I hate penalties. I hate how arbitrarily a winner is chosen. I hate the way penalties discard everything that came in the previous one-hundred and twenty minutes. I hate how they place the burden of winning or losing on one player. Soccer's not about the individual. Teams rise or fall collectively. They train together, they play together, they should win and lose together. But penalties don't work that way. Penalties isolate a player. Suddenly he finds himself alone. There's nothing but the ball, the goal, and, unfortunately, the other team's goalkeeper. If you miss, your team is out. The pressure is mounting. Your teammates have all made their spot-kick and now you need to make yours. If you don't, your team is out and it's your fault. Penalties just aren't in the spirit of the game.

So, what do we do about it? Well, nothing mostly. We can complain about it and suggest things FIFA should do, but almost certainly won't. Stephen Colbert (I know, I know) once said that, and I'm paraphrasing, that deciding the World Cup Final on penalties is like deciding the NBA Championship on a game of 'Horse' Despite the fact that the World Cup Final is so beyond the NBA Championship in both scope and importance as to be incomparable, it remains the best case against penalties that I've heard. People may argue that penalties are exciting or that they've become part of the fabric of the game and either point has valid arguments to be made for it. However, I refuse to accept that entire tournaments, international tournaments, events that billions of people watch, should be decided by ten shots from twelve yards away because we've gotten tired of seeing no one score. The very possibility of penalties hurts the game. It allows less talented teams to put ten men behind the ball in an attempt to stifle a superior opponent's offense and take the game to penalties. Once they've done that, their chances are advancing are just as good as their opponent's, despite being played off the park for two hours. Take, for example, the case of Italy against Spain in the quarterfinals of Euro 2008. It can be universally agreed upon that Spain, based on the run of play, deserved to win that game. Italy, however, did what they do the best and employed their patented style of play 'Catenaccio'. For those of you who don't know, catenaccio means 'door-bolt' in Italian and the system calls for highly organized defense with goals scored on counter-attacks. The definition of boring soccer. Yet, Italy could have been said to have an advantage going into the shoot-out. The Azzuri boasted Gianluigi Buffon in goal, widely considered to be the best in the world. Just two games before, Buffon had made an unbelievable penalty save against Romania's Adrian Mutu, keeping Italy's hopes of advancing alive. Spain's eventual victory on penalties doesn't reflect the fact that they could have just as easily been sent home. A cruel reward for actually playing an attacking style based on possession and skill.

But what can we do to prevent teams from employing strategies like catenaccio or the anti-soccer played by Greece in 2004? The best solution that I can think of would be to keep playing. Wait, what? That's your solution? Just...keep on keepin' on? Well, no. There are a couple changes I would make. They are somewhat radical changes, but I believe they're for the benefit of the game. The first thing I would do would be to grant team's another substitution at the end of regulation. Teams would play the first overtime period just as they do right now. The coach can use whatever substitutions still available to him at the end of the game in addition to the added substitution. If, at the end of the first overtime period, the teams are still tied then both teams will remove a player. Now the game's ten versus ten. The coaches are granted another substitute to use at their discretion. The process should continue for as long as is necessary. At the end of each overtime where the game remains tied, add one substitution and take one player off the field. The addition of extra substitutions will keep the players fresh while the removal of players will open up the game and allow teams playing with guile and flair more opportunities at goal and thus more opportunities to win on their own merit. I rather prefer teams advancing on merit rather than the arbitrary and all-too-cruel solution we currently employ.

In what could hardly be considered a surprising move, Manchester United have bid £20 million pounds for Tottenham Hotspur striker Dimitar Berbatov. Sir Alex Ferguson has long been reported to be an admirer of Berbatov's, and really, who isn't? United will be looking to cover their bases in the event Cristiano Ronaldo is sold to Real Madrid. Berbatov would certainly help to recover a good portion of Ronaldo's forty goals should the winger leave. The Bulgarian striker would fill the currently absent role of target forward for the Premier League champions. His arrival would be of great benefit to forwards Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez. Both players prefer to play from deep positions, in similar fashion to Berbatov's current strike partner Robbie Keane. Berbatov could form a partnership with either player that could prove just as effective as the one he enjoys with Keane.

