Ode to the beautiful game... (Soccer)

Giroud played the whole match Sunday. Walcott is out a few weeks with an abdominal injury (hernia?), but others are coming back in. Who knows how they'll look in January, but for now they seem to have adequate reserves.
 
The Guardian has done it's own investigation into working conditions for migrants in Qatar and confirmed everything that has been said before. But doesn't look like FIFA is prepared to say anything in encourage Qatar to improve conditions. There has been on average about one death per day so far this year. The Guardian liken the workers' treatment to modern day slavery.

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/sep/25/revealed-qatars-world-cup-slaves
 
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Man U beat Liverpool today 1-0 with Chicharito doing to scoring. Still haven't gotten over the weekend trumping by City. :lol:
 
And Arsenal now in first on points, not just a tiebreaker. The table is crazy, with both Manchester teams out of the top four, Arsenal/Tottenham at the top, and flipping Southampton in fourth. Finally, Arsenal's method of developing talent and not just buying it (Ozil notwithstanding) seems to be paying off. Ramsey has managed to achieve even beyond what was expected before his injury, and Gnabry is igniting in Walcott's absence. Now that I have watched so many high school and club matches for my older son, who is the same age, it is even more amazing to me how good such young players can be.
 
Good for Arsenal! But wow Man U. :eek: I don't think City getting upset as well will be any consolation...
 
I'm all out of words right now. Excuse me while I go sulk in my coca cola. :slinkaway
 
Toronto beat D.C. United 4-1 over the weekend whilst D.C. played their 2nd team. I am happy TFC won but the team they beat is last on the table...
 
FIFA's executive committee begin their deleberations today on whether or not to move to the WC to winter. UEFA's president Platini wants it after the holidays which will cause it to clash with not only the Winter Olympics but also the Super Bowl. Any noise about opposition to the move I believe is for the sole purpose of covering their collective behinds and not real.
 
Buzz said:
FIFA's executive committee begin their deleberations today on whether or not to move to the WC to winter. UEFA's president Platini wants it after the holidays which will cause it to clash with not only the Winter Olympics but also the Super Bowl. Any noise about opposition to the move I believe is for the sole purpose of covering their collective behinds and not real.
Click to expand...

Putting the WC opposite the Super Bowl and the College Football playoffs will ENRAGE Fox Sports. If they actually follow through with this, Fox is going to bail on their deal, and FIFA will have to renegotiate and will sell the rights at a big discount. And this will piss the entire American soccer community. While that isn't as important as Italy, England, Spain, Brazil and Germany, America is where the big bucks are and where the most growth of the game is going to happen. But since FIFA is bought and sold to Qatar, they will press forward despite the huge problems with this WC. What a mess....
 
I hope Fox, Telemundo, and all the losing bidders sues FIFA's pants off! Not to mention the families of all the workers who may die building these stadiums!
 
According to the BBC FIFA will not make a decision on moving the 2022 WC to Winter until after Brazil 2014. Looks like FIFA are just giving themselves as much time as possible so they can buy their fiercest critics silence and ensure it is too late for 2022 to be moved to another country. BTW did they do anything at all during this two day conference beside agreeing not to make any decisions at all anytime soon? And where did the money for this expensive vacation come from again?! :P

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/24401699
 
I recently read an article that says the head of Pakistan's FA is optimistic about his country qualifying for the WC in 2022. I like the guy's optimism but the comments below the article were quite telling. To say the least, Pakistan's fans were not amused! :lol: But like I said, I do like the dude's optimism and who knows, maybe, just maybe someday in the future they will make a decent run at a WC qualifying spot. Doubt it will happen anytime in the next few decades however. LOL

http://www.dawn.com/news/1044482/pakistan-on-track-to-qualify-for-2022-world-cup-pff-chief
 
Oh sh!t.... Man U is behind 1-0 to Sunderland. There is still lots of time left on the clock so I am hopeful of a positive outcome but I have rarely been this nervous during a Man U match.
 
Liverpool, Man U, Man City, Chelsea all won this week while Arsenal drew 1-1 with West Brom, and Spurs lost 3-0 to West Ham. That still leaves my boys waaay down in 9th spot with Arsenal and Liverpool tied for first.
 
There was another round of WC qualifiers it say. The USA beat Jamaica 2-0, Portugal tied with Israel 1-1 and in danger of having to do the playoff round, Slovenia beat Norway 3-0, and Armenia beat Bulgaria 2–1. Totally bummed that I was not able to watch any matches because of work, so now I am off to troll for highlight vids. :D


http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/matches/index.html
 
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Insanity has come to MLS: http://prosoccertalk.nbcsports.com/...hedule-in-2014-would-august-may-work/related/

Don Garber caving too that lunatic Sepp Blatter??? MLS will be destroyed by moving to a fall/winter schedule. First, and most importantly, weekends in the fall in the USA is American Football time, both college and the NFL. MLS going up against that juggernaut is insane. This is an issue that only the USA has, and for FIFA and MLS to be ignorant of it makes no sense whatsoever. I mean, who in Columbus will possibly consider going to a Crew game when the Buckeyes are playing across town?? Add in that the winters in North America tend to be harsher than in Europe, who will go to Fire, Union, Revs games outdoor in 20 degree weather? And what player wants to play in that? And 30 years ago the NASL went out of business in part because of a fall schedule. Learn the lesson. And finally, MLS is the fastest growing sport in the USA, why in the world screw with that?

I fully understand that MLS being out of sync with the FIFA schedule creates problems, but wouldn't a MLS that goes out of business create more?
 
I hope that won't happen but I know what the great blatterer wants, the great blatterer gets.
 
More WC qualifiers today and England is in a must win situation against Poland. Egypt plays Ghana today in Ghana but the location for the return game is in dispute because Ghana has asked for it to be moved for safety reasons. It is also possible that Portugal, who plays Luxembourg, could still secure the automatic qualifying spot but highly unlikely. USA plays Panama and Mexico plays Costa Rica. Poor New Zealand cannot believe their bad luck in having to play off against Mexico for a WC spot. :lol: But then again with the way Mexico is playing maybe New Zealand has a good chance at making it.
 
Mexico was a brilliant bicycle kick away from getting eliminated, and now they are in deep against the Ticos. Maybe the miracle victory will energize the Mexican side. But based upon their play in the last year, I think the Kiwis have a decent chance against el Tri.
 
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