According to the Daily Mirror, Manchester City and Chelsea are set to battle it out for Valencia star David Villa in January. Villa was one of the summer's hottest names, and a four-goal haul at Euro 2008 only served to fuel the speculation about him leaving the Mestalla. It looked like Valencia would [. Click to continue reading...

By: Pohui
Special to Soccer City FC

This story was related to me by a colleague of my who was at a betting outlet not that long ago.

It was a conversation, overheard by this colleague, between two punters who were discussing the odds offered by the pools operators.

It was spoken in Singlish - a colloquialism form of English used by most Singaporeans which local authority been trying to discourage the use of it because it did not follow the rules of grammar (I had tried to re-phrase the sentences in brackets). Click to continue reading...

Coming soon - 11×2.com - the next big football site  Watch the match LIVE here. Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Click to continue reading...

The prospect of a fixture congestion has loosened its grip on several of Europe's household names as the continent's heavyweights bowed out of their domestic cup competitions. The phenomenon of the underdog has struck again in Spain, France and England as the reigning champions of each nation have been crushed in their search for their first silverware of the season. Click to continue reading...

(Summary is not available.) Click to continue reading...

Want to keep up with all of the latest news and info on your favorite La Liga club? Want to read up on your club's opponent ahead of a big league clash? We've compiled links to the official club sites and news, squad, fixtures/results, and NewsNow sections for each La Liga club so that you [...] Click to continue reading...

David Villa insists goals will still be the main game for his offensive Valencia Team
David Villa

David Villa has defended Valencia's attacking mind-set despite them being taught a lesson in counter-attacking football last Saturday as they conceded four goals on the break against a cunning Racing outfit.

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If you've looked at the tables across Europe, you might find yourself doing double takes to make sure that is the name you saw up there above everyone else. And chances are you were correct the first time. Big money is taking a backseat to good football, intelligent strategy and shrewd business moves. Click to continue reading...

Spanish primera division:  Watch the game LIVE here Pre-register at the NEW football site 11×2 today Don`t forget to sign up 11×2.com - the next big football site Click to continue reading...

UEFA Cup Final Trophy, Glasgow
Originally uploaded by vataa El sorteo se ha realizado no hace mucho los 8 grupos han quedado de la siguiente manera:

* GRUPO A: Schalke 04 (ALE), Paris Saint Germain (FRA), Manchester City (ING), REAL RACING CLUB (ESP) y Twente (HOL).
* GRUPO B: Benfica (POR), Olympiacos (GRE), Galatasaray (TUR), Hertha de Berlín (ALE) y Metalist Kharkiv (UCR). Click to continue reading...

La Furia got together on Tuesday as they begin preparations for their upcoming World Cup qualifier matches against Estonia and Belgium.   Valencia midfielder Raúl Albiol joins Barcelona's Carles Puyol (foot infection) and Andrés Iniesta (knee), Villarreal's Santi Cazorla (leg contusion), and Sevilla's  Diego Capel (hamstring) in the list of players that come into the international [. Click to continue reading...

Much of the press will go to Milan (this is the fourth story on the ESPN front page, not Soccernet) & the British clubs, but the more intriguing matchups are to be found elsewhere, and none has more potential than Group C. Sevilla made the leap last year to the Champions League, but they're back on [. Click to continue reading...

UEFA held the draw for the UEFA Cup group stage today and some fascinating pairings emerged. Both Martin Jol and Steve McClaren will take their new clubs back to England as FC Twente will face Manchester City and Jol's Hamburg will take on Aston Villa. This year's groups are looking really tough and the field contains [. Click to continue reading...

Valencia joined Villarreal at the top of the Primera Liga on Sunday after coming from behind to crush Deportivo La Coruna 4-2 in an entertaining game at the Mestalla. Goals from David Villa (two), Juan Mata and Joaquin did the damage for Los Che after Emiliano Moretti had gifted the visitors an early lead with an [. Click to continue reading...

In every major league there are one or more nearly teams. Do the words 'Tottenham Hotspur', 'Deportivo', 'Palermo' and 'Borussia Dortmund' ring a bell? I'm here to meticulously assess the strengtsh, weaknesses and credentials of my handpicked selection of 'nearly' teams. Behold: England Tottenham Hotspur Forever under-achievers, Spurs embarked on another spending spree this summer after last season's [. Click to continue reading...

The city of Seville takes centre-stage for the third week of La Liga action as local rivals Real Betis and Sevilla clash at the Estadio Manuel Ruiz de Lopera. Sevilla did the double over their neighbours last season, winning 3-0 at home and 2-0 away, but Betis have splashed out big money this summer and [. Click to continue reading...

Portuguese outfit Maritimo host the first leg at their Estádio dos Barreiros, having made their last UEFA Cup appearance in 2004/05. However, their European campaign that season ended rather immediately after being eliminated on penalties against Glasgow Rangers. Maritimo qualified through to this season's competition after finishing a credible 5th in their domestic league. Click to continue reading...

As you may know former longtime Germany and Bayern no. 1 Oliver Kahn had his testimonial exactly a week ago in Munich. The match, between Bayern and Germany, ended 1-1, but the score was less important than the man honored that night. His accomplishments are legion and well-known, including, perhaps most impressively, [. Click to continue reading...

