The Sports Frog

The intramural World War II teammates Euro final is tomorrow, and Grant Wahl, per usual has the must read at si.com.

Spain's been the better team in the tournament, and Wahl notes that they are on paper, the clear favorites.

And then he proceeds to pick Germany. A taste of why:

"Germany knows how to convert set-pieces. How many times have we seen the Germans be outplayed on the field, only to win the game on a ruthlessly converted set-piece goal? It happened again in the quarterfinals against Portugal, and this Spanish team reminds me a lot of its Iberian counterpart. Marchena and Puyol are not nearly as tall as Germany's Miroslav Klose, Schweinsteiger and Christoph Metzelder, and the goals that Spain has allowed in this tournament have come on balls in the air. Spain may outplay the Germans, but they will not out-set-piece them."

True enough.

But I think Spain having finally gotten over the Italian hurdle will finish the job. Give me the Spaniards 3-1.

Russia 3. The Netherlands 1.

And, a star is born. Grant Wahl, as always in these parts, with the last word:

We're seeing a new world soccer superstar emerging from one of the most unlikely of sources. He's only played in two games, but Andrei Arshavin has suddenly replaced Spain's David Villa as the headline act of Euro 2008. Russia's stunning (and deserving) upset of the once-rampant Dutch was won on the feet of Arshavin, the 27-year-old playmaker who punished the Dutch defense all game long with his speed, creativity and tireless effort. Twelve years ago in a European championship quarterfinal I got to see the emerging genius of France's Zinédine Zidane for the first time. Now, in another Euro quarterfinal against Holland, I got the same kind of adrenalin rush watching Arshavin shred the Dutch defense. Arshavin has a long ways to go if he wants to be the next Zidane, but there's something special about seeing the rise of a great new talent on the world stage.

True all dat. The Russians took it to the Dutch all day, and Arshavin was a huge part of that. Yet another hugely entertaining match in a Euro Cup that has been full of them. Tomorrow's clash of the futbol titans to determine the last semi-final entrant is between Spain and Italy. That would make me a big-time Spanish fan.

And can I get it in time to be an emergency call up striker for the Austrian national team for Euro 2008?

A Vienna brewery is promising a lifelong supply of free beer to any Austria player who scores a goal for the co-hosts in their remaining Euro 2008 group matches against Poland and Germany.

Click here
Austria, competing in the finals of the tournament for the first time, made a disappointing start with a 1-0 defeat against Croatia on Sunday.

'Maybe this is the kind of motivation that will give them the last kick our team needs to be successful,' Ottakringer Brauerei AG chief executive Sigi Menz said in a statement, adding he would personally deliver the brewers's supply for the first year

In every big soccer event, a young player or two usually steps his game up a notch. Who will it be at Euro 2008?

Karim Benzema?

The top scorer in Ligue 1 this season, Benzema has been attracting attention from across Europe, although has repeatedly pledged his future to Les Gones. Fast, and with a great eye for goal, he can also play on the wings, which is a versatility that Thierry Henry, Nicolas Anelka and Djibril Cisse also possess.

Igor Akinfeyev?

His command of the penalty area, shot stopping ability and agility are without question, but it remains to be seen if Akinfeyev can overcome his injury troubles and succeed at a major tournament. Euro 2008 will certainly offer him the opportunity.

Or will it be someone else?

A few notes in the days preceeding Euro 2008:

Robin Van Persie and injury concerns go together like seasons without silverware and Arsenal.

French newcomer Bafetimbi Gomis makes an early claim on understatement of the tournament, declaring, 'I'm no Zidane.'

Mathieu Flamini called up in case Patrick Vieira can't go.

Guus Hiddink rules out a move to Chelsea, which means he's probably agreed on a move to Chelsea.

Euro 2008 is fast approaching. With that, it's time to get familiar with the teams and how they play. Soccernet.com has a breakdown of the likely tactics for all the teams.

Group A: Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey

Group B: Germany, Austria, Croatia, Poland

Group C: France, Holland, Italy, Romania (On paper, the toughest group I may have ever seen)

Group D: Spain, Russia, Greece, Sweden

The links contain some really good info, which will help whet your appetite in the run-up to the event.

So Luke Steele has, by nearly all accounts, been standing on his head to help Barnsley defeat both Liverpool and Chelsea to keep the hopes of FA Cup glory alive for the English Minnow. The thing is, Steele is not a full member of Barnsley's team. He is in fact a West Bromwich Albion player, on loan to Barnsley (imagine if the Browns sent Brady Quinn to the Vikings for a few weeks late in the NFL season). West Brom is another lower level team vying for the FA Cup in this upside down year.

The way that loans typically work is that the loan team will often continue paying a portion of the wages for the player so that the player can get playing time that he would not be getting with the current sqaud. Typically it's a developmental thing with younger players who want first team action (Steele was well thought of in recent years as a youngster with Manchester United). Well, West Brom will let Steele continue playing for Barnsley, but with a couple of provisions:

West Brom have been subsidising Steele's wages during his first month with Barnsley because of their financial situation.

Given the lucrative rewards Barnsley have reaped from their cup run, Albion would now want their Coca-Cola Championship rivals to pay Steele's wages in full should the loan be extended.

They would also be looking for Steele, who has 15 months left on his Baggies contract, to join Barnsley on a permanent basis in the summer as part of the agreement and would be willing to grant him a free transfer.

Of course, there may be a provision as well that prevents Steele from playing against West Brom. It doesn't seem like this would be the case, otherwise I doubt that they would have much issue with a simple loan extension. The other Goalkeeper on Barnsley's squad, Tony Warner, is Cup-Tied, meaning he cannot play in the FA Cup for them as he already played in that competition this term with Fulham. If a deal cannot be worked out, Barnsley will be scrambling for a keeper who hasn't played in the FA Cup.

Maybe then it would be time to call and see if Sir Alex Ferguson would want Ben Foster to get a little game time in the FA Cup semis on April 5th. Foster may still be between the sticks for the Man U first team at that time, however.

Or at least the one with the best top portion. All four of the English Premier League teams in the Champions League have advanced to the Quarterfinals of the event. It marks the first time four teams from one country have made the final eight.

I'm not positive that the bottom of the EPL could compete with those teams at the bottom of the table in other leagues (Derby would struggle in the A-League, I think), but when you see that a team that isn't even in the CL beat Chelsea to win a domestic cup, that shows that there is some quality outside the Big Four as well.

Imagine that there was some North American football tournament, where all the professional teams got together and played one-off games until one team stood alone. There would be a pretty decent chance that you'd think the winner would be one of the top NFL teams.

Then imagine that the Final Four was the Saskatchewan Roughriders, the Edmonton Eskimos, the Hamilton Tiger-Cats, and the Tennessee Titans. That would be pretty unrealistic, wouldn't you think?

It's pretty close to what happened in the competition the English call the FA Cup. Three of the teams remaining in the competition come from English Football's second level. The remaining Top Flight team is one that is capable of a good performance but will ultimately fall short of being a real threat for the league title.

Portsmouth will undoubtedly be the favorites to claim the Cup, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see one of the lower division teams lifting the silverware and claiming a coveted spot in the UEFA Cup in doing so.

I guess this is why you play the games.

remind yourself that you aren't getting strange packages and death threats.

Anti-Semitic death threats have been sent to Chelsea boss Avram Grant in a package containing a mysterious powder, police said today. The club's training ground at Cobham, Surrey, was sealed off after a member of staff opened the package yesterday. A note addressed to Grant claimed the powder was lethal.

A police source confirmed that the note to Grant, 52, included the words: 'You are a back-stabbing Jewish b******. When you open this letter you will die a very slow and painful death.'

Death threats of a sexual nature were also made to Grant's wife, Tzofit, a well-known television personality in the couple's native Israel.

Thanks to the now singular Sabo for the linkage.

Now have a go at Chelsea!

After surprising Liverpool over the weekend, Barnsley will now face holders Chelsea in the FA Cup Quarter-Finals, at home no less. While a tilt against Bristol or West Brom might have seen the Tykes with a better chance of advancing to the semis (those two non-EPL sides will face off for a spot in the last four), the Barnsley staff is relishing a big day against another top team.

'I'm very pleased, it's fantastic to draw Chelsea at home. We wanted a home tie and to get Chelsea is brilliant,' Davey said on Sky Sports.

'In the last round against Liverpool 6,000 Barnsley fans came to Anfield - now we can fill our stadium against another fantastic, world-class team. It's a good reward for beating Liverpool in the last round.'

If you're wondering how good this team really is, consider that they ousted Blackpool along the way. There is little doubt that Barnsley will soon challenge the European Giants for continental supremacy.

Cardiff and Sheffield United are also still alive among the non-EPL sides, though Sheffield will need to win their replay against Middlesbrough to progress.

I came late to Manchester United fandom. I started following soccer during the 1994 World Cup, then ramped up significantly during the 2002 edition as the US Men's Team put on a good show in Korea. At the time, the internet was still learning what it would be, as strange as that sounds. Most teams had some sort of web presence, but Man U's was far and away the most comprehensive. There was free audio of gamedays, and listening to streaming games made it much easier to follow a team five time zones away. The site also offered a vast section on the history of the club. Even as a newcomer, the tradition of Manchester United seemed to shine through.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of a devastating plane crash where 23 people lost their lives, eight players from the Manchester United First team included. The Busby Babes, so named for their relative youth and their performance under the tutelage of Sit Matt Busby, will forever be remebered, as an official ceremony will commemorate a portion of Old Trafford to those lost in Munich this day in 1958.

Eight United players were among the 23 people who lost their lives on 6 February 1958, when BEA flight G-ALZU crashed on the third take-off attempt after re-fuelling in Germany on the way back from a European Cup success at Red Star Belgrade.

Sir Matt Busby's side - back-to-back English champions and well positioned for a hat-trick attempt - arguably were on course to become the best-ever United team.

The players who died in the crash were Geoff Bent, Roger Byrne, Eddie Colman, Duncan Edwards, Mark Jones, David Pegg, Tommy Taylor and Liam Whelan.

In addition to the Manchester remembrance, a short ceremony, organised by supporters, will also take place at the memorial site in Trudering, on the outskirts of Munich.

Sir Alex Ferguson weighs in with his thoughts, and Phil Holland writes a tremendous piece that is well worth a read if you are at all interested in soccer history. Then head to The Swamp, where phirahnas has started a thread for more thoughts on the tragedy.

In the third round of the FA Cup, nine premiership teams were undone, either by their top flight companions or by a team from a lower division. This weekend, at least three more will go home as several top teams face off. Arsenal take on Newcastle, Tottenham play Manchester United and Wigan host Chelsea.

Liverpool face Havant & Waterlooville, a team from the SIXTH division of English football. This would be like the Indianapolis Colts playing some team of ex-high school players in a Turkey Day game in the mud at the local high school.

Eight games on the docket will see a non-Premiership team through to the fifth round. The draw will have a lot to say about who gets further as a lower tier side, but it's a good bet that at least a couple of teams from outside the top league in England will live to see the sixth round, at the least.

UEFA is going to probe the 8-0 victory Liverpool posted over Besiktas due to a suspiciously high amount of bets that were placed on a large victory.

"German newspaper Sueddeutsche Zeitung has claimed there was unusually high levels of betting on a high-score victory before the game.

The paper suggested Besiktas players could have been targeted by Asian betting syndicates ahead of the game which saw the Reds romp to a record win thanks in part to Yossi Benayoun's hat-trick.

UEFA's director of communications, William Gaillard, has so far only confirmed an InterToto Cup clash between Makedonija and Cherno More is being officially investigated but admits a number of other games are under suspicion."

Sueddeutsche Zeitung. Sounds like something that should happen in the privacy of one's bedroom.

The World Cup is going to Brazil in 2014, and that's not a prediction of the winner. It will be played in Brazil for the first time then. It is anticipated that the building and renovations needed to host the cup will cost more than $954 Million Canadian dollars.

It wasn't much of a battle for the rights, however, as Brazil was the only country making a bid to host the 2014 edition.

Landon Donovan is the American Player of the Year? Are you having a laugh? Are you serious?

For what? For taking a lot of penalty kicks? For coming back from Europe to play against easier competition in MLS? For missing out on the US national team's toughest tournament? For sucking out loud for the last-place Los Angeles Galaxy?

I get that the award is based only on international play. But he skipped Copa America to inflate his stats in the Gold Cup against inferior competition. And guess what? Almost all of his goals came on penalty kicks ("PKs" for the idiots).

This is unreal. Clint Dempsey, Tim Howard, Damarcus Beasley, and probably Carlos Bocanegra all deserve that award four times before Donovan deserves it once. Yet it is Donovan who has won it four times.

Why? Well, there are two clear reasons why:

1) The quality of soccer writing is so poor in this country that he is the only name the writers recognized on the ballot.

2) He is the American face of MLS and there was some heavy politicking going on to make sure he won the award to help market the league.

Only, as usual, the clowns in charge of MLS missed the boat. American soccer fans hate Donovan. And they are smart enough to know he has not had what could be considered close to the best season.

Grant Wahl, in the name of Pele, please call out your brethren. Reach out. Educate them. Explain to them that they are just plain dead wrong here. This is embarassing. A typical read can be found at ESPN by Andrea Canales, who hands Donovan the award without any comparison to the other nominees. Even otherwise smart writers like Nick "Employee of MLS Partner Fox" Webster is trying to sell this.

Pay up, lads.

That being said, I find this to be an interesting concept of fundraising untapped in the States. Asking pro athletes to donate one day's wages to a good cause? I like it.

Atletico Mineiro defender Coelho was suspended 120 days for taking out Kerlon, the Brazilian striker who likes to run at defenders while heading the ball repetitively with his head. The tackle was a bit harsh, but a four month suspension seems like overkill.

I guess in Brazil, when you mess with the seal dribbler, you pay the price.

Have all the Chicken Littles of the world, myself included, been dead wrong about this? Have we been once again duped by the British tabloids? Well, if Didier Drogba returns to the pitch this weekend, it certainly appears that way.

Avram Grant shockingly announced that his star striker was healthy enough to play again (read: he doesn't hate me anymore) and would suit up this weekend against Fulham.

I hope this is not the case. Not because I want Drogba to be injured (I doubt he truly is), but because a Chelsea in chaos is much more fun to watch than the united squad Andriy Shevchenko has asked for.

So did Drogba change his mind about Mourinho's departure, or did Roman Abramovich make a phone call to, ahem, convince his striker that both he and his family would be better off with Drogba on the pitch?

If you read The London Guardian, there is clearly a source (or sources) at Chelsea that believe that Chelsea Captain John Terry played a central role in the ouster of Jose Mourinho. Terry, who earlier this summer in contract negotiations wanted a clause in his contract that guaranteed that he'd be the best-paid player on the team for the duration of his stay, apparently didn't want to play in a recent Champions League tie. And then refused to speak with or acknowledge his manager at halftime. And that ultimately led to the board determining that Mourinho had lost the backing of the squad.

Seems a bit far-fetched to me. But where there's smoke, there's often fire. And Terry's teammates, who are in the locker room every day, apparently didn't think so:

"On Friday, several first-team regulars apparently took their captain to task during a 50-minute team meeting called by Terry in the aftermath of Mourinho's dismissal. Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Florent Malouda are believed to have accused him of not doing enough to keep Mourinho at the club."

And Mourinho blames him as well, as he sent Terry a text message to that extent after leaving by mutual consent. The craziest part about this whole story has got to be Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich doing his best George Steinbrenner In His Prime impression:

"In front of the entire Chelsea team, but while Mourinho was occupied with press conference duties, the Russian billionaire decided to hand out an impromptu tactics lesson to Michael Essien.

Employing striker Andriy Shevchenko as translator, he instructed midfielder Essien, player of the year last season, to hit passes wide rather than through central areas where the Norwegians had compressed play."

The best part about that story might be the fact that Shevchenko is probably the biggest bust in the entire world right now. So Essien not only has to listen to the owner of his team berate him in front of the whole squad, but he gets to hear it through the mouth of one of the worst performers on the team.

Whether Avram Grant wants it or not, this is a nickname that will stick with him.

Today's game at Manchester United is not the easiest first test for Chelsea's new manager.

This will be especially true given that Didier Drogba is essentially on strike throwing a temper tantrum over Jose Mourinho's sacking, and it's hard to keep up with Frank Lampard's excuses for being off the pitch.

Everyone in England will be watching to see how the players respond to him. Maybe he can teach Sheva how to run again.

The Special One may be on his way out of Chelsea. A sad day for Blues fans, as well as anyone who follows English football, if he does leave for good. Swamp soccer contest winner vinlakers22 is all over it here.

With the disasters of Sheva and Ballack, the public bickering from Lampard, the club's inability to bring on Danny Alves, the injuries to Terry and Lamps, and now this, we may be watching the Chelsea empire crumble before our very eyes.

From 100% Injury Rate:

"It seems that Sir Alex Ferguson (yes, that means he's a knight), who is the manager of Manchester United, was on his way to attend a 9/11 charity event in London on Monday to raise money for families of those killed in the terrorist attacks......when he was attacked by a man at a train station. According to The Mirror, the guy was "yelling football-related abuse." Oh you classy English soccer fans. You couldn't possibly be more subtle.

A British Transport Police spokesman confirmed that the 65-year-old manager suffered leg injuries. Sir Alex, however, still attended the event. Why? Because he's a f*cking soldier, that's why. No, seriously I salute him for attending the event."

How would other EPL managers have handled the situation? My theories:

- Arsene Wenger, being French, would have volunteered all his money, credit cards, and the French mainland immediately, even though the guy seemed to be interested only in assault.

