As I sat watching the opening minutes of Wednesday's World Cup semi final between Spain and Germany, easily two of the top five teams in the world battling on the biggest stage in world football, I quickly noticed a trend within the match that may go on to answer the question posed as the headline […]

Perfection is almost impossible to attain, but given ESPN's performance during the 2010 World Cup, they've come as close as any TV network can get. Commentators, production value, some of the best analysts and beautiful HD broadcasts, it's hard to imagine any network being able to outdo the level of quality that ESPN has provided viewers […]

When Spain fell to the hands of Switzerland in the opening match of World Cup 2010, the vultures suddenly appeared from the sky and circled around their "dying" carcass. No team has ever won the World Cup after losing its first match. The ghosts from yesteryear are rising from the dead and haunting this current […]

This writer has not fallen off the face of the earth after the season concluded in mid-May. I am writing this as I leave on a boat from Napoli en route to Palma de Mallorca. I have been traveling through Europe these past weeks, and I was in Barcelona to cover the FC Barcelona presidential […]

While the transfer market hasn't been too busy with big signings, it's slowly been spreading that two big strikers will be moving to the Serie A for next season. Ibrahimovic and Adriano could be returning to the league which made them famous, but to different teams. The two ex-Inter Milan players also find themselves in […]

It is quite early to discuss next season's Champions League particularly with the World Cup looming ahead but Inter's historic treble was much more than a great achievement. It proved once again how difficult it is to repeat as a champion in Europe's elite club competition. For the Nerazzurri winning the Champions League is the […]

Once Lionel Messi scored his club record-tying 34th goal of the season in the 76th minute to increase the lead to 4-0, the 98,772 Culés at the Camp Nou, save for a few hundred Real Valladolid die-hards, began to chant the song that every team wants to hear at the end of the season, "Campeones, […]

On Tuesday, the goalkeepers and defenders were discussed, and Wednesday, the midfielders were discussed. With all of the creative talent in the midfield, that will bring the pressure on the forwards to convert the multitudes of chances that Xavi, Xabi Alonso, etc. will create for them. Obviously, the two starting men up front would be […]

Depending on the results of the final round in La Liga this upcoming weekend, Atlético Madrid can finish as high as ninth and as low as eleventh in Spain. Fulham completed their 2009-10 in the Barclays Premier League in twelfth position. All mattered not as they both navigated through massive European obstacles to arrive at […]

The Race for the La Liga Crown If there were a match on which Barcelona would stumble in their path to a second consecutive La Liga title, Villarreal would stand in their way. All involved with FC Barcelona said the right statements after Inter Milan eliminated the Catalans from the UEFA Champions League. Barça president […]

There will be a Spanish team in a European final, but it is not the team that many expected. Atlético Madrid completed their strange and wonderful trip to the Europa League final with an extra time goal by Diego Forlán against Liverpool. As per usual, Atlético did not win the second leg of their Europa […]

The sprinklers rose up from the pitch and sprayed the Inter Milan players and staff. The Barcelona anthem, "Cant del Barça," blared through the loudspeakers as the Culés did not know whether to clap off their Blaugrana heroes or vehemently whistle at the unwanted visitors from northern Italy. This sense of confusion permeated throughout the […]

Juan Ramón López Muñiz brought Málaga into La Liga in 2008 after a two-year hiatus in the second division. Throughout his playing career, he played on teams constantly scrambling either to stay in La Liga or to be promoted to the first division. He knows the mentality that a team needs to eschew whatever poor […]

La Liga heads down the home stretch with five matches remaining, and Jornada 34 is littered with matches between the top and the bottom of the table. FC Barcelona hosts Xerez at the Camp Nou in the early Saturday kickoff, and both teams are running opposite of their position in the standings. Despite propping the […]

"NINO, NINO, NINO!" chanted Los Chicharreros in the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez López. When shouted aloud, the chant sounded like an onrushing ambulance through a traffic-jammed street, and for Getafe, who fell victim to the brilliance of Nino, they needed the assistance of EMT workers. After a 0-0 draw at home to Real Valladolid last Saturday, […]