General Football Thread

[Lineker]

Take Matt with you!

[DFF]

Off to see Sheff Utd play host to Fenerbahçe tonight!

We only went and won!

Admittedly, they fielded a weakened side in the second half (we trailed 1-0 at the break). Second half was quite even, and we ended up winning 2-1. We could have had a third at the death, but that would have been harsh.

[Berober]

Olof Mellberg has retired from football

[Lineker]

A sad day.

[Rich]

Beards at half mast!

[Hobo]

I know age isn't a major factor for keepers, but he's got to be nearing Neville Southall age at this point.

According to Wiki, Southall was signed to Dagenham and Redbridge in 2002. He'd have been 43 at the time. David James is currently 44!

[Colly]

David James still looks ridiculously fit though, whereas Southall was a fat bastard for his last decade. There really is no reason why we wouldn't see a keeper keep going for a long time these days.

[The Lusophone]

Stanley Matthews was still dazzling defences at the age of 146.

In other news, Manchester United vs Real Madrid had a record attendence for a US soccer match, nearing 110,000. How does that stack up against American football attendences?

United face Liverpool tonight in Miami's sun life stadium.

[Rafael]

Apparently this is the highest attendance ever in US sporting events if you take out college football games.

[EddieG]

Apparently this is the highest attendance ever in US sporting events if you take out college football games.

And the Indy 500?

[Rafael]

That's not a sport.

[The Lusophone]

And a shitload of speedway events and a couple of horse races.

[METALMAN]

And the Promise Keepers March.

[Lineker]

Corinne Diacre saw her Clermont Foot side lose 2-1 away to Brest in her first game in charge.

The Ligue 2 fixture marked the first time that a woman had taken charge of a professional men's team in the top two tiers of a European league.

Diacre's spell got off to the ideal start as Souleymane Sawadogo gave Clermont an early lead, but her side lost to two second-half goals.

"It's never nice to lose, but you can't ignore Clermont this season," she said.

Diacre also celebrated her 40th birthday on Monday and was given a bouquet of flowers and a kiss on the cheek before kick-off by her Brest counterpart, Alex Dupont.

She was appointed in June in place of another female coach, Helena Costa, who quit before overseeing a game, accusing Clermont of "total amateurism" and a "lack of respect".

Former defender Diacre made 121 appearances for France and also captained the national side.

Brest finished seventh in the French second division last season, while Clermont came 14th, five points above the relegation places.

[METALMAN]

Her first game would be against Brest, wouldn't it? it's not even funny. :/

[Herr Matzat]

[Berober]

Noted Manchester United legend Howard Webb has retired as a referee.

[Lineker]

[Lineker]

Tata Martino is the new Argentina manager.

[Monkey D. Lars]

So, a co-worker of mine told me about his son, Delano van der Heijden (Heyden) who is playing in the youth system of Feyenoord but every big club in the world likes to have him. He's 9 years old, he's already been in the NY Times and Japanese TV. Roy Makaay loves him and trains with him almost everyday.

It's just fun to hear those stories. His dad must be lucky.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Lc7lfJHqexI