Another slim victory for Damon moves him six points ahead of his firece rival Damian. Talking of fierce rivalries, this week it is Derby Predictions Weekend, with six classic fixtures from around the world. For more information about these rivalries, visit the excellent site www.footballderbies.com. 08/09 Podcast 6 DB DF RES Everton v Liverpool 1-1 AC Milan v Inter 1-1 Benfica v Sporting 1-0 Estudiantes v [. Click to continue reading...

Here are the highlights from another exciting chapter in one of the great club rivalries in Europe as old rivals Ajax and Feyenoord tackle each other once again in a match the ends in a 2/2 draw at the De Kuip stadium.



var addthis_pub = 'bergh22'; Click to continue reading...

Following an 8 hour bus ride to Pullman, WA and back, this is not what I wanted to come home to. Landon Donovan is my least favorite player in the history of The Major League Soccer. And its not even close. Growing up idolizing Barry Bonds probably did a lot to skew my view of "villains". [...] Click to continue reading...

This report in the Seattle Press Intelligencer on MLS expansion confirms a few things that have been rumored for awhile. Perhaps the most poignant is the rumor that MLS is keen on a 2nd club in the New York metro area due to the potential it has to spark a rivalry with Red Bull NY. Click to continue reading...

Matt Monaghan looks at the history of this most heated of English rivalries, the 'North West Derby' between the Reds of Liverpool and the Red Devils of Manchester United.

For all those who believe that the passion and high emotion that made football great in the past has been callously removed from the modern game by the unscrupulous corporate giants that have bought in to the sport, this Saturday's encounter between Liverpool and Manchester United should act as an example of how bitter local rivalries still circumvent the more sedate environment of today. Click to continue reading...

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It's QPR at Bristol City today which should let QPR fans get a chance to assess how strong a promotion challenge this team is going to make and how they do away from home. Things change: A few years back, the two teams were promotion rivals in the (old) Third Division; and this was one of QPR's primary games of the season. Click to continue reading...

Already bored of the fake theatre of the new season in the English Premiership?
Do you have any concern where on earth Dimitar Berbatov might end up?
Is it really true that Liverpool are focusing on the Premiership rather than the Champions League?
And, if it is true (we think it is), should it really have any consequence on our lives? Click to continue reading...

I'm a freak aren't I? I am. Those bells are ringing in my ears, constantly. I forgot how long it first took me to tune them out -- Defoe said he's still getting used to it. Unbelievable. At least Vidic seems a little intimidated by me. God knows they laughed when I fought them off at Anfield. So bitter those Mancs. Click to continue reading...

If you're reading this, then we should congratulate Manchester United on defeating Portsmouth on Monday. This week, I ran the numbers on each of three scenarios, a United win, a United draw and a United loss. The only scenario that keeps Manchester United on top is a victory over Portsmouth. Since I don't know if I'll have a chance to do this article on Monday, I'm going to go ahead and draft it now, assuming the most likely outcome. Click to continue reading...

Wembley are currently promoting an "England versus the Rest of the World'' game, which might be an even contest if it were cycling but at football it resembles a massive mismatch.

The event, on Sept 7, is in fact a fundraiser for Unicef, with the illustrious likes of Alan Shearer reviving old rivalries with Peter Schmeichel. Click to continue reading...

Sergio Aguero confirmed his status as one of the world's greatest talents when he sent Argentina through to the Olympic final in a 3-0 triumph at the expense of Brazil. Dunga's team were uninspiring for much of the semi-final but the convincing defeat ended their hopes of landing their maiden gold medal in the men's football at the Olympics. Click to continue reading...

The Olympics have pretty much dominated night time TV this week in our house. Olympic soccer is a different breed. Cared about more in the Americas and Africa than in Europe, Olympic soccer is an interesting look at certain countries. It's no secret that I am a huge fan of Argentina and I've desperately searched for their Olympic matches. Click to continue reading...

The Chicago Fire and D.C. United rekindle one of the most heated rivalries in MLS tonight as D.C. travels to Toyota Park to face Cuauhtemoc Blanco for the first time since his U.S. Open Cup dust-up against D.C. last month.

The match marks the debut of newly-acquired Fire forward Brian McBride, who will make his first appearance since leaving Fulham and signing with MLS.

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Few rivalries in Major League Soccer are this good. Seriously. I suppose its all due to the fact that the two clubs share a stadium that was originally just mean to be for one team. Or maybe its the fact that one club is more American and the other is Mexican in its roots. Either [...] Click to continue reading...

Diego's little daughter Giannina (left) got knocked up, by longtime boyfriend and Atletico Madrid superstar forward Sergio Aguero (middle).

Fortunately for the young Argentine, the legend (right) didn't seem very upset:

According to the Argentinean press, Diego Maradona has confessed to his fellow "showbol": "Boys, I will be a grandfather.

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The Sounders and Timbers will surely play again -- most likely in the U.S. Open Cup -- but yesterday saw what will likely be the last league match between the two for a while.

Seattle won 1-0 in Portland, the Columbian has the story.

Now I've some a couple of these matches live. Click to continue reading...

Every sporting competition in the world is filled with rivalries, and the English Premier League has an intense set of its own rivalries. Whether these rivalries are geographically influenced, competition influenced, or because of historical reasons, every team in the Premier League has its own "beef" with other clubs in the league. Click to continue reading...

