Fiorentina – Juventus
“In recent years the model of fan ownership exercised through supporters’ trusts has been increasingly high-profile in British football, not least thanks to the sterling work of the national body Supporters Direct (SD). Meanwhile, very different yet nonetheless successful models of fan ownership exist across the continent, as seen throughout the Bundesliga or alternatively with the ‘socio’ model as at Real Madrid or Barcelona. Though the scale varies along with the specifics of the structure, all of these systems share the basic features of greater fan participation in the running of the club. But until recently few projects of this kind have been found in Italy. Now at last that might be beginning to change.” (Pitch Invasion)

“Rafael Benitez’s twin boyhood passions were football and a Spanish military board game called “Stratego” – both appealing to his calculating mind and analytical approach. So when faced with a simple calculation on the coach journey to Anfield to face Manchester United, Benitez weighed up the odds and took a gamble that could shape Liverpool’s season. Liverpool’s figures of influence, from Kenny Dalglish and managing director Christian Purslow to co-owner George Gillett, had formed an orderly queue to insist the club’s worst run in 22 years had not shaken belief in Benitez.” (BBC)

“Middlesbrough’s vastly improved performance in their unfortunate 2-2 draw with Preston yesterday, capped by a brilliant Adam Johnson goal, will provide encouragement for the man openly touted to be unveiled as their new manager tomorrow, Gordon Strachan. For a man who will ever be associated with the red shirt of Manchester United, Strachan’s playing career was perhaps most significant at its bookends. In the early eighties he was a tireless presence in a never to be forgotten Aberdeen side, winning the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1983 after a win over Real Madrid in Gothenburg; at the dawn of the nineties, he was the pivotal figure as Leeds ended an eight year sojourn in the second division in 1990 and followed it up with a full English league title two years later.” (thetwounfortunates)

“Fernando Torres and substitute David Ngog left Manchester United reeling as Liverpool brilliantly halted their four-game losing streak. Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez had said prior to the game that one win would change everything, and what a result his team delivered to ease the pressure on the Spaniard. The champions were eventually beaten after a stunning performance of defiance that followed days of the worst crisis Liverpool have suffered in decades.” (ESPN)

Liverpool show signs of life with victory over Manchester United
“Liverpool’s season may not yet be over after all. After thousands of supporters had protested against the club’s owners, George Gillett Jr and Tom Hicks, prior to kick-off, the team produced a display that Manchester United simply could not cope with. Technically, both sides were lacking but that is always the case in one of the most fiery derbies in the sporting calendar. But United had no answer to Liverpool’s spirit as Fernando Torres and David Ngog scored the goals to reignite their faltering Premier League campaign.” (TimesOnline)

Liverpool halt slump as second-half goals sink Manchester United
“An occasion that had begun with angry Liverpool fans staging a protest march against their clubs owners ended with a precious victory for Liverpool, as Fernando Torres and David Ngog scored the second-half goals that brought an end to a run of four consecutive defeats.” (Guardian)

Liverpool end losing streak with win over United
“Fernando Torres and substitute David Ngog left Manchester United reeling as Liverpool brilliantly halted their four-game losing streak. Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez had said prior to the game that one win would change everything, and what a result his team delivered to ease the pressure on the Spaniard. The champions were eventually beaten after a stunning performance of defiance that followed days of the worst crisis Liverpool have suffered in decades.” (Independent)

The Last Word: The good Kop will tell Benitez when time is up
“It’s not much of a debate when one side is making all the arguments and the other is simply shaking their head and saying, over and over, ‘In Rafa We Trust’. But that is Liverpool Football Club, for you. And the game should not want it any other way.” (Independent)

Liverpool 2 Manchester United 0: match report
“Fernando Torres sparked the end of Liverpool’s four-game losing streak in a stormy Anfield clash that saw Nemanja Vidic and Javier Mascherano sent off. Second-half goals from Torres and an injury-time David Ngog strike moved Liverpool to within four points of champions Manchester United.” (Telegraph)

(Guardian – The best images from Liverpool versus Manchester United at Anfield)

