New English Premier League Rules Come Into Force

As all avid EPL fans are probably aware, new rules stipulating a minimum number of homegrown players in the squad of each English premier league club come into full force this season.

Given the woeful performance of England at the recent world cup, many would argue that these rules could not come a day sooner. Critics of the influx of foreign players in the EPL will argue that as the number of foreign players has steadily risen, the quality of home grown talent has also declined steadily.

This is not to say that the premier league clubs have now seen the error of their ways are. If you were hoping to see clubs focus on developing a new stream of academy stars such as those that came through the ranks at Old Trafford in the 1990s or those that have come through the academies of Everton (including the likes of Wayne Rooney and more recently, Jack Rodwell) and West Ham (including household names like Rio Ferdinand, Joe Cole, Frank Lampard to name a few); you may be disappointed.

Why? Because the new rules state that each of the 20 premier league clubs have to submit a squad of up to 25 players. Each squad must include no more than 17 players who do not qualify as homegrown. So the issue is the requirement for qualifying as home grown.

To qualify as homegrown according to these less-than-onerous Football Association rules, all that is necessary is that a player, "irrespective of his nationality or age, has been registered with any club affiliated to the Football Association or the Football Association of Wales for a period, continuous or not, of three entire seasons or 36 months prior to his 21st birthday".

OK, sorry, I'm sure like most fans, you simply thought homegrown meant British - or at least, someone who could one day be in a position to play for the Three Lions of England! Well, sorry! The new rules apparently makes Arsenal's Cesc Fabregas a home grown player. Great!

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Premier League Preview - Fulham Vs Everton

Fulham will host Everton, this Saturday, in an afternoon kick off at Craven Cottage.

Both teams will be seeking to win the match and take away three points from the game. Head to head, in their last games with Fulham, Everton have won all five matches hosted by them at Goodison Park, while winning one at Craven Park.

Fulham have won the remaining four home games, making it 6-4 in Everton's favour. The last match played by these teams was at Craven Cottage, and the hosts won that one, 2-1.

Believe it or not: Fulham are the only unbeaten team, this Premiership season, other than Chelsea, Arsenal and Manchester United.

With a win and four draws in their five matches played, Fulham are seventh on the points table, ahead of their sixth match. Fulham have been scoring a lot of goals, getting seven in those five matches, while conceding six.

Everton are in 19th place on the points table just ahead of West Ham, thanks to two losses and two draws in their five matches. They flattered to deceive against Manchester United, coming from 3-1 behind to draw the match, on the back of injury time strikes by Cahill and Arteta.

However, Everton have found it hard to score goals, and in their five matches have managed just four, while concedng seven.

For Fulham, Zamora is unlikely to get back to football action till February. Manager mark Hughes has to decide between playing Dempsey and Gera upfront, or the pair of Eddie Johnson and David Elm. I think he is likely to opt for the former attack pair.

David Stockdale has been out, ever since his ankle injury against Blackpool. Stockdale is back to fitness but may still not replace Schwarzer between the sticks.

Damien Duff, who missed the match against Stoke City, is also back in the reckoning and is likley to start, for Everton.

For Fulham, Danny Murphy's battle for the midfield with Mikel Arteta could be the deciding factor.

For Everton, Tim Cahill is the key man; the Australian is just the man Everton would want in an aerial battle in the Fulham area.

Given the current form of the respective teams, Fulham have the edge in this match.

Fulham's starting eleven is likely to include the following players: Schwarzer, Salcido, Hangeland, Hughes, Kelly, Davies, Etuhu, Murphy, Duff, Dempsey, Gera

Everton are likely to select the following players in their starting eleven for this match: Howard, Baines, Distn, Jagielka, Hibbert, Heitinga, Fellaini, Osman, Yakubu, Pienaar, Arteta

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Portugal Football Team - Get the Latest About Euro Cup and World Cup

The national football team of Portugal is member UEFA and it is organized by the Portuguese Football Federation. The team got its greatest performance in 1966 in England when they managed to qualify for the final tournament, in a semifinal, when they were defeated by England. We have to mention that England obtained the title that year. They were leaded by Eusebio, a legendary football player and they managed to defeat Brazil with nil to three and defeated North Chorea with 5 to 3. That year Portugal was the third football team in the world and Eusebio was considered the best player of the tournament.

Now, in 2008, the Turkish coach, Fatih Terim, has declared that he has been disappointed at the result obtained in the match with Portugal, in which his trainees have lost with a score of two to nil.

