The World Cup may be over, but the summer international tournaments continue – and so do the world class displays. In the UEFA Under-19 Championship quarterfinal match between Spain and Italy, the new world champions showed they are extending their dominance to all age levels by beating the Italians 3-0 and progressing through to the semi-finals.

What really stood out about this match was a very special penalty kick by Ezequeil Calvente to put Spain 3-0 up. The video shows the penalty in question, and at first there doesn’t seem to be anything that remarkable about it – the goalkeeper just goes the wrong way, and Calvente puts it in the right corner. The replay, however, shows just exactly he managed to trick the goalkeeper – by stepping over to his left foot in the last moment and completely fooling his opponent about where he’s going to put it. This is a trick one tries sometimes in training, but it rarely pays off. It is very hard to keep your balance and produce a powerful shot with this trick, but Calvente does it perfectly. In fact, it’s a better penalty that anything we saw at the World Cup this summer. One wonders if Ghana’s Gyan is still having nightmares about his infamous miss…

Looks like Spain already have their sights set on defending their title in four years time. With upcoming talent and confidence like this, it will take something amazing to stop them.

The hottest time for transfers is always the window after the world cup, when clubs do their best to attract the stars that shined at the biggest competition on Earth. The problem with this World Cup is that it was more of a team-effort story for many teams, and there weren’t that many individual performances. The Golden ball winner, for example, is 32 years old, and I don’t think Forlan would want to leave Atletico Madrid anyway.

Nonetheless, many German players have understandably caught the eye of prospective buyers. Werder Bremen’s Ozil is the most wanted man, with top clubs like Manchester United, Real Madrid and Barcelona reported to be interested in him. The golden-boot winner, Muller, along with the other strikers like Klose and Podowski, are also fancied by many teams. Which to be is honest is a bit funny, since these players rarely perform that good at club level. They have technical ability, there’s no denying that, but I don’t think any of them have the potential to be world superstars. They get motivated and organized for the national team, but don’t offer that much at club level. It’s a fact that has been true for some time now, and I would be surprised if it changes soon.

I for one am interested to see if anyone will take a chance at North Korea’s players. They certainly showed they were no pushovers, at least in the Brazil game. Currently only one of them plays outside his home country, but I’d like to see a few of them in the Champions League (for smaller clubs) this coming season.

Although it keeps the French name, it’s still not clear how the award will be decided though. The first was decided by football journalists, while the FIFA one in a more complicated system involving the votes of managers and players from around the world. The latter is definitely more meaningful, however, as it is given by people who have actually played the game and know what its like to be a player.

A cynical side may suggest that the move is also done to make sure fewer players get the “Best Player of the World” curse that seems to befall a great number of the winners of this prize. It seems like as soon as you win one of these awards, you can never recapture the form that put you up there. Ronaldinho, Kaka, Ronaldo, and most recently Messi have all suffered the same fate. While they have enjoyed various success in club level, they all failed to reproduce this form at the international stage, with this world cup being the most prominent example. Ronaldo described himself as a “broken man” when Portugal went out to Spain, while Messi, who failed to score a single goal, was sobbing in the dressing room after the crushing defeat to Germany.

Well, it might not be a direct response to Adidas’s ad, but Nike have certainly brought the roof down with an absolutely epic World Cup commercial. They had film director Alejandro González Iñárritu make it, and he doesn’t spare any resources.

The ad shows international stars such as Drogba, Rooney, Ribery, Ronaldhino and Ronaldo living out fantasies and nightmares on the pitch, where they either turn into national heroes or end up living in trailers. It’s both hilarious and awesome, with Rooney’s bits standing out the most I’d say. There’s even a cameo for tennis grand star Roger Federer who gets creamed at ping pong by Rooney in one of the fantasies. Homer Simpson’s Ronal-d’oh! is funny too.

The only thing not quite right is that Nike apparently forgot to ask Brazil coach Dunga whether he would be selecting Ronaldhino. It doesn’t make much sense, but the AC Milan playmaker was left out of the squad, and so we won’t be seeing the tricks he pulls off in this video at the World Cup. I suppose Dunga is determined to install more practicality and less trickery in his squad this time around.

Otherwise, if this doesn’t get you pumped for the World Cup, I’m not sure what will. One can watch this commercial over and over again and not get tired. I’d say it’s up there with the best, along with Eric Cantona’s Elvis Presley ad, which was played on long after it first aired.

You’ve got to hand it to Adidas – they know how to make some seriously cool soccer commercials. Their latest one, which promotes the F50 adiZero boots, features Lionel Messi and David Villa in a blistering race around a football field. It is intercut with French legend Zinadine Zidane driving around town at top speed at night, creating a truly electrifying ad.

It’s no coincidence that Messi and Villa were chosen to show off the new boots, as both rely heavily not only on their skill, but also their speed. The F50 adiZeros are revolutionary in a number of different ways, though most interesting is how extremely lightweight they are. Believe or not, they weigh only 165 grams. Messi, who will be wearing the boots at the World Cup, has praised them by saying he can “barely feel them” on his feet.