- Jose Mourinho would have called a press conference to complain about how the incident merited a direct red card and that these kinds of things never happen to Man U.

- Rafa Benitez would have tactically outwitted the criminal.

- Roy Keane would have killed the guy with his bare hands, assuming that the attacker was a 15-year old kid.

And people say soccer is boring.

Imagine if Manny Ramirez invited Daisuke Matsuzaka and Hideki Okajima over to his mansion for an all-night romp with a bunch of prostitutes that involved everyone walking around in the nude, group sex, spanking and more. And then one of the girls called up Bob Ryan and gave him every imaginable detail. And then the Boston Globe put it on the front page.

Well, the equivalent of that just happened in England, where Cristiano Ronaldo - arguably the best player on earth - welcomed new teammates Nani and Anderson to Manchester United by treating them to an orgy with the call girls of McKenzies Escort agency based in Leeds (you can google their website yourself).

And lest some of you question the authenticity of the story of a bunch of working girls, or for that matter, The Sun, these ladies took some pics with their cellies. And Juliana Baltrusch, one of the girls, gave a tell-all exclusive to The Mirror, which includes bits like this:

"Before I knew it I was kissing Ronaldo and my hands were wandering all over his body. I was in heaven and you could tell he was turned on.

"Yasmina and Hollie were bumping and grinding with each other and rubbing themselves against the men."

""He led me back inside the main house, pulling off my soaking wet bra and pants on the way.

Continue reading "The Manchester United orgy" »

T.J. Simers has never been one to pull punches or wait to see how something turns out before judging it. And David Beckham's injury list has left the door wide open for criticism, regardless of your level of interest in the success of soccer in America. So, T.J. Simers, walk through that door!

"The bloke is already a joke, and a case could be made, if anyone really cared, that Beckham's a thief -- stealing millions."

"First impressions linger, and Beckham has hardly made one. He has done nothing locally to sell the sport, although Leiweke disagreed, citing the five hours Beckham met with the media his first day here, including an interview with 'Al Jazeera English.'"

There's more if you follow the link including Beckham's tight underwear and Simers' concern over his ability to conceive and get sidelined with jock-itch. Nothing is below the belt for T.J.

The transfer window in England closes tomorrow, and while it would seem like there should be a flurry of action, the seas have been relatively calm this morning. Bolton pulled off a coup by signing highly-skilled striker Nicolas Anelka to a long-term deal.

So now everyone's favorite target appears to be Tottenham's Jermaine Defoe. Chelsea, Villa and Pompey are all reportedly in on the spare Spurs striker. If Redknapp misses out on Defoe, he might chase Barcelona's Eidur Gudjohnsen.

He can chase all he wants, but now that Samuel Eto'o will miss at least the next two months, it's hard to see Barca letting Gudjohnsen walk. UPDATE: The Swamp's Grits corrects me.

Harry Redknapp has openly stated that he will allow newly-signed striker David Nugent walk to Derby if he wants to. Nugent, formerly of the scum that is Preston North End has yet to decide what to do, but he probably increased his value by scoring a goal in Porstmouth's Carling Cup win over Leeds.

Newcastle fans were apparently yelling anti-Islamic chants towards Middlesborough striker Mido throughout most of the game this past weekend. Just how offensive they were is difficult to ascertain since no one will print them anywhere. But generally speaking, picking on someone because of race, religion or gender is a nasty mean-spirited way of going about it.

The FA is looking into the story, though Boro are not filing a formal complaint. Maybe because they're embarassed that 3,000 away fans could make enough noise to be heard so loudly and clearly. Mido scored a fine goal in the fixture, and was then given a yellow card when he went up to the Newcastle section and put his fingers to his lips multiple times to shush them (pictured above). At the time, he seemed out of order. But given the chanting that was inaudible in the TV broadcast, I'd rather have seen the yellow go to the Newcastle bench.

Mido is, generally speaking and regardless of race, a jackass of the highest order. That being said, there's no place for this type of crap in professional sports. As this green Yank understands it, the famous singing and chanting in English football has often been of the low-brow variety, with one of the more famous and popular chants questioning Mr. Beckham as to which orifice his wife prefers during intercourse. And racist songs, while not nearly as common as they are in other countries or as they used to be in England, stil pop up a few times per season.

Hopefully, "the lads" can move into this century soon and find funny things to sing about besides the color of one's skin or religion. For starters, Mido is a fat whining crybaby who has never live up to his promise. Let's sing about that instead.

The crowds at New York Red Bulls games are atrocious. They technically average around 11,000 per game, but the "real butts in seats" number is probably a fraction of that.

This weekend, with the L.A. Galaxy in town, New York drew almost 67,000 people. And those in attendance were treated to a very American-friendly score of 5-4. The same effect has occurred in DC and Toronto. When Beckham didn't play in New England, the crowd wasn't there.

This should help to silence the critics a bit. Yes, it's his first time around the league. So maybe the Beckham Show will get old. But if he keeps playing like he has been - and he is playing hurt right now, so there's no reason to think he won't improve - the crowds will stay up.

What was the effect of 50,000+ additional fans at a Red Bulls game? Between tickets, concessions, souvenirs, and parking, it could easily be in the $3 million range of profit. For one game. And that's just gameday revenue. That doesn't include the real profit, like advertising at the park or the television rights. TV networks are in a tizzy to show Beckham. You can see him play live on no less than six different channels. And the MSG network purchased the rights to show the Red Bulls game again in 60-minute replay format.

It's far too soon to determine whether this is just a nice bump for MLS, or the beginning of a long climb towards respectability for the league. But early signs are good. And the anti-soccer crowd that was screaming "I told you so" when Becks was hurt and missing games - and yes, I'm looking directly at Jay Mariotti's Well-Shaped Eyebrows - is notably silent.

"That's why I'm here." - OK, they're only immortal to people who have watched way too much Star Wars, but still, this is why David Beckham is here:

At the very least, that is what we're be told so that David Beckham is never far from the headlines. Still, it is expected that the English star will play major minutes in tonight's game against DC United.

"I think I can play at least half a game tomorrow, which is important for me,' Beckham, 32, told reporters on Tuesday after taking part in his first training session with the Galaxy at the Home Depot Center.

'It's important for the team that I at least get on the pitch and help contribute. It was good to get out on to the field today and have a bit of practice.

'This is my first time, since I arrived, to be out on the training pitch and it felt good.' "

Beckham went on to say he is about 70-80%. What? I know that, much like when there is a hotshot rookie QB waiting in the wings that fans clamor to see him on the pitch, but more often than not that proves folly. Tim Couch or Carson Palmer? Easy decision (It burns...it burns!). SO if I am the Galaxy, I would protect my investment and only put Becks out there when he's fully fit.

As an aside, much was made of Posh taking full advantage of the move to L.A. to do TV, announce a Spice Girls reunion, etc, so that some thought that she was as much a driving force behind the move as any footballing reason. If Roy Keane had his way, footballers wouldn't be such wimps.

Wayne Rooney's hairline fracture will see him miss several games but the Man U staff is not letting anyone know just how many. Can Man U recall Alan Smith?

John O' Shea has certainly shown the willingness to play anywhere, and by playing up top Sunday, I can't think of any position at Old Trafford that he hasn't played. That's not to say he's a good option. Ronaldo can play in a depressed role behind a lone striker and be more than serviceable, so here's hoping that Carlos Tevez gels with the Portuguese winger sooner rather than later. While I like them, the thought of having to rely on Ole Solskjaer and Louis Saha is frightening.

If Man U are forced to rely on those two, it will be Man U fans in the depressed role.

Everton have been throwing around the cash lately. First, by signing Leighton Baines, and now making a move for Yakubu from Boro. Ten million pounds is a nice haul, but the major issue for Middlesbrough if they lose their top striker is exactly who will score goals.

Roy Keane is keeping busy as the transfer window closure is in site, setting an all-time record by spending nine million pounds for the services of a goalkeeper. Craig Gordon from Heart of Midlothian and Scotland will now step in between the posts for the Mackems.

The good news just keeps on flowing out of Newcastle. First, Joey Barton is hurt. Then Michael Owen suffers his monthly. Then the rumours that Obafemi Martins may be leaving for Arsenal or Chelsea. And now comes the news that top-flight keeper Shay Given is out as well. James Milner had better be careful shaving tomorrow morning.

Arjen Robben's quotes in the Spanish press are sure to anger his supporters at Chelsea: "Of course Madrid's interest makes me happy. But for now I can not say much more because Chelsea will not let me tell you more until there is an agreement between the two clubs. It's better that they talk about it and solve this ... I know some people are waiting for me. I would like to send a message to the Madrid fans, but I can't until my future is sorted. If it gets sorted, I'll be glad to send the people a message." Blues fans will be praying that Shaun Wright-Phillips develops a finishing touch over the next few days. Though if Robben's sale facilitates the arrival of Danny Alves, I don't think many people will be complaining.

And here's a nice column on the 10 best summer transfers from Kevin McCarra at the Guardian.

Those well-shaped eurobrows belong to Jose Enrique, the newest member of Newcastle United's reworked backfield.

In other Magpie news, everything is going as planned. The green is in great shape, they've put a fresh coat of paint on the stadium, and Michael Owen is hurt. So, now the season is officially ready to begin.

Barcelona has come out and publicly stated that the club is not interested in selfish twit and overrated shottaker, Frank Lampard. Meanwhile, Handsome Frank's agent denied that his client rejected an offer to make him the highest-paid player on the Blues. Negotiations can be rough on both sides, but the crap he pulled last month when he was publicly and sincerely saddened that Chelsea didn't love him enough was sickening.

At the same time as the Lampard negotiations, Lampard's midfield partner is ailing and trying to deny rumors of a move to Real Madrid. Michael Ballack may want to stay, but after getting offseason ankle surgery without telling the club - and then missing the club's muy importante American public relations tour because the surgery was botched - Chelsea could kill three birds with one stone if they did ship him out: 1) make a lot of money on a player they didn't pay for, 2) soothe Frank's ego, and 3) free up money to bring in Danny Alves.

Meanwhile, homeless people are playing a lot more soccer in America than David Beckham these days.

Credit to the London Mirror for the Simpsons tribute in honor of the start of the EPL season. See if your favorite team's manager is represented:

Sorry we're a little late to the game on this, but we'd be remiss if we didn't acknowledge the incredible victory for Iraq's soccer team in the Asian Cup. Now, this isn't the World Cup, but with quality sides from Australia, Japan, and South Korea. And a respectable Saudi Arabian team, Iraq were not supposed to be a factor.

This is especially true given the fact that this team was patched together, and didn't even have a training ground inside its own country. What was even more heartwarming than the victory itself was the manner in which the majority of Iraqi people came together, regardless of religion or race, and celebrated.

Per the excellent LA Times piece by Alexandra Zavis written after the Iraqi team clinched a spot in the finals:

"Thousands poured into the streets Wednesday when Iraq's team edged South Korea to clinch a coveted spot in Sunday's final against Saudi Arabia ... Shiite and Sunni Muslim friends who can no longer visit each other's neighborhoods, for fear of being shot, found each other again amid the throngs who were dancing, drumming and spraying each other with water and party foam ... In a shady Baghdad alley Friday, four friends rehashed every detail of the semifinal won 4-3 on penalty kicks after a 0-0 tie in regulation ... The four -- a Shiite, two Sunnis and a Christian -- plan to meet ... again for Sunday's final."

"The team's mixed makeup and its ability to beat the odds has been an inspiration to the fractured nation. Its Brazilian coach, Jorvan Vieira, had only two months to prepare the squad. Players had to shuttle between their local clubs and national practices in neighboring Jordan; some received death threats, or had loved ones kidnapped and killed."

Nice to see some good news from that country for once. I guess we'll have to wait and see if the President decides to use the Iraqi soccer victory for political fodder again.

Broken foot. Surgery required. Out for six weeks at least.

This was pretty much the most predictable injury of all time. Any Toon fan knew Joey Barton would end up on the trainer's table. Not only is Newcastle snake-bitten by injuries to the point that pretty much everyone they sign gets hurt, but this is soccer karma for the signing of a well-known jerk.

Glenn Roeder doesn't deserve credit for much after last season's results, but I will give him credit in that he never used injury as an excuse for their bottom-half finish. This despite what was inarguably the most injured side in the Prem.

P.S. Michael Owen, you know him as the team's best player who missed pretty much the entire season last year after getting hurt playing for England, is also hurt again.

"Grayson warns clubs off striker"

Simon Grayson will NOT be selling Scott Vernon, thank you very much.

Thanks to the former Sabo!^2 for the link.

A few weeks ago, I was in Ireland in the city of Galway out on the town in search of a proper pint and a bit of traditional Irish music. I settled in at a pub and struck up a conversation with a nice British couple, Brian and Mary, who had moved to the area not too long ago from what they originally described as "near Manchester" in England. Brian was a big lad, and you could tell from the way he carried himself that he knew how to "hold his hands up" if it came down to it.

Being a fan of football, I asked whether it was City or United for them, and it was Rooney and his Boys in Red that they supported. But they indicated that their favorite team was the local boys from their hometown. I asked where that might be, expecting to hear a small village in the middle of nowhere. And the response was, "Blackpool ... have you heard of it?"

I had heard of it indeed. The fact that I had heard of his town was enough for Brian to buy me a pint. But when I told him that I too was a Seasiders supporter, and that I had a Blackpool Wembley 2007 t-shirt back home in the States, I might as well have been a doctor announcing to him that his baby boy was born and healthy. What proceeded was a long night of me trying to keep pace with Brian as we drained pint after pint and talked about Blackpool's most unusual and triumphant season.

It turns out that, not only had Brian been a lifelong resident of Blackpool before moving to Galway, but that he had also run with the Blackpool Firm for a good many years, though he considers himself quasi-retired as of now. One look at this fellow was all you needed to take him at his word.

More after the jump ...

Battle of the L.A. Galaxy superwives.

In case you were under the assumption that all the soccer players in MLS are excited about the arrival of David Beckham, I thought I'd highlight a quote from one of the players - in fact, one of his teammates - that sheds light on the likelihood that not everyone has caught Beckham-mania:

"It would be kind of a nice gesture if he came in and just splashed the locker room with cash for some of the younger guys ... It'll be interesting to see how he integrates socially into the team. A lot of us hang out together, and when he's invited, will he want to come out? Will he bring the kids? Will he bring Victoria? We're fun to be around, so I think he'll get pulled into that if he wants to."

The italics are added, and the quote is from the always-excellent Grant Wahl.

So who wants Beckham to give away some of that money to his teammates? You know? Just throw some wads of cash at the guys. Doesn't even need to be US Dollars. It could be British pounds for all we care.

That would be Landon Donovan defining passive aggressiveness. For the record, Donovan is among the elitely paid in MLS. He's not getting Beckham money, but then again, he didn't sell 250,000 jerseys upon the announcement that he'd be coming back to MLS from Germany. And he's nicely into seven figures between salary and endorsements. If I were one of his teammates, I'd love for Donovan to make it rain in the clubhouse, or at least, you know, maybe talk less and score some more goals.

As subtle as a fart in church.

At any rate, the experiement is on. Actually, I am probably an interesting test case. I am very aware of MLS, but rarely if ever watch it. I watch every US National game that is on, and have even taken to watching the U-20 US National team with interest. I will occasionally slow down when flipping through the channels when an EPL game is on. I am, at best, a casual soccer fan, but I am now, legitimately I think, a fan. Which is a very different circumstance from 10 years ago.

So, now that Beckham is here, will I change my viewing habits and seek out, at least, LA Galaxy MLS games? (Grant Wahl, as always in this area, is all over this point here). I think I will. At least the first few. MLS has bought itself a trial period with a significant number of folks with this move. And probably imported millions of fans of Beckham to care about Galaxy games.

All in all, well worth the move, particularly for a guy who, in the last six months, has shown a LOT more gas in his tank than people thought a year ago.

The Danny Alves-to-Chelsea move appears to be gaining steam. Alves' agent has come out and said that the Sevilla star is interested in wearing blue. This is a critical move for Chelsea to keep up with Manchester United's ridiculously good offseason.

"Sven-Goran Eriksson has reportedly held talks with Arsenal star Freddie Ljungberg in a bid to hijack his Fiorentina move." This would be a fine signing for Man City, who need to find some type of punch on offense after the departure of Joey Barton.

Michael Owen rejects talks that he'll be leaving Newcastle, despite the reported nine million pound buyout clause in his contract. What a loyal lad! But could it also have something to do with the appearance that no one seems to want him? In other Magpie news, Habib Beye wants to stay in France, Big Sam has told his old club to step off their pursuit of Charles N'Zogbia, and Aldo Duchser is coming in for a tryout.

Arsenal added French defender Bacary Sagna to their backline. The 24 year-old has 87 appearances under his belt, making him a very well-seasoned youngster, and Arsenal should get his prime years.

Depending on who you believe, Marlon Harewood either is or is not headed to Birmingham. Paying around four million pounds for a 27 year-old English striker who has shown that he can score goals at a fine clip will be a damn good piece of business for whoever does sign him.

Nice column by Paul Doyle in today's Guardian about the possibitlity of Deco coming Tyneside. Doyle sums up why the Geordie Army should be ecstatic if the Portuguese superstar decides to head north, even if it is mostly for the money:

"Sure, Deco does ugly things like dive and bitch, but he also does beauty like few other footballers can. His touch is a miracle cure for claustrophobia, making tiny spaces appear ample; his passing a panacea for predictability; and his shooting a lethal injection. He invents new possibilities in an instant, slays opponents in a second. And for all his art, Deco's no fancy dan. He has steely substance. His strength on the ball recalls Maradona and Zidane and he, rather than Ronaldinho, has usually been the driving force of Barça over the last two years, as he was for Champions League-winning Porto before that and as he remains for his adopted Portugal."

