Save Of The Day: Julio Sergio, Man Of The Day: Diego

While Roma got shelled today 3-1 by Juventus, exposing its enduring weakness on the defensive end, newby keeper Julio Sergio did provide a moment of brilliance for the giallorossi.

Check out his brilliant save at the 9 second mark on the video. After that, check out Juve's Diego channeling Maradona (with a brief intermission by Roma's Daniel De Rossi with a gorgeous long range shot). After three years in the wilderness of Italian football, there's only one thing to say for Juventus; they're ba-ack!




And not to be outdone, Valencia's Juan Mata and Pablo Hernandez put on a show of their own in downing Sevilla 2-0.

Noel Gallagher Leaving Oasis

Please observe a moment of silence for that fine band of City fans from Manchester; Oasis. It looks like they'll be splitting up now that guitarist and songwriter Noel Gallagher will be leaving the band since he can no longer work with his brother, Liam.

Noel wrote on the band's website: “It’s with some sadness and great relief to tell you I quit Oasis tonight. I simply could not go on working with Liam a day longer.”

According to various reports, Noel walked just before the band was due to headline at Paris’s Rock en Seine festival after he and Liam got into a fistfight.

Singer Amy Macdonald reported on her Twitter page that the brothers had exchanged blows backstage, writing: “Liam smashed Noel’s guitar, huuuge fight!”


Is this just a temporary bust-up or will it be for good? My spidey sense tells me if they ever get back together, it won't be for a long time.

So until then, here are their top three songs as ranked by their own countrymen in a recent poll:

Live Forever



Wonderwall



Don't Look Back In Anger



And of course one of my favorites:

Chamgagne Supernova

No Surprise: Messi Recongnized As Europe's Finest

Courtesy of UEFA:

Lionel Messi, a key figure in FC Barcelona's march to UEFA Champions League glory last season, has more to celebrate after collecting the UEFA Club Footballer of the Year prize at the UEFA Club Football Awards in Monaco. The Argentinian international was also selected as Best Forward while team-mate Xavi Hernández took the Best Midfielder trophy. Manchester United FC's Edwin van der Sar was nominated Best Goalkeeper and Chelsea FC captain John Terry completed the honours list as he received his third Best Defender gong from Paolo Maldini.

Sensational season
Messi had scored Barcelona's second goal – his ninth of the 2008/09 competition – in the UEFA Champions League final against Manchester United in Rome, as the Catalan side became the first Spanish team to lift the Liga, Copa del Rey and European Champion Clubs' Cup titles in one season. If the headed goal from Messi that capped his sensational campaign was a collector's item, his presence on the scoresheet was more predictable: the 22-year-old struck 38 goals in all competitions last term.

'Important award'
Messi succeeds Cristiano Ronaldo as the Club Footballer of the Year and is the second Argentinian international to land the prize after Fernando Redondo in 2000. "It is an enormous joy to be able to receive such an important award as this," he said. "And it's also a pleasure to be able to thank all the people who voted for me and who decided I should get this award."

Bradley Names Roster For World Cup Qualifiers

CHICAGO (Aug. 27, 2009) — U.S. Men's National Team head coach Bob Bradley has named a roster of 24 players that will train in advance of the critical FIFA World Cup qualifiers against El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago. The U.S. first hosts El Salvador on Sept. 5 in Sandy, Utah (tickets). Kickoff at Rio Tinto Stadium is set for 6 p.m. MT., and the match will be broadcast live on ESPN Classic and TeleFutura. Four days later, the U.S. returns to Hasley Crawford Stadium to take on Trinidad & Tobago. The match kicks off in Port-of-Spain at 7 p.m. ET, with live coverage on ESPN Classic and Galavision. Fans can follow both matches live online via ussoccer.com’s newly upgraded MatchTracker.

The U.S. team will begin gathering Aug. 30 in Utah for training. Following the match against El Salvador, the U.S. team will travel Sept. 7 to Trinidad. The U.S. currently sits in third place in the final round hexagonal, collecting 10 points and a 3-2-1 record through six games. Costa Rica leads the pack with 12 points, while Honduras holds second place based on a superior goal differential to the United States. The top three teams automatically advance to the 2010 FIFA World Cup, while the fourth place team will participate in a two-leg playoff against the fifth place team from South America.

“Clearly these are very important games in our effort to qualify for 2010 FIFA World Cup,” said U.S. head coach Bob Bradley, who holds an unblemished 7-0-0 record at home in World Cup qualifying. “As we expected, qualifying in this region is very competitive. Both El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago will be hungry to get points from these matches, and we have an opportunity to position ourselves well to secure a berth for South Africa.”

Seventeen players on the roster return from the group that defeated No. 1-ranked Spain and finished runners up to Brazil in the FIFA Confederations Cup in June. Tim Howard, who missed the previous match in this round against El Salvador while serving a one-game suspension, has posted an impressive seven shutouts in 12 all-time World Cup qualifying appearances. Clint Dempsey, honored with the Bronze Ball as the third best player in the Confederations Cup, tallied three times in South Africa, including goals against Spain and Brazil. Dempsey is tied for second place in scoring for the U.S. in this qualifying cycle, netting four goals along with Michael Bradley, Brian Ching and Landon Donovan.