 
“It’s not often that you see a grown man cry; rarer still to watch a grown man cry at a press conference in front of a baying phalanx of African football journalists. But for Rabah Saadane the pressure just got too much. Algeria’s national coach, returning to the side he led to the 1986 finals, was talking to the assembled media before June’s World Cup qualifier at home to bitter arch-rivals Egypt. After years of dealing with a demanding public, most people expected him to be inoculated from the sharp end of expectation. But no, the 63-year-old instead broke down in tears. What was stranger was the reaction of the press. No one in the room thought it particularly strange. This was Egypt versus Algeria, after all.” (World Soccer), (World Soccer – Part Two, James Montague)

“Gary Neville claimed this week that he would rather Manchester United lose their games against Liverpool and reclaim the championship than win the matches and concede the title. Most fans would agree, but when the clock strikes two this afternoon (or three if you haven’t put them back) it will not feel like that at Anfield.” (WSC)

“We are occasionally reminded that, although the amount of money in football has increased dramatically over the last two decades or so, football isn’t quite the “big” business that we might occasionally believe it to be. Real Madrid’s annual turnover is reported to be over £300m, which sounds like a lot until you start comparing it with other businesses. Edinburgh-based Morrison Construction, for example, have an annual turnover of £500m. Tesco, a company which one might say matches the biggest football clubs in the world in ubiquity, turns over £1bn per week.” (twohundredpercent)

“You simply walk in off the street. Football’s best youth academy is housed in an old brick farmhouse in downtown Barcelona. Inside you are given a coffee and a friendly welcome at the bar. The Masía – FC Barcelona’s academy, named for the Catalan word for farmhouse – recalls AC Milan’s legendary training ground, Milanello. Both places feel like neighbourhood canteens, simple clubhouses where men gather for fellowship and coffee. Yet the Masía is unique. It has produced half the world’s best team, Barcelona, which plays next door in the Nou Camp stadium. Lionel Messi, Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Carles Puyol come from this farmhouse. So do Liverpool’s Pep Reina, Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas and Everton’s Mikel Arteta. Together they would be a competitive World XI. Luckily, three of the academy’s staff – Albert Capellas, Ruben Bonastre and chief scout Pep Boade – are happy to gather around a little table and divulge the Masía’s secrets.” (FT – Simon Kuper)

“Reigning European and Spanish champions Barcelona will aim to put their first dip in form of the season behind them when they host Real Zaragoza in La Liga on Sunday. After losing their perfect league record with a 0-0 draw at Valencia, the Catalan side suffered a shock 2-1 Champions League home defeat by relatively unknown Russians Rubin Kazan in mid-week.” (TimesLive)

“Do you know who the unofficial world football champions are? It’s not Italy, they’re the official world champions by virtue of being World Cup holders. The unofficial world champions are in fact the Netherlands. Who says? The Unofficial Football World Championships people says, that’s who.” (World Cup Blog)

“So you thought Pele was good eh ? Well meet the other ones who, ..er, aren’t quite as good., as we list the top 10 footballing Pele’s…. ” (midfielddynamo)

“An impressive qualifying campaign such as England’s throws up some interesting questions for those looking forward to next year’s global spectacle. The discussion about us being able to win it is not one I would wish to undertake single handed or sober.” (Just Football), (Just Football – 23 For 2010: Choosing the England World Cup Squad pt.2 – Midfielders & Strikers)

“Alexandre Pato’s two goals in AC Milan’s stunning Champions League victory over Real Madrid on Wednesday night may just have turned the Rossoneri’s uncomfortable start to the season on its head. Ahead of their Serie A clash in to Chievo on Sunday evening, ESPN Soccernet’s Nick Bidwell caught up with the Brazilian international.” (ESPN)

“So, I begin with a disclaimer. I love and hate statistics. As a graduate of a graduate school, I realize that statistics can cleverly mask value judgments and assumptions. If I feel like cleverly hiding my deontological proclivities, I reach for the graphing calculator. Brian Phillips at the runofplay has a philosophical aversion to such statistics, but for me, they simply cause a spell of indigestion. My defense of soccer focuses on the qualitative aspect of the sport. While some may focus on the “beautiful game” as a collective interaction between 11 men on each side, I will highlight individual moments and glimpses of brilliance which, for me, transcend a number or stat count.” (futfanatico)

