Bosnia-Hercegovina v Portugal referee preview

It seems this blog has turned into the "Howard Webb" fan page with our coverage of the World Cup final merging into tonight's qualifiers. But over a year since his height on the football stage, Webb returns to overseeing international knock-out football with the third meeting of these two sides in the playoffs.
Latest More News
Relaunch of referees blog
The refereeing blog will be relaunching this week, bigger and better than ever. We'll have full coverage of the playoffs for Euro 2012 with increased fan interaction and interviews.
We'll also be covering the rest of the club season from the refereeing point of view including the most controversial and unique incidents. There ... [read more]
Travel to Dublin for the Nations Cup
In the olden days of international football, there weren't 200+ national teams kicking the ball around - there were only the Home Nations. England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales were the combatants in the first real international football tournament - the Home Nations Tournament - which was held annually for 100 years, from 1884 to 1984. Ever since, these ... [read more]
Travel to Panama for the Copa Centroamericana
The Copa Centroamericana may not be the most well-known international tournament around, but for the seven FIFA countries of Central America, it's a very big deal. Not only are bragging rights at stake, but the top five sides earn places in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup. When your region only has seven teams, and five qualify, no one ... [read more]
Travel to Doha for the Asian Cup
The Asian Cup is about to begin and if you support one of the 16 teams involved, this is the next best thing to a World Cup. It may seem too late to book your flight to Doha for the Cup, but it is always worth checking the prices. If your team makes the knockout rounds, you won't ... [read more]
Howard Webb honoured by the Queen for services to refereeing
World Cup final referee Howard Webb has been honoured by Queen Elizabeth II in the New Years Honours List with an MBE. ... [read more]
Travel to Russia for the Euro 2012 Qualifiers
Russia was gutted to barely miss out on qualifying for World Cup 2010, and a lot of neutrals were disappointed too. The likes of Andrei Arshavin, Pavel Pogrebnyak and more would be missed in South Africa. Now, the Russians are back to make sure that they won't go missing from another major tournament. If you have been ... [read more]
Travel to Turkey for the Euro 2012 Qualifiers
Turkey was the most exciting team of the tournament at Euro 2008, and now they're looking to return to the European Championships and make waves once again. After the disappointment of not qualifying for World Cup 2010, legendary manager Guus Hiddink is in charge to make sure Turkey doesn't miss out on another major tournament. It's an exciting ... [read more]
Travel to Germany for the Euro 2012 Qualifiers
Now that World Cup 2010 is done and dusted, and we've started off the major European leagues, it's time to start thinking about the next major international tournament - Euro 2012. Germany comes to the Euro qualifiers fresh off of a third-place finish in South Africa, and a performance that showed off their amazing young talent. With these ... [read more]
Tournament stats - cards, controversy and Keisuke Honda
So after a tournament filled with plenty of talking point, we look back at the lies, damn lies and statistics. Who was the dirtiest player or the cleanest match? The cover this and more, let's crunch the numbers from South Africa 2010.
... [read more]
Van Marwijk chides Webb for refereeing performance
Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has bashed official Howard Webb for his display in last night's final, and has been joined by some of his player's in questioning the Englishman's decisions in the game.
... [read more]
Club Football News
Match Preview: Liverpool v. Manchester United, 02.11.12
Liverpool travel to Manchester and Old Trafford to face United for the second time in two weeks in a match that, depending on your resting heart rate, is either mildly exciting or something that's possibly life threatening. There's as much to cover off the pitch as there is on, but ...
Ignorance Is Truly Bliss
Chi? Quite the delightful week to be a Roma fan, isn't it? In fact, one things just gets better than the next. Daniele's contract signing was far better than the game, with the news his hand couldn't be taken by a gift of several mooing farm animals the next day. Furthermore, ...
Couple of News + Thoughts on the English NT Nightmare
Some players want to leave, Arsenal will be going places this summer, the English NT is filled with jerks... your usual cup of Arse here at the Offside We start today's blog with a subject Arsenal fans are always delighted to hear about: player departures. Park Chu-Young has indicated that if ...
Saturday night with Palermo
Nothing like a bad game following a good game to make fans wonder what is going on or more likely just accept that we have the most predictable unpredictable team in the league. How does one go from thrashing Genoa and playing Juve well to playing a boring 0-0 draw ...
Finances: El Clasico Always Wins
The yearly list of football club annual revenue is out yet again and the gap between the two Spanish behemoths and the rest of the field is growing ever wider. Despite the trophy success of last year, Barcelona has lost the financial Clasico to Real Madrid...yet again (lucky number seven ...
