Welcome back students. It’s time to learn about the 2nd Law of Soccer, The Law of the Balls. Sounds dirty, I know, but let’s try and keep giggling to a minumum please. So, as I was saying, there are many laws one must abide by when it comes to balls. They must be the right shape and size, they must be leathery to the touch, and – most importantly - they must feel right when they are being cradled in the ref’s hands. I said no giggling! Some people are actually trying to learn.

If we can’t pay attention, I guess we will just have to do another pop quiz. Which of the following soccer balls could reach the pitch in a FIFA “official” match”

A. A spherical, leather ball 28 inches in circumference with a 16 oz. weight with a “FIFA Approved” logo affixed.

B. A spherical, plastic ball 27 inches in circumference with a 14 oz. weight with a “FIFA Inspected” logo affixed.

C. Any spherical ball made of FIFA “approved suitable material” that doesn’t advertise for anything other than FIFA.

D. All of the Above.

If you guessed (D), you may be a genius, but you also are a frequent reader of this site, which means you are more likely not. The answer is always “All of the Above” when it comes to the Laws of the Game. I guess when it comes to the ball, as long as it is close to the same size, shape and weight, who cares what material it is made out of.

I am sure vegan players would probably prefer less leather, but who cares what vegan players prefer (if they even exist without protein pills). To make a short story long, the 2nd Law of Soccer may be about “Balls”, but it is really about the most important piece of equipment in the game. After all, only when you play with balls can you score. 

If you think about it. The ball is to soccer what fate is to life. Sometimes it finds you in the right place at the right time, and other times you cough it up because you hesitated on an empty net. Sometimes in both soccer and life, you start out with two perfectly fresh new balls, and you end up losing one in an ugly defensive scuffle and have only a single muddy ball and an otherwise completely empty ball sack. Who doesn’t know that feeling?

Seriously guys, stop giggling… Class is dismissed, but remember to do your homework because in a few days we will be closely examining the laws that apply to players while they are vigorously playing with their balls.

OK, I did that last one on purpose…

The 1999 Champions League Final had it all. Two of the best teams in the world, Manchester United of England and Bayern Munich of Germany. It also featured the second greatest comeback in the history of the major tournament. What was the greatest comeback? Well, you will have to wait until tomorrow and the #1 match to find out.

Both teams had already won their two biggest domestic trophies, so whoever won the Final would be completing a historic treble. Only six minutes into the Final, Bayern scored a goal on a meticulous free-kick from Basler. Over the next 84 minutes, Bayern played some tremendous defense and completely kept Man U away from the net.

It was not over yet though. One minute into injury time, Sheringham scored on a rebound from a Ryan Giggs’ shot. Just a minute later, Man U earned a corner. David Beckham threw the ball into the box with precision and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer poked the ball past the Bayern keeper. Minutes later, the whistle blew and Man U had won the title.

The Final was fantastic and deserves recogntion here because it was so damn competitive and tense. Finally, the Final was ultimately significant because it allowed Man U to complete its historic treble. I almost put it at #1 here, but I couldn’t deny another game that honor. To find out which match, please come back tomorrow for the conclusion of this series.

The Recent Results: OK, obviously I don’t have much to discuss in this section seeing as how the Sounders have no recent results. I will say this though - luckily for Seattle, they are geographically next to the Pacific, so they will at least get to play in the weak Western Conference this year. I would much rather be stuck there than the beastly East.

The Man in Charge: Sigi Schmid has proven time and again that he is one of the best MLS coaches in the league’s history. He won two Supporters Shields and an MLS Cup in LA only to be tossed out on his ass because his brand of soccer wasn’t sexy enough. Last year, he completed the MLS Double with CMB while the Gals sucked. Who’s sexy now?

On the Offensive: Seattle will likely experience some growing pains worse than anything Kirk Cameron went through when it comes to the attack this season. Nate Jaqua is a big target up top, but he is reputed to be a chronic underachiever. Who else do they have? Le Toux? He’s unproven. Ljungberg? He’s injured. It could be a long season.

For the Defense: The Sounders’ defense actually doesn’t look so bad. Putting Keller between the posts helps a ton, but they have also procured some experienced guys like as Nathan Sturgis, James Riley, Tyson Wahl, Tyrone Marshall and youngster Patrick Ianni. If I were Sigi, I might opt for a 6-3-1 formation for the first few games.

Movie They Resemble: OK, I was obviously joking there and I do not think Mr. Schmid should play six defenders for the Sounders. But, if I were him, I wouldn’t be afraid to tinker with a five defender set. After all, they are the new team. So, for their movie, I am going to go with The New Guy. Was it an awful movie? Yes. Am I simply using it because it is almost 4:00 a.m. and I am trying to finish all of these previews in one night? Maybe. But that film does make sense if you think about it. Just like in the movie, the Sounders, as “the new guy”, are almost guaranteed to get their butts kicked this year. All they can do is take their lumps and try to do better next season. The only other movie I even considered was Coneheads. I didn’t come up with it as a slight to Mr. Ljungberg, I simply was trying to find one movie (any movie) that Drew Carey had appeared in that people would have seen. Well, he was in that one folks, as a passenger in a taxi. If you blinked during the film, you probably missed it though. Sadly, I have a feeling a lot of people will feel the same way about this Sounders’ season. It’s going to be fun (or at least funny), but ultimately forgettable.