“At the age of 31, Alfred Wainwright, chronicler of the fells, did what you might expect and took a walking holiday. Beginning at Settle, he went north via Appleby and Hexham, following Hadrian’s wall for a spell before returning to Settle by way of Ronaldkirk and Askrigg.” (James Hamilton)

“With those at the top of the table experiencing an autumnal crisis at the moment and Middlesbrough taking dramatic steps to offset this earlier today, it was my chance to assess the progress of one of the pretenders last night. Queen’s Park Rangers’ start to the season had been sluggish, with too many stalemates peppering their progress, but a notable win at Cardiff and hefty hammerings of Barnsley and Preston have followed – and the Super Hoops are now looking dangerous.” (thetwounfortunates)

The Gate Closes – Southgate Sacked!
“After a bad night’s sleep, I was stunned to finally wake up, switch on the computer to trawl the usual websites and come across early stories about Gareth being sacked by Sir Steve. This was my first exposure to the news, a sympathetic and regretful article by Rob Nichols – who was probably as close to the manager as any supporter was likely to get – that compared his departure with that of Lennie Lawrence.” (Smog-Blog)

Championship Chow: Abu Zaad
“An inexpensive rundown of dish promised much, and so it proved. Tempted as we were by a full range of hot and cold starters (another visit might see me take the meze route), my dining companion and I opted for Farrouj Abu Zaad, a dish of lightly spiced baby chicken and the Kastaleta, dainty lamb cutlets.” (thetwounfortunates)

“We’re halfway through the Champions League group stage, which means it’s midterm report-card time for Europe’s elite. In this evaluation, though, you don’t get a straight grade — you’re on a curve based on how you’ve performed relative to expectations.” (SI)

“According to 2010 World Cup chief executive Dr. Danny Jordaan, stadium construction is on track, 1,000 more new buses and 200 additional aircraft will ferry visitors around the country and there will be plenty hotels for fans traveling to South Africa 2010 World Cup.” (NYT)

Giulio Romano, 1526-1534
“This summer’s transfer strategy. Rafael Benítez has purposely avoided conflict with Liverpool’s owners, George Gillett and Tom Hicks, this season but there are signs diplomacy over their budget restrictions is beginning to wane as pressure mounts. “We signed three players and we wanted four,” he said before Lyon. The fourth, it is safe to assume, was a forward. Not signing quality cover for Fernando Torres, and being so short of strikers that David Ngog started the critical game against the French and Andriy Voronin was reluctantly brought back from loan at Hertha Berlin, is proving catastrophic.” (Guardian)

Liverpool could be counting the cost of European failure for years to come
“It is never a happy prospect to be staring at a possible Champions League exit and bonfire of title hopes even before 5 November but for Liverpool this autumn’s struggle for form is particularly ill-timed. Pride, history and the nagging sense of unfulfilled promise soak Anfield with highly-strung, permanent expectation, but at a time like this, to put it bluntly, they cannot afford to fail.” (Guardian – David Conn)

James Lawton: Rafa show is ready for the final curtain
“If there was any mystery to the question now being asked in open panic on Merseyside, the situation might not seem quite so hopeless. Unfortunately there isn’t. We know well enough, and have done so for some time, the answer to ‘What’s it all about, Rafa?’ It is almost entirely about Rafa, and no team has prospered long term under such egocentric control.” (Independent)

Red for danger: Liverpool empire could be one defeat from crumbling
“Four consecutive losses have left Liverpool seemingly at the risk of implosion. After defeat by Lyons in the Champions League on Tuesday, their next opponents are Manchester United and Rafael Benítez’s side will take to the pitch at Anfield on Sunday in the knowledge that another loss would all but end their Barclays Premier League title hopes with seven months of the campaign remaining.” (TimesOnline)

Liverpool v Manchester United: top 10 video moments
“Watch YouTube clips of classic matches between Liverpool and Manchester United as English football’s fiercest rivalry is renewed in the Premier League at Anfield on Sunday.” (Telegraph)

“Situated in the heart of every great team is always a truly special central midfielder who is capable of taking matches by the scruff of their neck and dominating them. Some midfielders are specialists in the holding role, others have an uncanny knack of scoring goals but every so often a player comes along that can excel in all areas. A prime example of this particular species has to be this week’s ArsenalFCBlog’s interviewee Cesc Fabregas.” (SoccerLens)