Led by team captain Carlos Bocanegra, four players have appeared in all six of the USA’s final round qualifiers thus far. Donovan is the leading capwinner on the roster with 116 international appearances. Long the USA’s all-time leading scorer in both goals and assists, his strike in the 2-1 qualifying win against Honduras on June 6 in Chicago lifted Donovan to the top of the team’s all-time scoring list in World Cup qualifying with 11 career goals. Now with 31 career World Cup qualifying caps, Donovan is poised to surpass Kasey Keller, Eddie Pope and Claudio Reyna as the USA’s leader in appearances in qualifying.

Jozy Altidore leads all U.S. scorers in the 2010 World Cup qualifying campaign with five goals, including a record-setting hat trick performance in the 3-0 win against Trinidad & Tobago on April 1 in Nashville, Tenn. With the three goals, the 19-year-old Altidore became the youngest player in U.S. history to record a hat trick. Altidore also scored the first goal to spark the USA’s comeback in the 2-2 draw on March 28 in El Salvador, marking the first time the team has faced and erased a two-goal deficit to earn a point on the road.
Real Salt Lake midfielder Kyle Beckerman and forward Robbie Findley are making their first appearance on a World Cup qualifying roster. Along with Robbie Rogers, they are only players on the roster without a cap in qualifying. Stuart Holden earned his first World Cup qualifying cap against Mexico. With his goal at Estadio Azteca, Charlie Davies now has recorded two goals in qualifying in three appearances.

The U.S. is playing for the first time at Rio Tinto Stadium, and only the second-ever match in the state of Utah. During qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, two goals from Donovan paced the U.S. to a 3-0 win against Costa Rica on June 4, 2005, at Rice Eccles Stadium in front of more than 40,000 fans.

Holding a lifetime record of 13-1-5 against El Salvador, the U.S. has never lost to the Salvadorans in World Cup qualifying (4-0-3). The team will be without the services of defender Oguchi Onyewu, who will be serving a one-match suspension due to yellow card accumulation.

This is the fourth consecutive World Cup qualifying cycle in which the U.S. and T & T have faced off, and the sixth overall since 1985. The U.S. holds a 10-1-2 record in qualifying against Trinidad & Tobago, including a 3-1-1 record on the road.

Following these matches, the U.S. will close out the 10-game, round robin final round with matches against Honduras and Costa Rica. The United States will travel to face Honduras on Oct. 10, and finishes group play on Oct. 14 at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

U.S. ROSTER BY POSITION

GOALKEEPERS (2): Brad Guzan (Aston Villa: 5/3 SO), Tim Howard (Everton FC: 12/7 SO)

DEFENDERS (8): Carlos Bocanegra (Rennes: 22/3), Jonathan Bornstein (Chivas USA, 2/0), Steve Cherundolo (Hannover: 19/0), Jay DeMerit (Watford: 3/0), Clarence Goodson (IK Start: 1/0), Chad Marshall (Columbus Crew: 2/0), Oguchi Onyewu (AC Milan: 17/1), Jonathan Spector (West Ham: 2/0)

MIDFIELDERS (8): Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake: 0/0), Michael Bradley (Borussia Mönchengladbach: 11/4), Ricardo Clark (Houston Dynamo: 6/0), Clint Dempsey (Fulham: 18/4), Benny Feilhaber (AGF Aarhus: 2/0), Stuart Holden (Houston Dynamo: 1/0), Robbie Rogers (Columbus Crew: 0/0), José Francisco Torres (Pachuca: 5/0)

FORWARDS (6): Jozy Altidore (Hull City: 9/5), Conor Casey (Colorado Rapids: 5/0), Brian Ching (Houston Dynamo: 16/6), Charlie Davies (FC Sochaux: 3/2), Landon Donovan (Los Angeles Galaxy: 31/11), Robbie Findley (Real Salt Lake: 0/0)

*numbers indicate all-time World Cup Qualifying caps/goals

Altidore: He Shoots, He Scores!

Coming off a strong Premiership debut in Hull City's 1-0 win over Bolton, Jozy Altidore has opened up his scoring account with his new club in their League Cup match against Southend.

Taken down 20 yards from the Southend goal in the 41st minute, Altidore took the free kick himself, sending a laser blast into the bottom left corner and into the back of the net. His goal helped Hull emerge victorious with a 3-1 win.

Two games; one goal, one assist - not bad for a 19 year-old from New Jersey.

Check it out here:

Rumor Links Donovan To Paris Saint-Germain

You've probably heard the rumor by now that the LA Galaxy's Landon Donovan has been linked to Paris Saint-Germain. What you probably haven't heard is that virtually every report (including this one) is just a recap of a blurb from French website 10 Sport.

But even 10 Sport only mentions that he is about to be engaged with the club (which could mean talks have begun), a far cry from being close to a signing - assuming this rumor has any truth to it.




A move to the French league, even if its just a loan for one season, would probably be a good way for Donovan to stay tuned up for next year's World Cup. After seeing how effective Charlie Davies has been at Sochaux, there may be other French teams now interested in signing one of the available US strikers. All that said, until you see another original news source or a quote from someone in Donovan's camp, don't hold your breath.

Great Goals From Around The World

LFV frequent flyer Peruvian international Juan Manuel Vargas does it again by opening up scoring in Fiorentina's 2-2 draw with Sporting Lisbon in Champion's League play:




Here is a textbook finish by Al-Sawielh الهلال for Al-Hilal in the first week of the Saudi League:



An American youth player cracks a pub league shot - and makes it!



Here's another one from the Champion's League. How about Valencia punishing Staebeck 3-0, with all three scored from inside the six yard box?