So, it’s probably obvious to you PLTO readers out there following this countdown, but I like Argentina as the #1 squad leading into the 2010 World Cup. The reason for my preference for the Argentines is two-fold: (1) they have history on their side and (2) they have the most gifted player in the world, Mr. Lionel Messi. The Argentines have won more international titles than any national team already, and I believe they are poised to add a third Cup title.

I used to think Cristiano Ronaldo was the world’s greatest player, but lately I have come to realize that we are all living in the “Era of Messi”. Like Maradona before him, Messi has elevated his game far beyond his contemporaries to the point where he has the power to literally transfix viewers with his superior skill. Maradona is now his coach and mentor, and he has already declared his intention to make Lionel the “successor” to his soccer throne.

Messi won’t have to go it alone come 2010 though. He will also have the following stars with him: Nicolas Burdisso (Inter), Gabriel Heinze (Real Madrid), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Gabriel Milito (Barcelona), and many others. Oh yeah, and Carlos Tevez (Man U) too. Tevez and Messi? The question to me isn’t whether they will win, but by how much? If Maradona doesn’t screw it up, Argentina will likely hoist the Jules Rimet Trophy for the 3rd time in 2010.

At least that’s my opinion.

FIFA obviously disagrees with me (no big shocker there) because they have Argentina at #6 currently, but I think they have their head up their asses (or arses, for you UK readers out there). FIFA obviously doesn’t value Messi as highly as I do. But c’est la vie. In the end, I think Argentina has the best odds of winning it all. 2010 will be the “Messi World Cup” just like 1986 was the “Maradona World Cup”. I bet Lionel doesn’t gain as much weight afterwards though.

So that’s it folks. I have now completed my list of the 15 best national teams in the world leading up to the 2010 World Cup. If I omitted one of your favorite squads, please let me hear about it in the comments (in English please, like Ron Burgundy, I don’t speak Spanish, so don’t bother speaking to me in your native tongue Mexico fans). Until then, keep coming back to PLTO for the best news, analysis and commentary on the world’s most beautiful game.

Spain is known to its supporters as “La Furia Roja”, or “The Red Fury”. It’s a cool nickname, but when it comes to the World Cup, the only thing “furious” in Spain has been the squad’s fans after World Cup disappointment after disappointment. In 12 tries, they have never made it to a Final, and the last time they reached the semis was 1950.

Yet, I hesitated in selecting Spain as the #2 team in the world because I really wanted to make them #1 despite their poor record in the world’s biggest tourney. Why did I feel compelled to place them at the top of the world table? Well, they recently won Euro 2008 in dramatic fashion and their team features many of the world’s greatest players.

Spain’s roster reads more like a world all-star team than a national team: Iker Casillas and Sergio Ramos of Real Madrid; Carles Puyol and Xavi Hernandez of Barcelona; Xabi Alonso and Fernando Torres of Liverpool; David Villa and David Silva of Valencia; and Cesc Fabregas of Arsenal. Vicente del Bosque has the easiest job in all of sports.

According to FIFA, Spain isn’t just the #1 team in the world, they are the best by a historically huge margin.  But one important fact remains: despite their win at Euro 2008 and their recent ascension to the top of the world rankings, Spain has never won a World Cup. I don’t think they will break that curse in 2010 either, and that’s why they are #2.

Russia has been rising through the FIFA ranks very quickly. The squad has only made it two two World Cups (1994, 2002) and they failed to advance past the group stage both times. But, they are now a very dangerous team, partly because almost all of their players play for the same pro teams in Russia, which allows them to train together often.

Russia’s soccer history is relatively short, unless you count their accomplishments back when those Red Ruskies were part of the Soviet conglomerate known as the USSR. The Soviets made it to seven World Cups and finished fourth in 1966. The Russians have had less luck, but they did manage to make it to the semifinals of Euro 2008.

The Russians are managed by Dutch coach Guus Hiddink, who is now coaching his fourth different nation. He’s had his most success with Russia though, and how could he not with his collection of star players. He’s got Sergey Semak, Dmitriy Sychev, Roman Pavlyuchenko (Tottenham) and rising star Andrei Arshavin.

All in all, the Russians are one of the most quickly improving teams in the world, though there is no guarantee they will be ready in 2010 to take on the traditional powers. But, this is one of the rare occasions where FIFA and I agree as we both have them slotted in the #9 spot. I think they deserve it, but only time will tell if they are the real deal.

