Soccer Extreme : A few weeks ago I ventured up to Vancouver to spend my day playing the fall lineup of sports games being developed by EA Sports. Among them was FIFA 11 and the many additions that EA has made to the game's "Be A Pro" career mode. The biggest addition is easy to point out in the crowd of other improvements: you can now play as the goalie. Not only does that open up multiplayer to full 11-on-11 games, but it presents a new way to experience the game on your lonesome as well.

I'm sure a lot of you are wondering if playing as the goalie was any fun. Well, I'm going to be honest here: the answer is both yes and no. There are certainly moments when leaping to your left, arm outstretched to knock away a would-be goal is actually as satisfying as scoring a goal as a striker, but those moments were too few and far between for my offensive tendencies. Playing goalie is more of a slow-paced experience than FIFA soccer has been in recent years, a fact that EA Sports realized when they created the ability for players to zoom ahead to the other end of the field if things get a bit lonely as the netminder.

By pressing the back button (select on PS3) the camera moves from its typical viewpoint set directly behind your keeper up the field so you can get your hands on just a bit of the action. You'll never have direct control over the players' movements, but you will be able to tell them when to pass and when to shoot by pressing the appropriate buttons. When the action moves back to your half of the field, simply warp back behind the goal and take the reins as the keeper again.

Controlling the goalie himself is probably easier than you imagine. To dive in a direction, simply flick the right stick. Diving is more about timing your flick properly than guessing the direction correctly. Regardless of which way you flick the stick, your goalie is going to dive in the direction of the ball. No matter if you have the diving assist turned to fully assisted, semi-assisted or off, you're still going to leap in the direction of the ball. Only your timing window is affected by tuning the option. Once you have the ball in your hands you can throw it to a teammate, kick it or drop it on the ground and dribble it out of the box. But be careful, you don't want to tire out your goalie with a lot of needless dribbling as that will diminish his range in the box.

The reason for the simplistic diving mechanic has to do with the strategy of properly aligning your goalie in relation to the threatening offense. A red arrow is placed under the feet of strikers so you know which way they're leaning and where their momentum is going. Players will fake shots, they'll curve them away from you and they'll make long passes to the opposite post that you'll need to properly judge in order to snare them in your arms. That little red arrow might seem a bit strange at first, but it soon becomes pivotal to your success on the pitch.

Playing as the goalie is certainly an acquired taste as it differs greatly from the rest of the core FIFA action. It's slower and more methodical, but that also means that the one shot you have to defend a shot could make or break the match for your team. The feeling of stuffing a breakaway is pretty special, but I'll admit that I wish diving was more free-form.

Elsewhere in Be A Pro you'll notice a bevy of new accomplishments, each of which will earn you experience points just as they did in last year's game. Of course, the inclusion of the new goalie position means that there is a host of keeper-specific challenges to complete. All in all the team in Vancouver told me that they've basically doubled the number of challenges across the entire Be A Pro mode.

To practice your game with your pals EA has developed something called Pro Clubs for use in FIFA 11. Basically this lets you check out how much time your buddy's have left in their current game, so you know how long to wait before inviting them to hop into your match. You can also take on the CPU with a full team of eleven players this year in order to practice for an impending contest.

All of these Be A Pro improvements and additions go along with the large amount of gameplay fixes and tweaks that have been made since last year's game. I've talked at length about things like the enhanced physical play and improved graphics, so all I'll say now is that the standard gameplay is coming together nicely and feels great in practice. We'll have more on FIFA 11 as its September 28 release date approaches. (ps3.ign.com)

Soccer Extreme : Genoa striker Luca Toni has escaped without any injury after his Audi Q7 hit a road barrier as he was travelling on the A7 towards Genoa in the early hours of the morning, Italian road police confirmed.

La Repubblica reports the emergency services were called to the scene after Toni hit a curbside barrier.

The incident happened just after midnight, but the World Cup winner emerged from the wreckage unharmed.

His Audi though suffered extensive damage and police launched an investigation. The cause of the accident is unknown. (goal)

Soccer Extreme : Zlatan Ibrahimovic could not hide his happiness after joining AC Milan confirmed. Ibra assess that Milan is one of the strongest clubs in the world. The Swedish players had officially joined the Rossoneri after Barcelona and Milan have agreed on his move. Ibra joined with Il Diavolo Rosso on loan status, but Milan has an option to bring him permanently.

