RFN: Rubin Rejects Valencia’s Noboa Offer

There is new content available here, Russian Football Now:

Word out of Ecuador is that Valencia CF (Spain) has made an offer to Rubin Kazan for the services of midfielder Christian Noboa.

Noboa has become a key to Rubin Kazan’s side, but his profile has increased dramatically over the last year as he has also become a [...]

WSDigest: Les Éléphants Move Past Weakened Ghana, Into Quarters

There is new content available at World Soccer Digest:

While Ghana came into this tournament depleted,  the weakened side Milovan Rajevac started against Cote d’Ivoire told us one of two things.

First possibility:  Ghana is not taking this tournament that seriously and will use their two matches to get an idea of which young players will round [...]

WSDigest: FIFA’s Chilean Response Disproportionate

There is no way FIFA excludes Chile from the World Cup, though the governing body has threatened to do so.

Threatening an action that would have no hope of holding up should appeals be pursued to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, FIFA has told the Chilean federation that their national team will be expelled should [...]

Debut of Set Piece Analysts

A couple of comments on content and distribution, as there is a new project in which I will be participating in.

Along Kartik Krishnaiyer (EPL Talk, Major League Soccer Talk, The Kartik Report), Johnathan Starling (The Third Half), Brian Zygo (Major League Soccer Talk, The Zygo Report), Jeff Kassouf (Equalizer Soccer), and I have started Set [...]

UEFA Draw: Round 2 of Europe’s World Cup Qualifiers

This morning in Zürich, FIFA drew that UEFA’s top eight group runners-up into the four two-legged ties which will determine the final European participants in the 2010 World Cup.

Those match-ups are:

Republic of Ireland vs. France
Portugal vs. Bosnia and Herzegovina
Greece vs. Ukraine
Russia vs. Slovenia

The draw had the eight teams broken into two tops, with the top [...]

USL Update, Courtesy of Inside Minnesota Soccer

Along with Kartik Krishnaiyer over at The Kartik Report, Inside Minnesota Soccer’s Brian Quarstad has been doing yeoman’s work keeping the United States’ football-following public up-to-date on what’s happening with the United Soccer Leagues (USL).

If you don’t know the backstory, Brain has a page set up to track “United Soccer Leagues at a Crossroads.” You [...]

Why Did Draw in Kazan Turn Tide for Mourinho?

Internazionale Milano manager José Mourinho

Maybe it didn’t (and the title’s question is presumptive), but in monitoring news about Rubin Kazan, it seems a large proportion of it originates in Italy and expresses some combination of shock, surprise, and disappointment in Inter Milan drawing with the Russian champions. For a litany of reasons, this [...]

More Drama Amongst Bulgaria’s Biggest Rivals

Levski Sofia owner Todor Baktov

Two weeks ago, the Bulgarian derby between CSKA Sofia and Levski Sofia was undermined by a Russian mafia plot that saw four of Levski’s best players withdrawn from the match with the understanding that they were to be transferred to Russian champions Rubin Kazan.

Turns out, the mafia was in league [...]

Still in Crisis, United States Back on Track for South Africa

Two days ago, I would have put the United States’ odds of making the World Cup are less than even money. I was the pessimist, though. Most of the colleagues I talked to saw the same dangers but took a more optimistic view than I.

After last night’s match at Saprissa, where a resurgent [...]

Maradona’s Palermo Recall So Crazy to Be Predictable

Boca Juniors and Argentina international Martin Palermo

Argentina’s mens national team coach Diego Maradona has recalled Martin Palermo for upcoming World Cup qualifiers against Brazil and Paraguay. The 35-year-old Boca Juniors striker has experienced a recent run of good form, lending credence to his recall.

Beyond his age, there are a few major problems with [...]