Ukraine wins UEFA Country Ranking in 2009.

Who would have thought the Ukraine and not England are first in the UEFA Country ranking for the season 2008/09. Ukraine wins the ranking, thanks to the good results by its clubs in the UEFA Cup. For the first time since Ukraine's independence will there be a Ukrainian club in a final of a European competition.

Shaktar Donetzk and Dinamo Kiev are playing the semi-final, with the winner meeting either Werder Bremen or Hamburger SV. The UEFA Cup is often belittled for being the losers cup, for teams that are not good enough to qualify for the Champions League. The competition, however is often viewed as a the real measurement of football power in Europe. The lack of strong English competition in the UEFA Cup, is evidence that the Premier League is loosing its dominance over European football. The top four clubs, Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, and Liverpool are so in England that they have dwarfed any competition within their own league. The result is that any other team, but the top four has problems competing with average clubs from the rest of Europe.

In the past the UEFA Cup, has been a window into the future showing the emergence of new football powers. Russia has been dominant in this competition over the last few years, with Zenith St. Petersburg and CSKA Moscow, going all the way winning the competition in 2008, and 2005 respectively. The UEFA Cup therefore reflected the growing wealth of Russian football, and showed the world that Russia is a reestablished power in World Football. Turkey's football progress was also reflected by strong play in the UEFA Cup, Galatasaray Istanbul became an international institution after the club won the 2000 version of the competition. Before England became dominant in the Champions League, there clubs showed strong displays in the UEFA Cup.

This years result could be the indicator for a shift in European football. The strong result of Ukrainian clubs show that despite the recession in Eastern Europe its clubs are still strong enough to compete. It also shows that the Bundesliga is once again emerging as a football power. The Bundesliga is now on the way to replace Italy in the top three in the UEFA 5 year ranking and therefore regaining their fourth Champions League spot starting with the 2010/11 season.

The UEFA Cup itself is also entering new waters the competition is going to be renamed the UEFA Europa League. With a simpler format and with the cup winners of every nation the UEFA Europa League promises to be an interesting supplement to the Champions League.

Peter Cech no longer a great?

Peter Cech, once considered one of the brightest goalie prospects in Europe can no longer considered being a great. Chelsea truly a top ten European Club, have to ask themselves if Cech is still a viable number one goalie. Yes, Cech was fantastic two years ago, but since his injury he has not been able to reproduce his stellar play. Some of you might say I am cruel, an injury like the one Cech received needs time. Yes, a fractured skull is a terrible injury, and that Cech is playing again is a miracle in itself. Since the goalies return from injury, he has not been the same.

Today's game against Liverpool was just another example. How often can a goalie be scored at 4 times in a viable Champions League match, and the team still walk away as victors? The only reason Chelsea advanced on Tuesday is that their goalie was even worse. Cech was the only reason Liverpool had a chance to advance, the fact that Liverpool failed can be pinpointed down at their own goalie Jose Manuel Reina, whose play was truly catastrophic.

The question for Chelsea now is what to do with a goalie who lacks the convidence of a number one starter? Do you sell a player who fractured its skull came back? Do you bench him? The fact is that Chelsea want to win trophies, and that trophies are won by fantastic goaltenders. When was the last time a team won the Champions League without a great goalie. The goalie is the cornerstone of every teams defence, the rock that can make the difference between win and defeat. Chech is no longer that goalie!

The thing that Chelsea needs to do now is to wait until Chech's contract runs out, thank him for his services for the club, tell the fans that they could not meet the goalies financial demands, and bring in a goalie who can win games. The other option is to sell him to Barcelona who have been interested in his services for a while.

A possible replacement would be the German Robert Enke, who is dissatisfied with his club Hannover 96, which have no chance for any major titles. Another possibility would by Gianluigi Buffon, however he has been in injury troubles. Without a doubt Chelsea will be looking for a new goaltender very soon.

Bayern destroyed by Barcelona, or destroyed by themselves?

Barcelona against Bayern, this used to be a matchup that promised football at the highest niveau. Two team on the same level battling each other. Not this year, after 45 minutes at the Nou Camp Stadium at last Wednesday's game between the two clubs it seemed that the world had ended for Klinsmann, for Hoeneß and for Bayern. The team was just absolutely humiliated by Messi, Henry, and Eto´o. 4-0 seemed like a light result and hide the fact that Bayern should have been down much more at that point. That the final result was 4-0 seemed to be the most fortunate aspect of a truly forgetable evening for the Munich squad.

