Heading into this World Cup, no team should be looking for any extra motivation. After all, this is the World Cup , where the world's best will be gathered for one big battle royal to decide who takes home the title, World Champion! Never will these teams ever again experience the spectacle or pageantry that will be apart […]

On Monday, it was announced that an ankle injury suffered in Saturday's FA Cup Final would keep German national team captain Michael Ballack out of the World Cup. Joining us to talk about that as well the Nationalmannschaft's chances this summer is the Guardian and Sports Illustrated's Raphael Honigstein. Raphael discusses the potential replacements for […]

On Monday, it was announced that an ankle injury suffered in Saturday's FA Cup Final would keep German national team captain Michael Ballack out of the World Cup. Joining us to talk about that as well the Nationalmannschaft's chances this summer is the Guardian and Sports Illustrated's Raphael Honigstein. Raphael discusses the potential replacements for […]

Don't panic, I'm not going to go all Oprah on you all, but I've got a confession to make that a man of my age can't hide. Every 4 years, the World Cup comes around and over here in Europe we've a company called Panini who make sticker books for most major tournaments and leagues. […]

Last year, I was lucky enough to do a fabulous series on English football legends, which saw me delve back through history to cover 11 players that perhaps never get the credit they deserve. Football is such a fickle sport that these days, people forget just how many great players passed through the annals before […]

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 […]

There you have it, Italy in Group F, drawn with New Zealand, Paraguay and Slovakia. A relatively simple group and one Marcelo Lippi should take the Azzurri through with comfort. Group F Italy New Zealand Paraguay Slovakia They begin the defence of their crown in Capetown at the Greenpoint soccer stadium on June 14th 2010 […]

Almost twenty years ago England went to Poland knowing that a draw would qualify them for Italia 90. A backs-to-the wall performance and the magnificence of Peter Shilton ensured they had their point and the team then went onto reach the semi-finals of the tournament that arguably saved English football from itself and ultimately elevated […]

With this weeks 4-0 drubbing of England u21s by the German u21s, Die Mannschaft completed a hat-trick of youth level European Championships (winning the u17, u19, and u21 tournaments). Such success indicates that the future of the Bundesliga is bright, and that while the Serie A begins a period of decline, the Premier League is […]

Fresh from giving England fans palpitations after Fridays semi-final win against host nation Sweden, England's young lions have a chance to win some silverware for the junior lions for the first time since 1993. England Under 18's triumphed that year, riding a week long wave of growing optimism and support to beat Turkey 1-0 in […]

I’ve wondered for a long time what it is that managers see in Stewart Downing, particularly England managers. Since his first call up in February 2005, Downing has been pretty much been a regular in the England squad, but why? I don’t understand how one player can have gained 22 caps without ever making an […]

GolTV has acquired the U.S. TV rights to the 2009 European under-21 Championship, scheduled for June 15-29 in Sweden. The eight countries competing in the tournament will be England, Italy, Serbia, Germany, Finland, Belarus, Spain and Sweden. The draw for the tournament takes place on December 3rd. For connoiseurs of the beautiful game, the European […]

Another Germany-Wales match, another game too close for comfort for die Nationalmannschaft. The all-time series record stands at 8 wins for Germany, 2 for Wales and 6 draws between them. I don't know what it is with the Welsh, but they punch above their weight when playing against Ballack and co. Germany needed all my […]

As you may know former longtime Germany and Bayern no. 1 Oliver Kahn had his testimonial exactly a week ago in Munich. The match, between Bayern and Germany, ended 1-1, but the score was less important than the man honored that night. His accomplishments are legion and well-known, including, perhaps most impressively, being the only […]

st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } 1. Parity Okay, let’s not kid ourselves. Not any team can win the Bundesliga. But since the inception of the EPL in 1991, four teams have won the title: United, Blackburn, Chelsea and Arsenal, but United has won 11 of those titles. In that same span, five teams have won the title in […]