No pressure … but the next 10 weeks could define Landon Donovan on the global stage. Donovan joined Everton of the English Premier League earlier this week, on loan from the Los Angeles Galaxy, and the ramifications are enormous. For better or worse, unfairly or otherwise, Donovan’s career could turn on how he performs in […]

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Yes, there are two soccer World Cups. The one you all know about and … The Club World Cup. The itty-bitty little brother of the World Cup. But the Club World Cup has something going for it: It’s here. In Abu Dhabi. Actually, it’s across the street from where I live.

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Mostly, I just wanted to see how many “categories” I could have at the top of this item. Now let’s see if I actually mention something about all of them. Some interesting topics playing out in U.S. sports right now and, really, I’m aware of them. Not everyone back home seems to remember we do, […]

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Over on the South Africa 2010 blog … and here is the link. Remember, I’ll be writing something daily on the World Cup blog right up till it starts. Or until it kills me. Whichever comes first. I know not all of you are all that interested. But if you are … and want to […]

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FIFA pulled off the World Cup draw tonight, and as television goes, it may be as lame, painfully awkward and relentlessly unfunny as any programming you can imagine. Charlize Theron babbling, a guy with a heavy French accent doing most of the talking, and a half-dozen celebrities and quasi-celebrities (David Beckham, a South African rugby […]

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Noticed this the other day. While studying the list of 32 qualifiers for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. An enormous swath of territory, extending from eastern Europe across nearly the breadth of Asia has … zero … teams in the World Cup. From the eastern borders of Slovakia and Serbia and Greece … […]

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What’s next for Landon Donovan? Way back in March, after coming back to SoCal after his loan to Bayern Munich, Landon told me he wanted to play in Europe after the 2009 Major League Soccer season. Given that he just won the MVP award and was, of course, voted into the MLS top XI … […]

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Landon Donovan had not won this award before? Were they giving the MLS Most Valuable Player to other guys just as a sort of goof? To mess with us? And him? “And the winner is, Land … Hey, got you again! The winner is Luciano Emilio!” Or Guillermo Barros Schelotto! Christian Gomez, everybody! Amado Guevara!? […]

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Yes, I know a lot of you aren’t interested. But five more teams got into the World Cup over the past six hours, and I did a big post on the circumstances over at the “Countdown to SA 2010” blog. Which can be seen over on the right side of this page. Or, you can […]

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Yes, at it again. More World Cup information over on the countdown to South Africa blog. You can find a link to your right, and here’s another. Pretty wild day out there. Nigeria jumped Tunisia on the final day of group qualifying to snatch a bid to South Africa 2010 … New Zealand is headed […]

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