The SprintSkin upper allegedly feels just like a second skin and fits perfectly over the foot, while the Ultra Light insole reduces weight as much as possible. The three-dimensional bridges of the Spring Frame outsole improves stability and holds up the frame, while the triangular stud provides for faster acceleration. This also supports the side movements, making the boot well-shaped all-around. Strength is increased by the Thermo Polyurethane (TPU) bands in the internal layer, which are also used in soccer jerseys.

There is no denying this is an impressive accessory, but how big of a difference will it make at the World Cup? Well, we’ll find out in a few weeks.

Soon, the other players gathered around Goran Tunjic, and the referee finally realized his mistake. He called for help, and 32 year-old Tunjic was rushed to the hospital, but medics could not revive him.

The game was abandoned at 0-0, and his teammates were left shocked. No one was aware of him having any previous medical conditions, and a spokesman said “he just fell dead on the spot”.

Doctors say he was struck down by a massive heart attack, and even if the referee had reacted quicker, it probably still would have been too late. Also you can’t really blame him anyway, as there is no way he could have known the player suffered such a real and fatal injury. It goes to show you that these tragic things can happen even to tested athletes, and that one should always monitor one’s condition at all times.

It’s not often that you get 12 goals in a single top-flight game, let alone a tie with such a big result. But that is exactly what Motherwell and Hibernian delivered in a 6-6 thriller, which was the highest scoring game in the history of the Scottish Premier League.

What is even more amazing is that the score was 2-6 to the visitors with a bit more than 20 minutes remaining, before Motherwell pulled off an incredible four-goal comeback. The home side even had time to miss a penalty just before the 90th minute, before Lukas Jutkiewicz tied up the game in injury-time with a real firecracker of a volley.

Keep in mind also that this was no friendly end-of-the-season game, this was a battle for a Europa League spot that both sides were going for. With this comeback, Motherwell keep their ambitions on track, while Hibs will certainly be kicking themselves for failing to hold on to such a big lead. Just goes to show you that no lead is big enough if you get too overconfident.

Another set of people that are going to feel quite silly are the Motherwell fans you see leaving at around the 3:10 mark, though I don’t think anyone could have predicted they were going to miss one of the biggest goal-feasts in Europe this season.

There were a number of great strikes amongst the 12 goals, but fittingly enough the last one by Jutkiewicz was the sweetest. What a volley indeed.

So is there something to this, and did Liverpool and Lazio lose on purpose? As fiercely as some fans would like to contest these accusations, I’d say it’s a bit far-fetched. No, they might not have exactly given it their all as if it was their most important game of the season, but Liverpool and Lazio are two proud clubs who wouldn’t participate in such a thing. Of course, there were some sections of their supporters that actually cheered on their team losing, but not the majority I’d say.

Roma’s president seems to have taken the allegations a bit more seriously than Alex Ferguson, but then he has to remember than Lazio also lost at home to Roma themselves, and gave them a big boost. Similarly, Man United were beaten at home by Chelsea in the crucial match last month, so at the end of the day the rightful teams will lift the trophies.

It was a week of firsts in Europe, with Roy Hodgson leading Fulham to their first ever Europa Cup final, but another English manager that achieved history was Steve McLaren with Dutch side FC Twente. After being sacked by England for failing to qualify the country for the Euro 2008 finals, few would have predicted such great success for him so soon, but he has now won Twente’s first ever league title in their 45-year history.

Their clinched the title with a 2-0 victory over NAC Breda on the final day of the season, just about edging out Martin Jol’s Ajax. With this they make amends for finishing 2nd last season, and show just how big of an effect McLaren has had on the team.

Many of his critics also forget that before he took the English job he also lead Middleborough to their first UEFA (Europa) Cup final, another grand achievement, considering the club now find themselves lingering in the Championship. I think it goes to show that McLaren is definitely a great coach, but his shortcomings come when dealing with big superstar players, such as the England squad. For such a team you need a man with great discipline and a no-nonsense personality, which is just what Capello has brought to the plate.

With their victory, Twente will play in the Champions League group stages for the first time, and it will be interesting to see how far they can reach there too.

Talk about a bombshell. Three days before Hamburg’s crucial Europa League semi-final against Fulham, with the aggregate score at 0-0, the club have sacked their coach Bruno Labbadia. This firing followed Hamburg’s heavy 5-1 defeat to Hoffenheim, and a string of very disappointing results in the Bundesliga, which left the club at 7th place, with little chance of qualifying for Europe directly. Their only hope now is to actually win the Europa Cup so they can compete for it next year as well, something they would be favorites for should they reach the final, which will be played at their own stadium.

To sack your coach in the middle of a semi-final tie is by all means a desperate measure, however, and Hamburg chairman Bernd Hoffmann was the first to admit that. In an interview to the press, he claimed this measure was taken to ensure the team retain a chance of beating Fulham. Whatever one thinks of Labbadia’s coaching abilites, however, I can’t imagine how the chairman or anyone else believes that such a change only a few days from the game can have a hugely positive effect. Even if they somehow manage to get a new manager before Thursday, there is no one in the world that can drastically improve a team in so short a period.

The tie is still finely balanced at 50/50, so maybe Mr. Hoffmann believes the slightest of tweaks can make the difference. It’s possible, so lets see if this master plan of his works out when it‘s kickoff-time.