Rumors about the tall striker’s move, it has been sticking a moment. When all was to meet the clarity, Ibra claimed to be pleased. “I am very happy and the situation was not easy,” Ibra said, as quoted from the Football-Italy.

The Ajax Ex-player claims so happy that could go to AC Milan. “Why did I choose Milan? Because they are one of the strongest teams in the world and has a tremendous tradition,” he explained.

Italy is not a foreign land for Ibra. Previously he had been with Juventus and Inter Milan. The last name is a rival of Milan. His decision to leave La Beneamata could lead to criticism from supporters.

Ibra did not worry, if he got an unfriendly welcome from Interisti. “I think they (Inter fans) have forgotten about me because they’ve won everything. For personal goals, I want to win the Champions League, Scudetto, and all the trophies which were won by AC Milan,” he stated. (yousaytoo)

Soccer Extreme : Another lesson in reality for a Premier League newcomer. Against a team missing Deco and Joe Cole, Stoke City kept out Didier Drogba, Frank Lampard and Michael Ballack, only to find a £16 million right-back scoring one goal and making another. Jose Bosingwa, much the best of the many expensive players Chelsea have signed in that position, was on the mark for the first time since joining from Porto and after a brave rally by Tony Pulis's side he created a goal for Nicolas Anelka, a £15m substitute.

Lampard and Ballack were excellent in midfield, an area Stoke tend to bypass in moving from back to front with maximum speed. Although parking several buses in the Anfield goalmouth earned a 0-0 draw last week, in driving forward at home they were always vulnerable to Chelsea's more sophisticated breaks.

Even Luiz Felipe Scolari had not seen a weapon like Rory Delap's huge throw-ins, but the Republic of Ireland international was declared unfit. Deprived of that threat, Stoke brought in the big striker Mamady Sidibe as a target for their clearances and set-pieces, with his partner, Dave Kitson, looking largely in vain for the second ball and knock-downs. Chelsea supporters disdainfully bawling "hoof!" at every long ball must have gone home with sore throats.

"A difficult game," Scolari said. "It's sometimes impossible to play beautiful football. The other team sometimes don't try to play. First win the game. Then if it's possible, play beautiful football."

Stoke hoped to capitalise on corners instead of throws, the irony being that as soon as they won one, after 35 minutes, they found Chelsea breaking upfield to score. The corner was nodded back across goal to Sidibe, who could manage no power in his header at the far post. Petr Cech cleared and Bosingwa went down the right, feeding Salomon Kalou, who passed inside to Lampard. A chip to Bosingwa and the full-back chested down and scored with a shot across the goalkeeper that Andy Griffin, racing back, could not quite keep out.

Stoke had been pinned back for the first quarter of an hour. Early on, Ballack had a 25-yard shot pushed over the bar by Thomas Sorensen and from the resulting corner the goalkeeper plunged to save Ballack's header at John Terry's feet. Ballack's free-kick then flew off the wall for a corner, and when the midfielder Seyi Olofinjana lost the ball, Lampard put Drogba clear and Sorensen had to save with his foot.

Stoke left the pitch at half-time to appreciative applause, returning to find Chelsea bringing on Anelka for the injured Kalou and almost scoring again. Abdoulaye Faye presented possession to Florent Malouda , Sorensen having to divert the swerving shot on to the bar with his forearm.

Scolari, who has made a virtue of sticking to the same personnel and formation as much as possible, kept to the same 4-3-3 for a while with Anelka out on the right, from where he wasted one good chance by shooting high and wide. So strongly did Stoke push, nevertheless, that with 20 minutes to play it was felt necessary to introduce Juliano Belletti as an extra midfield player. Pulis, meanwhile, sent on another beefy striker, Ricardo Fuller, and came desperately close to equalising. Leon Cort met Liam Lawrence's corner with a firm header that had the beating of Cech, but John Obi Mikel cleared off the line.

One error, however, and they were done for. Bosingwa swung in a low cross from the right and Cort merely cushioned it straight to Anelka, who put the seal on a sixth successive away win. "It's like defending against the red arrows – or the blue arrows," Pulis said. "But I'm very pleased that we've played two top teams and competed very well." (independent)

Soccer Extreme : The wife of England footballer Joe Cole was carjacked by eight masked thugs on motorbikes outside her home while her husband cared for their baby inside, it emerged yesterday.

