Photo via sportinglife.com

Unbelievable. That’s one word you could use to describe, not only how the EPL season ended, but also how Manchester City won their first league title since 1968.  They did it, at home, by coming back to win 3-2 against QPR.

Manchester City got off to a slow start, just like they had against Newcastle United. It was getting close to half time and the City-QPR game was still scoreless. City needed to score soon, as Manchestr United had already scored against Sunderland. At the 39th minute, City fans finally got the goal they were waiting for. Pablo Zabaleta scored the first goal of the game, as well as his first goal of’f the season, to give City a 1-0 lead as they headed into half time.

The second half got off to a good start, when City came close to scoring their second goal within a few minutes. However, a few City mistakes ended up leading to QPR equalizing in the 48th minute, with the goal being scored by Djibril Cisse.

The drama would continue as Joey Barton, who was slightly provoked by Carlos Tevez, elbowed Tevez in the face and was sent off immediately in the 55th minute. Barton decided to lash out on Tevez’s teammate Sergio Aguero, and hit him. As Barton was walking out, Mario Balotelli was one of the players who tried to calm him down. In my opinion, that was a disgraceful thing for the footballer to do – he had already been sent off for his elbow on Tevez, but to take it out on another player like that? Thre’s no excuse for that.

QPR would have to play a man down for the next 30+ minutes. At the 59th minute, Aguero almost gave City the lead, but the ball didn’t cross the line, so it wasn’t counted. It looked like QPR would have a tough time playing 10 v. 11, but in the 66th minute, surprising everyone, Jamie Mackie scored and gave QPR the lead. Even though, QPR was playing a man down, they were now up 2-1 against City.

It was looking more and more likely that Manchester United would win their 20th league title. QPR was doing a great job of defending; after all, they were playing to stay in EPL and not get relegated. At the 90th minute, the score was still 2-1 in QPR’s favor. However, thanks to what had happened with Barton earlier, 5 minutes of additional time were added on. Nobody, including me, believed that City would be able to score 2 goals in the next 5 minutes.

In fact, United players and their fans had already started celebrating what would’ve been their 20th league title. In the 1st  minute of added time, Edin Dzeko scored the equalizing goal. No one really celebrated though, because only a win would be good enough. Two minutes later, Sergio Aguero scored one of the biggest goals of his Manchester City career. City was now up 3-2 and the stadium went crazy. They had finally won the league title.

City would go on to win the title, while United was in 2nd place. A few weeks ago, if you had asked me if I thought City would win, I would have said no way. United had an 8-point lead, but City fought back and won in one of the craziest ways imaginable. Not only were City fans excited about this win, but so were fans of other clubs, like Arsenal, Liverpool, Chelsea etc. It was about time that someone else had won the title.

City won the league double, beating United 6-1 at Old Trafford and 1-0 at home. Now with the league title, Manchester, at least for this season, was blue.

Did you know that more Americans are watching top international soccer matches than ever before?  Yes, it WAS rhetorical and also not surprising to football fanatics like us, but it’s good for those less passionate or informed Americans to know – so spread the word!   Besides that remarkable data, today’s Daily Kick Around is chock-full of soccer news for your mid-week fix.  Headlines include Fabrice Muamba’s return to Reebok Stadium, a new head coach named for England and so much more.  Get over your Wednesday hump and read on for the exciting soccer news of the day.

English Premier League

A warm welcome back to Fabrice Muamba, who will attend his first Premier League event since his cardiac arrest occurred March 17.  The Bolton midfielder has made a remarkably quick recovery but is uncertain about his football career at this time.  We’ve missed you!

EPL Results

Liverpool 0 – 1 Fulham

Stoke City 1 – 1 Everton

Everton fans were hoping for a win last night, but a single point is still satisfying considering Liverpool lost to Fulham on the same night.  Everton is currently in seventh place, only three points above their Merseyside rivals with only two weeks left in the season.  Everton may well finish above the 18-time champions for the first time.  Dig it out to the end Toffees!

Today’s EPL Fixtures

Chelsea v New Castle United

Bolton v Tottenham

The Football Association made a surprising announcement today.  They named West Brom manager Gary Hodgeson as the new manager for England on a four-year contract.  Most people predicted Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp would get the job, but the FA insisted Hodgeson was their first choice.