Having switched off from football for two weeks (hey, we all need a break from time to time), I return to find Real Madrid has, in that time:

• - won the season's first title in contention (the Spanish supercup against Valencia)
• - lost the league opener away to Deportivo
• - sold Robinho to Manchester City for a club record €40 million

Which of these is the most surprising news item? Click to continue reading...

So, the transfer deadline (August 31) has passed and the football market is now closed. Closed? Not quite. Indeed, while transfers from one club to another will have to wait until January to resume, teams may still sign players as free agents (and that until March 31, 2009). So, inspired from this Top 11 Serie A [. Click to continue reading...

UEFA Cup favourites AC Milan have been drawn against FC Zurich in the First Round of the competition. AC Milan finished a disappointing fifth last season and consequently missed out on any involvement in this year's UEFA Champions League - a fact that fans will hope and expect is a one-off occasion. Another match to look out for is Borussia Dortmund vs Udinese. Click to continue reading...

There are several clubs who were left on the altar, so to speak, with respect to a few big signings this summer. Liverpool lost out on Barry, Real Madrid lost out on Ronaldo, Chelsea and United may still lose out on Robinho and Berbatov, Tottenham reportedly lost out on Villa (although to be fair they [. Click to continue reading...

After hundreds (at least) of news bits over the last few months, we're finally almost at the end of the summer transfer window. There's a lot yet to happen on the final day of the window, but I'm here to get you caught up on all of the latest signings and speculation. England So, [...] Click to continue reading...

Oscar Washington Tabárez not only has to deal with the pressure that the Uruguayan media is putting on him, but he will have to play two vital games against direct rivals that are fighting for one of those direct spots to South Africa 2010.   Uruguay is currently in sixth place and depending on how they [. Click to continue reading...

The UEFA Cup first-round draw was held on Friday and there are a number of interesting new faces in the competition. One of those teams is Dutch side FC Twente, who as we've detailed in previous posts, is now coached by former England boss Steve McClaren. Twente, who were entered into the UEFA Cup after [. Click to continue reading...

The 2008/09 UEFA Cup first round draw was conducted today with the first leg to be played on Thursday 18 September 2008 with the second leg to be played on Thursday 2 October 2008. Five days after the second legs the draw will be held for the group stage, the fixture dates for which are 23 [...] Click to continue reading...

The 08/09 Spanish Primera kicks off this weekend, a brief warmup before the international break for World Cup qualifiers. Bill Turianski does a nice preview of the season, looking at attendance figures from the 07/08 La Liga season. Notes: With Real Zaragoza gone (and replaced by minnows Numancia), the average attendance is set to drop this season. Click to continue reading...

There are only a few days left in the window, so I'm sure there's a lot in store for what I hope will be a frantic few days in transfers. Today, there's plenty to report on from around Europe, as clubs are trying to finalize their squads with the new season still fresh or [...] Click to continue reading...

The rumor that David Villa could be headed to Real Madrid is now finished. Villa signed a new 6 year deal with Valencia which will earn him 4.4 million per season. This signing comes only days after Valencia rejected a bid by Madrid on Villa of over 60 million euro. Villa was quoted as saying, "Today is a very happy day for me. Click to continue reading...

Raphael Honigstein, Guillem Balague and Gabriele Marcotti discuss the upcoming Spanish football season and give their predictions on who will be winning the 2008 / 2009 season. Raphael Honigstein: Gentlemen, let's talk about Spain now. Guillem, your prediction? Guillem Balague: Real Madrid to finish runners-up, fighting with Villarreal and Sevilla. Click to continue reading...

We're one day closer to the end of the transfer window, and as expected, there's a mad dash by many to make moves happen before time runs out. So, let's get a move on and get started with today's transfer roundup. England Tottenham are reportedly set to make a £7m move for Colombian striker [...] Click to continue reading...

Real Madrid have had their 47 million euro offer on Valencia's David Villa rejected. Valencia president Vicente Soriano made a promise to Valencia fans last month that David Villa and David Silva, the clubs two best players would not be sold for a quick profit. Villa showed the world his skills this summer at the Euro tournament, and should once again be the leading scorer for Valencia this Click to continue reading...

(First half highlights above, second half after the jump.) It was "only" the Super Cup, but it's impossible not to think of this as a demoralizing, crushing blow for Valencia, and as a warning served to the rest of La Liga from Real Madrid. Yes, they've won the last two titles, but this was an absolutely [. Click to continue reading...

Well, we're into the last week of the summer transfer window, so there's going to be a mad dash to the finish for several sides looking to make some big signings before the window closes. Some people are going to get their wishes fulfilled, while some are going to end up out in the [...] Click to continue reading...

Real Madrid defeated Valencia with 9 men on the pitch. ok. Robinho didn't play. ok. Madrid played better with Raul and Guti off the field. ok. Robben can't score, dribble, pass or take on defenders better than Robinho but at least he can run down the right and left flanks with passionate strides of skillful dribbling until Real Madrid figure out what to do with the outstanding Brazilian who looks like he is on his way to Chelsea. Click to continue reading...