Showdown in Chinatown 2009 Date Announced

Titi v. J-Kidd... also pictured: Macca's tuccus
It really would not be an exaggeration to say that Showdown in Chinatown was the highlight of last summer. NBA stars, footy stars, and even ESPN's Marc Stein running around on a small pitch in the Lower East Side in front of hundreds of fans hanging off a chain-link fence. Heaven truly is a playground.

It's with great excitement that we have learned that the game is happening again this year, and that a date has been chosen. Steve Nash launched a new website for the charity Football for Good, wherein Nash included a video announcing that the Showdown will be held on June 24th in New York. There is even a contest where you get airfare and a ticket to the match.

We are also hearing rumors that the roster will be even more fantastic than last year. This video might have some clues... Some really great football players are featured, as well as Joe Cole.

So, if you are in New York, or you can get to New York, better start planning for a sick day.

Read more on "Showdown in Chinatown 2009 Date Announced"...

The Bootroom: FA Cup Final Edition

One last chance for Spartak London to take home some hardware on the season before Guus Hiddink sods off back to Russia. Our very own Autoglass is at the all-Blues final at Wembley with Autoglass Jr., cheering on his beloved Chelsea. Somebody call Child Protective Services!

After the jump, the brief details for the FA Cup Final, as well as what else is going on in the world of footy this weekend.



Chelsea finished 3rd in the EPL (suck it, Barclay's!) with 83 points, while Everton finished 5th with 63 points. So, a bit of a gap between them, then. Aside from Autoglass, most of us here are rooting from Everton because: (1) Spartak London are the anti-Christ; and (2) Everton sport American Tim Howard in goal. As for our true Liverpudlian, Lingering Bursitis? I'm sure his head will explode trying to decide on the lesser of two evils.

Probable line-ups for the dance:

Chelsea: Cech; Bosingwa, Alex, Terry, A Cole; Essien, Ballack, Lampard; Malouda, Drogba, Anelka.

Everton: Howard; Hibbert, Yobo, Lescott, Baines; Osman, Neville, Cahill, Pienaar; Fellaini; Saha.

Referee: Howard Webb.

Notes: Everton gaffer David Moyes was the EPL Manager of the Year. Each club has a massive twat on the pitch - Ashley Cole for Chelsea and Tim Cahill for Everton. Marouane Fellaini's hair is outrageous. If there is only 1 goal in this match, it is guaranteed to come from Malouda in order to further piss off Lingering.


In other footy, titles and relegation will be decided in the following matches:

Ligue 1: (all matches at 3:00PM EST on Saturday)

SM Caen v. FC Girondins de Bordeaux
Olympique de Marseille v. Stade Rennais FC
Paris Saint-Germain v. AS Monaco FC
Toulouse FC v. Olympique Lyonnais
AS Saint-Etienne v. Valenciennes FC
FC Lorient v. Le Mans UC 72
Grenoble 38 v. FC Sochaux-Montbeliard


Serie A: (all matches at 9:00AM EST on Sunday)

Fiorentina v. AC Milan
Juventus v. Lazio
Genoa v. Lecce
Bologna v. Catania


La Liga:
Saturday matches:

Atletico Madrid v. Almeria
Mallorca v. Villareal

Sunday matches:

Numancia v. Sevilla FC
Real Betis v. Valladolid
Racing Santander v. Getafe
Osasuna v. Real Madrid
Sporting Gijon v. Recreativo Huelva

Read more on "The Bootroom: FA Cup Final Edition"...

Friday Backpasses: Fraggin' A

English guys like to frag each other when they get together [Dirty Tackle]
Jimmy Conrad continues to rule the internet [Off The Post]
Top moments of the EPL season that was [Pies]

American in Rome mistaken for soccer fan, stabbed. Tifosi apparently unaware that Americans don't like soccer [Newsday]
Jonas brother playing with fire. Last week he wore an Argentine shirt, now this [The Beautiful Game]
A twist on robbing player's houses while on European duty. Giggsy's mom's house was invaded for a drug party [The Spoiler]
Scholes to break ankles and coach at Stoke next season? [Daily Mail]

Finally:
Clueless American watching a game and writing it up is now a meme. Milhouse, however, is not a meme [Upper Deck]

Read more on "Friday Backpasses: Fraggin' A"...

