It was the marquee signing that announced that Manchester City had money to burn and were determined to usurp the comfy old pals act at the top of the Premiership. Fans flocked to Eastlands in tea-towels to show their new Arabic allegiance and the shock that seemed to follow such a transfer. £32.5 million had […]

The last time many of us saw DaMarcus Beasley, his miss on a corner launched a Brazilian counter-attack that led to the eventual trouncing of the US in the group phase of the Confederations Cup. It was the culmination of a number of mediocre and lackluster performances from him in the national team shirt, which […]

Simon Kuper and Stefan Syzmanski titled the American version of their new book Soccernomics (review is here), but their title for the release in the UK is Why England Lose. In the book, Kuper and Syzmanski identified the US as a rising power in soccer and England as a permanent disappointment to their rabid fans. With […]

In an announcement Wednesday that will not come as much of a surprise to followers of soccer, Italy was named one of the top seeds for the 2010 World Cup, joining host nation South Africa, Brazil, England, Netherlands, Spain, Germany, and Argentina. The big news coming out of this announcement is the conspicuous absence of […]

The theory is that because of the low amount of scoring in football, using particularly protective and cynical tactics ruins the sport whose nature inhibits a high amount of goals per match. Football's common nickname is "The Beautiful Game," but from where did that phrase initially originate? Credit is usually given to 50's and 60's […]

Q: Why did he mention Dempsey and Howard in the title? A: It's a sneaky writer's trick. He name-dropped Americans who play in the Premier League to justify writing about USA v Brazil for EPLTalk.com. Q: Is that why he posted that hastily sketched drawing of Dempsey's mug as well? A: Yes indeed. Is there […]

As the final of the Confederations Cup approaches, the tournament for one team in particular has been an unmitigated disaster. Coming into the competition, as World Champions would surely mean an easy route to the semi-finals at least, however Italy capitulated in almighty fashion. A somewhat fortuitous victory over the USA followed by an embarrassing […]

Kickoff for today's international friendly will be at 7:45 pm London time, and 2:45 pm on the east coast in North America as the Azzurri take on Brazil in a high profile friendly at the Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal Kaka will miss this encounter as well as compatriot Amauri who received a late call-up […]

Juventus' goal poacher, Amauri finally received the call to play for A Seleção. Dunga called Amauri to the team for the friendly against Italy on February 10th after original call up Sevilla striker Luis Fabiano ruptured two ligaments in his left knee in the 2nd leg Copa del Rey quarterfinal match vs. Valencia. Amauri was […]

The 5-time World Champion (and official national team of the Metellus Family) Brazil announced their roster for the highly anticipated Feb. 10th friendly vs. 4-time and current World Champion, Italy. Its a roster that was surprising due to its omissions and additions. The most glaring omission is the red-hot Juventus striker, Amauri who has carried […]

Watching Brazil against Argentina in the semi-final of the Olympic games this morning, I felt like I was in a timewarp back to the late 1980's. That's because NBC, in their infinite stupidity, are breaking for TV commercials in the middle of the game. And just as it routinely happened in the late 1980's (including […]

This week, two Manchester United players made their debut for the club in quiet circumstances during a 2-0 friendly win against League One side Peterborough United. The match was noteworthy because of the debut for two of United's rising stars, Rafael and Fabio Da Silva. The two 18-year old Brazilian twins agreed to join Alex […]

Fred Rutten isn't the only new Dutch manager in the Bundesliga, as ex-Tottenham Martin Jol took over the reigns of Hamburg earlier this month. It's been nearly 30 years since Jol's last appearance in Germany. He made 9 appearances for Bayern Munich as a midfielder in 1978/79 before returning to the Netherlands the next season. […]

On the European Continent and on the British Isles the view of the Olympic football Tournament is completely different than in the rest of the world. In Europe the tournament is seen as more of a nuisance than anything, while among those in the Western Hemisphere and in Africa it is seen as big deal. […]