Carly Zucker, 26, was sitting in her black Audi A4 opposite her £3million Chelsea townhouse when she was pulled out of the driver’s seat by her attackers. One mugger sped off with the car while the others made their escape on motorbikes

Details of the attack emerged in court yesterday as Cole’s lawyer used it to try to argue that the footballer should not be banned from driving because his wife had been left too traumatised by it to drive herself.

Magistrates decided to ban him for 50 days and ordered him to pay a £750 fine and costs of £600. But after hearing about the carjacking, magistrates chairman John Neary agreed to suspend the ban and fine while Cole appeals.

The raid happened on August 8 at 8.50am as the couple were completing their move to Formby, near Liverpool. Cole now plays football for Liverpool after leaving Chelsea

Last night Scotland Yard said it was still hunting for the car and for those who attacked Miss Zucker. Cole was being sentenced at Staines Magistrates Court in Surrey yesterday for speeding at 105mph last November in the Audi later stolen in the robbery. He was represented by Nick Freeman, nicknamed Mr Loophole for his skill in getting celebrity clients off the hook on legal technicalities.

Mr Freeman told the court: ‘Mr Cole moved to Liverpool four weeks ago. During that move his wife was outside their house in London. ‘She was in the car, registered in her name, when she was car-jacked by eight thugs on motorbikes. (dailymail)

Soccer Extreme : Jose Antonio Reyes and Sergio Aguero scored second-half goals as Atletico Madrid beat Inter Milan 2-0 to win the European Super Cup for the first time Friday.

Atletico continued its run of form after winning the Europa League last season. Inter won the Champions League under former coach Jose Mourinho, who has been replaced by former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez.

“We have the squad to win titles. Today we showed it,” Reyes said.

Atletico took the lead in the 62nd minute when Inter failed to clear the ball on the edge of the area and it fell to Reyes, who glided past Maicon with a neat touch and drove a shot into the bottom left corner past goalkeeper Julio Cesar

Aguero tapped into an empty net in the 83rd.

Inter striker Diego Milito’s last-minute penalty was superbly saved by Atletico goalkeeper David de Gea.

Benitez, who guided Liverpool to its fifth Champions League title in 2005, remained upbeat despite the defeat.

“I think we played well, we had three dangerous situations in front of the goal,” the Spaniard said.

Moments before Atletico’s opening goal, Cesar had denied Reyes with a brilliant one-handed save low to his right as the former Arsenal forward cut inside down the right side and curled a shot goalward.

Milito, Inter’s star when it beat Bayern Munich to win the Champions League, saw his shot deflected for a corner as Inter started brightly before gradually losing steam.

Samuel Eto’o, playing in a role out on the left, looked frustrated as he rarely got on the ball, but in the 32nd, he jinked past two defenders and hit a low shot which flew just past the right post.

Atletico striker Diego Forlan, the star of Uruguay’s run to the World Cup semifinals, was well contained by the Inter defense and the Spanish side’s most threatening player in the first half was the Argentina forward Aguero.

Roared on by Atletico’s noisy fans, Aguero found space in the penalty area moments before the interval, but drove his powerful shot over the crossbar.

Atletico got on top in the second half, mainly because Inter failed to contain the pace of Reyes and the clever runs off the ball of Aguero as their defenders still had to keep an eye on the sleek and elusive Forlan.

Inter still might have set up a grandstand finish when Goran Pandev was fouled in the box, but Milito’s penalty was tipped around the post by Atletico’s 19-year-old goalkeeper De Gea.

Prior to the game, police intervened quickly to prevent a clash between small factions of hooligans from Atletico and Inter.

Around 25 Atletico hooligans were waiting outside a shop near Monaco’s Stade Louis II stadium when some 30-40 thugs from Inter turned a corner into the road, putting the rivals just yards apart.

Atletico thugs, some who smashed wooden crates and ripped off pieces to use as weapons, rushed into the road as they were beckoned on by their counterparts.

A handful of police formed a line to push the Atletico hooligans back before further reinforcements helped contain the Inter hooligans, some of whom were waving belts. (yahoo)

Lineups:

Inter Milan: Julio Cesar, Maicon, Walter Samuel, Lucio, Cristian Chivu, Dejan Stankovic (Goran Pandev, 69), Javier Zanetti, Esteban Cambiasso, Wesley Sneijder (Coutinho, 78), Diego Milito, Samuel Eto’o.

