World Of Socccer Big Boys

After a successful loan spell with West Ham United, England striker Andy Carroll has decided to make east London his permanent home. 

FIFA.com – World Football – News

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Tuesday evening’s AFC World Cup qualifier between South Korea and Iran ended with visiting Iran manager Carlos Queiroz pumping his fists, aggressively shouting and offering what a South Korean official called an “obscene gesture” at the rival bench, while locals showered the field with plastic water bottles and drink cans.

Thanks to a bad-tempered eight-month build-up, however, this match was never destined to be a genteel affair.

South Korea lost a fiesty qualifier to Iran in Tehran last October, but manager Choi Kang-Hee complained about extensive visa problems and poor training facilities on their trip. Subsequently, he promised to “make life painful” for Iran by offering a similar level of hospitality in the return fixture.

Carlos Queiroz called for an apology, but instead Kang-Hee gave the kind of response that sounds like it should have been given from an underground lair while stroking a cat:

It looks like Iran is nervous. When feeling burdened or chased after, you talk a lot and engage in unnecessary provocation. I will defeat Iran no matter what. Coach Queiroz will be watching the Brazil World Cup on TV.

To makes things even spicier, South Korea captain and Bayer Leverkusen striker Son Heung-Min made a chilling promise about his meeting with Iran captain Javad Nekounam:

“I will make him shed tears of blood.”

Queiroz and his side were understandably irked by the prospect of being forced to cry their own blood (or maybe someone else’s blood?) and called the comments “shameful.”

But rather than take the dignified option of rising above the fighting talk, the former Real Madrid and Portugal coach started making gestures of his own. Prior to Tuesday’s match, he partook in some obvious trolling by pinning a sad-faced picture of Kang-Hee to his shirt and posing for pictures…

Furthermore, in response to Kang-Hee’s desire to help Uzbekistan qualify for the World Cup over Iran, Queiroz also suggested in a pre-match press conference that he would present his rival with an Uzbekistan shirt before the game.

This context offers an explanation—but not a justification—for the Portuguese manager’s aggressive behavior when Iran earned the 1-0 victory on Tuesday that was good enough for automatic World Cup qualification.

There might have been a lot more trouble if South Korea hadn’t also edged through on goal difference, by a margin of a single goal.

Depsite the fact that they should have been relieved to progress to next summer’s tournament—joining fellow AFC members Japan and Australia, who also qualified this week—several members of the South Korean bench couldn’t resist punching the Iranian goalkeeper in the face when he celebrated a little too close to them…

Video H/T: 101GG

Dirty Tackle – World Soccer – Yahoo! Sports

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Women referees and assistants have been preparing for UEFA Women’s EURO 2013 at a Nyon workshop, part of UEFA’s drive to help female referees progress in step with the game.
UEFA.com – News

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Jose Mourinho will start his second spell as Chelsea manager with a game against Hull City at Stamford Bridge, while new Manchester United manager David Moyes faces Chelsea, Liverpool and Manchester City in three of his first four games in charge.

FIFA.com – World Football – News

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Amateur football is “part of Italy’s social fabric” according to UEFA Regions’ Cup final tournament ambassador Albertino Bigon who expects to see some classy players in Veneto.
UEFA.com – News

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The Premier League fixture list for the 2013/14 season has been released and it seems the sadistic computer that spits it out is trying to get David Moyes sacked within his first five matches as Sir Alex Ferguson’s replacement at Manchester United. Here’s how the league champions open the season:

17 Aug Swansea City A
24 Aug Chelsea H
31 Aug Liverpool A
14 Sep Crystal Palace H
21 Sep Manchester City A

That’s away to Capital One Cup winners Swansea on opening day followed by Chelsea with Jose Mourinho back in charge at home, then away to rivals Liverpool, home against newly promoted Crystal Palace and revamping runners-up Manchester City away to round it out. What did Moyes ever do to the fixture computer to deserve such an unfriendly start in his new job? Did he once try to use it to play solitaire while downloading virus-laden pornography and feature-length films in gif format?

Playing Man United’s two biggest rivals and Chelsea within the first five matches could either embolden his doubters or shut them up right from the start. So it could be an awful or a great way kick off the season (or somewhere in the middle if the results are adequately mixed). Maybe we’ll even see Alex Ferguson back on the touchline when Man United host West Brom on September 28, chomping Moyes like an exceptionally large piece of ginger gum.

But regardless of what club you support, the greatest news to come out of next season’s scheduling arrangement is the fact that the 2014 FA Cup final will be held (six days) after the Premier League season ends for the first time since 2010. This will avoid any chance of repeating the cruel scenario that played out this year in which Wigan won the FA Cup and then had their relegation sealed four days later.

For an explanation of all the migraine-inducing complexities that go into how the fixture list is compiled, read this.

Dirty Tackle – World Soccer – Yahoo! Sports

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Season 2013/14 is the toughest yet with Tyresö FF and Paris Saint-Germain FC joining holders VfL Wolfsburg and three ex-champions while 32 of 54 entrants await the qualifying round draw.
UEFA.com – News

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Draws for qualifying rounds to be held at UEFA Headquarters on 24 June
UEFA.com – UEFA organisation – News

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Not only are Belgium making their finals debut on Tuesday, they earned their place by eliminating Germany who had never failed to qualify. Coach Joëlle Piron speaks to UEFA.com.
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Thiago Alcántara thanked his team-mates for “winning us one more title for Spain” after Tuesday’s victory over Italy, with Álvaro Morata also getting used to being the best.
UEFA.com – News

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