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Not to get too sidetracked, but all the EU is is a set of treaties that define (a bunch of) rules and regulations. Some members are part of every treaty, while some are only part of a few treaties (like the UK and Norway). The EU grew out of economic cooperation in the late 70s / early 80s, and the core countries that made up that trade bloc (France, Germany, Benelux) are highly integrated into the EU thing.The conventions go a long way towards regularizing and unifying the various institutions in Europe. They are still working on many areas however. I know that Spain is not fully in line with the academic portions of the treaties and therefore there's still some issues with having degrees from outside Spain properly recognized inside Spain and vice versa.It looks likely that Iceland will be the next full member of the EU as they initially didn't want to be controlled economically and financially to the continent. Now that the country is nearly bankrupt and that it's likely they would have had a better go if that HAD been a full EU member, they want in. Although some other countries not formally in the EU currently use the Euro (the statelets like Monaco, Andorra, etc.) as well as Bosnia and Herzegovina, the EU has said that the only way that Iceland gets to use the € is through full membership.
Same here. Where's the sign-in info?Just ordered a sweet "authentic" Gerrard shirt from this place for $30 including shipping.
That'd be something to see. It will be difficult to imagine happening given the shear level of talent they have bought, but they would deserve no less.
huh, I completely missed this. Good news though.
Thankfully, cant see this happening.Madrid not done yet - offers Chelsea £18 million for Alex.
here's the money quote: "Manuel Pellegrini, the Real coach, had identified Alex as the defensive linchpin of a new-look team"
It is actually nothing to do with the EU that Altidore requires a work permit to play in the UK. All EU member nations have the same laws regarding immigration from other EU members (technically EEA members which includes a couple of nations that are not EU member states such as Norway and Switzerland). Altidore is a US citizen though so his case would be handled by each countries individual immigration laws for non-EU citizens. The UK applies the same test to professional sportsmen that it does any other person seeking employment in the UK, whereas most other EU countries grant exceptions which is why the 'work permit issue' is one that always seems to only apply to players moving to British clubs. Something similar actually happens with tax law where in Spain and Italy in particular footballers moving from abroad are tacitly allowed to exploit tax loopholes that mean they are only taxed at something around 20% for the first five years in the country whereas in the UK they are again treated like any other employed person, this has been given as one reason why Ronaldo/Alonso et al were keen to move this summer to Spain.As an aside, the UK does have some opt-outs of EU treaties but only the two. Schengen is one (freedom of movement across borders without requiring a passport, which the UK necessarily opts out of since it is an island, as does the RoI for similar reasons) and the Euro is another (all EU members are technically obliged to adopt the Euro eventually, Sweden and Denmark also have Euro opt-outs).
Kenny Cooper
This is the one player that may have had issues with playing this week given his recent transfer. That said, I don't really see Cooper as any better than Casey. Neither has shown much of anything on a NT level. We need better forwards.Kenny Cooper
Definitely the weakest link. Overall though, that squad is very close to the one I'd pick. What's up with Castillo and Jones?
I'm pretty sure that they're still in a holding pattern.
justin.tv is your friend braI'm sure it's on there, and likely HD as well.
oof
3-0 RM real fast
Not good.My Atleti have drawn Panathinaikos. Not a great draw either.Real Madrid up 3-0 on Toronto in 25 minutes. The POS old man Raúl has 2. God I hate him. Great cross and assist on the 3rd goal though.For the Champions League qualifier, Arsenal has drawwwwwwwwwnnnn.....Celtic
3-0 RM real fastRaul with a pair...real nice combination on the 2nd.
please tell me you didn't read my comment before posting almost the exact same thing
I'm not going to be happy if they screw this up. I'll admit I don't know much about the deal(s) but as it is now I can watch every match every week between Setanta and FSC. I sent an email to ESPN a few weeks back when this was first mentioned and they said they would be sending out details but never heard anything.ETA: I just checked (Dish Network) and next Sat. morning lists fishing all morning and Setanta shows the 7:45am match with Team TBD. I don't have a good feeling about this.
Hating Barca more than Real these days is just lunacy.
Well, I think Z Machine can speak to it a little better than I can, but I'd consider them a Champions League Round of 16 border team.They finished 4th in La Liga last year, and they're pretty talented. I'd say a borderline top 16 team in the world....I'd say they're slightly better than an Everton or Aston Villa, but certainly not at the level of a team like Liverpool, Inter Milan, etc.
Same here, and I'm on Time Warner.
Well, at least Liverpool isn't losing to the Derby County of La Liga.....
Definitely not....they've got some real world class players too. Johnny Heitinga is a fairly regular player for the Netherlands, Diego Forlan is a vet whose played at Villarreal, Manchester United, etc. and was a regular for Uruguay. Simao Sabrosa has been capped a ton of times for Portugal and was one of their true stars in the mid 2000s....I'm not sure if you watched the 2006 World Cup, but THE goal of the tournament was scored by Maxi Rodriguez for Argentina to beat Mexico in extra time. Sergio "El Kun" Aguero is one of the world's rising stars...etc etc..So yes, they've got some talent. So do Sevilla (3rd), Villarreal (5th), and Valencia (6th). As someone who doesn't really follow La Liga very closely, to be honest, it's really tough to tell who's the best of those 4 teams. Desert Power or Z Machine or someone else who "Follows Closely" would know more than I would.Well, at least Liverpool isn't losing to the Derby County of La Liga.....
sweet defense from Atletico....great no-call on the offsides too
