Sir Alex Ferguson gets in a dig at the FA after point out how often Wayne Rooney is used to do all the press for England.

Our manager is famous for wanting to lower the profile of his young stars but this doesn't seem to be a method the FA are familiar with.

"Every time England go on a trip, who gets on the television?

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He´s the new young pearl of FC BARCELONA who got a run lastWednesday night in the SPANISH CUP. GAI ASSULIN is an 18 yearold who is already a full International for Israel & has capturedthe observations of Premier League Club Manager Arsene Wengerfrom ARSENAL.According to local sports daily "Mundo Deportivo", the alarm bellshave sounded at "Camp Barça" because there is speculation that Arsenalare Click to continue reading...

The Sin: Envy has always been associated with the color green, probably in a large part thanks to the Bard's classic Othello. In that play, the jealousy that accompanies envy is referred to as "the green-eyed monster". Proverbs 23:17 also warns against it, stating that one should "Let not thine heart envy sinners, but be thou in the fear of the Lord.

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No a real shocker for most folks out there, Major League Soccer has announced the 2009 Coach of the Year is LA Galaxy front man Bruce Arena.

The turnaround in LA this year has been nothing short of remarkable. Arena found a way to get everything on board with stars like Landon Donovan and David Beckham by plugging in solid veterans and excellent young stars like Omar Gonzalez and Sean Franklin.

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Manchester United's controversial summer signing Gabriel Obertan is set to make his first start for Sir Alex Ferguson's side. United take on Championship side Barnsley tonight at Oakwell Stadium in the Carling Cup. The French winger was signed by United over the summer from Ligue 1 champions Bordeaux and has impressed during his appearances in the United reserves.

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In a world where relegation is none existent, and football is called soccer, College leagues serve as the learning grounds for the young stars of tomorrow. Here, Southern Methodist University freshman Ryan Rosenbaum saw an opportunity against College powerhouse Tulsa from yards away, and a lucky bounce has now put his name up in [. Click to continue reading...

Take note of this name, CARLOS JAVIER ACUÑA CABALLERO orJavier Acuña for his mates, as the 21 year old REAL MADRID B – side("Castilla") player has been called up to the A-team list to play RealSporting de Gijón tomorrow in its "Liga" Round 8 match.(photo: Acuña_as.com)The youngman arrived to Spain from Paraguay with just 16 years ofage, being a player of Spanish side CADIZ who transferred the Click to continue reading...

Apparently River Plate fans have been leaving not-nice voice messages on the players' phones.
Maybe that's what being in 16th place does to ya.
Oh and players are blaming the media for releasing the numbers and thus aren't talking to reporters.
Fun times. Now the links:

• Benitez not punished by FA.

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Recently many HP Sauces, I mean 'sources', have revealed that a return to Arsenal could be on the cards for Patrick Vieira.
If this was indeed the case, I would welcome it more than a naked Rihanna fetching me a Chinese meal consisting of sweet and sour pork hong-kong style, BBQ spare Ribs, special fried rice, and a bottle of Peroni whilst jumping up and down singing 'Vieeeeeeeira, woooooooah'
That would be nice indeed! Click to continue reading...

The Football Association will broadcast the England Under-21's European Championship qualifier against Macedonia on Friday for free.

The match will be the first England game streamed live on the FA website and will start at 1945 BST. The contest will take place at Coventry's Ricoh Arena.

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The United States can clinch a spot in next summer's World Cup Finals in South Africa against Honduras. It's an important match for both teams. Here's a preview of the CONCACAF World Cup Qualifying match on Saturday, October 10, 2009 along with a prediction. A video preview of the match can be found here.

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The CONCACAF region has three matches on Wednesday as qualification begins winding down. Trinidad & Tobago lost on Saturday and their chances are very low while the United States kept their chances in great shape with a home win over El Salvador. Both teams have a lot at stake as they face each other on Wednesday, September 9, 2009.

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Liverpool youngster Dani Pacheco has declared that the club's pre-season in Bangkok and Singapore left him wanting to make an appearance at Anfield.
"The best thing has been signing for Liverpool and since then the two pre-seasons I have spent with the first team - especially the one just gone," he told the club's official website. Click to continue reading...

French Ligue 1 has emerged as one of the strongest and most exciting leagues in the world and French teams often boast a lot of talented players. The clubs have excellent youth academies, whereas the coaches are not afraid to hand talented youngsters the chance to shine, which is why we see a number of young stars ready to conquer Europe every single year.

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According to Justin Rodriguez at ESPN (click here for the original article and all the details), Gyau (16) and Renken (15) have signed multi-year contracts with Bundesliga upstarts 1899 Hoffenheim. Some quotes that should encourage US fans and allay concerns of player development are:
"The key to the decision made by the boys and their families is that Hoffenheim constructed an outstanding path for their development as players," Segal said. Click to continue reading...

Soccernet is reporting that Jozy Altidore's move to Hull has been delayed by ongoing work permit issues. Funny Soccernet also told me things were already sorted out. They cite Jozy's Twitter as evidence: "Bad news, guys. Still in the States trying to sort things out with my work permit.

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Richard Money seems to have a wealth of young stars at Newcastle right now, and these lads will be given every chance to push through to the first team squad in the Championship this season. Richard Money - very pleased with youngsters in pre-season The young Newcastle Reserve side retained their 100% summer record after last night's [. Click to continue reading...

The United States looks to defend their 2007 Gold Cup title with a quarterfinal matchup against Panama. The US will be using a team of reserves as most of their players are on break after a successful Confederations Cup in June. Live coverage will begin about 30 minutes before the start of the match.