Atletico Madrid: David de Gea, Tomas Ujfalusi, Luis Perea, Diego Godin, Alvaro Dominguez, Paulo Assuncao, Jose Antonio Reyes (Fran Merida, 70), Raul Garcia, Simao (Ignacio Camacho, 90), Sergio Aguero, Diego Forlan (Jose Manuel Jurado, 82).

Soccer Extreme : Barcelona star Lionel Messi is ready to enter the world of fashion. Diario Ole says Messi plans to cash in on his global profile by launching his own clothing label - to be known as 'Messi'.

Messi plans to enter partnerships with high-profile celebrities around the world to make the venture a winner.

"It will be high-quality clothing and accessories for men. I'd like to open the first stores next summer," he said.

Among those being tapped up are Chelsea ace Frank Lampard for London, Manchester United star Wayne Rooney in Manchester, David Beckham for Los Angeles, rapper Jay-Z in New York and the actor Colin Farrell in Dublin.

Soccer Extreme :Big Brother star Aisleyne Horgan-Wallace has claimed footballer Peter Crouch tried to chat her up whilst out clubbing with his girlfriend, Abbey Clancy.

Just weeks after it was reported that Crouch paid for sex with 19 year old prostitute Monica Mint, Aisleyne spoke to Reveal magazine about the night the Spurs player invited her back to his house.

The BB 2006 contestant told how she was in a Chelsea club two years ago when Peter approached her.

She said: "He asked, 'Can I take you to dinner? Do you want to come to my house? Can I have your phone number?'

"I was completely gobsmacked. I couldn't believe he had the audacity to come on to me while with his girlfriend."

"I said to him, 'You've got a girlfriend.’ Peter said ‘Yeah, that doesn't mean I'm happy though, does it?’"

Aisleyne then told how Abbey appeared and said: "Pete, I hate you! What the fuck are you doing?"

When Wallace tried to calm the situation down and tell Abbey nothing was going on, she said the model shouted: "Shut up, they all fucking say that." She then reportedly hurled a bottle at Peter’s head.

Aisleyne is hotly tipped to be heading back into the Big Brother house tomorrow night for the all-stars final of the show. (entertainment)

Soccer Extreme : Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson's boycott of giving post-match interviews to the BBC will come under Premier League scrutiny next month.

He has not given a post-match interview to the BBC since 2004 after a BBC Three documentary about his son Jason, who was then working as a football agent.

Ferguson's stance is in contravention of Premier League rules. "The board will consider the appropriate course of action at their next meeting," said the Premier League. (bbc)

Soccer Extreme : He has not scored in 18 hours of football and Wayne Rooney will have to wait at least another 90 minutes if he is unable to overcome a stomach bug to play at Fulham today.

The Manchester United striker, who last scored in March and endured a woeful World Cup with England, reported sick at United's training ground yesterday and did not travel with the team to London. The club's medical staff ordered Rooney home, fearing he could pass on the infection to the staff and players.

It is unlikely that Rooney will have recovered sufficiently to join his team-mates today, which will mean a first start for new signing Javier Hernández, who was outstanding in pre-season and replaced Rooney after 63 minutes of United's opening 3-0 win against Newcastle United at Old Trafford. (guardian)

Soccer Extreme : Inter captain Javier Zanetti believes the Italian Super Cup comeback “proves we can win without Jose Mourinho.”

The Nerazzurri were trailing at San Siro before Goran Pandev and a Samuel Eto’o brace secured the 3-1 victory over Roma.

“Winning is always very satisfying and there was a question mark over how we’d react to the change in management,” he said of new boss Rafa Benitez.

“We answered those questions and proved we are still hungry for success.

“We wish Mourinho all the best, but will prove that we can win even without him.”

The Special One has now moved on to Real Madrid after securing the Treble of Scudetto, Champions League and Coppa Italia.

“Benitez and Mourinho are both excellent tacticians. Benitez asks us to push a bit further up the field and keep the tempo up, but in general very little has changed.”

