SoccerBlogs

By Chris Wright

With the scores level at 1-1 and having already scored once at the right end, South Africa striker Bernard Parker scored an absolutely world class own-goal to put Ethiopia 2-1 up against Bafana Bafana...

POW! What a connection!

Parker's stupendous bullet header OG eventually saw Ethiopia snaffle victory and therefore qualify for the African World Cup qualifying play-offs at the expense of South Africa, with the 2010 hosts being effectively knocked out as Ethiopia cannot be caught in Group A.

By Alan Duffy

This game may have happened on Tuesday night but I thought it still worth popping up for your perusal.

Edinson Cavani, he of the long flowing locks and powerhouse goal-scoring, is one of the most wanted players in Europe right now, with Premier League big guns Chelsea and Man City after the 24-year-old's signature, although Real Madrid now look to be in pole position to purchase the player.

Hundreds of thousands of people have taken to the streets of some of Brazil's biggest cities to join rapidly growing protests against a rise in public transportation cost, longstanding government corruption, exorbitant taxes and large amounts of public money spent on the ongoing Confederations Cup, 2014 World Cup and 2016 Olympics.

"Everything in Brazil is a mess. There is no education, health care — no security. The government doesn't care.We're a rich country with a lot of potential but the money doesn't go to those who need it most.

By JUSTIN FERGUSON

Through ongoing political strife and a year without a domestic league, Egypt is now remarkably one step closer to a spot in Brazil for next summer's World Cup.

The Pharaohs, led by former USMNT coach Bob Bradley, sealed the top spot in Group G of the African federation on Sunday with a 1-0 road win over Mozambique.

Confederations Cup Logo (Wikimedia Commons)

FIFA made available close to 12-thousand extra tickets for the Confederations Cup, which kicks off this Saturday, according to their official website. Prices will remain the same as when tickets first got distributed, starting from $28 (national market) and $60 (international market) for a group stage match to $209 (national market) and $220 (international market) for the final on June 30.

Confederations Cup preview: Spain, Brazil and Italy favourites - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

The 2013 Confederations Cup kicks off this weekend in Brazil, with a number of the favourites for next year's World Cup taking part. The mini-tournament only features eight teams, but the hosts, Spain and Italy will look to flex their muscles ahead of the real event next summer.

While we're less one than year away from the first match of FIFA World Cup 2014, the FIFA Confederations Cup starts tomorrow. The tournament, which is a dry-run for the World Cup, features eight teams from around the world competing over two weeks. The teams competing are Brazil, Spain, Nigeria, Mexico, Italy, Japan, Uruguay and Tahiti.

By DAN KARELL

The top storyline it seems ahead of the Confederations Cup this summer has been the molasses-like pace that some of the World Cup stadiums in Brazil are being completed at.

The Maracana, Brazil's jewel piece and stadium to host the opener and final, is still undergoing construction on parts of the stadium, though FIFA President Sepp Blatter eased fears that it wouldn't be finished in time for the start of next summer's World Cup.

12 June 2013 2014. We're one year away from the best month, the one month that comes around every four years.The World Cup kicks off in 365 days. *Takes a deep breath, falls out of chair from excitement*

The Maracanã is built.

With less than a week to the start of the FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, many questions pertinent to the participants of the competition are being asked. Is Brazil going to be ready to host the FIFA World Cup next year, considering the persistent issues they've faced so far? Will Spain be the third country after Italy and Brazil to win back-to-back World Cup titles?

Spain can complete its trophy case with a Confederations Cup title when it heads to Brazil later this week.

With back-to-back European championships, and the 2010 World Cup, the Confederations Cup is the only big competition that Spain has not won.

They had a chance in South Africa in 2009, but suffered a stunning 2-0 loss to the United States in the semi-finals.

A year before the 2014 World Cup: Argentina are favourites - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

On Wednesday, it will officially be one year before the 2014 World Cup in Brazil gets under way. Despite a number of highly impressive sides around at the moment it is Argentina, led by Lionel Messi, who look favourites to lift the World Cup trophy on 13th July 2014.

Immediately after the United States Men's National Team's 2-1 loss to Honduras back on February 6 in San Pedro Sula, many of us saw a team in crisis. The Yanks not only lost, they were completely outplayed by the Catrachos. Fast forward to today, and those memories are nigh unrecognizable. The USMNT sit top of the table at the midpoint of the Hexagonal, CONCACAF's final round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup, and three of their remaining five games will be on American soil.

Photo by John Dorton/ISIPhotos.com

By JASON MITCHELL

SEATTLE Jozy Altidore has spent much of the last year answering any and all questions about his club career. It would seem he is now answering them for his national team.

Altidore's third goal in as many matches provided the the U.

By JASON MITCHELL

SEATTLE It was a special night here in many ways.

The U.S. Men's National Team, surrounded by doubt as recently as mid-March, arrived riding a string of impressive results and almost casually dismissed Panama to seize first place in CONCACAF's final round of qualifying for the 2014 World Cup.

Brad Evans rescued Jurgen Klinsmann and the United States from another deflating World Cup qualifier on the road.

It looked like the US had thrown away two valuable points in the 89th minute Jermaine Beckford was left unmarked to score from six yards out from Rodolph Austin's 40-yard free kick.

Michael Ballack: 90 minutes of long-awaited, unthreatened triumph for German legend 'Ciao Capitano' - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Michael Ballack's testimonial on Wednesday night proved to be a fitting end to a career littered with loose ends.

A proverbial buffet of former and current international stars, with a combined caps total of over 1,600, rolled out in Leipzig, East Germany, on what was a gloriously royal affair; with 45,000 fans and well-wishers filling the impressive, Red Bull Arena to the brim.

The setting? The 1982 World Cup in Spain. Oh, and Poland in 1982, which was a country under martial law. Censorship was flourishing, policemen patrolled every street, and political opposition filled every prison.

Despite such a period of darkness, its citizens found solace as they watched their team triumph and become "the best TV series of martial law Poland.

Italy surprised many when they reached the Euro 2012 finals last summer, can they repeat that feat at the Confederations Cup?

It will be difficult to do so. Italy are in a slump at the moment, winning only two of their last seven international games, against Malta and San Marino. Not exactly the form that you want heading into a big tournament like this.

Norway's youth revolution continues but a new coach is needed is a post from: Just Football

by Vegard Rinne

In November of 2010 I wrote a piece about the current youth revolution in Norwegian football. Now, we are seeing the first real results of said revolution, with Norway playing in the 2013 U-21 European Championships in Israel.