Now many will say that this result shows the difference between Bayern a Bundesliga club, and Barca a Premiera Division club. Many will point at the financial differences, and state that Bayerns squad is not strong enough for Europe. Others will say that with all the injuries Bayern had no chance at the first place. All of the above is not true, however, Bayern ranks above Barca at the richest clubs at the world list, Bayerns squad is strong enough to compete in Europe and even with the injuries should have been strong enough to at least hold Barca at bay. Yes a Philip Lahm is probably the best Left Back in the world, van Buyten playing is always a force and Lucio is not without reason the number one defender of the Brazilian national team, not to forget the absence of Miroslav Klose who could have truly helped a Bayern that seemed to be without offense that night.

But the reasons for this defeat are much deeper. Klinsmann has failed to install a winning mentality into the Bayern squad. The Bayern players on the field seemed like eleven bunnies facing, eleven tigers. Gone was that typical Bayern winning mentality that we are so used to, and that many football fans in Germany so much hate. During the game it seemed that the Bayern defense was without organization, to far away from the strikers. Lionel Messi was unchallenged, true the boy is amazing, but even he must have been amazed by the room he was given that night. Klinsmann has vowed to make every player better every day, but why is it then that Breno, who had been considered the worlds best defense talent 2 years ago, has shown no improvement since he signed for Bayern. Why is it that Podolski who plays so well for the national team, has failed so miserably under Klinsmann.

The same goes to Rensing a promising young goalie, who had been taken out of the squad by Klinsmann on the day of the Barca game. Perhaps staying with the goalie when most of the defense is already absent would have given the team more stability. It was perhaps the Rensing decision that killed Bayern in Barcelona last Wednesday. Now don't get me wrong I believe that Barcelona played a great game, fantastic even, but are they four goals better then Bayern? No definitely not, this result is not the result of a fantastic Barcelona display, but the result of poor decisions on the part of the coach. Keep in mind that only a few days before that faithful night in Barcelona, Bayern was even more mistreated by VfL Wolfsburg in the Bundesliga, who managed to score 5 goals against a Bayern squad that looked even worse in that game. In comparison the Barca game was perhaps an improvement.

So what now, Bayern actually won this weekend 4-0 against Frankfurt. Well might some of you say perhaps Klinsmann is not doing everything wrong. Frankfurt, however, is not Wolfsburg, and is most certainly not Barca. Yet players should always believe in miracles, and hope for the best, but no words from any of the Bayern personal of trying the unthinkable and winning against Barca 5-0, 6-1 or whatever it will take to advance. No the word is that Bayern is going to try to pull out of the Champions League with dignity. I say, even as an 1860 fan, what a shame, and hopefully next year Germany will be represented by three teams that have managers who actually care.

Timo Ochs. Mini-Kahn forgotten in Austria.

FC Red Bull Salzburg's goalkeeper Timo Ochs was once one of the biggest goalkeeping talents in Germany. Since joining Salzburg to play in the tipp3-Bundesliga powered by T-Mobil league in Austria, he has virtually disappeared. The days in which Ochs was considered a legitamite prospect for the German national team are long gone. Young German goalkeepers like Manuel Neuer, Michael Rensing, and René Adler have taken the spot light away from Timo Ochs.

Timo Ochs' career started promising, he played an outstanding season for VfL Osnabrück in 2003-04 where he managed to take over from Sven Scheuer. Timo Ochs was regarded the best goalie of the season even though Osnabrück got relegated to the Regionalliga that year. After the relegation Ochs left the club, to join TSV 1860 Munich. 1860 was very ambitious that year and planned to return to the Bundesliga. The club, however, started badly into the 2004-05 season. Then Michael Hofmann, 1860 number 1 goalie, got hurt and Ochs took over. The club made a run for promotion that season but narrowly missed the target on the last day of the season. Despite the disappointment, Ochs was named the 1860 player of the year by the 1860 fans.