Despite sporting a very classy new tattoo sleeve on his left arm, Craig Bellamy is still an unpleasant piece of work; it's cute that he wants to be as street as D. Beck, but ultimately he's just a shit. This week then the West Ham striker continued on his mission to alienate as many people in the UK as humanly possible, after getting involved in a row with Ipswich fans as he was substituted at Monday night's game. Click to continue reading...

So finally we have a few interesting transfers to talk about. Yay! Robbie Keane going to Liverpool was perhaps unexpected, but I think a good bit of business for both clubs. With Torres, Keane could form a lethal partnership, offering the kind of interplay that people expected between the sublime Spaniard and Dirk Kuyt last year. Click to continue reading...

Photo credit: MLS/Paul Giamou
David Beckham, Jim Brennan and Jorge Flores visit a young fan in the hospital.
Welcome to the All-Star Game - where rivalries (Chivas USA and Galaxy and TFC) are put aside as players take on the world (West Ham).

Predictions, people. I know you've already voted in our Sideline Views poll, but now you need to guess who is going to score. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISI Photos

Good morning folks. It is the end of an unforgettable week of soccer action and while today may not have any games to look forward to, there is still plenty of news to go over.

Let's start the day with a few stories from last night and this morning to get your Friday going:

Villa set to miss Euro final

Spain striker and Euro 2008 goal-scoring leader David Villa looks set to miss Sunday's final against Germany with a leg injury.

Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISI Photos

Good morning folks. It is the end of an unforgettable week of soccer action and while today may not have any games to look forward to, there is still plenty of news to go over.

Let's start the day with a few stories from last night and this morning to get your Friday going:

Villa set to miss Euro final

Spain striker and Euro 2008 goal-scoring leader David Villa looks set to miss Sunday's final against Germany with a leg injury.

Click to continue reading...

A three-nil drubbing at the hands of your most despised enemy is enough to put any fan in a mood so sour that puppies and songbirds seem like good targets for a well-placed kick.  So bear with me if my vision is clouded by Saturday's events.  It seems that Quakes fans everywhere, myself included, are consumed [. Click to continue reading...

OK, I was gonna wait to start more Galaxy-bashing until tomorrow, but this couldn't wait. Genius. Also, quote from former San Jose Earthquake George Best: "He cannot kick with his left foot, he cannot head a ball, he cannot tackle, and he does not score many goals. Apart from that, he's all right." 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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If you watched Saturday's game, you know there were a lot of corner kicks. There were so many corner kicks, our little section wondered if the Quakes were in the process of breaking a new record. Well whaddya know, we did! The Earthquakes and Columbus Crew combined for 25 corner kicks Saturday night at [. Click to continue reading...

Ok, I really need to get off the internet. Especially since my co-worker plans to quit in the middle of a "restructuring the department" meeting that I think is going on right now. Was it me or did you get the sense that there was zero passion from the players and the crowd last night [...] Click to continue reading...

Ok, I really need to get off the internet. Especially since my co-worker plans to quit in the middle of a "restructuring the department" meeting that I think is going on right now.

Was it me or did you get the sense that there was zero passion from the players ...

Click to continue reading...

After I left that Quakes v UC Berkeley scrimmage a few weeks ago, I took Bart home. While waiting on the platform for my train, I saw a dude walk by wearing a Beckham LA Galaxy zip up jacket thingamabob. I was initially shocked because I seriously never thought anyone would actually buy [...] Click to continue reading...

After I left that Quakes v UC Berkeley scrimmage a few weeks ago, I took Bart home. While waiting on the platform for my train, I saw a dude walk by wearing a Beckham LA Galaxy zip up jacket thingamabob. I was initially shocked because I seriously never ...

Click to continue reading...

I don't know if you've been following the news of a more pop-culture variety so you may or may not know that one of the best television shows of all time is about to be redone for US audiences. The remake certainly looks to be an epic trainwreck thats destined to fail from the [...] Click to continue reading...

I don't know if you've been following the news of a more pop-culture variety so you may or may not know that one of the best television shows of all time is about to be redone for US audiences. The remake certainly looks to be an epic trainwreck thats ...

Click to continue reading...

While we're all accustomed to seeing siblings line up against each other at the club level, I was quite surprised to read that the phenomenon does indeed extend to the international level. Mark Gleeson over at the Reuters Soccer Blog has a great piece up about brothers lining up for different countries. Click to continue reading...

After waiting a few extra weeks, the MLS released their 2008 schedule today. Now I won't go into game-by-game details and thoughts on each week. I will throw a few notes out there for everyone to take notice of. Into the 13th season for the MLS, each of the 14 clubs will play 30 games over [...] Click to continue reading...

Just saw this brief story in the San Jose Mercury News this morning. Apparently Dynamo are going to take on the Earthquakes 3.0, or rather, the Bay Area Wanderers, in a few weeks. I think this is great news, but not for the reasons you might think. You can follow the link or check out the brief item here:

New, old Quakes in two warm-up games
By Elliott Almond
Mercury News
Article Launched: 01/23/2008 04:17:54 AM PST

The new Earthquakes will make their debut next month against the old Earthquakes. Click to continue reading...