So, in other words, he's like Emre to the 10th power. No one doubts his skill. But one other important effect a Deco signing would have on the EPL that Doyle does not get into is that it would send the signal that there's a new big club in town. Right now, with few exceptions, there are four clubs where world class talent lands in the Prem. Those four (Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool) are pretty much the sole possibilities when an international superstar is considering a move to the UK.

Once in awhile, a second-tier club like Newcastle sneaks in Obafemi Martins or Tottenham lands Berbatov or West Ham nabs Carlos Tevez, but as we are seeing this offseason, with all three of those players strongly rumored to be heading to one of the Big Four clubs, those can end up being short-term rentals.

If Ashley lands Deco, it will not be to sell him in a year. It will be to send a message to his loyal fanbase, to the other EPL sides, and to international players and agents. That message is that Newcastle is willing to pay for the services of the best.

Now, that being said, it should still be considered a longshot that Deco ends up in black and white stripes. Both Milan clubs are reportedly hot on his trail. And Ashley will likely have to overpay to get his services. But the fact that this is even a rumor is borderline unfathomable. And it is a definite change in doing business compared to only a few months ago.

Newcastle has emerged as surprise bidders for Barcelona's Deco. This shocker started to spread yesterday afternoon, and is gaining steam in the press this morning.

Arjen Robben to Real Madrid seems destined to happen. For my money, that is a perfect fit. In firing Fabio Capello despite the fact that he won La Liga, maybe they'll head back to the days of overpaying for big-name players who don't fit into a team concept. Robben epitomizes that.

Liverpool has reportedly upped its offer for Ryan Babel, and now there's 13.5 million pounds sitting on the table. Maybe Babel and Torres will combine to form Tom Hicks' Liverpool version of the A-Rod signing.

Arsenal is set to activate Obafemi Martins' buyout clause. The Oba Era at Newcastle was fun while it lasted (a whole year). Thanks to the clever businessman who used to run this club, a whopping three million pound profit can be expected. I suppose it's better than nothing. You Gunners can be prepared for the striker with the best work rate in the EPL. Period.

Aston Villa is prepared to bid 8 million pounds for Jermaine Defoe. If Tottenham was the buyer instead of the seller, why do I get the feeling the price would be twice as high? Have Spurs finished spending their Carrick booty yet?

Sheffield United is after Celtic's Thomas Gravesen, Newcastle and Liverpool are both after Gabriel Heinze, and Khalid Boulahrouz appears headed to Sevilla on the cheap.

You have probably already seen it, but if not, make sure to check out his recent footie mailbag with observations on the US outing in Copa America, the play of Freddy Adu in the U-20 World Cup, and a nice discussion on the trick box that MLS put the national team in with regard to the squad it could take to Copa, among other observations.

Wahl remains a supreme pleasure to read, for both the very casual and the very informed US soccer fan.

While we're here, I got a chance to watch the U-20 game last night between the US and Brazil, and am still processing the stunning 2-1 US victory over one of the pre-tournament favorites. Not only is the US comfortably through to the knockout stage with a 2-0-1 record, but Brazil is now teetering on the brink of elimination.

There appears to be some world class talent on the horizon for the US.

The United States has absolutely owned Mexico in games played in the United States over the past decade or so, but the Nats had never rallied to win a game against the Mexicans since FDR was president.

Until yesterday.

The U.S. scored two second-half goals and earned a 2-1 victory to win the Gold Cup, the continental championship of soccer in North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Since 2000, the U.S. is 8-0-1 against the Mexicans at "home". (Snarky use of home in quotes since any non-World Cup qualifier in the U.S. tends to have a sizable pro-Mexico crowd, yesterday's game included.)

What does the victory mean? Well, it's important psychologically for the Nats heading into World Cup qualifying next year. It's possible they won't face Mexico again until the final hexagonal in 2009 and even if the squad will be different in two years, continuing the success against the Tricolores on U.S. soil is important.

It also qualifies the U.S. for the Confederations Cup in 2009, which will provide a nice tuneup for the World Cup against some elite teams in some of the stadiums used for the World Cup.

It also provides some momentum heading into Copa America, even if the team heading to Venezuela is markedly younger and more inexperienced than the Gold Cup squad. Up first? Argentina on Thursday. So Bob Bradley had best enjoy that undefeated record while he can.

Really, some real treasures in there sometimes.

Like this collection of cheerleaders etc. from Mexican soccer games.

Like say, this one:

Hey now.

That would be the rear end, or lack thereof, of the wife of the soon-to-be best soccer player on this continent.

The Superficial has Posh Spice down pat:

"I find it difficult to believe women actually want to look like her. Yeah, she's skinny, but she barely looks human anymore. I could put together a more natural looking person with some brooms and some tape."

As far as I'm concerned, she's tailor-made for LA.

Many more photos over at his site "after the jump."

- Could Carlos Tevez really be staying put at West Ham? This would be absolutely shocking, especially given how freely the Hammers have been spending, or trying to spend, this offseason. Benfica midfielder Manuel Fernandes and Barcelona striker Eidur Gudjohnsen are today's rumoured Hammer targets. This would be phenomenal for English football, as anyone who watched him put the team on his shoulders and save them from relegation saw a star player forming a bond with hardcore fans. It'd also be nice to see a side outside of the so-called Big Four keep such a highly sought after player.

- Newcastle and Pompey are both after Sevilla striker Freddy Kanoute. Come on, you Magpies!

- Arjen Robben wants to get paid, preferably by Real Madrid. Chelsea isn't feeling that vibe. The Dutchman has turned down two contract offers from the Blues in the space of a week.

- Looks like Bolton won't be keeping keeper Jussi Jaaskelainen. Not only are the Villains after the talented stopper, but Roy Keane wants to make 'him a Mackem (scum) as well.

- Ludo Giuly has been linked prominently with no less than seven teams from three different countries.

- Another American owner in the Prem?

- Marco Materazzi to Tottenham? That's the rumor. I went to the airport yesterday to exchange some money (golly gee, that American dollar is strong), and the guy behind me made a joke in very broken English about me exchanging dollars for Euros, while he did the opposite. I asked where he was from and he said Italy. I shook my fist at him, sucked my teeth, and disapprovingly said "Ma-te-ra-zzi." He laughed and made the gesture of heading in a goal and gleefully said "Materazzi!" Gotta love the international language.

- First, it was Steve McLaren having to swallow his pride and invite David Beckham back into the England squad. Only to watch him emerge as his team's best player. And now Real Madrid have attempted to buy Becks back from the L.A. Galaxy. But neither the club nor the player were interested in entertaining Madrid's offer. Damn, that one has to sting, Capello. The world-famous powerhouse of Real Madrid vs. MLS, and Becks is choosing to cross the ball to Landon Donovan instead of Ruud Van Nistelrooy?

- Memo to Sir Alex Ferguson: If you would like the services of Carlos Tevez, please bring a briefcase to the guy with the egghead filled with 40 million pounds. That 25 million pound offer? Pathetic. And the same goes for you, Barca.

- 40 is the magic number, apparently. Real Madrid, having been rejected for Alexi Lalas, aren't stopping to lick any wounds. A 40 million pound offer for Kaka is rumored to be in the works.

- Sam Allardyce has come out and flat-out admitted that he would be powerless to block the exit of Michael Owen from Newcastle United. The buy-out amount is supposed to be nine million pounds. It was an awful contract to sign, but it's not clear what Allardyce's motivation is. It's not his style to play the weakling, so this could be interpreted as an invitation for the big clubs to come calling for the talented, but F-R-A-G-I-L-E, striker.

- Roy Keane is buying at Sunderland. Greg Halford? Reading hardly knew ye.

- It looks like Phil Jagielka will be heading to Everton for four million pounds. It would actually be a return to Everton for the versatile 24 year-old, who played for the youth squad earlier in his career, only to be released.

- Lyon have informed Florent Malouda that he's going to the highest bidder. In the queue are Liverpool, AC Milan, Juventus, and Arsenal.

- Birmingham is offering six million for Egyptian striker Mido. As far as moody, inconsistent, overrated strikers go, Mido sits at the top of the heap. That's easy money for Tottenham.

A pretty good showing by US Men's Soccer yesterday in the Gold Cup. Nothing fabulous, but three points are three points. This is especially true given that Guatemala played a scandalous brand of soccer, cheating at every available opportunity in the worst possible way. Dives, elbows, cleats, shoves, and grabs were the order of the day. In short Guatemala's attitude going into yesterday's game on the pitch was similar to the attitude the United States government has taken towards Guatemala historically: we'll beat you to a pulp, take what we like, and you'll like it. And the referee in the soccer match played the role of the rest of the world, turning a blind eye to everything.

A few observations:

- Clint Dempsey and Taylor Twellman play well together. When the stakes get higher and the competition gets tougher, and the US needs to score more than one to win, these two have to be on the pitch together. And I would aruge they should throw Eddie Johnson on the pitch as well.

- Bob Bradley needs to work on his game management and Oguchi Onyewu needs to work on his temper. Gooch was embroiled in a battle with the slimiest player I've ever seen on the pitch, Carlos Ruiz. He was yellow-carded, unjustly. And from that point on, he played out of control and visibly frustrated. It was clear to anyone, even idiotic sports bloggers, that Gooch needed to come off the pitch. The US were defending a 1-0 lead, and Guatemala were attacking and the ref was letting Ruiz do whatever he wanted. It was only a matter of time before Onyewu received his second yellow, which he promptly did, earning an ejection. All of this happened with Jay Demerit on the bench.

- When Demerit got into the game, he was by far and away the best American defender. If he doesn't start from here on out, it will be a travesty.

- The match took place in Southern California, and the crwod was rabidly anti-American. I can only imagine the level of hatred that the crowds in Copa America take towards the yonger, less experienced team when the matches begin in Venezuela.

- The good news: Landon Donovan was stripped of captaincy, and played well enough. He certainly showed some fight for the first time in awhile. The bad news: Carlos Bocanegra was the captain, and he may have had the worst day on the pitch apart from Onyewu. The worst news: Who else is there on this team who could be named captain?

While I'll fully admit to a Newcastle bias, it's a strange day when almost all the major soccer transfer rumors are related to the Mags one way or the other:

- Newcastle look to be bringing in Joey Barton and sending out Scott Parker. They'll be getting a more talented player for less money, but they're losing class and gaining a headache. Evidence of this can be found in reports that the Magpies won't sign Barton unless his contract includes a clause "to protect the club if he is jailed over the incident with Manchester City team-mate Ousmane Dabo."

- Bolton and Everton are insisting that their star strikers, Nicolas Anelka and Andy Johnson, are going nowhere. If Bolton are wise, they're just trying to jack up the price of Anelka. Allardyce got a good amount out of him, but now that he's gone, Anelka can be more trouble than he's worth without a strong manager. But in the case of Johnson, I absolutely believe it. And were I an opposing manager, I would not be keen on spending a load of dough on a transfer for the diminutive striker. Making a move like that is just screaming for an injury-related bust.

- Bolton and Wigan are both hoping to land Antoine Sibierski. If he does sign with the Wanderers, he'd be pairing with Anelka, who is a friend and fellow Frenchman. That might settle Anelka's wandering eyes in regards to a transfer to Manchester United.

- Wigan have inherited Newcastle's nightmare of a centerback, Titus Bramble. Get ready for 89 minutes of solid play and one minute of complete and total meltdown. The problem with that one minute is that the opposition tends to put one in the back of the net while Bramble watches the imaginary butterflies above his head.

- Alan Shearer has declared that David Beckham is still too good to be playing for Major League Soccer: "I don't know if David is regretting going to Los Angeles Galaxy. But he's better than that standard, without a shadow of a doubt." I find it amusing that people think of Beckham's move to the Galaxy as a soccer-related move. He did not sign with the Columbus Crew. He is in Hollywood.

Quite a good bit of business for Sir Alex Ferguson. You know it's been a good day when getting Owen Hargreaves for your squad is an afterthought. The real coup for Ferguson was signing two young players out of Portugal, Anderson and Nani, who could be linking up together with Cristiano Ronaldo for years to come. Anderson is 19. Nani is 20.

"'They're both top players and among the top five in Portugal with Simao Sabrosa, Joao Moutinho and Ricardo Quaresma,' Portuguese football journalist Miguel Padayda told BBC Sport."

Just what the league champions need. Two more cogs for the future. This Anderson kid, who is bound for the Brazilian starting 11 in the near future, already has quite the highlight reel. A sample from youtube (start paying close attention at 43 seconds in):

And here's Nani, who clearly has the touch of a finisher, and whose backflips will make Obafemi Martins blush. Start paying close attention around 1:00 into the video:

Swamp discussion here.

Edit to Add: One other nice benefit from these moves is that Ronaldo should now feel much more comfortable in Manchester United with two players that not only speak his language, but look up to him. Very smart move by Sir Alex that will serve to limit his star player's wayward eye. Let's just hope they don't become a team of divers.

The BBC is chock full of speculation today:

- Newcastle want David Beckham on loan from the LA Galaxy in the MLS offseason. The Magpies are also reportedly in after Phil Jagielka and Liverpool's Boudewijn Zenden.

- Tottenham are after Ryan Giggs. Is Manchester United really ready to let him go? Spurs have also been linked with Charlton's Darren Bent and Sporting Lisbon midfielder Nani.

- Not surprisingly, Matthew Taylor has drawn a lot of interest. Liverpool, Everton, Tottenham and Aston Villa have submitted offers.

- Villa to sign Reo-Coker. Eight million pounds is a decent price for the Hammers to fetch. Could they use it to keep Tevez? If not, they're reportedly looking at Mark Viduka and West Ham's Luke Young.

- Liverpool would include Craig Bellamy as part of their 25 million pounds for Carlos Tevez. No word on whether that's supposed to help or hurt their offer.

Yesterday I was listening to the excellent World Soccer Daily podcast for the first time in awhile and Howard Rogers (Brit apologist that he is), said that he believes that the ref, Herbert Fandel, who worked the Champions League Final has an interesting history with the two teams.

According to Rogers, the German referee has worked six AC Milan matches. And Milan has won all six times. He has worked four Liverpool games. Liverpool has not one a single match.

Now, take that into account with three things that took place in Milan's 2-1 victory:

1) Inzaghi's handball goal.

2) The fact that Liverpool had 10 more fouls called on them than Milan.

3) That Fandel took at least a minute off of injury time at the end of the game when Liverpool was attacking. Not only did he end the game 30 seconds before extra time had ended, but he failed to account for a Milan substitution that took place.

Now these are all likely just a string of coincidences. And there was also an argument to be made that Liverpool's sole goal should not have been allowed because Kuyt was offsides. And the only thing that Rogers is more arrogant than English football is Manchester United. So forget the grain. Take this with a big bag of salt.

But given the cheating and match-fixing that has taken place in Italy at the highest of levels, and given the recent scandalous behavior of German referees, to ignore the possibility of foul play would be naive.

- Freddy Adu is warning David Beckham that he had better shine in MLS ... or else. To put this in perspective, Adu is still 17 years old. It seems like he turns 17 every year the same way single women turn 29.

- Sorry Arsenal, but Yossi Benayoun just re-signed with West Ham for five years. Elijah Wood's a happy boy today. As is West Ham United owner Eggert Whocareswhathislastnameis. Yes, that's really a pic of the West Ham owner. Yes, his first name really is Eggert. Mommy and Daddy must have had a wicked sense of humor.

- Freddy Shepherd doesn't sound like he's trying to hand over the reigns at Newcastle, stating: "There is nothing Mike Ashley can do with this club unless he gets 75 per cent of the stake ... He can't take full control, he can't change resolutions or the club's articles of association. He has spent more than £50million, but he will have to spend a whole lot more as he must now make an offer not just for my shares, but the shares held by all the other shareholders."

- Great news for new Swamper svenalike (who really does earn a living as a Sven-Goran Eriksson lookalike in England. No, we're not kidding), Sven is a candidate for the Man City post.

- Also on the free agent coaching market, former France, Liverpool and now Lyon coach Gerard Houllier. If he is willing to leave France, look for him to take over a Champions League level club in either Italy, Spain, or maybe further east in Kiev.

Crates of Thwaites is a good name for a rock band.

AC Milan 2, Liverpool 1.

A team that was docked points for cheating in Italy, but still managed to make the Champions League because so many other teams in Italy cheated just as bad or worse, is champion of the soccer world. Welcome to the world of UEFA, where Bud Selig would be the model of decency and fairness.

And let's throw in the luck associated with that the first goal against Liverpool. It was scored on a hand ball, and there are certainly questions as to whether or not it should have even been allowed.

While no team completely dominated the pitch, Liverpool clearly had the upper hand for most of the match. But they didn't finish. And Milan soaked in the Red attack, absorbed it, and capitalized on their own opportunities where Liverpool did not. A few other notes:

- Jermaine Pennant was a revelation.
- Kaka was an artist.
- Dida was phenomenal in goal for Milan.
- Liverpool never really challenged the middle of the Milan defense.
- Rafa Benitez waited way too long to make offensive substitutions. I think it cost them the match.
- Pirlo completely shut down the left side of the Liverpool attack.
- Somewhat surprising that Benitez didn't play the pacy Craig Bellamy at all. I think Maldini would have had a very difficult time keeping up. Dirk Kuyt provided no such challenge.

