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The Soccer Source
Because soccer is like life, only more important.
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Spurs Book UEFA Cup Advancement
2007-12-06 22:43:00
Tottenham Hotspur advanced to the UEFA Cup Round of 32 after Dimitar Berbatov converted a 71st minute penalty kick equalizer to earn a crucial point from Spurs' trip to Anderlecht earlier today. Three minutes earlier, Bart Goor had put the hosts in front. The North London side now have seven points from four games and are temporarily in first place in Group G (the group's four other teams all have a game in hand).Leverkusen and Spartak Moscow also used today's games to advance to the knockout stage of the tournament. Yesterday, more than half a dozen teams did so. All told, 13 teams have booked their tickets to the Round of 32: the trio mentioned here, Everton, Villareal, FC Zürich, Panathinaoikos, Atletico Madrid, Hamburg, Basel, Bordeaux and Helsingborg. Eleven spots are still up for grabs. The eight third placed teams from the Champions League will then fill out the first knockout round, to be drawn Dec. 21.Bolton did everything they needed to today, beating the team formerly known ...
Book
Spurs
Uefa
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UEFA Cup Favorites Advance In Lockstep
2007-12-06 12:44:00
Big clubs from England, Spain and Germany made strides in yesterday's UEFA Cup match-day as Everton, Atletico Madrid, Villareal and Hamburg SV all notched clear wins that put them through to the Round of 32. Ten of the elimination round spots have now been decided, with most teams left with a game or two on their group stage schedule.The most impressive of yesterday's victories for me was Hamburg's 2-0 win at Dynamo Zagreb. Both goals came at the very end of the game. Zagreb now have one measly point from three games and have no chance of advancing to the next round. Atletico also won on the road, beating F.C. Copenhagen, 2-0. Villareal made quick work of visiting Elfborg by the same margin, with Jon Dahl Tomasson notching a brace to put his fellow Scandinavians out of their misery. The Swedish side have completed their four games, with a final tally of one point (which they earned against AEK Athens, if you must know). It was a big day for Greek clubs as well, with Panathinaikos and ...
Favorites
Uefa
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Arsenal De Sarandi Wins Copa Sudamericana
2007-12-06 03:19:00
Argentina's Arsenal de Sarandi won the Copa Sudamericana, the Western hemisphere's second-biggest club championship, taking home the coveted trophy by virtue of the away-goal rule in its home-and-home series with Mexico City's Club America. It was the club's first-ever title in 50 years of existence. Arsenal took the first leg at the Estadio Azteca 3-2 and lost tonight's return leg 2-1. Arsenal's decisive goal came in the 84th minute on a pure force of will by Martin Andrizzi in the visitor's penalty area. The 31 year-old Argentine literally bulled his way past three America defenders before beating its goalkeeper, Guillermo Ochoa, with a shot to the far post.In a passionate game played at the Racing Club Avellaneda, America led from the 18th minute but were lucky not to give up the tying goal as Arsenal hit the woodwork three times in the first half alone. Aguillas' 19 year-old forward Juan Carlos Silva scored on a brilliant volley to put his team up 2-0 in the 63rd minute. Had the ga ...
Arsenal
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Is FIFA's Club World Championships Worth Our Time?
2007-12-05 15:45:00
The Soccer Source verdict: yes it is, but only from the semifinals onward. The seven team tournament kicks off Friday in Tokyo and concludes nine days later in Yokohama. In the U.S., all games will be telecast live on Fox Soccer World. The participants:Pachuca, Mexico (CONCACAF Champions’ Cup winner)Boca Juniors, Argentina (CONMEBOL Copa Toyota Libertadores champions)Waitakere United, New Zealand (OFC Champions League winners)AC Milan, Italy (UEFA Champions League winners) Étoile Sportive du Sahel, Tunisia (CAF Champions League)Urawa Red Diamonds, Japan (AFC Champions League winners)Sepahan, Iran (AFC Champs league runner-up, made it in because Urawa would have qualified automatically as hosts) So why do we care about this? Simple, it is the only time top clubs from all confederations compete against each other on the field in a competitive setting. Granted, they don't all play each other, and several times the match-ups will not be of interest to (m)any outside their home region. F ...
Championships
Club
Fifa
Time
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Soccer Quote of the Day, Dec. 5, 2007
2007-12-05 12:51:00
"Playing in this tournament is like exploring a beautiful mansion. Every match is like opening a door into a new room."--Bixtente Lizarazu, on playing in Euro 2000 (a tournament his team ultimately won of course, though I'm not sure if that preceded this quote).