He said that at a moment, they were equal in the first half and the Portuguese had moments of weakness as well, but the first goal did change the match. Portugal is one of the best football teams in Europe and the result of this game has confirmed it.

In order to show their sympathy for the Portuguese team almost 12,000 fans have bought tickets to watch the training of this team in Neuchatel.

The entrance tickets cost almost 15 dollars and the training with audience was programmed on the stadium called La Maladiere in Neuchatel. Tickets were sold at a price four times higher than the official one. All in all these aspects show that Portugal is a popular team with great chances to be a top team this year as well.

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Premier League Preview - West Brom Vs Tottenham

Tottenham travel to the Hawthorns this Saturday, for an afternoon kick off against West Brom.

The Baggies have just one goal to show, in their three matches, this season. That came in their home match against Sunderland, thans to a late strike by Nigerian import, P Odemwingie.

The Baggies lost their away match at Anfield 1-0, revealing a fairly defensive mindset, in the process. That game came after a 6-0 thrashing from defending champions Chelsea.

Spurs on the other hand have been aggressive, and despite their loss to Wigan, the signs are there that the White Hart Lane squad want a repeat of their 4th place finish of last year, and the Champions League qualification that goes with it.

But Spurs are beset by injury woes, going into Saturday's match against West Brom. Dawson, Bentley, Crouch and Modric are all likely to sit out, even as there's good news in the form of the return from injury of 'keeper Gomes, along with defender Corluka.

Redknapp's squad could rely on Defoe and Pavlyucenko to lead the attack, although theres a question mark over Defoe's fitness, in which case Keane could start in Defoe's place.

The real weakness is in central defence, where Dawson's absence is sure to hurt Spurs. An out-of-form King is a poor replacement, while Bassong is not certain to start.

After their accidental loss to Wigan, Tottenham will look to set things right against the Hawthorn's squad, in what could be a one-sided encounter.

That said, West Brom have done reasonably well against a much stronger Tottenham. Since 2002, in ten matches West Brom have won two against Spurs' five matches won.

De Matteo's squad have won their last two home matches against Redknapp's side. Spurs fans could blame it on the chilly winter weather, they encountered in their last visit in December.

So it will be left to spurs to break the ice  in what is likely to be a watchful defensive game by West Brom.

The probable starting eleven for West Brom are: Kiely, Jara, Olsson, Shorey, Tamas, Mulumbu, Brent, Dorrans, Morrisson, Odimwingie and Scharner.

The starting eleven for Spurs are likely to be: Gomes, Kaboul, Corluka, King, Assou-Ekotto, Lennon, Huddlestone, Palacios, Bale, Keane, and Pavlyuchenko.

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Mexican Soccer League System - What is It?

As the name suggests, Mexican Soccer (Football) League System is Mexico's national soccer contest. Mexican Football Association is the organizing body of that league. The system is made up of 4 levels namely; Primera Division de Mexico or First Division, First Division A (Primera Division A), Second Division (Segunda Division) and Third Division (Tercera Division) respectively.

The First Division (Primera Division de Mexico) is made up of eighteen (18) teams which participate in a bi-annual competition. One of which is the Apertura, held during autumn season and the one which is held during spring, the Clausura. Playoffs were held subsequent to each regular period or season for the championship.

Competition winner then has the privilege to join the CONCACAF Champions' Cup. Definite Primera clubs in addition to the CONCACAF participate in Copa Libertadores and Copa Sudamericana.

One team is demoted every year for the least number of points made per match after three seasons. It is an assurance for the well-supported clubs that they will not be demoted right away for just one unfortunate season. The First Division team who is demoted will be substituted by the Primera A's playoff champion.

Primera A on the other hand is made up of 24 teams that vie in the same bi-annual tournaments as with the Primera Division de Mexico, the Apertura and the Clausura.

The story doesn't always seem to end as a tear-streaked novel for a two-legged playoff champion for the Apertura and the Clausura will be promoted.

Every Mexican Soccer team who will be demoted goes back one division, except for those in the third division already for it is the lowest division in the country.

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Learning About Office Pools - Part 3 - Soccer Pools

Soccer is all the rage outside of the United States; a weekly soccer office pool that's been around for years is most popular in England. The English Premier League has worldwide recognition, and with gambling being mainstream in England, it's a natural fit. Much like in the United States, in England there are bets placed on single match-ups (fixtures), match-up groupings (office pools), and championship match-ups (tournament cups).

The regular season for the English Premier League is 38 weeks long beginning in August and ending in May each season. Each of the teams within the premier league plays each other twice, both at home and away. Premier league office pool is a weekly prediction pool in which a player makes an educated guess to the outcome of each match up; pick the winner or a draw (no winner). Every week there are six to 10 fixtures.

