Don't touch the ref. For most of the bright readers 'round these parts, this isn't exactly a revelation. Actually, if one was to take a poll at a local zoo, you probably wouldn't find too many wide eyes until stumbling upon the lemur cage. Not the case for Oleksandr Aliev, who pushed the ref away and [. Click to continue reading...

Steaua Bucharest coach wants to share his chewing gum with you We have all at some point found ourselves sick of the sight of Sir Alex Ferguson chomping away on his chewing gum like a man eager to dislocate his bottom jaw from the rest of his head, but at least he never does this. Steaua [...] Click to continue reading...

Second consecutive draw for Fiorentina in the UEFA Champions League. The Viola could not do better than a 0-0 result on Tuesday, blocked by a tough & well-organized Steaua Bucharest side, surprising not only in their disciplined defensive organization but also with their fair share of technical players (above all, António Semedo, Banel Nicolita, and [. Click to continue reading...

For Champions League Matchday 2 we're going to try something a little different. Rather than LiveBlogging just the one game here on the front page, we're going to do an all inclusive LiveBlogaganza to try and follow all eight games simultaneously. Foolish? Probably. But the plan is to have a place where we can discuss [. Click to continue reading...

Bayern Munich coach Juergen Klinsmann is preparing for Tuesday's Champions League clash against Olympique Lyon with the pressure already mounting on the former German national team boss.
The German champions are off to their worst start to a Bundesliga season in 31 years, winning just two of their opening six games as Klinsmann's side followed up a 5-2 home hammering by Werder Bremen with a shock 1-0 loss at Hanover at the weekend. Click to continue reading...

Week 2: Group F: Uefa Champions League AC Fiorentina are meeting Steaua Bucharest in the second round of the Champions League, tuesday 30th. Don`t forget to sign up 11×2.com - the next big football site   Watch the match LIVE here! Click to continue reading...

Bayern Munich were humiliated 5-2 on Saturday by Werder Bremen as the Bundesliga champions suffered one of their worst home defeats.
Markus Rosenberg struck twice, with Naldo, teenage sensation Mesut Ozil and Claudio Pizarro also on target for Bremen en route to a 5-0 lead against a disastrous Munich back row. Click to continue reading...

Man Utd vs Villarreal - Group E Man Utd Offside preview Man Utd vs Villarreal LiveBlog Celtic vs AaB - Group E Celtic Offside preview Steaua Bucharest vs Bayern Munich - Group F Lyon vs Fiorentina - Group F Lyon Offside preview - Fiorentina Offside preview Lyon vs Fiorentina LiveBlog on CL Offside Porto vs Fenerbahce - Group G Porto Offside preview - Fenerbahce Offside [. Click to continue reading...

The UEFA Champions League action continues today across Europe, just a day after some shocking results turned the tournamant on its ear.

Roma's stunning loss to CFR Cluj and Werder Bremen's tie vs. Anorthosis Famagusta have all the remaining match favorites focusing a little more closely today.

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Week 1: Group F: Uefa Champions League: Steaua Bucharest are meeting Steaua Bucharest in their first match in the Champions League this year, wednesday 17th. Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today   Don`t forget to sign up 11×2.com - the next big football site WATCH THE MATCH LIVE HERE! Click to continue reading...

So this is what happens when you go to play for Steaua Bucharest?

Check out former FC Dallas star Juan Toja, hopefully at a costume party or something...

(HT to Kickette and theoriginalwinger) Click to continue reading...

At half-time in the 2005 Champions League final in Istanbul, Jamie Carragher found himself staring into the abyss.

AC Milan had just produced a spell-binding 45 minutes of football to leave Liverpool trailing by three goals to nil.

All hopes of winning a fifth European Cup had seemingly been extinguished as Carragher and his team-mates walked into the dressing room for Rafa Benitez's half-time team talk. Click to continue reading...

For the first time in 3 years, the Italian Serie A managed to get 4 Clubs to the UEFA Champions League Group Stage. With the DRAW taking place yesterday, "someone came out smiling" and others not so much. "Four Italian teams and four levels of satisfaction" as Gazzetta would say. Let's have a look. . Click to continue reading...

Let's take a look see.

GROUP A -- easy advance for the top two clubs
Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj

GROUP B -- a breeze for Inter, nice cool, breeze
Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Cypriot

GROUP C -- Barca has no worries, none at all
Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basle, Shakhtar Donetsk

GROUP D -- Reds could be in deep, deep trouble
Liverpool, Atletico Madrid, PSV Eindhoven, Marseilles

GROUP E -- United should be fine, key word: should
Manchester United, Celtic, Villareal, Aalborg

GROUP F -- wide, wide open group here
Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina

GROUP G -- Arsenal could be tested here. Click to continue reading...

