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.

It’s a pretty somber day today in the footy world. With the news of Bolton’s Muamba, there has been little else taking the forefront, which only proves that when something as tragic as this happens, teams and fans also come together in support. We do have a few headlines from the EPL for you today, in case you missed the match ups, and what’s happened in MLS. Here’s your Saturday Daily Kick Around.

FA Cup

If you haven’t heard about the tragic collapse of Bolton’s Fabrice Muamba during the FA Cup game again Tottenham, our own Dana Wagner has been keeping an eye on the story with great updates. So far the news is that he is in critical condition after collapsing during today’s match. The ladies of Aerys Soccer send our thoughts and prayers to him and his family and hope he fights through this unfortunate event.

English Premier League

Welp, both Manchester teams are not only out of the Champion’s League, but they are out of the Europa competition as well. As everyone begins the question the strength of English teams in world competition, Manchester United and City know that their one redeeming chance this year is the Premier League title.

Speaking of City, with the arrival of Carlos Tevez back in the ranks, everyone is wondering what will happen now with the Argentinian. Former City striker Rodney Marsh’s suggestion is to keep Tevez out of the first team line up.

“I wouldn’t bring him back because he is so volatile, because there are so many negatives around him which reflect on the football club and the team.”

If you missed the two matches held today in the EPL, Swansea City had a killer match against Fulham, notching three goals and keeping a clean sheet for the win. Wigan and West Brom also faced off, but ended the match in a tie.

Major League Soccer

Expansion team Montreal Impact had something to prove today as they hosted their home opener against Chicago Fire today. It was a record crowd, drawing out more than 58,000 fans for the game. It was pretty heated and definitely worth it for the fans that attended, but the Fire were able to hold the new team to a 1-1 tie. I have to say, I’m loving the fact that these opening games for MLS 2012 are getting record numbers. Always great to see the game grow in the US!

There are still matches carrying on right now, and even more tomorrow. If you want to catch the late night games, at 10 p.m. ET, Real Salt Lake and our Midweek Muscles pick Chris Wingert will take on New York  and Seattle and Toronto FC will face off. Even later, at 10:30 ET, you can watch Chivas USA and Vancouver take to the pitch. Tomorrow’s game schedule can be viewed here, and keep with Aerys Soccer for your round up of the MLS weekend!

The 2012 LA Galaxy Season Ticket Holder booklet

Nothing brightens up a Monday like the delivery of a freshly printed booklet of soccer season tickets. My LA Galaxy 2012 season tickets arrived today, and throughout the Twitterverse, I saw posts about many other MLS teams shipping out their tickets too. The 2012 MLS season is just around the corner! Aside from the excitement of a new season, we’ve got lots of soccer news from around the globe. The USMNT players are dropping like flies, Kristine Lilly is up for a major honor, and lots of headlines out of the EPL. Here’s your Daily Kick Around!

Major League Soccer

The anticipation for the new season of MLS is mounting, as promos are rolling out and tickets are being delivered. We are now less than two weeks away from the first match, and if you somehow aren’t pumped for this season, watch this. I bet you will be after.

Houston Dynamo fans were hit with huge news today as MLS has banned Dynamo fan groups from bringing items such as flags, banners, confetti and drums to away matches. It seems the decision stems from some antics of supporters groups during the 2011 MLS Cup final against L.A. Galaxy.

US Men’s National Team

With four players now scratched from the roster for the USMNT game against Italy this week, a couple of guys were called in to replace them. Jermaine Jones, José Torres, Timmy Chandler and Landon Donovan are out, and Brek Shea and Sacha Kljestan are in. SI’s Grant Wahl is in Genoa ahead of the match, and has a few must-read thoughts on the team here.

USMNT head coach Jurgen Klinsmann has suddenly resurrected his Twitter account, and since arriving in Italy a few days ago, has been tweeting like crazy. Today, he send out a link to a podcast he recorded. It’s about 15 minutes long and definitely worth a listen if you’re a dedicated USMNT fan. Interesting insights into how Klinsmann and his coaching staff scout players, and how he keeps guys like Clint Dempsey motivated to achieve at higher levels.