What followed was another disappointing season, in which the club again failed to reach promotion to the Bundesliga. In 2006 Ochs moved on to Salzburg. Austria Salzburg where just bought by Red Bull, and the club brought in Lothar Matthäus and Giovanni Trapattoni as coaches. Red Bull spent enormous amount of money on players and infrastructure. The goal was to establish the club permanently in the Champions League. Ochs was tempted into believing that such a plan could be made succesful in the Mozart City. The club, however, has failed to reach the group stage of the Champions League. What is even worse Salzburg has not even managed to be a regular in the Uefa-Cup. The club has merely become a semi-retirement spot for overaged "stars." So Ochs has been forgotten, playing in the forgotten Austrian Bundesliga. There is hope though, the career of Ochs is similar to one of a so called Robert Enke.

Enke traveled the football globe, playing in Spain, Portugal, and Turkey before becoming a star in Hannover. Perhaps the career of Ochs will take off once again, but the player needs to leave Austria in order to do so. Perhaps a return to the Bundesliga can bring back the Mini-Kahn and restore the good name of Timo Ochs.

Andrei Voronin. Hertha's Championship maker?

Andrey Voronin is the new mister effective in the German Bundesliga. The 30 year old Ukrainian has been the symbol of Hertha's rise to the top of the Bundesliga table. This season he has scored 10 goals in 19 games, which are not spectacular numbers for a striker, but 7 of his 10 goals have come after the winter break. He scored 3 goals in his last match against Energie Cottbus, which to this point has always been the team that Hertha seemed not able to beat. His effectiveness is even more spectacular, against Cottbus he scored on every single shot. The same was true on match day 20 when his two goals were enough to defeat Bayern Munich.

Hertha is now on top of the table four points ahead of the rest of the pack, which includes Bayern, Hoffenheim, Hamburg and Wolfsburg. But unlike any of the other clubs Hertha is up there, because they play the most efficient football. Lucien Favre has been able to transform a Berlin squad that had been known for its unstable play to a team, which has been playing consistently every week. Since the winter break the team has performed wonderfully only loosing to Wolfsburg, and Voronin has been the main reason for that.

Now the question is will Hertha be able to hang on to Voronin. The player is only on loan from FC Liverpool. Voronin, however, has been quoted as saying that he would like to remain in Berlin. Berlin as well is interested in keeping the services of Voronin, but will most likely have to give up Marko Pantelic to do so. Pantelic has been the cornerstone of the Hertha defence over the last few years, but Favre has been very public about his dislike of the Serbian forward, and it seems likely that Pantelic will leave the club. Voronin, will not be a cheap acquisition and can only be sure about Voronin remaining with the club, if Hertha qualifies for the Champions League. So Hertha, and especially Voronin will be well advised to keep up the good form and win the Championship. The next three games will important and show the direction of the club, by defeating Leverkusen, Dortmund, and Stuttgart, Hertha will be a title competitor for sure.

Talent Watch: Sergio Peter, a German in Prague

Sergio Peter is a left-winger, who plays for Sparta Prague in the Czech Gambrinus Liga. Peters was one of the most promising German talents, he played for Blackburn Rovers in the English Premier League. Peter made his debut against the Queen's Park Rangers on January 7th 2006. He set up all three goals and was named the man of the match. He managed 25 appearances for Blackburn and a further 5 for Cercle Bruge, where he was on loan for half a year in 2005.

He was considered a top prospect at Blackburn under ex-Bayern player Mark Hughes. Injuries have, however slowed his progress and he has failed to make the first team since the start of this season, and is now looking for more playing time at the Czech side. Still the move comes as a suprise for many, the Czech Republic is not exactly the first choice for German football players. But at a closer look the move makes sense. Unlike Austria, the Czech League is a developing league for the Bundesliga. Sparta Prague is the home for many great players that moved to the Bundesliga and elsewhere, most notably Tomas Rosicky, who played for Dortmund and is now with Arsenal. Lately the young Michal Kadlec of Leverkusen has made a name for himself. Peter is hopeing to follow the path of those two players to the Bundesliga.

Sparta Prague is fourth in the current standing, and ten points behind city rival Slavia, which is currently on first place. Furthermore, the club has already exited all international competitions.

The Bundesliga Report: No clear favorite for the title.

