The Brazilians in their final game before the World Cup Finals in South Africa later this year comfortably brushed aside the Irish with a convincing 2-0 win. An own goal from Republic of Ireland defender Keith Andrews on the stroke of halftime took the pressure of the Brazilians after a hard-fought first half.

There are teams still competing who shouldn’t be there and others that are just happy to be there. There are no truer examples than England’s two remaining representatives, Liverpool and Fulham.

Fabio Capello to Coach Russia? Fabio Capello has been approach by representatives of the Russian F.A. sounding him out on a potentially lucrative contract to coach the Russian team after the World Cup.

His ability to spot a young talent to don the famous red and white soccer uniform and nurture them to greatness is renowned. At the helm at Arsenal since 1996, Wenger has recognized talent in many players and his current squad bears witness to his ability. Despite the fact that Arsenal was up there and winning trophies up till 2005, they have won nothing since and not even got close in the UK.

European soccer has produced very few sensations in its history on knock out competition running back to the mid nineteen fifties. In the early years, teams from the Iberian Peninsula dominated the competition, and from the early sixties onwards the Italians took over, and teams from that country won the competition for the next three years consecutively.

The game of soccer was rocked by scandal when it was unearthed that the results of 200 soccer games across nine countries in Europe were fixed! Law enforcement officials arrested the leaders of the gambling cartel, but they say that the rot is deeper.

Abedi Pele, former Ghanaian international soccer player and captain, is regarded as the greatest player in Ghana’s history and amongst the best in the African continent. As a pioneer of African soccer in European clubs, Pele played for Italian, Swiss, German, and French teams. He also played 67 times for his country in the 80′s and 90′s. Named African Footballer of the Year in 1991, 1992 and 1993, his name was also included as one of the 125 Greatest Living Footballers in March 2004.

Soccer fever is always on. There will be tournaments, one after the other, across the world, in every season.

There can be no clearer indication that African football’s time has come is the World Cup being hosted in South Africa this summer. Questions remain unanswered whether the continent is capable of organising such a vast event with the eyes of the media being focused on them for the almost four weeks that the tournament will be going on. Yet there is no doubt that when South Africa takes the field wearing their bright yellow and green soccer uniforms in their first group match against Mexico on the 11th June 2010, history will have been made.

Being awarded a knighthood by the ruling United Kingdom monarch is one of the finest honors that can be bestowed, recognizing a lifetime’s achievement in a certain field. In world of soccer only fourteen such awards have ever been bestowed, as well as one honorary knighthood to soccer legend Pele. Of the UK born knights, the awards were evenly spread among managers, players and club officials. Yet of the fourteen, one stands out.

For in one of the greatest coincidences in the rich annals of soccer history, the two teams meet in their first competitive match since the USA defeated England almost 60 years ago to the day. The game was a wakeup call for the English team, which had the feeling that all they needed to do was to turn up and win the game, and eventually the World Cup would fall into their hands. After all facts and statistics were on their side as English, self crowned “Kings of Football”,, had won 23 three of their last 30 matches, while the…

A glorious career spanning more than fifteen years at the top looks like it is being drawn to a close, with two tumultuous events coming within five days. Almost symbolically these two events signal the fact that we are unlikely ever to see superstar David Beckham feature again on the World soccer stage, at least at any kind of major level.

Whoever tells you that football is not big business will find it difficult today, with the release of figures showing the turnover of Europe’s top clubs. For the fifth consecutive year, Real Madrid have won the title as being the World’s richest club, which is about the only title that they have won during that period.

Most soccer players cope well with their rise to fame and enjoy playing soccer, earning money and enjoying the good things in life that come with it. A soccer player’s career at the top can be as short as ten years, and a player with a head on his shoulders will soon realize that they have to safeguard their future by investing in their health and their financial stability after their careers on the soccer field has drawn to a close.

France had high aspirations going into the 2002 World Cup in North Korea. After all they were defending their status as World Cup holders as well as reigning European Champions. They boasted a squad of top class players for every department, all of whom were at the peak of their careers and playing for the top clubs in Europe.

This was the backdrop to the European Cup Final of 1959-1960. The match was played at Hampden Park in Glasgow, Scotland between the fabulous Real Madrid side, resplendent in the sparkling white soccer uniforms and the stoic Eintracht Frankfurt of West Germany, is it was known on those days. There was a capacity crowd of 127,000 in the stadium that lovely spring might.