US Women’s National Team

As a young girl playing soccer, I idolized Kristine Lilly. She was — and still is — my hero in women’s soccer. I was even lucky enough to take a soccer clinic with her at the helm when I was in high school. Her incredible 21-year-career is arguably the greatest in US women’s soccer history. Now, number 13 is a finalist for the US Olympic Hall of Fame, the only nominee representing soccer. Check out how to vote her into the US Olympic Hall of Fame here!

English Premier League

During Aston Villa’s EPL draw with Wigan this weekend, top goal-scorer Darren Bent ruptured ankle ligaments, and has been ruled out for up to three months. This is a huge blow not only for Villa, but also the England National Team who will be playing in the Euro 2012 starting in early June. Awful news all around.

Carlos Tevez is set to make his return at Manchester City — well, sort of. The striker is expected to make an appearance in the reserve league on Tuesday. This means he could be making an EPL comeback as early as next week, when City takes on Swansea.

Former Real Madrid midfielder Mahamadou Diarra has been signed by Fulham until the end of the season, with the possibility of extension for another year. Diarra has been a free agent since last summer, and hopes to restart his career in the EPL.

Your daily dose of soccer news is here just in time to perk you up (after a Fat Tuesday hangover perhaps) and get you over this dreariest day of the week – Wednesday Hump Day!  Today we have enough news to make your head spin: dramatic Champions League results, Carlos Tevez’s “apology”, an interesting England National Team experiment, a football-related freak accident, the relationship between prisoners and World Cup football and so much more!  Read on and get your medicine for the football soul (and hangover headache).  Have a great Hump Day!

UEFA Champions League Results

CSKA Moscow 1 – 1 Real Madrid

Napoli 3 – 1 Chelsea

Today’s CL Schedule

Marseille v Inter Milan at 2pm ET on Fox Soccer Channel

FC Basel v Bayern München at 2:45 ET on Fox Soccer Plus

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho is not deterred by the first leg final-16 draw to CSKA Moscow last night.  He believes that the second leg at Bernabeu will give his club enough of an advantage to allow them to move forward in the tournament

English Premier League

Andre Villas-Boas has finally taken some of the heat after his team lost 3-1 last night to Napoli in the first leg of the Champions League final-16.  As pressure piles up on the Blues’ manager, he has finally agreed there are some defensive problems that need to be addressed.  Of course he is still confident he can salvage the rest of the season but only time will tell.

Carlos Tevez has finally apologized publicly to his Manchester City club.  The Argentinian, whose behavior has cost him close to $17 million, seems set to make amends and join his teammates.  I hope we can finally put an end to this tasteless drama.

It’s high time someone from the English government spoke out against the scandalous racism-related cases popping up all season long. Prime Minister David Cameron issued a statement today and insisted the government will work with the FA to put an end to the racism problem in English football.  He is quoted as saying: ”We will not let recent events drag us back to the bad old days of the past.”

Stoke City’s defender Rory Delap is known best for his freakishly long throw-ins, which have been known to be longer and more deadly than many corner kicks.  Today, Delap has won his appeal concerning a red card given to him in last weekends FA Cup match against Crawley.  His 3-match suspension has been withdrawn.

England National Team

New and interim England manager Stuart Pearce wants to test out some new ideas on his squad as they prepare for a friendly against Holland next week. Rather than using the more senior star players, Pearce, who manages the U21 side, is expected to name an inexperienced group to the 23-man team.  The more “seasoned” England players might experience a little knee-shaking nervousness, but whatever the outcome, it makes for an interesting experiment!

La Liga

The freakiest accident of the week has to be when Valencia midfielder Ever Banega ran over his own leg with his car.  He will be out for at least six months. Read the crazy details here!