During the months of June and July, leagues throughout Europe play single elimination tournaments to declare an overall champion. In England there are both the Carling Cup and the FA Cup (Football Association Challenge Cup). The Carling Cup is really the league cup and sponsored by Carling, though in the past it's been sponsored by Coca Cola soft drinks and the Littlewoods retail and gambling outfit. Carling Cup is run by the league and only allows limited entries; 20 from the Premier League and 72 other teams are selected. The FA Cup was established in 1871 and is much more wide open when it comes to participants. This tournament allows over 700 teams to compete for entry into the FA Cup. As well as being presented with the cup, the winning team also qualifies by right for the first round of the UEFA Cup, unless they have already qualified for Europe in which case the position goes to the runners-up or to the highest placed Premier League side without European qualification.

The DFB-Pokal begins with a round of 64 teams. The 36 teams of the Bundesliga and 2nd Bundesliga are automatically qualified for the tournament. The tournament was established in 1935 and is a single elimination format.

The Coppa Italia (Italy Cup) is an annual cup competition that started in 1922. The format allows for 42 teams in competition which would play in the top 2 levels of Italian football associations Serie A and Serie B.

The Copa del Rey is an annual cup competition for Spanish football teams established in 1902. The naming of this tournament has a storied past which includes: King John Charles I's Cup, King Alfonso XIII's Cu,p and the Republic President's Cup. The tournament is single elimination and teams from upper and lower divisions will get to play against each other but the number of clubs allowed to participate is restricted.

The popularity of European Football is year round between the weekly fixtures and the summer tournaments. Office pools that accompany these match ups are a welcome companion and in some cases a necessary promotional tool.

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Father Time (and Capello) Call Time on David Beckham's England Career

Last week saw the announcement, unofficially, of David Beckham's final moments as an England player. Perhaps it was just a little bit messy - thanks to Capello's renowned man-management skills, or lack of them - and not quite the send-off Becks would have wanted, but at the age of 35 he would have been honest enough to admit that his days were numbered. And after England's woeful showing in the World Cup in South Africa, Capello's decision to go with a fresh new look must have convinced Beckham that his number was up.

Should he have been dumped so unceremoniously, especially after serving his country so well over the years? Is this really the way to end a legendary career, a career that has spanned over 100 games and made David Beckham the most capped outfield player in England history?

I have to say, despite the pouting and rippling abs and general celeb ferver that has accompanied Beckham's career, from his early days bombing down the wing at Old Trafford in the Premier League up until his recent spells in Italy and America, he has always been the ultimate professional. At times, he may not have convinced on the pitch, but he usually gave it his all. And on many occasions for England, I remember him working his socks off for the cause...in my opinion, he was much missed in South Africa this summer, despite his heavier legs...

So what do we have to remember from an England career that first started back in 1996 in the World Cup qualifiers and spanned 14 years? Let's take a little gander down memory lane:

Becks debuted in the World Cup qualifier against Moldova in 1996, at the age of 21.
Picked for the 1998 World Cup, England manager Glenn Hoddle publicly dissed him for not concentrating on the games at hand. Finally selected for the third game against Columbia, he went and scored a free-kick, his first goal for England.
In the second round of the World Cup in 1998, England faced Argentina, and Becks was sent off for retaliating against Simeone. He was later blamed by many for England's exit and even received death threats.
November 200 saw his promotion to England captain by caretaker boss Peter Taylor, and then Sven Goran Eriksson confirmed his trust in the new skipper.
October 2001 saw one of his finest moments, as England needed a draw against Greece to ensure qualification to the 2002 World Cup finals. With seconds remaining, he glided in one of his trademark free-kicks to ensure hero status.
In the 2002 World Cup he scored the winner, a penalty, against Argentina to knock them out at the group stage. Revenge was 4 years in waiting, but surely couldn't have been sweeter.
In 2005 he became the first ever England skipper to receive a red card, against Austria.
In the 2006 World Cup, he became the first ever England player to score at three World Cups, with a goal against Ecuador.
After getting knocked out by Portugal, Becks returned home a beaten man and resigned as England skipper.
New England boss Steve McClaren subsequently dropped Beckham from the England squad, but was forced to recall him a few months later.
McClaren's replacement, Fabio Capello, also passed Beckham over for his first game in charge, but soon recalled him.
If Beckham had been fit, it's a safe bet that he would have been part of the squad for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa. If he would have made a difference to a poor England side, that we'll never know...

Sir David Beckham, you shall be missed.

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