the legend retires :'(

[heartscollidex.livejournal.com]

Henrik Larsson bids tearful goodbye after final match of his career

The 38-year-old took to the pitch for the final time in Helsingborg's 2-0 Allsvenska defeat to Djurgarden, bringing the curtain down on a career spanning two decades.

Larsson has been prolific during his time as a professional footballer, scoring over 300 goals during spells with Helsingborg, Feyenoord, Celtic, Barcelona and Manchester United.

He was also a vital member of the Swedish national team, making over 100 appearances in the blue and yellow shirt and helping them finish third at the 1994 World Cup.

It was a tearful Larsson who faced a standing ovation at Helsingborg's Olympia stadium last night.

And he admitted he found it difficult to keep his emotions in check as tributes from the likes of Sweden coach Lars Lagerback, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and international team-mate Zlatan Ibrahimovic were played at the ground.

"It really hits you when you meet all this love," he said. "I'm normally quite a cool character but right now I feel like I could cry.

"It's huge to be able to end it on our home ground and it has to end some time.

"It's rubbish to end things this way (with a defeat) but you can't have everything in life."

Larsson was also moved by Helsingborg's decision to retire the No 17 shirt in his honour.

"It's a fantastic gesture by the club, to retire it for ever. I'm very moved," he said.

Larsson, who will not play in Helsingborg's final match of the domestic season at Elfsborg on Sunday, will now take time out to think over how best to fill the void left by his retirement.

He has already been linked with several coaching jobs, although he gave few hints as to what the future holds.

"I don't know if I have to go down to the employment agency and do certain things, but I have the luck and luxury to be able to say no to jobs which are offered to me," he said.

"But obviously there is an emptiness at present, and I need to fill that emptiness with something.

"I'm fortunate enough to have earned enough money to be able to sit back and not panic, but I have to do something. I can't just glide through the rest of life."

here

Happy Birthday Mr Dutchman!

[sterrenlicht1.livejournal.com]

Hey, i just thought i should share a certain birthday with you all..

Edwin van der Sar is 39 today!




Spam away!!
( Van harte gefeliciteerd met je verjaardag! )

(Sorry, i suck at tags!)

playoffs? you wanna talk about playoffs?

[luckiey-starrz.livejournal.com]

It seems like forever since the last time I made an MLS post here! So long, in fact, that the regular season is over now!


The Columbus Crew won the Supporters Shield for the second season in a row for ending the regular season with the most points.


Needless to say, Robbie and Steven were very excited about it.

The 8 best teams in the league are now in the playoffs for the MLS Cup, which start tonight! The top two teams from each conference, along with the next four best teams from any conference, compete first in a two-legged aggregate conference semifinal, then a one-off conference final. The winners of each conference final compete in the MLS Cup final, which this year will take place at Qwest Stadium in Seattle. If you want to know anything more detailed, MLS has put together a 188-page PDF complete with info on all the teams, the entire history of the playoffs and the MLS Cup, season recaps, everything.

All right, so the conference semifinal schedule:

Western Conference

• Houston @ Seattle, tonight, 10 PM EST, ESPN2/HD; Seattle @ Houston, Sunday, November 8th, 3 PM EST, Telefutura, Direct Kick/Match Center


• LA @ Chivas, Sunday, November 1st, ESPN2/HD; Chivas @ LA, Sunday, November 8th, 7:30 PM EST, ESPN2/HD

Eastern Conference

• Columbus @ RSL, Saturday, 7:30 PM EST, Direct Kick/Match Center; RSL @ Columbus, Thursday, November 5th, 8 PM EST, ESPN2/HD


• Chicago @ New England, Sunday, 2 PM EST, FSC; New England @ Chicago, Saturday, November 7th, 8:30 PM EST, FSC

In the words of Robbie Rogers, Emilio Renteria, and Steven Lenhart...

JOIN US FOR THE PLAYOFFS! :D we'll be LR-ing at omg_yanks!

samu don't cry, you're the best

[kstew-robpattz.livejournal.com]

THE COMPLETE INTERVIEW HERE

If somebody can help with a translation of the note it could be excelent.

Source: MD

( translation :( )

U.S. Women's National Team is Still #1

[teenny.livejournal.com]

USA 1  Germany 0

AUGSBURG, Germany (Oct. 29, 2009) – Abby Wambach scored her 101^st career goal on a header in the 34^th minute and a world class performance by the U.S. defense made sure it held up for a hard-fought 1-0 victory against Germany in front of a sold-out crowd at Impuls Arena.

Impuls Arena, a new venue which will host matches of the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup, was sold out  last week and 28,377 singing and chanting German fans filled the stadium to cheer for their defending European and Women’s World Cup champions against the defending Olympic champions. It was the first international match at the stadium and also set a record for the largest crowd to see a match at the venue in its young history. The crowd was also the largest to see a stand-alone U.S. WNT friendly match outside of the USA, and the third-largest home or away crowd for a stand-alone friendly.

The Germans were by far the better attacking team on the night, out-shooting the USA 17-7, but some suspect finishing and tremendous individual and team defending from the Americans were the themes of the night. Young center backs Amy LePeilbet and Rachel Buehler were phenomenal and outside backs Heather Mitts and Lori Chalupny put in miles of running while chasing down many a German attack on the flanks. U.S. goalkeeper Hope Solo was a calming presence in the back for the USA, handling her duties expertly, especially on high balls. more match report



 

( videos and pics of the cescy laddies )

 

THIS IS A POST ABOUT FOOTBALL NOT PLAYERS OMGZ.

[oui-janine.livejournal.com]

I stole this image from somewhere ages ago and I can't remember where, if you know who it belongs to, or its yours. Let me know and I will credit/remove it. 

Sevilla's Monchi: Big Two Could Turn La Liga Into A League Like Scotland

Sevilla's director of football, Ramon 'Monchi' Rodriguez, has warned that the Primera Division could soon become a two-horse race, comparable to the current situation in Scotland, if Barcelona and Real Madrid continue to dominate.

"Means have to be put into place in order to avoid there being a big difference between Barcelona and Real Madrid, and the rest," Monchi announced in an interview with Marca.

"The polarisation of Spanish football isn't good, because we are moving towards the model of minor leagues like Scotland. It's better for the spectacle for there to be a better redistribution of finances."

The director added that while Sevilla are ambitious and would try to fight for the title, as president Jose Maria Del Nido has insisted on a number of occasions, the club are finding it difficult to prevent their stars from leaving.

"We are ambitious, and I dream of winning the league and the Champions League, but we have to know that it would take 75 or 78 points for us to win the league, because no team apart from Real Madrid or Barcelona has won the league with 80 points. We need both of them to falter and that's difficult.

"It's true that the problem was raised with the first sale, that of [Jose Antonio] Reyes. People realised that we were open to the transfer market. Then Sergio Ramos, [Julio] Baptista, [Christian] Poulsen, [Seydou] Keita, [Dani] Alves all left...

"Sevilla have to sell players, but we are not carrying a sign saying that we want to sell [Diego] Perotti or Luis Fabiano. Our success in buying players has allowed us to have one of the best squads in the history of Sevilla," he concluded.

Anthony Wright, Goal.com


Is it just sour grapes on his part, is he dismissing teams such as Valencia and Atleti or does he have an actual point, do you think? 

I personally think that La Liga is much less strong than the Premier League for a start, and there are teams in La Liga  that would be in the Championship if they played in this country. It is a bit of a two horse race, but what can be done about it? Putting a cap on spending would certainly stop the current gap between the two clubs and the rest, but should Barca and Real be forced to make their teams less good, or should something be done to improve the littler teams?