The Bundesliga is perhaps the most exciting league in Europe right now. No other league has as many goals a game, no other league has as many clubs fighting for the title, and no other league has as much depth then the Bundesliga. It all began with Hoffenheim, the club from the province that got promoted last spring. Since then the Bundesliga has never been the same. With fast paced football, and a desire for goal, the club has transformed the league like no other team before them. Many expected Bayern to be the trendsetter. Many million euros were spend on Klinsmann's training centre. Klinsmann promised to make every player better every day better.

But the club had trouble playing its best at times this season, and Klinsmann's Bayern revolution happened elsewhere. Ralf Ragnick's Hoffenheim have played the best football this season, yes their 4-1 loss to Bayer Leverkusen put a damper on their title hope, yet the team also lost their first game against Bayer on match day 3. The Bundesliga is very forgiving this season, Bayern has not been consistent, and other clubs have also failed to show week to week consistency.

2 points seperate the top 4, and Bayer Leverkusen who is fifth is only five points behind first place. This week the Bundesliga had a new table topper with Hertha Berlin. Hertha for many is a suprise team just as Hoffenheim, however their coach Lucien Favre is known for producing top results. He build a very successful side in Zürich, and is now doing the same in Berlin. He is also known for taking his time before achieving absolute success. Putting all the different pieces together in Berlin the club now seems ready to challenge for glory.

Hamburg as well seems like an honest title contender, and is perhaps the only club other then Bayern that is openly talking about the title. Hamburg has not won the title since 1983. Many in Hamburg believe that this year is going to be their year, and indeed Martin Jol's squad has a realistic chance. However, the club needs to improve their record against smaller clubs, a win against Bayern was followed with a loss to minions Karlsruhe SC.

Indeed the title race is wide open and in the end the club that plays the most consistent will walk away with the 46th Bundesliga Championship.

Scolari gone! Back to the Future with Avram Grant?

Luiz Filipe Scolari was fired after another terrible result for his club Chelsea FC. While Chelsea started promising in the season, the eventual demise of the club comes to no surprise. Throughout the season one could notice Scolari was not really up to the task. Cliques and favoritism became a problem. Frank Lampard and John Terry were particularly upset when Scolari substituted Deco besides being out of form for Michael Ballack earlier this season. Lampard and Terry also frequently attacked Scolari's training methods. The team and the players seemed not to be on the same page anymore, this was evident when viewing the teams performance against Liverpool a week ago, and also this week against Hull.

The question is what will happen next. The names Grant and Hiddink have been mentioned by the media, and return of Grant seems to be the right solution. He was the man behind Chelsea's comeback last year, and was only a couple of points shy from wining the Premier League. He also took the team within one penalty shot of the Champions League title. Many already believed that his firing was unfair and perhaps he will be redeemed by being reinstated. The other candidate is Guus Hiddink, he is the mastermind behind Russia's Euro 2008 run that was not stopped until the semi-final. Hiddink is a possiblility, because of Roman Abramovich's influence with the Russian FA. It seems unlikely though that Russia would give up a coach in the middle of a World Cup Qualification campaign.

The next few days will be interesting to watch and we will probably know soon who is going to be next Chelsea coach.

Mesut Özil a Turk for Germany.

Now it is for sure Mesut Özil is going to play for Germany. Özil who was born in Germany but his parents are from Turkey. Last week he decided that he wants to play for his birth nation Germany, after national team coach Joachim Löw nominated him for the friendly against Norway on 11. February. In an interview he said that this was a difficult decision, but that he feels German, that Germany was were he learned how to play and that Germany is his home. Özil has played for Germany at the youth level, but Turkish national team coach Fatih Terim has been trying to talk Özil into playing for the country of his parents.

Özil's decision is significant, it marks the first time that a young turkish top player has chosen to play for Germany over Turkey. Germany has been succesfull in integrating players of other national minorities into the national team. Miroslav Klose, Lukas Podolski, or Piotr Trochowski who are all of polish origin, but were raised or born in Germany and have chosen to play for Germany. Turkish Germans have always prefered to play for Turkey instead, many do so because of family pressure, others just feel that there chances are higher when they play for Turkey.