The Croatian National Football Team are known to their supporters by the name “Vatreni”, which translates to “Fiery Ones”. While the team’s play is hot, the nickname is more attributable to the fans themselves who have been chided for their racism. Regardless of such misbehavior, I believe the squad will show up to South Africa in 2010 ready to play and will advance deep in the tourney.

The Croatian team did not come to fruition until 1990 when Croatia became independent from Yugoslavia, so they do not have a long track record. They have appeared in the last three World Cups and they shocked the world when the finished third in the ‘98 Cup. They recently reached the quarterfinals at the 2008 European Championship.

The team has been hurt by the absence of Brazilian-born Eduardo da Silva (Arsenal) due to injury, but they still have many prominent players, including Ivica Olic (Bayern Munich) and Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk) and rising stars Ivan Rakitic (Schalke ‘04) and Luka Modric (Tottenham). Stipe Pletikosa (Spartak Moscow) has been a fixture at goalie.

FIFA believes Croatia is the seventh best side in the world, but I am putting them a little farther down because they have struggled quite a bit lately (in 2008, they lost 0-3 to the Dutch and 1-4 to the English). Until they can consistently beat the best, they won’t crack the top 10, but I still think they are deserving of the #11 spot.

Record number of soccer fans watched the U.S. versus Mexico World Cup qualifying match this week. The  broadcast on Univision was seen by 10.7 million viewers, making it the most watched sporting event in the history of Spanish-language television. The average audience of 5.9 million made it the most-watched sporting event for the season to date on Spanish-language television.

It was not just Mexician fans that were watching the game. An average of 1.2 million people watched the game on ESPN2 making it the most-watched World Cup qualifier in history on ESPN2. 

When you combine the audiences, the game was the most-watched program on Wednesday night among men 18 to 34 and men 18 to 49 in such major markets as Los Angeles, Miami, Houston and Dallas, beating out first-run English-language primetime shows such as Fox’s American Idol, ABC’s Lost, NBC’s Law & Order and CBS’ CSI: NY.

The next World Cup qualifying match for the U.S. will be on Saturday, March 28 when the U.S. travels to El Salvador. Kickoff is 9 p.m. ET

It’s hard to believe, but the 2010 FIFA World Cup is less than two years away now. It will be the first time the tournament will be hosted by an African nation (South Africa) and all indicators suggest it will be the most competitive Cup ever. 32 teams will make it to the Big Dance, but which ones will be most successful?

Well, South Africa is in for sure since they are hosting, but who else will play for eternal glory in the Summer of 2010? I have been researching the traditional powerhouses and some up and coming squads with the (foolish) hope of ranking the top 15 teams who will likely vie for international supremacy on July 11, 2010 at the Final.

When ranking the teams, I looked at the following criteria:

(1) Does the team have a history of success in big tournaments?

(2) Does the team have some of the world’s greatest players?

(3) Does the team have a good record of recent results?

With these factors in mind, I have ranked the 15 teams I think have the best chance of hoisting the Jules Rimet Trophy in Johannesburg. Over the next two weeks, I will be taking PLTO readers on a journey around the globe to learn about these teams’ legacies, their current stars and their chances of success in 2010. So sit back, relax and get ready to hear about the world’s greatest teams and their odds of winning the most heralded trophy in all of sport.

Good performance tonight from the U.S. as two goals from Michael Bradley lead the U.S. to a 2-0 victory over Mexico in a World Cup qualifier. The win continued the U.S.’s domination in the series over the last nine years.

On a wet and windy night at Crew Stadium the U.S. ran their record to 9-0-2 on home soil against Mexico since 2000.

Beasley’s corner kick found Landon Donovan at the far side of the 6-yard box, with Donovan heading it back into the scrum. Oguchi Onyewu’s header was stopped by diving Mexico goaltender Oswaldo Sanchez, but the rebound came right into the path of Bradley, who kicked in the winner from 6 yards.

“It was a great corner from Beas, and Landon did a great job heading it back,” Bradley said. “It was not so hard for me to put it in.”

The game turned in the 65th minute when Mexico’s Dos Santos failed to score from two yards out and in the resulting play Mexican captain Rafa Márquez was sent off for a foul on Tim Howard. Marquez had went up for a high cross with Howard leading with his studs into the thigh of the U.S. keeper and the referee gave him a straight red card.

In injury time Bradley gets his second of the night when he took a pass from Donovan rand drilled a shot that the Mexican keeper Sanchez can’t handle.

The loss could mean more trouble for Mexico coach Sven-Goran Eriksson. His team, with just one win in its last seven outings, barely made it into the final round of qualifying. A former manager of England, he had been brought on to stop what many Tricolores fans consider an almost unforgivable sin: losing to the United States. 

Overall this was a good win for the U.S., but Mexico will rue their missed chances. Dos Santos twice had great chances to score and the U.S.’s Tim Howard was outstanding in goal. But the U.S. took their chances and Mexico didn’t and that was the difference in the game.