REAL MADRID & GONZALO HIGUAIN AGREE UNTIL 2016

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts /Local Sports papers have announced that REAL MADRID & Argentine forward GONZALO HIGUAIN have come to an agreement to extend the players contract until 2016. The players father met today with Real Madrid Directives to unblock negotiations precisely the day new Coach José Mourinho was officially presented. This gives the hint that Mourinho has given the "green-light" to the

FC BARCELONA - JUNIORS - WIN SPANISH FOOTBALL 7 TITLE

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts /The FC BARCELONA juniors defeated the REAL MADRID juniors in the penalty shoot-out in the Final of the Spanish Football 7 (Alevin) Championship. The Barcelona "kids" managed to win the battle of the nerves to take the Title in penalties after the game finished 1-1 in the normal time. It is the 3rd straight title for FC Barcelona in a tournament that gives Spanish Football

FC BARCELONA | MANCHESTER UTD LOOK AT BOJAN KRKIC?

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts Blog /News from English paper “The Independent” mentions that MANCHESTER UNITED is expected to make a 14M€ offer for young FC BARCELONA forward BOJAN KRKIC. The paper goes on to mention that Man Utd Manager Alex Ferguson considers the Spanish player ideal to form the up-front "attack team" with Wayne Rooney.It’s not the first time that English Football comes knocking on

CHARITY MATCH | REAL MADRID 4 - AC MILAN 3 | VIDEO HIGHLIGHT

Hi, returned from a few days of relax in the country-side this weekend & back with charged batteries. As always plenty of things happening while away with Spain World Cup Team winning 3-2 Saudi Arabia in their International friendly, the Spanish National Football Team - U/17 - lossing the Final of the Euro U/17 Championships to England 1-2, Fernando Alonso 8th in the Turkish Formula 1 race, José

Group Game Picks

We're getting closer to the final squads being announced but before then let's look at the fixtures for the group games and determine which ones to target. Reader David has already highlighted a few in a recent post so I thought I'd add my picks based on form, odds, goal scoring record and propensity to keep clean sheets.

My top picks for each round of group games are below:

Round 1
Slovakia vs New Zealand
Brazil vs North Korea
Spain vs Switzerland
Argentina vs Nigeria

For three of the games here (Brazil, Spain and Argentina), the key here is not to indicate that the likes of Messi, Villa and Kaka are good picks (no kidding!) but that you might want to double up rather than have, say a Brazilian and a Dutch strikeforce (with the Netherlands facing a much tougher opener against the Danes). For the record I think the key in week 1 is get to get 11 men on the field so going with captains and irreplaceable players rather than long shots is the key. While I always sing the praises of differentiators, I think these should be sought by picking a star from a lower profile team rather than a top team's 3rd best striker who may or may not play.

The matchup that will give value is an underrated Slovakia side against New Zealand, who the bookies give the longest odds in the whole competition. The highly rated Marek Hamsik might be worth a look after a very strong season in Serie A while Stanislav Sestak has a good international record (10 in 30) if you are really looking for a differentiator or budget option. How far down the barrel we have to scrape will largely depend on how the Official game values its players.

Round 2
Italy vs New Zealand
Portugal vs North Korea
Spain vs Honduras
England vs Algeria
Holland vs Japan
Argentina vs South Korea

Again, I will not dwell on the top seeded teams as we all know it's useful to have a player like Xavi or Messi in your team but I will note that Spain and Argentina feature in both round 1 and round 2 which gives them added value from day one and England feature in both round 2 and 3.

The only non-first seed here is Portugal who I do not fancy for the tournament (I actually have them going out to Ivory Coast in group G). That said, when you have a player like Ronaldo going up against North Korea, you have to at least consider picking him up. The opening game against the Ivory Coast could be high scoring too thus making Ronaldo a decent pickup for the first two games. Liedson might be worth monitoring to see if he is penciled in to play as he has enjoyed a very good season with Sporting (22 goals) and will not be fancied by the average player. On an interesting side note, Portugal - North Korea is a rematch of the 1966 Quarter Final following N.Korea's upset (perhaps the biggest in WC history) against Italy. Fantasy fans will be thrilled to learn that the game finished 5-3 with Portugal led by the legendary Eusebio.

Round 3
Ivory Coast vs North Korea
Paraguay vs New Zealand
England vs Slovenia

Poor old North Korea. They were actually very solid in qualifying (conceding 5 in 8 games) but they haven't come up against the likes of their Group G opponents for some time. The main man here will of course be Didier Drogba though I'm sure EPL fans will give some attention to Salomon Kalou and Aruna Dindane. An outside bet might be Gervinho who has a scored 11 in 22 for Lille and enjoyed a good Olympics for Les Elephants.

Paraguay did well in the CONMEBOL qualification, finishing ahead of fellow finalists Argentina and Uruguay. Their star man is another player who will be familiar to EPL fans, though less so this year as Roque Santa Cruz has suffered through a miserable season at Man City, failing to hold down a regular first team spot. With Italy in round 1 I would stay clear of Paraguay for now, gauge how good they are against Solvakia in round 2 then bring someone in if they have proven they can be competitive to play against New Zealand.

England are one of the highly (overly?) rated sides and with a fairly good group make good group game pickups. The defense should be solid under Capello (despite the recent friendlies) and someone like Glen Johnson or Ashley Cole should deliver good value. Rooney will be widely owned but I want to see how fit he is against the US before I buy into his considerable hype.

The Official Game announces the player values on the 3rd June so I will prepare an in depth post then with my value picks and sleepers as soon as possible after that. As always, thanks for reading and stay in touch over on Twitter @plfantasy.

ATLETICO DE MADRID SHOW OFF NEW 2010 - 2011 SEASON UNIFORMS

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts/New season coming up, which means new uniforms & thus more marketing drives as fans rush to their local Sports stores to buy up the "new image outfits". FC Barcelona recently presented their new uniform with the presentation of new signing David Villa & ATLETICO DE MADRID used the presentation today of their new signing , the ex-Arsenal midfielder FRAN MERIDA, to show off

REAL MADRID | JOSE MOURINHO FREE FROM INTER MILAN | WILL BE PRESENTED MONDAY AS NEW REAL MADRID COACH.

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts/JOSE MOURINHO is now officially ex-coach of INTER MILAN after "Uncle Floren" ( the Real Madrid President Florentino Perez ) had to travel personally today to Milan & unblock the negotiations. José Mourinho says that Inter President Moratti made a "verbal promise" that he would allow his Coach to leave FREE if he helped win Inter the Champions League. However, with Mourinho

THE SEASON 2010 - 2011 FC BARCELONA TEAM ?

Source Blog : Sp Ftball Sprts /Spanish Sporting paper "Mundo Deportivo" puts up a hypothetical FC BARCELONA line-up for the upcoming 2010 - 2011 season if CESC FABREAGAS does eventually finish up at Barça. On paper the team does look absolutely awesome in very position...