“When Michel Platini promised to open up European soccer so that clubs from the east might enjoy the spoils of the Champions League, even he could not have envisaged a night like this. Hand on heart, who imagined that Rubin Kazan, Russia’s champion from Tatarstan, would travel to Barcelona on Tuesday and defeat the team acknowledged as the best on earth?” (NYT)

“The UEFA Champions League has complete three rounds of group stage matches or its half-way point. A few teams are very close to clinching a spot to the knockout stage while some clubs have a lot of work to do. Manchester United and Chelsea are both 3-0-0 and a win away from clinching their spots to the next round. Here are the updated UEFA Champions League Group Standings after matchday 3 and through Wednesday, October 21, 2009.” (The 90th Minute)

“Since losing to a Mark Wright header at Italia 90, Egypt have amassed a total of three African Cup of Nations (ACN) victories as well as seven African Champions Leagues shared between their two top clubs. They inflicted a 4-1 drubbing on Ivory Coast’s greatest ever side just under two years ago, disposed of Italy this year and put three past Brazil only to lose to a last-minute penalty. Yet this is also a country that has qualified for the World Cup just twice, with one being in 1934 where qualification consisted of one game and being willing to travel outside your own country.” (WSC)

“Here’s Timothy Garton Ash writing in the New York Review of Books: ‘The year 1989 was one of the best in European history. Indeed, I am hard pushed to think of a better one. It was also a year in which the world looked to Europe – specifically to Central Europe, and, at the pivotal moment, to Berlin. World history – using the term in a quasi-Hegelian sense – was made in the heart of the old continent, just down the road from Hegel’s old university, now called the Humboldt University. Twenty years later, I am tempted to speculate (while continuing to work with other Europeans in an endeavour to prove this hunch wrong) that this may also have been the last occasion – at least for a very long time – when world history was made in Europe. (Guardian)

“Liverpool conceded an injury-time goal which puts their Champions League future in grave doubt. An injury-ravaged home side had produced a display of spirit and effort which did not deserve to see them finish as losers. But they have now lost four games in succession for the first time since 1987 as their season plunges into despair.” (ESPN)

Liverpool staring at European exit after latest injury blow for Steven Gerrard
“The Champions League has been a scene of spectacle for Liverpool on many occasions, but now they must achieve the highly improbable if they are simply to survive the group stage. They were defeated here as Lyon capped a comeback with the winner in the 90th minute, as César Delgado tuned in a perfect low cross from Sidney Govou.” (Guardian)

Delgado turns up heat as Benitez fights for survival
“From his seat in the Anfield directors’ box last night Gerard Houllier will have recognised the problems that are closing in on Rafael Benitez: a threadbare squad, injuries to key players, a terrible run of results and the daunting prospect of facing Manchester United on Sunday.” (Independent)

Liverpool 1 Lyon 2: match report
“Liverpool are running on empty, running out of players, energy and ideas. It is too soon to claim that Rafa Benítez is running out of time but this was a horror show, a hammer blow to their European ambitions and a brutal reminder of how poor Liverpool are without Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres. No Gerrard, no Torres, no leadership, no cutting edge, no chance.” (Telegraph)

Liverpool left reeling by Lyons knockout blow
“Sailing close to the wind has been a feature of Liverpool’s European adventures under the stewardship of Rafael Benítez. A defeat at home to Lyons last night meant they were all but blown off course altogether. As in 2007, only a trio of victories from their final three group games will give the Merseyside club a chance of qualifying for the knockout stages of this season’s Champions League, and having lost their past four matches — Liverpool’s worst run in 22 years — hopes will not be high that an upturn in fortunes is just around the corner.” (TimesOnline)

“A week after the international break in which an ageing Italian national team qualified for the 2010 World Cup, Serie A has rendered some early verdicts. Inter traveled to Genova and crushed Genoa 5-0 (their best away win since the 1970s), Juventus were held to a 1-1 draw against Fiorentina in Turin, Sampdoria dropped points courtesy of refereeing mistakes in their 1-1 draw against Lazio, and Milan finally eked out a 2-1 win at home against Roma. Inter are now alone at the top of the table, leading Sampdoria by 2 points, Juventus and Fiorentina by 4 (and Milan by 7).” (First Touch Online)