World Soccer News

As everyone knows, Brazil will host the 2014 World Cup Tournament and are building a new stadium in honor of the event.  Some very unexpected, yet equally passionate Brazilian football fans are involved in those preparations.  Prisoners and slave laborers–yes you read that right–are getting the opportunity to contribute to the stadium construction and are hopeful it will be a life-changing event.  The AP quoted one prisoner as saying: “This is the best thing that has ever happened to me…. this type of work gives us dignity, it gives us something to look forward to in the future. If we do a good job here, maybe the company will want to stay with us after we are set free.”  Read more here. Thanks to our amazing Aerys Soccer Co-Editor Trista Lutgring, for bringing us that equally amazing story.

Happy Fat Tuesday everyone! Now before you stuff yourself with alcohol and try to find the toy in the King cake, sit back and enjoy today’s DKA featuring Arsene Wenger’s surprising comments on his future retirement, Pep Guardiola’s unforeseen future and Thierry Henry’s weird house renovations!

English Premier League

Argentine legend Diego Maradona says that Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is “too defensive” meaning that MCFC could stumble in the Premier League title race. Maradona, whose son-in-law is Sergio Aguero, still think they have a chance of winning the title because of the talent of the players. Make up your mind Maradona!

Tomasz Kuszczak is leaving Manchester United for a loan to Watford. The Poland international hasn’t made an appearance this season for the red devils, but with this loan, he could see more playing time at Vicarage Road.

Nice try West Ham. The Irons attempted bids on Chelsea’s Fernando Torres and Man City’s Carlos Tevez in the January transfer window. Both failed. Apparently Chelsea told West Ham co-owner David Sullivan that the moment wasn’t right in terms of letting Nando go. As for Tevez, Man City said “no chance.”

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger isn’t giving up on his club and has no plans to resign anytime soon. Arsenal hasn’t won a trophy in 7 years and the Frenchman has been ridiculed, especially after their 4-nil loss to AC Milan, knocking them out of the FA Cup race. Let’s just say, Wenger’s statement is a little….brash.

“There has been a lot of conversation about whether I will remain with Arsenal or leave,” Wenger told reporters. “But I will tell you that I am still committed to this project. So committed that I will continue to manage Arsenal until the day Theo Walcott wins the Ballon d’Or or the day Andrei Arshavin scores four goals in a Premier League match again. Whichever comes first. Or at all. Only then will my work here be complete.”

La Liga

Barcelona is at it again. Vice President Josep Maria Bartomeu says the Catalans won’t pay “mad sums” of money for star players this summer transfer window. EPL stars Robin van Persie and Garreth Bale have been linked with moves this summer but their clubs, Arsenal and Tottenham, refuse to let them go without a fight. I’m just going to say this: Barca has stolen one star player before, what makes us think they won’t do it again?

Dear Pep Guardiola, where does your future lie? Well, the problem is, no one (not even Pep) knows. Barcelona sporting director Andoni Zubizarreta is giving Guardiola all the time he needs to figure out what his future plans will be. Pep’s contract ceases to exist after this summer after stating he’ll only sign one-year contracts since his tenure with the Catalans. Rumors have it that Pep could head to a club in Serie A, EPL or even the Middle East.

UEFA Champions League

Matches for today’s 1st leg of Round of 16 are between Real Madrid-CSKA Movska and Chelsea-Napoli. Real Madrid had their 1-0 win snatched from them when CSKA scored a late game goal, tying up the score 1-1. Chelsea and Napoli will kick off shortly!

One question. How many of you would put a 40 ft aquarium in the middle of your house? I can only think of one person who would. Thierry Henry. Check out the crazy diagram of the floorplans for his new place. I am at a loss for words.

Today’s soccer news is full of exciting Champions League and Serie A results as well as another Premier League player charged with discrimination and of course, a late-breaking report involving our regular news-making striker, Carlos Tevez.  Read on for further details!

Champions League

Zenit St. Petersburg 3 – 2 Benefica

AC Milan 4 – 0 Arsenal

Serie A

 Atalanta 1 – 0 Genoa

Parma 0 – 0 Juventus

Cesena v Catania (postponed)

English Premier League

This just in: Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini denies he treated Tevez ”like a dog” .  Prior to returning to England, the whining Argentinian made the claims earlier this week.