Stephen "David" Gerrard says his heart is broken, and given his inability to finish, that's not surprising.

Apparently there were some problems with tickets at yesterday's UEFA Champions League Final yesterday in Athens. Many Liverpool fans with legitimate tickets could not get in, and riot police had to use tear gas and batons to control the crowd.

UEFA Spokesman William Gaillard blames the lousy Brits:

"The behaviour of the Liverpool fans is in the end responsible for the problems that took place before the game ... To control the fact that so many fake tickets were around as we warned but this was all done in Britain ... I am very sorry for what happened to fans who had regular tickets but at the same time there is a collective responsibility in terms of behaviour."

British authorities, of course, blame UEFA. This just goes to show the hard feelings that still exist between the English and the continentals in terms of soccer fan behavior. At first blush, this may seem like a ridiculous persecution against legitimate fans. But if you read Among the Thugs or other such books that document soccer hooliganism into the 1990s, you'd understand why things are the way they are.

Quite literally, actually...

"Unofficial "supporter of the year" Drummer Hoggy was today given a huge boost ahead of the Wembley play-off final with the news that HE IS ALLOWED into the stadium with his drum.

There had been some confusion between the Safety Officer and senior officials at Wembley but following lengthy discussions between the club, Football League and Wembley it has been agreed that the drum will be allowed into the stadium!"

Steven Gerrard: "My main focus is to get myself right. But if I can do that, we will see if (Midfielder Gennaro) Gattuso can stop me. If my form is right and I feel good I am confident I can overcome anything Milan put in my way."

"I'm told Milan think Manchester United are better than Liverpool, and they are entitled to their opinion. We are not really interested in what is coming out of their camp."

``That is considered very bad luck(touching the trophy), we were surprised they did it. I can assure you I won't let any of our lads touch the cup. You only touch it when you've won it.''

Gerrard also called Gattusso a "kitten" in a book he wrote after the two faced off in the 2005 Champions League Final. Gattuso's nickname is "The Snarling Dog."

You can talk about this match-up if you want, because it's a good one, but the one I'm more interested in is Kaka vs. Javier Mascherano. If there's a player with more skill in this game than Kaka, I'll eat your shorts.

UEFA Champions League Final. Today.

It's down to one game, the Champions League Final between Liverpool and AC Milan, tomorrow afternoon. Bobpentsfs11 (Favorite Color: Puce) maintains a lead over Vinlakers (Hero: Chairman Mao) by a three pint margin, but if VL can get the final scoreline correct, he will pip bob by a point.

Sabo!Sabo! (Favorite Day of the Week: The 24 hours between 9 AM Thursday and 8:59 AM Friday) can't win, and there are many scenarios where he falls out of the prize spots.

Ah, screw it, there are too many scenarios. You figure it out. The standings:

- Fernando Torres is supposedly the top target of Manchester United after they land Owen Hargreaves. El Nino and Shrek would make a very interesting pairing up front. Torres has been inconsistent, but has shown flashes of brilliance. Ferguson must feel strongly about him given the standard questions asked of Spanish players coming to England. Also on the shopping list, Garreth Bale, and Sporting Lisbon winger Nani. Of considerable note is the absence of one Michael Owen from that list.

- Real Madrid and Chelsea appear to be the top two bidders for Tevez. Tevez in Chelsea Blue would almost force Mourinho to go with a more aggressive offensive approach, right? I'm still rooting for the kid to stay at West Ham and continue his love affair, but maybe it's too good to be true. What happened to Arsenal's interest?

- Ashley Cole is a self-centered dolt. On winning the FA Cup: "It feels extra special as I've had a lot of flak and hopefully it will shut people up. I only played for ten minutes but celebrated like I played the whole game. It's my fourth one now, which is up there with people like Ryan Giggs, which is unbelievable. It means a little bit more to me personally and I'm very happy."

- Juventus has a long shopping list. Now that they're back in Serie A, Juventus is looking to return with a vengeance. Start off with a striker like Obafemi Martins, and shore up the midfield with Xabi Alonso and Momo Sissoko. Hey, if he went to Juve, at least Martins wouldn't have to change kits. The cheaters are buyers again.

- Romario's fake 1000th goal sparks wild celebrations in Brazil. Romario scored his 1000th goal, but the only person keeping track of his goals is Romario himself: "Romario admits that his tally includes goals scored in youth team, friendly and testimonial games but this failed to dampen the celebrations." This is akin to the joy I took in recording a triple-double in three-on-three gym class basketball.

- Charlton has been quick with the signings. Looking to get right back up to the Prem next season, Alan Pardew is wasting little time in getting his team in place already acquiring strikers Luke Varney and Chris Iwelumo.

It wasn't without controversy, but Chelsea salvaged its season by winning the FA Cup final over Manchester United today. The Blues avoided the luck of penalties this time when Golden Boot winner Didier Drogba scored off a beautiful feed from Frank Lampard with five minutes left in extra time. Chelsea supporters will be talking about this goal for years, but Red Devil fans will focus on another point in the match.

Extra-time brought a moment of controversy as Giggs slid in to meet Rooney's far-post cross.

Still, as referee Steve Bennett did not give what appeared to be an obvious foul, United could feel aggrieved, although not as aggrieved as Chelsea would have been if they had fallen behind.

I haven't found the Special One's quote regarding the controversial non-goal. But he was understandably overjoyed to win the only major soccer trophy he had yet to attain.

Did you think Manchester United was jobbed? Have your say in the dirty Swamp.

The current scuttlebutt courtesy of the BBC (new slogan: "Still banned by Big Sam")

- Craig Bellamy to West Ham once Tevez leaves. This makes tons of sense. Liverpool gets rid of a head case. West Ham take the closest thing to Tevez that has ever come out of Wales. Bellamy beats up a foreign exchange student outside of Upton Park.

- Makelele to Villareal. Wow. This would be a big loss for Chelsea. Maybe their most underrated player, and their most complete apart from Michael Essien.

- Bobby Zamora to Atletico Madrid. The Hammer fans will need a new song to sing to the tune of That's Amore now. Does this mean the young Mr. Torres is finally on his way to bigger things?

- 'Arry looking to bring Freddie Ljungberg to Pompey. Somehow this seems unlikely. Maybe Redknapp just needed to see Portsmouth's name in the papers.

Is it strange to anyone else that Sunderland have not been linked to more players? A supposed big club. Big money. Newly-promoted. Keane has got to have a pretty big kitty play with. And yet, I haven't heard a peep about them.

Kudos to nufc.com for the excellent pic of new Newcastle man Sam Allardyce checking out some talent. Also, according to their report on Allardyce's press conference yesterday, a few interesting notes:

1) Allardyce is still boycotting the BBC for their coverage of his son's alleged improper behavior at Bolton.

2) He has talked to many members of the squad, but not Michael Owen, who's in Ireland.

3) Freddy Shepherd very conveniently coud not talk due to a "golf injury." That's a good start to this relationship, I'd say.

4) It's a three-year deal he has signed with the Geordies, with no walk-away clause in the case that the England top job opens.

No Juergen Klinsmann, no Sven Goran Eriksson. No big name bigtime internationally-known coach. Nope. The men's US Soccer coach will be homegrown well-liked Bob Bradley. Five months after taking over as interim coach for Bruce Arena, Bradley is becoming "permanent."

This will likely be a popular choice among the players, as Bradley is well-respected. He knows them well, and understands their strengths and weaknesses. However, whether or not that is a good thing for US Soccer has yet to be determined.

For too long American players have made the team and received playing time based on reputation instead of performance. There has been a clear sense of entitlement. If that doesn't change, US Soccer will not improve anytime soon. Furthermore, Bradley will need to do a much better job of seeking out tough international competition and be willing to go to enemy soil to play difficult matches.

The American side lacks the necessary edge to compete at the highest levels internationally. To put it simply, in order to be competitive, the team needs to reflect the persona and style of Clint Dempsey more than Landon Donovan.

So a year to the day that Newcastle United appointed Glenn Roeder as manager, Sam Allardyce will be announced as his replacement. The boys at NUFC.com have posted a lengthy interview with Allardyce, which has some interesting comments:

On Michael Owen: "What I think Michael needs is more time to get on track for us and hopefully he will decide to take that time."

On the types of players he wants at Newcastle: "What we need at Newcastle United are not good players but players who have the mentality to play in front of 52,000 supporters every week."

On his "boring" style of play: "This (ugly football) is a tag which has been labelled on Bolton Wanderers because we were so good at our jobs ... Some of the big teams used to use it as an excuse because they could not beat us and it is a figment of their imagination."

Also courtesy of the excellent fansite, Nicky Butt - a man of very few words - made some comments that have gotten attention: "It needs to be put out that not every player playing in Newcastle colours this season has played for the shirt ... The new manager is definitely a good capture for us and hopefully he can come in and sort a few things out. The majority of lads in the dressing-room are good lads and good professionals, but there are a few who don't want to play for the club ... The sooner he gets them sorted out the better. If players don't want to play for the club, they should be got rid of as quickly as possible"

With two games left, and a possible 12 points up for grabs, there is still a lot to be decided in the Frog Soccer Pick 'Em Challenge. Swamp stalwart Bobpentsfs11 (Little Known Skill: Can physically remove a woman's underpants with his mind) has a three point lead over vinlakers (Favorite Sport: Wednesday Bingo), though the Free-Safetied-one has eliminated vinlakers from the top spot.

In third place and with a chance to pip #11 for the top spot is the greatest graduate Ohio University has ever produced, Sabo! Sabo! (motto: You Should Have Went to Ohio University, Son). The Great White North's great hope is that Canuckistanian The Human Coma (Favorite Food: Braised Moose Antlers), in a tie for the 4th spot, can claim the top spot, but he needs things to shake out as he has predicted. Oblive (Goal in Life: Get a cool nickname like Uber Swamper) isn't dead yet, and can drastically shake up the standings if both Chelsea and Liverpool win the final two games. Ulti-swamper Wlu_Lax6 (Promotional Code: "New Thread"), also tied for the four-spot, appears to be drawing dead, but can claim a prize if scorelines work in his favor.

Complete standings below.

bobpentfs11 - 22pts
vinlakers - 19
sabo! sabo! - 17
Human Coma - 16
wlu_lax - 16
oblive - 16
Scottie - 15
duxclevelandii - 15
gc (for entertainment purposes only) - 15
joeyclams - 14
thatfrenchguy - 14
kwgduke - 14
downsview - 14
jbag5 - 13
cherryboy - 12
tom1860 - 12
boybleu - 12
diamond - 12
billcross - 12
kem - 11
gritsgoblue - 11
davids(not sure who this is, I saw no handle) - 10
bapo - 9
zumba - 8
bttg - 8 (though I should give bonus points for having faith that Blackpool would score more than 3 goals; BTTG had them down for 42)

Blackburn's Benny McCarthy wants to go to Chelsea. He probably realizes what the team will look like after United sign Gamst Pederson. The question is, do the Blues want him?

Sam Allardyce seems set to come to Newcastle.

Bolton will let Nicolas Anelka go for 20 million pounds this summer. In other words, Anelka is going to be a Wanderer next year.

John Terry is calling for a meeting between Chelsea brass and himself, Frank Lampard and Jose Mourinho to determine their respective futures. I guess Ballack, Essien, Cashley and Sheva aren't invited.

Sevilla intend to lure Jason Roberts away from Rovers. This has led to some speculation that this might be an attempt to replace a soon-to-be-gone Fredi Kanoute.

Steve Sidwell, of Reading, previously thought to be bound for the Toon, is set to move to Chelsea. This season, it was easy to hate Manchester United over Chelsea. Mourinho's boys were the lesser of two evils. Not sure I'll feel that way going forward once this transfer goes through. Sidwell is, in my humble opinion, amongst the most underrated players in the EPL. I hope he is stifled by Chelsea's ugly style of football. Go eat some more cucumber sandwiches, you Blue bastards!

P.S. Ya mama's got a peg leg with real feet.

The superstars in Major League Soccer do pretty well for themselves. But the bottom of the league salary structure leaves something to be desired. How bad is it? Well, the salaries on the developmental squads dip as low as $12,900. And according to the player union chief: "A third of the league has to ask their parents for money to pay the rent."

That's quite the damning headlining-grabbing statistic. But before swallowing it without question, I'd advise you to not only consider the source, but also to question the methodology by which his data was collected. Interestingly enough, DC United defender Bobby Boswell has a different perspective:

"I didn't play soccer in high school or college because I thought 'Man. I would love to make X amount of dollars one day.' I thought, 'Man, that has to be awesome to represent your country on the biggest stage in the world.' And that is my goal."

While Boswell's reaction sounds too good to be true, it's probably not as disingenuous as cynics might think. It sounds like it was written by a baseball player in the 1950s. And in that era, it was probably true as well.

MLS is a league still in its infancy compared to other major sports in this country. And it has certainly had its share of bumps in the road. Just looking at the raw numbers, the league salaries appear to be another bump. I would certainly be an advocate of paying players at least a living wage.

Beyond that, the biggest problem that I have is more of a selfish one. If US Soccer is ever going to be a world force, MLS has to play a major role in improving the domestic talent in this country. If the wages are that low, not only is that a general turnoff to talented high school and college athletes considering which sport to focus on, but it is an even more significant problem for children who come from families where Mom and Dad do not have the means to support their child in their profession. If diversity matters in MLS, if getting the best athletes matters, and if US Soccer is going to shed its suburban soccer Mom stereotype, the salaries will eventually have to go up.

That being said - David Beckham's unique situation aside - those saying that the relatively high salaries of imported players and the few recognizable domestic names like Landon Donovan are out of whack with the rest of the league are missing the point. This league needs to grow, and to do so, they are bringing in big names to attract big crowds to pay big money for tickets so that there can be more revenue and therefore higher salaries for players.

So moving the low-end salaries up to a decent level off which players can live? Absolutely. While not intimately familiar with the MLS budget, it seems like that move could be made sooner than later. But it can't come at the cost of losing the players that fans are actually willing to pay to see.

This is the way the wind is blowing this morning, according to the BBC:

- Barca will offer 15 million pounds for Thierry Henry. And ask you for change for the subway while they're at it.

- Manny U asked about the cost for Samuel Eto'o and were told 40 million. Maybe Sammy's not going anywhere after all. One would think this would be too rich for anyone, with the potential exception of Rafa Benitez.

- Both Chelsea and Liverpool want Tevez. You'd have to think Liverpool have the upper hand here. Not only are they loaded with cash this year, but they already have his boy Mascherano on the roster.

- Glenn Roeder's removal at Newcastle could cost the club Steve Sidwell. The first potential negative of the caretaker's absence.

- It looks like Mike Arteta may be on his way out of the EPL. It would be too bad to see such a talented player leave the league, but Real Zaragoza and Atletico Madrid have both come calling.

- Arsene Wenger continues to say he probably won't be bringing in any big signings. One would imagine his position will change if Barca up the ante and Mr. Henry is moved.

More info here in the excellent and up-to-date Swamp summer transfer thread.

Newcastle United's coaching vacancy is the source of a lot of attention in the United Kingdom. First, it was Sam Allardyce leading the list of likely replacements. And now it's ex-England skipper Sven Goran Eriksson's name in the mix.

Eriksson's agent weighed in on a British radio station recently with this:

"I am not trying to create pressure on the Newcastle board. I merely fielded the question would he be interested? Of course he would. Newcastle is huge club, with fabulous fans and a great stadium. Everything there would be the kind of situation to attract any major international coach."

Everything except a hands-off boss, silverware, and the lack of a ridiculous amount of pressure. I'm sure Eriksson would be interested in managaing, for the right (insanely high) price. But let's not pretend people are banging down the doors to be on the Tyne. There are reasons Glenn Roeder was appointed in the first place.

With the influx of foreign buyers in the English Premier League, it was only a matter of time before shrewd investors started looking at the Championship League next. After all, by some accounts, it is the sixth-richest soccer league on earth in terms of revenue.

Newly-relegated Charlton have drawn the eye of Middle Eastern and European investors who value the club at 50 million pounds. Considering that the prize for moving up from the Championship to the Prem is 60 million pounds this year, that could turn out to be one heck of an investment. Especially given Charlton's London location.

How much did relegation drop the offering price? About 30 million pounds.

Credit where credit is due. Manchester United got it done this season, and deserved the championship. Sir Alex Ferguson only sees them getting better, and says the Red Devils have three targets this summer.

Jose Mourinho congratulated United on their victory, while refusing to admit that the best team won:

"'I have to congratulate the champions, the players, the manager, the fans, the board; all the people that helped them to be champions.'

"But when asked whether the best side had reigned triumphant, Mourinho remained typically coy.

"'It doesn't matter, what matters is the team with more points is the champion.'"

Hey, when's the next anglophilic American-hating United supporters march?

According to World Soccer Daily's podcast, the final playoff game that determines the third team to be promoted from the Championship to the Premiership will be worth 60 million pounds, or approximately $120 million.

That outcome on a single game is more than any other payout in the sport, including the Champions League final. And one would imagine that it ranks on the shortlist, if it doesn't set the bar for, the most money a team in any sport has ever made off a single game.

ESPN is speculating that Sam Allardyce might be making the move up from Bolton to Newcastle United:

"Newcastle have always been one of the truly untapped clubs, almost always selling out their 52,387-capacity home. Souness was alone afforded £52million to spend on fresh blood, and Roeder forked out £15million on just two players last summer. Most Premiership bosses could only dream of such a kitty ... the task on the pitch at St James' is perhaps less intensive that an Man City. Whereas City have a squad which is full of holes, made worse by the fact Barton now seems certain to be on his way in the summer, Newcastle at least have some quality players ... It makes it all the more galling that Newcastle are still on just 42 points with 36 games played."

