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Adebayor to Real Madrid (& a Map of 18th Century Gold Coast of Africa)

January 26, 2011 — by Sean

Ex-Togo international Emmanuel Adebayor has completed his move from the stands of the Eastlands to a place on the pitch at the Bernabéu. It's no shock that he was destined to make a move in this transfer window, seeing as he'd fallen to fifth in the Man City striker pecking order (behind even Jo, of all people). His training ground fight with Kolo Toure at the start of the month was an obvious indication of his frustration (though the two have apparently been at each other in some manner since their time together at Arsenal). How well will he do in Madrid? Considering he's joining a coach who consistently gets the best out of his players, we imagine he'll be back on top of his game in no time. It won't hurt to be removed from the antagonistic relationship with Toure. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="433" caption="Abdebayor and Toure training ground

American Midfielders Starring in England: Dempsey, Spector, Holden

January 24, 2011 — by Suman

Stuart Holden...American idol?

American midfielders have been getting their shine on in England. Clint Dempsey has been leading Fulham, Stuart Holden has been a mainstay for Bolton, and Jonathan Spector has been a surprise performer for West Ham. Moreover, Jermaine Jones recently debuted for Blackburn on loan from Bundesliga club Schalke 04--and we may soon see Michael Bradley also make the move to the Premier League from the Bundesliga (where he plays for Borussia Moenchengladbach). According to a Fox Soccer report, Sunderland is lining up a bid for Bradley (apparently spending some portion of that staggering £24m they got in return for letting striker Darren Bent go to Aston Villa). We'll get a chance to see Holden play this afternoon, as Bolton host Chelsea (3pm ET, ESPND & ESPN3.com). Meanwhile, both Dempsey and Spector scored over the weekend for their sides. In fact, Dempsey scored two

USA 1 – 1 Chile

January 23, 2011 — by Sean

The USMNT played a friendly against La Roja yesterday evening, and snatched back a draw toward the end when Kansas City striker Teal Bunbury (born a Canuck, btw) converted a 75th minute penalty. We couldn't tell you how the game was, or how the teams looked, but we can share the goal call from Telefutura. Also included here, the inevitable remix.

Commentary Schedule

Matches to Watch This Weekend (Jan 21-23)

January 22, 2011 — by Larry

The Monsters of the Midway

Our picks for the weekend--a couple Premier League games, a couple Serie A games, a USMNT friendly, and the final of the Copa Centroamericano. As usual, culled from SoccerInsider's comprehensive listings, and all times ET: Saturday, Jan 22 England, Wolves-Liverpool 7:30 a.m. ESPN2: This exact sort of fixture continues to bedevil Liverpool. Can they fix a two-year problem visiting the grounds of England's lesser lights? If not, will Daiglish snap? England, Aston Villa-Manchester City 12:30 p.m. FSC: Darren Bent's debut for the Villans as they begin their campaign to avoid the drop. Gotta believe Kompany will have his hands full paired with the useless Lescott if Kolo Toure not back from injury. Can Dzeko grab his first or even play nearly as well as last time out? Who will Manciin rest after the FACup replay in mid-week? Friendly, USA-Chile 10 p.m.

The Guardian’s Football Weekly & European Newspaper Review

January 21, 2011 — by Suman

James Richardson is a multimedia juggernaut for the Guardian. He hosts their Football Weekly podcast ("James Richardson, Barry Glendenning, Sid Lowe and the rest of the Guardian's football writers bring you their Sony award-nominated, twice-weekly podcast - mixing puns and punditry, a round-up of all the action from the Premier League and around Europe") and also does a weekly video European newspaper review. Listen to the prior (this week: "The pod ponders Darren Bent's £24m transfer, Arsenal's FA Cup win over Leeds and Ruud Gullit's move to war-frazzled Chechnya"), watch the latter:

Commentary News Tactics Video

Arsenal Advances in the FA Cup

January 20, 2011 — by Suman

In case you missed it, watch the highlights of Arsenal's 3-1 victory over Leeds yesterday, in a FA Cup replay (following the 1-1 draw a couple weeks ago). All four goals are worth watching: the first goes from Chamakh to Arshavin to Nasri in 5'; then crackers by Sagna & Bradley Johnson which made the score 2-0 and then 2-1; and then finally late in the 2nd half, after Wenger was forced to bring on Fabregas and Robin van Persie, the latter scored with a header off a great cross by Bendtner (didn't think we'd ever have occasion to write those last few words). We've been having some discussions about Arsenal's optimal starting lineup, sparked by this post by Coach Larry--in particular his inclusion of Jack Wilshere among his list of "Players who if they play too much kill their chances" (along with Denilson and Bendnter btw). Now young Jack

Kung-Fu Philosopher-King Cantona Comes to NYC

January 19, 2011 — by Suman

Via Facebook: "Today and tomorrow, from 4 PM - Midnight, The New York Cosmos will be unveiling a digital billboard of epic proportions in Times Square to celebrate King Eric Cantona taking the throne at the New York Cosmos." Naturally that brought to the CultFootball mind the following aphorism: "When the seagulls follow the trawler, it's because they think sardines will be thrown into the sea. Thank you very much."

Eric Cantona: Kung-Fu Philosopher-King

Commentary

Goals of the Weekend, Pt 3: Toure & Tevez

January 18, 2011 — by Suman

Following up on our posts showing the fantastic goals by Cani and Ibrahimovic, here are a few more candidates. The top two slots in the following rundown of top goals in England were claimed by Man City in their win over Wolves: the top slot goes to Tevez, for what is admittedly a fine individual effort. But more interesting is #2, with Yaya Toure's B2B run--it's not the finish itself that was spectacular, but the run. Watch the replay closely to see how Toure starts the play at the top of Man City penalty box, makes the run, and receives the ball back (from the newly acquired Edin Dzeko) at the top of Wolves' penalty box. Toure is becoming a true box-to-box player for Man City, in a way that he didn't get scope for with Barcelona. We also rather like #4: Robin van Persie's finish for Arsenal, off a

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