Perhaps the above story can explain that despite reports Carlos Tevez is back with his Manchester City team, he was mysteriously absent and did not participate in today’s practice.

Looks like we have another English Premier League racial slur to report. The FA have charged West Ham midfielder Ravel Morrison over an alleged homophobic remark he made on Twitter.

David Bentley, currently on loan to West Ham from Tottenham, is hoping to finalize a move to Major League Soccer soon.

It’s a new week filled with lots to talk about, footy fans, so I’m going to jump right into it! The biggest news today comes out of Scotland, where the Glasgow Rangers are in hot water. And we’d be remiss if we didn’t mention how excited we are for tomorrow, and no, it’s definitely not for Valentine’s Day…the Champions League action is back! Plus, will Carlos Tevez actually return to Manchester City after all the drama surrounding him? That, and much more in today’s Daily Kick Around!

Scottish Premier League

Bad news for Glasgow Rangers and their fans: the Scottish club has lodged legal papers stating their intention to file for administration – the UK’s version of bankruptcy. Their financial woes are the result of a tax bill that the club would be unable to pay. The club has 10 days to declare that administrators have taken over operations. They will also have 10 points deducted from the league standings, but at this point, I think that is the least of their concerns.

UEFA Champions League

Rejoice! The UCL is back in action tomorrow after two months off. The round of 16 is set to kick off Tuesday, with Barcelona facing Leverkusen and Lyon taking on Apoel. For a full list of all the UCL matches, go here!

 English Premier League

After spending three months in Argentina — unauthorized — is Carlos Tevez finally returning to Manchester City? Now that the January transfer window has ended, Tevez has run out of options and seems to be set to come crawling back to City and right his wrongs with manager Roberto Mancini. It appears that Mancini will welcome him back with open arms (if Tevez apologizes) but I’m not sure I would. Is he really worth the drama? Plus, how long until he is at match fitness? If I were Mancini, I would think long and hard before giving him another shot.

After their embarrassing 5-1 loss to West Brom at home this weekend, the Wolverhampton Wolves have fired manager Mick McCarthy today. McCarthy has been with the team since 2006, and helped them win promotion to the Premier League in 2009, but has been a disaster this season. With only one win in the last 13 games, the Wolves have slipped into the bottom three of the table.

Unfortunately, we haven’t stopped talking about the drama before, during and after the Manchester United – Liverpool match from Saturday. Despite the poor character displayed from players on both clubs, they managed to avoid any sanctions from the FA. Each club is likely to receive a stern letter reminding them of their responsibilities, but that’s it. Really, FA?

Major League Soccer

The off season hasn’t exactly been a good one for the New England Revolution and their fans. The MLS club said goodbye to three of their top forwards, leaving them desperate for players with attacking prowess. Today, a glimmer of hope, as the Revs signed Saer Sene of the Bayern Munich reserves, a forward who has scored 19 goals in 55 appearances.

Africa Cup of Nations

In a shocking result, Zambia defeated the Ivory Coast in the Africa Cup of Nations, winning their first ever continental crown. The incredibly unlikely winners have some wild stats that were stacked against them, including being given a 1.9 percent chance of winning the title at the start of the tournament. Here’s a more in depth look at the statistics behind Zambia’s historic win.

Finally, I leave you with a silly and fun video of the LA Galaxy’s David Beckham goofing around between sets at a photo shoot … and pulling off one of the coolest foosball trick shots ever! He makes it look so easy…but I’m sure if I tried it, I would be hunting down a lot of errant shots!

Hey footy fans, TGIF! The end of the work week is close but the news around the soccer world is still keeping us busy! Today’s DKA features some interesting stats between Andy Carroll, Fernando Torres & a mystery keeper, former USMNT coach Bob Bradley’s future in Egypt and the shocking news about how Barcelona don’t need Lionel Messi. Say what?!