However, Tottenham will certainly reject the current offer, putting the transfer on hold for a little while longer. Spurs value Berbatov at around £30 million and will be determined to get full value for their talismanic striker if forced to sell. A factor that will also be at the forefront of Spurs Chairman Daniel Levy's mind will be the status of Cristiano Ronaldo. If Ronaldo is sold to Real Madrid for the extraordinary prices being bandied about in the papers, Spurs will smell blood in the water. The influx of cash at United from the Ronaldo deal will drive the Berbatov's price up even higher. Which is why United have placed their bid now. They'll hope that Berbatov pushes for the transfer to be completed, meaning that United will get him at closer to the £30 million price Tottenham have placed on him then in an inflated post-Ronaldo sale. Spurs, for their part, will try to hold out for a Ronaldo transfer.

Berbatov's departure could also speed the departure of Robbie Keane to Liverpool. The Irishman will be more likely to leave if the player with whom he has been described as having a 'telepathic' relationship has left for greener pastures. While the club will be hesitant to let both players leave, Keane's value to Juande Ramos will certainly be diminished if Berbatov leaves. Darren Bent has also been linked with a move to Roy Keane's Sunderland. Indeed, Tottenham's forward stable, formerly the club's strongest asset , could look strangely empty in the near future.

The Sven Goran-Eriksson era in Mexico will kick off on August 20 with a home World Cup qualifier against Honduras. Mexico have been drawn into a tough group featuring Honduras, Canada, and Jamaica. It could be argued that all four teams would advance out of the other two groups, particularly the weak Group C. As it stand, however, only two teams will advance from the group and a few bad performances could see Mexico in some real hot water. Sven Goran-Eriksson acknowledged that Mexico has an obligation to qualify for the World Cup and hopes the Mexicans' superior ability will see them through the difficult group. Eriksson also complained about the short time he would have to work with the players before his first game, only three days. Sven has watched several of Mexico's games since signing on and will have familiarized himself with the players available to him, but the short time afforded him will no doubt provide challenges.

Myself? While I'd love to see Mexico fall short and fail to advance to the Hexagon, I am looking forward to the US handing Eriksson his first American Patented 2-0 loss.

The President of the German Football Association, Theo Zwanziger, has confirmed my suspicion that Germany was not one of the countries Sepp Blatter spoke to about hosting the 2010 World Cup should the plans for South Africa fall through. Zwanziger admitted it would be a tough ask of Germany to host the World Cup again, especially on short notice, saying, "Our country is fundamentally not ready to host the 2010 World Cup if the problems in South Africa are not resolved in time...We would be barking up the wrong tree if we tried to repeat the fantastic summer fairytale of 2006." A German Football Spokesman echoed the sentiment, "Mr Blatter has not yet contacted the DFB with regards to this and has not informed us of his intentions either." Despite Germany's fantastic performance as hosts in 2006, it wouldn't have made sense for FIFA to immediately return to them when other nations are perfectly capable. Though, the situation isn't unprecedented. FIFA asked the United States to host the 2003 Women's World Cup on short notice due to the SARS outbreak in China, this despite the fact that the US had just hosted in 1999.

An intrepid journalist today questioned Newcastle owner Mike Ashley over suspicions of his being a closet Tottenham Hotspur fan. Ashley's reaction? To affirm his undying hatred for everything blue and white. He's probably just bitter about losing out on Luka Modric. Well, rest easy Mike. You're still in charge of the hugest club in the Universe. Until the Bin Ladens take over, that is.

The FIFA Futsal World Cup, an event that is largely ignored in the United States even by soccer diehards, will be played in Brazil this September and FIFA held the Final Draw today. The US team was drawn into Group C along with Italy, Portugal, Paraguay, and Thailand. US coach Keith Tozer had this to say about the draw, “It is a difficult group, but any group at this level is going to present different challenges...Italy and Portugal are two of the top futsal teams in the world, and our group also features two up and coming teams in Thailand and Paraguay.” The tournament will feature twenty teams for the first time. The twenty teams will be divided into four groups of five, from which the top two teams will advance. The 8 advancing teams will then participate in a second round-robin which will determine the semi-finalists.

I've always thought that the US Soccer Federation should push futsal more heavily in the US. The game, which is played on a basketball court sized field with five players to a side, is extremely good at developing close control and skill on the ball, both of which are generally lacking in American players. In fact, most Brazilian players credit their extraordinary ability with the ball to Futsal. In addition, US Soccer has expressed a desire to make the game more readily available to urban children. Soccer has earned a reputation in the US as a game played only amongst affluent suburbanites, at the expense of a significant proportion of the nation's youth. Futsal is more conducive to being played in an urban environment than full-sided soccer games. Games could be played in gyms and basketball courts in cities across the country. It's an option that I think is worth pursuing.