This year, more US television viewers tuned in to the highest level of football than last year.  Both Champions League semi-final matches and Monday’s Manchester Derby averaged over a million viewers, up 29% from 2011.  American’s have been a bit slow to embrace the sport with the same passion as the rest of the world, but this is a good sign in the right direction.

Serie A

Last night’s win over Palermo puts Napoli firmly into the third place position in the Italian league and gives them the final Champions League berth.  Their 2-0 victory broke a four-way tie and gives them the opportunity to return to Europe’s top competition next season after a stellar performance this year.

La Liga Results

Getafe 1 – 1 Santander

Granada 2 – 1 Espanyol

Gijon 2 – 3 Villareal

Tonight’s La Liga Fixtures

Atletico v Sociedad

Barcelona v Malaga

Mallorca v Vallecana

Zaragoza v Levante

Sevilla v Betis

A Bilbao v Real Madrid

Valencia v Osasuna

Fabrice Muamba was released from the hospital today, nearly a month after collapsing on the pitch.

It’s a brand new week footy fans, and I hope your Monday is off to a great start. We’ve got lots of news from across the soccer world, both incredibly sad and undeniably heartwarming. From the tragic death of a young player on the pitch, to a display of unity at an MLS game to Fabrice Muamba finally being released from the hospital, we’ve got it all. Here’s your Daily Kick Around.

Piermario Morosini

As I’m sure you already know, Italian footballer Piermario Morosini collapsed and died on the pitch while playing for Livorno Saturday. The 25-year old midfielder had a cardiac arrest, just what Fabrice Muamba suffered nearly a month ago, though the outcome was far different. The entire soccer community mourned his loss over the weekend, with tributes pouring in and moments of silence at stadiums across the world. Not only did fans, pay their respects, there was a special display from Montreal Impact forward Bernardo Corradi. He was given the opportunity to score a goal for his friend Morosini, who he played with back in 2009. He took the penalty kick awarded to the Impact in the 61st minute, and a very subdued celebration followed after he converted it. It was a touching moment.

Fabrice Muamba

On a happier note, Bolton player Fabrice Muamba has been released from the hospital. Upon his discharge, Muamba said:

“I am naturally very pleased to be discharged from hospital and would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute to every single member of staff at The London Chest Hospital who have played a part in my care. Their dedication, professionalism and expertise is simply amazing and I will forever be in their debt. I also wish to say thank you to all the many well-wishers who have sent thousands of messages of support.”

A truly miraculous and joyful day for all of the soccer world.

Major League Soccer

It was another exciting weekend of MLS action that saw the LA Galaxy finally find their form, Chivas USA snatch another win on the road and a game shortened in Chicago because of lightning. If you missed any of the action, we’ve got you covered!

There were a couple of stand out incidents from the weekend that had everyone talking. The first was in the New York Red Bulls – San Jose Earthquakes match. Rafa Marquez–known for his nasty temper and dirty play–broke Shea Salinas’ clavicle. Yes, he BROKE it. Marquez bear hugs Salinas in the box on a corner kick, tackles him to the ground and throws in a little kick for good measure. Our Earthquakes contributor Alyssa had a lot to say about this incident, and what she thinks the MLS Disciplinary Committee should do about it.

The second talking point from the weekend from an amazing display from Chicago Fire supporters. This tifo celebrating diversity is truly touching, and something that the soccer community could use a lot more of.

Yawwwn. Soccer is so boring. I don’t even know why we bother watching. Let’s see if we can find anything particularly interesting to talk about in Saturday’s slate of MLS and EPL matchups.

L.A. Galaxy came out flat, losing 1-0 to Sporting K.C. at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park. Photo via fuckyeahsportingkc.tumblr.com

Major League Soccer

Our Canadian MLS clubs had quite the day, eh? It kicked off with the bitterest of rivalries, the “Canadian derby” as they say, with winless Montreal Impact hosting winless Toronto FC. Toronto was coming off a surprising CONCACAF Champions League run, but fell to the first-year Impact, who picked up their first franchise win with a 2-1 victory:

Sinisa Ubiparipovic, making his first appearance of the season for Montreal, coolly slotted home a shot in the 17th minute and No. 1 overall SuperDraft pick Andrew Wenger doubled the Impact’s lead with his first professional goal in the 81st minute as Montreal (1-4-1, four points) held off a late rally by 10-man TFC.