“This is the 113th season of professional football in Scotland. Reigning champions are Rangers. This map shows all football clubs in Scotland that drew over 1,000 per game last season (2008-09 domestic leagues).” (billsportsmaps)

“That was the general consensus when another ho-hum Champions League Group draw show came to an end and Rubin Kazan had wound up with Inter, Barcelona and Dynamo Kiev. A banana peel in a group of high-flyers, more or less. One that the well-oiled high powered Barcelona and Inter were planning to avoid slipping on, with Dynamo following suit.” (The Offside)

Rubin pull off massive shock at Nou Camp
“Gokdeniz Karadeniz stuck a second-half winner as Rubin Kazan claimed a shock Champions League victory over reigning European champions Barcelona at the Nou Camp. Karadeniz netted with 17 minutes to go to earn the Russian champions their first win in Group F and inflict a first competitive defeat over Barcelona since May. It was also the first European defeat Pep Guardiola’s men had suffered since losing at home to Shakhtar Donetsk last December having already qualified for the last 16.” (ESPN)

“The 4-1 defeat of Rangers at the hands of Romanian champions Unirea Urziceni last night was the second 4-1 defeat Walter Smith has had to endure in this seasons Champions League campaign and leaves the Ibrox side firmly rooted at the bottom of their group, with only an outside chance of qualifying for the next stage; a victory away in Romania in the next game is an absolute requirement. The Romanians, managed by former Chelsea player Dan Petrescu had a fair slice of luck (a Lee McCulloch own goal, two deflected goals of Kyle Lafferty and Stephen Naismith and a missed first half penalty) but the manner of the result is irrelevant – quite simply, this is the best Scottish football can muster at the moment.” (Inside Left)

“They were young, mostly in their early 20s, mostly attached to teams virtually unknown on the world stage, such as the Albany Capitals and the Milwaukee Wave. Two had no professional affiliation at all because they were still college players. They may have represented a country considered one of the world’s superpowers politically and economically, but in the sport of soccer, they were minnows, fighting their way upstream to the biggest stage. Their victory was in arrival — in reviving a program in danger of losing funding and giving future squads a compass for future improvement. They were the U.S. 1990 World Cup team.” (SI)

“Barcelona lost 2-1 at home to unheralded Russian side Rubin Kazan and Liverpool lost by the same score to visiting Lyon as the big teams struggled in the Champions League on Tuesday.” (SI)

“UEFA Champions League comprises of three qualifying rounds, a play-off round, a group stage and four knockout rounds.” (UEFA)

Standings
(UEFA)

“The murder of Sarajevo supporter Vedran Puljic in violent clashes before a premier league match between Siroki Brijeg and Sarajevo has badly shaken a country where three different nationalities – Bosnians, Serbs and Croats – live an uneasy life together.” (WorldSoccer)

“For all the concern that South Africa, the country, will not be prepared to host the 2010 World Cup, it was South Africa, the team, that took action. The Bafana Bafana fired its Brazilian coach, Joel Santana, on Monday after losing eight of its last nine games. The enthusiasm South African fans felt after the team’s one Confederations Cup victory last summer was erased many times, most recently by Iceland.” (NYT)

“Upon hearing the news I was quite calm. In fact I was quite nonchalant about the whole thing. Had England done their usual trick of struggling and plodding their way through the group stages, leaving themselves reliant on earning a point from a trip to a little known eastern European state then the game would obviously be of greater importance and the news that England’s World Cup qualifier with Ukraine is only being streamed online would be harder to swallow.” (Three Match Ban)

 
Eustache Le Sueur (1616-1655), La Nuit des noces de Tobie et Sarah
“‘There are two teams I love to see lose more than anyone else,’ a Galatasaray-supporting friend said to me the other day. ‘Real Madrid and Chelsea.’ He said it with firm conviction, and wearing a semi-smile filled with genuine relish at the very thought of such results. And for all its faults, you have to thank the Champions League for heightening one aspect of following football that can never be over-rated – the sheer joy of another team’s defeat.” (WSC)