Of course, The Swamp was speculating on that move last week.

We don't normally do a lot of giveaways here at The Sports Frog, but there are a lot of interesting soccer games to be played coming up, which coincided nicely with quierodeportes.com offering a few prizes (digital camera and five soccer balls) to promote their new website, and ESPN Deportes (If you haven't figured it out yet, Disney is catching onto the soccer boon in this country). And even though I already have a digital camera and three soccer balls, we figured that you, dear readers, might not own one.

The contest involves picking the correct scores of games in a slew of competitions over the next three weeks. Entries should be e-mailed to staff@sportsfrog.com before the first game this Saturday. We will be awarding points as follows:

Correct Result - 1 point
Correct Team Score - 1 Point Each
If all correct - 1 Bonus Point
Champions League: Double points

The Competition

May 5th - May 6th

EPL
Man U at Man City
Liverpool at Fulham
Blackburn at Newcastle
Chelsea at Arsenal

League One
Blackpool at Swansea

Serie A
Roma at PalermoFiorentinia at AC Milan

La Liga
Sevilla at Real Madrid
Barcat Real Sociedad

MLS
Chivas USA at DC United
Chicago at New England

May 9th

EPL
Man U at Chelsea

May 19th

FA Cup Final
Chelsea vs. Man U

May 23rd

Champions League Final
Liverpool vs. AC Milan

Tiebreaker - Both Man U and Chelsea feature three times on the competition list, twice against each other. What will be the total goal tally in those games of the following four players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Wayne Rooney, Didier Drogba, Andriy Schevchenko (i.e - if each player scores once over that span, their tally would be 4)?

The Prizes

The real prize will be knowing that you are among the smartest soccer fans on this blog. But if you need material prizes, so be it:

1st - Camera and Soccer Ball
2nd - 5th - Soccer Ball

Just to give you some details on the prizes. The digital camera is a giveaway, so don't expect some $500 Canon. But this is the type of camera that's perfect for taking with you to, oh say, The Preakness infield. Where you don't want to bring your super-nice family camera. But you also don't want to fork over $12.99 to take crappy pictures with a disposable.

The soccer balls are red with ESPN Deportes on them. Also, make sure you have a pump. Muchas gracias a la gente de quierodeportes.com. Se habla espanol.

Ah, the United Kingdom. Where good manners still count for something and where men are gracious and polite. Where they come from good stock, and stand up and take responsibility for their actions because that's the gentlemanly thing to do.

Well, don't tell that to Sir Alex Ferguson. After United were thoroughly and unceremoniously played off the pitch and out of the competition by AC Milan in Champions League play yesterday, the manager decided to blame the Premiership:

"Leagues in other countries would help their clubs ... so they can prepare properly for European nights, so there is a problem there ... We've not had much help from the Premier League."

"The television was happy to move the game to Sunday but the Premier League said the integrity of the competition had to be paramount. You can work out what integrity means, but I think that was an unfair decision."

Yes Fergie, I can work out what integrity means. But can you? It takes a special kind of arrogance to publicly criticize the league for not catering its schedule to your own preferences. This is a bloody derby match Saturday. But in order to make it fit better in your schedule, Manchester City are supposed to bow down to the great Sir Alex and his United squad, and give them an extra day of rest, so that United will be better able to beat the crap out City?

Where does he get off? I know that this sometimes happens, but I also know that it's not a given. Even to the mighty United.

And let's not even get into the way that Ferguson is blatantly trying to deflect criticism from his side's inability to get it up yesterday by blaming the Prem and Manchester City. My favorite quote: "Nonetheless we will be there at City on Saturday."

Oh, will you now? Well everyone needs to stand up and start clapping for the bravery of this man and his warriors. They are truly heroes. To play a game on Saturday after a game on Wednesday, I mean, how do they do it? Thank you, Sir Alex. Thank you for playing the bloody games on your schedule.

Bad enough that Liverpool dismissed Chelsea from Champions League competition in penalty shots. After the game, Liverpool chief Rick Parry decided to take a shot at Jose Mourinho and his squad:

"I guess when you've invested £500m it's a fantastic season to win the League Cup. He's welcome to his opinions, we care about Liverpool."

This was in response to Mourinho allegedly having called Liverpool a small club before the match.

Better be careful there, Rick. I know Liverpool have all that wonderful tradition and history, but you'll be living on the same block as Mourinho soon enough if the speculation about new ownership and its willingness to spend big bucks in the offseason comes to fruition.

Look, we all know Sir Alex Ferguson won't be coaching forever. And it seems that Jose Mourinho is not long for Chelsea. According to the World Soccer Daily podcast, this has led to some speculation in the British tabloids that Ferguson may step down at season's end so that United can seize upon the opportunity to get one of the game's best managers to replace him.

Seems like a longshot, but man, it is fun to think about.

Manchester United played uninspired football for the last 85 minutes of their match against Middlesborough, and it cost them. Sir Alex Ferguson's boys dropped two points, and it should have been three, at home.

After Mark Viduka scored the equalizing header right before halftime, it seemed inevitable that the home side with the championship in their sites, would come out in the second half and lay the wood down against their mediocre pudgy opponents. But Ronaldo, despite some flashy moves, had nothing. Neither did the savvy old veterans, Scholes and Giggs.

Instead they got incredibly lucky that the referee was either looking away or didn't have the sack to make the right call against the home crowd. Middlesborough was denied a late penalty that could have given them the victory. To add injury to insult, it looks like Rio Ferdinand will miss the next two weeks, further weakening an already depleted back line.

This makes tomorrow's Newcastle-Chelsea match-up even more likely to be a blowout. Newcastle, playing for nothing. Chelsea, playing to pull within one point of the EPL lead.

Because nothing says road trip like a soccer tournament in Poland/Ukraine!

"UEFA overlooked favourites Italy, whose bid was overshadowed by last season's referee corruption scandal and their on-going problems with football-related crowd trouble.

The decision was taken by 12 members of UEFA's executive committee meeting in Cardiff.

Poland and Ukraine had staged an impressive presentation yesterday with Chelsea striker Andriy Shevchenko, Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek, world heavyweight boxing champions Vitali Klitschko, former pole vault Olympic champion Sergei Bubka and Ukraine president Victor Yushchenko all making appearances."

I have your Google Map directions right here.

Blackpool are in 4th place in the English League One, one point out of third (Nott Forest). After a poor beginning to 2007, the Seasiders have regained form and look all but assured at least a playoff spot, as they are six points clear with four games to play.

Tomorrow, the Tangerines host Northhampton, a middle of the road team. Forest travel to Brentford, who are in last place. With it likely that Forest get a result, it is imperative that Blackpool handle Northhampton. The final three games see Blackpool meet Cheltenham, mired towards the bottom of the table, before hosting league leaders Scunthorpe and travelling to Swansea, who still have a fighting chance to make the promotion playoffs.

It's a crucial time for the Seasiders and I implore you to get the cheer out in the final weeks.

At least that is what it says on paper.

As a Man U fan, I couldn't be happier. Ronaldo has been the most in-form player, if not the best period, in the world for most of this season. The only thing Ronaldo could do at this point to endear himself further to me is to a) stop going down so easily (which, admittedly he has been working on and appeared to do better with in the past three games, all of which have been televised) and b) figure some way to make sure that Kieran Richardson never sees the pitch again in an AIG shirt.

(One last thing, I want to apologize for my lack of posting in this space. I have no excuse other than general apathy. One of the hallmarks of the Frog has been that we haven't usually had long stretches without posts and I am guilty of letting that happen. As for myself, I let a guy like Zach Johnson (who I maintain is not the nobody that everyone says he is(but maybe that's just to hard core golf fans)) win The Masters without posting about it? That's unacceptable by the standards I hold myself to, which are admittedly very low.

I'm not speaking for the other guys; we've all got our reasons. While it might come as bad news to some of you that I am going to make an effort to post more, there it is.)

Huge unexpected 2-1 loss for Manchester United at Portsmouth. No doubt Rio Ferdinand will be seeing the ugly own goal he scored in his dreams for the foreseeable future. Credit Portsmouth for taking an aggressive stance at home againt the league leaders.

Matty Taylor was up in the box to put away a loose ball and score Pompey's first goal. And Ferdinand's awkward back pass caught Edwin Van der Sar far off his line for the second. Manny U didn't show any sign of life until they were down 2-0 with minutes to play. They scored one, and almost scored three more, but the combination of the keeping of David James and poor finishing by United allowed the 2-1 final to stand.

As a result, Chelsea is now within three points of Manchester United, and we have ourselves a bonafide title race. If both the Blues and Red Devils can hold their form until May 9th (and truth be told, it's be even better if United could drop another match given the point differential between the two), the Manchester United vs. Chelsea match at Stamford Bridge on that date would be absolutely epic.

Well, technically it's 9.99%, but as an American soccer fan this makes me happy. The more Americans that invest in European soccer clubs, the better chance I have of seing more games and coverage of the sport stateside. From the Forbes guys:

"More American dollars are heading for English football -- billionaire Stan Kroenke has bought the 9.99% stake in Arsenal owned by British broadcaster ITV.

"In February, Kroenke launched a marketing partnership with the London Premiership club through his Major League Soccer team, the Colorado Rapids.

"The deal with ITV, which also includes the sale of ITV's 50% stake in Arsenal Broadband, is valued at £65 million ($128 million). Since 2004, ITV has sold off more than $500 million worth of noncore assets."

That's Eric Wynalda probably a bit drunk in an excellent interview with FulhamUSA.com where he lets it fly (Warning: numerous expletives below):

"CF: If you could pick one name, besides yourself, who is going to be a big influence on soccer in the U.S., who would that be?

"Eric Wynalda: I hope, I hope, it is ESPN. ESPN has the power, they are pulling the strings, they have the influence now to say, "You want to market this thing, let's market this thing."

"You will never get a guy, in me, who is more of a believer in the American player. Jim Rome can suck my dick! And he should be very afraid, because I'm the kind of guy, if I get too many drinks in me, I will club his ass. I've been on with Jim Rome, and I said, 'Let me get this straight, you're more impressed with water polo???'

"Where is the avenue that the real soccer people can [gravitate towards]? Where is it? You and others are sick and fucking tired of being told we are a sleeping giant. We can kick everybody's ass, if we figure it out.

"It's guys like you and your buddies who are the real American soccer. I play in an over-30 league and say my name is Derek. Why? Because I enjoy playing.

"Alright, let's go take a piss and get another beer."

I'm not sure what worries me more, the Rome comments or the fact that Wynalda likes to be called Derek and goes to the bathroom with other guys.

Now he really gets to pay for it. After indulging in some prostitutes to help ease the pain after losing 2-1 to Germany, Rosicky and some teammates cost the team a 25,000 (might be Euros, might be Pounds,and may be something equally foreign) fine.

As a refresher, Rosicky has paid for it, when this is his girlfriend. Proving the theory, that no matter how hot they are...

Landon Donovan 3. Ecuador 1. That's one way of writing up the friendly earlier today that the US National team engaged in. A hat trick for Donovan. And these quotes from him:

"I'm now embracing a leadership role. I used to say: 'I'd love to be a leader. I want to be a leader.' But it's not good enough to say it. You have to show it."

Why yes. Yes you do. At 25, perhaps Donovan is finally growing the fuck up. Fans of United States footie certainly can hope so. Games like today's surely help those hopes along.

Manchester United takes on a European squad tonight to celebrate 50 years of the European Union. The match will benefit charity, but the timing is all wrong.

Why have this in-season? Not only is it at a time when Alex Ferguson's squad is still competing on three fronts, the injury bug has finally bitten the Red Devils. With Henrik Larsson (who will play for the Euro X1) going home, Louis Saha and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer injured, the front line is depleted. Rio Ferdinand picked up a knock in the last game, and keeper Edwin Van Der Sar tweaked a muscle in his leg.

So the celebration of the European Union may go off with Manchester United fielding players that won't see the pitch in European competition. Irony.

Congratulations to Arseblog for winning the 2007 Best Sports Bloggie. That's one hell of an upset. Not over us, but over Deadspin. Which we thought was a sure thing. A Lord of the Rings-type stone cold lock. And we take it from the image to mean that The Sports Frog came in second place. And don't try to change our minds. We can't hear you.

They're handling the award in a very modest - British? - way, with this sentence: "Considering the competition, and the resources behind a couple of those sites, it's a great achievement for Arseblog to win." Tis a great acheivement indeed.

Thanks to all of you Frog readers who voted for us. We'll be happy with "second place" ... for this year.

Lionel Messi is 19 years old. He just threw a hat trick on Real Madrid, and he did it in the most dramatic of ways:

"Real looked set to win until the 19-year-old Messi latched on to a pass by Ronaldinho, beat two defenders and thrashed a left-foot shot across Iker Casillas into the corner of the net to cap a sensational performance in El Gran Classico, in which Ruud van Nistelrooy scored twice for Real and Barça had Oleguer sent off for a second bookable offence on the stroke of half-time."

The kid is as cool as the other side of the pillow. El Gran Swampo discusses.

Good news for English soccer fans. None of the three clubs remaining in Champions League play will face each other in the upcoming round of eight. UEFA announced the match-ups this morning.

Liverpool may appear to have the luck of the draw, as they will face PSV Eindhoven, by and large considered the weakest team left in action. But if they win that tie, they'll face Chelsea or a dangerous Valencia side. No easy task.

Manchester United, to me, have the easiest schedule and best chance of advancing. While their next opponent, Roma, is no joke, they would either face AC Milan and Bayern Munich in the semifinals, arguably the second and third-worst teams left standing.

Fabio Capello is toast. At least that's the speculation about the probable result of Real Madrid's (relatively) early exit from Champions League play yesterday. Capello has been a divisive figure at Madrid, letting Ronaldo go, benching Beckham and spending $150 million on eight new players this past offseason.

However, he may not make it through a full year. Not that it would be too surprising if that happened. After all, if he gets replaced, Madrid will have had eight coaches in three-and-a-half years. And we think we live in an instant gratification culture in America.

Two interesting note from soccertv.com today, which is the best website to find out where and when to find football on TV.

First, Dave Checketts' group is close to owning 80% of GolTV. This is intriguing because of the connection between MLS and Checketts. It's not a stretch to think that we may be seeing a lot more MLS on GolTV in the near future.

Secondly, ESPN Deportes will now become part of DirecTV as of April 1st. You get 89 Champions League games and all 31 Euro 2008 matches. But it will, of course, cost you extra.

UPDATE: Fox Soccer Channel just signed for the rights to Serie A games. Thanks to Dux in The Swamp for this info.

The perfect mix of condescension, humor, and British dryness.

Maybe, probably, the best goal of the year was scored yesterday by Roma's Alessandro Mancini against Lyon. This is the equivalent of getting teabagged in the NBA.

A big day in Champions League as Inter goes down in aggregate to the Decemberists' favorite team, Valencia. After the game, a huge brawl between Latin men erupted. The best details of the fight I could find, be they accurate or not, are in our very own Swamp. This photo is of Inter's Julio Cruz trying to kick Valencia's David "Not the one who banged Carmen Electra" Navarro.

Chelsea advances thanks to the worst gaffe I've seen by a goalie this year. Early in the second half, Porto keeper Helton botched a me-like strike from Arjen Robben to allow Chelsea to tie 1-1. Later Michael Ballack scored to get Blues to the quarters. (Though he has yet to score if you are watching the game on ESPN Classic tape delay. He will.)

Meanwhile, Liverpool lost 1-0 to holders Barca but advanced thanks to away goals. And Roma beat French pretenders, Lyon.

It's not as bad as it could have been. David Beckham's knee injury will sidline him for around a month and likely keep him out of competition for a return to England as well.

"Besides missing games against Bayern Munich tomorrow in the Champions League and rival FC Barcelona in the Spanish league on Saturday, Beckham will have almost no chance to make a 95th international appearance for England later this month."

So long as he's healthy coming out of it, the powers that be in MLS can breathe a sigh of relief.

this is why.

Lots of breath-holding.

Craig Bellamy blames UB40's "Red, Red, Wine" for taking a nine-iron to his teammate.

It actually makes sense when you read the lyrics:

"Red red wine you make me feel so fine
Monkey pack him rizla pon the sweet dep line

Red red wine you give me whole heap of zing
Whole heap of zing mek me do me own thing"

It's so clear, now. Our bad, Craig.

Juventus, despite being docked 9 points at the beginning of the season for fixing matches, is atop the Italian Serie B. A 1-0 win against Moreno, through an own goal, restored their place atop the table. Juve has lost only once in the competition this season.

Despite sitting in Italy's second division, there has been no lack of transfer speculation as players declare their interest in playing for the Turin giants. Alberto Gilardino, Gianlucca Zambrotta and Emerson have all been linked to Juventus in the summer transfer period. Zambrotta and Emerson played for Juventus last season.

The latter two apparently loved the club just enough to not have to play Serie B, but with Juve about to return to the top flight, they want back in the fold. Not sure how the fans should feel about that.

Paul Rachubka, an American goalkeeper, shut out Oldham Tuesday as Blackpool continued to fight their way to the promotion playoffs in the English League One.

The Seasiders sit in eight place, with two games in hand on Tranmere (2 points ahead in 6th) and Swansea (Tied on points at 51, but with a better goal differential). Three games ahead against mid-to-lower table teams afford the Tangerines an opportunity to thrust themselves into the Promotion places.

