Anderson collected a bronze medal in the Olympics last week with Brazil, after losing out to the eventual winners, Argentina, in the semi-finals. He played in the bronze medal winning match on the Friday, following a period of 6 games in 18 days, then after a 13 hour flight, arrived back in Manchester at 5pm on [. Click to continue reading...

For the record, here are my player ratings from the two matches I missed while on vacation, based only on descriptions of the games given by Fullback, BDR, and Goff.

8/10/08: 4-1 loss at NYRB
Top shelf: Jaime Moreno
Call: Fred
Rail: Zach Wells, Pat Carroll, Marc Burch, Devon McTavish

8/12/08: 3-1 win in USOC Semi-finals vs NE:
Top shelf: Jaime Moreno, Luciano Emilio, Santino Quaranta
Call: Brian Namoff, Zach Wells, Ivan Guerrero
Rail: None

The other big thing that I missed while I was out was the formal acquisition of new starting goalkeeper Louis Crayton, and the other transactions surrounding that move. Click to continue reading...

Four years after the gold in Athens, another 1-0 scoreline confirmed Argentina as Olympic football champions. In 2004, the match-winning goal had been scored by a certain Carlos Tevez; this year in Beijing, salvation came from above. "Little Angel" Di María flapped his celestial wings and delivered a fatal blow to finalists Nigeria, exploiting an [. Click to continue reading...

Nigeria squares off against Argentina in Saturday's Olympic gold medal final and while the game is a repeat of the 1996 gold medal match that Nigeria won 3-2, can the Super Eagles' offense deal with Lionel Messi and the Albicelestes this time around?

Argentina are favored after their 3-0 destruction of Brazil in the semi-finals. Click to continue reading...

After being humiliated by Argentina in the semi-finals, Brazil overcame Belgium 3-0 in today's match played for the bronze medal. Anderson had a good game, playing in a more defensive role for Brazil, breaking up play and bursting forward with good pace. However, as the bluenoses will love to tell you, it was their new £19 million [. Click to continue reading...

Olympic women's semi-final scores: Brasil 4-1 Germany USA 4-2 Japan Both Brasil and the United States of America overcame early conceded goals to thump opponents Germany and Japan in the Olympic women's tournament semi-finals. Birgit Prinz of Germany scored in the 10th minute.  Brasil then replied with four goals by Forminga (43'), Cristiane (49', . Click to continue reading...

This week sees the Singapore Semi Finals take centre stage on the city state. Over the last couple of nights the big 4 in the SLeague, Super Rds, SAF, Home and Tampines have been cighting it out for the semis with SAF and Tampines winning through.

Thursday sees Wellington Woodlands take on Young Lions in the first leg while Friday night has SAF hosting Tampines Rovers. Click to continue reading...

SAFFC booked their spot in the semi-finals of the RHB Singapore Cup by beating league leaders Super Reds 3-0 at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium for a 4-1 aggregate win. Evergreen Aleksandar Duric's header off the corner given the Warriors the early advantage in the fifth minute. Therdsak Chaiman's thurderbolt would have doubled the lead if not [. Click to continue reading...

Liverpool midfielder Javier Mascherano has high hopes of retaining the Olympic gold that he won with Argentina four years ago in Athens.

The Albiceleste have been in fine form in this year's Olympic Games in Beijing, and will face their biggest rivals Brazil in the semi-finals on Tuesday. Click to continue reading...

Javier Mascherano is confident Argentina can gain revenge for their Copa America heartache when they face Brazil in the semi-finals of the Olympics on Tuesday.

The Reds midfielder will come face-to-face with clubmate Lucas Leiva in the last four meeting between South America's big two and is hoping his side will banish the memories of the 3-0 defeat to the Brazilians in 2007 and give themselves a chance to play for gold. Click to continue reading...

Argentina advanced to the semi-finals of the Olympic Football Tournament in China on Saturday, after beating the Netherlands 2-1 after extra time in Shanghai. Barcelona star Lionel Messi was the key man for an Argentine side who found it hard, at times, to get out of first gear, but who still created more good chances [. Click to continue reading...

Extra-time goals from Rafael Sóbis and Marcelo secured Brazil a place in the men's football semi-finals in Beijing ... Click to continue reading...