Soccer enthusiasts and historians will argue that there are many great soccer players who have graced the World stage over the last half century, Maradona, Di Stefano, Puskas and Ronaldo to name but a select few. However, if it came down to a consensus, there would be an agreement that the greatest player to play soccer would be none other than Edison Arantes do Nascimento; known to everyone who ever kicked a ball as Pele.

The first match in the Artemio Franchi Stadium in Florence saw Bayern Munich make it through to the quarter-finals, but only by virtue of the away goals ruling, as they lost 3-2 to Fiorentina. After their narrow 2-1 first-leg victory Bayern looked to be in for a tough test, and their fears were rapidly confirmed as Vargas put the home into the lead, which meant that the Germans were on their way out on the away goals rule.

Amidst the evolution of the game, the soccer ball has gone through many developments. Years before the Zidanes and Maradonas we cherish, people enjoyed kicking things that ranged from elasticized balls by South American Indians, human heads or skulls in medieval times, cow bladders or just stitched-up cloth a bit later on. Prior to the manufacturing of rubber, these ‘so-called’ balls would sometimes depend on the size and shape of the objects used, making the ‘roll’ of the ball so unpredictable until leather provided better shape retention.

Whether you like watching soccer or play the game as well, whether you want to buy a gift for someone or something for yourself, there’s a world of soccer goodies out there that keep getting better! You’ll find excellent soccer buys on the Internet. Check out these soccer merchandise, from soccer replica jerseys to soccer gear, soccer memorabilia to soccer diaries.

It’s official! Los Angeles Galaxy lost to Real Salt Lake 5-4 on penalties after the match ended 1-1 after extra time. And with this Galaxy’s hope of winning its third MLS crown was shattered, and Beckham was stopped in his tracks from winning his third national league title. But it gave Real Salt Lake its first title ever!

One of the most famous quotes in modern football have been put down to either one of two famous footballers of the Nineties, either Gary Lineker of England or Lothar Matthias of West Germany. And the quote is “Football is a simple game; 22 men chase a ball for 90 minutes and at the end the Germans win.” The quote sprang up after one of the classic Word Cup matches of all time- the semi-final clash between England and West Germany in the 1990 tournament held in Italy.

There was a definite taste of the fast approaching World Cup finals in the air last night as the cream of the national teams were testing each others’ abilities across Europe and the globe. No less than 33 friendly internationals took place on Wednesday evening, with many of the countries who will be taking part in the finals in action, with some of them even playing against each other.

Tevez and Bellamy scored two each for the visitors while Frank Lampard scored both goals for Chelsea, the last from the penalty spot in injury time with Chelsea reduced to nine men. Chelsea’s lead at the top of the table is now just one point from Manchester United with Arsenal just a further two points behind.

The three players in question were Marco van Basten, Ruud Gullit and Frank Rikaard. Rikaard and Gullit had something in common as they were both half Dutch and half Surinamese, giving them a striking dark skinned appearance with dark curly locks. Strangely enough before arriving at Milan, the Dutch trio rarely played together, although Rijkaard and Van Basten were on Ajax Amsterdam’s books at the same time.

At last, we now know the 32 finalists for the 2010 World Cup at South Africa! For the final berths in the European Zone, France, Portugal, Slovenia and Greece won their play-offs against Republic of Ireland, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Russia and Ukraine. Let’s take a quick look at some of the excitement.

It could be said that the 1954 World Cup held in Switzerland was a bit of an understated affair. The Swiss never known for their flair for the big occasion, and the general opinion was that they had been granted the rights to host the World Cup as a bit of a favor to the FIFA whose headquarters were and still are based in Zurich.

This gave those teams heading for the World Cup Finals in South Africa later this year the chance to do a little experimentation with formations and tactics before the big event. It also gave the players a chance to stake their claims for positions on the plane to South Africa.

Another thrilling round of qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and four more teams have made it to the football fiesta to be held in South Africa. Argentina, Honduras, Switzerland and Slovakia join 19 other teams, including hosts South Africa, who have already qualified for the World Cup 2010. That’s 23 teams selected, and 9 more to go…

Every great football player and ambassador to his club and country should have their contribution to soccer marked by having a statue erected in their name. Thankfully there is a statue erected outside Benfica’s famous Stadium of Light in Lisbon. The statue is of Eusebio, some say the greatest African born soccer player in the history of the game.