Thought I'd switch gears to report news outside Italy today and what could be bigger than the two semi-finals of the ANC yesterday. Ghana v. Cameroon Andre Bikey will miss the African Nations Cup final. The Lion's player was sent off for pushing to ground a medical assistant in the dying seconds of Cameroon's semi-final […]

Italy triumphed over Portugal yesterday 3-1 but the scoreline doesn't do Portugal justice. Azzurri pummel Portugal? Not a chance. Portugal was more dominant the first half but came away with nothing to show for their early performance. In fact the Iberians went down a goal prior to half time. A lapse of communication allowed a […]

The TV schedule for ESPN's coverage of the first leg of the UEFA Champions League Round of 16 ties has been released, and I have to say, I think "The Worldwide Leader in Sports" has it exactly right. Not only did they select the best ties of the round to broadcast (their first legs, at […]

Alright, so I was 0-2 in predicting the results of today's African Cup of Nations semifinals. I think that's what makes this game so special. I went with both of the "favorites" for all of the logical reasons, and my logic was proven to be skewed. Hey, I can live with that. The biggest surprise, […]

I'm working on a long term analysis the next few days of where the US Senior National Team is and what needs to improve for the US to reach its potential in the 2010 World Cup cycle. Anyone with any ideas or thoughts please email at kartik@csrnusa.com

Another change coming out of the Premier League meetings this week is the decision to allow clubs to name seven substitutes in matches from the start of next season. The change was suggested by Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy last year and replicates the regulations in European and international games. The Premier League agreed to discuss […]

According to the BBC, at a meeting in London on Thursday, all 20 Premier League clubs agreed to explore a proposal to extend the season to 39 games. Those 10 extra games would be played at venues around the world, with cities bidding for the right to stage them. It is understood the additional fixtures […]

Drew Moor was responsible for both Mexico goals with some bad marking on set pieces. Yet I don't believe Moor had an awful match. He found space and beautifully set up Jozy Altidore for the second goal. Moor also was good during the run of play winning several 50-50 balls. Ramiro Corrales looked lost in […]

I'll be posting live comments from the press box here at Reliant Stadium over on CSRN's The Third Half hosted by Johnathan Starling- join me over there.

Bob Bradley has named 18 year old phenomena Jozy Altidore to the starting lineup for the first time in his Senior National team career tonight. Freddy Adu will start the night on the subs bench. Other surprises include Ramiro Corrales getting the nod over Heath Pearce at left back and Drew Moor starting at right […]

Distinctly average. That's how I would categorize England's performance for the majority of their 2-1 friendly victory over Switzerland tonight. Distinctly average. If the England players wanted to come out and set a positive tone to impress new manager Fabio Capello, I'd have to say that as a group, they didn't accomplish their goal. David […]

The latest installment of the Jose Mourinho parody "I'm on Setanta Sports" is now online. In this clip, Jose announces that he has made a dramatic new signing for his Setanta show, and shows a clip of his classic Champions League press conference when he named the entire Barcelona team.

I've been focusing on the England national team over the past week or so here, trying to divert attention away from the Premiership a little bit and to the new era under Fabio Capello. Injuries have limited the options Capello was able to choose from for the friendly today against Switzerland, but if I had […]

I don't think this is a shock to anyone. Liverpool's local hero had been the skipper in John Terry's absence in the fateful Euro 2008 qualifiers against Russia and Croatia last year and with Terry injured AGAIN, Gerrard was the odds-on favorite to lead England out today in their friendly against Switzerland. The only other choice […]

For those of who've been wondering why Ty (BillE Shears), Lonnie (The Scout), and myself have been the only ones writing blog posts recently, there's a very good reason. The Gaffer, who's the mastermind of EPL Talk and its affiliate sits, has been in the hospital with some respiratory issues. Chris was in the hospital […]