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The quarterfinals of the CONCACAF 2009 Gold Cup are set to take place on Saturday and Sunday with many of the same teams from the 2007 tournament. Many of the favorites are still alive and here's a preview of the matches this weekend.

United States v Panama - Saturday - Philadelphia - The United States takes on Panama as they are undefeated in the last 2 Gold Cup tournaments.

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Everyone wants to get their hands on this guy...and US fans can do just that today, if you are in the LA area.
Ahead of today's appearance by Jozy Altidore onsite this evening at the adidas Santa Monica store on the Third Street Promenade, Adidas was kind enough to give me special access to a one-on-one video interview with Jozy. Click to continue reading...

One of the team's brightest young stars, striker Yura Movsisyan has signed with Denmark's Randers FC and may not play another match for RSL. On a brighter note, the team inked an extension with shirt sponsor Xango. There's news on the pitch as well, with Mexico City's Club America due to pay a visit Saturday. Click to continue reading...

With this weeks 4-0 drubbing of England u21s by the German u21s, Die Mannschaft completed a hat-trick of youth level European Championships (winning the u17, u19, and u21 tournaments). Such success indicates that the future of the Bundesliga is bright, and that while the Serie A begins a period of decline, the Premier League is used as a scapegoat for the failures of the English national team, and La Liga devolves into a 2 horse race, the Bundesliga is poised to regain its place amongst the top 3 leagues in Europe.

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Watch the U21 Euro 2009 live here.

The 2009 European Under-21 Championship will take place in Sweden from 15 June to 29 June. While it's expected to be overshadowed in press coverage by the dress rehearsal for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the U21 Euro 2009 still promises to be a showcase of quality football and a chance for European football fans to evaluate the young stars of tomorrow (be it for their clubs or national teams).

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Spain U21 v Germany U21 (Group B)
Date: Monday 15th June
Venue: Gothenburg
Kickoff: 19:45 GMT

Spain will look to convert their immense talent into trophies when their youth side takes on Germany in the second game of the UEFA Under-21 European Champions at the Gamla Ullevi Stadium in Gothenburg.

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The defending W-League champion, the Pali Blues from Pacific Palisades, Calif., come to Colorado for two matches, starting tonight.

The Blues play at 6:30 p.m. today against the Real Colorado Cougars, and they travel to Loveland to play the Colorado Force at 1 p.m. Sunday. The Sunday match is the Force's only afternoon match at the Loveland Sports Park this season.

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Last night as I was going to sleep the call of the internet got the best of me, and my Blackberry meant I didn't even have to get out of bed. I thumbed to Soccernet.com and skipped right to the USA section to read the latest soccer news. There I read an interesting, disturbing, and brave article by Steve Davis. Click to continue reading...

While Newcastle fans wait for some announcment on Alan Shearer one of our brightest young stars Nile Ranger scored two last night in England's 4-0 win over Nile Ranger - scored England first two goals last night  One future star at the club is making an enormous impact with the England U19 squad, as the 18 year-old has [. Click to continue reading...

Lionel Messi and Kaka are two of the young stars in soccer with almost unlimited potential. Both play in the top leagues in Europe but have yet to play in the English Premier League. The question remains if either of these top stars will play in the Premier League and more importantly, should they?

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On the tenth episode of the Soccerlens Podcast, Stephen Darwin is joined by Radio Five Live's Andy Brassell and also Football FanCast's David Schiavone to talk about Italian football, Ligue 1 and those fascinating Champions League semi-finals.

The show will be looking specifically at Lyon's demise in France, the horrible reality of racism in Serie A, incompetent referees and the futures of three young stars of European football amongst many other interesting topics.

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It's been a great season for Aston Villa.
Tons of young stars stepping up. The club even battled Arsenal for a top-four finish for a while. That said, coach Martin O'Neill thinks his star central midfielder is out the door.

"With Gareth Barry, you do accept having spent 10-11 years at the club, he would be wanting to have a look at other particular things.

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Soccer America's Paul Kennedy writes about the pressures for Arsene Wenger and his Arsenal side, heading into this all-important Champions League tie, and for the future of his young nucleus.
Arsenal plays its most important match of the season when it hosts Manchester United Tuesday in the second leg of their UEFA Champions League. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool Academy coach Hughie McAuley says his side still have it all to do if they are to reach the final of the FA Youth Cup.
Holding a 3-0 lead over Birmingham City from the first leg, McAuley's Under-18 side go into tomorrow evening's deciding tie with a clear advantage but the boss is dismissing their ‘favourites' tag. Click to continue reading...

Christophe Bush (ACT/AIS), Stephen Domenici (ACT/AIS), Jason Geria (ACT/AIS), Alexander Meibusch (ACT/AIS), are all in Turkey for the Australia/Turkey inaugural Anzac Day football match. This year it's the Under 17's taking part.
CANAKKALE, TURKEY
23 April 2009
The Australia U17 men's football team, the Qantas Joeys, are preparing for the inaugural Australia-Turkey Friendly Football matches to coincide with Anzac Day with two of Australia's brightest young stars are preparing for the biggest games of their careers. Click to continue reading...

With the 2010 World Cup now just over a year away, the pundits are already speculating as to who will take over from Italy as the World Champions. After some impressive recent performances and a much more solid look about them under Fabio Capello, excitement is (inevitably) starting to grow that 2010 South Africa could be England's year.

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I haven't actually written a match report on this but there was a pseudo report yesterday when Stephen Darwin wrote on Berbatov which also sparked off heated debate on his value.

I'll try to touch on some of the things I didn't talk about in the comments over the past couple of days.

The main issue that's perhaps divided a lot of fans was team selection.

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