I mean this with all due respect, but you aren't a referee are you? I ask, because I am a referee, and there are two HUGE issues with the play at hand. The first, and most obvious, was the clear grabbing and pulling of Olave's shorts before any other contact is made - the LOTG clearly delineate holding as a foul. The second, which actually took me two watches of the replay to get to is that Lehart deliberately kicks Olave in the back of Olave's right leg as he starts to fall down, in an attempt to make it look like he was tripped. In real time, I 100% can see how the referee can think that it was a foul by Olave. However, I am also 100% certain that the play SHOULD have been a yellow card for Lenhart (UB-Simulation), and also a foul (Holding) on Lenhart.

Here is a little limerick I wrote for the occasion: There once was was a man from Teaneck, who thought he looked good in a v-neck, He quit the US, said that Italy was best His knee is a mess but no yank cares even a wee speck. Here's to a speedy recovery, Judas.

This post from Berlin just got transported here from 1939. Sorry for the mixup.

FIFA actually have set forth guidelines in their by-laws and regulations for how teams should manage the "away" support. I haven't read them recently, but if I remember correctly, teams are supposed to provide a separate and secure "sector" for away supporting fans (and I distinctly remember that this sector is supposed to be as far as possible from the home supporter sectors). So I wouldn't say 1k seats is necessarily the norm, but a Sector (or Section, as we usually call them) should be reserved for away fans (which could be anywhere from a couple hundred to ~1000).

"Also in FIFA 11 for the first time ever will be the worst team in the game, Philadelphia Union." FYP

I think that the P.U. are being really smart about this. It's a fantastic business strategy to have the worst team in the league for multiple years right as you start up. Go Chester International Brotherhood of Underperforming Lawn Aerators!

I didn't know that Rob Green had an Algerian brother...

really? I was watching for at least an hour before the match and didn't see it, and was too busy toasting Rob Green after to notice.

does anyone know why they played this during South Africa-Mexico, but NOT yesterday during England-USA? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=St2FCxtlV7w

God love univison and female Argentina fans.

ugh, MLS level attendance but 5,000 vuvuzelas. just like the confed cup, those damned horns are ruining the atmosphere of the match, and making it difficult to even watch on tv. and i did NOT expect that goal by S. Korea. Terrible defending by the Greeks.

he knows how to click "post" twice. Pretty sure BB can't do that. I'm a bit sad that CD9 didn't make it, espec. since Ching has got a Michael Owen injury, that he's prone to repeat. But whatevs, I can't really see worse choices, and am happy with what we've got.

of course I'm suggesting that the referee is always correct - you should know that though because I sat behind you last year at Giant's Stadium and NEVER said anything bad about the referees... I'm guessing though that the appeal is for the automatic 2 game suspension that was levied, which though I am not aware of competition rules, might be in there in the event of a Sending off for SFP. And if that's the case, then Bayern doesn't have a 17 year old prostitute's leg to stand on (yeah, I went there). It is disappointing to see a high level player such as Ribery missing out on such a huge match, but sometimes that's how the cards fall...

Easy answer to this one. If in the opinion of the referee a tackle is judged to be careless, it is a foul. If it is judged to be reckless, it is a foul with an accompanying yellow card for unsportsmanlike behavior. If it is judged that excessive force was used, it is a red card for Serious Foul Play. The referee judged that Ribery used excessive force, therefore sent him off. I can't even imagine how Bayern would attempt to appeal it.

The player deliberately made himself larger by raising his arms, which is pretty much the exact wording issued by FIFA (well, the IFAB), to call a handling violation on. Doesn't matter that he was actively turning his head away - as a professional defender, he clearly knows the consequences of his arms coming up on a sliding challenge such as that. Penalty as clear as day. (and as a note, I could care less about either team, and just watched the penalty call online).

Fair enough. I just hate the Mexico National Team with passion, and don't think they deserve any of their rankings or accolades. This isn't to be confused with me disliking Mexico the country though. I just hate the team. Which is unlike my distaste for the entire cities of Liverpool and Philadelphia. I can't even stand the Beatles.

once in Mexico, during a match I'd rather not go into detail about and once in Giant's stadium with the B teams playing, and they cheated to win in both of them.

Seriously, how screwed up is FIFA that the USA was behind Mexico in the rankings, even though the USA finished first in CONCACAF in World Cup Qualifying? I just don't understand that. Either way, considering that the US beat Spain when they were ranked #1, I suppose that the rankings mean absolutely nothing.

a friendly female member of the RBNY metrofanatic.com forums sent it on to me - apparently it's from an Esquire Mag photoshoot he did a few years back - I seem to remember landon donovan being in it too - drinking out of a water fountain while looking like the biggest tool on the face of the planet.

I'll be relatively nice, and allow you to keep some of your Fire-relatedness to your avatar. Here you go: http://www.kickette.com/images/uploads/brianmc.jpg And remember, it's only fair that you make sure to sign in and thus have your avatar used each time you post (no cheating and choosing a new screen name either). We'll revisit this at the break.

.... bit busy this week, but expect your new fun avatar by Friday...

Whoever those announcers are should be fired. Just getting rules completely wrong, and awkward pauses and stepping on each other's transmissions is unacceptable for a professional match. I could have done a better job drunk, and I don't even know any of the KC players' names. Good for KC though - they made DC look like last year's Red Bulls.

I'm pretty darned glad that a country doesn't particularly care about me. If it did, there would be some serious problems with it (well, more serious than the ones it already has). And I'm glad that you check your grammar before you spew forth words on your keyboard... And I was just kidding about not caring - I'll probably be traveling up there for the RBNY match, and if I like it will be tempted to go back for the MLS cup (which most likely won't feature RBNY, but one can hope).

really? Toronto? a turf field? ugh. Or is it grass now? i don't remember (as i don't particularly care about canada).

Sounds good to me - you have to "sign in" to one of the many sign-ins given (I just chose my google account, b/c it's the same username). Let's go with games 1 and 2, midpoint and break.