The Offside 06 November @ 08:00 PM EST
Seven stories from The Offside and World Cup Blog this week: Nominate your player/manager football
ubermen Gigi's Buffon's incredible Champions League save Ballon d'Or or FIFA World Player of the
Year: Which is shinier? Norwegian homage to Brazilian airport ad The return of Johan Cruyff. To
Catalonia.
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WorldCupBlog 06 November @ 03:22 PM EST
Some advance warning: This post is going to be mildly critical of Zinedine Zidane.
Nothing too harsh, because as for many people he was one of my favourite players to watch. The
vision, the touch, the roulettes, the shiny bald patch. Loved it. But that's also the reason I'm
about to mildly criticize him.
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The Offside 06 November @ 01:15 PM EST
Movies and soccer. Two things that traditionally don't mix well. In documentary form, maybe. But in
scripted Hollywood form? No. For various reasons, it usually ends in either cheesy emotions,
unconvincing action, or Robert Duvall's Scottish accent in A Shot at Glory. But not always. There
are a handful of good football movies out there.
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The Offside 06 November @ 10:45 AM EST
I've seen the above game described as a "catfight", but that absolutely does not do it justice.
Bringham Young University vs New Mexico in the Women's Mountain West Conference college tournament
last night was more like the roughest game of soccer ever captured on YouTube, and it featured the
roughest display of defending I've ever [.
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Richard Farley from "Inside the Six" interviewed yours truly to bring you up to date
with the latest news on the Team Owners Association (TOA).
"Inside the Six" is part of the World Soccer Reader network and Richard Farley is well versed in
football from around the globe as well as the US.
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Richard Farley from "Inside the Six" interviewed yours truly to bring you up to date
with the latest news on the Team Owners Association (TOA).
"Inside the Six" is part of the World Soccer Reader network and Richard Farley is well versed in
football from around the globe as well as the US.
Click to continue reading...
The Offside 04 November @ 09:58 AM EST
Most would agree that the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year awards are the two
biggest individual honours a footballer can win. Bigger even than my Netherton Colts East U-14
Manager's Player of the Year Runner-Up trophy (pictured?). But which award is really the one to
win? The Ballon d'Or has the [.
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Yanks Abroad 04 November @ 07:44 AM EST
The United States will face perennial world soccer power Italy on Wednesday in the FIFA U-17 World
Cup, and making it to the knockout stage of the tournament has been behind the backbone of a stingy
defense.
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The Offside 03 November @ 05:00 PM EST
YouTube videos (and blog posts, including some of mine) often come with hyperbolic titles. So when
I see anything titled "Worst _____ Ever!", I immediately reach for my skeptical spectacles.
However, the above YouTube video titled "Worst football miss ever!" made me put them down again.
I'm not saying that it's categorically, definitely, no takesy-backsies the [.
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I don't know if anyone else reads World Soccer but I have a subscription to the magazine
and in the most recent issue, they raised the point of the best striker in the world. I'll explain
how they came to their conclusion in a moment but I was wondering what other people thought was
required in a striker and who they feel is the best.
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The Offside 02 November @ 12:50 PM EST
Is it just me, or are football clubs digging deep deep holes for themselves every time they sign a
manager to a big money multi-year contract? News broke over the weekend that former Inter coach
Roberto Mancini had finally reached a settlement with his old club. A settlement that apparently
made him €8m richer.
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WorldCupBlog 02 November @ 09:55 AM EST
For a long while there, Stephen Appiah was an international footballer only. The midfielder has
not played a kick of club soccer since late 2007, but still managed to captain Ghana through a
successful World Cup 2010 qualification campaign. Which is ridiculously impressive when you think
about it.
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Dear Mr. Goodell,
What has been witnessed all season long at Qwest Field in Seattle is the potential of
professional Soccer in the U.S. Interestingly, it has all taken place at a football stadium.
Who would have ever guessed, 14 years in, that MLS would make its biggest impact in a football
stadium.
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WorldCupBlog 30 October @ 02:36 PM EST
FIFA has announced its shortlist of 23 players for the Men's World Player of the Year award, and
10 players for the Women's World Player of the Year Award. National team captains and coaches will
now vote (but not for players from their own country) and this final five will be revealed in early
December, with the winners announced at FIFA's World Player bash in Zurich on December 21st.
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This past week I was asked by Inside The Six's Richard Farley to discuss about MLS, the last
match at Giants Stadium, Red Bull New York, MLS as a whole and the situation of the USL & the
future of American Soccer.
Richard Farley who has been a guest many times on the MLS Talk Podcast with Kartik Krishnaiyer
was gracious enough to allow me to share my thoughts on the game here in the USA.
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The Offside 28 October @ 10:13 AM EST
Remember how last year we were complaining about viral football videos. About how they'd jumped the
shark because it was all CGI and lies. Well, we take it back. The latest viral I've seen has a
commercial interest, in that it's designed to promoted English indie band Kasabian's new single
"Underdog".
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The Offside 27 October @ 05:30 PM EST
Have you ever heard of the Golden Foot award? I absolutely hadn't, until this morning when I read
on ONTD that Ronaldinho had won the 2009 edition. Which led me to do some searching and find out
exactly what this thing is. Random, is what it is. But also kind of interesting. Each year, the
Golden [..
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The Offside 27 October @ 12:02 AM EST
Battle of the Brands In the world of soccer sponsorhip, there are two big boys. Adidas and Nike.
Adidas sponsors footballers like Leo Messi and Ricky Kaká, Nike sponsors footballers like
Cristiano Ronaldo and Ibrahimović. Neither are particularly shy when it comes to telling us about
this. In fact, after spending millions on getting the players [.