By now you probably know about UEFA's group stage draw for their signature club event, the Champions League (cue that stupid music they adopted as the Champions League anthem). We could just cut and paste the groups like a lot of other bloggers did, but seriously, what good would that do you, our loyal readers? Click to continue reading...

A: Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj B: Internazionale, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis Famagusta C: Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel, Shaktar Donesk D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atlético Madrid E: Man Utd, Villarreal, Celtic, Aalborg BK F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina G: Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St Petersburg, FC BATE Borisov Click to continue reading...

A: Chelsea, Roma, Bordeaux, Cluj
B: Internazionale Milan, Werder Bremen, Panathinaikos, Anorthosis
C: Barcelona, Sporting Lisbon, Basel, Shakhtar Donetsk
D: Liverpool, PSV Eindhoven, Marseille, Atletico Madrid
E: Manchester United, Villarreal, Celtic, Aalborg
F: Lyon, Bayern Munich, Steaua Bucharest, Fiorentina
G: Arsenal, Porto, Fenerbahce, Dynamo Kiev
H: Real Madrid, Juventus, Zenit St. Click to continue reading...

Because what is more exciting than previewing ping-pong balls. The pots and my thoughts are after the jump. Here are the pots: Pot one MANCHESTER UNITED CHELSEA LIVERPOOL Barcelona ARSENAL Lyon Inter Milan Real Madrid Pot two Bayern Munich PSV Eindhoven Villarreal AS Roma FC Porto Werder Bremen Sporting Lisbon Juventus Pot three Marseille Zenit St Petersburg Steaua Bucharest Panathinaikos Bordeaux CELTIC Basel Fenerbahce Pot four Shakhtar Donetsk Fiorentina Atletico Madrid Dynamo Kiev CFR Cluj Aalborg Anorthosis Famagusta Bate Borisov From a purely Arsenal perspective, I can't believe how [. Click to continue reading...

I'm not as blind as the ref from yesterday's Champions League shocker between Steaua Bucharest and Galatasary. I can clearly see that Banel Nicolita is completely offside. I can also see that the little hairy fellow who assisted on the controversial, tournament-ending goal for Galatasaray was none other than for former FC Dallas rockstar Juan Toja. Click to continue reading...

STANDARD Liege boss Laszlo Boloni admits he fears the damage Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard's partnership can do to his team.

The Belgian title holders will prepare for their Champions League third qualifying round second leg with confidence after their 0-0 draw in Liege a fortnight ago. Click to continue reading...

Do or Die time for Turkish teams in Champions League!


Galatasaray will take on Steaua Bucharest in Romanian capital of Bucharest in the European Champions League third qualifying round second leg match on Wednesday.

Matteo Simone Trefoloni of Italy will be the referee of Steaua Bucharest-Galatasaray game which will kick-off at 20:45 Turkish local time at Steaua Stadium. Click to continue reading...

Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today LIVE! Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

Liverpool played a scoreless draw at Standard Liege that may frighten their supporters a bit but ultimately shouldn't be enough to derail their bid for the group stage. After all, Champions League seasons have been Reds' saving grace for most of the decade. Expect this season to be no different.

Greek club Olympiakos, on the other hand, may not be so fortunate. Click to continue reading...

Anorthosis Famagusta - Olympiakos Vitoria de Guimarães - FC Basel Shaktar Donetsk - Dinamo Zagreb FC Schalke 04 - Atlético Madrid AaB Aalborg - FBK Kaunas Barcelona - Wisła Kraków Levski Sofia - BATE Borisov Standard Liege - Liverpool Partizan Belgrade - Fenerbahçe FC Twente - Arsenal Spartak Moscow - Dynamo Kiev Juventus - Artmedia Petralka Brann Bergen - Marseille Fiorentina - Slavia Prague Galatasaray - Steaua Bucharest Panathinaikos - Sparta Prague Matches are August 12/13 and 26/27. Click to continue reading...

Juan Toja played 2 season in Major League Soccer and played in 2 all star games. Now Toja is off to Romania - sold to Steaua Bucharest by FC Dallas. The Columbian midfielder will be the third Columbian on the Steaua Bucharest roster. He will join another attacking midfielder Dayro Moreno and goalkeeper Róbinson Zapata.