Inter still have the chance to lift a total of six trophies in 2010. The Italian Super Cup was the fourth, but on Friday they play Atletico Madrid for the European Super Cup and then go into the World Club Cup. (football_italia)

Soccer Extreme : Germany defender Jerome Boateng is out of next month's opening Euro 2012 qualifiers with a knee injury - aggravated by a clumsy air stewardess, he revealed on Saturday.

With Germany facing Belgium in Brussels on September 3 and Azerbaijan in Cologne on September 7, Boateng has been sidelined for the next month, partly because of a bizarre accident on a flight from Copenhagen.

The Manchester City defender must wait at least another month for his debut in the English Premier League since his 12.5 million transfer from Hamburg - because of an accident with an airplane's drinks trolley.

He injured his knee in Germany's 2-2 draw against Denmark in a friendly on August 11 and then had the injury aggravated when a stewardess ran her drinks trolley into Boateng's knee by accident on the flight home.

"It's annoying. I imagined my start at Manchester City to be quite different, of course," said the 22-year-old on the website Sport1.

"Next Wednesday, I'm up travelling to see (the German team's doctor) Dr Muller-Wohlfahrt in Munich for treatment.

"Even in my first game with Manchester against Valencia (in a friendly), I had problems with the knee from the match in Copenhagen." (sports.xin)

Soccer Extreme :Liverpool welcome Arsenal to Anfield in the stand-out game of the opening weekend of the Premier League.

New Reds boss Roy Hodgson will be hoping to set down a marker against Arsenal as he prepares for his first Premier League game in charge of Liverpool.

Both sides will be hoping to show their title credentials on Merseyside as they look to challenge the top two of Chelsea and Manchester United.

Arsenal secured the double over Liverpool last season and the Londoners will be seeking to extend their recent good record against the Reds.

Liverpool are likely to be without star striker Fernando Torres despite the Spain international making good progress following a groin injury.

It means David Ngog or Dirk Kuyt are expected to start in attack for the home side with Joe Cole, who was linked with a move to Arsenal, set to play in a supporting role beind the front man.

Fellow new signing Milan Jovanovic is also set to get the nod in Roy Hodgson's starting XI after impressing in pre-season.

Recent arrival Christian Poulsen is pushing for a place in the side following his arrival from Juventus earlier this week, but he is set to content himself with a place on the bench.

Unsettled midfielder Javier Mascherano could start despite being linked with a move away from Anfield.

Pepe Reina will start in goal despite suffering from a minor shoulder injury, with Glen Johson, Jamie Carragher and Martin Skrtel in defence.

Hodgson's biggest decision is who to start at left-back with Emiliano Insua or Fabio Aurelio unlikely to be used.

Daniel Agger could be employed at full-back or youngster Martin Kelly could start there after impressing in the Europa League in that role.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger must decide whether to select Robin van Persie and Cesc Fabregas in his squad following their late returns from the World Cup.

The Gunners are definitely without injured duo Nicklas Bendtner and Johan Djourou, while Denilson, Alex Song and Abou Diaby face late fitness tests.

If the trio are ruled out Jack Wilshere fresh from making his England debut in midweek could start in midfield.

Summer signings Marouane Chamakh and Laurent Koscielny are both expected to make their debuts.

Aaron Ramsey, who is set to return to action in November, remains a long-term absentee for Arsenal.

Possible starting XIs:
Liverpool: Reina, Johnson, Carragher, Skrtel, Agger, Kuyt, Gerrard, Lucas, Jovanovic, Cole, Ngog. Arsenal: Almunia, Sagna, Koscielny, Vermaelen, Clichy, Song, Nasri, Diaby, Walcott, Arshavin, Chamakh.

Liverpool vs Arsenal, 0, 1, 2, 3, 4

Soccer Extreme : Jamie Carragher today reiterated his desire to sign a new contract and finish his playing career at Liverpool.

Roy Hodgson has made clear his intention to talk to the 32-year-old about his Anfield future - and the man himself is confident a deal will be struck without too many complications.

Carragher told Liverpoolfc.tv: "Of course it's nice to hear. I am desperate to finish my career at the club and I'm sure that will be the case.

"If the manager has said these things, great. Once he's finished bringing people in we'll sit down and sort things out with no problems.

"It'll take two minutes, I think."

Hodgson is the fourth manager to work with Carragher at Anfield after Roy Evans, Gerard Houllier and Rafael Benitez.

And despite the Scouser's veteran status, he hopes to learn plenty from the new man.

