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Things learned at the World Cup - Day 23: Maradona has had better days; Germany youth served; Batros did a decent job

Day 23 of the World Cup saw Europe regain its dominance on top of the soccer world. And all it took was getting rid of dead weights like Italy and England. What went wrong for Argentina? Was the Guatemalan official in the Spain-Paraguay game great or poor or somewhere in between? Here’s what we learned:

1) [...]

Milito Shines in Champions League Final

Argentine forward Diego Milito scored both goals in Internazionale’s 2-0 win over Bayern Munich, powering the Italian club to its first UEFA Champions League title since 1965.

Milito stole the show with spectacular goals in the 34th and 70th minutes and cemented his place in Champions League history. So too did Inter Milan Manager Jose [...]

Champions League Redux: Cris and Motta Red Cards, Late Camp Nou Drama

Cris’s tackle was a yellow card offense, and his clapping was an immediate second yellow card.
The fifty-ninth minute tackle by Cris on Van Bommel was a stupid one to make. The first rule of thumb people need to realize (see Andy Gray) is this: it does not matter if the tackler gets the ball first. [...]

Bundesliga Round 32: Battles for position at Top and Bottom of Table

Round 32 of this Bundesliga campaign sees teams at the bottom of the table fighting for survival against teams in the top half of the table. The teams at the top, meanwhile, have road trips to two different teams right now. By the time this round is over, we could have one team relegated, and [...]

Champions League Redux: Refereeing Decisions, Alves, Robben

1) Both Samuel Eto’o and Sergio Busquets deserved to be booked for their dissent towards the referee.
While I can understand the players frustration about the calls that were made in these instances, that is no excuse for showing any blatant form of protest. Yes, Eto’o, while it looked like it was a 50-50 ball, you [...]

Bundesliga Round 31: A Round to Cement the Table?

With only four rounds left in the upcoming Bundesliga season, this weekend’s fixtures will do one of two things: we will either have a more jumbled race for those final European spots, or we could end up with a table that doesn’t have room for much movement over the final three matches of the season.

Note, [...]

Manchester United 3:2 Bayern Munich – Arjen Robben upstages Wayne Rooney as Bayern advances

The night started with the shocking return of Wayne Rooney.

But there was a villain at Old Trafford Wednesday night making a return, a villain they knew all too well: Arjen Robben.

The Dutch midfielder, who won two Premier League titles over Manchester United while at Chelsea, was always expected to come back for Bayern Munich in [...]

Bayern Munich 2:1 Manchester United – Late flurry sets up intriguing second leg

Wayne Rooney gave Manchester United a dream start by scoring after just 64 seconds, but in the end, it might have been way too early.

United were actually fortunate to get out of the Allianz Arena in Munich with a 2-1 loss they can take back to England in the first leg of their UEFA Champions [...]

Schalke 2, Dortmund 1: Rakitic Strike the Difference in Ruhr Derby

Ivan Rakitic was at the center of the action during Friday night's Ruhr derby

The Ruhr derby–or what many consider to be the German derby–took place on Friday night in Gelsenkirchen at the Veltins-Arena. Schalke 04 hosting Borussia Dortmund was sure to be a spectacle even without the passion of the rivalry, as the points [...]

Benfica 4, Hertha Berlin 0: Aimar Leads the Eagles to Europa’s Round of Sixteen

Pablo Aimar scored Benfica's first as part of his stunning midfield performance (Photo:EFE/Manuel De Almeida)

Benfica entered the Estádio da Luz for the second leg of their Europa League tie with Hertha Berlin with only the slightest of advantages—clinging to their away goal lead after a disappointing match against the German side last week. [...]