Kei Kamara Dons The Gorilla Suit
This takes down February's best footy related video award easily. Kei Kamara of the Kansas City Wizards dons the gorilla suit for a series of pranks during a set of real or staged interviews. It doesn't really matter - it's all awesome. It is also very likely Cyprion Hedrick wet his pants. ...
FC Barcelona 2, Valencia CF 0, Or, Barça Are Through To The Copa Del Rey Final
Neither injury plagues nor exhaustion nor being busy in three competitions at once nor an impossible amount of Clásicos stays this team from getting into almost all the finals at which they get a shot. Since Pep arrived at Can Barça, some 3 and a half seasons ago, the team has ...
Liverpool v. Manchester United: The Past Four Years
In the past four seasons, Liverpool have played seven games under three managers against Manchester United in the league. Four have been Liverpool victories, two have been won by United, and one has been a draw. And with match number eight coming up on the weekend, it seemed like a ...
Good News and Bad News. Also, Some Neutral News.
Big news day for FC Bayern, coming off of yesterday’s solid win in the Pokal. Still a few things to work out, and there were some periods yesterday when the offense sputtered a bit, but this was better than last weekend (and miles ahead of the loss to Monchengladbach a ...
How To Spend The Remaining Time Before Firstkick: rated90.com
Bored? Tired? Pissed off because the DP you bought blew out his knee before playing a single game, limiting himself to the bench for 6-12 months? Well, I can't preform invasive surgery on Jose Adolfo Valencia, but I sure can give you a wonderful way to waste your time until March. ...
Milan 1 Juventus 2
Wow, if you read the comments on the last post you would have to assume we are going to be relegated in mere seconds!? I mean no mention of the fact that injuries have decimated this team beyond recognition or that we have played three games in six days. ...
Video: Andy Carroll v. Tottenham
It may not have been a man of the match-calibre performance, as those honours would have to have gone to one of the defenders—and probably either Glen Johnson or Martin Skrtel. And he likely didn't even have as good a game as his previous two against Wolverhampton and Manchester United. ...
"Napoli Want to Win the Trophy"
Napoli's semi-final opponents Siena are in a Serie A relegation battle and will probably rest some starters in Thursday's Coppa Italia clash. Napoli's path to the final is simply a matter of breaking down a team that will stick 10 men behind the ball. Sounds pretty easy but ...
Former youth team player offers refreshing take on Terry
You may or may not have seen this earlier today. I retweeted it via @JoeTweeds a few hours ago. Either way, it's a very good read and a refreshingly different take on John Terry than the ones we've been force-fed over the past few months. No, he's not a monster. Sorry, ...
Samsunspor Team Bus Meets Train
What do you say to this? Holy @#$%. Incredibly, everyone from Samsunspor - Turkish Super Lig - survived and the team bus is the only thing which netted catastrophic damage. And as evident from the video, no signs/warnings appeared that, ya know, a train was steaming in. Someone's likely to see a change ...
Adriano Gets Quarantined For Fatness
Adriano is both one of the most gifted strikers of his generation and one of the most disappointing, ballooning to Ronaldo's late-career playing weight right smack in the middle of his prime, among other, non-gravitational-field-related issues (drinking, partying, shooting people, etc). Now at Corinthians and fresh off an Achilles injury ...
England's Once Brave Loses Umbro, and Capello
Not exactly a great week if you're John Terry. More, after the jump: Kicks for sale So if you're keeping score at home, that's Social Media Neophytes/Journo Hacks/Chelsea Naysayers 3, John Terry 0. First he lost the armband, which, in fairness many of us accepted with relative understanding. Sure, due process matters ...
Match Day Chat Box: FC Bayern vs. VfB Stuttgart (Updated - 2-0 to Bayern, w/Video)
FC Bayern’s DFB Pokal quarter-final kicks off in less than an hour. Hertha Berlin and Monchengladbach are currently level at 0 apiece, while SPVGG Greuther Fürth holds an improbable 1-0 lead over 10-man Hoffenheim. In our match, line-ups have been announced, and Basler’s advice has been taken. For Bayern: Gomez Ribery - Kroos ...
Excellence In Futility
The set-and-finish own goal is one of extreme rarity, such that it should have its own show on some science channel. To deflect a ball into the net is one thing, but a composed boot, if shanked? That's truly special stuff. The gentleman in question is Ashraf Soliman of Maccabi Umm ...