WE ARE...BLACKPOOL!

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger has accused a Carling Cup match official of lying: "I feel Adebayor didn't punch anybody, so when the linesman says he punched somebody, he lies."

The FA isn't too happy about this. They're calling him in to explain himself: "Questioning the integrity of a match official and accusing them of lying is a very serious claim to make as it questions the whole integrity of the game. We also reject any accusations of bias or dishonesty within our disciplinary system. We will be asking Arsene Wenger to explain these comments."

Of course, Frank Lampard, Adebayor's alleged victim that the official was protecting, has come out and said he wasn't touched.

John Terry swallowed his tongue. Jose Mourinho and Arsene Wenger were in the middle of a huge rumble in the middle of the pitch. Theo Walcott popped his cherry. And Didier Drogba did what he does best: score goals and win games.

Remarkably event-filled Carling Cup final yesterday. Let's start with Terry, who took a boot to the jaw as the Arsenal defense was trying to clear a corner that he was trying to head. He collapsed in a heap, passed out, swallowed his tongue, was taken to the hospital, and was back at the stadium to celebrate with his teammates. All in a night's work. Here's the video. Amazingly, Abou Diaby's ankle looks like it took a worse injury away from that collision than Terry's chin.

The bigger story will no doubt be the scuffle that ensued after Jon Obi Mikel pulled Kolo Toure down by his shirt as time was waning. Toure shoved him, a whole slew of players entered the fray, and before you know it, both managers and most of their teams were on the pitch. Cesc Fabregas and Frank Lampard were both shown yellow cards for being hotheads. Fabregas could have easily seen red, as he behaved like a genuine idiot.

Obi Mikel, Toure and Emmanuel Adebayor were shown red. Adebayor's ejection sent the striker into a rage where he looked like he wanted to have at it with the head referee Howard Webb. He insists that was not the case, but when half a dozen people need to physically restrain you and drag you off the pitch, those words ring somewhat hollow. In Adebayor's defense, while it did look like he might have pushed someone, the true aggressor, it seems, may have been Emmanuel Eboue, who allegedly punched Wayne Bridge in the face.

As for the actual game action, it was brilliant. Theo Walcott scored a pretty, pretty goal, showing deft touch and smooth finishing skills. And the rest of the Arsenal kids played beautifully. But Drogba at times literally looked a man amongst boys, scoring both goals for Chelsea, including one of the more impressive headers of the season. Arjen Robben also did a wonderful job of attacking both the left and right flanks and providing classy service.

In the end, the result was expected and deserved. Arsenal played beautiful football and Chelsea won the match.

For more discussion, click here.

Robbie Keane is back in form. The Irish striker scored twice and set up a third goal as Tottenham spanked Bolton 4-1. Of course, he was later sent off with a red card for handling the ball. Cheeky or cheater? The Spurs win puts them into the top half of the table.

Middlesborough slowed down Reading's recent run with a 2-1 win. It was a good day for pie lovers as Mark Viduka scored on a clever back-footed goal before Ayegbeni Yakubu put away a screamer. The game was never really in question, as Boro dominated play throughout.

A huge home win for Wigan against Newcastle. This game could have gone either way, but Ryan Taylor was the difference-maker with a world class free kick. He licked the postage stamp and put it in the top corner, leaving Shay Given with no chance whatsoever. And he would have clearly been man of the match were it not for 37 year-old back-up keeper John Filan. Not only did he save a well-struck penalty by Nobby Solano, but he and Given took turns making splendid saves throughout the match. The penalty was questionable (unfortunately the cameras never gave us a clear replay). And it was quite the disappointing game for Obafemi Martins, who made a mess of a number of chances. Even more disappointing was the way he disappeared from the game later in the match. The Magpies might as well have been playing with 10 men for his efforts.

The game was evenly played and tied at 1-1 when Cristiano Ronaldo decided it was time for some magic. He took a ball inside his own half that looked like any other ball, and proceeded to fly by numerous Fulham defenders to score one of the prettiest goals you'll see all year, lifting his side to a 2-1 victory at Craven Cottage. Ronaldo looked like a Ferrari on the highway with a bunch of Yugos, weaving in and out of the Fulham defense at will. This was the rare day when Manny U actually needed the extra effort. The back line looked shoddy and Edwin Van der Sar looked like a rookie keeper when he allowed Brian McBride's goal in. Ronaldo's goal was all the more remarkable given the brutal injury he suffered earlier in the match. It was unclear how he suffered the injury, maybe a bad pocket of air, but he writhed around the ground in severe pain before the miraculous recovery.

Liverpool predictably dominated and outclassed Sheffield United in their 4-0 win. It looked like the Reds couldn't help but win the game, and I was waiting for a United defender to ask Steven "David" Gerrard for his autograph as he dribbled by them. Javy Mascherano made his debut, and Tonya Bellamy got the day off, as he wasn't even on his bench. Rafa probably let the lad take some time to work on his short game. The utter dominance was clouded by an awful dive by Gerrard. Credit Gerrard for being his own man though. He's not following the lead of Cristiano, but rather tried his own more manly style of a flop. Instead of tripping over air, Stevie G. decided to dive into his Blades defender and tackle him. Of course, the foul was called against the defender - you were in the way of greatness, boy - and Robbie Fowler put away the ensuing penalty with ease.

Everton and Blackburn solidified their chances at Europe with strong 3-0 thumpings of Watford and Portsmouth, respectively.

Liverpool went to Nou Camp and beat Barcelona 2-1 in the first leg of the monster Champions League match-up. That's quite a story in itself, but the bigger story is that both Craig Bellamy and John Arne Riise scored goals. And Riise scored off a Bellamy assist.

The two were not getting along well a few days ago. But Riise called the dream result destiny. The forgiving victim of an alleged attack from Bellamy's nine-iron didn't even mind Bellamy's insolent Johnny Carsonesque celebration: "His celebration didn't bother me. Look, he's had a difficult time as well and I could see it meant a lot to him, so I'm happy for him that he scored and the whole team is as well."

Bellamy? Well, he was "gobsmacked."

The nutter obviously has not learned his lesson. He is probably the biggest jerk in football. He is a drunk with significant anger management issues, but let's keep on empowering him until he kills someome. Then we can ask how it could have possibly happened, and pass judgment on the dolt.

It all started when UEFA allowed Lille to play the home leg of their Manny U Champions League match-up in an older, smaller stadium with more antiquated facilities. It was a raucous atmosphere from the start to be sure, and the game was intense.

And then, in the 83rd minute, cheeky Ryan Giggs took a quick free kick before the referee's whistle and before the Lille keeper had set. He curled it into the right corner of the net. The referee allowed the goal to stand. And all hell broke loose.

On the ensuing kickoff, Lille kicked the ball off the pitch, and it appeared that Lille coach Claude Puel brought his team off the pitch. He certainly called them to the sideline. Despite all appearances to ther contrary, Puel is denying he brought his players off, but Sir Alex Ferguson is vehemently claiming it was a pure attempt at intimidation of the referee.

Puel explained that "In France the tradition is to make a protest at the first pause in the game and then after the match. It's not logical. The signal the referee gave was not clear for everyone, especially for us ... I don't understand. We could not express a formal complaint as we could not find a Uefa delegate."

If this is the tradition in France, it's a crap tradition. It clearly only added to the anger in the stands. But on the second point, I can see where he's coming from. Even Wayne Rooney, who placed the ball for Giggs, looked confused by the kick. According to the game announcer, it is at the discretion of the refereee in soccer when to allow play to resume on a free. Some require that you wait for a whistle. Others do not. That's a mighty tough way to lose a home Champions League leg in the knockout round.

And when the play continued after a minute, the stands had erupted in anger with Lille fans hailing objects towards Manny U players on the pitch. Gary Neville was struck in the head with something, and looked to be bleeding.

Due to the less-than-modern facilities, and the hostile environment, when United supporters started feeling that they were being crushed, with "shades of Hillsborough" in mind, some started climbing the gates to get out, and were promptly pepper sprayed and detained by French police.

An ugly, ugly scene.

Rafa Benitez was in a tough spot. Most of his team was misbehaving in public, and he had to send a message. Two specific players seem to have lost their minds. With a huge Champions League match coming up against Barcelona, and everyone in trouble, what's a manager to do?

He took most of the team, turned them upside down and shook the living hell out of their pockets. While the majority of fines were undisclosed, the Mirror reports that Craig Bellamy and Jerzy Dudek will be fined two weeks wages for their acts of drunken debauchery. Remember, Bellamy took a golf club to his teammate's legs and Dudek allegedly tried to headbutt a Portugese cop.

Two weeks wages probably equates to hundreds of thousands of dollars for each player. That ain't chump change, even to kazillionaires. True, Benitez could have suspended the pair, but then when he lost to Barcelona, fans would've roasted him.

It's true. It being what they say about the Winning Eleven Series of soccer video games. It's actually a bit like soccer itself. You hear people that know it talk about it glowingly, but you haven't really bought in yourself so its just a thing that those people do. You're fine , just going along, playing your Fifa series and thinking it's all cool. Then, you get the opportunity to play the Winning Eleven series and you see it. I recently played the Nintendo DS version of the newest release; a review follows.

Graphics/Presentation

I like to start with the graphics because that's the easiest way for a game to make an impression. The graphics are solid on the DS, but not outstanding. This is the debut of the game on the console and when you're dealing with a 2.4" screen you have to make some sacrifices. The run of play graphics are fine, but it is hard to make out where your teammates are in preparation for the next pass in the default settings. A simple change in the options moves the radar to the bottom screen and voila, your team is all around you. This is the best use of the bottom screen; the default tactics screen is less useful.

The game loads quickly, and on default settings an entire game takes less than ten minutes. This is a bit too quick, but the settings can be modified to extend the game time.

I was skeptical that the game would not translate well on the small DS screen. While it could be better (When a lot of the players are on the screen the game lags a bit) it is well done for a debut.

Gameplay

The Winning Eleven proponents have always said that it more closely represents what soccer it about, and that's true from the onset. You can't make bad passes, you have to be in position to win a 50/50 ball, a bad tackle will get you carded and a shot from outside the box will likely go flying over the bar instead of on target. That is more representative than 35 yard screamers on target all day long. Not everyone is Clarence Seedorf.

The gameplay is realistic, and that's what you want in a simulation, right?

Continue reading "Winning Eleven: Pro Evolution Soccer 2007 Review" »

Well coach, we were out for a little karaoke, one thing led to another, and Bellamy went after Riise's knees with a nine-iron.

Man, what a story we have here. What the hell were these Scousers drinking? Bear in mind that no one from Liverpool is on the record yet, but this the anonymous "inside source's" story:

"There had been a lot of drinking and everyone was enjoying themselves. But it all went wrong when Craig tried to drag John up for a song. There was a karaoke competition going on, but John's a quiet one off the pitch and wasn't having it at all.

"It started off as a bit of a lark with some of the other lads having a go but then it got completely out of hand. John went ballistic because Craig wouldn't take no for an answer. He was screaming at Craig to leave him alone, saying he wouldn't do it and yelling insults.

"Everyone was completely stunned by it because they were really having a go, standing there toe to toe swearing at each other. There were about 20 players in the bar including all the senior guys, like Steven Gerrard, Peter Crouch and Dirk Kuyt.

"They were warned to keep a lid on it and it appeared to calm down.

"It was really late, about 2am, and the players eventually started drifting off to bed. But Craig, who was sharing with Steve Finnan, was so wound up he couldn't sleep.

"He suddenly grabbed a golf club and went looking for John. And when he found him he waded in, hacking at his legs with the club.

"All hell was let loose and John suffered a lot of bruising. Craig was out of control and shouting that John had belittled him in front of the lads."

Why would this happen? Hey, maybe Riise sent Bellamy the same text message he sent out to all of those Norwegian celeb babes a couple of years ago: "Good evening... After a lot of calling to all kinds of contacts, I finally got your number. I have always thought you are very charming, cute, sexy, fantastic aura, and last but not least, you seem exciting and challenging;) hope we can get in touch, and I will of course invite you on a romantic dinner for two;) kiss from John Arne Riise xxx".

Also, of note this report (scroll down): "The People and the Mail on Sunday report that a number of other Liverpool players were involved in a separate 'boozy row' ... 'And among those who could face disciplinary action for the fracas in Portugal are Robbie Fowler, Jermaine Pennant and Jerzy Dudek,' states the latter publication ... Reports in Portugal claim that at least one Pool player was handcuffed for 'attempting to headbutt a policeman'."

UPDATE: Rafa Benitez's official statement has been released.

Thanks redarmy. Photo credit to peasepud.com.

Quite the FA Cup match last night between Bolton and Arsenal yesterday. Arsenal ultimately triumphed 3-1 but it was in extra time and it could have been a whole lot closer than that. In fact, Arsenal looked like they might give the game away at times. Bolton played like the thuggish cheats that they are, and Arsenal were the better side, but the Gunners inability to finish was shocking. A few observations:

- Freddie Ljungberg proved to be the difference-maker in extra time for Arsenal. Wenger finally found someone who could hit the net. Tomas Rosicky controlled the Gunner attack with aplomb.

- At least five balls hit the woodwork, slightly in Arsenal's favor, an indication of how different the final score could have been either way.

- Credit Bolton for coming out and attacking. This resulted in Kevin Nolan having an attempt at goal only 17 seconds into the game. Unfortunately for him, he took a swing and a miss. But at least they didn't go into game-killing mode from the kick off. That's about the only nice thing any impartial observer can say about Bolton last night.

- Arsenal missed two penalties, both by Brazilian players. Gilberto's miss sailed clear of the bar, and was surprising for a player of his composure. Baptista's was about as predictable as a penalty miss can be. He was simply awful for Arsenal last night. With the meltdown of Brazilian Gunners, poor Denilson has to wonder if he'll ever get a shot to step in the box.

- With Jens Lehmann suspended, Almunia did a fine job in goal. He made some critical saves and took control at times when Arsenal's defense looked confused. He was Man of the Match in my book.

- The only man who may have played worse than Baptista last night was Bolton's Ivan Campo. He salvaged his night with an assist on Bolton's goal, but his performance before that was ugly. He gave away a one-on-one for Adebayor (who promptly missed an open goal), looked slow, passed poorly, made rash tackles, and walked away laughing after being yellow-carded in the box for diving. If you wanted to see everything that is wrong in football wrapped up in one bug-eyed package, you need not look further than Ivan Campo's performance last night.

- The diving from Bolton was dispicable in general. The gameplan in the second half was clearly this: get the ball forward, run into an Arsenal defender, crumple to the ground in pain and raise your hand for penalty. Forget about the players. This reeked of direct instructions from Big Sam Allardyce. This wasn't one player diving, rather it was the gameplan, and the big-headed juice-sipping thug on the sideline needs to be dealt with. Campo stuck his leg out to touch Rosicky before diving. El Hadji Diouf could barely stay on his feet. Even Anelka, to whom I give some credit - his half-hearted efforts will undoubtedly have his loyalty questioned by Allardyce - was in on the diving scheme.

- The only Arsenal dive or instance of any unsportsmanlike conduct (let's remember Lehmann wasn't on the pitch) was when Rosicky hit the ground after he lost the ball and there was some incidental contact. He fell only after losing the ball and taking a step or two, clutched his shin in pain and writhed on the ground in utter misery before bouncing back up with a smile in the span of approximately 15 seconds.

Friend of the Frog Grant Wahl headed over to Italy to watch Inter Milan play Chievo Verona. There were zero fans in attendance to see Adriano and Co. as this was one of the Serie A matches that was played in an empty stadium following two deaths in relation to Italian football in the last two weeks.

The stadia were empty, that is, except for the press. Which made for an interesting reporting angle for Wahl. He sums up the wacky status of il calcio nicely:

"Has any nation ever had a more bizarre 12-month stretch of soccer? On the one hand, the Azzurri won their fourth World Cup in style last July, and Inter may be the world's top club team with its 15-game winning streak. On the other, Serie A has been laid low by the tragedy on Sicily and a corruption scandal that, among other punishments, sent storied Juventus to the second division."

Newcastle 2, Liverpool 1: If Dirk Kuyt had half the chances that Craig Bellamy did in Liverpool's 2-1 loss at St. James Park, the Reds would have won ... Oguchi Onyewu looked fantastic, and if he is signed permanently in Newcastle, he and Steven Taylor could form a young anchor for the backline ... The announcers gave Glenn Roeder full marks, which is ridiculous. Titus Bramble and Celestine Babayaro were shockingly bad. The kids play much better ... If you haven't watched a Newcastle game, you're missing one of the hardest-working players in the EPL. Obafemi Martins may have the best combination of work rate and pace in the league.

Reading 2, Aston Villa 0: I've said it before and I'll say it again. This Reading squad is not scared of any team in the league. They are now on top of the Form Guide, having won five out of six games, with the other game being a draw. They sit three points out of a Champions League spot ... Remember that they're on their latest run without Kevin Doyle and Bobby Convey. If it's not Leroy Lita or Shane Long, it's Stephen Hunt, or today, Steve Sidwell. Sidwell scored twice Saturday, the second on a give-and-go that would make John Stockton and Karl Malone envious.

Watford 1, West Ham United 0: And the Hammers' freefall continues. Wigan now sit in the 17th spot above West Ham with two games in hand, and ahead by five points ... Two of West Ham's most prominent recent signings, Matthew Upson and Lucas Neill, are both injured.

