The Africa Cup of Nations group stage draw was released on Friday at the Talatona Convention Centre in Luanda with the hosts Angola being drawn in a somewhat easy Group A alongside Algeria, Mali and Malawi. This tournament will be a must win for the 'Palancas Negras' after they failed to reach the Finals of the FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

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Congratulations to Slovenia, a pair of bad managers, strange cures and daylight robbery all feature in this week's good, the bad and the ugly. Vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

Good

It's been a good week for Uruguay, Algeria, Portugal, Greece, France, New Zealand and Slovenia as they all booked their places in next year's World Cup finals with play-off victories over the past few days.

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Many people have been calling for the France v Rep. Ireland game to be replayed, but I'm not too sure if this will be possible. Sure, I think the game wasn't fair and France don't deserve to go to the World Cup, but I'm not sure if you can simply decide to replay this match how can it be considered to be fair, when bad refereeing decisions affect matches all the time, I don't quite understand how this match can warrant a replay when others don't.

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With 32 names in the bag (irrespective of how they got there) thoughts can now turn to the subject of the draw for the 2010 World Cup Finals in South Africa.
The first thing to be decided is which countries to seed. This is calculated just before the draw and is based on past performances in recent World Cups and the FIFA World Ranking. Click to continue reading...

Arsene Wenger today confirmed Danish striker Nicklas Bendtner will be back in full training in three weeks. Nicklas was originally set to play against Manchester City in the Carling Cup tie at the City of Manchester but will now more than be short of fitness for the tie.

Nicklas comeback from injury is likely to be pencilled in for Arsenal's last group tie away in Greece, against champions Olympiakos.

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It is Friday, which means it is time to prepare for non-stop action from Spain with La Liga back in the fray. After an intense week of World Cup qualifying playoffs, the focus turns back to the domestic responsibilities.

The times listed are Eastern Standard Time (EST) and include the pregame pleasantries, although sometimes the matches on the DIRECTV La Liga specific channels may not go to match coverage until right before kickoff.

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The year is 2010AD, Girls Aloud have split, Jedward are ruling the world with over 237 million albums sold, forcing many a music fan to throw themselves of various bridges throughout the world, Sir Dexy Longshot has left UKFF and now writes for Gardeners Weekly & Spurs are Premier League champions.

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According to a report in the Corriere dello Sport, Premier League giants Liverpool are mulling over a bid to lure out-of-favour Juventus 'fantasista' Sebastian Giovinco to Anfield.
The diminutive hitman has only mustered six league appearances so far this term and has slipped further down the pecking order, after the arrival of Brazilian ace Diego over the summer. Click to continue reading...

Now that we have the official list of thd 32 nations taking part in next summers World Cup Finals, all eyes are on the draw December 4th and how teams will be seeded for that draw.

There will be eight groups of four teams, so FIFA needs to split the 32 countries into 4 categories. According to FIFA's regulations:

"The FIFA Organising Committee forms groups for the final competition by seeding and drawing lots whilst taking sports and geographic factors into consideration, as far as possible.

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The Hand of Henry

Think of all those brand names that players pick up as endorsements. And make bags of money in the process. And the team strips emblazoned with corporate logos. But maybe it's time for a new logo to be branded across the chests of our favorite soccer stars, those ones who like to dive, or use their hand to earn a goal.

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Looks like it kinda work

Well, it looks like there is still some sort of fairy dust left in this world. After completing his treatment in Serbia using the latest craze, placenta treatment, Robin was all smiles after exiting the clinic. Dr. Kovacevic will have her hands full now that there is a whole host of other players who would have made her clinic a very pack one.

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Yes, that was a handball. Deux handball, no less. Thierry Henry's last-gasp equalizer sent the French through to South Africa and sent Ireland scrambling to try to force a replay "in the interests of fair play."

I agree that's the fair thing to do. I don't think there's any way in hell it'll happen.

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The hard luck of the Irish

It will come as scant consolation to Ireland, their backroom staff, their players and their massive support (which probably now includes the whole known world outside the borders of France), that maybe this latest travesty could be the death knell to all those who believe that 'honest' mistakes are part and parcel of the game.

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After some dramatic final round and playoff matches, the footballing nations which will grace the stadiums in South Africa are now complete. France, though should be feeling very sheepish as they cheated their way into South Africa.
No one would've expected Thierry Henry to do a "mini-Maradona" but unfortunately, footballers will always try to gain an advantage whether legally or illegally. Click to continue reading...

Slovenia reached the 2010 World Cup finals at the expense of nine-man Russia thanks to Zlatko Dedic's 44th-minute goal on a dramatic night in Maribor. Russia, who had Aleksandr Kerzhakov and Yuri Zhirkov sent off in the second half, were left to rue some poor defending and an overall disjointed performance. Click to continue reading...

Uruguay struggled to tame Costa Rica before booking their place in the World Cup finals with a 1-1 draw at home in the second leg of their South America/CONCACAF play-off on Wednesday. The match was held up for nearly five minutes near the end because of fighting between a Uruguay camera crew near the touchline and the Costa Rica bench amid a nervous denouement. Click to continue reading...

Now that we know the teams that will be making it to South Africa for the World Cup finals, i think its time we all took the bold step of picking our favorites to win the tournament. I know many of you might say that the right time to do this will be after the group stage draw that will happen in about two weeks time on the 4th of December.

