It used a Shazam-like technology to identify soccer games

After a scoreless first half, U.S. women's team co-captain Megan Rapinoe earned the first goal of the game with a penalty kick.

I mean they let him slip right thru the cracks -- thanks Obama!

The Gávea Tourist is an empty shell of a hotel, a 14-story modernist monument of disintegrating concrete and decaying beauty that has been abandoned for four decades. It is one of three huge, architecturally stunning ghost hotels in Rio de Janeiro, all of which are vacant in a city facing a chronic shortage of rooms for June’s World Cup soccer tournament.

adidas kit out their star man with a pair of bold new F50's, complete with an energetic all-over graphical print. Get all the details, here.

Barcelona player Dani Alves had the perfect response to a racist taunt in Sunday's game against Villarreal. In the second half, a fan threw a banana at him — something that still happens to black players with troubling frequency across Europe. Instead of ignoring it or informing the official, Alves picked up the banana, peeled it, ate it, and then took the corner kick with a mouth full of banana.

The 2014 World Cup is just one month away, but it’s not too early to start feeling intense emotions about the 2022 World Cup. Specifically, fury. That’s the feeling I left with after watching ESPN’s excellent E:60 documentary on the human rights disaster that’s unfolding eight years ahead of the Qatar World Cup.

Cool Front Flip Throw. Soccer next generation!

The World Cup continues to get bigger and better, aging like a fine wine. It’s not just the tournament itself, though, that is maturing, going from a tournament in 1930 where anyone who wanted to participate was invited, and where the European teams traveled by boat, to the current 32-team behemoth that involves years of qualification.

ESPN may have lost the broadcast rights to the World Cup, but the network is making the most of its last hurrah with the United States-Ghana match turning in a very solid 7.0 rating. That goes down as the highest-rated men's soccer match ever on the cable channel. The 2011 Women's World Cup Final scored a 7.4 rating.

Toward the end of each half of a soccer match, the fourth official on the sideline hoists an illuminated sign over his or her head that displays a number. This magic number indicates how much injury time (or "stoppage time," depending on your vernacular) the head referee has decided to add to the 45 minute half. But how is this calculated?

Goalkeeper Tim Howard scores a goal from a clearance kick thanks to the strong winds.

Soccer was a passion for 44-year-old John Bieniewicz, who lived and loved the game. The married father of two sons was refereeing a match on Sunday when authorities said a 36-year-old player punched him in the head, knocking him unconscious.

A little more than a decade ago, Andreas Bleicher, then a director of one of Germany’s Olympic training centers, arrived in the tiny gulf nation of Qatar, wooed there by its royal family to help turn the hopeless national soccer program into something worthy of the world’s respect.

An amazing life like experience.

Manuel Pellegrini’s side can still challenge Chelsea for the title but their squad is getting old, Yaya Touré's impact is diminishing - and FFP is coming to get them

As the MLS and its players union head to the negotiating table, signs abound that both sides are in for a long, heated process.

Fifa president Sepp Blatter says third-party ownership of players will be banned after a "transitional period".

Jens Keller has been relieved of his duties as FC Schalke 04 head coach with immediate effect.

Metodi Shumanov: Last week Levski Sofia fans mocked the governing body with a banner saying ‘Say yes to racism’ but if the club, the Bulgarian FA and Uefa do not react then the problem will only get worse