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Thierry Henry Handballs France into World Cup 2010. Would You Have Done the Same?

November 18th, 2009 | By: Daryl | 165 Comments

Algeria, Greece, Portugal and Slovenia all won their playoffs and qualified for the World Cup today. Uruguay vs Costa Rica is happening as I type. But there's one story that will be dominating the World Cup playoff headlines, and I think you already know what it is: Thierry Henry's handball for France vs Ireland.

With the aggregate score at 1-1 and the game halfway through extra time, penalties were just around the corner. But in the 103rd minute Thierry Henry controlled the ball and crossed for William Gallas to head home the goal that sent France to World Cup 2010 and Ireland home. Only problem is that Henry controlled the ball with his hand. Twice.

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Latest WCB Entries

World Cup Playoffs Live Chit Chat

November 18th, 2009 | By: chris | 9 Comments

FBL-WC2010-AFR2010-EGY–ALG-FANS

World Cup Playoffs Chit Chat ... [read]

World Cup 2010 Playoffs: Twelve Teams, Six World Cup Places

November 18th, 2009 | By: Daryl | 20 Comments

photo finishThe final six World Cup 2010 places all get decided today, with the second legs of the four European playoffs and the CONMEBOL vs CONCACAF game, plus the special Algeria vs Egypt single game playoff for the final African qualifying spot.

It's all very very tight. The winners of these six ties ... [read]

Soundoff: Your Football Team's Biggest International Rival?

November 18th, 2009 | By: Daryl | 45 Comments

rivalsIn honour of today's Algeria vs Egypt showdown in Sudan, I had planned on putting together a Top 10 Biggest International Rivalries post. But halfway through I realized it wasn't a great idea. Your own national team's rivalry will always feel bigger than anyone else's, so why include some in a Top ... [read]

Japan Drive The Anti-Vuvuzela Bus

November 17th, 2009 | By: chris | 13 Comments

SmallAaronVuvuIt would seem this vuvuzela thing is, at the very least, unpopular. As a direct result of its popularity, of course. Xabi Alonso left the Confederations Cup poo-pooing the vuvuzela and its effect on the field of play. The cacophony a bit too intense for such things as hearing the whistles and ... [read]

Gigi Buffon and Iker Casillas Reach 100 Caps

November 17th, 2009 | By: Daryl | 4 Comments

glovesA double international milestone was reached this past weekend, when both Italy's Gigi Buffon and Spain's Iker Casillas made their 100th international appearances on the same day. Nice little co-incidence as they are arguably (or maybe inarguably) the two best keepers in the world today.

Let me tell you what this is not: ... [read]

Switzerland: U-17 World Cup Winners and Team of the Future. (Distant Future.)

November 16th, 2009 | By: chris | 8 Comments

SOCCER/

Be honest, you'd forgotten entirely about the Under 17 World Cup - and that's if you were aware of its running in the first place. We'll also accept admissions from those who confused it with the Under-20 World Cup (Lite) in Egypt won late last month by Ghana.

But it happened, and ... [read]

Which Teams Have Qualified for the 2010 Africa Cup of Nations in Angola?

November 16th, 2009 | By: Daryl | 11 Comments

Update: Full Angola 2010 schedule here.

can2010This weekend was the World Cup qualifying climax in Africa, and there was plenty of qualification drama to go around. The winners of each of the five groups qualified for World Cup 2010, and everyone else missed out. But there was a pretty decent consolation prize for ... [read]

Top Ten Things Maradona Said During His FIFA Hearing Today

November 15th, 2009 | By: Dave Martinez | 7 Comments

maradonaAh, to be a fly on the wall.

Diego Armando Maradona, coach of the Argentine National team, and all around deity, graced FIFA's Zurich based home to answer questions on his media outburst nearly one month ago. In typical Maradona fashion, he arrived 50 minutes late to his scheduled hearing, with an ... [read]

VID: Australia v. Oman Produces Fireworks. Literal Fireworks.

November 15th, 2009 | By: Dave Martinez | 0 Comments

It is funny how a game that saw Mark Schwarzer put in a performance of a lifetime, and an Australian squad win in the final minutes while sporting a ten man squad for over 70 can be overshadowed by a firecracker.

One. Lame. Firecracker.

But since we can't get enough of this junk, check out the confusion as ... [read]

Egypt 2-0 Algeria: Emad Moteab's 95th Minute Goal Forces a World Cup Playoff

November 14th, 2009 | By: Daryl | 30 Comments

If you read our African World Cup qualifying finale preview post yesterday, then you knew that Egypt vs Algeria was big. Historic bad feeling, exacerbated by Egyptian fans attacking the Algerian team bus in Cairo big. There was also the beautifully weighted qualification situation in Group C, where Egypt needed to beat Algeria by three goals or more to qualify ... [read]

Latest Country News

Netherlands Flag

AZ and Liverpool are out...