Sheffield United 2, Tottenham 1: The Blades are within three points of Spurs now. Martin Jol must be on the hot seat at this point. He bought no one in the transfer window, and Tottenham have lost more games this season already than they did all of last year ... Is there a player in the EPL who has fallen off more this season than Robbie Keane? ... Cool moment in this game when two Egyptian players were announced at the same time. Mido came on for Tottenham and Ahmad Fatti for the Blades. The two were teammates in a midweek 2-0 win for their national team over Sweden ... Lots of pushing and shoving in the second half, which began within one minute of Jermain Defoe's arrival on the pitch. He should have been red-carded. Instead, he was shown the yellow and the second half was littered with rash tackles, rasied arms and many more yellow cards.

Portsmouth 2, Manchester City 1: Joey Barton is a thug ... David "Calamity" James makes his saves look far more spectacular than they need to be.

Chelsea 3, Middlesborough 0: Didier Drogba is on par with anyone in the league for set pieces ... Arjen Robben is a diver. On the second goal for Chelsea, he tried to draw a card in the box, realized he didn't get the call, jumped up, and played the ball of the Middlesboro defense for an own goal.

Manchester United 2, Charlton 0: Yawner of a game, but for a moment of brilliance by Wayne Rooney. On the second goal, after his shot had been deflected, and at a point when most strikers are holding their head in their hands, Rooney - following the ball arching in the air and his charging teammates at the same time - delicately lobbed the ball over the defense for a sitter by Fletcher. It might be the best assist of the season.

Everton 1, Blackburn 0: Andy Johnson ensures that Blackburn's tumble continues. Rovers have now lost three out of four, and will continue to struggle without their dirty leader, Robbie Savage.

Is there any rivalry as intense?

"Seven China under-21 internationals have been sent home early from the Chelsea training centre as the mass brawl with Queens Park Rangers players dominated Chinese media on Friday."

"'What makes me really angry is they are not even able to win a fight never mind the game... Gao Lin should have be smarter, why didn't he secretly niggle his opponent or fall to the ground and roll around like Cristiano Ronaldo?' Li Chengpeng posted on Sina.com."

I don't care who you are, that's funny.

All sorts of good chatter about the US' nice win over Mexico last night. Grant Wahl, as usual, is the place to begin at si.com, with this thought among a bunch of others:

" The strangest thing happened in the U.S.'s 2-0 win over Mexico: An interim coach (U.S. manager Bob Bradley) acted like he had already won the job, while a supposedly secure coach (Mexico's Hugo Sánchez) acted like ... an interim coach."

True dat. The US may have backed into its next coach, with the interim tag coming off of Bradley's title at some point in the near future. And, looking at the game itself, the team did play with a lot more heart than Bruce Arena's squad did in Germany last summer. It was nice to see Landon Donovan actually attacking, for a change, and it was nice to see a US team get better after halftime.

For some outstanding discussion of the game, head here to the Swamp and add a thought or two.

Oh, it's on. And on in a place where the US will actually test its team, playing an away home game in Arizona on ESPN2 tonight. I believe I will go the Tivo route for this one, giving Lost one last chance.

At any rate, Grant Wahl at si.com with his usual fantastic job, this time a can't miss preview of tonight's game. A taste:

"Will [Landon] Donovan rediscover his edge? We'll see. In Tuesday's press conference I thought it was interesting that Donovan was much more revealing when he spoke in Spanish than in English. When responding to Spanish-language journalists he kept using the word ganas (desire), emphasizing that both he and the U.S. had to play with ganas tonight in a way that they didn't in Germany."

Um. What? The US didn't play with desire at the last World Cup? Fuck. Maybe they might have, ya know, wanted to maybe try some of that. The more I hear from members of the squad that the US took to Germany, the madder I get. Bruce Arena coached with his head up his ass, and too many of the US team members played with the same issue.

Tonight, against what will be pretty much a full strength Mexico squad, will be a nice measuring stick for the US team on whether they have started to find their respective sacks and, maybe, just a little, care.

The Guardian's Scott Murray is nothing if not paranoid about the new ownership at Liverpool. You would be hard-pressed to find a more suspicious rant. Remember, the boys that took to the streets to march in protest of the Glazers' takeover of Manchester United? Yeah, Murray might be leading the Liverpool version.

A taste of the bitterness:

"... nobody can possibly currently know what their intentions are. This is not the time for trust or blind loyalty."

"At the end of the press conference to announce their takeover of 'the biggest club in the biggest sport in the world', the pair buggered off at speed so they could jet back in time to watch some ice hockey."

"Will they rename the new stadium, to be built 'very soon'? 'If it means we get one great player per year, we'll look at it.' But is this what fans want? If it isn't, can they stop them?"

Of course, to be completely honest, I totally agree with him. Just because you're distrustful does not mean you're wrong.

They should take Ronaldo's name off the back of his jersey and replace it with "Goes Down Easy." There was no contact. A true disgrace to the game.

The violent side of the beautiful game reared its ugly head in Sicily today. At least one person dead and many more injured in rioting that took place outside of the stadium in Catania:

"Police fired tear gas, which wafted into the stadium and forced the match to be temporarily suspended in the 58th minute with Palermo leading 1-0.

"Police said the officer died after an explosive device was thrown inside his vehicle.

"The violence continued after the game, in which Palermo beat Catania 2-1, trapping hundreds of fans inside the stadium as authorities sought to avoid further violence and stop people from leaving."

All Serie A games have been canceled and officials are considering further potential measures. The game will be re-aired on Fox Soccer Channel at 8:00 PM tonight, in addition to another repeat on Sunday.

Bear in mind that while the riots were almost certainly soccer-related on some level, this did not occur inside the stadium.

- The Hammers keep buying players and losing games. Watford appear to be the only sure bet for relegation, with Wigan, Charlton and the Hammers in the mix. If West Ham do go down, with the amount of money they've been throwing around, could this be a Leeds-esque disaster?

- Obafemi Martins may have the best work rate (British for "motor") in the EPL. Not only is his pace off the charts, but he simply does not stop moving.

- Speaking of work rates, Ashley Young was a revelation for Villa. Not only did he score, but he could have put a couple more away as well. Lightning quick, skilled and aggressive. Although he is a whiny little twit.

- James Milner, with one goal and another beautiful assist tonight, is turning into one of the better young wing players in the game. He's the rare player that can offer quality service with either foot.

- Watch out, Wayne Rooney finally looks like he's having fun again out there.

- Cristiano Ronaldo is good enough with his feet that he doesn't need to head the ball, even with a clear shot on net. Either that, or he doesn't want to mess up his hair.

- Shane Long has sure stepped in nicely for Kevin Doyle at Reading. That is a club that does not lie down for anyone. It's that attitude that will keep them in the EPL.

- No strike force is more in-form than the trio at Anfield: Kuyt, Crouch and Bellamy. What's interesting is how different each player is. Kuyt is strong and sturdy and can strike with force, Bellamy is light and quick, and Crouch ... well ... he's a Crouch.

- Their first match-up without Robbie Savage was a tough one at Chelsea for Blackburn, so we'll see how well they handle Sheffield United at home this weekend. Having lost three out of four, this is a club that could take a tumble.

Any time there is no one even near a player and he collapses as though he were targeted by a sniper, it is not at all a good thing. Chelsea's injury woes may have gotten a whole lot worse because that's what happened with Ashley Cole today. To the untrained eye it sure looked like a torn ACL. Despite that and about about 49 missed chances from their Ukranian Upiz**sh, the London side easily wins.

As for the transfer window that slammed shut with Chelsea emptyhanded? Take it away, Jose:

"It's like when you are in bed and your blanket is not quite big enough. You pull it up to keep your head warm, but then your feet stick out at the bottom and they get cold. Will I buy another blanket? No because the supermarket is closed.

But luckily my blanket is made from cashmere!"

A few hours left for things to happen. So far today, nothing that earth-shattering:

- Mascherano officially moved to Liverpool. This on the same day that the potential buyers from Dubai announced that they would be pulling out of a deal to take over the club.

- If West Ham end up going down, it won't be for lack of trying to stay up. Matthew Upson is a Hammer at last for six million pounds.

- Garreth Bale, on the other hand, has decided to stay at Southampton, who are in the battle for promotion in the Championship. Plus, I hear the weather there is second only to Blackpool.

- Reading landed Michael Duberry from Stoke to anchor their central defense.

- Andy Cole might be moving to Everton, who also acquired Benfica middy Manuel Fernandes on loan today.

- Celtic beat Rangers once again. This time it was the battle to sign Paul Hartley from Hearts.

- Glenn Roeder is saying "pretty please" to Saint-Etienne striker Frederic Piquionne.

- Bayern Munich have a new manager.

- A move from Barca to Juventus is a big possibility this summer for Javier Saviola.

- Middlesborough signed Korean Dong Gook Lee. But with that name, the poor guy was cursed from birth to play in an English-speaking country. I get that it's his name, just like I'm sure there's someone out there named Whitey Peckerwood Johnson. Here's hoping British fans are more open-minded than Americans would be.

- Oguchi Onyewu is officially a Magpie, although as nufc.com points out, he has some significant international commitments he will be making in a red, white and blue kit. Perhaps this is why a team like Chelsea (that gets what it wants) let him go to a team like Newcastle (that gets what it gets).

- Fat Ronaldo looks to be heading to AC Milan. The two sides are quibbling over a transfer fee, and talks that have been complicated by the potential inclusion of striker Ricardo Oliveira in the deal.

- British pop star Robbie Williams, a Los Angeles resident, is apparently over the moon about the imminent arrival of the royal couple. Although he already has a full soccer field on his estate, Williams reportedly plans on building an indoor soccer pitch so that Becks can come over and play without helicopters taking pics.

- Liverpool are reportedly going to announce their signing of Javier Mascherano tomorrow. Seems like a strange move that could serve to muddy the waters of an in-form side.

- Inter Milan, who merely boast a cadre of strikers that includes Ibrahimovic, Adriano and Crespo, apparently feel the need to boost their ranks with the likes of Real Madrid's Antonio Cassano.

- The Hammers are denying that they offered 18 million pounds for Darren Bent. I should hope they would deny that. If they make a move like that, and still go down, they'd be in dire financial straits for years. But it appears that they would have been willing to spend that money. And that this is more of a case of who rejected who first. A West Ham spokesman said, "West Ham would like to make it clear that no bid has been submitted because Charlton have made it clear Darren Bent is not for sale." You can't dump me. We were never going out in the first place.

- Some other tasty tidbits: Edgar Davids is heading back to Ajax, Alexandre Song moves to Charlton on loan, Matthew Etherington could be in Fulham tomorrow, Ronaldhino and Buffon look to stay put, and Deportivo defender Alvaro Arbeloa appears Liverpool-bound.

A little over a week ago, an article appeared in the Old Grey Lady - and more importantly, in The Swamp - about a refugee soccer team in Georgia. Well, in less than a week, major Hollywood power brokers got into a bidding war over the rights to make the movie, and one is ticked off that his high-dollar bid wasn't accepted.

From the Old Grey Man (aka The Wall Street Journal), Kate Kelley tells an interesting story:

"Early on Jan. 21, Hollywood producer Scott Rudin sent up an urgent flare to his top deputy. He had just read a heartwarming New York Times story about a group of refugee kids playing soccer in Clarkston, Ga., and was desperate to win the movie rights.

"Four days later, though, Mr. Rudin was bellyaching in a snarky email to top studio executives at Sony Corp. and Walt Disney Co. about a frenzied auction that had ensued, in which he was one of the losers despite an impassioned pitch and big-money bid ...

"... How one of filmmaking's wiliest players went from wooing a journalist and a small-town soccer coach to venting his frustration toward them all over Hollywood shows how sticky things sometimes get when real people are sucked into the entertainment-industry vortex."

In the end, the coach went with a bid that may have actually been for less money when all is said and done, but that guaranteed a substantial no-strings-attached donation to the kids.

Selfish bastard.

Finally, a rational voice in the English game. And, not surprisingly, its from Norwich head-man Peter Grant, who is obviously vying for a position as Simon Grayson's shoe shiner in the coming weeks. It is anticipated that Grant will resign immediately following the replay with Blackpool, as the deal he made with the devil to ensure a draw expired at the full-time whistle this past Saturday.

Huge news for Magpie supporters and fans of American footballers abroad, as the BBC reports that defender Oguchi "Gooch" Onyewu is heading to Newcastle United on a loan deal.

According to the BBC, "Onyewu is currently having a medical at St James' Park, and is expected to sign on Monday if things go smoothly.

"The 24-year-old has been attracting interest from clubs across Europe, reportedly including Chelsea."

Upside: He plays fantastically, falls in love with St. James Park, and signs a long-term deal.

Downside: He gets penalized too much to be effective, loses his aggressiveness and starts taking tips from Titus Bramble.

Alternate Downside: He gets hurt (this is Newcastle we're talking about).

With the impending destruction of Norwich, Blackpool will then head off to Stamford Bridge to dispatch Chelsea in an inevitable march to FA Cup victory. I like this draw. Like the old saying goes, to be the best, you have to beat teams that think they are the best but madly under perform while their manager considers jumping ship.

In other, less important, tilts, Man U gets Reading and Bolton will host Blackburn.

When you fix soccer matches in Viet Nam, you pay a slightly harsher price than in Italy. According to chinaview.cn, "Seven Vietnamese national soccer players and a former player received imprisonment and suspension sentences of two to six years for fixing an international match."

"Midfielder Le Quoc Vuong wooed his teammates to rig the qualification match against Myanmar at the 23rd Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in the Philippines in November 2005. Their poor performance on purpose resulted in a 1-0 victory in favor of Vietnam as expected by local bookmakers."

The total amount the players collectively made for being paid off and on bets they placed: $30,600. Of course, in a place where $30 a month is considered steady income, that puts some perspective on their motviation.

- For an idea as to how crazy the rumour mill is during these transfer windows, check out the list of 53 players rumored to be associated with a move in or out of Newcastle since the beginning of the month (thanks to nufc.com). The total number of first-team players in or out as of the 26th day of the month? That would be ONE (Giuseppe Rossi's loan expired).

- The search for Jose Mourinho's replacement at Chelsea is officially on. From this morning's Guardian: "While few will be surprised to learn that the names Roberto Mancini and Marcello Lippi feature, the presence of Dutch manager Marco van Basten may raise a few eyebrows. According to the Star, the one-time AC Milan legend's "cause is being heavily promoted" by Chelsea employees Frank Arnesen and Piet de Visser, the chief tapper-upper and scout who both have the ear of Roman Abramovich. And are believed to be keeping it in a bucket."

- According to Manchester United's website, Arsenal is trying to scupper the Red Devils bid for Deportivo La Coruna ace Aldo Duscher.

- Italian club Udinese, are apparently trying to get rid of all of their interesting players. According to ghanaweb.net, Asamoah Gyan is moving to Moscow and Suleyman Muntari may be heading to Pompey (although the asking price will be high).

- As of this morning, Owen Hargeaves move to Manny U wil have to wait until the summer. We'll see what Bayern are saying this afternoon. Sir Alex is keeping his fingers crossed.

Legendary footballer Michael Platini was named the new president of UEFA, the organization in charge of the Champions League, UEFA Cup, and the mighty Intertoto. Platini is a close ally of FIFA chief Sepp Blatter, and would likely not be in this position without Blatter's full endorsement. The BBC has a decent little bio of Platini's rise through the ranks, within which this potential Champions League change is mentioned:

"Platini has promised to limit the number of Champions League places to three per country, rather than the current four, a move which seems certain to become unpopular in England, Spain, Italy and Germany."

In fact, there has been speculation that Platini actually wants to get the Champions League format to two per country, or even make it a literal "champions" league. Under Platini's proposal, the small European soccer federations would gain spots at the expense of the traditional powers.

Critics, like Sir Alex Ferguson, might say that they don't want to see the third-place team from Norway replace Arsenal. On the other hand, it could certainly increase the Cinderella storylines.

They are looking for a correspondent to cover Chelsea Football Club. To apply you merely need to fill out four fields and submit your application to the Wordlwide Leader. To me it seems like a logical opportunity for a Man U or Arsenal fan. The subtle digs could be priceless and you could slowly ratchet up the hate until you were discovered and canned for supposedly hugging some intern.

Here's the link.

That's what every EPL fan in the world is thinking right now. That is, apart from Blackburn Rovers supporters. No one likes to see athletes get hurt. But Robbie Savage breaking his leg is not going to encourage a high level of sympathy either.

Savage is a notoriously aggressive player who regularly pushes the limits of allowable physical play on the pitch. He is not above cleats-up tackles, frequent elbows, and the general type of reckless play that does not take into account the health of opposing players.

That being said, he is an incredibly skilled player as well and a leader on the pitch. The chances of UEFA Cup action for Rovers, currently 10th in the table and a point above three other clubs, have certainly taken a huge hit.

To literally add insult to injury, Blackburn dropped three points to last-place Watford. Watford's 2-1 victory, their first since November 4th, was sealed by a Jay Demerit header.

After a long lull during which soccer fans waited patiently for their club to make moves to improve the side, it is apparently time for some action:

- Strike two against Alan Curbishley as Birmingham have rejected a second Hammers offer for Matthew Upson. This time for six million pounds.

- Garreth Bale looks to be heading to Tottenham after Martin Jol's 10 million pound offer was reportedly accepted. Spurs are in active negotiations with the player. However, there is still a chance that Manny U or Arsenal could swoop in.

- Ashley Young is in the process of finishing up his Aston Villa deal and will sign today.

- Nicolas Anelka has started making noise about going back to play with Arsenal. Right after Van Perise goes down? What a coincidence!