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Soccer
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G-14 Goes The Way Of The Dodo
2007-12-05 02:18:00
The G-14, which had branded itself as "the voice of the clubs" and was contemplating expansion to 40 members, has gone the way of the dodo bird. Unlike the mythical feathered creature, however, the organization is going to come back as "a completely new organization to represent the interests of clubs at European and international level," G14 president Jean-Michel Aulas told The Guardian. The new organization will seek to replace both the G14 and Uefa's European club forum.The G-14 currently has a lawsuit pending against FIFA that could force FIFA to pay clubs for "use" of the clubs' players in international tournaments. The organization will see this legal battle out in its present form while plotting the relaunch. It sounds like it is aiming to create a less exclusive "union" of sorts, that would represent soccer clubs and serve as a counter-balance to UEFA, FIFA and the like. They should start as a simple lobbying, or trade group and take it from there. But what do I know.
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Celtic Lose But Still Advance To Champions League Knockouts
2007-12-04 22:50:00
The luck of the Irish was on Celtic's side today, as Gordon Strachan's team advanced to the Champions League Round of 16 despite losing the final group stage game at AC Milan. Celtic Chairman John Reed should send a thank-you letter to Oscar Cardozo and Benfica Lisbon, as the Portuguese side beat Shakhtar Donetsk 2-1 on a brace by Cardozo, which assured Celtic's advance. The Ukrainian side would have advanced with a victory, but found themselves down two goals after only 22 minutes. They got one back on a penalty on 30 minutes, but that was the last of the scoring in the match. Freddy Adu dressed but did not play for Benfica.I was not able to watch the game because I couldn't find any free streams due to my busy schedule at work but ESPNsoccernet reports Celtic were nervous and content to defend in the early stages. They settled down toward the end of the first half and had a few chances to score before Filippo Inzaghi got the winner for Milan at 70 minutes. Group D's games were played ...
Celtic
Champions
Champions League
League
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Alpay Given Walking Papers
2007-12-04 13:15:00
Former Turkish international defender Özalan Alpay, who has said he is close to signing with an MLS team, will be allowed to leave 2nd Bundesliga side Cologne on a free transfer this winter. Alpay had a falling out with his coach Christoph Daum this season and was relegated to the bench. The club agreed to let him stay until the January transfer window to stay fit, according to a statement by the Bundesliga (who also own the rights to this photo).The 34 year old defender had previously been suspended by the club. It has not been reported what MLS team he has been negotiating with, although Alpay said it was not the L.A. Galaxy. Transfermarkt.de speculates it's the Chicago Fire, but don't provide a source for this.
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Soccer Quote of the Day, Dec. 4, 2007
2007-12-04 12:38:00
"You have to have so many gifts as an international manager. Fair play to [McClaren] being nominated for the job, let alone getting it. But it looks a step too far..."--Former Irish international Paul McGrath, in prescient comments after Steve McClaren was given the job as England manager last year.
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Soccer
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Celtic Needs To Make A Point, Nothing More
2007-12-04 06:22:00
A single point from today's group stage finale at AC Milan will be enough for Celtic Glasgow to advance to the UEFA Champions League Round of 16. The trip to San Siro comes at an opportune time for Gordon Strachan's men; The Rossoneri are an even .500 (7-7-4) in Serie A and Champions League competition this season and have not won at home since Oct. 24. Unfortunately for Celtic, Milan has a decidedly better record in Europe (3-1-1) than they do domestically (4-3-6). In fact, they have yet to win at San Siro in Serie A action, yet in the Champs League they have a perfect home record.Even if Celtic do lose they can still advance to the elimination round if Shakhtar Donetsk do not beat Benfica in Group D's other game tonight. Though Benfica are eliminated from the next stage of the CL, they can clinch a spot in the UEFA Cup as the third-placed team in the group with a win. So it's not like Freddy Adu & Co. have nothing to play for. As for Celtic, they can do no worse than the UEFA Cup ...
Celtic
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Lehmann To Wolfsburg?
2007-12-03 14:40:00
Embattled Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann could be on his way to Bundesliga side VfL Wolfsburg, according to reports in the German press. The team's manager, Felix Magath, has been critical of its starting goalkeeper Simon Jentzsch and went as far as to pull him from this weekend's game at halftime. Management has been mulling a move for Lehmann for some time and this may be the catalyst they need, reports kicker. de. Wolfsburg--which at one point in its history employed a coach by the name of Wolfgang Wolf (you can't make this stuff up)--are currently 13th in the Bundesliga, only five points clear of the relegation zone.
