Our friends at BehindTheBadge have notified us that Argentine playmaker, Marcello is back from rehabilitation of a groin injury in Argentina and making the interview rounds as seen above.

What we are wondering is will his return be enough to galvanize a team which has looked out of sorts for the better part of their last 5 matches and plagued with injuries and suspensions. Click to continue reading...

When one thinks of stadium wide fights and riots, Switzerland isn't exactly the first country which comes to mind. Especially not when it's between two amateur clubs in the round of 64. But that's what happened between Wacker Granges and FC Alle on Saturday, resulting in lots of fines, suspensions and the complete removal of [. Click to continue reading...

With those cumbersome extracurricular tournaments thankfully out of the way, the Revolution can focus their attention on the remaining fixtures left on MLS schedule. Here's an interesting bushel of stats pertaining to these final six matches:
Combined record of the five clubs (Revs face KC twice): 47-47-26
Revs combined record against these clubs: 3-3-1
Revs combined GF/GA against these clubs: 9/11
With three games at home, and three on the road, it does not get much more even than that. Click to continue reading...

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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Conceding three goals inside the last nine minutes of the game condemned Chivas USA to a 4-0 defeat against the New England Revolution Thursday and put their place in the third and final playoff spot in the Western Conference in jeopardy.

The result tied Chivas USA for their second highest margin of defeat of the season.

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According to ESPN, Toronto's Velez was given an additional fine and match ban for his conduct during last week's game vs CD Chivas USA. In a move sure to rile Toronto FC supporters, Chivas's Eskandarian only received a one match ban.


Here is an excerpt:

"The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee announced Thursday the supsension of Toronto FC defender Marco Velez for one game and fined him $250 for endangering another player with a deliberate blow to the head.

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Argentina could slip behind Paraguay and Brazil in this week's South American World Cup qualifiers after a tricky visit to Peru. Paraguay and Brazil have straightforward ties at home to Venezuela and Bolivia respectively while Argentina, without a win in their last four qualifiers, have been hit by suspensions, injuries and a possible crisis of confidence. Click to continue reading...

0-4.

That's not the type of score you want to see on a Saturday night, nevermind a Saturday night in which you were holding down the fort at home while braving the remnants of Tropical Storm Hannah. The sound of branches snapping off the trees and rain pelting the windows only added to the sense of portentousness that pervaded through the flickering television screen as it struggled mightily to carry the Revolution-Crew match into the living room. 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...

Photo by ISIphotos.com

The task is simple, but far from easy. Avoid defeat against Nigeria and the U.S. men's Olympic team advances to the quarterfinals of the tournament. Secure a victory against Nigeria and the Americans advance AND avoid facing Argentina in the quarters.

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Chivas USA take on the Wizards this weekend.

Chivas USA have been struggling to fill the line up, dealing with injuries and suspensions.

There are two people that are considered out for the game, probably the lowest in the season. Raphael Wicky and Alex Zotinca will not be available for the game.

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Toronto FC midfielder Amado Guevara was suspended one game and fined $250 by Major League Soccer's Disciplinary Committee on Thursday for his conduct in Sunday's game against FC Dallas. Guevara was red carded for his elbow to Pablo Ricchetti that casued a penalty kick. The fine and suspension are in addition to the one-game red card [. Click to continue reading...

I previously wrote about how much I hated the Olympics and what they do to football, but after signing Keane, I'm suddenly not as worried. Keane can easily slip into a wing position and we can cover Mascherano's position with the current roster. If Barry were to sign on soon, it would be even easier.

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It was a funny comment attributed to Frank Farina in the Courier Mail today. It was suggested that the pre-season cup should be scrapped because it exposed players to suspensions for the real A-League season. Craig Moore's send off yesterday was the case in point. However, John Kosmina could be running this argument with 3 off on suspension (1 red and two - two yellows for the pre-season cup). Click to continue reading...

Fantasy Soccer Bootroom is a weekly column devoted to the ins and outs of fantasy soccer, especially the game played on www.mfls.com, and the RevMFLS division. Now is the time of year where you have to keep an eye on suspensions due to yellow card accumulation. If you took my advice last week and started looking [. Click to continue reading...

You probably have seen the reports Thursday about Blanco being fined. Indeed the other boot has fallen on the Blanco saga.

Way back on July 14, when someone from Chi-town tipped us off that the suspension and fine for Blanco was going to be large, many poo-pooed us, saying that someone was likely playing a joke on us. Click to continue reading...

I don't mean weak in the aspect of the discipline handed down. Two years is a pretty solid sentence. But U.S. Soccer wimped out.
I'll highlight the part that is especially crucial: "The suspension is due to his actions during the U.S. Open Cup match between the Chicago Fire and D.C. United on July 8, 2008. Click to continue reading...

Read all about it here after the jump.


Here is an excerpt:

Chicago Fire star Cuauhtemoc Blanco has been suspended from U.S. Open Cup play for at least two years for his conduct during a quarterfinal game against D.C. United on July 8, a U.S. Soccer Federation panel ruled.

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Kudos to Nancy Lieberman who, at age 50, showed her stuff in an appearance for the suspension and injury-depleted Detroit Shock last night. She scored no points, but made a no-look pass that brought the house down! The Shock and the LA Sparks were both seriously understaffed due to suspensions and both lost their games [. Click to continue reading...