Part of it is also the lack of integration into the German community. Özil's nomination is therefore much more significant then that of any other player. If he does well at the German national team he could set an example for other young turkish players. Such as Baris Özbek who is currently playing for Galatasaray Istanbul but has chosen to represent Germany at the youth level. Özbek (22) has won a place in Galatasaray's first squad and has won the Turkish Championship with the club last year. Özbek is a typical number 6 and could one day replace Thorsten Frings.

Özil himself, will be an important member for Löw's squad. His creativity and scoring ability have been the only bright spot in Werder Bremen's shaky season so far. Many have compared him to Diego, a comparison that is not that far off. Germany have been lacking a player of his dimensions ever since Sebastian Deisler decided to quit the game 2 years ago.

Stadium's of the World: The Olimpiysky Stadium in Kiev

Today's stadium of the world is the Olimpiysky Stadium in Kiev, which is to host the Uefa European Championships final in 2012. The stadium was originally build in 1923 as the Red Stadium to host the second All-Ukrainian Olympic games. During World War II the stadium was destroyed by the Nazis, after the war the stadium was rebuild as the Stalin Respublikanskiy Stadium. After Stalin's death the Stadium became first known as the Khrushchev Respublikanskiy Stadium and then as the Respublikanskiy Stadium.

In 1980 the Stadium hosted the soccer games of the Moscow Summer Olympics, and from then on the Stadium became known as the Kiev Olympic Stadium, which title it officially careers since 1996 when the stadium was named the Olimpiysky Stadium. During 1997-99 reconstructions the stadium was made fit to guarantee FIFA standards, and its capacity was limited to 83,000. The local club Dinamo Kiev plays some of its home games in the Olimpiysky, but due to its size Dinamo only plays games against main rivals or Champions League matches in the Olimpiysky. Most of Dinamo's games are played at the Lobanovsky Dinamo Stadium, which with 16,900 seats is significantly smaller and a much better venue for the Ukrainian Premier League.

The Stadium is also home to the Ukrainian national team, which is hoping to benefit from hosting the 2012 European Championships. The Olimpiysky will undergo a major renovation for the games. It has been in doubt if the stadium could be used for the event, because a construction of a mall close to the stadium was a major security concern. Uefa was concerned that due of a lack of space at the stadium exits, no games could be held at the stadium. But the Ukrainian FA together with the Ukrainian government have since stepped in to solve the problem by ordering the destruction of the construction side. There are plans to refurbish the stadium for the tournament, a roof is expected to be built and the capacity decreased to 83,300.

Beckham to leave the MLS. Return of normalcy of Soccer in the USA?

I'm coming there not to be a superstar. I'm coming there to be part of the team, to work hard and to hopefully win things. With me, it's about football. I'm coming there to make a difference. I'm coming there to play football... I'm not saying me coming over to the States is going to make soccer the biggest sport in America. That would be difficult to achieve. Baseball, basketball, American football, they've been around. But I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think I could make a difference.

-From ESPN.

This seems to be in the past now. Today the news are that David Beckham wants to remain at AC Milan. Beckham has made it clear, that he does not want to return to the Los Angeles Galaxy. This era Beckham would, therefore come to an end in the Major League Soccer. But is the return of normalcy good or bad for Football in America.

Beckham created an enormous amount of hype when he touched down in Los Angeles. He was actually hailed as the rescuer of Soccer in America. In the last two years, however, he only managed 30 appearances for his club. In his time there the LA Galaxy failed to make the playoffs, and finished 5 in 2007 and second last in 2008. Beckham often failed to make an impact for the team, because he was mostly interested in pursuing his England career. He often left the Galaxy to play for England. The MLS does not break for International games, and Beckham often preferred to sit on the England bench then to play for the Galaxy.

Beckham often seemed unmotivated when playing in the MLS. But perhaps he is not the only one to blame. Most of the players on the team did not have the international standard Beckham is used to from his former clubs Manchester United and Real Madrid. Many MLS players a mere amateurs playing for less then $ 30,000 a year. Perhaps Beckham was just to big for this league. The MLS actually now has a chance to continue the natural growth that any sports league has to go through.

Outside of LA the league seems healthy and despite the recession will continue its expansion. Players like Freddie Ljungberg will remain an attraction, but will not as much explode the wage structure of the league as Beckham did.