ATLETICO DE MADRID LOOKS AT DEPORTIVO DEFENDER LUIS FELIPE

Source Blog : Sp Ftball Sprts /Deportivo A Coruña & Brazilian left back LUIS FELIPE is considered one of the best players in his position of the Spanish League. The player was on the verge of landing at FC BARCELONA last season & was also on the agenda of REAL MADRID. A terrible leg injury – broken bone – left him out of action most of the season & he managed to timidly get back on the field to

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | EURO U/17 SEMI FINAL | SPAIN 3 TURKEY 1 - INTO THE FINAL

Source :Sp Ftball Sprts Blog /Great news from the U/17 EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIPS being currently held in Liechtenstein. The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM has defeated TURKEY 3-1 in the semi-final to go straight into the Final were they will meet England on Sunday. Turkey played well tonight but paid dearly with defensive errors that were punished. Spanish & Valencia CF player ALCACER was once again

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | FERNANDO TORRES BACK TRAINING

Source: Sp Ftball Sports /The below photo is the good news of the day. Spanish International & Liverpool FC forward FERNANDO TORRES joined in with his team-mates to excercise in group today for about 40 minutes.The big concern in the Spanish camp, & with the fans, is whether Torres will be fit in time for the upcoimg FIFA World Cup tournament. He himself said in a press conference yesterday

Around the World - News Roundup

Here's a quick run around the World Cup teams including goals, injuries and who will miss the final squad cuts:

Van Persie scored twice for the Netherlands in their defeat of Mexico. I am really high on the Netherlands and Van Persie becomes a legitimate option to start from week one (vs Denmark).

Michael Essien will miss the World Cup which is a huge blow to Ghana's chance. I like Serbia to progress from Group D after which they will likely meet a relatively strong England side.

Philip Lahm has been handed the German armband guaranteeing his place in the starting XI and making him one of the most valuable defenders around.

Like fellow ex-teammate Essien, Lassana Diarra will also miss the tournament. The injury should pave the way for PL Fantasy favourite Abou Diaby to play alongside Jeremy Toulanan, as they did on several occasions in the qualifiers.

Okay it was against Canada but Argentina finally put on a display that matches their talent levels. Goals for Tevez, Aguero and (new Real man?) Di Maria have encouraged me to rethink my shunning of Maradona's men with the insanely talented Di Maria particularly intriguing.

In what to me was a strange squad cut, Fabio Grosso will miss out for the Azzurri, despite starting 4 of the last 6 qualifiers. The unit should still be reliable with possibly Criscito slotting in at LB.

Eto'o is threatening to pull out from the Cameroon squad following criticism from World Cup legend Roger Milla. I think that success on a such a big stage is probably a bridge too far for Eto'o anyway and Cameroon aren't the threat they were back in '98.

Torres is back in training which is great news for Spain and fantasy players alike. I like Villa, Xavi and Silva more with Torres in the side, not to mention the fact that Torres himself would be a very useful pickup. Unless I see something concrete I will probably avoid Torres in game 1 but he definitely warrants transfer consideration.

Man United's Park Ji Sung was on target as South Korea beat Japan in a midweek friendly. South Korea have a decent chance of getting out of Group B and Park could be worth a quick thought if you need to grab a player from one of the less popular teams.

First team for Sky competition
With the McDonald's game still not open until the final squads are announced, I've been playing around with my Sky Sports team and I thought I'd share my first attempt to see what everyone thought. Why not share your own teams and hints for lesser known players to watch out in the this year's competition.

1. I Casillas
2. D Alves
3. P Lahm
4. G Chiellini
5. G van Bronckhorst
6. Kaka
7. F Lampard
8. F Ribery
9. L Messi
10. D Drogba
11. D Villa

Nothing too controversial so far I know. I think that 70%+ of owners will have at least two of that front three and I think the key to the competition is getting goals from midfield.

Just to get you in the right mood, here's a classic World Cup goal from 2006 which is often neglected on the all time goal lists (though kudos to the Guardian for picking this one).

REAL MADRID SACKS PELLEGRINI & AWAITS JOSE MOURINHO AS "THE CHOSEN ONE"

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts Blog /REAL MADRID President Florentino Perez has announced this afternoon in an official press conference that the Spanish Club does no longer desire the services of Coach Manuel Pellegrini & thus ends his contract one year early.The Real Madrid President then communicated that once Inter Milan Coach JOSÉ MOURINHO finishes the bureaucratic paper work that will legally free

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | PHOTO | FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 SQUAD

Source : Sp Ftball Sports /You ask for it, I got it : o) Here is the very latest SPANISH WORLD CUP 2010 TEAM photo taken this morning with all 23 players & Coaching staff. Here is a simple VIDEO to build-up the days leading up to the World Cup:

FIFA RANKING MAY 2010 : SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM REMAINS 2ºND

Blog Source : Sp Ftball /With the FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 tournament weeks away, FIFA has released its month ranking, in this case for May. Brazil stays on top with the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM maintaining itself in the second position. Here is the Top 10 list of Nations.FIFA Ranking May 2010:.1. Brazil 1.611 pts.2. Spain 1.565.3. Portugal 1.249.4. Holland 1.231.5. Italy 1.184.6. Germany

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 32 TEAMS | GROUP H

Source Blog : Sp Ftball SportsToday we feature the Group that has the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM . All the other Groups ( A - G) have already been posted with their respective team photos & are available here & via the Search Engines if you missed out on your squad. Hope you enjoyed the daily series, I will be continuing following the Spanish Football Team & all the South Africa FIFA World

REAL MADRID | MAICON DI ROSSI TEVEZ | THE HUMAN SIDE OF JOSE MOURINHO

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts /Its official, José Mourinho has left Inter Milan after communicating his desire to President Moratti to move on & then later going to his office to pick up his things & say goodbye to his collaborators. According to local news sources, José Mourinho will now travel to Madrid & shut the final pieces of the agreement that will make him the new Coach of REAL MADRID.According

REAL MADRID | FABIO COENTRAO | DI MARIA

Source : Sp Ftball Sprts Blog /The still INTER MILAN Coach José Mourinho is days away from becoming the new Coach of REAL MADRID. The news is that he will personally be responsible for developing next season’s team with full powers to sign & sell players. He has accepted the already planned players on the list of new signings in place before his arrival, BUT asks for some players which he

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 32 TEAMS | GROUP G

Source Blog: Sp Ftball Sprts /Today we feature GROUP G of the upcoming FIFA WORLD CUP 2010. A difficult group with Top Nations that will eventual meet up in the finals stage of the tournament with the Group where Spain is found, a Group that will be featured tomorrow.GROUP G BRAZILNTH KOREAIVORY COASTPORTUGAL

EURO U/17 CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010: GERARD DEULOFEU CORNER KICK GOAL (VIDEO)

Gerard Deulofeu is a youngster from FC Barcelona & current Spanish Football Team – U/17 – International representing SPAIN in the European U/17 Championships.Yesterday he scored both goals in Spains 2-0 victory over Portugal. His second goal was straight from a corner kick. Watch the video below:(lower the volumen)

WORLD CUP 2010 SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | KICKS - OFF

Source: Sp Ftball World Cup 2010/The SPANISH FOOTBALL TEAM started today its difficult road towards the long desired title that has become a bit of a National obsession: the FIFA WORLD CUP. Today all 23 players that make up the SPANISH WORLD CUP 2010 SQUAD began training in Madrid in front of hundreds of fans as you can see on the below video:(lower the volumen)Spanish International forward

EURO U / 17 CHAMPIONSHIPS 2010 | SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM 2 - PORTUGAL 0

Source : Sp Ftball Sprts Blog /The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL SOCCER TEAM – U/17 – has defeated Portugal 2-0 to take the top spot of their qualifying Group with three straight wins & go directly into the semi finals of the EUROPEAN U/17 CHAMPIONSHIPS being currently held in Liechtenstein.The main sensation from this game was Spaniard & FC Barcelona youngster GERARD DEULOFEU who scored two

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 32 TEAMS | GROUP F

Source Blog: Sp Ftball Sprts / The FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 Groups from A-E have been featured in our daily posts of the team photos of the 32 Nations that will participate in South Africa. Today it is the turn of Group F with tomorrow Group G.GROUP FSLOVAKIAITALYNEW ZEALANDPARAGUAY

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM BEGINS WORK THIS MONDAY | FIFA WORLD CUP 2010

Source: Spanish Football Sports Blog /The Spanish National Football Team with its 23 World Cup players will concentrate themselves tomorrow – Monday – at Madrid to begin their particular road to South Africa. The FIFA WORLD CUP kicks-off the 11th of June & the Spanish World Cup squad has a fewfriendly warm-up games to play starting next Saturday the 29th of May in Austria against Saudi Arabia.

