“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)

“We’ve got our first ever football map of Scotland this month by sports map guru Bill Turianski. The simple and obvious fact of Scottish football, known to most if not all of you, is the overwhelming dominance of Glasgow’s Old Firm duo Celtic and Rangers. And it shines right through on the map and attendance table.” (albion road)

“Diego Maradona’s Argentina booked their place at next summer’s World Cup finals as substitute Mario Bolatti hit a late winner to end Uruguay’s hopes of snatching automatic qualification for South Africa. Huracan midfielder Bolatti, winning just his third cap, fired home with six minutes remaining after the home defence failed to deal with Juan Sebastian Veron’s drilled effort from a free-kick.” (ESPN)

Just because Maradona’s paranoid doesn’t mean they’re not out to get him
“‘You lot take it up the arse,’ were Diego Maradona’s words to the press immediately after his team secured a place at next year’s World Cup finals. It was almost adding injury to the insult when he scanned the room and added, ‘if the ladies will pardon the expression’. Looking increasingly Botox-ridden, the angry yet victorious Argentina coach was somehow able to raise a nervous chuckle from those on the receiving end of the abuse.” (Guardian)

Diego Maradona hits out at critics after Argentina qualify for 2010 World Cup
“Diego Maradona hit out at critics of his coaching and said he had issues to discuss with his boss after Argentina qualified for the World Cup. ‘For those who didn’t believe in this national team, for those who treated me like garbage [I say] today we are in the World Cup with all the honours, beating a team like Uruguay,’ said Maradona. Argentina secured their berth at next year’s tournament in South Africa with a 1-0 away win over arch-rivals Uruguay at the Centenario, scene of the first World Cup final in 1930.” (Guardian)

Argentina defeats Uruguay 1-0; qualifies for 2010 World Cup – Recap and Video Highlights – Wednesday, October 14, 2009
“In CONMEBOL (South America), Argentina needed a good result against Uruguay to guarantee a spot in the FIFA 2010 World Cup Finals. Did Argentina qualify or did they struggle? Here’s a recap of the match along with video highlights.” (The 90th Minute)

World Cup Qualifying – CONMEBOL
(ESPN)

“Hungary’s progress to the Under-20s World Cup semi-finals in Egypt has brought to the spotlight the country’s close links with Liverpool Football Club. Three of Hungary’s best performers during the tournament are currently on the books at Anfield as part of a tie-up between Liverpool and MTK Hungaria. And with Liverpool recently bringing Oldham Athletic into the partnership to act as a sort of halfway house between Budapest and Merseyside for young Hungarian players, the links look set to strengthen in the medium to long-term future.” (Just Football)

“Edward Fischman is an occasional commenter on the Goal blog under the handle fischy. He was in the stands in Florence, Italy, on June 10, 1990 when the United States returned to World Cup play after a 40-year absence. As the 2010 World Cup qualifiers wind down, he provides his selections for an Ultimate XI of players who have never competed in a World Cup tournament game.” (NYT)

“American players wanted to win for Charlie. They didn’t, but it sure felt like a victory when the United States scored with just seconds remaining in its final World Cup qualifier. After Jonathan Bornstein’s goal in the fifth minute of stoppage time gave the United States a 2-2 tie against Costa Rica on Wednesday night, players took a victory lap. They carried a banner with the No. 9, the jersey number of Charlie Davies, their teammate who is hospitalized with serious injuries from an automobile accident.” (ESPN)

Freedman’s Throw-Ins
“Let’s just say we all owe Jonathan Bornstein a beer. Had the much-maligned left back not scored that dramatic equalizing header in extra time Wednesday night, the U.S. would be staring at an extremely depressing home loss to Costa Rica. The game was meaningless from a competitive standpoint, save for the “Hexagonal champion” bragging rights at stake (and the emotions involved, as Grant Wahl writes). But that performance, combined with the other plot twists, would have been a real downer on which to wrap up the Hexagonal.” (SI)

Bornstein’s stoppage-time header gives U.S. draw against Costa Rica
“American players wanted to win for Charlie. They didn’t, but it sure felt like a victory when the United States scored with just seconds remaining in its final World Cup qualifier.” (SI)

United States draws with Costa Rica 2-2 – Recap and Video Highlights – Wednesday, October 14, 2009
“The United States faced Costa Rica in the last match for both teams in the CONCACAF hexagonal stage. Costa Rica could clinch a spot with a win or Honduras loss while the USA have already qualified. The Americans will try to focus as after the car accident to striker Charlie Davies who remains in a hospital and likely out for next summer’s World Cup. Here’s a recap of the Wednesday, October 14, 2009 match along with video highlights.” (The 90th Minute)

During a Week of Highs and Lows, U.S. Fights for a Tie
“The U.S. national team has experienced disturbingly little synchronicity this week. Days after the high of clinching a spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, the team suffered a devastating low on Tuesday when forward Charlie Davies was seriously injured in a car crash that killed one person.” (NYT)