Senseless Premier League spending. Is a Cap necessery to save Football?

It is official Robbie Keane is back at Tottenham. After failing to make the regular squad Keane has opted to leave Liverpool and to return to Tottenham. Tottenham will pay 13 million Euros for Keane, who they sold to Liverpool for 21 million Euros 6 months ago. That makes 34 million Euros for a player in one year. Just a reminder this is not Kaka, Ronaldo, or Zidane. Keane is an Ireland international, but would probably fail to make the national team of lets say France, Germany or Italy. Keane scored 5 goals in 19 appearances as a striker for Liverpool not exactly a mind blowing statistic. Yet two teams paid the astronomical sum of 34 million Euros.

The transfer of Keane fits the picture of a transfer market spun out of control. Manchester City just paid 20 million Euros for Nigel de Jong a player, who Hamburg paid 2 million Euros for 2 years ago. Yes, Nigel de Jong is an international for Holland, but he was not even a central player at Hamburg, which compensated his loss by signing an unknown Frenchman (Mikael Tavares) for next to nothing from Slavia Prague.

Another transfer that shows the over spending of Premier League clubs is the transfer of the German super talent Savio Nsereko. The player was one of the outstanding players for the German U-19 squad that won the Uefa European Championship last summer. His transfer to West Ham for 11 million Euros comes as a shock, however, in comparison Timo Gebhardt who was more vital for the success of the Germans, and scored 5 goals in 17 matches for 1860 in 2. Bundesliga (compared to Nsereko's 3 goals in 22 matches for Brescia in the Seria B) was transfered to Stuttgart from 1860 Munich for 3 million Euros.

Seeing that there is a financial crisis going on and that Great Britain especially has been hit by the credit crunch, one should think that high risk transfers are going out of fashion. Indeed, the transfer market has slowed down but there are still many transfers that as such make no sense. Many players are brought in as a quick fix and will not make an impact at their new club. The example of Kevin-Prince Boateng comes to mind. Boateng was a highly rated talent at Hertha Berlin, he was bought by Tottenham for 7 million Euros just to be send for free to Borussia Dortmund a year and a half later. Gordon Strachan manager of Celtic Glasgow has suggested to put a cap on clubs spending. Perhaps, a cap on how many players a club can have on their squad per season might be another idea. This way clubs would have to think twice if they want to bring in a player or not. Senseless transfers that are designed to weaken the opposition would also be a thing of the past. Or perhaps one of the major clubs in England just need to go bankrupt to open the eyes of the others.

Tymoshchuk to Bayern: Klinsmann's new Ballack

Anatoliy Tymoshchuk's transfer to Bayern is confirmed for 1. July. But what is it that makes the blond Ukrainian so interesting for the Munich outfit, and what will the transfer mean for Mark van Bommel?

Many in Munich argue that Hoeneß is buying Tymoshchuk only because of Zenith St.Petersburg's stellar performance during the 2007/08 Uefa Cup, which Zenith eventually won. Tymoshchuk was the catalyst of that Zenith team, but as a matter of fact he has been a great performer for a number of years. He joined Shakhtar Donetzk at the tender age of 18 in 1997. At Shakhtar he soon became the captain and the most valuable player of a team that dethroned Dinamo Kiev as the number one team in the Ukraine. He won three Ukrainian Championships, three Ukrainian Cups, and one Ukrainian Super Cup at Shakhtar.

It was during that time that Tymoshchuk became a regular starter for the Ukrainian National Team. The Ukraine managed to qualify for the World Cup 2006 in Germany, with Tymoshchuk providing the support from midfield. Unlike Ukrainian superstar Andrei Shevchenko, Tymoshchuk is the real heart of the Ukrainian squad. Tymoshchuk's outstanding performance enabled the Ukrainians to go as far as the Quarterfinal, where they were defeated by the eventual champion Italy.

After the World Cup, Tymoshchuk became Russia's most expansive player when he was transferred to St. Petersburg for €13 million. He was also rumored to have offers from Juventus, Feyenood Rotterdam, Celtic Glasgow, and AS Roma. The transfer to Zenith came as a little bit of a shock to the established football clubs, and is seen as the entree of Russia as a football power house financially. In his first season there he helped Zenith win their first Russian Premier League Championship in 2007 and their first national Championship since the Soviet Top League Championship in 1983. The following year Zenith went one further winning the Uefa Cup.