MOURINHO WORDS TO ARJEN ROBBEN | CHAMPIONS LEAGUE FINAL 2010

A bit of humour. However, we will be following José here as of next season & I am sure he will give us plenty of "star" moments.

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 32 TEAMS | GROUP E

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts /Our daily review of the FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 Groups & team photos continues today with GROUP E. Tomorrow Group F will be featured, with the earlier Groups already posted here on Spanish Football Sports. GROUP ECAMAROONDENMARKHOLLAND JAPAN

FRAN MERIDA FIRST ATLETICO DE MADRID SIGNING FOR NEW SEASON

ATLETICO DE MADRID makes its first signing for the new season; young ARSENAL FC Spanish player FRAN MERIDA who finished contract with the English Club & elected Atletico over renewing his contract. This hasn’t surprised anyone as the midfielder had a pre-agreement with the Spanish Club that was sealed last January as published by local media & on this blog. The player signs for 5 years & comes

JOSE MOURINHO LOOKS BOUND FOR REAL MADRID NEXT SEASON

Blog source: Sp Ftball Sprts /Congratulations to Inter Milan & Coach José Mourinho for yesterdays Champions League Final win over Bayern Munich 0-2. However, my congratulations to the latter must be extended if we are to believe the credible English daily “The Sunday Times” & the local Spanish Sports press like “AS” & “Marca”.The news is that Real Madrid President Florentino Perez shut an

Q: DO YOU THINK JOSE MOURINHO WILL BE THE NEXT COACH OF REAL MADRID ? A: EVERYTHING POINTS TOWARDS A YES!

Source : Sp Football Sprts Blog/Hi guys, getting heaps of emails from the Spanish Football Sports Blog readers from the US & the Asian region asking me if there is any REAL truth to the rumours that the current Inter Milan Coach JOSE MOURINHO will be the next REAL MADRID Coach.Well I will have to reply that it is a 90 % possibilty, barring last moment changes. The local media call it a "done deal

EUROPEAN U/17 CHAMPIONSHIPS | SPAIN 4 - SWITZERLAND 0 | HAT TRICK FROM PACO ALCACER

The Spanish National Football Team – U/17 – is currently sailing along nicely for the moment in the European U/17 Championships being held in Liechtenstein. Today the U/17 Spanish National Team won 4-0 Switzerland with a HAT-TRICK from Valencia CF forward & tournament sensation PACO ALCACER. The other goal for Spain came from JORGE ORTI.If France does not win Portugal in their game, Spain will go

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 32 TEAMS | GROUP D

Original Source: Spanish Ftball Sprts /Continuing with the daily posts that puts the team photos (32 Nations) of each of the Groups in the upcoming FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 that starts on the 11th of June in South Africa. Already Groups A, B & C ( see below ) have been featured with GROUP D today & Group E on tomorrow.GROUP DGERMANYAUSTRALIAGHANASERBIA

World Cup Preview: Spain

Here in the UK, Spain's chances are considered to be greatly hampered by the injuries to Torres and Fabregas, but in reality they still have an extremely strong team and should feature heavily in most fantasy conversations. Fabregas was, and is, likely to take the number 12 shirt ie being a very gifted substitute. Not much has changed since Euro 2008 when Cesc only started in the third group game (after Spain had already qualified) and then the final. He has played in more qualifiers lately but Xavi, Iniesta, Silva and company is far from a bad bunch so I am not sweating Cesc's absence despite my full blown man crush.

Torres however is a different story as the Liverpool hitman started every game of the Euro champs (aside from the meaningless 3rd group game) and has featured in most games during the qualifying period. In the 23 man squad, there is only real Fernando Llorente who would be identifiable as a 'striker' to partner Villa with the other forwards being more support men or even wide men such as Jesus Navas, Juan Mata and Pedro. I am therefore concerned by the injury as I don't like it when a team has to change it's shape due to the loss of one player.

Anyway, enough of the negatives and on to which players I do like:

Iker Casillas
I would normally focus my defensive pick on an attacking wing back or a goal scoring centre back but I don't really like any of the Spain defenders to provide too much going forward. Therefore I am backing Casillas given Spain's excellent defensive record in the qualifiers (5 conceded in 10 games). Spain's opponents were all fairly free scoring in the qualifiers (averaging 1.7 - 1.8 GPG) but I still back Casillas and co to notch at least one clean sheet with the potential for shut outs in all three games.

David Silva
Silva had an impressive Euro '08 which put him in the shop window for some of the major clubs in Europe's, but I think this is the tournament where he explodes and announces himself as truly world class. Silva scored 8 and assisted 9 in La Liga this season and it seems that Real are knocking at the door to bring him to Bernabeu. Either way, glass-half-full fantasy players can find good in the situation as he will either be settled before the tournament or playing for a major pay day in the near future. Torres' injury could be a boost too as Spain could play a kind of 4-3-2-1 with Silva and another playing off of Villa.

David Villa
Who else could you pick here. I actually rate Torres in terms of pure footballing talent a bit higher but with the Liverpool forward a massive injury risk along with Villa's form and settled future I like Villa's place as early golden boot favourite. Spain should progress to at least the semi final and with such incredible talent supplying the passes, no one is better placed than Villa to score plenty of goals this summer.

Possible First Team

1. Iker Casillas
2. Sergio Ramos
3. Joan Capdevila
4. Raul Albiol
5. Carlos Puyol
   
6. Senna
7. Juan Mata
   
8. Andres Iniesta
   
9. Xavi
   
10. David Silva
11. David Villa

This of course is assuming that Torres and Fabregas miss out. If all fit I would insert Torres in place of Mata and Fabregas would likely platoon with Iniesta, who has been in so-so form for Barcelona.

Verdict
I have backed Spain to win every tournament since France '98 so I am probably not the most objective of bloggers. However, their talent level is unarguable as shown by the lineup above, minus two of the top 5 players in the EPL. The run to the final will be tricky as Spain will likely face Portugal or (my pick) Cote D'Ivoire in the last 16 and then if all falls according to form, Italy in the quarters. The good news is that if they win their group they will avoid Brazil who some fancy as contenders and Netherlands, who I rate highly this year. Expect to see them in the final when I release my final predictions before the tournament.

