Part II of the Award Winners series focuses on South America and its Player Of The Year. Since 1986, Uruguayan newspaper El País has been the official selector of "Rey del Fútbol de América" (America's King Of Football). Even though the award has been around since 1971. The 2 greatest of all time have won [. Click to continue reading...

Well another interesting round of WCQ matches have passed and as usual there were some surprises and realities that make The Beautiful Game so compelling.  So with that said, here is the 2nd Edition of the Top 5 Things We Learned From Previous Round of WC Qualifying: The Motherland of New Faces Those seeking new nations to [. Click to continue reading...

The US will be in South Africa in two years' time, given FIFA's generous allocation of three and a half spots to CONCACAF (but let's not get into that debate again), but the embarrassing 2-1 loss to T&T brought back uncomfortable memories of the 2002 qualifiers, when Bruce Arena's team lost to Honduras, Mexico and twice to Costa Rica, finishing third and last qualifier. Click to continue reading...

HOME TEAMS LISTED FIRST Bolivia 2 - 2 Uruguay BOL: Martins (15′ & 41′). URU: Bueno (64′), Abreu (88′) Paraguay 1 - 0 Peru PAR: Benitez (82′) Chile 1 - 0 Argentina CHI: Orellana (35′) Venezuela 3 - 1 Ecuador VEN: Maldonado (48′), Moreno (56′), Arango (67′). Click to continue reading...

In this section, we give our take on one of the most hotly-contested issues in US Soccer. In a brief September 8th article, we brought up the debate on the difficulty of CONCACAF away Qualifiers, citing Ives Galarcep's "Hazards of road qualifiers" and Luis Bueno's "Debunking the myth." While looking through Soccer by Ives this morning [. Click to continue reading...

Dunga, fairly or not, is feeling the heat for the Selecao's performances the last couple of matches.  He decided to make some changes for the next two qualifiers.  The most obvious move was replacing Ronaldinho for Kaka.  The two AC Milan playmakers seem to be meshing well after their performance in the Rossoneri's 1-0 win [. Click to continue reading...

Almost half-way through the South American World Cup qualifiers and one of the top 5 issues of this qualifying cycle is the play of Brazil.  Anyone who knows anything about South American football knows that Brazil is going to finish in the Top 4 automatically putting them in The Great Tournament, so why all the heat towards [. Click to continue reading...

Earlier this week I talked about how combining CONCACAF and CONMEBOL would make sense but it's all but a pipe dream.

A reader though picked up on the idea and formulated his own concept of a new football region and how it would look like. It gets my stamp of approval.

From reader Brian:

Combine North and South America into a single football federation
(Federacion Americana de Futbol or Confederacion Americana de Futbol)
and run the World Cup qualifying, the federation cup (Copa America),
and the champions league similar to UEFA. Click to continue reading...

La selección chilena goleó 4-0 a Colombia en el Estadio Nacional de Santiago de Chile, y así sanó las heridas de la derrota frente a Brasil del domingo, también en casa.

Gonzalo Jara, Humberto Suazo, Ismael Fuentes y Matías Fernández anotaron para "La Roja" en una tarde lluviosa en la capital chilena, lo que no impidió la asistencia del público y el festejo posterior al triunfo. Click to continue reading...

Oh what a beautiful evening, England and the USA win by three goals apiece. Firstly, on behalf of the mother country, may I insincerely apologize for West Ham supporter Russell Brand offending American sensibilities at the MTV Video Music Awards....Get in there, Rus! And at risk of another consignment of tea being dumped in Boston Harbor, did you perchance note that England smashed Croatia 4-1 in Click to continue reading...

I'm not giving England the picture 'cause it's easy, it was actually the most compelling match-up of the day.

Holy freakin' Theo Walcott. The teenager with a hat trick, are you kidding me? Dang kid.

England 4-1 over Croatia.

Other highlights? Denmark beats Portugal. Sweden, Israel and Greece pick up much needed wins. Click to continue reading...

Esteban Cambiasso had the goal and, without actually impressing anyone, Argentina were putting to bed the run of six matches without a win that's seen them slip from first to fourth in the South American qualification table for South Africa 2010. A poor performance but the result was still as expected. Click to continue reading...

One thing I do enjoy is an international fixture date. Loads of games and lots of interesting storylines. Today is just that day around the world as countries from all over take part in another round of World Cup qualifying matches. Aside from the CONCACAF fun there are some great matches across the pond, particularly one [. Click to continue reading...

As you may have heard, Jorge Rojas had some visa problems while playing with his Venezuelan National side, and could not reenter the US. Long story short - his passport was found to be damaged to the point of possible forgery back in his native land, and refused his right to travel. Once they found out who he was, his visa was reinstated in ONE DAY.

Click to continue reading...

It's been a crazy day, and I got a late start due to rising from 4-6 a.m. to watch the USMNT squeak another "Boring, Boring Arsenal!" victory - and not the fun, sarcastic kind. Anyway, here we go... #1 - Our U.S. ladies had an uphill struggle against Brazil until the final whistle, but an extra time Carli Lloyd rifle job was all they'd need to claim a third Olympic gold medal in four tries (and Click to continue reading...

En la serie de dos partidos que enfrenta a los ganadores de los torneos de Conmebol: Copa Libertadores (Boca Juniors) y Copa Sudamericana (Arsenal de Sarandí), el Boca Juniors dirigido por Carlos Ischia dio un paso importante hacia el título de la Recopa Sudamericana. En partido celebrado en el estadio de Racing de Avellaneda, Martín [. Click to continue reading...

So this theory has gone from a comical hypothetical to a head slapping reality: Every Bulls loss seems to result in some International signing.

