Fussballer sind ja per se Statistiker. Kaum etwas, was beim Fussball nicht notiert wird. Tore, Pässe, Zweikämpfe, Eckbälle, gelaufenen Meter, Fouls. Fouls... oh ja, die Fouls. Fouls sind in der Regel unfähr geführte Zweikämpfe. Regelwidrig und manchmal auch körperverletzend. Gut, wenn man weiß, welcher Verein zu den Rüpeln der Bundesliga gehört. Click to continue reading...

Can someone explain to me why referees will show cards to boys, but not girls who are the same age? They aren't all delicate flowers! Click to continue reading...

Can someone explain to me why referees will show cards to boys, but not girls who are the same age? They aren't all delicate flowers! Click to continue reading...

Can someone explain to me why referees will show cards to boys, but not girls who are the same age? They aren't all delicate flowers! Click to continue reading...

Why can't the Roar play like this at home?

And, the A-League evens up again.

If the Roar had strikers who can score they should have got 7. At the other end Reddy only made one save. The Roar were almost completely dominant except for the final kick.I counted at least 5 serious fouls that were play on and they were all in the first half when no cards were given. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres two goals in three minutes is the difference as Liverpool take the short trip to Goodison Park and come out 2-0 victors that was marred by the horrific refereeing of Mike Riley. I am going to say it like I see it here, Mike Riley has officially ended the FA's respect campaign over the last two weeks. Click to continue reading...

Fernando Torres two goals in three minutes is the difference as Liverpool take the short trip to Goodison Park and come out 2-0 victors that was marred by the horrific refereeing of Mike Riley.

I am going to say it like I see it here, Mike Riley has officially ended the FA's respect campaign over the last two weeks.

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Last year, Chicago destroyed LA's playoff hopes in the final game of the year. This year, they could pretty much kill the Galaxy off - a little earlier this time around.

LD talks about doing "internal work". Sounds like colonics or something. LD gives a nod to Hispanic Heritage month, saying those were his soccer teammates when he was growing up. Click to continue reading...

It was 25 years ago today - 24 of September 1983 Camp Nou at 22.30HRS - Athletic de Bilbao defender ANDONI GOIKOETXEA enters & fouls FC Barcelona forward DIEGO ARMANDO MARADONA. See the video... Read all the news, results, details & comments in English on Spanish Football & Sports Click to continue reading...

Manchester United have been fined for the 7 yellow cards the players picked up in Sunday's 1-1 draw away to Chelsea. The number of cards would suggest there was some kind of bloodbath on show, which certainly wasn't the case at all. United committed 22 fouls whilst Chelsea committed 18. In the midlands derby between West [. Click to continue reading...

Discussing deliberate fouls on fellow professionals has become a bit taboo since Roy Keane's admission about his pre-meditated knee-high tackle on Alf-Inge Haaland, but Bolton's Kevin Nolan has broken the silence to say that he urged team-mate Jlloyd Samuel to foul Theo Walcott during their match against Arsenal on Saturday. Click to continue reading...

Salomon Kalou's header ten minutes from time cancels out Ji-Sung Park's opener and preserves Chelsea's unbeaten record at Stamford Bridge as Chelsea and Manchester United ends honors even at 1-1.

Unlike the Liverpool/Manchester United clash last weekend, this was more typical big four fare. The game wasn't pretty by any means, plenty physical and full of controversy.

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By Bill Edgar .. in the Times
1 Scrap the away goals rule and penalty shoot-outs in two-legged games.
2 Use goal difference before head-to-head records.
3 Introduce "celebration time" and remove punishments.
4 Book players for ANY dissent.
5 Scrap the rule that forces injured players to leave the pitch after receiving treatment before re-entering the field.

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Yesterday I had a 14-girls Classic-1 (2nd division) game that bored me nearly to tears - no team play and just run-and-dump for 70 minutes. Today, it the girls were a couple of years older, and down a division - but this game was actually fun. There still wasn't a whole lot for me to do (there had to be less than ten fouls for the game, maybe half that), but the game was so much better. Click to continue reading...

Every road point counts as the march to the playoffs continue. Satudays Primetime game featured lots of back and forth play, with 0 goals to show for it. The evening ended in a 0-0 draw But its a draw that feels like a win - a road point during an important playoff race, given to us by a choking Jaime Moreno!

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You know it's hot and humid when the precipitation you feel isn't from the sky, but rather the sweat being flung from your arms as you run.
I realized as I got to the field, that one of my personal soccer landmarks , something that always brought back a memory, was being demolished. Click to continue reading...

Picture from the Independent via Getty Images.

2 games, 0 points. No goals scored and five goals allowed.

What those numbers don't tell you are the two opponents in question. At Stamford Bridge against Chelsea and then host to Manchester United.

When Portsmouth saw their early season schedule, they had to be a little concerned.

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Although I am sure that I have admitted many, here is a quick list of rule changes, schemes and slight changes to officiating that have been introduced in top level football world wide. Bear in mind that all of these took place in the last couple of years; FIFA, the top flight leagues and Football Associations are clearly rule happy. Click to continue reading...

Like last week, West Ham started brightly, and looked pretty good for some points... until Mark Noble got sent off for two stupid fouls, then the whole team might as well have joined Noble in the showers for all the use they were. From the moment the Hammers were reduced to 10 men, Man City looked [. Click to continue reading...