America Wants Caen Relegated

The task is simple for SM Caen this weekend on Matchday 38 for Ligue 1 - win and stay in the top flight (well, unless Saint-Etienne beat Valenciennes by 15 goals). If they lose and Saint-Etienne win (regardless of by how much), they will be relegated. So, who will be the targets of Caen's fury tomorrow? Eh, it's only Les Girondins, who assure themselves a Ligue 1 title with a victory. Boy, it's a good thing that Caen don't have any distractions.



This match is being held at Caen's home, the Stade Michel D'Ornano, but like most clubs Caen are staying in a hotel the night before the match. Caen is located in the Normandie region of France - sound familiar? That's right, it's near Normandy (that's the English spelling) and the 65th anniversary of D-Day is right around the corner. What that means is that there are US officials all over the place right now preparing for President Obama's visit next week. There are also thousands of veterans and visitors coming in for the planned commemoration (although Queen Elizabeth is not among them), but surely a professional football club should be able to focus on the task at hand.

Well, apparently one of the American delegates has contracted swine flu (although it's uncertain if she was already infected before entering the country), has been hospitalized, and has caused other delegation members to be quarantined for a period of time. Even worse is the fact that the hotel at which she was staying was to be the headquarters of SM Caen before their vital match this weekend. Instead, Caen were forced to stay at a hotel in Bayeux. People, that's 6.5 miles away!

If a sleep-deprived and uncomfortable Caen lose their match tomorrow and are relegated, it will be a conspiracy the likes of which hasn't been seen since the dodgy lasagna incident. Does anyone know if Obama is a Saint-Etienne supporter?

Read more on "America Wants Caen Relegated"...

So What's the Confederations Cup All About?

The FIFA Confederations Map. Isn't it pretty?

The Confederations Cup kicks off on Sunday, June 14th with a 16:00 (umm, that's probably S. Africa time, not EST) match between South Africa and Iraq at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg. But who are the countries involved, how did they get there, and what the heck is this thing all about?


The tournament was originally hosted and organized by Saudi Arabia, and was known as the King Fahd Cup. Not suprisingly, Saudi Arabia was a participant in every tournament, and extended invitations to winners of various continental tournaments. There were 2 iterations, in 1992 and 1995, after which FIFA took over the competition, formalized the rules regarding participants, and decreed that it would take place every 2 years. In 2005 FIFA realized that due to the schedule of a variety of other competitions (most notably the Olympics, the World Cup, and EURO tournaments), it would be most effective if the Confederations Cup was held every 4 years, which brings us to 2009.

Since 2005 the Confederations Cup has been held in the same country as the next World Cup, with the latter following by 1 year. This allows the WC host country to assess its readiness on a number of factors including infrastructure and safety. So, who are the national teams that get to dance at this dress rehearsal, and how did they get there? The rules of the Confederation Cup state that the 8 participants will be the winners of each of the 6 FIFA confederation championships, the reigning World Cup champion, and the host of the upcoming World Cup. There are also a host of rules for what to do when these overlap (e.g. the reigning WC champion is also hosting the next WC; the winner of 1 of the 6 confederation championships is also the reigning WC champion) - and in fact some teams have declined to participate in the Confederations Cup for a variety of reasons.

The 2009 Confederations Cup participants are:

(1) Italy - invited as the reigning World Cup champion

(2) South Africa - invited as the host of World Cup 2010

(3) Egypt - invited as the Confederation of African Football (CAF) winners, having won the African Cup of Nations

(4) Brazil - invited as the South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) winners, having won the Copa America

(5) Spain - invited as the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) winners, having won EURO 2008 (officially referred to as the UEFA European Football Championship)

(6) Iraq - invited as the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) winners, having won the Asian Cup

(7) New Zealand - invited as the Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) winners, having won the OFC Nations Cup

(8) United States - invited as the Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF) winners, having won the Gold Cup


With a total of $17.6 million in prize money at stake, matchups featuring USA-Italy (June 15th) and Italy-Brazil (June 21st), and the reputation of South Africa on the line, the 2009 Confederations Cup has a lot to offer.