FC BARCELONA PRESENTS DAVID VILLA & NEW UNIFORM

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts /Hi guys, went out all this afternoon for some personal stuff & when I came back I found my email account full of requests from Spanish Football Sports readers asking for a picture of DAVID VILLA being presented to the Barça fans with his FC BARCELONA outfit. Your wish is my command, plus the FC Barcelona outfit Villa has on will be the "new look" Barça uniform for next

ATLETICO DE MADRID | LUIS SUAREZ THE SUBSTITUTE FOR SERGIO AGUERO ? | MANCHESTER UNITED

Source : Sp Ftball Blog /The sensation ( the vibe) here in Madrid is that ATLETICO DE MADRID Argentine International forward SERGIO AGÜERO has his immediate future somewhere else that is not his current Club. The player’s comments give the "vibration" that he isn’t shutting any doors & that ATLETICO DE MADRID is sending strategic signals to the fan base that the possibility of Aguero being sold

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 32 TEAMS | GROUP C

Original Source Blog : Sp Ftball Sprts /Spanish Football Sports Blog continues today will its daily serving of FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 32 Nations team photos. On Wednesday Group A was posted & yesterday Group B which can be viewed below. Today Group C ( England, Algeria, Slovenia & USA) team photos get highlighted with tomorrow Group D.GROUP CENGLANDALGERIAUNITED STATES OF AMERICASLOVENIA

REAL MADRID | ATHLETIC DE BILBAO MIDFIELDER JAVI MARTINEZ A PRIORITY

Source Blog: Sp Ftball Sprts /It was posted here a few months back when the news was picked up from Spanish TV late-night Football show “Punto Pelota”. The fuzz has reappeared this time in the Spanish Sports paper “AS” that REAL MADRID has its eye on ATHLETIC DE BILBAO midfielder JAVI MARTINEZ.The 21 year old player has just been called up to the Spanish National Football Team after exploding

SPANISH FOOTBALL SPORTS FLASHBACKS | FC BARCELONA FIRST EUROPEAN CUP 18 YEARS AGO

Source Blog: Sp Ftball Sprts /Today, Thursday, 18 years ago is the anniversary of the first ever European Cup Championship Title for FC BARCELONA. The final was played at the “old” Wembley Stadium in London against Italian team Sampdoria with a final score 1-0. It was the “Dream Team” of Cruyff that clinched the European Cup in extra-time when Dutch defender ROLAND KOEMAN scored a free-kick in

THE OFFICIAL 23 PLAYERS LIST THAT MAKE UP THE SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | WORLD CUP 2010

Blog source: Sp Ftball Sprts /The SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM Selector & Coach, Vicente del Bosque, has handed in his final list of 23 players that will represent SPAIN in the upcoming FIFA WORLD CUP which kicks off in South Africa on the 11th of June. The Spanish Soccer Team selector had to leave out 7 players from the prelimary list of 30 that he handed in a couple of weeks back, to which he

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 32 TEAMS | GROUP B

Original source blog: Sp Ftb Sprts /Spanish Football Sports continues with its daily posts of all the FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 teams with today featuring the team photos of GROUP B. For those who may have missed Group A the post is down below, with tomorrow featuring Group C. GROUP BARGENTINA GREECE SOUTH KOREANIGERIA

SPANISH CUP FINAL RESULT | ATLETICO DE MADRID 0 - SEVILLA FC 2 | SEVILLA FC SPANISH CUP CHAMPIONS

Source Blog : Sp Ftball Sprts /Congratulations to SEVILLA FC for their 0-2 victory over ATLETICO DE MADRID in the Final of the 2009-2010 SPANISH CUP in a packed "Camp Nou" Stadium in Barcelona with 90.000 screaming & excited fans.Sevilla FC went out attacking hard early & it paid off in the 5th min when a deviated ball allowed Sevilla winger CAPEL (above) to fire an unstoppable shot that found

McDonald's Fantasy Game

Thanks to David among other readers for pointing out that the McDonald's fantasy game is now up and running, and is far superior to the Sky game. I'm still going to play the Sky Sports game as, well, can you ever have too many fantasy teams, but I will be focusing the site on the McDonald's game due to it's similarity to the EPL game we are all familiar with.

I have setup a blog league with the code: 128022-30277

Stay tuned for more team previews and some strategy thoughts in the coming days.

FC BARCELONA SIGNS VALENCIA CF PLAYER DAVID VILLA FOR 40M€

Source: Sp Ftb Spts Blog /Its official. VALENCIA CF & FC BARCELONA have come to an agreement for the transfer of DAVID VILLA for around 40M€ ( with no variables, according to local press). The 28 year old Spanish International signs for 4 years for a salary of 7M€ (gross) per season with incentives as extras. Tomorrow Villa travels to Barcelona for the routine medical check & it is planned that

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 32 TEAMS | GROUP A

Original Source: Sp Ftball Sprts Blog /As mentioned yesterday SFS begins to get into FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 mode. Today begins a daily serving that highlights the 32 teams, with their photo, that will be competing in South Africa starting the 11th of June. Today GROUP A is featured, with tomorrow Group B & so on daily until Group H.Hope these photos serve the many global readers who enjoy collecting

EURO U-17 CHAMPIONSHIPS | FRANCE 1 SPAIN 2 | GOOD START

Source Blog: Sp Ftbll /The Spanish National Football Team – U/17 – got off with a grand foot after defeating France 1-2 in the opening game of the European U-17 Championships being held in the nation-state of Liechtenstein.A competitive match that was worthy of any opening clash for tournaments of this calibre, SPAIN won thanks to a 74th min winner by Valencia CF player PACO ALCACER. Earlier

FC BARCELONA & VALENCIA CF AGREE | DAVID VILLA COULD BE A FC BARCELONA PLAYER THIS FRIDAY

Source Blog : Sp Ftball Sprts /The outgoing FC BARCELONA President Joan Laporta confirmed with statements to Spanish media something that has been on the lips of everyone for weeks, that Spanish International forward DAVID VILLA is very close to becoming a Barça player for next season. The only obstacles are financial as VALENCIA CF prices Villa more than 45M€ & Barcelona nearer to 40M€; peanuts

FIFA WORLD CUP 2010 | 11 th OF JUNE | KICK-OFF

Original Source Blog: Sp Ftbll Sprts /With the Spanish League 09/10 season nearly over ( Spanish Cup Final on Wednesday) Spanish Football Sports Blog gets into FIFA WORLD CUP mode & reporting on the SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL-SOCCER TEAM , plus things related with the biggest Football-Soccer show on earth.Tomorrow we begin daily posts on the 32 Teams with a Group per day starting with A tomorrow

EURO CHAMPIONSHIP | SPANISH U/17 NATIONAL FOOTBALL-SOCCER TEAM 2010

Source Blog : Sp Ftball Sprts /The Spanish National U/17 Football Team begins its journey towards the European U/17 Title beginning today at the European nation-state of Liechtenstein. This group of young talented Football players has been tagged the “Generation 93” squad & many expect that from here Spanish Football will be nourished in the future will World class players to keep the absolute

FC BARCELONA | PEP GUARDIOLA MOTIVATIONAL VIDEO AGAINST VALLADOLID | SPANISH LEAGUE ROUND 38 2009 / 2010

Original Blog Source: Sp Ftball Sprt /FC BARCELONA Coach Pep Guardiola asked a mate at Cataluña TV3 to make another motivational video for his players to screen before the vital Spanish League Round 38 game against Valladolid were a win was a must in order to secure the Liga title. Here is the VIDEO done by Santi Padró:A curious observation. If you or I uploaded a video on YouTube with the music

FC BARCELONA PLAYER LIONEL MESSI WINS THE EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOOT AWARD 2009 - 2010

Source: Sp Football /FC BARCELONA & 2009 FIFA World Player, apart from France Football Golden Ball & others...etc., Argentine midfielder LIONEL MESSI has won the EUROPEAN GOLDEN BALL AWARD as the Highest Goalscorer in European Football for season 2009-2010. Messi equals Ronaldo´s record of 47 goals scored ( all European tournaments) in one season, with 34 of those goals being in the Spanish

World Cup Preview: Brazil

Brazil are the second favourites (5/1) for the whole tournament thanks to good form in the qualifiers (top of their group) and an improved 'team' concept that should lead to a tighter defence (emphasis on the word 'should' rather than 'has'). Brazil have been drawn in Group G along with Portugal, Cote d'Ivoire and North Korea which is tough but should not prevent their advance to the next round.