English Premier League

Were you ever curious just how bad Liverpool’s Andy Carroll and Chelsea’s Fernando Torres are this season? Well, it’s pretty bad when a keeper has a better shooting percentage, right? For more, interesting yet embarrassing stats, here’s a photo I found from a London newspaper.

Carlos Tevez, looks like you’re stuck in Manchester. League-leading Manchester City have named Tevez to their 25-man squad entering the second half of the season, despite rumors of him leaving during the January transfer window. Perhaps now, he’ll change his attitude and play some football.

John Terry lucks out again. The England captain is set to compete in the Euro 2012 final due to a setback concerning the date of his trial for racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand. The new trial will be held on July 9th and QPR manager Mark Hughes is not a happy camper saying “It seems to have been dragging on forever. Certainly from my point of view and Anton’s, we’d have preferred it to have been done and dusted by now.” Our own Trista Lutgring shares her personal opinion on the matter here!

Manchester United fans, it’s okay, David de Gea isn’t back in the net. But neither is Anders Lindegaard, because he’ll be out for 4 weeks due to damaged ankle ligaments. Ben Amos will take over as keeper for an ill de Gea, who made his premier league debut in the 2-nil victory over Stoke on Tuesday.

International

Former USMNT coach, Bob Bradley is uncertain about his future in with the Egyptian National Team after a devastating riot took place in an Egyptian League match that killed nearly 74 people. “They must be strong. They must always realize the hope for the future and realize to accomplish great things for Egypt as a country and again as a football team that the strength comes from the unity of the people.”

La Liga

This just in! Barcelona don’t need Lionel Messi! Well that’s according to Thiago Alcantara, who insists that the Catalans aren’t dependent on the petite Argentinean. But in a way, they kind of are.

Valencia’s Roberto Soldado is firing back at FC Barcelona president Sandro Rosell after he claimed that Barcelona wasn’t getting fair calls from the referee during the Copa del Rey match against Real Madrid. Soldado says that the handball from Barca keeper Pinto during their 1-1 draw to Valencia, was obvious and that it wasn’t called by the ref because of the statement by Rosell. What do you think? Handball or no handball? I say….definite handball.

Major League Soccer

Seattle Sounders player Steve Zakuani had a very in-depth interview with Sports Illustrated’s Grant Wahl about his horrific injury that occurred last season. In the interview, Zakuani explains the ups and downs of his recovery and his return to the pitch at Century Link Field this season. Along with Zakuani, Wahl interviewed Colorado Rapids midfielder, Brian Mullan about how he coped with being responsible for Zakuani’s injury. For those of you who don’t know about the injury you can read my article about it here. The next time Zakuani and Mullan will face each other with be on April 14th. They will also meet again at Dick Sporting Goods Park in CO, the site of the injury, on July 28th. You can be sure that I’ll be at that match, cheering on my Sounders!

Even though we can all take a sigh of relief that the January transfer frenzy has concluded, we are all still salivating for our daily football fix.  Today’s DKA won’t disappoint!

Want to know about John Terry’s new stroke of luck, how a no transfer will affect  Carlos Tevez, why matches are being cancelled in Italy and what crazy punishment has been handed down in the Brazilian league?  Read on for those juicy details and more in today’s DKA.

Oh and for you transfer die-hards, here is the final list of all international transfers.

English Premier League

John Terry’s court date has been postponed to July 9th, making way for him to play, and possibly captain the England team in the June European Championship tournament. The Chelsea defender has been accused of racially abusing a QPR player during a match back in October, but denies any wrong doing.

Here’s today’s EPL match schedule, which concludes the mid-week games being played.  Be sure to come back to Aerys Soccer for match recaps as the games conclude .

Tuesday’s exciting EPL match recaps can be found in yesterday’s DKA, written by our talented soccer co-editor, Kayla Knapp.  Final scores listed below:

Tottenham 3 – 1 Wigan

Wolverhampton 0 - 3 Liverpool

Swansea City 1 – 1 Chelsea

Everton 1 – 0 Manchester City

Manchester United 2 -0 Stoke City

It seems a week (or even a day) hardly passes without some sort of drama involving Manchester City’s Carlos Tevez.  Given the troublemaker was not transferred to the Italian league as he (and City) had hoped, the Premier League are now forced to schedule a hearing to get him back to England. Even after heavy fines were imposed, the Argentinian has remained home since November, offering very little cooperation in negotiations with City.  Let’s hope that changes so we can get the show on the road.