Toronto (0-4-0, zero points), who were reducted to 10 men when central defender Logan Emory was sent off in the 65th minute, got their consolation goal with two minutes to play on a header by Designated Player Danny Koevermans.

On the other side of the country, the Vancouver Whitecaps were the victims of the San Jose Earthquakes, who once again handed a team their first loss of the season (last week it was the Seattle Sounders who the Quakes reduced to rubble). Even more crazy, however, was how it was done. Not only were the Whitecaps undefeated all season, but they had not conceded a goal. In the 63rd minute of the game, they set an MLS record for consecutive scoreless minutes to start a season at 422. But then, at the 427th minute of the streak, the 68th of the game, Chris Wondolowski ended it with an equalizer. Must’ve been our Midweek Muscles feature this week that brought him some luck. The wheels fell off for Vancouver at that point, and they surrendered two more goals in a matter of 10 minutes – one to Alex Gordon and another to Wondo, to fall 3-1.

Wondering what the secret sauce has been to San Jose’s success this season? Our Quakes writer, Alyssa Olszewski, has the answer.

Sporting Kansas City is also having a mildly interesting season. They improved to 5-0 to start the season, the first MLS team to do so in 14 years, with a 1-0 victory over the stumbling defending MLS Champions, L.A. Galaxy (1-3). Kei Kamara scored the decisive goal on a header at the 40′ mark.

The Galaxy failed to record a shot on goal in a match. Yep, you heard that right. ZERO. And that gives us yet another record!

Sporting KC, which hasn’t allowed a shot on goal in back-to-back 1-0 wins against Chivas USA and the Los Angeles Galaxy on Saturday, set a new MLS record with 245 consecutive minutes without a shot on goal.

The SKC-LAG game aired live on ESPN, and featured a halftime spotlight on Kamara and his inspiring journey from growing up in war-torn Sierra Leone to reuniting with his mother, after almost ten years apart, in the United States. Don’t read on without watching it.

Here are more scores from Saturday’s matchups:

Columbus Crew 1 – 4 New York Red Bulls

DC United 0 – 0 Seattle Sounders

Real Salt Lake 2 – 0 Colorado Rapids

Portland Timbers 1 – 2 Chivas USA 

English Premier League

Clint Dempsey scored two goals in Fulham’s 3-0 win over Bolton on Saturday, breaking the club record for goals scored by a single player in a season with 15. His 30′ free kick strike was the first free kick goal of his career. You can watch it here. Dempsey now as 21 total goals this season, between Premier League and Champions League appearances. Yeah, Americans really can’t compete in European soccer, can they?

Has Manchester City’s lack of experience when the lights are brightest blown their chance at the Premiership title? The Telegraph’s Gary Lineker argues that Roberto Mancini’s public criticism of his players has led to a divisive atmosphere that’s prevented them from responding to pressure and closing out the season, and that their hot start disguised problems that later have come to haunt them:

When City enjoyed a blistering start, just like Spurs, we were probably sucked into thinking they were better than they actually are.

For a while it seemed they were running away with it, especially while Yaya Touré and David Silva were at their best, but the warning signs were still there. The Champions League performance was a disappointment, offering the first clues that the overall standard of the squad wasn’t as high as it seemed in the Premier League…

What matters isn’t how a player performed earlier in the season, but how they’re coping when the pressure is on, which is why you’d now look to someone such as Wayne Rooney as the most influential player of the season.

U.S.  Women’s National Team

Tickets are now on sale for the U.S. Women’s next friendly, against China at PPL Park, home of the Philadelphia Independence, on Sunday, May 27. It’s Memorial Day weekend, so you have no excuses not to go.

U.S. Soccer has also announced the women’s send-off match before the Olympics, a rematch of the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Final against Canada, which will take place June 30 in Sandy, Utah at Rio Tinto Stadium. Tickets go on sale to the general public Friday, April 13, with advance tickets for VISA card-holders on Thursday.

Keep up with us on Twitter at @AerysSoccer throughout Sunday’s matches, and check back here for more game recaps and league roundups.

Good morning football fans!  Don’t worry if you missed any of the exciting Champions League or FA Cup tournament matches from yesterday.  Get over the mid-week hump by checking out recaps of last night’s pivotal matches and previews of what should be a captivating second day in a row of first leg Champions League quarterfinal matches.  It’s sure to get your Wednesday off and running like a double shot of an espresso.