A week 1 fixture against North Korea is beyond appetising and with 15 transfers to use in the group stages it makes alot of sense to bring a couple of Brazilians in for this week and move them later if they aren't hitting the highs of previous years.

Fantasy Picks
The team has been fairly unsettled during the qualifiers so it is hard to pick the final XI but there are several players who should feature in early games and therefore deserve fantasy consideration.

Kaka (MD)
Undoubtedly one of the top picks for this year's competition, Kaka is the only true world class attacking presence in the current Brazil squad and will be the lynchpin of everything they do. Despite not being regarded as having a great season, Kaka added 8 goals and 5 assists for Real this year and I like him to contribute goals and assist for this team too. The introduction of more steel into the Brazil midfield (Gilberto Silva/Ramires) should allow Kaka the flexibility to stay forward and lead the Brazil line.

Dani Alves (DF)
This pick is a riskier than it looks as the presence of Maicon makes it possible that one of this pair is benched. However, Alves featured alongside Maicon, taking his place in midfield, against Bolivia and Chile and his form for Barcelona should ensure his continued presence in the Brazil team. The wing backs don't play quite as an advanced role as Roberto Carlos and Cafu once did but nevertheless an increased clean sheet possibility (10 clean sheets in 18 qualifiers) along with a continued attacking presence should make Alves a top fantasy pick.

Luis Fabiano (FD)
Not a lock to start but has stated the majority of the qualifiers when fit and has been in good form for Sevilla this year (21 goals in 34). Someone in this team has to score goals as there is just too much talent to keep them down and with more defensive midfielders in the side, you feel they must come from one of the forwards. I find it hard to believe that Robinho plays all the games and with only four strikers in the squad (Fabiano, Nilmar, Robinho and Grafite) I think Fabiano gets a place in game one and becomes an interesting differentiator pick.

Possible First Team

1. Julio Cesar
2. Maicon
3. Gilberto
   
4. Luisao
5. Lucio
6. Gilberto Silva
7. Dani Alves
8. Felipe Melo
9. Kaka
10. Nilmar
11. Luis Fabiano
    

Verdict
It appears to be safe that Brazil will escape from a tricky group and then see off the runner up of Group H (Switzerland/Chile/Honduras) to make the quarter finals. With no upsets they would then face the Netherlands and I can see Brazil losing there. The team is solid and I'm totally on board the 'team concept' but they just lack the weapons that some of the previous Brazil teams, and other squads this year have. It's easy to back Brazil and I might look foolish here come July 11 but I'm not picking them to get out the of Quarters.

Stay tuned this week for previews on all the top teams in this year's competition along with some ideas on how to play the strategy of the game.

SPANISH FOOTBALL | LEAGUE | LA LIGA - 2009 / 2010 - ROUND 38 SUNDAY GAMES RESULTS | FC BARCELONA LIGA CHAMPIONS

Source : Spanish Football / FC BARCELONA are Spanish League - La Liga - 2009-2010 CHAMPIONS after defeating 4-0 VALLADOLID . It´s the 20th Liga Title for FC Barcelona whom have won it with a RECORD breaking 99 classification points.The teams that go down to 2ºDivision are Tenerife, Valladolid & Xerez.FC Barcelona only needed to secure a win to shut the title door on second placed Real Madrid, &

TENNIS: RAFAEL NADAL DEFEATS FEDERER IN THE MASTERS MADRID 1000 FINAL

Source: Spnish Sports /Spanish Tennis ace RAFAEL NADAL managed another "clay court" title with a magnificent win over World Nº1 & the defending champ from last year ROGER FEDERER 6-4 7-6 in the MADRID MASTERS 1000 Final. Nadal overtakes Agassi in Master 1000 title wins & adds to his overall titles now 39, & the 28th now on a clay court. Tomorrow Nadal officially takes the Nº2 World ranking &

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER | LEAGUE - LA LIGA 2009-2010 | ROUND 38 SATURDAY GAMES RESULTS

Source: Spanish Soccer /The Spanish League - Liga - & season 2009 /2010 ended tonight for 10 teams as they played the Saturday Round 38 games, which the rest scheduled for tomorrow. The conclusions tonight are the Sevilla FC pick up "in extremis" the 4ºth Champions League table spot over Mallorca & that Getafe joins the latter for the Europa League table positions.MALLORCA needed to win & have

A DIEGO - REYES SWAP BETWEEN JUVENTUS - ATLETICO DE MADRID ?

Source: Spanish Soccer /Italian press sources speculate that more than the TIAGO subject will be put on the table when ATLETICO DE MADRID & Italian Club JUVENTUS sit down to discuss the future of the Portuguese midfielder currently on-loan to the Madrid Club.Italian media “Tuttosport” suggests that Juventus will propose a swap between Brazilian midfielder DIEGO & Atletico de Madrid midfielder

REAL MADRID FOLLOWING "CLOSELY" SANTOS MIDFIELDER GANSO

Source: Spanish Soccer /Spanish sports daily “Marca” must have a directive order to announce a REAL MADRID scouting promise daily. Every issue makes a new comment about how the Madrid Club is looking at, thinking in, enquiring about &/or about to sign this or that player. Its almost a credibility issue.I just limit myself to give you the news of what is being talked about. According to the

MANCHESTER UNITED TEMPTS VILLA & TOTTENHAM TEMPTS SILVA

Source: Spanish Soccer Blog/Correctly put if what Spanish sports daily “As” mentions concerning Spanish National Football Team & VALENCIA CF players DAVID VILLA & DAVID SILVA is correct. The drum beats from England suggest that MANCHESTER UNITED is considering a 52M€ offer for the former & TOTTENHAM is willing to offer 32M€ for the latter, which may “torpedo” some local business.Both offers are

ATLETICO DE MADRID | EUROPA LEAGUE 2010 CHAMPIONS | TEAM PHOTO

Source : Spanish Football Sports/ Here is the ATLTLETICO DE MADRID 2010 EUROPA LEAGUE CHAMPIONS Team photo (starting 11 line-up). Thanks to all for the emails & did not think Spanish Football Sports had so many Atletico fans. The team has arrived to Madrid this morning & will be offering the Cup to the city from 17.30 - 21.30 with multiple institutional acts & open roof top bus drive to celebrate

EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL 2010 | ATLETICO DE MADRID 2 FULHAM 1 | ATLETICO CHAMPIONS | VIDEO GOALS

Source: Spanish Football SportsAmazing, who would have believed this moment five months back, ATLETICO DE MADRID Champions of the 2010 EUROPA LEAGUE (ex-Uefa Cup). Admirable opponents the English Club Fulham who never put the heads down & had their opportunities in this 2-1 scoreline; it is just a pity there could only be one winner.Fourty eight (48 ) years since Atletico last won a European

VALENCIA CF SIGNS GALATASARAY PLAYER MEHMET TOPAL

Source Spanish Football /The news in from the Spanish Sports paper “As” turns weeks of rumour into a fact. VALENCIA CF has come to an agreement with Turkish Club GALATASARAY to sign 24 year old defensive midfielder International MEHMET TOPAL for around 4,5M€, & a will offer him a 4/5 year contract. The Spanish Club is expected to make it all official in the coming hours if everything goes

Premier League Awards

Before I get too carried away with the World Cup, I want to take a bit of time to look back over the season and hand out some well deserved awards. I will be posting some further analysis throughout the season as soon as I have managed to build a decent database that I can use.

