Stuff to read while your kibbles 'n bits are assaulted during a corner..... Slovak police in trouble over Hungarian riots. (101 Great Goals) 10 Reasons Why This Premier League Season Is The Best Yet (EPL Talk) Pep's the tonic for all that once ailed in Barcelona. (Guardian Unlimited) Europe's 20 most loyal footballers. Click to continue reading...

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Wenn einer mehr oder weniger gut mit dem Ball am Fuss gut umgehen kann, heißt das noch lange nicht, dass man auch gleich für andere Ballsportarten gemacht ist. OK, Frings ist diesmal ein schlechtes Beispiel, hat er doch am Wochenende bewiesen, dass auch er mal einen Ball nicht ordentlich stoppen kann. Click to continue reading...

Supporters of the United States national team (myself included) have complained openly and often about the officiating we've received at the last two world cups including an apparent handball on Torston Frings on the goal line in the 2002 Quarterfinals which was missed by EPL official Hugh Dallas and the almost criminal call by Dr. Click to continue reading...

The final! Will Spain throw off the mantle of underachiever? Will Germany triumph, sending the momentum of its fans gained during the World Cup into a frenzy?
Funny how Foudy talks about how goalkeepers need games to be sharp in reference to Jens Lehmann. Foudy didn't say anything like that when saying she wouldn't want to play in front of Hope Solo after Solo protested getting replaced at the Women's World Cup by Scurry, who had hardly played. Click to continue reading...

Vienna tomorrow night, hopefully without a storm cutting out the power. At last the Final is here and I'm gutted about it. I want this tournament to go on forever but on Monday morning, I'm going to be down in the doldrums on the way to work as if I've just been dumped by Cheryl Cole for a womanizing Chelsea defender. Click to continue reading...

We know that names like Klose, Löw, Frings and Ballack offer creative headline writers plenty to work with. We know that Schweinsteiger can be a bitch to pronounce for some non-German speakers. I know that every English article mentioning Schweinsteiger will tell you that his name translates to pig climber or pig mounter.

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Today is the first semi final match of Euro 2008. And it pits the Cinderella story, Turkey, against powerful Germany.

Germany analysis: The Germans have been on a bit of a roller coaster in this tournament. They barely made it out of the group stages, only to dispatch with authority their quarterfinal opponent, Portugal. Click to continue reading...

Austria - "So Macho" (Sinita)

Croatia - "My name is Corluka" (Suzanne Vega)
Czech Republic - "Roll out the Baros"
France - "Evra little thing she does is magic" (The Police)
Germany - "Frings can only get better" (D-Ream) or "Move Klose" (Phyllis Nelson)
Greece - "Bat out of Dellas" (Meatloaf)
Italy - "Zambrotta Love" (Led Zepplin)
Netherlands - "Oojier" (Outkast)
Poland - "Never mind the Boruc(s)" (Sex Pistols)
Portugal - "Pepe don't preach" (Madonna)
Romania - "There's a Rat in the kitchen" (UB40)
Russia - "Semak the knife" (Frank Sinatra)
Spain - "Hi Ho Silva lining" (Jeff Beck)
Sweden - "Shabaans" (Ricky Martin)
Switzerland - "Return to Senderos" (Elvis Presley)

Turkey - "Lip up Fatih" (Bad Manners)
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Cristiano Ronaldo or Michael Ballack? Flying Dutchmen or Russian youth? Croatian dark horse vs. um...Turkish dark horse? World Cup Champs Italy or "Let's not choke yet" Spain? Which teams will advance to the semis?

We've made it through the group stages, and now we're heading into the quarterfinals.

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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...

If ever there was a game in need of a strong leader to take it by the scruff of the neck it was Thursday night's Group B match between Germany and Croatia. The chaotic early pace, the slipshod passes, the ill-timed tackles; the match needed a firm master, someone who would play the ball and control movement. Click to continue reading...

Since last season ended we have been linked with about seven hundred and thirty eight players. The latest is a German called Frings.

He is seen as a direct replacement for Flamini and while I think he is a good defensive midfielder there is one draw-back. He is 31.

To the average person like myself and possibly yourself, 31 is not that old, not even in the career of a professional footballer. Click to continue reading...

Often it takes a young player some time to settle in at Arsenal. They need to get to know the way the club operates, its values, its traditions, the rivalries and such.

This does not seem to apply to Carlos Vela who wrote himself into the book of legendary Arsenal quotes without so much as kicking a ball for us yet.

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Auch im Wissen, dass mein Freund Stefan das hier liest und vermutlich etwas frustriert ist, muss ich mich etwas über das Spiel des SV Werder Bremen gegen den MSV Duisburg auslassen. Für die Statistiker unter uns: Duisburg hat diese Saison insgesamt 6 mal gewonnen: So 12.08. gegen Borussia Dortmund 1:3 Sa 01. Click to continue reading...

Unless Ireland pulls off a huge upset on Saturday when the Germans travel to Dublin, this group is done. A draw is useless, they need the three points or else and they might just be able to do it. Die Nationalelf will be without the services of Miroslav Klose, Michael Ballack, and Tim Borowski, but still, they'll have Torsten Frings, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Christoph Metzelder, and Per Mertesacker among others to keep Ireland from scoring. Click to continue reading...