A pint for Chelsea manager Luis Scolari. In Chelsea’s 1-1 tie against Manchester United in round 4 of the Prem, he refused to blame referees even though they did not allow Chelsea one last free kick from just outside the box in stoppage time. He called them “the boss” and pointed to the masterful play of both sides. I loved the way he avoided the lure from the media. I can see why Chelsea is delighted to have him at Stamford Bridge.

A red card for Newcastle United’s Danny Guthrie. He took a frustrated swipe at Hull City’s Craig Fagan and broke his leg. The replay showed no intention to play the ball. This was truly a reprehensible display by Guthrie. View the video of the vicious kick here, with the actual play coming in at eleven seconds and the replay at thirty seconds.

A red card for the English FA who gave Guthrie a meager three game ban. This is despicable concerning the severity of the injury. FA should have grown a pair and suspended Guthrie for as long as it takes Fagan to recover and return to play. Shame on you, England FA!

A pint for Hull City and its fans. Hull City has pulled off the improbable North London sweep, beating Arsenal 2-1 and Tottenham 1-0. This is the first time in their 104-year history that Hull is competing in top-flight football. From the games I’ve watched, their fans are as passionate as any other and are enjoying the ride. They have played in all levels of English football in the past five years and now are taking on and defeating England’s best clubs. They currently hold third in the league table which means they’d qualify for the Champions League next season. And I picked them to finish in dead last.

Shunsuke Nakamura

A red card for Japan’s National Team. They have taken the authority to call up midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura for a friendly against the United Arab Emirates and a World Cup qualifying match against fellow Asian group member Uzbekistan. This may pull the magical midfielder away from his Scottish club, Celtic, as they set to take on defending champion Manchester United in the Champions League just six days after Japan’s match with Uzbekistan. Japan already holds onto second in their group and probably do not need Nakamura to beat lowly Uzbekistan who has yet to score a goal in qualifying.

Jose Mourinho

A pint for Inter Milan manager Jose Mourinho. He was criticized for giving his assistant media duties after a game. The native Portuguese lashed back stating his respect comes from the fact that he is trying to learn Italian so that he may better suit the Italian media. The assistant he hired is someone with a good past with the club and also fluent in Italian. I like this move and I like that he addressed it. He’s making a concerted effort to learn a new language while managing one of the best clubs in the world – lay off the guy and be patient.

A red card for Jose Mourinho. In the same interview, he said that the AC Milan and Inter Milan derby was just “a normal game.” Ugh… give me my pint back, Jose.

A pint for Dave’s Football Blog. I’ve made this blog a regular stop. It covers everything football, from our American version to many, many versions found in the UK and Australia. This site is the Left Field of soccer for me; I learn something new every time. His analysis and writing is both entertaining and informative. His current article, “Fiscal Responsiblity,” examines the financial state of the English Premier League. Truly great stuff on this site, no matter your football preference.

A red card for Bayern Munich manager Jürgen Klinsmann. The former German striker has Germany’s most dominant and successful club (over forty German trophies) sitting in eleventh place. I can’t say that I follow Bundesliga very closely, so I don’t know if it is his blame or not. I’m red carding him regardless because he chose to take the toughest job in Germany. He stepped down as the German National coach after a third place finish in the 2006 World Cup. Now he’s trying to lead his former club but is off to a rocky start. Be careful, Jürgen; don’t tarnish your legacy because you can’t maintain the same success as a coach.

Pints all around for the Zimbabwe National Team, The Warriors. They were recently eliminated from World Cup contention. I wrote about their hopes in possibly hosting some games and also examined the impact soccer may potentially have on a politically corrupt country. Here’s to the brave team members for playing on and continuing hope during a time of turmoil.

A red card for the Senegalese fans. After Senegal was eliminated from World Cup contention, fans stormed the FA headquarters and vandalized the building, even setting fire to a bus. They were restrained with tear gas; however, many important documents were stolen and damaged.

Pints all around for the U.S. National Team! They’re doing it with defense in World Cup qualifying, giving up their first goal in four matches against Cuba this past Saturday night. The younger players are looking primed and ready to step into the spotlight, especially (Glasgow) Rangers product DeMarcus Beasely, who scored twice against Cuba (U.S. won the match 6-1). So cheers to the American squad and godspeed in the final qualifying round and finding success in South Africa come 2010! Wait a minute – bartender? Just a Pepsi for Freddy Adu, please.

