoni,Gullit, Van Basten... Hiç birinin kalibresinde bir oyuncu yok. Takım olarak ise o takımların çok gerisinde bugün ki takım. Tarih tekerrür etsin istiyorum. Click to continue reading...

Since we didn't have many significant domestic league matches this week, and I have time to kill on a train from Amsterdam to Brussels, here is the next edition of our Annual Rankings. This time, we are up to 1989.

1989 was one of those seasons in which the European Cup winner did not manage to finish atop the World Club Rankings for the year.

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In spite of assuring everyone that Leonardo will finish this season and won't pay for Berlusconi's stinginess and selling of the best player, the Brazilian probably won't stay on the bench if he keeps this up.

We have already written about that he will be the scapegoat and it is hard to tell who will inherit his post.

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Gazzetta dello Sport Milan fever – Bergamo decides Van Basten in pole to replace Leonardo if the...
Looking to advertise on our site? Want to send us your comments? You can contact us at, owngoalnetwork[at]live[dot]ca Click to continue reading...

Pepe's Portuguese picks Scientists to investigate rift in Old Trafford time continuum [NewsArse] Top 10 controversial celebrations [FourFourTwo] Hyperbole of the day [TribalFootball] Craig Bellamy's wall of shame [MirrorFootball] Daniel De Rossi finds an unexpected lover [YouTube]

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The new van Basten or Barcelona's downfall? The striker goes back to Inter this week doing what he does best: dividing opinions Click to continue reading...

It was really nice, I thought, to see Tomas Rosicky score at the weekend. He's been out of action for roughly 1000 years, and he came back and showed he's still got the magic, by banging one in (in vein) against Manchester City. Luckily, Rosicky hasn't joined the list of players who had to retire [. Click to continue reading...

via Gettyimages

So Leonardo's former Milan teammates have spoken up to defend him... and although Maldini went into hiding after making that "we must beat Inter" remark, good ol' Marco van Basten decided to speak up. He's been playing golf and enjoying the life of the I-Was-A-Former-Great-So-Just-Shut-Up-And-Let-Me-Through phase.

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El nueve es algo más que un dorsal. Implica demasiadas cosas. Así como el portador del diez es, generalmente, el señalado como el que aporta la magia, y dorsales como el siete o el once generalmente son clásicos de jugadores con fama de puñales, el nueve implica gol. Muchas veces sin brillo, sin glamour, con más garra que clase, pero gol. Click to continue reading...

Rijkaard Tam Saha'ya verdiği röportaj'da Türk Futbolu'nun temel eksikliklerinden, futbol mantalitesinden, çalışma stiline kadar pek çok şeyden bahsetmiş. Röportaj'ı okurken dikkatimi çeken ilk şey konuştuklarını İngilizce'yi gerçekten bilen birisi çevirince Rijkaard'ın içindeki futbol filozofunu görmek oldu. Click to continue reading...

Holland prides itself over the years to have produced so many great players. With strikers like Cruyff, Geels, Kist, Houtman, Kieft, Van Basten, Bergkamp, Kluivert, Van Nistelrooy and Huntelaar or goalies like Pieters Graafland, Hiele, Van Breukelen, Van Beveren, Menzo, De Goey and Van der Sar. Some say that goalies have Click to continue reading...

Ajax is one of the most famous football clubs in the world but things haven't been going well for the Dutch giants lately. Five years without the league title is simply too much and now even Marco van Basten could help the team win anything last season. The club officials, however, managed to persuade Martin Jol to leave Hamburg and try to help Ajax return to glory days.

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via AP

This man is a tragic case of Real Moneda's Merciless treatment of their players. It's like dating Greaseano you never know when you'll actually get dumped until he blatantly ignores your presence despite your efforts or laugh at your texts by the poolside (Herpey Hilton!

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(Qualche gol per ricordare Van Basten)
L'ha sparata grossa Fabio Capello. La voce del Ct inglese risuona nell'etere radio-televisivo internazionale con l'ultima battuta che ha del clamoroso. "Ibrahimovic arriverà a superare Marco Van Basten".
(Qualche gemma di Ibra)
Capello non si nasconde e senza paura rilascia una dichiarazione che sicuramente scatenerà reazioni e commenti in ogni angolo del globo. Click to continue reading...

Tra le squadre di calcio della Serie A non è stata una di quelle protagoniste di un mercato esaltante. Parliamo del Milan che è sempre alla ricerca di una punta e tutto è abbastanza legato a doppio filo alla ipotetica cessione di Andrea Pirlo che fornirebbe i liquidi necessari per poterli poi investire sul fronte attaccanti. Click to continue reading...

Los que habitualmente escribimos en el blog hemos querido dar nuestra opinión sobre el que podría ser el fichaje "de campanillas" del tricampeón de 2009, Zlatan Ibrahimovic y de la casi consecuente salida del gran protagonista de la punta de ataque culé: Samuel Eto'o.
Hoy se supone que tenía que ser el día para que se oficializara todo (pendientes una vez más de Eto'o) y por ello he movilizado a todos los miembros para que expongan sus reacciones a todo esto:
Patsandfito: No hace mucho escribí una entrada acerca de Samuel Eto'o en la que reclamaba una solución inteligente para este jugador. Click to continue reading...

