Internationals...Yeah...That's Pretty Much It

Hah!

Well, those were a couple of quiet days, eh? The mood at SSN Headquarters gets awfully gloomy during international breaks. Let's just say that the club game is more our thing, OK? Now that we've said that (that said), at least there will be some matches today. We can see how badly Germany will clobber Ireland, hope Mexico lose to Panama, see what sort of experimenting Juergen will do with the U.S., chuckle whilst England try to handle the pressure against Montenegro, check out Bendtner's underpants when Denmark host Italy, and much more! So...it could be worse.

The obvious place to start is with The Podcast: It's Football Weekly Extra, and it's international week. Yay. AC Jimbo, Barry Glendenning and Jacob Steinberg aren't that fussed but Jonathan Wilson's getting all hot and bothered by all that can happen in Europe and elsewhere in the forthcoming round of World Cup qualifiers. If that doesn't make you go woof, we've also got Sid Lowe telling us about Spain's attempts at signing up Brazilian international Diego Costa to their national side – something which Jack Wilshere would doubtless have an opinion. Plus, there's reaction to Gus Poyet's appointment as Sunderland's latest manager, some crazy shenanigans in Cardiff, and more turtle/tortoise/terrapin news.

We know it's crunch time for England. But it's a big match for Montenegro as well. Jonathan Wilson takes a look. He also takes a look at three other countries that could possibly seal their first WC births. Bosnia-Herzegovina, Ethiopia, and Burkina Faso are all in with a shout.

Meanwhile, back across the pond, it's not crunch time for the Yanks because they've already booked their tickets to Brazil. The game still has meaning, though, as the U.S. will want to win the group. Here's a preview of tonight's match out in K.C. (6:30pm EDT on ESPN).

Hah!

World Cup 2014 qualifiers? Yes. 10 things to look out for?
OK. 

UEFA? England, Russia, Belgium, Germany and Switzerland could all qualify today.
Here's everything you need to know.

CONMEBOL? Colombia and Chile could also advance today.
Here's everything you need to know.

CAF? Playoffs. Yes, playoffs.
Here's everything you need to know.

This is rather fun: International Misfits XI: would this team qualify for the World Cup?

Paul Doyle's into the rains down in Africa and wants to talk Cameroon and Tunisia. Tunisia gets a second chance because of Cape Verde's suspended player usage (tsk-tsk) and although Eto'o retired, he's decided to come back.

Nice one, Vegas...

Mexico is in trouble! Only one win in their group and they've got Panama at Estadio Azteca tonight. Barry Glendenning looks at the El Tri mayhem.

William Zaha. Remember that guy? Tore shit up at Palace, Manchester United paid £15million for him, now he sits on the bench. For United and for England's Under-21s against San Marino. Ouch.

Unlike almost every other league on the planet, the United States' top division does not take a break when there are international fixtures. American exceptionalism, you see.

And finally, we'll believe this when we see it.

Enjoy that weekend, peeps!

-SSN

Nothing

There's still nothing of note happening. We'll be back tomorrow with previews of World Cup qualifying. Until then...

Poyet In, Phil Ball in Madrid, Podcast, Best MLS Goal Ever?, Ravel's Rise, Fall, Rise

Loads to get through today. Let's begin in Germany. Raphael Honigstein is there, and after 10,353 days, Eintracht Braunschweig won a top-flight match. It's their first in nearly 30 years and it came at the expense of 'derby idiots' Wolfsburg. Read all about it here. Uli Hesse is also in Germany and he's talking goals, goals, goals. Read all about it here.

Back in England, Sunderland named Gus Poyet as their new manager. Good luck, Gus. Please keep playing Jozy.

Over in Spain, Phil Ball left his home in San Sebastián and headed to Madrid to catch the Rayo Vallecano/Real Sociedad match. Phil has long been a favorite of ours, and this column is a real treat. We'll be sure to plan a visit to Estadio Teresa Rivero next time we're in Madrid.