Champions League

A second half goal from Chelsea’s Salomon Kalou wrapped up the first leg of the Champions League quarterfinal over Benfica 1-0.  Both teams will meet again April 4 to determine who advances.

Cypriot underdog APOEL Nicosia fell to Real Madrid 3-0 in the first leg of Champions League quarterfinals thanks to a goal by Kaka and a Karim Benzema brace.  APOEL, who is being dubbed the Cinderella team of the tournament, held onto a scoreless draw until the 75th minute.  The two teams meet again in early April.

Today’s Fixtures

Today’s AC Milan v Barcelona match should be an exciting one to catch.  Milan striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic left Barca last year for Milan due to problems getting along with Pep Guardiola and fellow Barcelona players.  He is looking forward to proving a point in today’s match up.  For a preview of what to expect when AC Milan host Barcelona, look here.

Coming off seven club defeats in a row and plagued with injuries, Marseille has a challenge on their hands as they meet in form Bayern Munich today in today’s first leg of Champions League quarterfinal.

FA Cup

Tottenham looked the better side as they breezed past Bolton 3-1 yesterday.  Spurs now move on to face their London rival’s Chelsea in the FA semifinals.  Hats off to Bolton goalkeeper Adam Bogdan, who had a tremendous game until he was beat three times in the final 20 minutes of the match.  Prior to the start, White Hart Lane paused for a moment of silence remembering Bolton midfielder, Fabrice Muamba.  Muamba suffered a heart attack last week, causing the first attempt at this pairing to be suspended until last night.  While recovering in the hospital, it was reported that Muamba was well enough to sit up and watch the match from his bed.  I’m sorry there weren’t better results for Fabrice, especially as I am not a fan of Tottenham.

The other half of the FA Cup equation involved Sunderland, who hosted Everton last night.  Although the Toffees were the superior team on the pitch and should have scored a number of times, the two goals they did get past the keeper helped them advance to the semi finals.  Next, Everton will face their Merseyside rivals Liverpool at Wembley.  That will surely be a great match to catch as well.

Forget about March Madness, we’ve got Messi Madness.  The man who seems to be able to score hat tricks at will has now surpassed Barcelona’s all-time goal scoring record with a whopping 234 career goals.  Also in today’s news we give you an update on Muamba’s condition, today’s schedule for some exciting table-shaking EPL matches, and much more.  Happy Hump Day soccer fans.  Here’s your daily dose of football news:

La Liga

The big news today is the accomplishment of Lionel Messi.  The 24-year old Argentinian scored a hat trick in yesterday’s match giving him a total of 234 goals in his career with Barcelona and 54 in all competitions this season.  The Spanish champions’ won 5-3 over Granada but the real accomplishment goes to Messi.  And with weeks left in the season to score more goals, will anyone ever be able to surpass his record?

English Premier League

Fabrice Muamba continues to rest comfortably and remains in the hospital after suffering a heart attack on Saturday during the FA Cup tie at Tottenham.  We will keep you updated on his progress here on Aerys Soccer.

While the Aston Villa v Bolton match was postponed due to their respect for their Bolton teammate Fabrice Muamba, the Blackburn v Sunderland went on as scheduled.  Blackburn stay adrift of relegation by pulling out a 2-0 win thanks to goals by Junior Hoilett and Yakubu.

There are some very exciting and well-anticipated matches scheduled this afternoon which could likely juggle things around on the very tight upper half of the EPL table:

Manchester City host Chelsea

Tottenham host Stoke City

Everton host Arsenal

QPR host Liverpool

Chelsea manager Roberto Mancini has announced that Carlos Tevez may not make an appearance in today’s big match against Chelsea.  Mancini would like to see the Argentinian cry baby make three to four substitute appearances before he is ready for a full 90 minutes.

Veteran EPL players Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United and Frank Lampard of Chelsea are on the short list as possible signings for Chinese team Guizhou Renhe.  The Chinese Super League is expected to spend big money this summer to improve their clubs.  Renhe is following in the footsteps of Shanghai Shenhua, who signed Nicolas Anelka this past January.

Rumors claim Roberto Di Matteo conspired against former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas in order to get him sacked and take over his job.  Di Matteo, the interim coach for Chelsea, denies the claims.  The Italian has led the Blues to four wins in four matches.

