Bullfighters clinch ELF glory

Barcelona Bullfighters beat their bitter rivals Madrid Cosmos in the ELF final in Lisbon.

A late Ahmet Haminovic goal won the game 2-1 for the Bullfighters, who have successfully retained their ELF title.

Cosmos striker Neil Coyne scored the opener before John Miljkovic's headed equalizer.

And then Haminovic took a shot three minutes from time.

World Cup seedings announced

CSA Football has announced the seedings for the 2010 CSA World Cup.

Co-hosts Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, defending champions England were already guaranteed a seed, and Brazil, Argentina, Germany and Spain were also rewarded with seeds after making the top four in the EliteLeague behind winners England.

Portugal were also rewarded with a seed, due to them being the highest-place non-EliteLeague team in the ranking.

For the first time ever, pots contain teams from a specific continent. Pot 2 contains the North American, Asian and Oceanian qualifiers; Pot 3 contains teams from Africa and South America and Pot 4 contains teams from Europe.

Because 16 European teams qualified for this year's World Cup, a Special Pot with four more European teams was necessitated. The Czech Republic, Serbia, Turkey and Wales will be drawn into groups which have a non-European seed. This is also the reason why Pots 2 and 3 have two teams fewer than 1 and 4.

The draw takes place on Friday 4th December at 20:45 local time in Dubai.

CSA World Cup 2010 seedings

Pot 1 (seeds)

UAE
Saudi Arabia
England
Brazil
Argentina
Germany
Spain
Portugal

Pot 2 (North America, Asia, Oceania)

USA
Mexico
Canada
Japan
Australia

Pot 3 (South America, Africa)

Uruguay
Chile
Paraguay

Colombia
Cameroon
Nigeria
Egypt

Pot 4 (Europe)

Croatia
France
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Scotland
Sweden

Special Pot (will be drawn into groups which have non-European seeds, will be drawn in place of pots 2 or 3)

Czech Republic
Serbia
Turkey
Wales

Aussies to go Asian

CSA Australia has announced that they will become members of CSA Asia effective on 1 January 2010.

As a result all Australia CSA national teams will be eligible to play in CSA Asia-sanctioned competiton, and as a result cease playing in CSA Oceania competitions. After Australia's switch, New Zealand will be the only seeded country in the Pacific.

Having just recently qualified for the 2010 CSA World Cup through Oceanian qualifying, the Aussies will now attempt to qualify for the 2011 CSA Asia Cup next year, and will try and qualify for future CSA World Cups against Asian teams.

This move follows the real Australian football team, who switched the same continents in 2006.

England crowned EliteLeague kings

England have won the EliteLeague after beating Brazil 2-0 at CSA England Stadium.

Goals from John Carey and CraiCo made sure England finished with a 6 wins, 1 draw record.

England skipper Daniel Perry, deputising for the injured Mark Strickland, lifted the EliteLeague trophy aloft as England claimed their second silverware under Marco Garibaldi.

Elsewhere, Germany won a 4-3 thriller against the Netherlands, which was marred by ugly scenes particularly one involving Germany's Guenther Hessler and Dutch player Aaron Wijnkamp, which saw midfielder Hessler spit in winger Wijnkamp's face. And Italy went away with the wooden spoon, and must play a World Cup play-off against Belgium next month, after losing 1-0 in Argentina coupled with France conjuring up a shock 1-1 draw in Spain.

International Friendly: England 5-0 Slovenia

CSA International Friendly - 5th September 2009

CSA England Stadium, London, England

John Carey romped to his first international hat-trick as the rising London Town star helped England crush Slovenia 5-0.

Peter Flint and Daniel Perry, wearing the captain's armband for the first time, scored the other goals.

Wisniewski completes deadline day Monsters move

Scotland striker Craig Wisniewski has completed his deadline-day move from FC London to Monsters FC.

The deal is worth £25m, making Wisniewski the most expensive Scottish player in CSA history.

Wisniewski handed in a transfer request from FC London in early August after a tumultuous 18 months in Red-and-White, where they made it to last year's Champions League final but lost to London United and were surprisingly knocked out of the last ever MLF play-offs by East Anglia Knights in the quarter-finals.

