Pablo Aurrecochea, a Goalkeeper in Funny Kits. Uruguayan goalkeeper Pablo Aurrecochea who is playing for Paraguay’s club Guarani is famous for his hilarious and kind of geeky kits.

Real Madrid Preseason starts with tough session

Real Madrid trained under the supervision of Jose Mourinho in Los Angeles Real Madrid 2011/12 started with a tough training session in Los Angeles supervised by Jose Mourinho at UCLA. New signings Sahin, Callejon, Varane and Coentrao worked out with their teammates for the first time. Close to 200 people supported the squad from the entrance of the facilities; Mourinho got the loudest cheers.

Physical exercises and ball work took centre stage. The players did stretching and muscle strengthening workouts before tackling ball exercises in obstacle courses comprising poles that the players had to avoid with their feet at different paces. Goalkeepers Casillas, Adan, Tomas Mejias and Jesus worked out with Silvinio Louro.

U2 - One : Best FIFA World Cup Moments

World cup predictions: Who will qualify for the 2014 World Cup

The 2014 World Cup will have 33 national teams in participation from Europe, North America, Asia, Africa and South America. Predicting who will make up most of these teams for the most part is not actually that difficult.
For European nations will make up the largest number. With them, there is a contingent of teams who consistently qualify for the finals. The world champs, Spain, have a modest group and it would be a shock if they were not there. Add to them, the likes of Germany, Holland, Italy (2006 world champions) and France. Usually, they are bankers to qualify.

 

 

Aside from this European contingent, a few others will likely join them

The Scandinavian teams of Denmark and Sweden have become reasonably steady World Cup teams. They can qualify, and maybe even make some sort of an impact.
Getting beyond Europe, Brazil as hosts, qualify automatically. With world class talent, you cannot expect anything else. The other South American certainty is Argentina. They too, usually qualify for the main event.
Beyond them, predicting the South American teams to join them is a little less straightforward. Paraguay also could make up another South American team along with Uruguay.
North America, you can bet on the Americans to be there. They now boast a solid team, which usually qualifies for the finals. Mexico, have a useful team, and you would not put it beyond them either.
This World Cup will motivate the African nations. I would expect Nigeria to be there, as one of the stronger African nations. Ivory Cost also has a decent team, with a great technique on par with the best. After that, it is tricky, but Cameroon could make up another. In Asia 43 teams competing for 4 or 5 berths, playoff to determine exact number. However, you would bet on the likes of Japan. Also, do not discount the South Koreans who are getting better and Philippines (wetwew). It remains to be seen whether Australia can build on there last performance, but they have some useful players.
Of the Near East, again, not so easy. Iran, have been in the World Cup more recently, along with the Saudis (who were awful). Worth a pun on one of those at least.
Therefore, that leaves a handful of outsiders. Greece, they are a half-decent team now, and should be included. Scotland might well have a chance also, along with the Republic of Ireland. In addition, you can include Croatia from England's group, as well as Russia who now have more self-belief. The Swiss also look solid, and might be able to qualify again.
While I will not attempt to predict all 33 qualifying teams, you can expect the majority of those mentioned above to be there. Most recommended bets to qualify:  Argentina, Spain, Germany and Italy for single or multiple bets. I would call these bankers, while Holland, France and England are not far behind. The Ivory Coast and Nigeria are most definitely worth a flutter also, along with Russia, Croatia, Sweden, America and Mexico. We shall see

Messi-inspired Argentina come to life

Lionel Messi at last came into his own at the Copa America as Argentina beat a defensive Costa Rica 3-0 with two goals from Sergio Aguero to secure second place in Group A on Monday.
Argentina will move to Santa Fe for a quarterfinal on Saturday against the second-placed team in Group C, while group winners Colombia's last-eight match is in Cordoba with the best third-placed team from the three groups.
Messi was supreme laying on chances for the forwards and Argentina should have doubled their tally against a raw, mainly under-23 Costa Rica side that was drafted into the tournament at the last minute after Japan pulled out.
"We needed to regain security as a team, with the ball ... Lionel knows how to overcome these situations and today he showed that on the pitch with a tremendous match, fantastic," coach Sergio Batista told a news conference.
Aguero put Argentina ahead with the last kick of the first half, taking advantage of a deflection from a shot by Fernando Gago to bury the loose ball when the packed Costa Rica defence tried to clear a dangerous move in their box.
The striker also hit the second eight minutes into the second half after being put away by Messi on the left to become the tournament's top scorer with a tally of three.
"The truth is this victory means a lot. It was a final because it was our qualification and we did it," an elated Aguero told a television reporter on the pitch of the Mario Alberto Kempes stadium packed by more than 50,000 fans.
BRILLIANT THIRD GOAL
Messi, finding more space once Argentina were ahead, laid on a string of perfect balls to the strikers, his combination with Angel Di Maria perfect as the midfielder came in from the left to fire the third goal into the roof of the net in the 64th.
"The other two matches were very hard and we couldn't display our game but today the lads had a lot of confidence," Batista said following a 1-1 draw against Bolivia and a goalless stalemate with Colombia.
Argentina were unlucky not to be awarded a penalty just past the hour when Gonzalo Higuain was pulled back but the striker was also guilty of several missed chances. Central defender Nicolas Burdisso had a header from a corner come off the angle of bar and post in the first half.
The only difficult ball Argentina's goalkeeper Sergio Romero had to deal with was a header from an 89th-minute corner that he dived to punch away.
Costa Rica seldom managed to venture into Argentina's half and only came marginally close to a chance in the first half with a shot from outside the box by shaven-headed midfielder Heiner Mora that went just over the bar.
Now the Costa Ricans must wait to see if they squeeze into the last eight as one of the two best third-placed teams.