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The World's Top 25 Soccer Clubs, Dec. 3, 2007
2007-12-03 06:33:00
Lots and lots o' action this week, including top games in Italy and Germany, not to mention all the midweek Champions League and UEFA Cup action. One champion was crowned in Argentina, with a second perhaps to follow later this week. Let's get to it:1. (1) Inter Milan. Beat Fenerbahce in the Champs League Tuesday and won impressively at Fiorentina on the weekend. Zlatan Ibrahimovic had two nifty assists in that one. I think the case could be made that the Swede of Bosniak-Croat descent is the best player in the world right now. But that's another topic for another day. Point is, these guys are good. Host Lazio on Wednesday and FC Turin Sunday.2. (2) Arsenal. Meaningless games are exactly that: meaningless. So I'm not punishing Arse for losing their midweek Champions League game at Sevilla. Besides, Arsene Wenger's boys rebounded nicely in winning at tough Villa Park Saturday and continue to lead the Prem--now by five points, with a game in hand. Play two road games this week (Newcastle ...
Clubs
Soccer
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Lanus Capture Argentine League Title
2007-12-02 23:08:00
Club Atletico Lanus won its first-ever Argentine league title after a 1-1 tie at Boca Juniors this afternoon on the Apertura's final match day for both teams. It turns out Lanus would have won even with a loss, as second-placed Tigre lost to Argentinos Juniors and the teams were three points apart going into today's games.Lanus scored first on a first-half header by Gustavo Sand, a 27 year old veteran of the Argentine league (he's played for several teams, some of them twice). It was Sand's 15th goal in 15 Apertura appearances according to ESPNDeportes. Boca captain Martin Palermo equalized in the 67th minute after a nice one-two.The champs are a pretty obscure team even in Argentina and their roster is made up of players that will only be familiar to Primera fans. As far as I can tell, only one of their players (Carlos Bossio, its goalkeeper and captain) has ever been capped by Argentina's senior side, though several have been capped on various junior national teams.
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Capture
League
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As Expected, Euro 2008 Groups Anything But Fair And Balanced
2007-12-02 14:37:00
From the Nothing You Didn't Know Already department: UEFA's seeding scheme for the Euro 2008 finals was a complete joke that ended up creating the exact imbalances it was created to resolve. It would have been fairer--not to mention far more efficient--to just pull the groups out of a hat at random.In case you missed it, here are the groups:Group A: Switzerland, Czech Republic, Portugal, Turkey.Group B: Austria, Croatia, Germany, Poland.Group C: Netherlands, Italy, Romania, France.Group D: Greece, Sweden, Spain, Russia.What you've got here is one supergroup (Group C) and three highly mediocre ones. Within the supergroup (or if you prefer, the Group of Death), you've also got two teams (Romania and Holland) that faced each other in qualifying. I feel badly for Romania, by the way: their first major tournament in a decade and they're faced with the world champions, the world cup runner-up and the aforementioned team they already bested in qualifying. Germany have probably the easiest dra ...
Euro
Expected
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Soccer Quote of the Day, Dec. 2, 2007
2007-12-02 13:46:00
"Of course I didn't take my wife to see Rochdale as an anniversary present, it was her birthday. Would I have got married in the football season? Anyway, it was Rochdale reserves."--Bill Shankly
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Soccer
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Soccer Source Saturday Summary, Dec. 1, 2007: Gritty Gunners, Royal Raul, Pernicious Porto
2007-12-02 00:56:00
The top game in La Liga was undoubtedly the Barcelona derby. Andres Iniesta struck first for Barca, but Coro equalized midway through the second half. Earlier, Real Madrid saw off seventh-placed Racing Santander at the Bernabeu. Top-of-the-table Real got a brace from Raul and didn't seem to have much trouble, winning the game 3-1. There was a third liga game today: Arsenal vanquishers Sevilla lost at UD Almeira. The Andalusian side are now 11th, having lost their last three liga games since knocking off Real Madrid Nov. 3.Arsenal played a gritty game at Villa Park in today's top Premiership match-up, rebounding nicely from that (meaningless) Champions League loss at midweek. After going a goal down, Arsene Wenger's men outplayed their hosts in a stellar first half and then simply bunkered down in the second. Which is what you do when you get the lead on the road, especially at a place like Villa Park, where the home fans were in full-throated support. It was amazing how loud they were, ...