We'll stick with Spain and check in with Sid. Señor Lowe is also talking some Rayo Vallecano. What a coincidence! Great minds and all...Enjoy.

It is Tuesday, so that means we get Marcotti's Monday Musings. Hmmm. Regardless, Gab's got: Bayern's Bayer blues, Suarez-Sturridge success, Juve prevail, more. OK.

Crickey. Paolo Bandini is in Italy. You know he's all over Roma and their unexpected revival. Take it away, Paolo!

Major League Soccer. The Power. The Glory. The Power Rankings. And...drumroll...is this the best goal ever in MLS?

Sadly, there is an international break coming up. Thankfully, we have Tim Vickery in Brazil to keep us interested. Tim's talking Uruguay and Ecuador and their intense rivalry ahead of their clash in Quito this Friday.

Ravel Morrison is all the rage after his fantastic solo goal at the weekend. Did you know that he narrowly escaped going to prison when he was at ManU? Here's a look at his rise, fall, and rise.

OK, we're going to terminate things today with The Podcast: On today's belated Football Weekly, AC Jimbo has Barry Glendenning, John Ashdown and Jacob Steinberg in the pod to marvel over all the happenings in the Premier League this weekend. We start with West Ham's Ravel Morrison-inspired 3-0 destruction of Spurs at White Hart Lane, before moving onto another stunning showing by an up-and-comer, Adnan Januzaj, who stole the show as Manchester United just about got the better of Sunderland. Next, we wonder whether Liverpool can go the distance this season after their 3-1 win at home to Crystal Palace, discuss Jack Wilshere's lucky strike to keep Arsenal on top of the table, and celebrate wins for Fulham and Newcastle that eased the pressure on their embattled managers Martin Jol and Alan Pardew. Finally, we catch up with the latest from around Europe and hear about the progress of QPR and Burnely at the top of the Championship, and Gillingham near the foot of League One. Jonathan Wilson joins us on Thursday as we begin our international break. Have patience, dear listeners, it's going to be a rough 10 days.

We could not have said it better ourselves.

-SSN

West Ham Beat Spurs, Roma Crush Inter, MLS Action, Bayern Octoberfest

Hello there!

As usual on Monday, we'll begin with a look at what happened in England (and Wales). Certainly, the shock of the weekend must have been West Ham's three-nil pasting of Spurs at White Hart Lane. We're confident that nobody expected that. Ravel Morrison scored a cracker of a goal, by the way (see below). Jeremy Wilson saw it. Oh, and Miguel Delany has Three Things. Meanwhile, Adnan Januzaj is all the rage at Manchester United after his two goals helped his team defeat Sunderland. Phil McNulty takes a look at the Kosovar-Albanian-Belgian teenager.

Daniel Taylor was at The Hawthorns where West Brom and Arsenal fought to a draw. Jack Wilshere grabbed the headlines by playing a game of two halves, scoring Arsenal's goal, and admitting his fag intake was not a hoax. Here's the rest of the fun:

Brief summaries of each match from the weekend

Team of the Week

Team of the Week II

10 Talking Points

5 Thoughts

Can we leave now?

It's that time of year again! There is a crisp feel to the air, the beer is a bit darker, and Bayern Munich players and WAGS are dressed to impress. Enjoy.

Down in Italy, Roma turned what should have been a tight contest into a farce at the San Siro by beating Inter three-nil. Totti's still got it, people. Here's a link to everything you need to know about the weekend in Serie A (until we check in with Paolo domani).

Over in Spain, there were no big upsets. Real Madrid managed to escape with a win at Levante and Real Sociedad continue to struggle. Here's a wee wrap.

Let's look back at MLS. Here's your Best and Worst of Week 32. It includes Landon Donovan and Fotis Bazakos. And more. Speaking of more, Ives has a wrap of the weekend and he says Tim Cahill is making a case for MVP. Hit it, Ives.




That's probably fine for a Monday.

-SSN