Disgraceful

Arsenal beat Celtic 3-1 at the Emirates to advance to the group stage of the Champions League on a 5-1 aggregate. However, the larger story (in my eyes) is Eduardo's clear dive for a penalty against the Celtic keeper Artur Boruc. The public views his recovery from his devastating ankle injury as miraculous, and they enthusiastically celebrate each goal he scores because it proves he's back at or close to being 100 percent.

But after watching this...yikes. That's absolutely disgraceful. Celtic probably didn't have much of a shot of advancing, but I guess you never know what would've happened if that wasn't a penalty.

Rant over.

MORNING UPDATE: The Scottish Football Association chief exec wants to see Eduardo banned, adding his voice to several Celtic players who are lobbying for the same thing. This could get interesting real quick.

Jozy Altidore: Welcome to England

His first touch of the ball as a second half substitute leads to a goal in a 1-0 for Hull...their first win of the season. Not a bad way to make your first appearance for a new club in the most competitive league in the world.

I said it before and I'll say it again: Hull have not been able to bring in any strikers except for Altidore, so their success (and whether or not they stay up) will be closely tied to his success as a player this year. That's a huge burden for a relatively inexperienced, but incredibly talented 19-year-old.

Video courtesy of 101greatgoals.com. Altidore is wearing number 9.

Fulham Concludes Pre-Season Trip to Australia

Fulham recently finished up a pre-season tour of Australia, where they played three teams out of the Australian A-League. Below, I've posted their goals from their last game, a 5-0 thrashing of the Perth Glory. Eddie Johnson had two assists that this short video shows (he is wearing #21). Maybe he'll be able to make the team a second time around?



Come on Fulham!

Also, Erik Nevland had a hat trick for the Superwhites (goals 2-4 on the video).

Carlos Tevez: Welcome to the Other Side of Manchester

English fans/paparazzi never disappoint. But what's with the bandage (??) around Tevez's head?

Supposedly that thing he's wearing is some sort of a knit headband. Why Carlos why?

USA vs. Haiti Gold Cup Highlights

If you're like me, you weren't able to watch the USA's final group match versus Haiti. And boy, did we miss a dramatic finish. My boy Stuart Holden came up with the goods (a goal and assist each), which gives him two goals in as many senior squad appearances.

Video: Hilarious Soccer Throw-In

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

I wish I learned how to take a throw-in like this! Also, that must've hurt...a lot.

Taken from College Humor (if you couldn't tell from the ridiculous advertising they have embedded with the video...sheesh!)

Ronaldo > Zlatan Ibrahimovic > Kaka??

According to an official from inside the club, Inter Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic is better than Kaka, but not Ronaldo, meaning that if he were to be transferred, Inter would not accept a fee that was less than Kaka's. He is a very skilled player who led Italy's Serie A in scoring last year with 25 goals (Kaka had 16 from a midfield position and was AC Milan's leading scorer). Most people would claim that Kaka, a former FIFA world player of the year winner, is the better player. I'm not sure what Inter is playing at here. Maybe they're trying to make a dig at their cross-town rivals by claiming that Ibrahimovic is better than one of their best former players. Who knows.

According to this article, Ibrahimovic has attracted from Chelsea, Real Madrid and Barcelona, and the first two clubs certainly have deep pockets with which to sign players. I personally don't know how much he's worth, but anyone who can do this is worth a fair amount of money in my book:

DC United vs. Seattle Sounders Highlights

The first 60 minutes of the DC United/Seattle Sounders FC game last night were not nationally televised since ESPN decided to show the extra innings of a college baseball game instead. And what a game it was! Here are the highlights (and there were many) that we all missed due to ESPN's decision.

Fernando Torres is a God Among Men

In Spain's Confederations Cup Match against New Zealand on Sunday in South Africa, it took Fernando Torres a mere 17 minutes to complete a hat-trick. I realize that Spain is the number one in the FIFA World Rankings while New Zealand is 82nd, but that should take nothing away from his tremendous game. The way Torres scored the goals showed how complete of a striker he is - his goals came from a curling effort at the edge of the box, a cool touch low and away from the diving goalkeeper, and a strong header into the corner.

Oh, and Spain won 5-0.


Props to 101greatgoals.com for the video

The United States plays defending World Cup champions Italy tomorrow in a Group B game in the Confederations Cup. The game airs on ESPN at 2:25pm EST. Let's just hope the red cards stay in the ref's pocket this time.