“We received this in the ol’ inbox last week, presumably the first trailer for a documentary looking at next summer’s World Cup through a rather Michael Moore-esque lens. FIFA is constantly proving itself to be crooked and money-hungry, and we suspect this analysis of South Africa from behind the glossy, PR-heavy spin of soccer’s ruling body should prove to ruffle a few feathers. Or merely tell us what we already thought to be true. Either way, it seems to be worth a look.” (unprofessionalfoul – YouTube)

“France coach Raymond Domenech has heaped unnecessary pressure on his own players ahead of the World Cup play-off with the Republic of Ireland by referring to Giovanni Trappatoni’s team as ‘a sort of England B side’. (Examiner)

“Europe, the competitive and financial capital of soccer (and some say the spiritual heart) earns more than twice as many spots in the FIFA World Cup as any other continental region. Fifty-three teams compete for 13 spots, nine of which have been decided. The final four spots will be contested in a home-and-away playoff next month with France, Portugal, Russia and Greece receiving the benefit of ‘seeding’.” (NYT)

“Every time John Barnes loses his job, the chorus swells: do managers who are not white get a raw deal in the English game? To me the answer is straightforward. Because we have no way of knowing, there is no point in asking. And I find the subject an especially irksome waste of time and energy because it does not matter if we have 92 white managers or none. There is nothing better in English football than the disregard for racial origin that has formed over the past quarter of a century, since bananas were thrown at Barnes.” (TimesOnline)

“When a conference on supporter involvement in English football includes speakers from Barcelona, UEFA, the F.A. and non-league football clubs, you know something unusual is going on. This isn’t the Leaders in Football conference of a couple of weeks ago, but it might have been just as important: Supporters Direct’s annual conference concluded last week in Birmingham, and it seems to have cut to the heart of the question of how and why supporters should be involved in the governance of their clubs.” (Pitch Invasion)

“The reigning Eredivisie champions are AZ . The club is located in Alkmaar, Nord-Holland, which is 33 km. (20 mi.) north-west of Amsterdam. KNVB Cup (Dutch Cup) Holders are SC Heerenveen, from Heerenveen, Friesland. At the top of the map are the crests of each club, sized to reflect their 2008-09 average attendance in either the Eredivisie or the second division, which is called the Eerste Divisie. At the top left, there is a list of the cities with 09/10 Eredivisie representation. Below is the list I used.” (billsportsmaps)

“As participants in the first ever international football match there have been some glory nights for our Tartan cousins down the years. They’ve never progressed beyond the group stages of a major tournament, but in reaching every World Cup between 1974 and 1990 and always raising the game when the Auld Enemy hove into view, they have traditionally punched above their weight internationally (yes, we know, pre-Bertie).” (midfielddynamo)

“Last week, Creteil Bebel, an amateur French team, refused to play a league match against Paris Foot Gay – citing a range of reasons, all homophobic. They have since agreed to take the field against PFG, after they were threatened with being banned from the league and made national headlines in France as the homophobic Muslim team (the manager cited the fact that players on his team were ‘practicing Muslims’ to explain the refusal).” (From A Left Wing)

“World Cup qualification in South America came to a close with only one change from the previous two campaigns. Brazil, Paraguay and, in the end, Argentina made it through once again, while Uruguay claimed fifth spot, the play-off position, for the third time running. The sole modification is that Chile have qualified instead of Ecuador.” (BBC – Tim Vickery)

“Team Limey was basking in an unfamiliar relaxed state leading up to this week’s final round of World Cup qualifiers, as its beloved England team safely qualified at the beginning of September with two games to spare. That marked a drastic change from some of the nail-biting, angst-ridden, stress-inducing recent qualification (or lack of) experiences. Two of many that spring to mind are the “Wally with the Brolly” on the touch line as we failed miserably against Croatia in qualification for Euro 2008, and David Beckham’s free-kick heroics against Greece that sneaked us into Japan/Korea 2002.” (SI)

“The World Cup ‘hate match’ is on again, and if it is anywhere near as bad as the last one it could keep Fifa’s disciplinary experts busy – not to mention the police. One goal on a bumpy pitch in Chililabombwe, northern Zambia, was enough to give Egypt victory in their penultimate qualifier today. When Hosni, player of the tournament in the last African Cup of Nations, scored it in the 69th minute millions celebrated back home in Egypt. It kept alive the African champions’ hopes of taking one of the continent’s five qualifying places in next summer’s finals. All they have to do now is beat Algeria on 14 November, in an exact repeat of what they had to do 20 years ago.” (Guardian)