Premier League Blog Champion
Congratulations to Ahmed el Kassar whose 'No Mercy' team won the blog league with a very impressive 2441 points to place just outside the top 1,000 in the world. I plan to comment more on the status of the league next year so please re-join next season and invite your friends as I look to integrate the progress of the team into the blog.

PL Team of the Year
I have selected the below squad which was available for under £100m at the start of the year, as my team of the year. I would guess that this might be the most controversial section so please post your alternatives below and we'll discuss:

GK T.Sorensen (4.0m)
Fourth among GK in points scored despite missing 4 games through injury. Led all players in Points Per Million Spent with a stunning 1.036 and contribute clean sheets, saves and bonus points throughout the year. I was heavily behind the Sorensen/Hart combo at the start of the year and though I have yet to run the numbers I think that the strategy worked well and I will be looking to employ a similar strategy next year.
Honorable mention: M.Hahnemann, J.Hart, J.Reina

DF Richard Dunne (5.0m)
Looking at the top scorers now, Dunne doesn't look as good value but remember that Dunne was available for just 5m at the start of the year and his 1.8m value increase was highest among all players (along with Drogba). Dunne lead all defenders on the year and contributed in all categories including 3 goals (9th among defenders) and 31 bonus points (1st among defenders). A real no brainer pick here.

DF Carlos Cuellar (5.5m)
Fourth among all defenders and totally unheralded throughout the season, Cuellar joins his teammate on the honour role. Incredibly consistent scoring just 5 points less than Terry despite being available for 2m less. Contributed goals, assists, clean sheets and bonus points and missed just 2 games all season.

Jody Craddock (4.0m)
I remember dismissing Craddock back in week X when he scored twice to win some fantasy plaudits. However, he was able to continue some of the form throughout the season on his way to 5 goals, 2 assists and 13 bonus points. Will I be targeting him for next season? Probably not, but he seemed to catch some lightning in a bottle and any owners who stuck with him were well rewarded.

Gareth Bale (5.5m)
Possibly the most controversial pick so far, Bale was just too good in the second half to ignore. Bale added an incredible 6.2 points per game with 3 goals, 5 assists and 24 bonus points. Anyone who jumped on the bandwagon at the right time received a PPMS of 1.016 and probably stole a jump on their mini league competitors. I like Assou-Ekotto (who had a decent season when fit) at the start of the year and if Bale stick around at Spurs and proves he has taken the next step, he is really one to watch for next year.

Defender honourable mention: Patrice Evra, Thomas Vermaelen, Chris Samba, Ryan Shawcross

Frank Lampard (12.5m) (c)
Another stellar season from Lampard, smashing last year's total of 226 with an incredible haul of 284. This was all despite a slow start in which he scored just one goal in the first 9 weeks of the season and appeared to be a notch below Fabregas in fantasy value. 10 goals in his last 8 games along with 11 bonus points drove many teams to league titles and not hitching on to this bandwagon cost many more a shot at theirs. One to watch in the upcoming world cup game given his position at the heart of the England and his incredible scoring form.
If Fabregas had played a whole season he would have threatened this spot (8.8 PPG and 0.752 PPMS) but I couldn't find room in the budget for a player who missed so much time.

James Milner (7.0m)
Milner bounced around from Leeds to Newcastle to Villa failing to live up to the hype that he brought with him from a very young age. Milner was able to build on a solid 2009/09 (128 points) to explode with 184 points, 3rd among midfielders. Despite Villa failing to make a realistic push for Champions League football, they enjoyed a decent season and got very good returns from Milner, Young and Agbonlahor. The inevitable rumours of a move to a 'bigger club' have started though hopefully he stays and continues to the focal point of a very good team next year (just don't expect to get him for 7m, expect a Stephen Ireland sized jump).

Charles N'Zogbia (5.5m)
Players such as Malouda and Young are unlucky to miss out here but the value delivered by N'Zogbia was too good to pass on. N'Zogbia took a real step at Wigan and along with fantasy steal Rodallega was one of the best buys of the year. The driver behind his success ahead of other budget midfielders was the fact that he caught the eye of the pundits earning 31 bonus points (as many as Drogba and Dunne). A potential move to Birmingham appears to be on the cards which I don't like and I will probably be looking elsewhere for budget midfielders next year but let that not detract from a great season from the once mocked Charles Insomnia.

Midfielder honourable mentions: Cesc Fabregas, Matt Etherington, Florent Malouda, Damien Duff

Didier Drogba (10.5m)
Another fine season from Drogba who (just) proved my pre season prediction of him as the golden boot as correct. Drogba's problem against Rooney will always be the bonus points which are stolen by Lampard while Rooney is free to take 3 points any time he plays (31 v 46 points). Drogba actually scored 3 more goals and added 7 more assists despite playing just 60 more minutes, hence why he has earned top striker for me this year. Hopefully he can parlay the season into success for Cote d'Ivoire in the summer.

Wayne Rooney (11.0m)
Rooney enjoyed his best season by far in both real and fantasy terms and was widely praised as the player of the year. Drogba pipped him to the golden boot and fantasy title but Rooney will be back next year and assuming United strengthen a bit, he should be right up there again next year. Stay tuned throughout the off season for some analysis I am planning on how best to predict how and when the big name strikers score their points.

Carlos Tevez (8.5m)
Tevez was a great fantasy pickup this year given his contribution across all categories and was consistent throughout the year. Eight double digit games, 23 goals and 36 bonus points made Tevez close to a must own player and he will be very highly sought after next season, especially if City can add one more attacking midfielder.

Forward honourable mentions: Darren Bent, Cameron Jerome, Bobby Zamora

Bench
Darren Bent (7.0m)
Matt Etherington (5.5m)
Ryan Shawcross (4.5m)
Joe Hart (4.0m)

If you had rolled with this team from day one you would have amassed 2,589 points and your team would now be worth 114.6m. If only we all had this kind of hindsight back in August.

More awards to follow include my biggest surprises for the season along with an early look at some players well placed to have a big 2010/11.

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL TEAM | FERNANDO TORRES TRAINING HARD

Source: SFS /As the Spanish League – Liga – season soon will come to an end, the South Africa 2010 FIFA World Cup takes things over with Spanish Football Sports commencing its own Word Cup build up.The news is that Liverpool FC forward FERNANDO TORRES is up & running as he attempts to get over his knee operation & in being 100% fit for the Spanish National Football Team. As we can see in the

REAL MADRID | MANCHESTER UNITED THINKS IN LASS DIARRA ?

Source : Sp Fbtall /The drums from the English press send a clear message that MANCHERSTER UNITED is looking for a strong midfielder & REAL MADRID French International LASS DIARRA could be the player. Supposedly the English Club would be prepared to offer 25M€ for Diarra, a player which also interests ARSENAL.Lass Diarra started brilliantly this season but has gone to worst. The Frenchman has had

World Cup First Look

A couple of readers have asked whether I will be running a World Cup fantasy competition and I'm pleased to say that the answer is yes. I have setup a mini league over at Sky Sports, though I am open to suggestions if people find a game that they think is better. The pin code in 902 if you want to join in the fun.



I will get to focusing on the strategy involved with the game later, especially given the strange format of having 15 transfers (yes 15!) to use over the group stages, but for the time being lets look back at how all the teams have got here.



I have taken the teams that all the qualifying nations played in qualification to look at the number of goals they scored and conceded. I have then tried to adjust the results based on the opponents world rankings to try and equalise the results. While this is a pretty crude measure it should give a better idea of where teams' strength lies rather than just "Germany always have a tight defense" (somewhat true) or "Argentina scores loads of goals" (false). Relying on last year's world cup is also dangerous given that a squad could be totally different 4 years on.



