Altidore Cautious As Madrid Talks Begin

Real Madrid are set to step up their bid to land New York Red Bulls striker Jozy Altidore during the break in the MLS and have sent representatives to meet him.

Weekend Previews -- Club Football Returns

Italian Serie A
Juventus host Palermo while Inter welcome Catania

English Premier League
Newcastle host Liverpool while Tottenham head to West Ham

German Bundesliga
Bremen and Hamburh continue their assault on Bayern Munich

Spanish La Liga
Real Madrid travel to Murcia and Barca welcome Recreativo

The Joy of Six: Cult Football Songs

From Basile Boli and Chris Waddle's double act to Johan Cruyff's oompah-fest, Scott Murray picks the most memorable football toe-tappers.

Austria's 10 steps to Europe-wide abomination

The performances of Austria's wretched national team may not be the only disaster awaiting Euro 2008.

What newspapers across Europe made of England's defeat to Croatia last night

"Jekyll and Hyde, goodness and horror. England's long-standing condition, the white and the black darkness. An exaggerated, mind-blowing, grotesque drama unfolded at Wembley, 90 minutes of two faces which first humiliated, then deceived, then damned the heirs to the inventors of football" - La Gazzetta dello Sport, Italy.

"Just about the limit: England is out! Oh no, England! How 'stupid' the Tommys could be. The Motherland of football again writes a tragic capture of football history" - Koelner Express, Germany.

All The Rest

Euro 2008 Seedings Announced: Dutch In Pole Position

The Netherlands' 2-1 loss to Belarus last night didn't stop them from joining champions Greece and co-hosts Austria and Switzerland in top seeding positions for Euro 2008. World Cup runners up France, meanwhile, are seeded third last...

Pot One

• Switzerland (co-hosts)
• Austria (co-hosts)
• Greece (champions)
• Netherlands

Pot Two

• Croatia
• Italy
• Czech Republic
• Sweden

Pot Three

• Romania
• Germany
• Portugal
• Spain

Pot Four

• Poland
• France
• Turkey
• Russia

McClaren sacked as England manager

Good Riddance

The Insider at Wembley

VERDICT: Sympathy for McClaren will be hard to find, yet this was a night when England's players were shown up to be second rate. Gerrard and Lampard were poor throughout and they are the stars expected to shine when their country needs them. Let the post mortem begin.

ENGLAND FAIL TO QUALIFY

The Three Lions fell short in a pulsating match and have to be embarrassed. They came back from 0-2 down but could not get the job done. The English press will have a field day. Farewell, Steve McClaren...

England 2 - 3 Croatia

Euro Qualifying Preview: England-Croatia

What: Euro 2008 Group E Qualifier
Who: England (2nd, 23/33 pts) v Croatia (1st, 26/33 pts)
When: Wednesday 21 November, Kick-off: 20:00 GMT
Where: Wembley Stadium, NW London

Everything To Play For

Euro 2008 Wednesday Preview

A breakdown by group of the final matchday...

Nine cities express interest in MLS expansion teams

With the decision earlier this season that San Jose will begin play next year and Tuesday's announcement that Seattle will start in 2009, MLS has grown to 15 teams. Garber said the goal is to add a "16th by the end of the year."

He also said the league is seeking to have 18 teams by 2010-2011.

Colombia 2-1 Argentina: Tevez off in defeat

Argentina lost their unbeaten record in 2010 World Cup qualifiers with a 2-1 loss away to Colombia on Tuesday, with forward Carlos Tevez sent off after just 25 minutes.

Sid Lowe in Spain

Whether or not Latvia do them a favour by beating Sweden, Northern Ireland will never get a better chance to beat Spain in their own backyard.

Will Irish eyes be smiling in Spain?

Great moments in football shirt typos

Let's start with the one that seems to have tickled most correspondents' fancy: the time David Beckham morphed into David 'Beckam' during the 1997 Charity Shield against Chelsea. "I thought the lads were winding me up," he is reported to have said at the time. "Then I saw it for myself. It was too late to do anything about it, so we all had a laugh instead."

Newcastle get 100,000 pounds weekly compensation for Owen injury

The English Football Association confirmed on Tuesday that Newcastle would be eligible for a payout under the terms of their insurance, which covers clubs for players' wages up to a maximum of 100,000 pounds per week.

Meanwhile Newcastle have sent Owen to Germany for treatment by high-profile specialist Dr Hans-Wilhelm Muller Wohlfahrt.

Arsenal Handed Van Persie Boost

The forward has received very positive feedback from the medics, and is set to face Wigan on Saturday, though it is uncertain whether he will start.