And we'll be ready with the live-blogs.

Read more on "So What's the Confederations Cup All About?"...

Quick Throw: Not so fast, bored Arab!

The EPL, miraculously finding the time between filet mignon lunches and visits to the spa, have decided to run the potential Pompey owner through their "fit-and-proper persons" rule that's yet to be fully implemented. I guess they're checking to see whether he's qualified or honest or something.

Good luck, Pompey! Remember: all the money in the world doesn't mean you'll be signing Kaka in July. If he and the rest of the soccer superstars didn't want to go to Citeh, they're certainly not choosing the gloomy South Coast.

[Guardian Sport]

Read more on "Quick Throw: Not so fast, bored Arab!"...

Fernando re-ups at Anfield

Fernando Torres has been busy signing things lately. First, his marriage license, and now, a new deal at Anfield that could keep him there until 2013, with an option for 2014.

On his website, he had this to say:

"I want to remain here (at Anfield). Since arriving at Liverpool I feel that there is a bond and commitment. We listened to the club's offer, which came on the back of two seasons of positive work. My objective now is to win a trophy with Liverpool next season."

I pray to God that trophy is not a Carling Cup.

After the jump, a vid or two showing his goalscoring. Why? I mean, why not?

Read more on "Fernando re-ups at Anfield"...

Thursday Backpasses: I don't see it

Nando's been busy. Got married. Signed a contract extension [Sky Sports]
Beckham does not care who he endorses, he is using an iPhone, dammit [Daily Mail]
Videos of the Barcelona victory parade. The last one features a drunken (and cursing?) Messi [Barcaloco]

For you Twitterers--MLS and other US soccer players on Twitter [The Best Eleven]
First: There is a "Singapore Beckham". Second: He's back [Soccernet]
France unveils their Braille shirt. Is it ust me, or are those dots not raised? [World Cup Blog]

Finally:
The latent homoeroticism of football commentators revealed [Who Ate All The Pies?]

Read more on "Thursday Backpasses: I don't see it"...

Quick Throw: Steve Bruce to Sunderland Is Imminent

Wigan continues its strategy of buy-low sell-high as Steve Bruce has been given permission to talk to Sunderland, with an official move to the Black Cats expected within 48 hours. Wigan gets somewhere under 5 million pounds in return, and will likely announce Roberto Martínez, Swansea City manager and former Wigan player, as Bruce's replacement.

[Guardian]

Read more on "Quick Throw: Steve Bruce to Sunderland Is Imminent"...

Who is the mystery woman training with Germany?

Let me get this out of the way before I forget, because between this post and the new Aberdeen kit, Football Fashion is my site of the day. Plus, if I didn't do it now, I'd probably be too spent after looking and relooking at all of the pictures ahead.


Britta Heidemann is quite the fencer. She won Gold in the individual epee this past summer in Beijing. She's a Leverkusen gal, and, like the local soccer team, is sponsored by Bayer. These days, she splits her time between Germany and her second home in China. Needless to say, Heidemann was probably quite happy when the German men's team decided to go to China for a friendly. Next thing you know, there she is at training with the Mannschaft, one top athlete working out with other top athletes.

Oh, and did I mention she has done Playboy? Yeah, there's a NSFW pic after the jump.

With the team. Look closely for the Bayer pin

I dunno, but I like this one

Coach Loew keeping a close eye on the proceedings

It would be a little misleading to say Heidemann is a Playboy model. She appeared in a 2004 (I'm guessing) female athlete-themed issue in the German version of the magazine. It's safe to say that she's not going to show up on the next season of Hugh Hefner Gets Better Trim Than You, or whatever it's called. Still, nudes are nudes, and hers are pretty swell.

I'll leave you here with one oddly-censored photograph from the shoot. If that whets your whistle, then head on over here for a couple of more uncensored ones. Enjoy.

Read more on "Who is the mystery woman training with Germany?"...