Click to continue reading...

Remember way back on the 4th of July when we at MLSR told you that Juan Toja might be headed to Bucharest?
According to the official blog of FC Dallas, its a done deal.

Here's the blog entry:

"Late this afternoon, we here at the FCD Blog were able to witness Juan Toja signing off on the final document that sealed his transfer from FC Dallas to Romanian club Steaua Bucuresti. Click to continue reading...

The 2008-09 season is fast approaching. In fact, some teams have already played their first qualifying matches in the UEFA Cup. Today, the 3rd round qualifying matches for the Champions League were announced. Here is the complete draw:

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Third qualifying round draw:

Anorthosis/Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos
Vitoria Guimaraes v IFK Gothenburg/Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale/Dinamo Zagreb
Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid
Aalborg/Modrica v RANGERS/Kaunas
Barcelona v Beitar Jerusalem/Wisla Krakow
Levski Sofia v Anderlecht/BATE
Standard Liege v LIVERPOOL
Inter Baku/Partizan v Fenerbahce/MTK Budapest
FC Twente v ARSENAL
Spartak Moscow v Drogheda/Dinamo Kiev
Juventus v Tampere/Artmedia
SK Brann/Ventspils v Marseille
Fiorentina v Slavia Prague
Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest
Panathinaikos/Dinamo Tbilisi v Sheriff Tiraspol/Sparta Prague

The winners of these cup ties will enter the group stage of the Champions League.

Click to continue reading...

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Third qualifying round draw:
Anorthosis/Rapid Vienna v Olympiakos
Vitoria Guimaraes v IFK Gothenburg/Basel
Shakhtar Donetsk v Domzale/Dinamo Zagreb
Schalke 04 v Atletico Madrid
Aalborg/Modrica v Rangers/Kaunas
Barcelona v Beitar Jerusalem/Wisla Krakow
Levski Sofia v Anderlecht/BATE
Standard Liege v Liverpool
Inter Baku/Partizan v Fenerbahce/MTK Budapest
FC Twente v Arsenal
Spartak Moscow v Drogheda/Dinamo Kiev
Juventus v Tampere/Artmedia
SK Brann/Ventspils v Marseille
Fiorentina v Slavia Prague
Galatasaray v Steaua Bucharest
Panathinaikos/Dinamo Tbilisi v Sheriff Tiraspol/Sparta Pragu
Thanks to BBC sport for the info. Click to continue reading...

The New York Times has an article about Kenny Cooper and Juan Toja leaving F.C. Dallas for Rosenborg and Steaua Bucharest respectively. I really think both players would be making mistakes, but especially Kenny Cooper. Kenny is on the verge of establishing himself as a top forward in MLS and is still young enough that there will be plenty of opportunities ahead for him if he stays in MLS. Click to continue reading...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

With reports circulating about transfer deals being completed for both FC Dallas midfielder Juan Toja and forward Kenny Cooper, but MLS All-Stars denied that deals were done while a team source told SBI that multiple teams have made strong inquiries about Cooper.

Click to continue reading...

Good evening folks. I'm coming to you from BMO Field and we're less than two hours from kick-off of the 2008 MLS All-Star game between MLS and West Ham United.

The fans haven't been let in yet but I can see them stacked outside the gates. A sell-out crowd is expected tonight and it will be interesting to see how Toronto fans embrace an MLS All-Star team that may have no Canadians in the starting lineup.

Click to continue reading...

OK, so ..... a very short entry today and sadly none tomorrow, as I have to go out of town on short notice for some family business. Just read the other Designated Players sites for all the updates. See ya next week.


FC Dallas has sold midfielder Juan Toja to Steaua Bucharest in Hungary. Click to continue reading...

According to this site, Toja is gone.

The following comes courtesy of our friends at los-torros.com

Well, sports fans, it looks like it's over. From Wednesday's GSP.ro:

Conducere Stelei i-a rezervat ieri biletele de avion, iar sîmbătă seara, Toja va fi prezent în Ghencea ca jucător al vicecampioanei. Click to continue reading...

It was clear when FC Dallas traded some draft picks for two international slots that they were looking to do some serious business in the transfer market . There were rumors that they were going to tap into their Brazilian partner, Club Atletico Paranese as they had done previously to sign Ricardinho and André Rocha. Click to continue reading...

The Sunday Sun are reporting today that Newcastle United are considering a move for former Sunderland target, and Steaua Bucharest center-back Dorin Goian. Dorin Goian - fresh Newcastle interest? Click to continue reading...