Uruguay star Luis Suarez has refused to apologize for his handball incident at the 2010 World Cup. The striker blatantly blocked a goal-bound ball with his arms in the final stages of a quarterfinal matchup against Ghana. Suarez was sent off for the deliberate handball incident. However, Asamoah Gyan missed the penalty that would have […]

Sometimes in life, serendipity happens when you least expect it. Before the FIFA 2010 World Cup, Landon Donovan was recognized as the best soccer player the US had ever generated. Likewise, Ian Darke already had a very successful career as a commentator. He was one of the most recognizable voices of Premier League coverage, especially […]

Happy New Year to all our readers and best wishes in 2011! The past year was a big one for American soccer. A good but not great World Cup run, a highlight goal from Landon Donovan, and the controversial rehiring of Bob Bradley after the World Cup. A first MLS Cup win by Colorado, the […]

2010 was a bad year for Italian football. I tried to think of the positives, but very few came to mind. A disastrous World Cup in South Africa, a bad showing in the Europa League, and only a Champions League victory (guided by a Portuguese mastermind) which retains some dignity for Italian football. While […]

As we close the books on 2010 and go through our retrospectives (including MLS Talk's own awards) I wanted to take a different look back on the year that was through a different lens: what if what happened didn't happen, or vice versa. Over the weekend I intend to take four 2010 events from American […]

MLS has already announced its award finalists for the 2010 season and throughout the month will be slowly unveiling the winners of each award (congratulations Andy Najar and Donovan Ricketts). On November 15, MLS will announce the Best XI for the year, and few things get soccer fans as excited as picking out the best […]

There is some real drama about which European country will host the next World Cup. Both England and Russia have submitted solid bids, and FIFA is going to have to think very deeply about which country will get to host this prestigious event. However, FIFA is awarding both the 2018 and 2022 World Cups this […]

In 2005-2006, Napoli was looking to escape dire finances and Serie C1. In 2010-2011, Napoli can credibly claim that it is competing for a Champions League berth. The Partenopei led by their president Aurelio De Laurentiis have been slowly built up and well managed to the point where last season they qualified for their their […]

The Telegraph this morning confirmed previous reports that Arsenal is discussing a transfer of Cagliari keeper Federico Marchetti for around $8.5 million. Marchetti has made it clear that he is seeking a transfer from the Serie A club and Arsenal would seemingly be a good fit. Most Serie A clubs have settled on their starting keeper […]

It continues to amaze me in my adult life how I continually look forward to a trip, a concert, an event, a night out with friends, a movie release, or something as globally massive as a major sporting tournament, only for said event to come and vanquish like some flash in the pan-been-there-done-that, now-let's-move-on-moment. Whether I'm […]

The 2010 World Cup is over and while it was definitely not the best tournament of all time, there were plenty of highs and lows. In fact, I would argue that it was a better tournament than 2006. The frenzy at the end of games such as Uruguay against Holland, Ghana against Uruguay and Italy […]

After Euro 2008, Vicente del Bosque took the reins of the Spanish national team from Luis Aragonés, the man that led Spain to their first international tournament conquest since 1964 when they hosted and won the second UEFA European Championships, known then as the European Nations' Cup. Aragonés' tactical style went completely away from former […]

Explanations after the jump.

Italy has been punished, thanks to their poor performances Italy has lost ground in the FIFA and UEFA rankings. La Gazzetta dello Sport is reporting that Italy has fallen all the way down to 11th in the FIFA rankings, behind Chile and Egypt. This is an anticipation that will most likely be confirmed the 14th […]

It's time to get introspective and to think back to the entire World Cup tournament thus far and to ask you to pick out your favorite moment. It could have been a goal, it could have been a save, it could be anything World Cup 2010 related. This is a tricky question because there have […]