As the final hours tick away on this summer's transfer window, the faithful of Paris Saint-German seem to think they'll see American Oguchi Onyewu suiting up for them very soon. PSG has been searching for a new starting defender after Lilliam Thuram retired due to a heart condition and attempts to find a quality replacement had failed. Click to continue reading...

So Lassana Diarra is the next leader of France and is a favorite of Raymond Domenech, yet he couldn't get into a game for France during Euro 2008. I have a lot of respect for Lillian Thuram, he was one of the best defenders that I've seen play the game. I also rate Diarra very highly, but something doesn't quite make sense here. Click to continue reading...

Check out this craigslist posting spotted by The Spoiler.

Some dude really wants Dwayne De Rosario to go to Toronto F.C.

Click the link to check out the full posting. This Canadian guy is quite the comedian. There's even a Daniel Day Lewis reference.

• Is Michael Bradley going to Hamburg?

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I just saw an article on ESPN.com that Lillian Thuram has retired from soccer due to a heart condition. He had retired from the French National Team once again and was going to move from Barcelona to Paris St. Germain for at least one more season, but has to retire due to a heart condition. Thuram is one of the last members of the great French teams from the late 1990's and early 2000's to still have been playing and was there for all of those great moments. Click to continue reading...

Il Paris Saint Germain pensa in grande e, dopo Giuly dalla Roma, si prepara ad accogliere anche Claude Makelele. Secondo L'Equipe, l'acquisto del 35enne centrocampista francese del Chelsea dovrebbe essere ufficializzato nei primi giorni di settimana prossima. Il giocatore avrebbe già trovato l'accordo per un contratto biennale. Click to continue reading...

First thing. If you haven't seen the get-together of the France 1998 team in the charity match from last weekend, you need to download the game. Now. http://www.megaupload.com/?d=E1XNKRIJ. (Thanks, Sandrahn!!) Up towards the top right, it will give you a three-letter combination to input. Then click on "Download.

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French internationals Claude Makelele and Lilian Thuram have officially ended their international careers following France's loss to Italy, which eliminated France from the Euro tournament. Thuram won a record 142 caps for France, and was the only member of the current French team to be a starter for France's 1998 World Cup victory. Click to continue reading...

Yes, we are liveblogging this game. Since I am a hardcore France fan and my co-blogger Chris is a hardcore Italy fan, we decided to have this game liveblogged by a neutral -- Daryl, The Offside's editor. So be sure to stop by this site and leave Click to continue reading...

Euro 2008 has been hugely entertaining, thanks in no small part to the Netherlands; a team managed by a legendary attacker whose strategy to protect a lead is to throw on more attacking players. Dutch supporters commenting on the group-of-death overwhelmingly discard the idea of letting Romania win, saying Click to continue reading...

Ruud van Nistelrooy again will have a key role for the Dutch. Against Italy he was like a ghost striker. He'd move around all the time, leaving Materazzi guessing what his next move would be. He hopes to do it again against Gallas and Thuram: scaring the opponent, scoring, making Click to continue reading...

Domenech said he was hesitating about 4 positions for which there may be players who are stronger than the players who started against Romania.

One of those is probably Henry coming in for Anelka.

Another that he's hesitating about would be Vieira for Toulalan. I gather that might be a tough call. Click to continue reading...

Following France's 0-0 draw against Romania to start Euro 2008, our man at Reuters, Patrick Vignal, brings us some quotes from France defender William Gallas, including the nearly contradictory claims that he thinks France "played with the handbrake on" and that "it's impossible to understand" why the French fans would Click to continue reading...

Neither Thierry Henry nor Patrick Vieira were fit to face Romania, so Nicolas Anelka and Jeremy Toulalan started. France generated very little going forward. Anelka headed one over. Benzema hit one or two right at the keeper. Gomis, when he came on, could hardly get a touch.

There was a short spell at the start of the second half when France looked ok, but for most of the game, they didn't look like they deserved any more than a point against Romania. Click to continue reading...

Well, what an end to the season that was. A Man United double was just about enough to make me hurl down the front of my replica jersey.

And so, to Euro 2008. France are the team everyone's watching, and the group of death. Searching for Zizou, that's what we're about. A Zizou for 2008. Click to continue reading...

I think I'll do a somewhat half-hearted liveblog here, so keep hitting refresh to see major action points -- at the very least scores, cards and substitutions. Starting lineup, from l'Equipe: Le onze de départ : Frey ou Mandanda - Sagnol, Thuram, Escudé, Abidal - L. Diarra, A. Diarra ou Click to continue reading...

All signs point to major changes in the Barcelona squad next season. My (massively long, as it turns out) two cents on who should be staying and who needs to be ushered out the door below.

Keep in mind, though, that I haven't taken any economic considerations (e.g. selling X will get us some cash to spend on Y) into account. Click to continue reading...

There's an article over on Foot Mercato that lists current form for the potential France players. Curious to see what you think about individual players. Agree? Disagree?

The Barometer

Rising: Franck Ribéry, Patrice Evra, Gaël Clichy, Grégory Coupet, Thierry Henry, Philippe Méxès, Rio Antonio Mavuba, Mathieu Flamini, Patrick Vieira, Sebastien Frey;

Stable: William Gallas, Eric Abidal, Bakary Sagna, Claude Makélélé, Alou Diarra, Jean-Alain Boumsong, Mathieu Bodmer, Mickaël Landreau, Nicolas Anelka, Willy Sagnol, Jimmy Briand, Samir Nasri, Anthony Réveillère, Lassana Diarra, Lilian Thuram, Steve Mandanda, Florent Malouda, Hatem Ben Arfa;

Falling: Djibril Cissé, Louis Saha, Jerome Rothen, Julien Escudé, François Clerc, David Trézéguet, Rowed Ulrich.

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SO, I'm here in France – enjoying a self-imposed writers retreat, and loading up on French football writing. I came across this provocative interview in the April issue of the glossy magazine, So Foot. It's with Abdel Raouf Dafri, the scriptwriter for La Commune, a new series broadcast on Canal +. Click to continue reading...

Barcelona striker Samuel Eto'o has added to the garrulous Nou Camp gossip layer cake that Didier Drogba will no doubt leap out of in the summer by claiming that the Ivorian would be welcomed with open arms at the Catalan club. (Daily Star) ...Meanwhile, Barca defender Lilian Thuram may leave the Catalan giants and waltz over [. Click to continue reading...

Exams are over (hooray!) and I'm back, although currently preoccupied with...well, life in general. To be honest, I've just been thinking a lot, and there's a couple of posts I want to make about coaching styles, quotas in European leagues, and all that. But it's Barca that's really been frustrating me. Click to continue reading...

Club football is back with a bang with some interesting games in Spain this weekend and the return of the Champions League midweek, amidst the sound of club coaches grumbling about their charges returning injured (poor Arjen Robben) or tired.

Internationals

Gabi Milito and Leo Messi scored the goals for Argentina as they beat Venezuela away to top the qualifying table with 6 points. Click to continue reading...