Increased television coverage would be welcome, as well. I'd love to be able to watch both the Futsal World Cup and the Beach Soccer World Cup on television. As yet, that option appears to be unavailable. I'm looking at you Fox Soccer Channel and GolTV.

The Groups:
Group A: Brazil, Russia, Japan, Cuba, Solomon Islands
Group B: Italy, Portugal, Thailand, Paraguay, USA
Group C: Argentina, Ukraine, China PR, Guatemala, Egypt
Group D: Spain, Czech Republic, Iran, Uruguay, Libya

The BBC is reporting that Tottenham Hotspur is closing in on the signing of Espanyol forward Luis Garcia. To clarify, that's the Luis Garcia pictured above, not the former Liverpool player. He's bagged 24 goals in 79 appearances for the Spanish side and Juande Ramos apparently rates the the striker highly. You can see for yourself why he does here. Garcia's signing will do nothing to quiet rumors of Robbie Keane and Dimitar Berbatov departing Tottenham this off-season. While there have been no concrete rumors regarding Berbatov, speculation intensified over Robbie Keane's future after quotes from Rafa Benitez regarding Keane surfaced. Benitez acknowledged Liverpool's interest in Keane after admitting that Liverpool were unlikely to pry David Villa away from Spanish side Valencia. Benitez was quoted as saying, "I said the other day that he is one of the names we had on our list, but I can say at this moment that it is not an option for us...We know Villa is a very good player, we know the price and we know the players we have, so when you consider everything we decided he was one of the names, but at this moment, not our target...Keane is one of the other names and okay we are still working with other names. We were in contact and we will see now."

FIFA President and perennial buffoon Sepp Blatter has revealed that he has spoken to three different Football Associations about the possibility of hosting the 2010 World Cup if South Africa were to fall victim to a 'natural catastrophe'. The Football Associations in question confirmed they would be able to host the tournament on short notice, but would need a year to prepare. Now, everyone realizes that Sepp Blatter isn't talking about a natural catastrophe forcing the tournament out of South Africa. The concern is whether or not South Africa will be able to complete the stadiums and have the infrastructure in place necessary to host an event of the World Cup's magnitude. It has already been revealed that South Africa's Port Elizabeth stadium will not be ready in time for the 2009 Confederations Cup. This failure raises legitimate concerns over South Africa's ability to be fully prepared for the World Cup. These concerns make it necessary for FIFA to have a contingency plan in place, should South Africa not live up to its commitments. There are several countries Blatter could have spoken to about hosting the tournament on a year's notice. These include, but aren't limited to, the United States, England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and Australia. All of these countries have the stadiums and the infrastructure to host the World Cup. Who do I think Blatter spoke to? I would think he would have approached the United States, England and Spain. The US was home to the 1994 World Cup which, due to America's enormous stadiums, still holds the record for highest average per game attendance. If the US were to host the World Cup in 2010 it would surely shatter all attendance and revenue records due to the fact that the World Cup expanded from 24 teams to 32 teams in 1998, adding an additional twelve games. The fact that the World Cup was in Europe in 2006 will give the US a leg up on its European competitors. England, with its Premier League stadiums and public transportation system, would be able to host the World Cup. The fact that they haven't hosted the tournament since 1966 would also give them an advantage as well. Spain brings the same advantages as England and their recent victory at Euro 2008 will make them an attractive prospect. As for the other three possibilities, I don't think Blatter spoke to them for several reasons. Germany proved itself capable of pulling off a fantastic tournament in 2006, but it's highly unlikely FIFA would give it back to them just four years later. Italy certainly would be capable of hosting the tournament, but recent match-fixing scandals and incidents of fan violence make the home of the Azzuri something of an unattractive destination. Australia hosted the 2000 Olympics, but its far-flung location will hurt it.

In my opinion, however, all speculation on the subject is moot. I believe South Africa will get their act together in time and the World Cup will conquer another continent. Far too much money has been sunk into this endeavor just to abandon it because some FIFA bigwigs feel uncomfortable with South Africa hosting the tournament. If somehow the plug is pulled, I think the 2010 tournament goes to England and the US gets 2018.

