How cliche that Transylvania is the setting for today's Champions League encounter between Cluj and Chelsea, given of course that it's Oct. 1 and we're about to be bludgeoned for the next 31 days with the images and sounds of Halloween. Just check out the nearest Target or Wal-Mart if you don't believe me. The […]

I love watching Premier League teams on television just as much as anyone, but I must admit that I'm a bit sick of EPL teams monopolizing ESPN's Champions League coverage in their Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon timeslots.

A new football fan entered the world yesterday. Christopher, aka Gaffer Jr., was born in Boca Raton. Weighing nine pounds six ounces, he's a beautiful baby boy — the first boy for my wife and I. His three sisters are already cooing over him and will undoubtedly spoil him to bits over the coming years. […]

Blue days at the Allianz Bate and Bayern had the same idea in the second halves of their respective matches. Hold on for a home draw. However unlike Bate, Bayern Munich happened to be one of the 10 richest clubs in the world. Lyon visited the Allianz tonight and scraped by with a 1-1 draw […]

I've read with some interest recent posts on this website and others advocating some form of instant replay or goal line technology. Being an American with some understanding of the troubles instant replay has had in some American sporting leagues, I very openly and bluntly say, keep replay out of football. Football is a unique […]

What if Eusebio hadn't dismantled Nuremburg in the European Cup in 1962? Or Yugoslavia hadn't erased the miracle of Berne by sending West Germany home early at the 1962 World Cup? No we probably wouldn't still have the Oberliga system! But if we did, this is what it would look like currently. I have done […]

Who says football can't teach you stuff? For instance, once today's Arsenal-Porto match in Group G is done, we'll know if the Gunners come equipped with an on-off switch. You know those devices: teams flick them to the "off" position against lesser opponents. They play down to the level of their competition, and usually lose […]

Tottenham Hotspur's downfall this season is befuddling. On paper this summer, the team seemed stacked with a wealth of talent. But by the way the team has played so far this season, something is seriously lacking. It's the desire to win. Watching Spurs play, they look like a team of losers. Not by the results […]

If you were a businessman, what would you call a consumer who remains loyal for life, buys exorbitant amounts of your product and services, and hardly ever complains no matter how you treat him? In the business world, that consumer would be a dream come true. But we know him better as a typical football […]

In 1949 when George Orwell wrote his epic novel Nineteen Eighty-Four, he painted a forboding picture of a world where Big Brother monitored all of our activity and doublespeak (or as Orwell coined it, newspeak) disguised the true meaning of our language. When Orwell wrote that classic book, I'm sure he didn't have football on […]

Match Schedule Tuesday 30 Sept. 2008 20:45 Fiorentina vs FC Steaua Bucuresti 20:45 FC BATE Borisov vs Juventus Wednesday 01 Oct. 2008 20:45 Bordeaux vs AS Roma 20:45 Internazionale vs Werder Bremen all times (CET) UEFA.com Magazine Interviews UEFA.com magazine interviews Juventus legend, UEFA president Michel Platini UEFA.com Training Ground Interviews FEATURES: Pierluigi Collina on the ways […]

0 – Number of wins by Frankfurt, the last remaining winless team 5 – Total number of shots by Gladbach in their 0-1 defeat to Hamburg 7 – Goals scored by Patrick Helmes this season, that's equal to or more than 8 teams (Hertha, Köln, Hannover, Karlsruhe, Bochum, Cottbus, Frankfurt, and Gladbach) 8.06 – The […]

Things could not have been worse for Ronaldinho coming into the latest edition of the Derby Della Madonnina. He was still not at the level that people though he could be at, but then the big stab in his heart came midweek. Brazil coach Dunga left the AC Milan midfielder out of his 23-man callup […]

Ronaldinho shines as AC Milan take the Milan Derby 1 – 0. Match Highlights [display_podcast] Match Day Five Results Saturday Sept. 27 Sampdoria 0 – 0 Juventus Fiorentina 1 – 0 Genoa Sunday Sept. 28 AS Roma 2 – 0 Atalanta Bologna 0 – 1 Napoli Catania 1 – 0 Chievo Lecce 2 – […]

In order for Soccer to make it to the U.S. sports fan's main menu, it must play a schedule that has both sense and purpose. An American professional soccer league must begin play every year 1-2 weeks before the Major League baseball season begins and it must end its regular season 3 weeks before the start of the NFL […]