South Africa will host the 2010 World Cup. Nine cities – including Cape Town, Johannesburg, and Durban – will be the center of the world between June 11 and July 11. FIFA’s decision to hold the world’s biggest tournament on the oft war ridden continent is not sitting well with the rest of the world.

If you haven’t followed the world news at all, Zimbabwe is muddled with violence and alleged political corruption. Now I can’t give you the details of who is who or the acronyms of any political factions; all I know is that the situation has affected South Africa. Leading up to a recent election and its conclusion, which was delayed many times, Zimbabweans sensing political strife and out lash from a suspicious delay fled to their more economically stable neighbor, South Africa. Those who fled early were lucky: they have escaped the daily violence that ensued.

This past week, FIFA has finally admitted that they are concerned with the situation in Zimbabwe and how it may affect the safety of the players and hundreds of thousands of fans that will descend upon South Africa in 2010. They have revealed that there is a backup plan in place, but refuse to disclose any details including the possible country. Rumors have also been swirling that FIFA is considering the suspension of the Zimbabwe National team, who is still in place to advance to the next stage of qualifying.

Lost in all of this is Zimbabwe’s plight to use soccer as a tool for peace. Zimbabwe originally had high hopes of hosting some of the World Cup fixtures in Harare, but ultimately lost that chance due to the inadequacies of its stadiums. They thought hosting some games would promote national pride. One stadium in particular, Rufaro Stadium in Harare, began renovations in hopes of hosting. However, problems with the drainage and turf put the stadium’s progress eight months behind schedule. In fact, up until recently, FIFA was not even going to sanction the use of Rufaro for qualifying matches, which would force the Zimbabwe team to play qualifying matches elsewhere.

FIFA eventually approved Rufaro and the dilapidated stadium hosted a couple of qualifying matches. Zimbabwe performed valiantly, most recently drawing against Kenya and defeating Namibia. There will be at least one more qualifying match played in Harare’s Rufaro Stadium on September 7 against Guinea. Zimbabwe remains in third place in Group 2, two points behind Kenya; they have two more matches to finish in the top two spots in order to advance.

My guess is that FIFA is in fact considering disbanding the Zimbabwe National team, but has chosen to wait out the qualifying round to see if Zimbabwe can just eliminate itself. On one hand, it’s hard to argue with one point of view FIFA could make – they may be protecting them from violence. But on the other hand they may actually prolong it.

A few years ago the Iraqi National team experienced success beyond expectations despite a war in their country. They practiced and played all “home games” in Dubai. Many of them were witnesses to unspeakable horrors experienced by many athletes during Hussein’s reign in Iraq. Yet, they continued to compete. They finished fourth in the 2004 Olympics, and in 2006 and 2007 won gold and silver medals in two different Asian tournaments. These Asian tournaments exposed nationalism in Iraq. During their participation and success in these tournaments, it was widely reported on American news channels that violence was down in Iraq. I can recall CNN running a video of Iraqi celebrations after a big victory and was enthralled at the power of soccer.

(It is unfortunate to reflect back on this now. Iraq was recently eliminated from World Cup qualifying after losing to Qatar. The government decided to dismiss the manager and disband the team until a later time. Victory begets pride, defeat begets shame.)

FIFA understandably refused to allow Zimbabwe to host any World Cup games, but why suspend the team if they continue to be successful? All it needs to do is look at what the Iraqi team did for its country. Soccer can be a powerful force when allowed to run its course. Maybe “The Warriors,” as the Zimbabwe team is so affectionately called, are destined for something bigger. Normally perennial underachievers in Africa, they have shown signs of an undeniable will during qualifying. Why interrupt that? Just look at the games played at Rufaro thus far. There has been no violence whatsoever and national pride was palpable. Rufaro has a capacity of 35,000. The attendance at Rufaro for both qualifying games? 35,000 proud Zimbabweans.

2008 Zimbabwe presidential election
FIFA has no plans to suspend Zimbabwe
Details on Rufaro Stadium
2010 FIFA World Cup