In an example of absolutely flabbergasting greed, 30-year-old Frank Lampard has turned down a four-year, £140,000-a-week deal with Chelsea. Lampard claims he will not resign with Chelsea unless the contract is increased to five years, an unreasonable request from a thirty year old. Understandably, Chelsea have no desire to be paying a 35 year old such an exorbitant amount of money. Lampard seems to be posturing for a move to Italian club Inter Milan and a reunion with former manager Jose Mourinho. The new Inter manager is said to have stepped up the pressure on Chelsea to sell Lampard before his contract runs out next year by increasing his offer to £10 million. The situation was exacerbated by Luis Felipe Scolari's claim that Lampard had expressed a desire to remain at Stamford Bridge, even though no such conversation had taken place. Scolari's press conference allegedly led to a heated exchange between Lampard and Chelsea chief executive Peter Kenyon. Chelsea will certainly be tempted to offload Lampard for £10 million now, rather than lose him to Mourinho for nothing next summer. It's likely we'll see Lampard in the blue and black of Inter before long.

Cuauhtemoc Blanco represents everything that's wrong with soccer. While supremely talented, the man's conduct on the field is not befitting someone of his ability. He falls at the slightest touch, he whines incessantly to referees, and he regularly hits opposing players with cheap shots and dirty fouls. I can't stand the man and I often find myself viscerally angry while watching him play. I can't imagine what I would have felt if I had watched DC United's US Open Cup match against Blanco's Chicago Fire. The game saw the Chicago captain once again cross the line. During the game, Blanco punched Clyde Simms in the stomach from point blank range and then attempted to poke the DC player in the eye, cutting him. DC defender Marc Burch described the incident, "He came up and swung as hard as he could and tried to hit the ball and hit Clyde in the stomach...He thinks he can do whatever he wants. I went over and I pushed him. I didn't hit him, I didn't go after him, I just pushed him down. He's not going to do that to my teammate. He stood up and tried to poke Clyde in the eye and cut his eye open...I don't like him, I don't think he's a good person. He's a great player but when he's out there he's doing stuff that you shouldn't be able to get away with." Fortunately, Blanco was eventually punished with a red card. Unfortunately, however, Blanco refused to leave the field after being ejected and instead sat down on the Fire bench. When confronted by a DC United employee, Blanco engaged in a close-quarters yelling match with the man before allegedly head-butting him. You can't make it up. DC United will be submitting evidence on the incidents to both Major League Soccer and the US Soccer Federation. Hopefully, he'll be smacked with a multiple game suspension and a nice, hefty fine.

Video of the Clyde Simms incident can be viewed here. The footage in question occurs at the 0:28 second mark.

A Football League tribunal has settled the dispute between Tottenham Hotspur and Crystal Palace over the transfer fee of sixteen-year-old John Bostock. The dispute began when Tottenham announced the signing of Bostock on the club's official website. Crystal Palace quickly issued a statement denying that any deal had been reached. Palace valued Bostock at around £2 million with the fee rising a further £2.5 million based on appearances for Tottenham. Basically, Crystal Palace were looking for £4.5 million for the player. Tottenham obviously disagreed with the Palace's valuation and the matter was brought before a Football League Tribunal.

Well, the matter has been resolved and Crystal Palace's chairman, Simon Jordan, is rightfully upset. The tribunal has set the fee for Bostock at just £700,000 which could rise to £1.25 million based on appearances. Simon Jordan has described the decision as 'scandalous' and who could blame him? I mean, Chelsea offered Crystal Palace £900,000 for Bostock when the player was 14 and the offer was turned down. Bostock went on to captain England's U-17 team and become the youngest player ever to appear for Crystal Palace. After these accomplishments his value somehow went down? What? That's absolute lunacy.

The most important aspect of this decision, though, is the dangerous precedent it sets for English football as a whole. England currently has a team that failed to qualify for the European Championships and the English Premier League is only made up of something like 35% English players. The teams in the lower leagues develop players like Bostock from scratch only to see them picked off by Premiership sides for bargain basement fees. The players are then put in Premiership reserve sides or loaned out if they're lucky while they could be seeing first-team minutes for their former club. Eventually, English teams are just going to say, "Why bother?" and stop investing in academy systems. I'd be absolutely livid if I were in Simon Jordan's shoes. He and Crystal Palace have been totally hard done by. The English Football Association is always talking about how it's such a problem that the Premier League is so dominated by foreign talent, suggesting ludicrous 'solutions' like English quotas, and then they turn around and make a decision like this. How about they do something productive and make it more difficult for Premiership sides like Tottenham to cherry-pick young, talented players like Bostock only to have them waste away on the reserve side before selling them back to a Championship side a couple years later for a marginal profit.