Gritty
Royal
Soccer
Source
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Soccer Quote of the Day, Dec. 1, 2007
2007-12-01 17:49:00
"I like the [Premiership] referees. They don't give easy fouls. If someone goes down too easily, they don't give a free-kick and that helps the football become even faster. In other countries football is too easy for the cheats. People are looking for easy fouls, always falling over, and it makes the games too slow."--Blackburn's Roque Santa Cruz, in the Guardian's Saturday interview.
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Soccer
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Defensive Blunders Cost Club America First Leg Of Copa Sudamericana Final
2007-12-01 04:00:00
Uncharacteristically sloppy defending cost Club America a game they couldn't afford to lose, as Arsenal de Sarandi stormed back twice from a goal down to take the first leg of the Copa Sudamericana final at Estadio Azteca. Lapses of various types played central roles in all three Arsenal goals, with America's normally standout goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa even doing his part on the first. Ochoa stuck to his line on a cross and was then left no chance on Anibal Matellan's header.The highlight of the game was unquestionably a Golazo by America midfielder Alejandro Arguello shortly after halftime. Arguello's brilliant strike into the upper 90 was truly something to behold and I will suggest scouring the Web to find a clip. I'll actually do so myself and update this post with the link.America drew blood first after only five minutes and appeared in firm control of the game for about 20 minutes. But Arsenal held their ground and had I felt evened things out when Matellan headed in the equaliz ...
America
Club
Defensive
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Friday Footy Linkage, Nov. 30, 2007
2007-11-30 14:56:00
Soooo much action on the field this week, how is anybody supposed to keep up with the blogosphere? Luckily, there are many footy blogs that enhance--rather than detract from--what has been taking place on the pitch, making reading them a joy rather than a burden. Onward, non-denominational soldiers:My favorite blog for Latin American soccer is hands-down Hasta El Gol Siempre. This week they have an excellent piece on the buildup to the Copa Sudamericana finals. The first leg kicks off tonight, so this is a timely feature. I was going to do my own story on this, but then I came across theirs and realized it was better than anything I could ever come up with. HEGS says tonight's game is the biggest in Arsenal de Sarandi's 50 year history. The team is a veritable giant-slayer, not only in the Copa Sudamericana but also in their domestic league where this past weekend they ended Boca Juniors' title hopes. Their opponents, Mexico City's Club America, are a strong--and rested--side, but appe ...
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3-0! Pumas Shock Top Seed Santos In Liguilla Semifinal
2007-11-30 13:14:00
Mexico City's U.N.A.M. Pumas scored a stunning upset over top-seeded Santos Laguna, winning the first leg of the Liguilla semifinals 3-0 at a raucous Estadio Olimpico Universitario last night. Pumas' impressive victory was shocking for its scale: Santos had previously lost only once in 19 Apertura season games and was never shut out. Pumas, by contrast squeaked into the liguilla with the second-worst record of the 12 playoff teams and upset second-seeded Toluca in the first round.But Pumas were downright dominant for stretches of last night's game and easily could have scored four or five goals. Twenty-two year old Argentine Ignacio Scocco opened the scoring in the 26th minute with a screaming drive from 30 yards. Hector Moreno, a 19-year old defenseman (I told you to watch these Pumas cubs!) doubled up in the 51st minute and Scocco completed his brace with a free header three minutes later. Scocco was completely unmarked in the box with Santos still stunned from Moreno's goal.The team ...
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UEFA Cup Group Stage Picture Clears Up
2007-11-29 23:13:00
A semblance of order is beginning to emerge in the group stage of the UEFA Cup after today's match day. With three teams advancing from each five team group, I figure that a final tally of six points from the four games will be enough to do the trick. Right now seven squads have reached that threshold: Everton, F.C. Zurich, Tottenham, Panathinaikos, Hamburg, Helsingborg and Bordeaux. Everton, Zurich, Panathinaikos and HSV have only played twice.Also in good shape are teams with five points (Zenit St. Petersburg, Fiorentina and Bayern Munich), as well as those with four points from two games (AZ Alkmaar, Villareal, Spartak Moscow, Anderlecht, Atletico Madrid, F.C. Basle and Aris Thessaloniki).On the opposite end of the spectrum, Larissa and Toulouse both have zero points from three games and are mathematically eliminated already. On life support are Aberdeen, Elfsborg and Rennes, with one point each from three games. Besides winning their last game, these three sides are going to need a ...