US women stun brazil with epic comeback, 5-3 on penalty kicks, advance to World Cup Semi Final

If you missed today’s Women’s World Cup quarterfinal between the US and Brazil, you missed one of the most dramatic games in US Soccer history — men’s or women’s. A match on par with the US-Algeria from World Cup 2010, US-Colombia from World Cup 1994 and the 1999 Women’s World Cup Final — it was that good (the game will be re-aired on ESPN2 at midnight, if you want watch it in its entirety).

After playing most of the second half with 10 players (even Julie Foudy and Ally Wambach kept saying 10-men), and overcoming some questionable calls, US striker Abby Wambach scored a late equalizer in the 122nd minute — the latest goal in Women’s World Cup history — to tie the game at 2-2 and take the game to penalty kicks. In the spot kick session, the US cooly slotted home all five shots and Hope Solo came up with one key save to finish off an improbably comeback. Bravo ladies, one for the ages.

After the men’s disappointing performance in the Gold Cup Final, the women’s success (so far) is a much needed boost to keep soccer’s summer momentum going. The US will play France in the semifinals this Wednesday.

Post-game thought on the controversial refereeing.

The controversial calls against the US on Rachel Buehler’s red card and the encroachment call on Hope Solo’s penalty kick save were certainly harsh, and could have gone the other way, but from a neutral perspective they were hardly gaffes. Buehler perhaps only deserved a yellow, rather than a red, for her foul on Marta, but the US can only blame themselves for encroaching into the box on the ensuing PK.

While the calls were certainly controversial, the ESPN broadcast team lost their heads a bit with rage. Expecting former national team players, like Brandi Chastain andJulie Foudy, and former coach Tony DiCicco, to be neutral is impossible, as broadcasters, though, they owe the audience their best effort. Instead, they made little effort to help the audience see the game from a more informed perspective and acted as cheerleaders. Ian Darke tried his best to stay neutral, but even he seemed to get infected by the American fever.

Real Madrid v LA Galaxy on July 17, 2011

The LA Galaxy have announced that it will play Real Madrid on July 16th and the LA Coliseum. Kick off is 7 p.m. – Buy LA Galaxy v Real Madrid Tickets

“We are very excited to once again welcome back Real Madrid along with manager José Mourinho and their cadre of international talent to Los Angeles,” Galaxy President Tom Payne said. “Last year more than 89,000 fans witnessed these two clubs face off and the excitement for this rematch, at the historic Coliseum, will surely capture the attention of all sports fans in Southern California.”

A nine-time European champion and 31-time champion of Spain’s La Liga, Real Madrid recently won the Copa del Rey and currently sit in second place in La Liga while also advancing to the semifinals of the UEFA Champions League. Now in his first season as the club’s head coach, Jose Mourinho has a wealth of talent at his disposal including Portuguese internationals Cristiano Ronaldo, Fabio Coentrao, Ricardo Carvalho and Pepe, German internationals Mesut Ozil and Sami Khedira, as well as Iker Casillas, Jose Callejon, Sergio Ramos, Xabi Alonso, Raul Albiol and Alvaro Arbeloa, all of whom were members of Spain’s winning team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

The Galaxy first played Real Madrid on July 18, 2005 at The Home Depot Center, losing 2-0 behind goals from Michael Owen and Roberto Soldado in front of a capacity crowd. The two sides met again last year in front of more than 89,000 fans on August 7 at the Rose Bowl. The Galaxy led that game 2-0 at halftime on goals from Todd Dunivant and Landon Donovan, only for Real to score three unanswered goals in the second half, two from Gonzalo Higuain and one from Xabi Alonso, to claim a 3-2 win. This game is also expected to see Galaxy midfielder David Beckham face his former team for the first time since joining the Galaxy in 2007.