La Liga

Besides players coming and going yesterday, another manager change has taken place in the Spanish Primara Division.  Manuel Preciado, long-time manager of struggling club Sporting Gijon, has been replaced by Inaki Tejada for the match on Sunday against Osasuna.

Serie A

A match between Juventus and Parma was cancelled at the last minute yesterday due to snow falling in the Parma region of Italy. Juventus, unbeaten this season, could have gone four points clear with a win over mid-table ranked Parma.  Should second place Inter win over Lazio today, the Nerazzurri move to the number one position.  Today, two more matches were suspended due to snow in northern and central Italy.

Today’s mid-week Serie A fixtures can be found here.

And now for today’s strangest story:  It is no secret that the Brazilians are crazy for their football, but I think they got it wrong here.  One of the country’s most famous clubs, Ceara, will be without their mascot for two home games.  “Grandpa”, as the mascot is called, has been charged with making obscene gestures to fans of the opposing team on Sunday.  Although no official confirmation yet, there are talks that the person who wore the costume may face punishment.  Shouldn’t it be the other way around??

Members of the MLS Super Draft were at a Kansas City art museum to offer up their talents for art. Photo: Laura Spencer; "Only A Game"

Welcome to Game Day Saturday guys! Today we have results from the FA Cup matches, Carlos Tevez stuck in Manchester, John Terry in court and MLS Draft picks lending their “talents” to an art museum in Kansas City. Here’s your Saturday Daily Kick Around!

Fa Cup

It was an intense one today between rivals Manchester United and Liverpool. The Reds came out on top though to defeat United 2-1 and move on to the next round. Our own Kayla Knapp has a recap here! 

In the highly publicized “American” FA Cup showdown yesterday between Everton and Fulham, it would be Landon Donovan and Tim Howard’s Toffees squad that would pull out the win against Clint Dempsey and Fulham. Everton will advance on a 2-1 win, with Donovan offering beautiful assists on both of the Toffee goals.

English Premier League

Call it ironic, call it karma, but it seems for all the hoop-la and circus Carlos Tevez has built up about getting out of Manchester, that’s exactly where he’s going to stay. We’ve shared multiple stories of Paris Saint-Germain, AC Milan and Inter Milan expressing interest for the striker, but now all three clubs seem to be declining to take the Argentinian off Manchester City’s hands. I don’t know about everyone else, but I find this a little bit funny.

England captain and Chelsea player John Terry is in the news again for less savory reasons. He’s going to be the first player in the history of the sport to appear in court for accusations of racial comments on the pitch. The charge stems from the claim that Terry made racial remarks to Queens Park Rangers player Anton Ferdinand Oct. 23.

Major League Soccer

We’re sure there were lots of ways for prospects of the MLS Super Draft to prep themselves for the day they could get drafted to a pro team. However, a handful of the players – including Tony Cascio, Nick DeLon and Chandler Hoffman – were at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City on the eve of the draft to lend their feet, cleats and soccer talents for some unique art. 

La Liga 

Twenty-year-old  Isaac Cuenca may be drawing in interest from many top clubs in Europe, but it was announced yesterday the striker would be extending his contract with Spanish giants Barcelona.

It’s been a argument many footy fans know well – why is Lionel Messi so lethal with Barcelona but lack luster with the Argentina national team? Many accuse him of not being passionate enough for his country’s team. In his interview with Time, Messi said he’s hurt by the accusations that he doesn’t love his country as much as he does Barcelona.

“I didn’t feel that, I didn’t think that. And now, I think what people need to understand is that this is a team game, and that I try to play the same way there as I do in Barcelona, and always do the best I can.”