Picture
Stage
Uefa
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Bye Bye Blake! Camp Cut By Red Bulls
2007-11-29 18:42:00
Red Bull New York announced it has waived midfielder Blake Camp. Camp, who was drafted by New York in the fourth round (41st overall) in the 2006 MLS SuperDraft out of Duke University, did not appear in any first team matches last year. In 2006, Camp came on as a substitute in three games, making his MLS debut Sept. 3 at Chicago. The Danielsville, Ga., native also played in five reserve league matches this season. (Photo courtesy of MLSnet.com)
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Camp
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CL Matchday Five Claims Last Of The Unbeaten
2007-11-29 16:59:00
With Arsenal and FC Porto losing their Champions League games this week, there are now no unbeaten teams left among those still alive in European (UEFA Cup or CL) competitions. Three teams (Chelsea, Man U, Barca) are unbeaten in champions league competition and several others have not lost in their domestic leagues (Arse, Liverpool, Porto, Benfica, Ajax, to name a few) but as far as I can tell everybody who is still playing in the UEFA Cup or UCL has lost at least once this season.There are several unbeaten teams from non "Big Four" leagues that do not play in Europe: Beitar Jerusalem, Wisla Krakow, Romania's CFR Cluj, Partizan Belgrade and CSKA Sofia, who shouldn't really count because they lost their UEFA Cup series to Toulouse on away goals, while not losing either game. Actually, Partizan Belgrade was forced to forfeit their UEFA Cup games with Mostar, which technically counts as a loss but I'm including them here because, well I'm a nice guy.There are also teams from minnow league ...
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Milan, Chelsea Advance To Champions League Knockout Round
2007-11-29 12:54:00
Chelsea and AC Milan were the only teams to clinch advancement to the Round of 16 in yesterday's UEFA Champions League games. There were some other noteworthy results:Real Madrid was upset by Werder Bremen. The Spanish side could have sealed their own passage with a mere point, while Bremen was facing a "must win."Speaking of "must wins," Liverpool fulfilled that duty; their defeat of FC Porto was the Portuguese side's first loss of the season in all competitions. Liverpool still need to win their final game at Marseille though. Failure to do so could even result in an ouster from all European competition as the Merseysiders would finish dead last in the group if Beskitas also win at Porto.Olympiakos continued their impressive form and only need to tie Bremen at home in the final matchday, Dec. 11, to advance.Freddy F.C., a.k.a. Benfica Lisbon, will not be advancing to the Round of 16 after only managing a 1-1 tie at home to AC Milan. They will play for a spot in the UEFA Cup in the fi ...
Champions
Champions League
Chelsea
League
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Soccer Quote of the Day, Nov. 29, 2007
2007-11-29 06:20:00
"That I'm old, that's what that says."--Kasey Keller, responding to an interviewer's question about being the only member of the national team pool from the 1990 World Cup team. Keller said only "two or three guys deserved to be on that team." I think he was being pretty generous. I can't think of any other thanTony Meola. Speaking of aging, Keller turns 38 years old today. Happy birthday Kasey!
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Soccer
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B-List U.S. Players In Europe
2007-11-28 17:16:00
We all know about Brad Friedel and Freddy Adu and all the guys on Fulham, but there happen to be many U.S. soccer players plying their trade in Europe whom we have not heard of. Yanks Abroad has a pretty definitive list--but it isn't exhaustive. Mine isn't either, but I combed the depths of various resources (www.transfermarkt.de, mainly) and came up with some additional names you probably haven't seen mentioned anywhere else. Some of these guys are U.S. citizens in name only (meaning they have no attachment to the U.S., have never played here and visited as tourists only, if at all) but that's good enough for us.Stephen BassoCurrent team: SV Darmstadt ReservesLeague: UnclearPosition: DefenseAge: 20Info: Dual citizen U.S./Italy.Adin Brown*Current team: Aalesunds FKLeague: Tippeligaen (Norwegian top flight)Position: GoalieAge: 29Background: Had stints at New England Revolution and Tampa Bay Mutiny before heading to Norway.Max Ian-Josef CreamCurrent team: SV MeppenLeague: Oberliga Nord ( ...
Europe
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Soccer Quote of the Day, Nov. 28, 2007
2007-11-28 12:23:00
"They think it's all over...it is now!"--Kenneth Wolstenholme's commentary on BBC television during the 1966 World Cup final. The two parts of the quote came immediately before and after Geoff Hurst scored England's fourth goal.
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Soccer
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