Forget all the hype about this summer's transfer saga with Gareth Barry, forget the newspaper stories about the relationship between the manager and the owners and forget about that performance in Liege in midweek – I honestly believe this could be Liverpool's year.

The manager, Rafa Benitez, arrived in England at the same time as I did and is beginning his fifth year at the club. Click to continue reading...

Brazil are second-favourites to win the Gold medal in the men's football at the 2008 Summer Olympics held in Beijing after they eased to the top of the standings in Group C. Victories in their three group matches meant they advanced to the quarter-finals in a storming fashion. The 2007 South American Youth Championship victors eased past the hosts China 3-0 in their final match and they will now face Cameroon, who finished runners-up in Group D behind Italy.

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Photo: Matt Mathai

Some call the East Coast of the USA the spiritual home of soccer/football in America. Those people are likely itchin' for a fight with people from St Louis but nevermind that for now. This year's final in his nation's oldest tournament, the 94 year old Lamar Hunt US Open Cup is an all east coast affair as New England and Seattle crashed out of the semi-finals leaving DC United to host the Charleston Battery at RFK Stadium September 3 at 7:30 pm live on Fox Soccer Channel. Click to continue reading...

It could have been another Treble. After knocking out Aston Villa, Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal, a victory against Portsmouth would have seen us needing to beat West Brom in the semi-finals and Cardiff in the final to be awarded the FA Cup. But a referee, who apparently deserves our respect, denied us a stonewall penalty. Click to continue reading...

Simon Kravis "The best game I've seen."

Singkok Captain Kim Jae Heon in action.

Simon Kravis, a signed-up Canberra A-League Foundation member, was so impressed by the Korean side Singkok at the recent Kanga Cup he sent through this reflection.

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As luck would have it, I'll be in Ocean City for the next week, missing the next three games, including what I believe to be the most important match United has played since November. It doesn't look like I'll have much for internet access, but I will post some thoughts once I return. In the meantime, please feel free to post your own TS/Call/Rail suggestions for each match in the comments section. Click to continue reading...

Andrei Arshavin on strike as hopes of Tottenham move fade

Tottenham's hopes of signing Andrei Arshavin appear to be dead in the water, with Zenit St Petersburg refusing to lower their £27 million asking price for the Russian playmaker.

Tottenham's hopes of signing Andrei Arshavin appear to be dead in the water, with Zenit St Petersburg refusing to lower their £27 million asking price for the Russian playmaker. Click to continue reading...

We've done a few Olympic previews already: one yesterday and one about a week ago.

But with the Beijing Games mere hours away, I'd be remiss not to direct your attention to BBC Sport's Durosimi Thomas and his look at the African sides involved in the men's tournament.

General consensus favors a good showing by the African nations involved. Click to continue reading...

SuperLiga Final

VS

Houston Dynamo - New England Revolution
Gillette Stadium
7PM CST (8PM local time)
Telefutura

The Dynamo and Revolution are no strangers to each other when trophies are at stake.

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RHB Singapore Cup semi finals fixtures

SINGAPORE, 30 July 2008: Woodlands Wellington kicks off the semi final round of the RHB Singapore Cup 2008 when they host first time semi finalist Young Lions at the Woodlands stadium on 21 August.

Woodlands, six times Singapore Cup semi finalist, will be aiming to reach their first final since 2005. Click to continue reading...

Tottenham have today confirmed they have held preliminary talks with Spartak Moscow striker Roman Pavlyuchenko. The Russian international has been linked with a move to the Premier League for several weeks now after his terrific displays in the European Championships which saw Russia reach the semi-finals. Click to continue reading...

The 'Workers Stadium' will soon be the home of competing Olympic soccer teams during the quarter-finals and semi-finals 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The stadium has a maximum seating capacity of 70,161 people. Built in 1959, the stadium was recently renovated in 2004 for the games. Image courtesy of Newscom. Click to continue reading...

The 'Workers Stadium' will soon be the home of competing Olympic soccer teams during the quarter-finals and semi-finals 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. The stadium has a maximum seating capacity of 70,161 people. Built in 1959, the stadium was recently renovated in 2004 for the games. Image courtesy of Newscom. Click to continue reading...