Daniel Hernandez was a bad boy. It wasn't his play - which actually was pretty solid a year ago. It was his temperament that led to his downfall. That and his teammates' inability to keep their tempers in check.

After a brawl broke out in the Jaguares-Cruz Azul playoff match a year ago, Hernandez and several of his teammates were slapped with suspensions to start the Apertura 2008 season. Click to continue reading...

Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has revealed the transfer of Gareth Barry to Liverpool remains uncertain.

Liverpool have seen a number of offers turned down for the Villa captain, who O'Neill values at £18million.

O'Neill insists that no deal has been reached between the clubs but is confident that the saga will be resolved soon. Click to continue reading...

As we suspected would happen, Real Salt Lake's Jason Kries has been fined and suspended due to comments he made after a recent game which you can hear here:

Get the Google Audio Widget widget and many other great free widgets at Widgetbox!

According to this report from TSN:

MLS suspends, fines RSL coach Kreis again
New York, NY (Sports Network) - The Major League Soccer Disciplinary Committee suspended Real Salt Lake coach Jason Kreis two matches and fined him $2,000 on Thursday for public criticism of officiating.

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Euro 2008 semi-finals, Copa Libertadores final, managerial casualties and appointments, as well as guns all feature in this week's good, the bad and the ugly. Good It was good for Spain and Germany as they both won through to the Euro 2008 final. The Germans winning with a last-gasp winner against Turkey while Spain crushed Russia 3-0. Click to continue reading...

I feel like taking a big deep breath right now. One of those breaths where, after you've been working at a furious pace, you see there are only a few minutes left on the clock, and just need to fill your lungs before you lower your head and charge in for the final exhaustive burst of energy. Click to continue reading...

Germany Vs Turkey Highlights : Euro 2008 Highlights UEFA EURO 2008 SEMI-FINAL Date: Wed 25 June Kick-off: 1945 BST Venue: St Jakob-Park, Basel Watch Germany Vs Turkey live online...click here Germany take on Turkey tonight in the first semi final of Euro 2008. Turkey have a much weakened team through injuries and suspensions. Click to continue reading...

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...

One Croatian newspaper has decided that citizens are so depressed by the team's dramatic quarterfinal exit, they need counseling.

After ninety goalless minutes of the quarterfinal against Turkey and with extra time coming to an end, Ivan Klasnic broke the deadlock in the 119th minute. Looked like a fairytale result for the Fiery Ones, especially with Ivan Klasnic scoring the winner (the Werder Bremen striker only made his post-kidney transplant comeback last November).

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Quick-fire Euro 2008 semifinal outlooks. (Be sure to visit Deadspin tomorrow for some other perspectives.) Germany v. Turkey (Wednesday): On paper, does Turkey have any chance in this game? With all the injuries and suspensions, will Fatih Terim even be able to field a team? Suppose Turkey made it into this game in normal fashion, no crazy, all-time comebacks, would there be one rational person Click to continue reading...

AFP/Getty Images

1. Rovers 'excited' by Ince - Perhaps this is continuity by any means necessary? Ince another branch of the SAF coaching tree and could bring a similar approach/tone to Rovers that Mark Hughes did.
2. Milan confirm Adebayor focus - Don't know how much of this is bluster, but Arsenal really need to hold on to K2.

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Turkey heads into its quarter-final contest versus Croatia sans starting goalkeeper Volkan Demirel and midfielder Mehmet Aurelio who are suspended.  The suspensions are two more roadblocks to overcome for the Turks, but during the team's run in Euro 2008, Turkey seems to enjoy playing the role of the underdog and the disadvantaged. Click to continue reading...

Raise your hand if you saw this match-up coming. That's what I thought. The tournament's comeback kids, Turkey, face the surprise winners of Group B, Croatia, in Vienna for the right to meet Germany. There were only three come-from-behind victories in the group stages and Turkey was responsible for two of them, including their 3-2 win over the Czech Republic to clinch a quarterfinal spot. Click to continue reading...

Dynamo defender Eddie Robinson has been suspended three games and fined $1,000 dollars by the league for the incident depicted below in which he throws his elbow up and takes down Kansas City's Tyson Wahl.

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If you caught the LA Galaxy at Colorado game last Saturday, you no doubt saw Carlos Ruiz brought down. Only this time it was for real and the word is that Guatemalan national team and Galaxy star forward Carlos "El Pescadito" Ruiz is out for at least four weeks.

MLSNet has issued a press release on the fines and suspensions handed down after the "handbags". Click to continue reading...

I've mentioned this before, but it's still interesting how the media seems to relish in highlighting the behavior of soccer parents when other sports have their issues too. A few years ago, Raleigh's Parks and Rec department put up chain link fences to keep parents away from the (pointy) football fields. This was in [...] Click to continue reading...

Martin Jol has continued his summer spending with the addition of the hottest property in French youth football Younes Kaboul. Kaboul the France under 21 captain joins from French club Auxerre. Kaboul will provide Spurs with the depth in defence that they lack toward the end of last season, when they struggled to cope with injuries, [...] Click to continue reading...