More than enough has been written about the unfortunate turn-of-events when France advanced to the 2010 World Cup at Ireland's behest.
Though Thierry Henry is the culprit, he should not become a villain, nor have his reputation tarnished by what will surely become the omnipresent fine print in his character bio forever. Click to continue reading...

"Hand of God", by Balakov on FlickrThere's been lots of ink & pixels spilled about Thierry Henry's handball. Let me add to the clamor a little bit. I mean, why have a blog, if you can't spout off whenever you feel like it?
This Twohundredpercent piece, Trying To Dissect The Thierry Henry Handball, sums up the rational, measured response. Click to continue reading...

I was reluctant at first to write about this, and everyone from my non-soccer life was soliciting opinions on Henry's handball against Ireland, but I do have one or two things to say.
I first want to echo Brian Phillips remark yesterday: "Don't call it a "controversial goal." It was a visibly illegitimate goal. Click to continue reading...

Africa
Arguably the headline match of the day was the special play-off match between Algeria and Egypt to decide the final World Cup qualifier from Africa.
Both teams had finished with identical records in Group 3 of the final qualifying round which led to this hastily-arranged one-off match in Sudan to decide the winner. Click to continue reading...

Arsenal defender William Gallas insists he did not see France teammate Thierry Henry handle the ball ahead of him poking home France's equaliser against the Republic of Ireland.
Barcelona striker Henry clearly handled the ball before setting up his former Arsenal team-mate William Gallas to head Les Bleus into the finals in South Africa next summer. Click to continue reading...

(Just in case the thousands of others weren't doing it for you).
Thierry Henry's despicable handball in today's deciding World Cup qualifier against the Republic of Ireland was probably the biggest soccer fraud since Diego Maradona's infamous "hand of God" act in 1986. The stakes, then as now, are massive: a quarterfinals berth at the World Cup then, a spot in next year's South Africa tourney now. Click to continue reading...

Welcome from Land Shark Stadium in Miami. Honduras, a World Cup qualifier from CONCACAF takes on Peru here. Down in Montevideo, Costa Rica is taking on Uruguay for the final spot in South Africa. Earlier today, a US side made up largely of reserves was beaten by a Danish side made up almost completely of reserves 3-1.

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French striker Thierry Henry committed a blatant handball against Ireland today in the World Cup Qualifier which led to a goal by William Gallas and sent France to the 2010 World Cup, leaving Ireland's dreams dashed and Irish football supporters feeling understandably bitter.

The blatant handball by Henry was disgraceful and a horrible way to send Ireland out of the World Cup qualifying.

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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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Not since the famous rumble in jungle between Muhammad Ali and George Foreman in Zaire has there been so much excitement in Africa over a sporting event.As Sudan gears up to host the second leg of the Algeria - Egypt world cup qualifier security seems to be in place on a war footing.15,000 police will be deployed to prevent a repeat of Saturday's violence in Cairo.

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U.S. defender Jonathan Spector ... Did well in Saturday's friendly at center back, but let's not get carried away

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If we equate soccer to real life, international friendlies are a little like on-line dating – good for an initial weeding out, but maybe not for a whole lot more.

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The Argentina coach is banned from all football related activity for two months and has been fined 25 thousand Swiss francs for his post-match rant following the World Cup qualifier against Uruguay last month... Click to continue reading...

Just a few short weeks ago, Chelsea appeared the strongest team at least squad-wise in the English top flight. How quickly things can change.

Following this weekend's international break, the list of those on the treatment table has grown exponentially and not simply from lining up for their respective countries.

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Quick World Cup qualifier coverage update: If you're watching Ireland vs. France, we have options for partisans on either side, depending on whether you like your coverage with a Gallic accent or a Gaelic one. Our Ireland blog will be doing a liveblog right here (France fans welcome), and our France blog will be hosting an open thread, where you leave your thoughts in the comments.

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You can forget Brazil v England or Ireland v France, the most outstanding game of the weekend was the World Cup qualifier between New Zealand and Bahrain. It is the smaller footballing nations who qualify for the World Cup that make it a truly wonderful occasion. The most memorable game ... Click to continue reading...

Plenty of other soccer on TV in addition to tonight's Galaxy-Dynamo game, while local colleges enter post-season play this weekend.

TV best bets
11 o'clock tonight Fox Soccer Channel New Zealand-Bahrain (World Cup qualifier with former Galaxy man Simon Elliot on the NZ squad).

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A visit to Egypt hasn't gone well for the Algerian national team so far.
Prior to a World Cup qualifier on Saturday, the team bus was stoned by a crowd of some ungracious hosts. A handful of players were injured, one's face was bloodied as seen in the video (1:00 mark). Click to continue reading...

Portugal v Bosnia
Saturday 14 November 2009 and Wednesday 18 November 2009
2010 World Cup Qualifying

If a third straight World Cup is to be in Portugal's future, Carlos Queiroz's side must get past Bosnia in the present, and they're going to have to do it without Cristiano Ronaldo.

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[I'm going to make this the featured post for the next five days, except for Saturday and next Wednesday when the CONCACAF/CONMEBOL playoff is being played.] Next Thursday is the 20th anniversary of that historic World Cup qualifier between Trinidad & Tobago and USA. In my opinion, and I doubt I'm the only person who feels this way, it was the most important match in the history of US men's soccer because of where they were at that time and where they went from that point. Click to continue reading...