Generally, when young people do stupid things it's blamed on their youth. But, revealing a potential transfer involving hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of pounds on Facebook is just monumentally stupid. His club, Crystal Palace, can't be happy with one of their players broadcasting on the internet that he wants to leave. It's probably a little embarrassing. I'm the same age as the player in question and I have to ask: what on earth was he thinking? Crystal Palace manager Neil Warnock didn't take the situation particularly lightly, saying, "We feel it's probably better that he looks elsewhere to further his career." Harsh.

Does anybody else find this unnecessary? If you want to raise the profile of Europe's other tournament, advertise it in the same way the Champions League is advertised. It's not surprising that the action taken targets the presentation of the tournament, rather than its inherent flaws. You don't think the fact that Champions League teams who place third in their groups get an automatic place in the knockout rounds contributes to it's perception as a second-rate tournament? I do. The proposed name is hardly an improvement, either: the UEFA Europa League. Why do they call these European tournaments 'leagues', anyway? The Champions League is not a league. It follows the same format as every major international tournament: Group Stage --> Knockout Stage. Baffling.

My experience with Carlos Queiroz is limited to a mediocre stint in charge of the Metrostars way back in 1996, Major League Soccer's first season. Queiroz inherited the team from Eddie Firmani, who resigned after the first eight games of the season. The Portugese coach went on to post a 12-12 record in the regular season before being dumped out of the playoffs by DC United. DC United have gone on to win four MLS Cups, four Supporters' Shields, one US Open Cup, one CONCACAF Champions Cup, and one InterAmerican Cup. The Metrostars have won no trophies at all. Well, unless you count that friendly tournament they won in, what was it, Norway? I don't know. In any case, Carlos Queiroz is one of a long list of otherwise successful managers who have failed to replicate that success here in New Jersey. The list has grown to include men like Carlos Alberto Parreira, Octavio Zambrano, Bora Mulintinovic, Bob Bradley, and Bruce Arena. It's an otherwise impressive group of coaches, you'll just have to ignore their time at Giants Stadium. Queiroz went on to take the job of Sir Alex Ferguson's right hand man in 2002. Ferguson granted Queiroz quite a bit of freedom and responsibility and the Portugese, has in turn, influenced the way the aging Scot views the game. Ferguson has claimed on numerous occasions that Queiroz would be his choice to take the reins at Manchester United when he retires within the next three years. The assistant coach is also reported to share a special relationship with winger Cristiano Ronaldo. Given his influence at the Theatre of Dreams, it's easy to see why Daniel Taylor of the Guardian feels his potential departure to coach Portugal could have wide-ranging and detrimental effects for the Champions. Ferguson will have to find a new assistant and establish a working relationship with them while the loss of his 'mentor' could make Ronaldo increasingly see his future in Spain.

In one of the biggest moves of the summer, Portugal boss Luis Felipe Scolari has recently taken charge at Chelsea. In his short time in London, Big Phil has already brought in former Barcelona midfielder Deco as he looks to put his mark on the club. You can watch his first press conference here. I don't know about you guys, but I love the way he pronounces Chelsea as Chel-see-uh.

SoccerTimes.com is reporting that French Ligue 1 side AS Monaco is interested in acquiring the services of American midfielders Michael Bradley and Freddy Adu. Monaco finished a disappointing twelfth in the league last year and is looking to improve on that finish in the upcoming campaign. The club's management apparently feels our boys can help them do that.

Freddy Adu and Michael Bradley had incredibly different seasons last year. Bradley was a constant for Eredivisie side SC Heerenveen. While his father consistently plays him as a defensive midfielder for the US National Team, his performances in Holland seem to indicate this isn't his ideal role. Bradley shattered Brian McBride's goal-scoring record for an American abroad (from midfield, no less) last season with sixteen league goals and twenty in all competitions. These are statistics you would expect from a midfielder like Frank Lampard, not a twenty year old American. Based on his performances, Bradley's departure from Heerenveen this off-season was a foregone conclusion, a question of 'where' not 'if'. Freddy Adu, on the other hand, enjoyed much more limited success in his first season at Benfica. When given the opportunity, Adu has put in good performances, even scoring a few goals. Unfortunately, Adu joined the club on the cusp of a very tumultuous period. The manager who signed him, José Antonio Camacho, left the club soon after Adu's arrival and Benfica has since gone through two managers, both of whom have proven reluctant to give Adu time. Moves away from their current clubs will be beneficial for both players, particularly Adu who would certainly benefit from regular first team football. I've got my fingers crossed on this one.