The Penitent Magdalen in a Landscape, Annibale Carracci
“The closing minutes of the World Cup qualification campaign is a time of great joy for those who have booked their places, and a time of sadness for those who have missed out. With its collection of great players from all over the planet, Europe’s Champions League is the place to be week in, week out. But the World Cup has its special magic precisely because it comes around once every four years.” (SI – Tim Vickery)

“Lincoln City supporter Keith Duncombe stepped into the murky world of the football internet forum in 1997 and, in spite of warnings from his doctor about the ill-effects that it is all having on his blood pressure, he is still there.” (twohundredpercent)

“The World Cup 2010 picture is getting clearer and clearer. Right now 19 of the 32 available spots are booked. Qualified teams are: South Africa, Japan, Australia, S. Korea, Netherlands, N. Korea, Brazil, Ghana, England, Spain, Paraguay, Cote d’Ivoire, Germany, Denmark, Serbia, Italy, Chile, Mexico, USA.” (WorldCupBlog)

“The German national team can breathe a little easier after their win against Russia secured their spot in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. One goal from Miroslav Klose was all it took, but it was Mesut Oezil who got the ball to Klose’s foot. After fielding a pass from Lukas Podolski, Oezil approached the goal from the left and drew the keeper out. He faked a shot, which the keeper fell to the ground to block. With the keeper out of the picture, Oezil quickly snapped a pass to Klose in front of the goal who completed the play for the score.” (DW-World)

UEFA – ESPN Soccernet – Oct. 10, Oct. 11, Oct. 14
CONCACAF
CONMEBOL

“Winning is for losers. Many of life’s more interesting stories focus on those who didn’t quite make it; who didn’t get the girl or the job or the epiphany or even the Jules Rimet trophy. Johan Cruyff said his Holland side of the 70s were immortalised by their failure to win the World Cup and, when World Soccer invited a group of experts to select the greatest teams of all time a couple of years ago, three of the top five sides won nothing: Hungary 1953, Holland 1974 and Brazil 1982. Lying 16th on the list – above any side from Argentina, Spain, Germany, Liverpool, Manchester United or Internazionale – was the Danish team of the mid-80s.” (Guardian)

“As all married men out there know, apologizing is a bit of an art form. As the Harvard Business School points out: ‘Done right, an apology can enhance both reputations and relationships. Done wrong, an apology can compound the original mistake, sometimes to disastrous consequences.’ Which brings us to our first apology of the day: Sir Alex Ferguson’s apology to referee Alan Wiley.” (Avoiding the Drop), (Avoiding the Drop – The Art of the Apology, Part II)

“In the 1970´s, a simmering movement left the film industry perplexed and forever changed. The concept was simple: black pride. Yet from this basic concept sprang a world of parody, action, and humor. The era´s name? Blaxploitation. The US National team has similarly entered a new era of early goals but late comebacks, known simply as Bradleyextrapolation. The US went down 1-0, but a 3 goal explosion and a missed penalty resulted in an away victory and a ticket to South Africa. And now, the carefully calculated player grades.” (futfanatico)

“Yet again the issue of The Old Firm moving to the English league has raised it’s rather gnarled and ugly head. I am torn on the issue – that is I can see both sides. That said, Paul Hayward in the Observer lays out five questions. I attempt to answer them below.” (Left Back In The Changing Room)

“In the latest Football Weekly, internet sensation James Richardson is joined by Sean Ingle, Barry Glendenning and Jonathan Wilson to look back on – let’s be honest – a surprisingly dramatic weekend of World Cup qualifiers. We kick off with England’s defeat in Ukraine. Is it time to bed in an alternative to Rio Ferdinand at the back? Did David James do enough to cement his position as the country’s top goalkeeper? And who’ll lead the line against Belarus in the absence of Wayne Rooney?” (Guardian)

“Yes, it may be childish, it may even be downright mean, but what the hell, here are the best of your nominations for the game’s ugliest characters and your reasons for their inclusion… ” (midfielddynamo)

Van Basten
“Everyone laughs at Argentina, but the point is to understand how they got themselves into this mess. Their football team, coached by Diego Maradona, a peculiar former cocaine addict with no previous successful coaching experiences, might fail to qualify for the World Cup. To get there, the Selección must beat Peru at home on Saturday and probably at least draw in Uruguay on Wednesday.” (FT)

Apparently Argentina Asked Peru to Roll Over. But Peru Didn’t.
“Late late 2-1 win over Peru for Diego Maradona’s Argentina on Saturday night, with Martin Palermo scoring the all-important goal in the 93rd minute (and drawing a magnificent Klinsmann-esque diving celebration from his coach, see the very end of the above video.)” (WorldCupBlog)

Palermo Scores, Maradona ‘Flops’, Argentina Wins
“The hero of Argentina’s sputtering World Cup campaign owns an ignominious place in the Guiness Book of World Records. And now, Martín Palermo, a guy known as el Loco (the crazy one), has staked his place in Argentine soccer history. Few will soon forgot the final five minutes or so of Saturday night’s tumultuous South American World Cup qualifying match between a desperate Argentina and a desolate Peru at Estadio Monumental in Buenos Aires.” (NYT)