Now the move to Bayern, in essence Klinsmann is getting a player that Bayern has been lacking since the transfer's of Michael Ballack, and Owen Hargreaves. Tymoshchuk is both defensively stable and very dangerous in front of the net. On the field he acts as an engine and can slow down or speed up a game. He also reads the game well and seems to be one step ahead of the opposition. Unlike van Bommel, Tymoshchuk has not a bad record with referees, but is instead known as a disciplined player, who leads his team by example. The transfer makes sense, seeing that Ze Roberto is not the youngest anymore, and that his future in Munich is in doubt. Van Bommel has also questioned, if he will remain in Munich. Furthermore, Van Bommel's record of having arguements with the referee and his guarantueed yellow card in every game have weakened his position. With Tymoshchuk, Bayern is not only getting a new game maker for the midfield, but perhaps also a new captain.

The Pros and Cons of Indonesia's 2018 World Cup Bid

Indonesia's bid to host the World Cup 2018 comes as a suprise for many. The All Indonesian Football Federation made history when they were the first Asian side to qualify for a World Cup, playing as the Dutch East Indies, in 1938. Indonesia has since failed to qulify for the World Cup. Here are the Pros and Cons of Indonesia's attempt to host the World Cup.

PROS

Indonesia is centrally located. It is in relative close proximity to India, China, Indo-China, and Australia. The country has a large population (240 Million), and FIFA could capitalize on a successful World Cup that might establish Football there as the number one sport. In 2004, Vision Asia, a strategic development plan envisioned by AFC President Mohamed bin Hammam, has been introduced to Indonesia to assist them in elevating football standards in the country. A World Cup and an automatic qualification to the World Cup for the Indonesian National Team might speed up this process and could help establish Indonesia as a competitor. The Indonesian Super League is very popular and will be expanded to 36 Clubs, which are playing for the Championship in two divisions. This means that there is a league structure in place that could benefit from new Stadiums and that there is also a fan base that would support a World Cup. Japan one of the two Asian competitors for 2018 World Cup has the handicap that it staged the World Cup in 2002. China at the first glance seems to be the better candidate for Asia, but China looks fragile during the current financial crisis. China also has the problem that its local league is full of corruption, and the 2008 Olympics in China also showed that Human Rights are not helped in China by staging a top event there.

Cons

Although the country's playing population numbers more than five million, the country's footballing development has been hampered by its unique geography. The country is split into 17,508 Islands, and is ethnically very diverse. The ethnically make up of Indonesia has let to violence over the recent years, and the World Cup could become a target for terrorist groups, who a fighting for more rights or independence. Indonesia's National Team is also not very strong and the danger is that the host nation would be eliminated early in the competition. Another problem is that Indonesia would be the third developing country in a row to host the World Cup. South Africa (2010), and Brazil (2014) are both developing countries and FIFA might opt to give the World Cup to an established nation. There is also the prospect of China, who is also applying for the 2018 World Cup. Sepp Blatter the head of FIFA has stated several times that he would like the World Cup to be staged in China at some point. Furthermore, Europe which is Football's largest market would then have been without a World Cup for 16 years. England has put in a bid for the 2018 World Cup and the chances a high that the motherland of Football will get the competition.

Summary

I personally believe that a World Cup in Indonesia would be a fabulous idea. The country co-hosted the Asian Championships, which can be called a success. Now it is time for Indonesia to prove that they are a Football nation, let them have the World Cup both FIFA and the region can only win.

Austria Salzburg a lost Club recreated.

In 2005, Red Bull bought SV Austria Salzburg, and rebranded it. Red Bull announced that this is a new club with no history, SV Austria ceased to exist. But the same year the fans of the Violet got together and refounded their team. SV Austria restarted in the 2. Klasse Nord the seventh League in Austria. Consecutive promotions has brought the club to the 2nd Landesliga Salzburg the 4th tier in the Austrian pyramid. This year the club is again leading the league, and it seems that promotion again is ensured. The club is not the only club that has been recreated by the fan base. In England FC United of Manchester was founded by disgruntled fans, who were unhappy by Manchester United's takeover by the Glazier Family. AFC Wimbledon was founded after the FC Wimbledon moved to Milton Keynes to play under the new name MK Dons. In Japan perhaps the most successful example is the refounding of the Yokohama Flügels as Yokohama FC. Yokohama FC actually found its way back into the Japanese top flight.

