SSN is a digest of the day's soccer/football/futbol articles with a focus on the top European leagues and the United States National Team. Below, you’ll find links to articles and video, as well as additional features and commentary. We locate the top news of the day so you can stay updated with ease.
The last remaining original member of the Chicago Fire is retiring. The team said Thursday that central defender C.J. Brown will end his career with Saturday's season finale at Chivas USA. Pablo Seijas said the argument with Chilavert, who played in the 2002 World Cup, started when they met in Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires and continued until they arrived in Paraguay.
Manchester United at Stoke City and Arsenal's trip to Manchester City on Sunday are the highlights of the weekend fixtures. Elsewhere, Tottenham Hotspur face Everton off the back of their dramatic midweek European tie, pace-setters Chelsea host Wolverhampton Wanderers while struggling Liverpool are in action at home to Blackburn Rovers. West Bromwich Albion will be seeking to maintain their terrific start to the season when they host Fulham at the Hawthorns. Aston Villa head to the North East as they lock horns with Sunderland at the Stadium of Light. Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish has seen pressure mount on his shoulders of late, and this weekend his side are in action versus newly-promoted Blackpool. The last of the 3pm kick-offs sees Wigan Athletic meet North West counterparts Bolton Wanderers at the DW Stadium. Saturday teatime sees West Ham United welcome Newcastle United to Upton Park.
Friday
While life is looking good for Madrid, it is not so pleasant at the other end of the Primera Division standings where Real Zaragoza are having a tough time of it.
They are one of only two clubs still searching for a win and, to make matters worse, they host two-time reigning champions Barcelona this weekend. Possibly the most intriguing encounter in the eighth round of La Liga is Sunday's showdown between Villarreal and Atletico Madrid at El Madrigal.
Juventus captain Alessandro Del Piero has an added motivation to find the back of the net at Bologna on Sunday. Del Piero is one goal shy of becoming Juve's all-time Serie A scorer. Inter Milan would like nothing more than for Samuel Eto'o to keep up his goalscoring form when they host Sampdoria on Sunday.AC Milan, meanwhile, are desperate to forget Tuesday's European setback - a 2-0 loss at Real Madrid - their first slip in the Europe's elite club competition this season.
Massimiliano Allegri's men are focused on making it four wins in a row when they take on Napoli at the San Paolo on Monday.
Fiorentina coach Sinisa Mihajlovic will be under pressure to take a win against Bari on Saturday.
Mihajlovic has led the Florence outfit to just one win in Serie A so far.
A new feature on Zonal Marking for Champions League weeks. This site has long used the Guardian’s excellent Chalkboards facility to illustrate Premier League games. There is now a similar tool for analysing Champions League games, the TotalFootball iPhone app which allows real time analysis.
It also has a more specific range of options – nabling analysis of particular aspects of a game, like the passes received by a certain player, the type and distance of pass played, and passes played within the final third of the pitch.
Using that app, here is a Chalkboard for all sixteen Champions League games played this week.
Wayne Rooney has informed Manchester United he will not sign a new contract and wants to leave the club. With a squad of ageing stars and youngsters yet to prove themselves, there are fears his departure could put the club into decline, but this is far from unchartered territory for Ferguson.ESPNsoccernet selects the First XI stars who left Ferguson's United.
Italian police have admitted gangs of Napoli's hardcore Ultra fans went out hunting Liverpool supporters to attack in the city last night. There were a number of incidents ahead of the club's Europa League match at the Stadio San Paolo tonight, which resulted in five English people - two of whom were stabbed - and one Italian being taken to hospital.
Manchester United will attempt to find some solace from the Wayne Rooney saga when they host Bursaspor, while Tottenham face defending champions Inter Milan and Rangers welcome Valencia to Glasgow.
Barcelona see Copenhagen arrive in Spain, FC Twente and Werder Bremen meet, and Lyon and Benfica clash. Elsewhere, Rubin Kazan visit Panathinaikos, and Hapoel Tel-Aviv travel to Gelsenkirchen to take on Schalke.
Inter Milan vs. Tottenham: Preview
Tom Adams' Preview
David Hytner in Milan
Benítez joins Cantona in football's funny farm
Manchester United vs. Bursaspor: Preview
Rangers vs. Valencia: Preview I
Preview II
Ewan Murray's Preview
Barcelona vs. Copenhagen: Preview
The chancellor’s office and the German football federation are trying to iron out a flap over Chancellor Angela Merkel visiting the Germany dressing room and congratulating half naked players after their 3-0 win over Turkey. A photograph showing Merkel with Mesut Oezil, a German player of Turkish background, upset German federation president Theo Zwanziger—apparently because he was not taken along for the occasion in Berlin on Oct. 8. The photo showing Merkel and Oezil has a symbolic value at the time of an intense debate in Germany on how the country should integrate its foreign-born population, especially the 4 million Muslims.
But on Tuesday I witnessed a Ferguson I had never seen before. Crestfallen, befuddled, exasperated, he took on the air of a heartbroken father, saddened and stunned by the wayward antics of a favourite son.
It is one of the ancient battles of sport, the struggle between talent and the ravages of time. And it's being fought out as the Brazilian Championship reaches a thrilling finale.
With eight rounds to go - and at least four clubs still in contention - one of the big questions is this: Can he really do it again? Is Ronaldo capable of staging yet another extraordinary comeback?
Chelsea return to the scene of their UEFA Champions League final heartbreak in Tuesday's early kick-off, while a former friend becomes foe for Arsenal.
"It's no secret, for example, that in London they have the highest crime rate compared with other European cities, and the highest level of alcohol consumption among young people."
Sorokin went on to again insist that a banner with a picture of a banana aimed at West Brom's striker Peter Odemwingie and produced by fans of his former club Lokomotiv Moscow was not racist, and he points out that anti-Glazer fans had burned an American flag at Old Trafford on the same day.
The U.S. national team depth chart is clearly in transition. It certainly is a tricky time to assign order as the value of "potential" is elevated slightly for the time being. On the other hand, U.S. coach Bob Bradley and the federation is gung-ho for the 2011 Gold Cup. The winner gets a coveted place in the 2013 Confederations Cup in Brazil. So the depth chart can't all be about potential with an eye toward qualification for and (fingers crossed) performance during the 2014 World Cup. A significant amount of "here and now" remains in the current calculus.
It was misery on Merseyside for Liverpool, the vulnerability of a two-goal advantage was twice exploited as Manchester United and Wigan Athletic dropped two points apiece, Manchester City moved closer to leaders Chelsea while Arsenal overcame their recent wobble but had Jack Wilhsere sent off. Bottom-of-the-table West Ham Unitedcan count themselves unfortunate not to have come away from Molineux with all three points. There was also much controversy at Craven Cottage as Tottenham Hotspur beat Fulham 2-1.