Perry pens mega deal

London Town captain Daniel Perry has signed new contract with the club - a record-breaking seven-year deal that sees him earn £250,000-a-week, which will make him the highest-paid player in BritLeague history.

The England CSA defender, who only joined Town last year while they were still known as Ajax London, has excelled after the former Barnsworth captain came to the club in July, immediately taking the armband and winning two CSA England Cups and a CSA England Super Cup.

"This club gonna be big for a long time yet," Perry stated in a press conference. "And I want to be apart of it."

"I came here to take this club forward. I want to be apart of the world domination this club's gonna get."

Perry started at Barnsworth since he was 14, and signed as a trainee at 17. With Barnsworth, he won the CSA Cup, two E-League titles and an E-League Cup. Shortly before his departure from Barns Park, then-teammate Adam Carter (who now plies his trade for East Anglia Knights) described him as "Mr. Barnsworth," a nickname that Perry apparently dislikes.

"Yeah, I love Barnsworth, I played for them for a decade, but I'm not Mr. Barnsworth anymore, and I never was. I'm a London Town player now, so why not call me Mr. London Town!" Perry joked.

CSA Club Challenge: London United 2-1 East Anglia Knights

London United won the CSA Club Challenge with goals from Craig CraiCo and Adam Stockwell.

CraiCo struck a 40-yard beauty past a bamboozled East Anglia Knights keeper in Mehdi Kaziri.

But East Anglia Knights new boy Peter Flint headed in the equaliser prior to Stockwell's last-gasp winner.

London Town through the CCC group stages

London Town eased through over their Finnish opponents Jyväskylä Warriors in the CSA Club Championship qualifiers with two 5-0 victories, giving them a 10-0 aggregate and a place in the group stages.

Town annihilated the Warriors in Finland, with goals from Scott Bridges, Kemal Kubilay, Shane Macdonald and a brace from Marek Pozanek.

And then Blues followed it up at HMV Park with another spanking of their opponents, with Gary Howard and Yannick Bourgeois scoring along with John Carey who scored the first hat-trick of his career, as the young 20-year-old striker is a serious contender for Newcomer of the Year in both the BritLeague and CSA Football.

To put insult to injury for the young Finnish team - who were only founded in 2005 - they finished the second leg with nine men after Hannanen and Myskaala were sent off.

Ruckus ease through in Tallinn

South Coast Ruckus eased through with a 4-0 aggregate win over Estonian side Tallinn Terror in the European qualifers for the CSA Club Championship.

Twin 2-0 victories in Southampton and Tallinn saw the Ruckus advance to the lucrative group stages.

Ryan Whyte and Michael Heany scored at St. Mary's in the first leg, while Marty King and Gareth Stretford scored at the A. Le Coq Arena.

Czechia Prague knock out ELF giants

Czech champions Czechia Prague caused a major upset by knocking ELF giants Amsterdam Attack by winning 2-2 on away goals in the CSA Champions League play-offs.

Attack won 2-1 in the first leg in Amsterdam, but Czechia claimed a famous one-nil victory in the 2nd leg, thus taking their place into the Group stage.

CCL Play-Offs 2nd Leg: Newcastle Geordies 4-0 Barnsworth (5-3 agg)

CSA Champions League play-offs 2nd leg

St. James Park, Newcastle-upon-Tyne

The Geordies crushed Barnsworth with four-goal display at St. James' to comeback from 3-1 to win 5-3 on aggregate.

Argentinian striker Alberto Nunez opened the scoring after 16 minutes, with Kevin "KevCo" Cohen, younger brother of Craig "CraiCo" Cohen, following it up only four mintues later.

And two last minute strikes from French international Sébastien Lacroix secured their place into the Group Stages.

Barnsworth manager Gianpaolo Mozzarella was disappointed in the manner in the way his side lost, stating: "It was a very poor performance. We defended terribly. But all credit to Newcastle for capitalizing on the errors we made."

Last year's Champions League finalists Barnsworth will now have to play in the CSA Club Championship this season but Mozzarella is confident his side will win it.