Austria Salzburg, could be the second club that might return to top flight status after being refounded by its fans. The club has made fast process towards the Austrian top league, and who knows maybe in the near future their will be a derby in Salzburg between Red Bull and Austria. The Red Bull brand has been semi-successfull. In Austria the team is a success, but has failed to reach any International honours. Mateschitz the Red Bull owner had hoped to create a successfull football brand in Austria, but he failed to realize that the Austrian Bundesliga is simply not strong enough to maintain an internation top class team. His attempt to create a German Bundesliga team in Leipzig has failed as both Sachsen, and Lokomotive Leipzig have refused to sell their naming rights.

It will be a huge victory for the Football Romantics if Austria manages to return to the top flight. Surely Austria will draw more fans in the Bundesliga then Red Bull. It would be fascinating to see what will happen to Red Bull with another show in town.

Jersey of the Month

This months jersey is an instant classic. The 2008/09 1860 Munich jersey created by Erima. With the the stylized Bavarian Lion in the bottom, this Jersey is a throwback version of the 1994/95 season Lotto Jersey (on the Right). Erima became the new jersey producer for 1860 last summer an vowed to come out with a product that would be specifically created for 1860. They stayed true to their promise and created a jersey that is as such unique in the 1st and 2nd Bundesliga, perhaps even in all of Europe. The jersey is also available in light blue and white, with white being the base colour and blue the colour of the Lion. The Green and Gold jersey is in fact the teams third jersey. Few people know that the actual colours of the club are Green and Gold, and that the Blue and White that 1860 usually wears are actually only the colours of the Football department of the Sports Club. The Lion was chosen as the symbol of the club, because the club was founded in the Löwenbräu (Lion Brew) beerhall. To destinguish the Löwenbräu Lion from the 1860 Lion the club added a second tail.

The return of the Bundesliga

Tomorrow the wait is over. The Bundesliga is finally returning, and the opening match could not be more potent. The Bundesliga "Dino", Hamburg has never been relegated and is the only team in the Bundesliga that has played every season in the league since its founding, Hamburg against the record champion Bayern. But there is more the two teams are also only two points apart. In fact a Hamburg win tomorrow could place them first in the league. Hamburg has not won the league since 1983 and this might be their year. Bayern on the other hand could make a step towards the title by defeating a direct competitor to the title. The league this year is tight competition and it will be interesting to see who will pick up the title in the end. The other two favorites are 1899 Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen. Hoffenheim is the big suprise this year, the team was promoted last year and has played the most exciting football in all of Europe. Leverkusen as well has a fantastic team, and their style of play is very similar to Hoffenheim. Both teams have very young squads and the worry is that neither of them will be consistent enough to stay on the top. It will also be interesting to see how the injury of Vedad Ibisevic will affect the play of Hoffenheim. Hoffenheim has brought in Sanogo from Bremen to replace Ibisevic, but Sanogo has a reputation for inconsistency and it remains to be seen if he can replace Ibisevic. The title race should be a close one and if we are lucky the Bundesliga will not be decided until the last day.

The Wunderteam - The blog on Soccer Culture

In the 1930s the Austrian Wunderteam inspired the masses of continental Europe. The team was mostly selected from the big Austrian clubs. But the team represented much more then fantastic football. Vienna of the 1930s was also a cultural capital. The coffee houses transpired the "Wiener Schmäh" the flair of Vienna. The cultural elite would meet and many footballers were part of this elite. Hugo Meisl the coach of the team famously announced his squads for the national team in the coffee houses, and often the team was picked not by the coach but by the press, which put the pressure on Meisl. This site is to reflect the cultural glory that is often forgotten in todays football world. I want to bring up topics that do not always include the David Beckhams, the Steven Gerrards, or any of the other gloryfied players. This is also not a blog on the so called WAGs or players wives, but a blog on football culture. Furthermore, this blog will not be centered on the English Premier League, but will also include other leagues. As such lets enjoy the glory that is football.