The table below shows the adjusted goals for and against for every qualifying nation (aside from hosts South Africa for whom insufficient data is available):

TEAM	GROUP	F	A
Uruguay	A	2.3	0.8
France	A	1.9	0.8
Mexico	A	2.0	1.1
South Africa	A	-	-
South Korea	B	1.3	0.6
Nigeria	B	1.3	0.8
Argentina	B	1.9	0.8
Greece	B	2.0	1.0
Slovenia	C	1.7	0.4
Algeria	C	1.5	0.7
England	C	2.9	0.7
USA	C	2.1	1.2
Australia	D	1.4	0.1
Ghana	D	1.4	0.6
Germany	D	2.4	0.6
Serbia	D	2.4	0.7
Netherlands	E	2.3	0.2
Cameroon	E	1.5	0.3
Denmark	E	1.5	0.5
Japan	E	1.3	0.8
Paraguay	F	2.0	0.7
Italy	F	1.8	0.7
Slovakia	F	2.1	1.1
New Zealand	F	1.7	1.3
Brazil	G	2.6	0.5
Portgual	G	1.6	0.5
North Korea	G	0.9	0.6
Ivory Coast	G	3.0	0.7
Spain	H	2.7	0.5
Switzerland	H	1.9	0.8
Chile	H	2.6	0.9
Honduras	H	2.0	1.0

A lot of the usual suspects rank near the top of the goals scored charts but I think Ivory Coast's goal scoring threat is highlighted here and I expect Drogba to be highly sort after in the game. Spain will be widely liked but injured pair Torres and Fabregas are massive risks and I would stay away for the group stages.



Defensively, I am really surprised to see Netherlands rank so highly, while Brazil's rating is also encouraging for those looking to pickup attacking full backs like Dani Alves.



Hopefully these first stats give you some ideas as to which teams to target when picking your preliminary team (remember it's unlimited transfers until the tournament kicks off). I'll be back throughout the coming weeks to focus on which players are guaranteed starters, which team's have the best fixtures and some strategies on how to best play the transfer game.

EUROPA LEAGUE FINAL 2010 | AUPA ATLETICO DE MADRID | VIDEO

Spanish Football Sports has whipped up this short video to spur on ATLETICO DE MADRID before they jump onto the Hamburg Football field tomorrow night & play English Club Fulham in the 2010 Final of the EUROPA LEAGUE. Pass it on if you like it & if your an Atletico fans, or not :o)

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL-SOCCER TEAM | PRELIMINARY LIST OF 30 PLAYERS FOR THE FIFA WORLD CUP 2010

Source: SFS /Spanish National Football Team Selector & Coach Vicente Del Bosque has handed in his preliminary list of 30 players for the upcoming South African FIFA World Cup. The novelty is the call up of 5 new players: Atletico de Madrid young Goalkeeper De Gea, FC Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes, Osasuna defender Cesar Azpilicueta, Bilbao midfielder Javi Martinez & FC Barcelona forward

ATLETICO DE MADRID CLUB CHANT | SONG

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts /Spanish League Club ATLETICO DE MADRID will meet English team Fulham in the Final of the EUROPA LEAGUE this Wednesday 12th of May in the city of Hamburg (Germany). Those who are regular readers of Spanish Football Sports will have figured out by now that "yours truely" is an Atletico de Madrid follower & "die hard". I must confess I am excited & at the sametime "nrevous"

LIONEL MESSI VIRTUAL 2009 2010 EUROPEAN GOLDEN BOOT AWARD WINNER

Source: SFS /Chelsea FC forward Didier Drogba scored a hat-trick this afternoon in his teams 8-0 victory over Wigan - & Title proclaiming - last season game of the English Premier League to take his seasons tally to 29 goals & become the Premier League Nº1 goal-scorer. With this as a fact, FC BARCELONA player LIONEL MESSI can virtually be considered the winner of the this seasons 2009-2010

BASKETBALL | FC BARCELONA WINS OLYMPIAKOS TO BECOME EUROPEAN BASKETBALL CHAMPIONS 2010

Great night for Spanish Sports, Spanish Basketball & for the city of Barcelona after FC BARCELONA (the Basketball section) defeated Greek side OLYMPIAKOS 86-68 in the Final of the European Final Four tournament in Paris to proclaim themselves the EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS. FC Barcelona palyer JUAN CARLOS NAVARRO (above) was chosen the MVP of the tournament making him the first Spaniard to win this

F1 | FERNANDO ALONSO 2º IN THE SPANISH GP

Australian F1 automobile pilot Max Webber put in a great weekend & a perfect race to take the F1 SPANISH GRAN PRIX at Montmelo (Barcelona) this afternoon. The Australian was just “sublime” with his racing & his F1 car operated as smooth a silk. The second placed driver was Spain’s two times F1 World Champion FERNANDO ALONSO who took advantage of a Lewis Hamilton abandoned when his tire blew with

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER | LEAGUE - LIGA 2009-2010 - ROUND 37 GAMES RESULTS

Source Sp Ftball /The Spanish League - Liga - goes down to the wire after Round 37 celebrated all its games tonight with FC Barcelona & Real Madrid winning & thus continuing with their particular tussle for the title with the last 5 bottom placed teams future in 1º Division "up in the air" to be settled in the last Round next week.FC BARCELONA kept its cool & won 2-3 away to SEVILLA FC, with the

REAL MADRID CF 2010: TONIGHT A GAME TO SAY GOOD-BYE

Source: Sp Ftbll Sprts /Tonight is not only special with the celebration of Round 37 of the Spanish League - Liga - at 21.00 with ALL games being played simultaneously, the possibilty of the "Liga Title" being decided, but in the REAL MADRID case, it is their last season game at their home ground (Santiago Bernabeu) & in front of their members/fans with the possibility of up to 8 players saying

Gameweek 38 Preview

Apologies for the lack of posts this past week, work and commitments at home have taken over and I've barely even caught a game of footy never mind had chance to formulate some useful fantasy thoughts. I guess the good news is that with the season so close to finishing, it hopefully didn't cost anyone anything significant by not being able to talk through their team last week.

Clean Sheet Rankings

1. Man Utd
2. Everton
3. Arsenal
4. Aston Villa
5. Chelsea
6. Wolves
7. Sunderland
8. Hull
9. Liverpool
10. Tottenham
11. Bolton
12. Burnley
13. Man City
14. Birmingham
15. Stoke
16. West Ham
17. Portsmouth
18. Blackburn
19. Fulham
20. Wigan

The top 5 are a cut above this week, all enjoying home games against weaker opposition. With no distractions around either, all sides should be looking to go out on a high and of course United and Chelsea have the small matter of a title to play for so there shouldn't be too much Fulham-style slacking off here.

As a look ahead to next season, I have started to tweak my prediction spreadsheet to try and take into account more factors including recent form, type of opposition, form and injuries. Check back over the course of the off season for updates on how I plan to improve the statistical side of the blog to allow for better predictions and hence results.

Captain Picks

1. Didier Drogba
2. Frank Lampard
3. Robin Van Persie
4. Wayne Rooney
5. Mikel Arteta
6. Carlos Tevez
7. Emmanuel Adebayor
8. Louis Saha
9. James Milner
10. Florent Malouda

Again looking to next season, captain picks should be better than this year, which are largely based on form the opponents defense. I have started to create a database of players' performance against various teams to try and factor this in to the picks, so if, say, Darren Bent has scored in his last three against Birmingham then you might want to play him despite the fact that the Blues have a solid home defense.