Marcela Mora y Araujo in Argentina

Over the weekend, Javier 'Pupi' Zanetti broke the Argentine record for international appearances. Now it's time the wider world appreciated his talents too.

Mathis Traded to Galaxy

Lots of big names out in L.A.

Kuyt Becomes Fifth Liverpool Player To Be Burgled

The spate of burglaries aimed at Liverpool players continued as Dirk Kuyt received the news that his home had been targeted on Thursday whilst the Dutchman was away on international duty.

Norman Hubbard on Scotland

Scotland still have more reason to be positive than England...

Unlucky Scots give England food for thought

Ernst Bouwes in Holland

Holland qualify for Euro 2008 and Bouwes takes a look at the state of the domestic league...

Dutch football in disarray?

Roberto Gotta in Italy

Gotta takes a look at the Italian national side...

Donadoni gains seven-month respite

Goal.com Profile: Nicola Legrottaglie

Almost half way through the season and the 'Old Lady' of Italian soccer is causing some raised-eyebrows week in week out. Although many pundits agree that Juventus are not title-contenders this year, this has not prevented the Juventini faithful from dreaming.

This unprecedented start to this season owes a lot to the brilliant individual performances of some of the Bianconeri players. One player that has been silencing his long-lasting critics lately is Nicola Legrottaglie.

U.S. Men Beat South Africa in Friendly

Cherundolo's goal wins it in Johannesburg...

South Africa 0 - 1 U.S.A.
Jeff Carlisle's Player Rankings

MLS Cup: Title Returns to Houston

New England Revolution 1 - 2 Houston Dynamo

It's New England's fourth loss in an MLS final and the second win in a row for the Dynamo...

Dynamo prove their championship mettle
Martin Rogers: Definition of an MLS Dynasty
The Special One comes to town (briefly)
Kraft is having more success with his football team than his futbol team

Riquelme

Riquelme was worth the risk, crows Basile
Riquelme: I'll Return To Boca Juniors

Peru 1-1 Brazil

The third matchday saw Brazil ape their first outing as the Canarinha slumped to a 1-1 away draw against a dynamic but hardly cutting edge Peru who managed to hold the five-times champions who shrank back after scoring and paid the penalty
Peru Hold Overstuffed Brazil

Boo Boys bug Ronaldo

Manchester United star Cristiano Ronaldo gave short shrift to the sector of Portuguese fans who'd booed a so-so Selecção das Quinas despite the home side winning the match and bringing the national side to the very brink of classification
Ronaldo Hits Out At Home Booing

Irish ire

Ireland players want a man with international experience to guide them through their 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign
Player power set to rule out Jewell as Ireland manager

Nigeria gets tough

Berti Vogts, the Nigeria coach, insists that all players have to attend a 14-day training camp ahead of Cup of Nations
Nigeria take harder line

Usmanov Vs. The Guardian

In a series of frank emails to the Guardian, Arsenal's controversial shareholder Alisher Usmanov has denied criminal allegations.
Arsenal's suitor denies allegations of murky past

Mad Lens is at it again

Accidently on purpose?
Lehmann denies making gesture to fans

Mutu reborn

Even Zizou's at it

Adrian Mutu left Chelsea in disgrace, but he has renewed his career in Italy and led Romania to Euro 2008
Happy Mutu kicks coke for another bite at big time

Leeds march on

With victory over Swindon Leeds United moved to second position in League One. Under normal circumstances this would be no more than expected due the size of the club. But when you consider it's only November and they started the season with -15 points, it's pretty good going.
Beckord's double strike helps Leeds turn tables

Mr Peripatetic

He just can't stay still for two minutes that Steve Bruce. This time he's has decided he's had enough of unstable Birmingham and seems set to return to Wigan.
Bruce close to making Wigan move

Shocker - Allardyce angry

Sam Allardyce took a swipe at embattled England head coach Steve McClaren for his disastrous decision to risk Michael Owen in the low-key friendly with Austria.
Allardyce furious with England over Owen injury

Euro Round up

David Healy strikes again to give Ireland hope
Koumas shines through the Welsh gloom
Kuqi winner keeps Finland in hunt for Euro 2008 place
Turkey coach Terim optimistic after Norway win

Scotland destroyed

After an outstanding campaign which included beating France home and away Scotland found themselves tortured by a goal deep in stoppage time that puts them out of Euro 2008.
Panucci ends Scotland's dream
Alan Hansen's view
David Pleat's chalkboard

Israel give lucky England a Euro lifeline

Defeat for Guus Hiddink's side has left England only needing a draw at Wembley against Croatia to qualify for Euro 2008.
England's prayers answered as Israel triumph
McClaren gets a second chance, but he sure doesn't deserve it
Lampard looking to make the most of second chance