He added: "His experience is second to none - he's one of the most experienced managers in world football. Look at all the different places he's been, the different cultures and languages.

"I'm a big follower of the game and always keen to learn." (liverpooltv)

Soccer Extreme : An investigation has been launched into allegations that North Korea punished some players and the coach after its team lost all their World Cup matches.

World football's governing body, Fifa, says it is looking into claims made by Radio Free Asia last month that the squad was publicly humiliated and coach Kim Jong-hun sentenced to hard labour.

Fifa's president said a letter had been sent to North Korea's footballing body.

North Korea lost to Brazil, Portugal and Ivory Coast at the World Cup.

Radio Free Asia reported that North Korea's national team had been summoned to a public meeting in Pyongyang, where players were criticised by officials, including the sports minister, for six hours.

The players were then ordered to reprimand their coach, the report said, quoting anonymous sources in North Korea and a Chinese businessman said to be "knowledgeable" about North Korean affairs.

The report also spoke of "rumours" that the coach was sentenced to "forced labour at a residential building site in Pyongyang".

There were no reports of the meeting in North Korean state media, nor has neighbouring South Korea been able to confirm the claims.

The World Cup in South Africa was North Korea's first such tournament since 1966.

After the team's impressive performance during a 2-1 defeat to Brazil, the North Korean authorities overturned a ban on showing live games.

The match against Portugal - the state's first ever live sports broadcast - could not have been worse, with the national side thrashed 7-0 in a match that stunned commentators.

Speaking at a news conference in Singapore, Fifa president Sepp Blatter said of the allegations: "The first step is the federation and we'll see what the answer will be, and then we can elaborate on that."

Asian Football Confederation chief Mohamed Bin Hammam said he had met several World Cup players in North Korea last month, but coach Kim was not present.

"There was an unconfirmed report that these players have gone through torture or something like that, but I can't confirm that," he said.

"I haven't seen anything with my eyes or heard anything with my ears. Maybe this Fifa investigation can clear the air." (bbc)

Soccer Extreme : English Premier League (EPL) is the strongest and most sought after club league in the world. The English top flight is a massive worldwide product that is ever increasingly difficult to quantify. 42 clubs have graced the top flight since the breakout of the Premier League of which only 11 of the 42 have managed a top 4 finish in 16 years.

4 clubs have won the title in the 16 seasons of competition. 15 of the 16 titles have been won by Manchester United, Arsenal, and Chelsea. The present champion of this league is Manchester United. They won the ninth title in 2006-07. No team has ever won the title for this number of times. The top English clubs are now massive sports franchises that dominate the global game - Sports News -.

Top players are lured to the Premier league by riches that no other league can rival. Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool have consistently occupied the top four positions with complete domination in four of the past five seasons with the sides taking the top places on 19 out of 20 opportunities. Each of the clubs in the league is considered to be a part owner in the league. The league continues to grow and become a force in the world of football. The top four team’s qualified in the Premiership graduated and now play in UEFA Championship League

And.. As of 2008, it was ranked as the highest grossing league with La Liga, Spain and Serie A, Italy trailing behind. The Premier League will continue to dominate world football for years to come. Through hard work and effort the Premier League was able to rise to the top. England’s most improved club Manchester United, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Liverpool. the English Premier League Tickets is considered as the planet’s most popular and most-viewed professional football league, and is seen across the globe by an estimated half a billion people. There are many websites those sell Premier League tickets and online game, you can try this Fantasy Soccer Game. (JJ)

Soccer Extreme : OK, so she’s not a WAG but we love this story! Arsenal player Theo Walcott’s 26 year old sister Hollie obviously doesn’t want to be overshadowed by her younger brother as she qualified for the British Championships in September after coming second in the British Natural Bodybuilding Federation Central Championships last month.

She told The Sun: “Theo’s asked for training tips for his abs and wanted tips to improve his six pack, he wanted a stomach like mine.

“We can talk about training and nutrition. It’s good we’ve got something in common.

“I’m incredibly ambitious and my brother’s great success has only made me want to achieve at the highest level in my field. We are a very competitive family.” (wagsworldcup)

Soccer Extreme :Wayne Rooney put his World Cup torment behind him to set Manchester United on their way to an impressive Community Shield victory over Chelsea at Wembley.