Yesterday, I asked the question of implementing live video review in football. Today's question is: are our expectations too high for international football? I enjoyed your responses to yesterday's article. Please weigh in with your feelings on international football in the comment section below.

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Gerald Vanenburg was one of the first in a long line of artist football players. Circus acts, would be the criticism, mostly by people who'd break their angles if they tried to copy the trickery. Van Basten, Van 't Schip, Seedorf, Leonardo, Robin van Persie, Richard Witschge...they can all do tricks Click to continue reading...

Zico, Sokrates, Matthaus, Bergkamp,Ronaldo,Zidane, Gullit, Rijkaard, Van Basten, Platini, Boniek, Deschamps, Desailly... Sadece saydığımız bu isimlere bakıp bir de Kaka ve İbrahimovic'ten sonra Serie A'da yıldız kalmayacağını düşünürsek son 10 yılda Serie A'nın ne derece imaj kaybına uğradığını anlamış oluruz. Click to continue reading...

Same format as last year – my 10 favorite Liverpool strikes in one compilation. Well, actually 11. It's been a good year for great goals. I experimented with adding titles; it doesn't make for the smoothest transitions, but in my defense, I'm teaching myself iMovie by trial and error.
Youtube hates me this season, so we're on sapo. Click to continue reading...

Come al solito, per nulla scontato, sempre pronto a stuzzicare e a intrommettersi nelle "case" altrui, insomma un vero e proprio "Special One". Mourinho, dopo aver trionfato anche nel calcio italiano, parla del suo futuro e chiude, almeno per ora, la porta al Real Madrid, la big europea che da tempo è in pressing sul tecnico portoghese (il quale, ricordiamo, aveva detto di essere molto invogliato dalla possibilità di chiudere il cerchio di trionfi proprio nella Liga), per poter regalare alla squadra e alla società , in fase di ricostruzione, un mister di livello mondiale, capace di far ritornare i blancos ai fasti di qualche anno fa. Click to continue reading...

Consider the master Dutch footballers - Cruyff, Van Basten, Van Persie - all incredibly gifted but also temperamental and a touch arrogant.
And Dirk Kuyt? He is the complete opposite - a dedicated team man with a super-human work-rate, rock-solid temperament and modesty to the point of shyness. Click to continue reading...

Man, keeping Mexicans from soccer games is like keeping Californian girls from lip gloss and silicone.
At your own risk.
Here, take some links:

• UEFA stands by Fletcher red card. [BBC]
  
• Lazio game moved for UCL final. [FourFourTwo]
  
• Van Basten steps down at Ajax.

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A heartfelt article by an Ajax supporter: It's Sunday April 19, 2009. Ajax just got it's ass whipped by PSV: 6-2! On the day the competition could have been just a tad more exciting, Van Basten's team takes a day off. Again. As an Ajax supporter, I like to write with pride Click to continue reading...

Tim Cahill, who's had a brilliant season for Everton, has answered a few questions for The Guardian before taking on Manchester United in this afternoon's FA Cup semi-final.

As far as United fans are concerned, he has given several pleasing answers.

It's the Premiership's public enemy number one that Cahill would list as his favourite player today, after growing up supporting Milan and idolising the likes of Rijkaard and Van Basten.

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(Il vantaggio firmato da Gilardino, che aveva illuso i toscani)
(La serpentina di Leonardo, che beffa una difesa abbastanza incerta, e poi trafigge Frey per l'uno a uno che vale la qualificazione)
Ajax (4-4-2): Vermeer; Van der Wiel, Oleguer, Vertonghen, Vermaelen; Gabri (33' st Anita), Lindgren (24' st Leonardo), Enoh, Emanuelson; Sulejmani (46' stAlderweireid), Suarez. Click to continue reading...

Luiz Felipe Scolari has a clause written into his agreement with Chelsea that he cannot switch to another Premier League club until this summer at the earliest. Scolari, sacked last week after seven months in charge, was paid £7.5 million for the remaining 17 months of his £6m-a-year deal. According to friends, Scolari is "humiliated" by [. Click to continue reading...

La falta de minutos y la contratación de Rob Wielaert, procedente del Twente, podría provocar que el Ajax cediera a Oleguer Presas en este mercado de invierno. El jugador catalán, fichado por los 'judíos' el pasado verano por 5 millones de euros, ha ido perdiendo protagonismo poco a poco en el equipo de Marco Van [. Click to continue reading...

Today former Milan and Italy defender Alessandro Costacurta was named head coach of Serie B club Mantova. Costacurta got his coaching license immediately after retiring from the game in 2007. Last year he did a little learning experience with Milan as one of Carlo Ancelotti's assistants and this summer he was linked with some jobs (most notably Pisa), but he turned it down because he wanted a place that was closer to his home in Varese.

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Why? Its a simple question and you can read the article on ESPN's website. What exactly are Ajax trying to accomplish? Are they going to build a team around Huntelaar so now all of a sudden they are refusing to sell their top players? What is the plan Marco Van Basten? Huntelaar is a great talent, but 40 million Euros buys a lot of young talent to build a squad around, which seems to be the direction that they are going after watching their moves on the transfer market. Click to continue reading...

Historians have argued for centuries the exact date Miroslav Klose last scored a goal. It's been that long. The big man himself was starting to feel the pressure during the game against Berlin last Sunday. After missing another chance, he lost his cool and took a swing at the goal post. Fortunately for Klose he missed. Click to continue reading...