"We have a trophy-winning side... It's 15 matches, but it's possible we can go all the way," he said.

CCL Play-Offs 1st Leg: Barnsworth 3-1 Newcastle Geordies

2009-10 CSA Champions League Play-off Round 1st Leg

Barns Park, England

Barnsworth took the advantage in the first leg against Newcastle Geordies with a goal from skipper Johnny Bengtsson and a brace from Kiki Kizu.

Alberto Nunez however put the Geordies in front after 10 minutes.

Swedish defender Bengtsson headed home from a Demitrinho free-kick to put the Blues in front.

And then Croat striker Kizu scored two quick goals to give Barnsworth a good lead coming to the second leg in St James' Park.

CSA England Super Cup: London Town 6-4 London City

CSA England Cup winners London Town defeated E-League champions London City in a high-scoring all-London curtain raiser at the brand new CSA England Stadium.

Billy Bernhardt, John Carey, Andrea Romano, Ashton Reid, Daniel Perry and James Douglas all scored for Town, while City's Matt Collins scored a hat-trick and Chris Chaplow also scored.

City now will look forward to the E-League season which begins next week, as well as preparing for the CSA Champions League next month.

Town will now continue out the BritLeague season, as well as starting their campaign in the re-branded CSA Club Championship later this month.

Aussie Miljkovic defends Bullfighters move

Barcelona Bullfighters' new Australian defender John Miljkovic has defended his €18m (AUS$31m) move from Sydney KangaBlues, saying it was "time for a new challenge."

The 28-year-old has impressed many ELF and BritLeague clubs around the world after impressing for his country is last month's MegaCup, but KangaBlues chairman Jim Caldwell is concerned about the lure of players going to Europe.

"It is pandemic," says Caldwell. "But we have to take it on the chin."

CSA Champions League Final: London United 4-2 Barnsworth

Two goals from Craig "CraiCo" Cohen, a rare left-footed shot from John Macdonald and another history-making goal from Edward Redwood helped London United to a 4-2 Wembley win over a disappointing Barnsworth side to clinch their second Champions League triumph in as many years.

Redwood took only a minute to break the deadlock, running past a stunned Barnsworth defence and shooting past Marco Nina for the fastest goal ever scored in a CSA Champions League final. He has now scored in four consecutive finals - all of them on the winning side - although the first two were with FC London.

And CraiCo sent the blue sea of Barnsworth fans into awful silence as he doubled the lead after only 10 minutes' play.

The Blues however managed to nick one back, with Brazilian Kikao shooting past Simon Herding - who almost missed out on the final if it had not been for a reversal by the CSA after he was originally sent off in the semi-final against Monsters.

As the 45 minutes went, Barnsworth manager Carlos Guerrero must have had some strong words with his players in the team talk.

And only five minutes after the break, defender John Macdonald scored a rare left-footed strike after CraiCo's corner to restore the two-goal deficit for the Boys in Black.

And only two minutes later CraiCo scored his second to virtually wrap up the win for United.

However, Barnsworth weren't done, as Blues midfielder Mladen Topan got a goal with eight minutes on the clock, but it was too little too late.

It was to be a sad farewell for captain Shane Bentley in a Barnsworth shirt, as he already announced that he would sign for the Monsters when the transfer window reopens in July.

Bentley's counterpart Mark Strickland trudged up the hallowed Wembley steps and lifted the trophy as United continue to rule CSA club football.

Line-ups

London United:

GK 1 Herding

RB 2 Mitchell

CB 6 Macdonald

CB 26 Strickland (c)

LB 16 Cole

CM 4 Warhurst

CM 21 Joazinho

AM 24 CraiCo

RW 10 Redwood

CF 7 Coyne

LW 8 Rodrigo Santos

Coach: Robert Hutchinson

Barnsworth:

GK 1 Nina

RB 22 Baggola

CB 5 Bentley (c)

CB 27 Bengtsson

LB 3 Collins

DM 8 Kovacevic

CM 9 Davis

RM 17 Topan

LM 11 Cesar

AM 7 Kikao

CF 21 Kizu

Coach: Carlos Guerrero

Goals

LU : Redwood 1', CraiCo 10', 52', Macdonald 50'