Although Rooney could not get his name on the scoresheet against the double winners, it was the striker who was so out of touch in South Africa that created United's opener with a brilliant cross to set up Antonio Valencia.

New-boy Javier Hernandez marked his competitive debut with an immensely fortuitous second and, although Salomon Kalou pulled one back, Dimitar Berbatov's fine injury-time finish allowed United to collect the trophy for a record 18th time.

The World Cup's legacy will not be the vuvuzela, which was thankfully absent from the showpiece curtain-raiser.

Instead it will be the castigation of high-profile players.

That the reaction should be started by supporters of Manchester United, notoriously antagonistic to all things England, shows the depth of frustration at what went on in Germany this summer.

But while the boos for Ashley Cole could be dismissed as personal, those for John Terry were directly related to the Three Lions' spectacular collapse.

In response, the Chelsea fans singled out Wayne Rooney, goalless and out of sorts in the summer but so full of fire today.

Together with Paul Scholes, Rooney terrorised the Chelsea defence at times during an entertaining opening period in which both sides could have claimed the lead before United eventually did.

Branislav Ivanovic came closest for Chelsea when he climbed above Serbian team-mate Nemanja Vidic to reach Florent Malouda's free-kick and angled a header towards the corner that brought a fine save out of veteran United keeper Edwin van der Sar.

The Dutchman's inability to hold a long-range Nicolas Anelka effort earlier in the contest had led to a clear sight of goal for Salomon Kalou.

But from an acute angle, Kalou instead turned the ball back into the six-yard box, which was vacant of both United defenders and his own attackers.

United took a bit longer to get going.

Yet it quickly became apparent Scholes was going to take some stopping.

Fabio Capello will not be the only England manager to lament the midfielder's retirement. Steve McClaren felt exactly the same way.

But the Italian will continue to wonder what might have been if Scholes had been given longer than a couple of hours to decide on a last-minute offer to head for South Africa.

His calmness in possession and the accuracy of his passing mean, even at 35, he is very hard to subdue.

One cleverly disguised pass set Rooney up for a shot that just evaded the far post and Scholes was also the inspiration behind a Michael Owen cross that forced Ivanovic into a hurried clearance.

But it was the brilliant crossfield ball for Rooney, delivered from inside his own half that did the real damage.

Sensing there was little danger as he jogged behind his brother in ignominy, Terry offered Rooney the room with which to execute a perfect first-time cross, drilled right into the heart of Chelsea's penalty area.

Only Valencia read Rooney's intentions and the Ecuador man gleefully tapped past Henrique Hilario.

It was the kind of moment that proved Rooney is right to be lauded, while at the same time leaving his World Cup performances, particularly the awful one against Algeria, totally inexplicable.

Rooney's 45-minute cameo gave way to new-boy Javier Hernandez, whose pace alone unsettles defenders and who came so close to releasing fellow substitute Dimitar Berbatov with a sublime reverse pass after initially being picked out by that man Scholes.

Everything about Hernandez's move from Mexico so far has been positive.


The one fear was, rather like Diego Forlan, whose otherwise stellar career will be scarred by those 27 games he took to score for the Red Devils, the man dubbed Chicharito would take too long to get off the mark.

But the kind of goal Forlan would have killed for, a mis-hit shot that ricocheted into his face, bounced into the Chelsea net from Valencia's cross 14 minutes from time.

It was harsh on Chelsea, who had just gone close through Kalou, Michael Essien and Ashley Cole.

Kalou did eventually beat Van der Sar but a frenetic spell of attacking failed to bring further reward and Berbatov's deft lob from Nani's cross ended any hope of a comeback. (telegraph)

Soccer Extreme : England's World Cup flops were booed by Manchester United and Chelsea fans every time they touched the ball during the opening stages of the Community Shield season curtain-raiser at Wembley Stadium.

In the first high-profile match since England lost 4-1 to Germany in the second round of the World Cup in Bloemfontein on June 27, the United fans jeered Chelsea players Ashley Cole, John Terry and Frank Lampard.

Chelsea supporters dished out the same treatment to United's Wayne Rooney.

England coach Fabio Capello was also booed by fans of both teams when he took his place among the VIP seats shortly before the kick off.

The Chelsea trio and Rooney will all be back at Wembley together on Wednesday when England play Hungary in a friendly international with a negative reception expected from the crowd again. (Reuters)