I have big plans for the statistical side of the blog for the off season so continue to check back where I'll share some ideas and ask for your input into what info you'd like each week to help you make better decisions. Thanks for reading this season and I look forward to seeing you again throughout the off season to discuss all the latest transfer news and fantasy strategy.

FC BARCELONA : IBRAHIMOVIC PIQUE PHOTO

This is the private (& "stolen") photo that is on fire on the Web & in Sports media. FC Barcelona players Ibrahimovic & Gerard Pique caught on camara outside Camp Nou. I would ask that NO ONE jump to conclusions, it can be taken easily out of context, although "bad tongues" are hot at the moment. Lets wait before jumping to any conclusions. This could be just plain old fashion team-mates

REAL MADRID ENTERS THE "LIVERPOOL FC GARAGE SALE" & LOOKS AT STEVEN GERRARD?

SFS Youtube /This is not the first time that this story is posted here or comes in splashed all over the English media screens or Spanish press. The latest fall-out from the LIVERPOOL FC financial disaster is that REAL MADRID CF may get in on a possible “Liverpool FC Garage Sale” & bid for Captain STEVEN GERRARD. As “The Daily Mirror” puts on its online edition (above), Real Madrid could put on

SPANISH LEAGUE - LIGA | DUDA CORNER KICK GOAL FOR MALAGA | VIDEO

Source : SFS Blog /When was the last time you saw a goal scored straight from a corner kick? A long time ago? Never?It happened yesterday in the Malaga - At. Bilbao Round 36 Liga match. Malaga player DUDA took the corner & put the ball straight into the net - the teams equalizer! Duda is possibilty one of the finest dead-ball specialists of the Spanish League. Check the VIDEO out, its amazing:

REAL MADRID : BENZEMA SHUTS DOOR TO MANCHESTER UNITED & CHELSEA FC THINK IN HIGUAIN IF TORRES FAILS

Source SFS / The news from England concerning REAL MADRID French forward KARIM BENZEMA is very insistent & at the same time confusing. According to the mayority of the English press sources MANCHESTER UNITED desires to get over for next season 22 year old Benzema to substitute Berbatov. In fact, these some sources suggest that Manchester United & Real Madrid, along with Benzema, are close to

CRISTIANO RONALDO | MALLORCA 1 - REAL MADRID 4 | HAT TRICK VIDEO GOALS

Source Spanish Soccer /CRISTIANO RONALDO single-handedly keep alive REAL MADRID´s Spanish League title hopes last night in their 1-4 victory over Mallorca. The Portuguese star managed his first HAT-TRICK with Real Madrid, here is the VIDEO of his 3 great goals - dont miss his third - & the rest in the game:

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER | LEAGUE - LIGA 2009 / 2010 - ROUND 36 WEDNESDAY GAMES RESULT

Source: Spanish Football S /The remaining six games left of the mid-week scheduled Round 36 have been played tonight of the Spanish League - Liga - with plenty of excitement still at the top of the classification & drama at the bottom with teams facing the real danger of saying goodbye to the Spanish 1º Division.CRISTIANO RONALDO was the force that pushed a mediocre REAL MADRID along with keeper

FERNANDO TORRES | CHELSEA FC TAKES THE INICIATIVE & OFFERS 77M€

Source: SFS /Yesterday I posted here the rumour that FC Barcelona, along with Manchester City & Chelsea FC, were planning to pounce onto Liverpool FC & lure away its prize jewel: FERNANDO TORRES.Today English paper "The Daily Mail" publish that CHELSEA FC has taken the initiative & has already offered a staggering 77M€ (70M GBP) in a bid to sign the Spanish International for next season. This has

AMAZING ROBERTO SOLDADO GOAL | GETAFE - SPORTING | SPANISH LEAGUE - LIGA

Source SFS /Check out this overhead goal by Getafe forward ROBERTO SOLDADO in yesterdays Spanish Legaue - Liga - Round 36 mid week match against Sporting de Gijón. This amazing effort served as the equalizer for his team in the final 1-1 result.

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER | LEAGUE - LIGA 2009/2010 - ROUND 36 TUESDAY NIGHT GAMES RESULTS

Source: SFS /The Spanish League - Liga - celebrates mid-week Round 36 action with four games scheduled that gave us the following results & scorers as the season comes to its natural end with a "titanic" effort at the top of the classification table for the title & at the bottom to avoid relegation.FC BARCELONA won 4-1 TENERIFE in the rain to put back the pressure on Real Madrid who must win

SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL-SOCCER TEAM DILEMMA : WILL FERNANDO TORRES RECOVER IN TIME?

Source : SFS Blog /As the build up for the South African FIFA World Cup, starting 11th of June, gains strength on a daily basis SPAIN has its first BIG dilemma; will FERNANDO TORRES make it in time?According to LIVERPOOL FC medical Director Dr. Peter Brukner , Torres is in rehabilitation & working hard to overcome his knee injury & recover in time for the first game that the Spanish National

A LIVERPOOL FC "GARAGE SALE" WILL HAVE THE FC BARCELONA, MANCHESTER CITY & JUVENTUS "SHARKS" CIRCLING SPANISH STAR FERNANDO TORRES

Source: Spanish Football /Rumours & speculations are hot in England as LIVERPOOL FC begins to pay for their disastrous season & financial problems with the real possibility of Spanish Manager/ Coach RAFAEL BENITEZ going over to JUVENTUS next season. The English Club will not be in Champions League next season & have huge financial problems that will probably force them to sell the “family jewels”

2010 FIFA WORLD CUP| 32 TEAMS | SPANISH NATIONAL FOOTBALL-SOCCER TEAM

Source: SFS /The countdown to the South African 2010 FIFA World Cup is ticking & the excitement grows as the days get closer to the kick off on the 11th of June. Here is a Video whipped up by American Sports TV that gives the Spainish National Football Team a space with a promo & some brief analisis of the side & the players. I enjoyed it, hope you do as well:Spanish Football Sports Blog is

MASOUD MISS KEEPS REAL MADRID ALIVE IN THE SPANISH LEAGUE

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts Blog /Believe in parallel universes? That is, other alternative universes “customized” by all your multiple choice actions & your decisions? Watch this miss by Osasuna player MASOUD against REAL MADRID yesterday on the below VIDEO:Had he scored Osasuna would have been 2-3, & may have won, or in another case finished 3-3. Either, Real Madrid would have missed points or

SPANISH FOOTBALL | SOCCER | LEAGUE - LA LIGA 2009/2010 - ROUND 35 GAMES RESULTS

Source: Sp Ftball Sprts Blog/Firstly excuse the round up post of Round 35 today. I have been out of town in a "non-digital" part of Spain ( the countryside) & haven´t watched much Football - Soccer except what I have listened on the radio which has been basically all the games. So with your permission I will post a short summary with the important highlights, results & scorers.REAL MADRID

GREAT SPANISH SPORTS WEEKEND: NADAL TAKES ROMA MASTERS 1000 & ALL THREE IN MOTO GP

Source: SFS Blog /Great Weekend for Spanish Sports with Spaniards dominating Tennis & MotoGP.Spanish Tennis Champ RAFAEL NADAL defeated another Spaniard David Ferrer 7-5 6-2 in the rain interrupted Final of the ROMA Masters 1000. This is the 5th straight win in Roma for Nadal & he equals Andre Agassi with 17 Masters 1000 titles.Nadal reconfirms his status as the "Best clay-court Tennis Player in