FA Cup

Understandably, the FA have decided to change the date of the FA Cup final match.  The match was originally scheduled to be played on the 23rd anniversary of the Hillsborough disaster where 96 Liverpool fans were crushed to death.  Liverpool will meet either Everton or Sunderland in the final, now scheduled for April 14.

Champions League

UEFA have announced that the 2014 Champions League final will be played at Estadio da Luz in Lisbon. 

Serie A

Juventus advances to the Italian Cup Final after drawing 2-2 with AC Milan yesterday.  An extra time goal by Mirko Vucinic pushed Juventus on as the two-game series ended in a score of 4-3.

Photo via birminghammail.net

It’s been a weekend of highs and lows in the footy world. We were shocked yesterday as we watched Bolton’s Fabrice Muamba collapse on the pitch with a heart attack, then waited for any form of news as clubs, players and fans from around the world offered their prayers and support, with the hashtag #Pray4Muamba trending on Twitter.

In better news, MLS’s newest club, Montreal Impact, scored their first goal of the season in front of a record crowd at Olympic Stadium. Chelsea’s Fernando Torres finally scored not one goal but two, and Luis Suarez is putting the past behind him and talking about a long term relationship with Liverpool. All this and more in today’s DKA!

FA Cup

Words and displays of support continue to pour in for Muamba. In today’s FA Cup action, Chelsea’s Gary Cahill removed his jersey after scoring to display a shirt with the words Pray 4 Muamba:

Cahill played with Muamba for two-and-a-half years at the Reebok and marked his goal in the FA Cup quarter-final clash with Leicester with the message which so many people are repeating across the football community and beyond.

Rules state that players should be booked for lifting their shirts after scoring goals, but referee Lee Probert showed compassion and didn’t caution Cahill.

Luis Suarez dedicated his goal that led to Liverpool’s semifinal berth to Muamba:

 I want to dedicate to Muamba the goal and the FA Cup semifinals qualification. Keep fighting buddy, don’t give up! You will make it!!

There is no further update on Muamba’s condition, though Sky Sports News tweeted that he “will stay anaesthetised for at least the next 24 hours.”

In other FA Cup news, Fernando Torres put his critics to rest for a day, ending his 26 game scoreless streak with TWO goals to lead Chelsea to a 5-2 quarterfinal victory over Leicester.

“I needed those goals. I’ve been working so hard to get them,” Torres said. “Maybe the job of a striker is to score goals and if you don’t do it people think you’re playing badly. But the support has been here and I feel the confidence of the manager (Roberto di Matteo) now. We have some important games coming.”

FOX Soccer has his drought-ender as their “Goal of the Day” and you can watch it here.

Scottish League Cup

Kilmarnock won the Scottish Cup over Celtic on Sunday, but the celebration lasted mere minutes for midfielder Liam Kelly, whose father suffered a heart attack in the stands:

For those who could see events unfolding amid a cordon of police and stewards, the contrast was ghastly.

The Killie players – unaware of what had transpired – cavorted in front of their ecstatic fans while the medics administered CPR which continued for all of 20 minutes before Mr Kelly was borne off on a wheeled stretcher up the tunnel.

English Premier League

As a result of Saturday’s incident with Muamba, Bolton’s Tuesday match with Aston Villa will be postponed.

After Liverpool advanced to the semis with a 2-1 win over Stoke City, Luis Suarez declared his desire to stay with the club in spite of his eight-game ban following his racist remarks towards Patrice Evra.

“I want to stay. Despite everything that happened, I am very happy here, on and off the pitch,” Suárez told ovaciondigital.com. “Liverpool is one of the biggest clubs in Europe, with a history. As a child I saw them play and loved it. And the club are happy with me and want me to stay.

“I have a contract until 2016 and already want to renew. The manager remains confident in me and that is very important, especially after being out for eight games.”

Major League Soccer

Montreal Impact scored their franchise’s first goal Saturday night in their second match of the season, against the Chicago Fire, off the head of captain Davy Arnaud:

A record crowd of 58,912 packed Olympic Stadium to cheer on the Montreal Impact in an entertaining 1-1 draw with the Chicago Fire on Saturday, setting a new attendance record for professional soccer in Quebec…

Impact captain Davy Arnaud wrote his name in the history books in the 56th minute as he headed a Sanna Nyassi cross into the upper right corner of Fire goalkeeper Paolo Tornaghi’s net. But the lead didn’t stand as Oduro got the equalizer a quarter-hour later off a great assist from Sebastián Grazzini.