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On FIFA's web-site promoting the start of the U-17 World Cup in Nigeria the event is hyped as a
chance to "discover the stars of tomorrow." And while there is an impressive list of former
participants (including, for example, Ronaldinho, Michael Essien, and Luis Figo) another look at
the history of the U-17 World Cup offers more cautionary tales than burgeoning stars.
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The Offside 23 October @ 01:05 PM EST
We have three big derbies happening this weekend: We have El Súper Clásico in Mexico, the
Superclásico in Argentina and what I'd consider the equivalent in England when Liverpool host Man
Utd (can we call it The Super Classic?) Here's a quick lowdown on the three big games, and a
question: Which game or games will [.
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After a hectic weekend in European competition which didn't go particularly well for some of the
Premiership teams, we're back to the bread and butter (or should that be the champagne and caviar)
stuff. No doubt about this weekend's biggest game: Liverpool v Manchester
United on Sunday.
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EPL Talk 22 October @ 08:22 PM EST
Martin Rogers, the senior World Soccer writer for Yahoo! Sports joins Kartik Krishnaiyer to
discuss the epic clash that defines English Football: Liverpool-Man United. This Sunday's game
however is different than so many in the past as Liverpool comes in having lost four on the trot
while United sits atop the table.
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I'm not quitting, and neither is Rob. But we both have other blogging commitments and so could
definitely use some help here on England WCB. Especially as we begin the buildup to the big
football show that is World Cup 2010.
Much like Fabio Capello, we won't settle for just anyone.
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WorldCupBlog 22 October @ 03:10 PM EST
Do you know who the unofficial world football champions are? It's not Italy, they're the
official world champions by virtue of being World Cup holders. The unofficial world
champions are in fact the Netherlands. Who says? The Unofficial Football World Championships people
says, that's who.
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The Offside 21 October @ 10:21 AM EST
Sepp Blatter was in Budapest today to unveil the all new FIFA Puskás Award, named after legendary
Hungarian Ferenc Puskás. The award will be bestowed upon whichever player is deemed to have scored
"the most beautiful goal" of the year, and presented to that player at the FIFA World Player Gala
on December 21st, [.
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The Offside 20 October @ 11:34 PM EST
Just over a week ago, I gave everyone two hypothetical options. Option A: Your club wins the league
title. Option B: Your country wins the World Cup. Club vs country. The most popular answer by far
was "country" and winning the World Cup. The second most popular answer was "country, but if you'd
said [.
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The Offside 20 October @ 05:30 AM EST
Have you heard the story linking Thierry Henry with a move to Major League Soccer and the New York
Red Bulls? I know it's been around for a while now, ever since the Designated Player/Beckham Rule
came into effect, but for some reason it kicked up again this past weekend. All of a sudden the
rumour [.
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Soccerblog 20 October @ 03:29 AM EST
Indonesia's bid for the 2022 World Cup will be marketed as the "Green World Cup" and be themed
around saving the planet - "For the Game. For The World. For Our Planet Safety"
FIFA is scheduled to announce the 2022 host on Dec. 10, 2010.
Indonesia's national squad is currently ranked 144th in the world.
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The Offside 19 October @ 09:14 PM EST
The dangerously addictive Football Manager 2010 will officially be released on October 30th. Good
news for gamers. Bad news for pets, plants, and people you know. Especially people who need you to
look away from the screen and talk to them when all you want to do is make sure you sign this
wonderkid before [.
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WorldCupBlog 19 October @ 08:59 AM EST
When you look at the list of nations bidding to host World Cups 2018 and 2022, it's very very
easy to dismiss Indonesia. The nine other bids all have either superior football traditions or
superior infrastructure or superior financial muscle. Or in most cases all three. There's also the
question of letting a team ranked 129th in the world qualify automatically.
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The Offside 16 October @ 03:37 PM EST
Before the international break (which I refuse to complain about) we restarted The Offside's Fan
for a Match series, where we pick one of the world's lesser known clubs, tell you a little about
the team and its history, and then support said team for the weekend. The first recipient of our
support was the [.
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The Offside 16 October @ 01:04 PM EST
Time for a bit of shameless self-promotion. Along with Taylor from Man Utd Offside, I've been
co-hosting a public radio show titled the Total Football Soccer Show. We're eleven episodes in, and
have been posting each show on Podcast Offside. I wanted to bring the 11th and most recent episode
to you attention here on [.
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WorldCupBlog 16 October @ 10:28 AM EST
Norwegian former professional footballer Bjorn Heidenstrom is on a mission. A mission to make the
world's biggest football shirt.
He's cycling from Oslo, Norway all the way down to Cape Town, South Africa, and collecting
signed shirts along the way. He's pictured above (right) taking possession of a signed shirt from
Belgian club Mechelen, and has already collected many many more.
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WorldCupBlog 15 October @ 07:10 AM EST
Bit of controversy in European World Cup qualifying, with the powers that be pulling what looks
like a commercially motivated bait and switch with the playoffs.
Here's what's happened: The nine European group winners all qualify automatically. So that's
Denmark, Switzerland, Slovakia, Germany, Spain, England, Serbia, Italy, Netherlands all going to
South Africa.
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The Offside 14 October @ 07:00 PM EST
Something to read while reminiscing about the Danish team of the mid-80s. Here's a quick vid of
them in action, overturning a two goal deficit to beat Belgium at Euro '84... TV is the spiritual
home of football, says Jim Lovetoy (Football Ramble) Collected footballers tweets (FootballFilter)
Sven in turning down payday shock!
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