Wikipedia – “Romário de Souza Faria (born January 29, 1966 in Rio de Janeiro), better known simply as Romario, is a Brazilian football center forward who helped the Brazil national team win the 1994 FIFA World Cup and is one of the most prolific strikers in the world.” Wikipedia, The Independent, FKM

“My friend Tom Legg has a keen eye for talent. He’s often telling me about this new prodigy or that new wunderkind that I should be keeping my eye on. He knows more about the Beautiful Game than just about anyone I know!” (Road to 2010 World Cup Final)

Forget it Adebayor, your ‘wonder goal’ doesn’t even make it into our top 10 of all time – but Spurs and West Ham do…(Mail Online)
“Emmanuel Adebayor combined balance, poise and power to score his stunning bicycle-kick goal on Tuesday night. Our man at the game, Neil Ashton, hailed it ‘a masterpiece . . . already in goal of the century territory’.”

UEFA’s Elite Football Stadia – Part 1. (The Offside)
“After a severe bout of curiosity resulting in far too much time perusing the internets, we finally came upon a conclusive list of Europe’s Elite football stadiums – UEFA’s codeword for the ability to hold a Champions League final. We contacted Bill of Bill’s Sports Maps to have him make one of his infamous maps for UEFA’s Elites and it’s, as Michel Platini would say, fantastique.”

World Cup Qualifying Wackiness Round-Up (World Cup Blog)
“There’s been a lot of oddball fallout from last week’s World Cup qualifiers. We didn’t cover these stories when they broke, but figured it would make a nice weird Friday afternoon roundup for anyone who hasn’t already seen these stories somewhere else.”

“A Fernando Torres brace helped lift Liverpool two points clear of Manchester United at the top of the Barclays Premier League with a 4-0 win over Blackburn on Saturday lunchtime.” LiverpoolFC
Liverpool 4 – 0 Blackburn Rovers (EPSN)
Liverpool 4-0 Blackburn (BBC)

“Iran, who suffered a stunning defeat to Saudi Arabia in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifiers recently, plummeted 11 spots to drop outside the top-50, according to the latest FIFA World Ranking released Wednesday.” (AFC)

Uruguay begins training thinking of Paraguay and Chile (CONMEBOL)
“The national football team of Uruguay, with 19 footballers from abroad and five locals, began trainings this weekend in view of the matches in front of Paraguay and Chile, corresponding to the eleventh and twelfth rounds respectively, of the South American Qualifiers for the World Cup of South Africa 2010.”

Bolivia 6 – Argentina 1: repercussions of the incredible barrage of goals (CONMEBOL)
“The news of the unforgettable and categorical 6 to1 of the Bolivian national team over that of Argentina, of this Wednesday, April 1st, spread as an earthquake among the fans and in the press of South America and of the whole planet.”

Bahrain’s 2006 qualifying saga (AFC)
“Bahrain’s recent narrow win over Qatar in a 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifier has raised fear-tinged expectations of an encore of their qualifying drama for the 2006 edition.”

Iraq to face Poland, Egypt (AFC)
“Asian champions Iraq will face Poland and Egypt in newly-appointed veteran Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic’s first games in charge, the Iraq Football Association said Thursday.”