Team: Netherlands
November 25th, 2009 | By: Jan | 1 Comments

"Some people say football is a matter of life and death... These people are wrong. Football is much more important..." Today, the sad news of the passing of a dear friend reached me and took my head away from football. I had some interesting post in mind. How Benitez is being punished

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Japan Flag

Asian Cup Round-up

Team: Japan
November 24th, 2009 | By: Aidan | 3 Comments

Asian Cup qualifying for Qatar 2011 is reaching the latter stages now, with the latest round of matches this week. For the uninitiated, the Asian Cup has 16 finalists coming from a variety of qualification routes – just to make things easy.

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Japan Flag

Blue Samurai eventually overcome Hong Kong

Team: Japan
November 24th, 2009 | By: Aidan | 0 Comments

With vuvuzelas still ringing in their ears from their weekend jaunt to South Africa, Japan eased closer to Asian Cup qualification with a 4-0 win in Hong Kong on Wednesday.

The result kept Japan on top of the Group A table ahead of Bahrain, although having played a game more. Bahrain bounced back from their heartbreaking encounter with New Zealand by hammering Yemen 4-0 at home in Manama.

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Tunisia Flag

Faouzi Benzarti: The People's Choice

Team: Tunisia
November 24th, 2009 | By: Rami | 16 Comments

Today the Tunisian Football Federation made it official: Faouzi Benzarti will replace Humberto Coelho as our coach for the African Cup and beyond. Our World Cup exit hardly gave them a choice in the matter. Lest we forget, this is the man that many Tunisians were clamoring for back in 2008 when Roger Lemerre's contract was coming to an end. Everyone knew this, but the FTF, in their infinite wisdom, turned a blind eye to the opinions of prominent retired international players and club presidents (because really, what do they know right?)

Instead, after an unbelievably slow and torturous search, then FTF President Tahar Sioud decided that Humberto Coelho would be a better choice. The Portuguese manager came with a smile on his face, told Tunisians everything they want to hear, and then proceeded to defy the very principles he said he would instill.

If you click the first link in the previous paragraph you'll see that my initial reaction was skepticism. Back when we hired him, I wasn't really sold on Coelho for the mere fact that I didn't know him that well and didn't see much on his CV that made him stand out or compare to Lemerre results wise.

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Malawi Flag

AFRICA CUP OF NATIONS ANGOLA 2010: GROUP A

Team: Malawi
November 23rd, 2009 | By: sscouser | 5 Comments

Group A of the Africa Cup of Nations Angola 2010 has Angola, Algeria, Mali and Malawi. According to the November 2009 rankings the teams rank as follows (World, Africa): Angola (94, 20), Mali (47, 7), Algeria (28, 4), Malawi (94, 21). Malawi is the worst ranked team in the group

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Poland Flag

Squad Watch: Week 12. Wisla Krakow Lose, The Ekstraklasa Becomes More Interesting.

Team: Poland
November 23rd, 2009 | By: tomasz | 16 Comments

The Polish Ekstraklasa suddenly became interesting again after Wisla Krakow lost two games in a row. Now there is only a six point margin between the top six teams which guarantees a close title race in the remaining part of the season. Robert Lewandowski scored two goals for Lech Poznan in the weekend’s hit game against Ruch Chorzow, whereas GKS Belchatow has won for the seventh time in a row.

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England Flag

Jermain Defoe: Good at Scoring Goals, But Good Enough to Start for England?

Team: England
November 23rd, 2009 | By: Daryl | 4 Comments

Spurs beat Wigan 9-1 (not a typo) this weekend with England's own Jermain Defoe backing five of the goals. A hat-trick and two thirds of way to another hat-trick.

My favourite thing about those five is the range it demonstrates in Defoe's finishing: From movement in the box to close range acrobatics to sniper like accuracy from a wide angle. No doubt about it, Jermain Defoe is good at scoring goals.

But good enough to start for England?

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Netherlands Flag

Weekend Action... Ajax impresses, Feyenoord disappoints.

Team: Netherlands
November 23rd, 2009 | By: Jan | 43 Comments

We're playing again. After those two non-events that were the Oranje friendlies ( Kesler is counting the euros no doubt) and the Hand of Gaul we can focus on the competitions again. But first we need to discuss the rumor that Maradona will coach both Argentina and France at the World

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Netherlands Flag

Where are they now: John van den Brom

Team: Netherlands
November 23rd, 2009 | By: Jan | 1 Comments

John van den Brom (42 years old) only played twice for Oranje. The current AGOVV Apeldoorn coach did score and got a penalty for Holland. The ex-Vitesse and Ajax libero/midfielder tells us about his past, present and future. Past "Bert Jacobs was my coach at Vitesse. We were out in Arnhem, in

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Iran Flag

Jordan 1-0 Iran

Team: Iran
November 23rd, 2009 | By: Afshin Afshar | 0 Comments

Team Melli lost to Jordan 1-0 in Amman in their return leg of their Asian Cup Qualifier. They still lead the group with seven points, but things look bad real bad. I have been watching Team Melli for decades and this is the lowest I have ever seen them, and

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