BAR: Kikao 40', Topan 82'

Substitutions

LU : 10 Redwood off for 91 Davies 77', 7 Coyne off for 17 Morrissey 83', 8 Rodrigo Santos off for 9 Paulo Valente 87'

BAR: 22 Baggola off for 15 Sedgwick 73', 3 Collins off for 4 Aaron Adams 73', 7 Kikao off for 14 Davies 82'

Yellow Cards

LU : Coyne 46', Davies 87'

BAR: None

Panasonic Man of the Match

Craig CraiCo (LU, 2 goals)

CSA Cup Final: East Anglia Knights 2-0 Rome Rage

Adam Carter's brace gave East Anglia Knights more silverware as they won the last ever CSA Cup over Italian Euro League side Rome Rage in Munich.

Carter found space in the Rome Rage defence when Andrew Corne Cezza put him through after 38 minutes, and the 24-year-old England striker's shot was too much for keeper Pietro Dickens.

And the Knights suddenly found themselves up another goal six minutes later, Carter punishing some poor Rage defending.

The Rage created one notable chance, when Michele Bortogomi's cross was met by goal-hungry striker Andrea Romano - the top scorer in this season's campaign - but he headed wide past Mehdi Kaziri's goal.

Carter was taken off, with a raucous applause from the 17,000 Knights fans, who travelled all the way to Germany for the final, making way for teenage rookie Colin Wreck.

And the 18-year-old substitute headed wide after a brilliant cross from Karlo Krzystofski.

Adam Gaffney became the last man to lift the CSA Cup trophy - as it will be rebranded as the CSA Club Championship next season - as the Knights made sure the trophy stayed in England, after the Monsters won it last year.

Line-ups

EAK: Kaziri; Easton, Davies, Gaffney (c), Skinner; Kristianski, Pfertzl, Basingstoke, Cezza; Krzystofski, Carter
ROM: Dickens; Lo Fresco, Francescato (c), Caporaso, Bortogomi; De Caprio, Popovich, Belzotta, Protti; Flaviorini, Romano

Goals

EAK: Carter 38', 44'
ROM: None

Substitutions

EAK: 10 Carter off for 90 Wreck 75'
ROM: 19 Protti off for 5 Maglione 56', 17 Popovich off for 28 Parrotta 59', 8 Belzotta off for 18 Morini 87'

Yellow Cards

EAK: Skinner 75'
ROM: None

Nike Man of the Match

Adam Carter (EAK, 2 goals)

Canada 0-1 Argentina

Wednesday 11th February - Friendly
Commonwealth Stadium, Edmonton, Canada

Argentina scraped an unconvincing win in Canada, with a late goal from Julio Marconi.

The home defence rarely looked troubled, until Marconi's last-minute deflection.

Sweden 2-0 Norway

Wednesday 11th February - Friendly
Ullevi, Gothenburg, Sweden

Two headers from John Bengtsson were enough for Sweden to see off their Scandinavian rivals Norway.

England 2-1 USA

Wednesday 11th February - Friendly
T-Mobile Stadium, London

England came back from 1-0 down with two headers from John Macdonald against the USA.

The US took a shock lead after only four minutes after Marcus Holmgren's corner was met by the head of skipper Jimmy-Jack Perry.

England didn't look prepared for the American corner as Baltimore Blues defender Perry was unmarked.

But London United's young centre-back Macdonald responded with two quick headers from set pieces in the second half.

Italy 2-0 Austria

Tuesday 10th February - Friendly
Giants Stadium, New Jersey, USA

The Milanese brothers - Marco and Nick - scored the goals as Italy beat Austria in front of 60,000 at Giants Stadium.

Santos is CSA's Player of the Year

London United's Brazilian forward Rodrigo Santos is 2008's CSA World Player of the Year, becoming the youngest player to do so.

Brazil CSA International Santos, who just turned 20 this week, beat teammates CraiCo and last year's winner Redwood to the title.