- Anton Ferdinand has allegedly proclaimed his allegiance to West Ham, and will not walk out on his teammates and head to Newcastle. In other words, Glenn Roeder needs to pony up more cash if he wants the defender in black and white. But Roeder's top priority appears to be Curtis Davies.

- Sheffield United's Keith Gillespie wants out. He has officially put in a transfer request.

- David Beckham has international stars from Robbie Fowler to Ronaldo thinking about coming to America. But American players want a piece of that cash as well. Brian McBride has made some noise about coming back to MLS, and now Claudio Reyna will be allowed to walk away from Manchester City.

A brilliant late assist and then a rare header for goal from Thierry Henry in injury time gave Arsenal a 2-1 win over Manchester United today. The comeback gives hope to not only reeling Chelsea, but also to surging Liverpool, who sit just 11 points from the top of the table. Meanwhile, Arsenal stays unbeaten in their new home and continues to be the most likeable EPL side from a neutral standpoint. Of the fourth-place club's title hopes, Wenger says, "You never know."

A small party is kicking it around in the Swamp.

Landon Donovan, the US team's uber-shrinking violet, scored his first goal in international competition in a year and a half and two US Nat newcomers added goals in leading the US team past Denmark 3-1 yesterday. Nice win, but do know that Denmark didn't have pretty much any of its top players.

Some discussion of the game evolving here in the Swamp. If you got a chance to see it (which I did not), please drop by and share some observations.

Tough to pick between the goals of Thierry Henry, Obafemi Martins and Yossi Benayoun. Henry's goal included an amazing run up the left sideline, give-and-go with Fabregas, culminating with a pretty one-touch arching shot over the goalie.

This strike by Martins, also set up by a nice give-and-go, was one of those goals where the striker plays the role of magician and creates a thunderous goal, when seconds before there wasn't even the hint of one.

Benayoun's goal (the third in this highlight reel) is a beautiful touch. He launches a floater with just the right pace and arch to clear the keeper and drop into the net.

Long time Swamp lurker itsasweater was down in Argentina recently visiting a special lady. When I found out he was going, I asked him if he could head into La Boca to pick up an autentico Boca Juniors jersey. Here's the story that ensued:

My girlfriend's family pleaded with me not to head into La Boca. It's a notoriously dangerous neighborhood in Buenos Aires, especially if you're not part of the lower class. There essentially is no middle class in the country. Which is one of the reasons that Argentina is pretty dangerous. Kidnappings headlined the local news every night. La Boca is the team of la gente, while archrival River Plate is the team of the aristocracy.

I am totally pumped because this is Diego Maradona, world legend! Hand of God and all that. Then my girl brings me down by questioning the guy's identity. She says there are guys who go around as Maradona impressionists trying to get foreigners to buy them meals and drinks. So I'm asking for your help.

Will the real Maradona please stand up? What do you say? Poll in The Swamp.

Grant Wahl at si.com, with a must read (as always, from him). A highlight:

"Are there any possible downsides to bringing Beckham on board? Sure. Overspending on international stars is what eventually doomed the old NASL, and there's no going back for MLS after this move. At the same time, though, there appear to be more rules in place -- not least the league's single-entity structure -- which should prevent wild bidding wars between teams. As for other risks, is it possible that Becks could be a bust on the field here? I guess, but it's not likely. The league has a long ways to go, but it's still good enough that he won't be able to coast here. Besides, I also think that Beckham's pride will keep him from loafing. If I know him well enough, I think he'll try to show people in Madrid and in England that he's still worth something on the field."

Steve Davis for espn.com:

"Beckham's departure from global heavyweight Real Madrid and subsequent presence in America is certain to deliver an unrivaled wave of publicity not just for MLS, but for domestic soccer generally. This side of a highly implausible U.S. World Cup championship, nothing could even come close to creating such buzz. Freddy Adu's trade, by far the most high profile personnel swap in MLS history, merited just a small headline or even less in most U.S. dailies. By comparison, Beckham's signing, announced late Thursday morning, will generate large-type headlines throughout the world. And it will expose the league to people and places that otherwise wouldn't know Major League Soccer from a major motion picture."

Jamie Trecker on foxsports.com:

"There is some cause for doubt given Beckham's recent performance on the field. He made little mark on this summer's World Cup, then lost his captaincy of the English squad and eventually his starting position at Real Madrid. Yet while Beckham is aging -- he is 31 -- he is not over the hill, and arguably needs the lift that a solid stint in what is a growing league could give him. A show of good form on the field might get him back into the England squad in time for Euro 2008. He was reportedly bitterly disappointed to lose not only his captain's armband, but also his place in the revamped post-Germany squad. But Beckham can still play. He is a masterful passer and one of the deadliest set-piece servers in the game, making him attractive to teams in England and Italy. While never a player whose presence dominated games, Beckham always had the ability to decide an outcome with one flash of creative brilliance, no matter how inconsequential his other acts had been on the day."

I am only the most casual of soccer fans, with my interest drawn mainly to the fortunes of the US national team (memo: we don't think we need no stinkin' competent coach), but MLS soccer just landed on my radar in a big way. Whatever else Beckham's signing has done, it has raised the profile of that league immeasureably. On the way home last night from work, a quick scan of the national talking heads on radio (two days ahead of NFL Divisional games) revealed that Beckham to the Galaxy was the lead story and discussion. Amazing. If he has anything left in the tank at all (and I bet he does), it will be an interesting and noteworthy next couple of seasons for the MLS. And that is not a bad thing.

Swamp discussion on this yesterday reached five pages and nearly 1000 views. Drop by with a thought or two for the ongoing discussion.

And, again, because I can, Mrs. Beckham:

Very nice informative piece from The Football League Spy over at The Guardian's Sportblog. The top man on their list is linked to several Premiership clubs:

"Matthew Jarvis (Gillingham) He may stand just 5ft 8in high, but at 20, right-footed left-winger Jarvis has already played 100 games for Gillingham. Lightning-fast and also comfortable up front, Jarvis has already been linked with Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle, among others, but apparently doesn't want to move. 'Matt is happy at Gillingham,' insists his agent Mark Curtis. "He has a good relationship with the manager and loves the fans.'"

Very nice informative piece from The Football League Spy over at The Guardian's Sportblog. The top man on their list is linked to several Premiership clubs:

"Matthew Jarvis (Gillingham) He may stand just 5ft 8in high, but at 20, right-footed left-winger Jarvis has already played 100 games for Gillingham. Lightning-fast and also comfortable up front, Jarvis has already been linked with Arsenal, Tottenham and Newcastle, among others, but apparently doesn't want to move. 'Matt is happy at Gillingham,' insists his agent Mark Curtis. "He has a good relationship with the manager and loves the fans.'"

David Beckham is coming.

To Los Angeles that is.

The Galaxy have a new (older) star.

Presumably the missus is coming too.

Plenty of swamp chatter on this developing here.

Yanks Abroad is reporting the Clint Dempsey's work permit has been approved, clearing the way for the US National Team star to move to the EPL. Thanks to the Sybian in the Swamp for the heads-up.

"After he narrowly missed an automatic stamp through his international participations, the Cottagers were given the green light to complete all dealings for the US star during a Wednesday appeal in London.

"We have been informed that Clint was granted a work permit," Fulham press officer Sarah Brookes told YA.

"We are waiting for everything to be signed and paperwork to be filed with the league before formally announcing anything."

Dempsey - who could earn MLS as much as $4 million in transfer fees - is expected to be presented at Craven Cottage as early as Thursday."

The last we saw of Brian Davis and Christian Laettner they were trying to buy the Memphis Grizzles.There was some significant doubt that they had the money to buy the team. They say that they are still working on it. Ironically, the Frog is also working on buying the Memphis Grizzles and so far we have zero liabilities on our financials with $784 in cash. Our odds are about as good as theirs.

But fear not my friends, the Dukies have risen again. Like an 18-foot prayer in the final seconds, their ownership dream has been answered.Former Duke co-captains Brian Davis and Christian Laettner wore black and red soccer scarves instead of basketball jerseys Monday as MLS unveiled a new, minority-led ownership group that is paying a league-record $33 million for the operating rights to D.C. United.

Now comes the hard part: finding a way to build the team a new stadium in the poorest section of the city.

Laettner was overheard as asking, "Can I take this scarf home? It will go great with my short, slinky, cocktail dress."

- Every day it seems that Ashley Young is going to a different club. First, Liverpool were the favorites, then Tottenham and now the Villains are rumored to have the inside track.

- Also count Martin O'Neill in on another one of the most hotly-pursued players in this January transfer window: Shaun Wright-Phillips (SWP). Only Aston Villa look to get him on loan. Am I the only one who looks at that nickname and thinks of early 90s all-girl R&B group Sisters With Voices (SWV)? Unfortunately, when I see SWP, I think of an unflattering nickname (Sister With Penis) as a result. Not that I wouldn't love him Tyneside.

- All of this Owen Hargreaves talk appears to be much ado about nothing for now. The striker will not likely leave his German club until the summer, when Manchester United will lead the suitors once again. There is a lot of debate about the worth of Owen Hargreaves in The Swamp. Those who love him believe he is the next Roy Keane. Those who can't stand him thinks he is a plowhorse who can't shoot or pass. In his stead, Manchester United have offered Southampton five million pounds for Garreth Bale.

- Alan Curbishley apparently wants to clean house with both Marlon Harewood and Nigel Reo-Coker on the market. Both were absent in Saturday's FA Cup match to prevent from being cup-tied. That would leave the Hammers attacking cupboard rather bare, wouldn't it? And even if Curbishley does manage to sell both for good prices, what in-form striker in his right mind would head into a team firmly planted in the relegation zone?

- But that's not all the news from the bubble blowers. No, they are trying to sell Anton Ferdinand for seven million to Tottenham and then replace him with a three million pound acquisition of Tal Ben Haim. So maybe Curbishley is looking to take a crack at the Ewing Theory.

- With all these defenders on the move, what is the team with the thinnest backline in the Prem doing to reinforce their defense? Extending Nobby Solano's contract. A month ago that would have seemed ludicrous. But given his run of play, it seems like a sensible move by Glen Roeder.

Over in jolly ole England lives a soccer team that is filling up with Yanks. In defense, they have Carlos Bocanegra. In the strike force, Brian McBride. And now, the boys from Craven Cottage are on the verge of adding their third first-team American player, Clint Dempsey.

But I wonder if Dempsey's future mates at Fulham are aware of his skills with the microphone off the pitch. Dempsey (aka Deuce) enjoys freestyle rapping and actually made a song called "Don't Tread" to go with the latest Nike soccer campaign. Sample lyrics from the track:

dont wake a sleepin giant unless u wanna c him pist
though i'm quick with my feet u aint seen the fist

If you don't think Nike is trying to access/create the urban soccer market, check out their US Soccer page. Landon Donovan is there in the background (because apparently that's the law), but the other four feautred players are DaMarcus Beasley, Oguchi Onyewu, Eddie Johnson and Clint Dempsey. That would be one white rapper and three African-Americans. They even have a memorial for a rapper on the page (Big Hawk R.I.P.) who appears in the song with Dempsey, and was apparently a friend before he was shot to death. And the other feature, apart from Dempsey's flow, is an "Inside Eddie Johnson" piece.

I find this attempy by Nike fascinating, and frankly, I hope they are successful in building the number of US Soccer fans. Soccer in this country has long been stereotyped as a sissy suburban game. The top players in the country are still largely from this background. But looking at the US National team and seeing a guy like Johnson, straight out of the housing projects of south Florida, you start to wonder what type of untapped talent exists in this country's cities and barrios. Dempsey himself is portrayed in the video as a child growing up in a nitty-gritty ethnically-mixed trailer park in Texas. Maybe this where some of the toughness and drive that US Soccer has been lacking for so many years can eventually come from.

So how is the song? Dempsey's from Texas. So if you like southern-style Paul Wall, Fat Pat type of Texas rap (I don't), it's right up your alley. It's probably actually above-average for the genre. While Dempsey's delivery is typically monotonous, the beat is decent and the chorus is actually pretty damn catchy.

Twenty million pounds. That's a lot of scratch for a kid with a bum leg.

"Bayern president Franz Beckenbauer told German newspaper Bild that if an offer of that size was tabled 'we would have to think about it'.

"Beckenbauer added: 'That is a figure that would allow us to be active in the transfer market.'

"Hargreaves has just been told that he is not ready to return to full training as he recovers from a broken leg.

"The 25-year-old sustained the injury in a league match against Arminia Bielefeld in September and had hoped to return in January. "

Swamp has been discussing Hargreaves and how he rates for awhile now.

In a move that would make Marlon Brando proud, the severed head of a young goat, covered in blood was sent to Palermo general manager Rino Foschi.

"It was a sour Christmas, especially for my family," Foschi told the ANSA news agency Saturday. "My wife was shocked when she opened the package, but I think it was a joke and I'm sleeping peacefully. Let's not make a film out of this."

I wonder what Matt Millen got for Christmas....

First hardware in over three decades for the Magpies. And stop hating on the black-and-white by saying the Intertoto Cup is a lame award that looks more like a newspaper than a trophy. Hardware is hardware. And Newcastle fans would take an elementary school field day honorable mention ribbon at this point.

Suck it, Chelsea boys!

This is why Jose Mourinho is so good for soccer. You have simply got to love the way he speaks his mind. Agree or disagree, this bit of honesty/motivational speech is quality entertainment for fans. Matt Lawton in the Daily Mail reports on Jose's public dress down of Sheva:

"Jose Mourinho has told Andriy Shevchenko he is prepared to axe him from his Chelsea side.

"In an extraordinary, wide-ranging interview with Sportsmail, the Chelsea manager said he has "nine untouchable players" in his team -- but his £30million striker is not currently among them.

"He also insisted he would walk away if club owner Roman Abramovich pressurised him to select the troubled Ukrainian.

"'I play the best players at the time,' he said, naming his 'untouchables' as Claude Makelele, Michael Essien, Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, John Terry, Ricardo Carvalho, Ashley Cole, Didier Drogba and Petr Cech."

Thanks Jose. Shevchenko's performance in the big upcoming match against Arsenal will be even more fun to watch now. The closest thing we have to this in America is George Steinbrenner or Bill Parcells hinting at their unsatisfaction with their star players through the press. But that's a far cry from Joe Torre telling the press that A-Rod is his 10th most valuable player.

OK, so he was actually quite a bit more gracious than that, but Jurgen Klinsmann will apparently NOT be the coach of the U.S. Men's National Soccer Team.

Thank goodness the search for our new coach hasn't degenerated into an international joke or anything.

Said Klinsmann to ESPN:

"Sunil [Gulati] and I have concluded our discussions about the US men's national team program, and I have withdrawn my name from consideration as coach. I'm not going to go into details about our conversations. But, I certainly want to wish the next coach of the U.S. men's national team much success, and I want to also thank Sunil for the opportunity to exchange ideas."

Next up to be interviewed by the Nats: Robert Duvall's character from Kicking & Screaming. If that doesn't pan out, Bernie Kosar.

And Fox Sports is reporting it is Jurgen Klinsmann, last seen leading the Germans to an astonishing semifinal run in the 2006 World Cup.

This apparently is coming from "well-placed sources with knowledge of the deal", so take the more definitive headline of the story ("German legend to lead U.S. Soccer") with perhaps one or two grains of salt.

Still, it's hard to imagine a scenario where Klinsmann is not tabbed for the job. He's been the presumptive candidate for months, money is apparently not a sticking point and he wouldn't even have to move his family from Southern California.

UPDATE: For whatever it's worth, ESPN.com is responding to the Fox News report by reporting "not yet."

According to therawstory.com, a foreign takeover of Liverpool is well underway. The asking price is around $900 million.

"It is understood that the man behind the deal is Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Prime Minister and vice president of the United Arab Emirates, and the world's fifth-richest man.

"Under the proposed deal, a new 60,000-capacity stadium would be built at a cost of 200 million pounds (396 million dollars)."

I'm sure this is going to go over well with the British nationalists. But while there will certainly be scousers none too pleased with an Arab country taking over the club, most Liverpool fans understand what this potentially means. And that is to finally be able to compete financially with Chelsea. Any ill feelings will be forgtotten once they start handing out 25 million pound contracts to bench players and build a world-class stadium.

They're called Wallbangers, and they run about $115.00 USD apiece. That's a lot of dinero for a gigantic sticker of a big sweaty man on your wall. Especially if you're going to refer to it as a "wallbanger." And take it literally. Not that there's anything wrong with that. Or maybe there is.

But hey, whatever floats your boat. Thanks to Ty Webb for the heads-up.

BBC's football gossip page is chock full of goodness today:

- Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill is ready to bid 7m for Tottenham striker Jermain Defoe. Hmm. It would be hard to see Tottenham letting Defoe go to a team that could/should be battling with them in future years unless they got a whole lot more than that sum. An English striker who is almost universally recognized as top shelf can't go for less than 15 in my book.

- Manchester United have made a fresh move for Atletico Madrid's Spanish international striker Fernando Torres - but have been told the price is 25m. When you pay 18 million for Michael Carrick, did you really think the price for a young world class striker would be any less?

- West Ham are hoping to secure a deal for Chelsea winger Shaun Wright-Phillips, initially on loan until the end of the season with a view to a 10m permanent move. From a soccer fan's perspective, it would be nice to see what SWP could really do if given consistent playing time on a club.

- Lyon president Jean-Michel Aulas says he is seriously considering signing Bolton striker Nicolas Anelka. Big Sam Allardyce has already publicly stated that Anelka's going nowhere, but he hasn't exactly set the league on fire this season, has he? Seems like he should and will be available for the right price.