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Four and Counting – Messi Wins Ballon d’Or

And so we have it. What the majority of people were expecting has come to pass. His 91 goals for club and country, a total that broke Muller’s 40 year-old record, has helped Messi win the 2012 FIFA Ballon d’Or. In doing so he becomes the first player in the history of the game to […]

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How video games are changing the face of soccer

…The men met as fraternity brothers at the University of Alabama, but the image of innate Southerness they convey is shattered the instant the immense television glows with the home screen of EA Sports FIFA 2012 video game. With a flurry of dexterous controller-clicking, the two men assemble their teams with the cold, calculated eyes […]

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TKTG’s UEFA.COM Team of the Year

UEFA.com’s Team of the Year nominees have been finalized and voting is under way. We at TKTG have decided to cast our vote too by coming up with our own best XI. We first went through the list of nominees for each position, and then the opinion of each TKTG author on what formation to […]

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The 100 Best Footballers in the World

The Guardian’s 11-strong international panel of experts set about ranking the best footballers in the world, and end up with their top 100. #99 Diego Forlan Age: 33   Nationality: Uruguayan Team: Internacional The striker became the most capped Uruguayan of all time at the 2011 Copa América and is also the country’s record scorer. That seemed implausible when […]

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Malaga banned from Europe

The UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) adjudicatory chamber has met in Nyon, Switzerland, and has taken its first decisions in the cases of nine clubs that had been referred to it by the CFCB chief investigator, due to the presence of significant overdue payables balances. The decisions of the CFCB adjudicatory chamber are as […]

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Continuity amid Vilanova adversity could push Barcelona to greater heights

The coach will undergo an operation on Thursday, but the Catalans’ philosophy will remain intact thanks to a capable stand-in and a group of players familiar with pulling through Life without Tito Vilanova begins away to Valladolid in the Primera Division on Saturday, but the road to recovery starts at home for both coach and […]

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Blurring the lines between defenders and midfielders

A recent tactical trend is to field midfielders at centre-back, an approach favoured by Barcelona’s Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova, who have refused to buy a “traditional” central defender despite needing back-up for Carles Puyol and Gerard Pique. Instead, they’ve converted Javier Mascherano, Alex Song and Sergio Busquets into defenders, with varying levels of regularity […]

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Champions League Draw Results

TKTG brings all the best reports on the Champions League draw for the Knockout phase.  The draws are: Galatasaray vs FC Schalke Celtic vs Juventus Arsenal vs Bayern Munich AC Milan vs Barcelona Real Madrid vs Manchester United Valencia vs Paris St Germain FC Porto vs Malaga Shakthar Donetsk v Borussia Dortmund ESPNFC:  Ronaldo Returns […]

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Team of the Season so far – La Liga

La Liga has almost reached its halfway point and there is one team well and truly on top as the winter break approaches – Barcelona. The Catalans lead the Primera Division by nine points from Atletico Madrid, with rivals Real a further four back in third. … In goal we find Betis’ Adrian, who has proved […]

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Corinthians leave Chelsea singing the Blues

James Young from the Independent gives us his verdict on how Corinthians were able to defeat Chelsea at the Club World Cup final in Japan. … While Chelsea had their moments, those who have watched Corinthians over the last couple of years will know that “bend but don’t break” is practically the team motto. Theirs […]

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