Everyone got their breath back? The final whistle blew almost 24 hours ago and I can't seem to shake this game out of my mind. The image of Mehdi Ballouchy's fantastic cross onto Conor Casey's outstretched boot in the final minutes of the game remains largely fixed. It was not that the defenses were so poor on both sides. Click to continue reading...

In the comedy series "Little Britain", Andy Pipkin, the pretend-disabled scrounger, states that he wants to go to Finland despite the fact that he previously said that the country had "a maudlin quality to it, rendering it unsuitable as a holiday destination." After convincing his hapless carer Lou to book them on a flight to Helsinki, Andy decides on take-off that he actually wanted to go to Florida all the time. Click to continue reading...

What does a match between two last place teams look like? It looks like what we saw on Sunday in San Jose. The Earthquakes dominated play but couldn't finish while the Red Bulls looked absolutely awful in a 4-5-1 that set attacking soccer back about 10 years.

The performance would have been consider promising for San Jose if not for the huge mountain still to climb in the West standings.

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The Chicago Fire still hasn't won an MLS match in a month, so you would think a road point against the Columbus Crew would be a moral victory of sorts.

Well, it wasn't. Not when Chicago held a two-goal lead early on and looked like it might find that long-awaited victory.

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Photo by ISIphotos.com

On the strength of a stingy defense, quick and skillful midfield and a wonderful finish from Fernando Torres, Spain is the new European Champion.

It was definitely refreshing to watch a team win a tournament by playing beautiful attacking soccer and not by turning the game into a defensive-oriented bore-fest.

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I have tears of joy. Watching Spain get over their mental block against their more heralded European rivals, doing it their way, playing beautiful, attacking soccer and finally winning what was rightfully theirs. There is a God occasionally and he chose the right time to be munificent.

There was Ballack his face streaked with congealed blood and the nonplussed Metzelder and Mertesacker, their faces frozen in disbelief and dismay, as they contemplated another championship without a title.

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Watching the Columbus Crew and Los Angeles Galaxy do battle it last Saturday it was tough to believe that both these teams missed the playoffs last year. The Crew and Galaxy have boasted exciting attacking soccer this year and they both look to have the firepower to reach the post-season in 2008.

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I don't want to jinx anything, but so far, Euro 2008 has been the greatest soccer tournament I've ever seen. Attacking soccer is winning and teams have been rewarded for going forward and not for sitting back. Hopefully this trend continues on into the knockout round, otherwise, my picks are going to be completely wrong. Click to continue reading...

After the three "glamor friendles" against Argentina, Spain, and England, the US Men's National Team finally sets off on the long road leading to South Africa and the 2010 World Cup. Bob Bradley and Co. welcome Barbados to the Home Depot Center in Carson, California for the first leg of a home-and-away series. Click to continue reading...

Good afternoon folks. I'm coming to you from an undisclosed location in the Western part of the United States and while I promised myself I would stay away from SBI today, I just can't. SF is doing a great job holding things down today, but I still had to check in and see how the SBI Mafia is doing today.

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Last week I posted about one way how to get behind the defense quickly. I said I would follow-up with some advice on how to consider all options once you get behind the defense and how to create other opportunities and here is one to consider.

So, you got behind the backs and you're an outside mid gunning down on goal. You have your mark chasing you and the sweeper is on his way over to tackle you.

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I'm a big fan of small sided games especially 4 v 4 but, I am also a big fan of relentless attacking players. So, how do you become a relentless attacking player? Well, you practice attacking as much as possible. You have to spend a significant amount of time handling the ball and taking defenders on. It requires an attitude and almost cocky nature.

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