Our own Kayla Knapp heads to the Home Depot Center tonight to see her beloved L.A. Galaxy put last weekend’s ugly loss to Real Salt Lake behind them and try to win their first match of the season against D.C. United. United hasn’t won at the HDC since 2005. If you’re not following Kayla on Twitter, make sure to do so tonight! The match starts at 4pm PT / 7pm ET.

U.S. Women’s National Team

They may have crashed out in the semifinals of the Algarve Cup in a 1-0 loss to Japan (yes, again), but the U.S. Women’s National Team still holds on to the top spot in FIFA’s March 16 edition of the Women’s World Rankings:

The USA is 9-1-0 in 2012 having scored 51 goals and allowed three. Next up for the USA are matches against the Japan (April 1 in Sendai) and Brazil (April 3 in Chiba) during a tour of Japan. The Kirin Cup features three of the world’s top-four teams and will no doubt give the Japanese fans an entertaining show of the women’s game at its highest levels. 

Follow @AerysSoccer on Twitter for the latest news in EPL, FA Cup, MLS and more leagues around the world!

Well, we’ve been talking about it all week, so I think you can guess that it’s finally MLS’ First Kick! And we can’t contain our excitement! We’ll have recaps later tonight after all the games and coverage tomorrow as well! Today’s DKA has all the MLS line ups, scores from the EPL and more! Here’s your Saturday game day DKA!

Major League Soccer

It’s like Christmas in March for the MLS fans today! It’s time for the rivalries, the excitement and the road to MLS Cup 2012! Everyone has something to prove this year, from expansion team Montreal Impact to Cup champs L.A. Galaxy. Be sure to follow all the action of your favorite club this weekend. Here’s the schedule:

Saturday:

Vancouver v. Montreal and Columbus v. Colorado; 6 p.m. ET
D.C. United v. Sporting K.C.; 7:30 p.m. ET
San Jose v. New England and L.A. v. Real Salt Lake; 10:30 p.m. ET

Sunday:

Dallas v. New York; 3 p.m. ET
Chivas USA v. Houston; 7 p.m. ET

Monday:

Portland v. Philadelphia; 9:30 p.m.ET

Check out the TV schedule for every game here!

English Premier League

Looks like Chelsea actually came away with a win this morning against Stoke, thanks to a goal from none other than Didier Drogba.  Bolton Wanderers also notched a victory against QPR, 2-1. Everton and Tottenham are going at it as I type, with Everton in the lead with a goal. Other scores from the morning are:

Aston Villa 1 – Fulham 0
Sunderland 1 – Liverpool 0
Wolves 0 – Blackburn 2

 EPL team owners are about to get a wake up call from league officials. After some criticism from British politicians, there will now be a new way to police the owners of EPL teams:

“Under the proposals, a licence system will be introduced to ensure clubs meet minimum standards on financial regulation, ownership and their stadium.”

This should definitely be interesting.

La Liga

Speaking of EPL teams seeing some change, there has been talk in the footy world that there is a shift in dominance of the game. English teams have performed poorly as a hold in the UEFA Champion’s League this year, and major EPL clubs aren’t showing well in Europa league either. This article talks about the swing from EPL to La Liga and the fact that maybe Real Madrid and Barca aren’t the only “good clubs” in La Liga anymore.

As you can tell from this late afternoon post, we have a bit of the Monday blues today at Aerys Soccer. But never fear! We still got some headlines for you! San Jose could be the newest MLS team with a brand spankin’ new stadium, predictions are coming in for the USMNT roster against Italy and some kid … well, he showed his appreciation for Messi in a very unique way. Here’s your DKA!

World Soccer

Okay, I’ve seen fans do some crazy things for their teams. There was the Manchester City wedding dress remember? Well, this might take the cake. This kid loves Messi so much, he decided to have his face cut into his hair. Yeah, you totally read that correctly. Check out this video. You won’t be disappointed. I’m a little creeped out.

USMNT

Next  Wednesday, the U.S. Men’s National Team are set to face off with European giants Italy in Genoa. An official roster hasn’t been released yet, but the predictions are already coming out. Personally? I am really hoping for a Dempsey-Donovan hook up. We haven’t seen them together much since Jurgen Klinsmann took the helm and Italy seems like a perfect opportunity.