Miami FC President Aaron Davidson was on WQAM 560 yesterday and spoke a little to the Big O about the new, yet to be named TOA League. He Speaks about Miami FC, Traffic Sports and the Miami World Cup bid.
Check it out:
All South Florida Soccer Fans need to listen to the Big O (Orlando Alzugaray) everyday from 2pm to 4pm. Click to continue reading...

Crunch match gets crunchier Algeria's World Cup qualifier against Egypt on Saturday will have extra bite (as if it needed it) after their team bus was attacked by Egyptian fans. The coach had not even left the airport when rocks were thrown threw the windows, injuring three players. Rafik Saifi, who was hit on his hand, and [. Click to continue reading...

This week's main report looks at the World Cup play-off match between Ireland and France. Listen to our Irish football correspondent, Brendan, discussing whether Ireland can cause a huge upset and make it to South Africa 2010. The transcript can be found below, while vocabulary support can be found for the words in bold at the foot of the post.

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2009, has been a very complicated year for US National Team supporters. We've had the high of our first ever FIFA final combined with the low of a 5-0 loss to arch rival Mexico. We beat World Cup qualifier Honduras four times this year and gave Spain its only loss of the last three years.

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This happened a couple of days ago, but, you know...(shrugs). 15 Arsenal players have been called up for duty over the international break. The entire list can be found here.

Of the 15, only 5 Diaby, Gallas, and Sagna for France, Arshavin for Russia, and Song for Cameroon are playing in meaningful senior international matches, as all of their nations are trying to qualify for the World Cup.

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Nicklas Bendtner is set to go under the knife back in Denmark this Wednesday, following problems with his thigh in recent weeks he has decided its time for surgery. Nicklas first picked up the injury in a International World Cup qualifier for Denmark against Hungary. Arsenal played him against Spurs and the injury re-occured unfortunately NB news cannot reveal exactly when Nicklas will be back playing but it is likely to be in 4-5 weeks.

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USMNT boss Bob Bradley has selected 22 players to gather in Bratislava to prepare for Saturday's friendly with fellow World Cup qualifier Slovakia.As you can see, I pegged much of the roster, with a few notable exceptions (like Tim Howard and the Mexican-based guys). However, I also expect some changes to the roster before the Denmark match that follows four days later. Click to continue reading...

After Ibra's knock to the leg which led to a penalty and subsequent goal for us a couple days ago against Mallorca, medics have announced that he's experiencing some setbacks in the muscle and will be sidelined for around a week. That means he won't make tomorrow's Copa Del Rey match against Cultural Leonesa; adding another name to the list of absentees as several of our boys will be off on international duty. Click to continue reading...

Before kick-off, Uruguay vs Argentina, World Cup 2010 qualifier. Centenario Stadium, Montevideo, Uruguay. October 14th, 2009.

Photo credit: Joelr on Flickr, via the Pitch Invasion Photo Pool.

Related posts:

1. Photo daily: Nacional fans, Uruguay Fans of Club Nacional de Football, Montevideo, Uruguay.

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A deal that could well get the green light from Rafa.

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Liverpool are closely monitoring Hamburg winger Eljero Elia, according to reports in German newspaper Bild.

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Hungary vs. Sweden, Puskás Ferenc Stadion, September 5th 2009. Sweden won the 2010 World Cup qualifier 2-1.

Photo credit: photoreti via the Pitch Invasion photo pool.

Related posts:

1. Photo Daily: NK Maribor Fans Are Lonely Fans in Slovenia look lonely.

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Becks shows his expertise with "spit pieces"

The Health Protection Agency has determined that spitting could lead to the spread of the H1N1 virus and asked footballers from refraining to do that on the pitch.

''Footballers, like the rest of us, wouldn't spit indoors so they shouldn't do it on the football pitch.

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With the recent conclusion of the World Cup qualifying matches I thought this an appropriate time to tell you about the one and only time I myself have attended one. This was a few years before I settled in England, back when I was not really settled anywhere except for whatever cheap hotel room I had stowed my backpack in for the night. Click to continue reading...

The French Football Federation (FFF) have struck a blow to hopes of Ireland fans after restricting the away side's allocation to 8000 for the second leg of the World Cup play-off in the Stade de France.
The French are running scared of a potential Irish invasion of Paris.In 2004 Ireland were backed by a 30,000 strong support as they held France to a 0-0 draw in a World Cup qualifier in Paris. Click to continue reading...

United States and Watford defender Jay DeMerit underwent cornea replacement surgery on Saturday. He is expected to need four to eight weeks of recovery. United States and Milan defender Oguchi Onyewu is scheduled for knee surgery on Wednesday. Onyewu ruptured his patellar tendon during last Wednesday's World Cup Qualifier against Costa Rica. Click to continue reading...

AC Milan are one of the most storied sides in Europe, but they could take a lesson in class from mid-table French side Sochaux. The tragic car accident involving rising US star Charlie Davies and the awful injury to defender Oguchi Onyewu during last week's World Cup qualifier revealed the true colors of the two players' domestic sides. Click to continue reading...