Month: March 2019

If a nervous, furtive Hungarian wearing a fake beard and an air of desperation slipped through the back streets of Donetsk, Ukraine in the wee hours of the morning today, ducking in and out of the kind of dark, cheerless bar where anything is available for a price and no one uses their real name, it's entirely understandable. He'd be the goal-line official from the England-Ukraine match, and former Nancy Boy Michel Platini wants him…

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A little tribute to the irritating mystery, wrapped up in a frustrating enigma that is the mercurial talent of Ryan Babel. I still think he has some real promise, but he needs gentle nurturing, which he won’t get whilst Rafa Benitez is in charge, because Benitez believes in the foot up the arse rather than the arm around the shoulder as a motivational technique. Anyway…. /www.bigsoccer.com/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif[/img]>/www.bigsoccer.com/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif[/img]> To the tune of “Folsom Prison Blues” by Johnny…

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The World Cup is now over. It wasn’t exactly a fantastic tournament as many teams came with the intention of not being embarrassed, rather than trying to make their mark. Also, many of the big name players failed to live up to their billing. Here’s what I consider to be the best starting XI for the 2010 World Cup (in a 4-2-3-1 formation) /www.bigsoccer.com/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif[/img]>/www.bigsoccer.com/forum/images/smilies/tongue.gif[/img]> GK: Manuel Neuer (Germany): Hardly put a foot wrong all tournament.…

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Glad I spent an hour working up todays' post only to have it mooted an hour later but I'm not complaining a bit. Major League Soccer and its players called a joint news conference for Saturday and were near agreement on a five-year contract that would avoid a strike scheduled for next week, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press. The sides were working on finalizing details, the person said, speaking on…

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​ Pachuca has been a solid if not spectacular for the better part of the past decade. They are one of the few teams in Mexico that have recently made heavy investments in their infrastructure. The ownership is committed to making Pachuca one of Mexico’s most prominent teams. They even market the team as el Equipo de Mexico. And the results speak for themselves. 3 Concachampions (and 1 more when it was the Champion’s Cup),…

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It was there – for both teams – and neither grabbed the gold the ring. Not that the 0-0 result was a surprise – at least not to me – I predicted the goose eggs (roscas) last week. It’s not often that I actually get something right. So let me have this one cuz lord knows when I’ll ever hit another one. If Chivas’ and America’s stalemate proved anything, it’s that they haven’t been playing…

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When Chester P.D. used the h-word to describe the gentleman who caused such a fuss during last week's Philadelphia-Colorado game, I was expecting the worst. Especially when Deadspin repeated the blood libel and blamed two entire sections for the fracas. Chester Police Department booking photo Quick action by the Sons of Ben has mitigated this particular public relations disaster. Which is only fair – were it not caught on camera, it certainly wouldn't have made…

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And, way too late – maybe over a year late – I think of "Rocky Mountain, Hi!" as an MLS Cup post title. I could use "Rocky Mountain, Bye!" for the news that Salt Lake and World Cup veteran Robbie Findley is taking his talents to Europe. Findley of course is best known for his blazing speed, which means he'll come crawling back to MLS very quickly. Okay, about the thread title. I'm sincere. It's…

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Some last minute changes to the All-Star Team – Landon Donovan and Edson Buddle have been replaced by Noah Delgado and Nicolas Addlery, and Colin Clarke will coach the All-Stars instead of Bruce Arena. I'm sure you all read variations on this joke already – I thought of it last night, but if I had tried to post last night about Puerto Rico beating the living hell out of my darling Galaxy 4-1, it would…

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As we speak, some of the finest players in Major League Soccer are gathering in Carson, preparing to take on the best and most famous players in the world. Check out the roster here. I was going to write more about this, but I kept boring myself to tears. Basically, the World Cup dreams of Justin Braun, Kevin Hartman and Brandon McDonald are over. Everyone else still has a chance. Well, I can't tell if…

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