In the first of eight group previews, I am joined by Laurence McKenna and Kartik Krishnaiyer to – with a little help of Andy Brassel, Simon Hill, and Simon Kuper – look at Group E. The Netherlands are the seeded nation in a group with no easy points. Denmark won its UEFA qualifying group. Cameroon […]

Well the 30 players named in Fabio Capello's England squad have had multiple trainng sessions and two games to earn their place on the plane to South Africa. Now is the time that this squad must be trimmed to 23 players, meaning that 7 players will soon receive the dreaded phone call ending their World […]

In the United States, it's one of those long holiday weekends, which are a rarity. It's time to remember the fallen heroes who have died while in military service for the United States. It's also an opportunity to spend time with the family, have BBQ's, visit the beach and more — which is why I […]

The new Rangers home jersey for the 2010-11 season has been unveiled by Umbro. The design of the shirt is almost identical to the England home jersey except for the obvious color differences. I must say that the shirt, just like the England jersey, is sleek, very clean and aesthetically pleasing. Hats off to Umbro […]

Germany's warm-up match against Hungary on Saturday proved to be a successful run-out for the Nationalelf, and a good assessment tool for head coach Joachim Low, just before this summer's World Cup. As I predicted yesterday, Germany finished with three goals in the bag and did it with relative ease. A penalty from Podolski, a […]

Yes ladies and gentleman that picture is worth a thousand words. It was something that you could see in a movie or if you got an e-mail and it was trick photography that showed a limb bent in a position that's not natural. But unfortunately for Preston Burpo this terrible accident did happen and to […]

England and Chelsea star Frank Lampard recently stated he'd consider pulling an Eddie Murphy in the 1988 John Landis vehicle Coming to America, and, well, head stateside and over to the prestigious MLS in the future. The only problem with super Frank's comments were that they were followed by the numbers 35 and 36. Like […]

"MLS icon," "EPL veteran," "USMNT standout," the "best soccer player from the State of Illinois" are just a few of the ways to describe Chicago area native Brian McBride. With his team needing a spark, the ageless wonder took matters into his own hands and head. He started a play that lead to an open […]

My memories of how I learned about the news regarding the Hillsborough Disaster and the Bradford Fire Disaster are a lot more vivid than what happened 25 years ago today in the Heysel Stadium Disaster. Part of the reason was because both the Hillsborough and Valley Parade games were played on a Saturday, while the […]

The US World Cup Bid organization has released a television commercial to increase awareness about trying to bring the World Cup back to the United States in either 2018 or 2022. While Russia is the frontrunner for the 2018 World Cup, there's still a chance that the US may get it. If you haven't done […]

Battling midfielder Hanno Balitsch has completed his move to Bayer Leverkusen from Hannover 96 on a free transfer. Balitsch will fit wonderfully into Jupp Henckyes side, and will cover the space usually occupied by Simon Rolfes, who is rather injury-prone. Rolfes will not feature in this summer's World Cup because of injury problems, and so […]

In what will be Germany's last warmup before the World Cup, it will be interesting to see how the Germans lineup, and who will ultimately deserve their place in Low's final 23-man squad. Hungary, who miss out on this year's World Cup after being beaten to qualification by Denmark and Portugal, will still prove a […]

Following the withdrawal of Michael Ballack, who has captained his national team since 2004, Joachim Low faced the task of having to appoint a successor to the injured ex-captain. Reportedly, the armband was expected to go to either Bastian Schweinsteiger, who occupies a similar position on the field to Michael Ballack, and also plays with […]

It seems every World Cup, England puts together a solid team, that somehow depends upon the brilliance of a single man, who can take the merely good players around him, and make them into world beaters. In years past it was Beckham, and this year it's Wayne Rooney. Ask the common man why Rooney is […]

Since Bob Bradley was named coach of the US National Soccer team shortly after the US crashed out of the 2006 World Cup, he has made it a mission to put his players up against the best the world has to offer. Since 2006, the US team has travelled to Asia, Europe, Africa and South […]