“North Korea’s football manager, wearing a badge of the Dear Leader Kim Jong-il on his plain blue suit, sat on a bar stool in the French provinces and proclaimed: “We’d like to surprise the world.” In truth, North Korea already has. In Le Mans this week the hermit kingdom played its first international football match in Europe since 1966. The country has not engaged this much with the world since endorsing John Kerry for American president in 2004. In football if nowhere else, North Korea is embracing globalisation.” (FT)

“[Editor’s note: I’ve been wondering how Liverpool fans feel about Michael Owen’s new career at Manchester United, so I asked regular Run of Play commenter and fervent Liverpool supporter George Brown to explain. Here’s what he had to say.]” (Run of Play)

“In his 2006 book ‘Floodlit Dreams’, writer Ian Ridley brilliantly summed up the small town politics that drive the running of so many football clubs. He had taken the chairmanship at Weymouth Football Club with big ambitions, but a combination of under-achievement on the pitch, vultures circling overhead and internal squabbling saw him eventually removed by a coup d’etat. At the time, it appeared on the surface as if the club might have a bright future, but problems for the future from which they have never fully recovered.” (twohundredpercent)

“Barcelona saw their Primera Liga lead cut to a solitary point by Real Madrid as they were held to a goalless draw by Valencia at the Mestalla – and they will be relieved to have escaped with that result. Pablo Hernandez went close from his own half and strike partner Juan Mata missed a host of chances, while David Silva was denied by Victor Valdes from the best opportunity of the match.” (ESPN)

At 22, a Veteran of the Madness
“Eventually, the madness of professional sports gets to everyone. Until this weekend, it might have seemed that Spanish soccer was outside the asylum. The national squad had completed the perfect World Cup qualification, winning every one of its 10 games before sending its sons back to their clubs.” (NYT)

SPANISH FOOTBALL – LA LIGA 2009 – 2010 (VIDEOS)
“Three games this Saturday afternoon & evening have been played in Round 7 of the Spanish League – “La Liga”. Here is a brief summary of results, scorers & videos of some brilliant goals that were scored today.” (Spanish Football Sports)

Real Madrid beats Vallodolid 4-2, Barcelona draws with Valencia 0-0 – Recap and Video Highlights – Saturday, October 17, 2009
(The 90th Minute)

“In the second half of the 1960, the little Amsterdam based suburb-club Ajax grew out to become a European top team. A new study reconstructs the why: money, professionalism, Cruyff and the psycho-analytical method of coach Rinus Michels.” (WorldCupBlog)

“Football management computer games are, it’s probably fair to say, hugely popular for one fairly simple reason. Football fans – even knowledgeable football fans – are often tempted to believe they could do a better job than the current incumbent of this or that team. In the case of the Argentine national team, they might just be right. Whether successful or not, it would certainly be difficult for anyone to do the job with less basic human dignity than Diego Armando Maradona, a man who has continued to think like a fan rather than a manager throughout his first year in charge of his country.” (WSC)

Gabriel Metsu, Dead Cock
“Darren Bent staked a further claim for a place in England’s World Cup squad as Sunderland heaped further misery on Liverpool. However, he did so in controversial circumstances as the visitors were left fuming over the fifth-minute strike which secured the Black Cats’ first victory over a ‘top four’ team since their return to the Premier League.” (ESPN)

Darren Bent and beachball hand Liverpool third straight defeat
“Rafael Benítez must wonder what he has done to deserve such luck. Injuries in the international break stripped him of his two best players in Fernando Torres and Steven Gerrard, and here his side were deflated by a beachball. Darren Bent’s crucial opening goal was deflected past Pepe Reina stray inflatable in the goalmouth and should not have stood. The result leaves Liverpool a distant eighth in the Premier League.” (Guardian)

Sunderland heap further misery on Liverpool
“Darren Bent staked a further claim for a place in England’s World Cup squad as Sunderland heaped further misery on Liverpool. However, he did so in controversial circumstances as the visitors were left fuming over the fifth-minute strike which secured the Black Cats’ first victory over a ‘top four’ team since their return to the Barclays Premier League.” (Independent)