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Thierry Henry does not have many fans in the Republic of Ireland tonight. The best footballer in the world, according to the Castrol Rankings, used his hand to put France through to the World Cup Finals next Summer. While the Boys in Green are red with fury and probably wouldn't object to a Hammurabi-like justice exacted on the former Arsenal ace, it should be kept in mind why France was playing Ireland at all.

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"Those that doubted football's cruelty ought to have been on hand here in Paris."
-David Hytner of the Guardian, following Ireland's 1-1 draw (2-1 aggregate loss) to France on Wednesday.

Applaud these men.

This is obviously a non Chelsea-related post, but I don't care.

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Ireland's exit was the stuff of nightmares if, like me, you have green blood coursing through your veins, or just cheer the underdog.Thierry Henry of all people...I've met him twice away from football and he is unfailingly charming off-field as he is scintillating on. But cross the white line when the stakes are as high as a place in the World Cup finals and private pleasantries evaporate in the Click to continue reading...

Slovenia managed a shock victory over Guus Hiddink's Russia to reach the World Cup Finals.

Don't forget to check out Online Football Manager!

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The UEFA 2010 World Cup Qualifying Playoffs had their second legs on Wednesday, November 18, 2009. One of the match-ups was Portugal v Bosnia-Herzegovina, where Portugal led 1-0 after the first leg. Who was able to win and advance to South Africa next summer? Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

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A first galf goal by Dimitris Salpingidis of Panathinaikos ensures Euro 2004 winners Greece qualify for South Africa last appearance was in 1994, you may remember (or chose not to)Â the face Sr. Maradona pulled when he scored his last goal in the World Cup finals against them.

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There was one spot left in the African region (CAF) for next summer's 2010 World Cup Finals heading into Wednesday, November 18, 2009. Algeria played Egypt with the winner to punch a ticket to South Africa. Here's a recap of the match along with video highlights.

Algeria defeats Egypt 1-0 Video Highlights

Algeria clinched a spot in South Africa next summer with a 1-0 win over Egypt.

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It's a rivalry that goes back decades. Some say that it's political, whilst others point at matches from the past that have inflamed sensibilities in a world that seems to consider the art of taking offence to be the next step in the evolutionary chain. Both sides of the divide sees the other as being the absolute opposite without ever seeming to take the similarities between their two nations into account.

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Last weekend and midweek action involved another round of international games. Some matches were important like the playoffs for the right to feature in the 2010 South Africa World Cup Finals but all too many were unimportant games that counted for absolutely nothing. The question that pops to mind was should the top players be excluded from playing in them to avoid injury? Click to continue reading...

Big Story
Detroit hasn't exactly been on everybody's lips as the next great MLS market (Don Garber announced that was likely Montreal in his State of the League address yesterday).

But news from the Free Press at least potentially puts the city back on the table: "A family-owned Toronto real estate company has submitted a winning bid of $583,000 for the Pontiac Silverdome, former home of the Detroit Lions until they moved to Ford Field in 2002, and nearly 130 adjacent acres.

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Uruguay have taken a big step towards qualifying for the FIFA World Cupâ„¢ finals after beating ten-man Costa Rica 1-0 away from home in the first leg of their qualifying play-off.

A first-half goal from Diego Lugano gave Oscar Tabarez's side strong hopes of playing in South Africa next year, following their failure to qualify for the 2006 finals in Germany.

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Uruguay have taken a big step towards qualifying for the FIFA World Cupâ„¢ finals after beating ten-man Costa Rica 1-0 away from home in the first leg of their qualifying play-off.

A first-half goal from Diego Lugano gave Oscar Tabarez's side strong hopes of playing in South Africa next year, following their failure to qualify for the 2006 finals in Germany.

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Every fan of the US team has been hoping that the stars could align, the flipped coin could land on its edge and that somehow the US could be seeded in the World Cup draw. Being among those top eight seeds would make a huge difference and the path to the final 16 would be much easier.

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South Africa have released their new home shirt that they will wear as hosts for the 2010 World Cup finals. South Africa first qualified for the World Cup in 1998 with this being only the third time that they have qualified for the finals. South Africa have never managed to get ... Click to continue reading...

As with all the national teams that have qualified for the 2010 World Cup finals Japan have released their new home shirt. Japan are now beginning to consistently qualify for World Cups, first qualifying in 1998 they have successfully qualified for every one since. The Japanese football shirts are some of . Click to continue reading...

Ryan Babel has once again dismissed suggestions he wants to leave Liverpool FC in the summer while reiterating his desperation to regain a regular first-team role and safeguard a World Cup finals berth.
Despite the Anfield outfit's poor start to the season, Babel has made just two starts in the Premier League. Click to continue reading...

Manchester United, Chelsea, Liverpool and Juventus are among the European giants set to battle for the signature of Palermo defender Simon Kjaer next summer.
The 20-year-old centre-back has established himself as one of the most promising young stoppers in Serie A and is likely to be at the heart of Denmark's defence at the 2010 World Cup finals next summer. Click to continue reading...

At the end of day, you can keep your Premier Leagues and your Champions Leagues. Hell, you can even keep your MLS Supporters Shield... The real deal for any football fan worth their salt is the four-yearly spectacle that is the FIFA World Cup Finals, and the good news is there's another one appearing on the horizon as we speak. Click to continue reading...