FFA have invested heavily in a referee improvement program this year. And so far it is likely that they will be disappointed. In this game 10 cards were handed out, including 2 yellow and a red for one incident. 3 yellows for CCM for 23 fouls and 6 yellows for Sydney for 14 fouls - not much between those that got cards and those that didn't. Click to continue reading...

It wasn't pretty but the U.S. Men's National Team earned their first-ever FIFA World Cup qualifying win in Guatemala on Wednesday night behind a Carlos Bocanegra goal. It was a hard-fought match in very hostile circumstances that saw seven yellow cards, two red cards and 40 total fouls. If you have not seen the the flying [. Click to continue reading...

File under "The Better Team Over 90 Minutes Won."

It wasn't that United played horrible. This was a decent effort from United, an effort that even improved as the match went on. There were a few defensive and midfield giveaways, but none of those were directly responsible for the two New England Goals.

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• Well, I had it wrong earlier when I said Gareth Barry would be on the left and Steven Gerrard in the middle. The two were reversed to start, though Gerrard ended up drifting inside anyway. Ashley Cole and Wes Brown, the left and right backs, respectively, both needed to get forward and provide some necessary width to the team. Click to continue reading...

The Olympic football has pretty much flown under the radar in the UK until today, with the powerhouses of Brazil, Argentina, Nigeria and, er.... Belgium all in action. Contrary to popular perception, players in the Olympics don't have to be amateur any more, but each team is only allowed to have 3 players over 23 in the squad, therefore creating a very youthful tournament. Click to continue reading...

NYRB 2 TFC 0
You could ponder tactics and strategies when you try to think about TFC's loss today, but it would lead you nowhere. It was not a game of match-ups and styles. It was more of a simple tale of talent and luck. New York had both. Talent does not have to show up for long. New York proved that today. Click to continue reading...

It's fascinating how the women's and men's games differ. Not only stylistically, which I've talked about many times over the years, but also in attitude. My last game was a first division men's match where from minute 1 to minute 90 it was bitch and moan to anyone within earshot, lots and lots of fouls, and probably lucky to get away with a single caution. Click to continue reading...

7th minute: Haha! Waibel tried to gain about 5 yards on the throw-in, but got caught cheating. Can't blame him for trying. Steven DePiero is today's referee. Yeah, doesn't sound familiar. MLS career five games, average of 27.8 fouls called,... Click to continue reading...

Baltimore Bays (U-18) and Carmel United (U-16) are the first Development Academy champions, winning their finals at the Home Depot Center over weekend.

The top MLS-affiliated team was the Columbus Crew's U-18 side, which placed third.

The U-18 final had a bit of controversy, with runner-up LAFC claiming their players were too often carded for fouls on Chris Agorsor, the Gatorade player of the year who shook off a knee sprain to come off the bench in the final.

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Can anyone explain what it is about the Superliga that makes rock-solid MLS penalty kick takers falter? LD last year, and now Jaime Moreno. Anyway, it would have been a wild way for DC to tie it up, but instead, I'm waiting for the Dynamo to show something against Atlante now.
There's a shot of the Dynamo fans and their tifo before the game starts. Click to continue reading...

Something to read while you hope no one responds to this ad... MLS originals, there from the start (Booked for Dissent) Refs "evening out" number of fouls? (For the Integrity of Soccer) Messi gets himself a WAG. Bless. (Sniffing the Touchline) Ashburton Grove looking younger every day (Arsenal Offside) Things not looking good for The Pharaohs (Egypt WCB) Portugueezer leaves Man [. Click to continue reading...

Hi all - I'm at the stadium for the second day in a row - got an assignment!
Chivas USA Starters: Guzan, Burling, Talley, Suarez, Marsch, Kljestan, Nagamura, Mendoza, Harris, Razov, Bornstein
SJ Quakes: Cannon, Riley, Garcia, Hernandez, Denton, O'Brien, Corrales, Gray, Guerrero, Johnson, Kamara
The Union Ultras have some new spiffy flags, but I don't see the Legion signs out at all. Click to continue reading...

I remember him well. An old Italian dude, crusty as a ciabatta, in the little Chicago cafe I ducked into for Italy v. Australia. We talked a little World Cup between the Aussie fouls and the frustrated Italian grimaces. In spite of his rabid partisanship (he gave a hearty vaffunculo! when Italy converted its decisive penalty), he fancied Spain, which at that time was still ripping along nicely. Click to continue reading...

Schellas Hyndman's transition to MLS reached a milestone on Thursday as the long-time SMU coach earned his first point in charge of FC Dallas. The Hoops showed far more energy and promise than they did against the Red Bulls a week earlier, and the result also helped the club walk away with the prize awarded to the winner of this Texas season series.

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From an email:
You failed to mention that Beckham dove on his penalty kick ;)
C'mon, you know the truth...

Truth? This reader probably can't handle the truth that the Beckham PK was about as legitimate as Robbie Rogers going down so quickly in the box from a Klein bump. Both players were fouled, in my opinion, both lightly. Click to continue reading...

Of all the players missing from the Turkish squad, Tuncay Sanli's absence hurts more than others. The Middlesbrough striker has been the catalyst and the motivator par excellence for all the Turkish comebacks.

Against a German side ready to exploit their physical play against the more diminutive Turkish side, Tuncay would have brought his strength and pace to cause problems down the flanks and up the middle.

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