Soccer Page 395 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

The 11 Most Dirty Players At World Cup 2010
Fantasy Football has exploded since moving off the newspapers and onto the Interwebs. Nowadays every office lunchbreak has someone boasting about their league ranking or furiously trying to work out a last minute transfer....

World Cup Refs Take Course In English Swears
It's rumored that FIFA wants the refs to be prepared when Rooney inevitably cusses up a storm, so they've been given a list of common English swears like "wanker," "Berkshire hunt," and "smibbly-bibbly." Note: one of those might be made up. [Times]...

Great Passing Sequence Reminds Everyone That Spain Is Pretty Good At Soccer
Spain defeated Poland in their final World Cup tuneup and the obvious highlight was this stunning series of passes that led to a David Silva goal, which officially put the rest of Group H on pants-crapping notice. [Business Insider]...

Austria Bans Zidane Head-Butt Adverts For Promoting Violence
Austrian telly chiefs have pulled a series of adverts showing people imitating Zinedine Zidane's infamous 2006 World Cup final attack on Marco Materazzi, claiming "they convey that violence can be used to solve conflicts"....

US/England Trash Talk Reaches Highest Echelons Of Government
Oh, it is on. The US and UK ambassadors' offices exchanged a great series of letters, making a friendly wager and generally talking shit in advance of Saturday's showdown. Who knew State Department types could be so, well, funny?...

Slightly Racist, Probably Untrue British Tabloid Story Of The Day
South Africa's gamblers are supposedly smoking vulture brains, because it'll help them see the outcomes of games before they happen. I heard the English are eating blood pudding, and they still can't see their elimination in the round of 16 coming. [Metro]...

Who should start for England against the USA?
Not long to go now, and still the debates are raging about who should line up for England in their first World Cup outing....

The T-Shirt For People Who Like Soccer, But Hate Yelling
Because no one reads the newspaper, and SportsCenter's anchors are too perky for this early in the morning, Deadspin combs the best of the broadsheets and internets to bring you everything you need to know to start your day....

Your First World Cup Conspiracy Theory: England-U.S.A.'s Crooked Ref
FIFA just announced their first batch of World Cup referee assignments and because everyone assumes everyone else is out to screw them, it's a great excuse to make preemptive excuses for why your team is about to lose....

David Hirshey Is Your World Cup Historian, Not Your World Cup Closer
David Hirshey wrote regularly for this site about soccer for two years before selling us out to write a terrific book for ESPN. He talked to Emeritus about the book, the World Cup and mustaches....

Too Much Sex Could Spoil Argentina, Suggests Brazilian
The consensus seems to be that a sportsman should ideally compete at the very height of sexual frustration......

Celebrate England's World Cup Run....By Subjugating The Irish!
Many eating and drinking establishments will try to capitalize on World Cup Fever by offering specials deals for soccer fans this month, but see if you can pick out what's wrong with this one....

OMFG! Didier Drogba OUT Of The World Cup!
If you happen to be holidaying in Portugal today, chances are that your lunchtime platter of small sausages was temporarily forgotten thanks to a strange noise that sounded like a few million Cristiano Ronaldo fans all sighing in unison....

Premiership Team Unveils New Uniform Via Terrified Forced Striptease
Everton premiered their new away kit by having midfielder Jack Rodwell strip down to it. The backdrop, music and his expression make it look nothing so much like he's been sold into sex slavery....

Brazilian Sex Workers Start World Cup Clothing Range
Apart from being an entertainment spectacle, the World Cup is a tribute to football as an inclusive sport — it brings everyone together....

North Korea Needs To Brush Up On The Rules Of Soccer
North Korea, also known as The Bad Korea, tried to pull a fast one on FIFA, listing one of their strikers as a goalkeeper, in essence gaining an extra roster spot. It didn't work....

The World Cup Of Also-Ran "Nations"
Want to play in the World Cup, but the international community won't recognize your country as an independent nation? Enter the Viva World Cup, starring such luminaries as Kurdistan, Greenland, and the Kingdom of the Two Sicilies. [WSJ]...

Goalie Booms 80-Yard Free Kick, Scores Goal
For your viewing pleasure, we present Lassi Hurskainen, a former UNC Asheville soccer player currently toiling in the Finnish minor leagues for division-leading Riverball FC, absolutely nailing the indirect free kick and catching his counterpart absurdly off-guard. [Goal; H/T Kenny]...

World Cup Dis Track Is Our Generation's Lexington And Concord
"Over There" has been something of an unofficial theme song for our World Cup squad. No longer, now that this exists. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you: "I Speak American."...

Relive The 1966 World Cup Final With The Magic Of Lego
The mad Germans at Legofussball.com have recreated in Lego the last time — SPOILERS — England won a World Cup. Ooh, do the Falklands War next! [Legofussball, via The Guardian]...