Major League Soccer

As MLS continues to expand through out the country, one thing we’re starting to see more of is teams building their own stadiums. Last season, it was Kansas City who were lucky, Houston is getting one this season, and it looks like San Jose Earthquakes could be the next to receive a stadium slotted with a cost of a whopping $60 million. The vote before the city’s planning commission is scheduled for Wednesday, so cross your fingers!

FA Cup

We’re still waiting on the replays of Chelsea and Birmingham, and Stevenage and Tottenham, but the draw for the sixth round of the FA Cup has already happened. Here’s how things will look:

Liverpool v. Stoke
Chelsea/Birmingham v. Leicester
Stevenage/Tottenham v. Bolton
Everton v. Sunderland

La Liga

There’s drama a-brewin’. Well, when has there not been drama in La Liga? So, the final of Copa del Rey could be played in Real Madrid’s home, the Santiago Bernabeu. But Barca boss Pep Guardiola said he doesn’t want to face off with Athletico Madrid in the Bernabeu if the Catalans won’t be welcomed there. He’s kind of got a point too.

English Premier League

Speaking of drama, as Chelsea’s season continues to become something fans would probably like to forget, many are calling for the sacking of team manager Andre Villas-Boas. However, in a press conference, AVB is calling on the owners of Chelsea to publicly back him as he already starts plans for next season. Well, good luck with that.

It’s Saturday Game Day folks! There’s tons going on in the footy world, per usual, and we’ve got lots of headlines for you today! From Leeds United getting a new manager, Balotelli adding a racial complaint to the news and trouble in China as the country’s former deputy soccer chief heads to jail. It’s here in today’s DKA!

World Soccer

China may not be little, but they’re soccer world is in big trouble. Yang Yimin, China’s former deputy soccer chief, was sentenced today to 10 1/2 years in prison after taking $20,000 in bribes to fix matches. He was just one of 39 people convicted – including four refs. Big Trouble in Little China indeed.

Will he or won’t he? It seems that instead of asking who will lead England’s National team in the coming months, the real question is if Harry Redknapp will take the job. After insisting he doesn’t want the command of the Three Lions’, Redknapp now is “opening the door” to talks of managing the squad for the upcoming Euro 2012 tournament. Hmmm….

Major League Soccer

In a huge, late night surprise, Seattle Sounders fans were shocked as the club announced it would trade fan favorites, forward Mike Fucito and midfielder Lamar Neagle, for USMNT international Eddie Johnson, who returned to MLS. Fucito and Neagle are now headed to Montreal. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out after this.

If you’re a regular reader of DKA, you know MLS has been moving and shaking things up all off season. The Bleacher Report has a nice article outlining the 10 most important moves MLS teams have made during their months off.

Europa League

I hate to talk about it – Hell, all of the girls here at Aerys Soccer hate when we have to talk about this – but there is another complaint of racism in the EPL. Apparently Manchester City has officially filed with UEFA stating Italian striker Mario Balotelli suffered racial abuse during the Tuesday Europa League game against Porto. Midfielder Yaya Toure could have also been on the receiving end, but it seems only Balotelli is the only one the club has confirmed. UEFA stated they will make a decision to launch an investigation after they have received and reviewed the delegate’s match reports.

Championship League

Apparently Leeds United have finally settled on a new manager; former Queens Park Rangers boss Neil Warnock. And ol’ Neil is already making an impression as Leeds was able to notch a late win over Doncaster today at home. Side note: US International Robbie Rogers made his debut with the squad, only to be stretchered off 5 minutes later after a horrid collision with Tommy Spurr. Apparently, Rogers suffered a concussion, but Leeds has not issued an official statement. Here’s hoping both Robbie and Tommy Spurr are all right!

Serie A

Inter Milan got a little wake up call this week as they were hammered by a struggling Bologna. Inter went down 3-0, a hard loss after winning 8 consecutive games in the league.

Some of the big news out of Italy however this week seems to be centered around penalties. Juventus and Inter Milan are both issuing out negative remarks about refs decisions on penalty kicks this season. You just can’t make everyone happy, can you?

FA Cup

Chelsea 1 – Birmingham 1

Everton 2 – Blackpool 0

Millwall 0 – Bolton 2

Norwich 1 – Leicester 2

Sunderland 2 – Arsenal 0