Sunderland 1 Liverpool 0: match report
“Liverpool’s Premier League title challenge suffered another debilitating blow today – this time courtesy of a big red beach ball. In what will go down as one of the most bizarre goals since the league was launched in 1992, Darren Bent’s shot was helped in by a Liverpool-branded inflatable released by fans congregated behind the visitors’ goal.” (Telegraph)

Darren Bent bursts Liverpool bubble
“A SUNDERLAND winner scored in farcical manner — a Darren Bent shot, which sped past a perplexed Jose Reina via a red beach ball — just about epitomised Rafa Benitez’ day, indeed his week. The Liverpool manager had already been warned as to his future conduct, by an independent regulatory commission, for making a gesture with his spectacles in a “non-malicious and humorous manner”. That criticism of Phil Dowd had taken place after the first match of the season, the defeat by Tottenham. Ten games on in the Premier League and Europe and fortunes have, if anything, deteriorated. Benitez, by last night, was definitely not amused by the turn of events yesterday.” (TimesOnline)

“Team Limey was basking in an unfamiliar relaxed state leading up to this week’s final round of World Cup qualifiers, as its beloved England team safely qualified at the beginning of September with two games to spare. That marked a drastic change from some of the nail-biting, angst-ridden, stress-inducing recent qualification (or lack of) experiences. (SI)

England’s Expectations Too High for Its Players
” On Wednesday morning, the start of a mild gray day, the final participant in the famous Fourth Plinth experiment in Trafalgar Square had her say. The experiment — Antony Gormley’s project allowing 2,400 people to spend an hour each on the plinth (a pedestal on which a statue usually stands) over 100 days — was eccentric, but it gave ordinary people the power to perform or preach in a great public space.” (NYT)

England uninspired in victory
“England ended its pre-World Cup competitive schedule with a solid 3-0 win over Belarus here on Wednesday night. Almost everyone at Wembley Stadium went home happy but England manager Fabio Capello’s smiles must have been masking disappointment. This was a very mediocre performance from a team that’s being talked up as possible World Cup winners.” (The Globe and Mail)

“The Mill sees no borders. It recognises no flag. It also has a tendency to stuff large slabs of cheese, oversized chocolate bars and great hernia-inducing cardboard barrels of cheap red wine into its fraying sports holdall before walking down the “nothing to declare” aisle and worrying about small, neat, frightening men with clipboards peering at it through the makeshift off-white partitions and detecting its febrile smirk of pathetic, quivering guilt.” (Guardian – Barney Ronay)

Gerrard and Torres out
“Rafael Benitez has been dealt a huge double injury blow after confirming key men Steven Gerrard and Fernando Torres will miss the trip to Sunderland. Torres suffered an adductor injury while away with Spain on international duty and did not figure in their match against Bosnia-Herzegovina on Wednesday.” (ESPN)

“I watch most U.S. national team games cloistered in my own soccer nerdom, hunched over a computer or slouched at a friend’s house where I can bitch freely about the team’s dry ideas and dire first touch. This is how a lot of us watch games. As a whole, U.S. fans are a nerdy and pessimistic bunch. We pick apart 1-0 wins over Trinidad & Tobago. We fear loud noises and confrontations at bars with Steelers fans over television-space. Saturday’s game against Honduras, however, forced us to come together with an energy and pride that we rarely exhibit.” (Foot Smoke)

“The greatness and the gaffe. The genius and the gomer pyle. While we last ruminated on an unknown-outside-Argentina-striker, we now turn our attention to the Italianinternational scoring phenomon known as Roberto Baggio. Or, how Pope John Paul referred to him – ‘my worst nightmare.’” (futfanatico)

“From England’s crop of 1934 to Zambia’s talented but tragic USA hopefuls: half a dozen teams who didn’t make it to the big party” (Guardian)

“Well, it’s been memorable. Qualification looked comfortable for Argentina in the final table, four points clear of fifth-placed Uruguay and a full five ahead of Ecuador in sixth, who lost out on the play-offs thanks to Chile continuing to play to the end in spite of having assured qualification early. Why all the wailing and gnashing of teeth in the run-up?” (ESPN)