Photo: Official site of FC "Anji" Set Pieces Give Hiddink's 10-Man Team the Edge Rostov vs. Anzhi: 2-2 A group of a capella singers performed Russia's national anthem at Olimp - 2 in Rostov-on-Don, Russia to open the match between FC Rostov and FC Anzhi Makhachkala. Despite the steaming hot weather, neither team disappointed their fans. Hiddink's Anzhi was more dominant at the start of the first half,...

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MLS All-Stars vs. Chelsea FC: 3-2 PPL Park Chester, PA Fireworks crowned the arena in Chester, Pennsylvania as the MLS All-Star Team faced Roberto Di Matteo's European Champions in a fiery friendly. Chelsea's starting line-up had a handful of players from their friendly with the Seattle Sounders, Marko Marin and Lukaku among them. Chelsea had more possession during the first half, although both teams saw a slew of...

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Shulenin scores the game-winning goal. Photo: fcdynamo.ru Dynamo's Decline Despite clearly having had more possession of the ball in the first half and over 20 shots throughout the game (only 6 of which were on target), Dynamo Moscow started off the 2012/2013 season near the bottom of the table. The team, which outnumbered Volga after the 52nd minute when Maksimov was red-carded for a dangerous foul, conceded one...

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Herbalife World Football Challenge: Chelsea FC vs. Seattle Sounders After a disappointing Montreal-Revs game, I was looking forward to the friendly match that pitted European champions and one of MLS's front-runners. Needless to say, the game was full of surprises from both sides. The Sounders definitely played more as a team in this match than at the US Open Cup semi finals. Chelsea scored a third minute goal...

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Mexico U-23 vs. Spain U-23: 0-1 Two teams, both talented in different ways, took to the pitch to showcase their talent on Wednesday in the port city of Cadiz, Spain. A sea of red jerseys took to the stadium to cheer on the home team, and Spain's U-23 didn't fail to deliver. In classic Spanish style, the team took to the lead early on in the game. Their...

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Capello says, "Get back in the game!" Thanks to modern technology and the invention of the internet, Andrei Arshavin was able to successfully leak Fabio Capello's appointment as head coach of Russia's National Football Team. What's brilliant, though, is how he did it. Arshavin reposted a fan's question from five years ago asking him who his favorite coach was, to which he obviously replied "Fabio Capello". Right above...

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Among the few candidates for the new head of the RFU (the last guy was sacked after Euro 2012) is Russia's (and possibly Europe's) oldest professional football player, Vladimir Tumayev. As chairman of First Division club Gazovik-Gazprom, Tumayev joined his players on the pitch on a regular basis and often came out as a sub during games. He played six games for the club and scored a goal...

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As promised, the official site of the Russian Football Union revealed the list of potential candidates for the manager of the National Team. (Note that Roberto Mancini is not on the list despite fervent claims that his contract with the Russia NT has been discovered in a safe. Mancini has officially renewed his contract with Manchester City until 2017): *indicates former Russia NT manager Rafael Benitez Anatoliy Byshovets*...

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Robin Van Persie's statements concerning his leave of Arsenal have had mixed reception. Some think he's being disloyal to his club while others wholeheartedly agree that as an aging, injury-prone player, he should find himself a cup-winning club to finish his career in style. As an Arsenal fan and avid follower of the EPL, I side with the first group, and make it a point to address the...

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Russia Football Union To Unveil List of Candidates Tired of the growing rumor mill (this is football, not Hollywood!), the RFU will clear things up this coming Tuesday, ending speculation on the mystery manager by releasing an official list of candidates. Among the rumored available persons are ex-Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola and former England head coach Fabio Capello. The press has been insistent that one of these men...

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Bored at the airport waiting for his delayed flight, Chris Wondolowski took to Twitter to exchange some witty banter with fans, one of who suggested a Q&A. The result was a slew of interesting questions answered by Chris himself (including two of my own, indicated by an asterisk below!): Q: *Would you ever go on Dancing With the Stars? A: I would but I'm a horrible dancer (this...

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