This weeks band aid is Gabriel Cichero. Cichero will be with us through the end of the year, and has an option year for 2009. ABN in Bolivia broke the story yesterday.

Click to continue reading...

Ladies and Gentlemen, left back may have just been filled. With a left foot.

Young Mexican Diego Jimenez, former starter for Tecos and the Mexican Under 23 Nationals, is on his way to New Jersey, so says Brian Lewis at the Post (great blog by the way). The best part? He already has a green card - so none of that waiting forever to see him on the pitch stuff.

Click to continue reading...

Like a dope, I thought Osorio was thinking of trying out Chris Innes again for that left back spot. I definitely ruled out the one time trialist Gabriel Cichero, Venezuelan National, especially after the organization deemed him to be too expensive.

Click to continue reading...

With a smiling face and a crowd of fans, El Zurdo Rojas not only confirmed the rumors, but took it all a step forward - he announced his arrival as a Red Bull.

Just as we have been speculating all week about the status of Rojas, reading reports from South America claiming he was signed while this side of the Americas has kept quiet, we run into this.

Click to continue reading...

Some news that any MLS should be happy about, not just Dallas fans. An article in a Honduran newspaper mentions that CONMEBOL is deciding whether to invite Motagua (Honduras) or FC Dallas to the upcoming edition of the Copa Sudamericana set to start next month. CONMEBOL is looking at inviting clubs not involved in the CONCACAF [. Click to continue reading...

The latest FIFA rankings came out last Wednesday and it seems Australia has move up 8 places to be now ranked at the 35th best team in the World. We have also moved ahead of Japan to be the number one ranked team in the AFC.

Does it mean anything though?

The ranking system is a complex formula that takes into account matches from the last four years, each year receives a different weighting and results in each year are averaged. Click to continue reading...

Univision is reporting Jorge Ramos, Vinotinto (Venezuelan National Team) veteran, with 76 caps to his name, will be a Red Bull soon.

Left sided player? Check.

Can play midfield, or defender, possibly freeing Van Den Bergh to play some CAM? Check.

A respectable veteran presence?

Click to continue reading...

...for Ronaldo. Oh to have been a fly on the wall when he "discovered" his playmates weren't quite who he thought they were. Ronaldo claims bribery by transvestite hooker Police are investigating claims by AC Milan striker Ronaldo that a transvestite prostitute sought to extort money from him following an altercation at a Rio de Janeiro [. Click to continue reading...

Knowing I not only buried this feature, but essentially chastised myself for ever creating it, it feels like I should acknowledge that - no links, though. That said, my New Year's resolutions usually die a quiet death somewhere around January 10 and this one was no different. Well, there was my resolution to [. Click to continue reading...

Rating: 4 (Good)

While we all settle in to watching tonight's and tomorrow night's CONCACAF Champions Cup matches we just received an update on our MLS to the Libertadores rumor.

One of our great readers who listens to XM satellite radio's XM Deportivo program writes us with the following:

"Another tidbit from XM Deportivo.

Click to continue reading...

Mostrando falta de creatividad, contudencia y táctica por parte del técnico; todos en bola al frente, las Chivas del Guadalajara dieron una lametable exhibición en su estadio frente al Cúcuta de Colombia. Del arbitraje mejor ni hablamos, como siempre cargado... Click to continue reading...

Ladies and gentlemen, the world's best club football competition is upon us. No, of course I'm not talking about the imminent knockout rounds of the Champions League, don't be daft. This week sees the beginning of the group stages of South America's much more enjoyable answer to UEFA's competition, the Copa Libertadores. Click to continue reading...

A couple of hours after Lanús confirmed their participation in the Copa Libertadores with a win, Arsenal de Sarandí did the same in spite of a defeat. Their 2-0 home victory in the first leg proved enough for the Copa Sudamericana holders, as Mineros de Guyana could only manage a 2-1 win in Venezuela. Click to continue reading...

League champions Lanús booked their place in the Copa Libertadores group stage on Tuesday night, winning in style against Ecuadorian champs Olmedo to overturn a 1-0 first leg defeat. In the first half, they looked edgy, creating chances but - as in Riobamba last week - not managing to finish them off. Click to continue reading...

Take a deep breath everyone... COMPETITIVE FOOTBALL IS BACK! Arsenal de Sarandí played the first meaningful match featuring an Argentine top-flight side of 2008, in their first ever game in the Copa Libertadores. It was a good start, too - they beat Mineros de Guyana of Venezuela 2-0 in El Vidaucto in the first leg [. Click to continue reading...

The draw for the 2008 Copa Libertadores - with Santander taking over from Toyota as title sponsor - took place in Asunción on Wednesday, and Argentina will have six representatives in the tournament - River Plate, Boca Juniors, San Lorenzo and Estudiantes all qualify automatically from the 2006-2007 season, whilst Lanús and Arsenal de Sarandí go [. Click to continue reading...

Teclea tu email Les traigo lo que escuchamos ayer de un comentarista argentino durante la transmisión en WFM de la final de la copa sudamericana y transcrito hoy en el blog del Universal. Una verdad incuestionable, lo extraño es escucharlo... Click to continue reading...

Teclea tu email Con una defensa tán debil y las deficiencias de un técnico como el Ruso Brailovsky no se puede aspirar a ganar ningun campeonato o copa. El Ruso cuando tuvo el 2 a 0 no supo que hacer,... Click to continue reading...

Cool detail: "Arsenal is one of the lowliest of Argentine first-division clubs, never able to win a first-division title in its 50-year history. America, by contrast, has won numerous Mexican league trophies and six CONCACAF titles, among other achievements." Arsenal wins Sudamericana BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) Martin Andrizzi scored an 84th-minute goal and lightly regarded [. Click to continue reading...