And mind you, it took a little while before we had a winner.

Exhausted and out of breath, the players knew just one goal would be enough to win the elusive 2010 FIFA World Cup for their nation.

As the clock ticked toward penalty kicks, the shivering crowd at Soccer City Stadium grew anxious. Spain or the Netherlands would win its first championship. That is if somebody can find the back of the net.

Andres Iniesta did, and Spain rules the soccer world at long, long last. “We have all done an incredible job,” Andres Iniesta said Sunday night, shortly after the 1-0 extra-time victory. “I don’t think we even realize what we have done.”

They beat the Netherlands on Sunday to go one better than the European title Espana won in 2008. Spain won its last four games by a score of 1-0 — a tight margin that characterized the month-long tournament. The World Cup featured a record 31 one-goal decisions out of 64 matches — four more than the previous high set in 2002, according to STATS LLC.

This final was a physical test of attrition that sometimes turned dirty — a finals-record 14 yellow cards were handed out and the Dutch finished with 10 men. In the end, it was Iniesta breaking free in the penalty area, taking a pass from Cesc Fabregas and putting a right-footed shot from 8 yards just past the outstretched arms of goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg with about seven minutes left to play, including…

That only means one thing, this rivalry between Contador and Lance Armstrong just went up a notch.

Alberto Contador proved last Sunday that he is the sport’s next big star after winning Stage 15 of the 2009 Tour de France. The win also let Contador seize the yellow jersey, something he and his teammate, Lance Armstrong, have been salivating over ever since we kicked it off in Monaco.

While Alberto Contador had one of the best performances of his career to take the lead in the standings, Lance Armstrong had one of his worst. Armstrong finished in ninth place, finishing a minute and a half behind Contador. And because of his somewhat unimpressive performance, he sees his chances of an eight Tour de France title, fading.

”It will be hard. A day like this really shows who’s the best, and I wasn’t on par with what is required to win the Tour,” Lance Armstrong said. ”That’s the reality; that’s not devastating news or anything.”

”I gave it everything that I had, and I wasn’t the best.”

Being the best is what Alberto Contador is hoping to be once Armstrong walks away from the sport for good. He finally recovered the celebrated yellow jersey, something he hadn’t worn since his Tour victory two years ago, and now that he has, he’s making it clear that he is the man to beat this year.

And as far as his Astana teammate, Lance Armstrong is…

In case you didn’t know, Beckham was back in LA.

And it was only a matter of time before David Beckham played in his first home game with the Los Angeles Galaxy. The problem is, it was against the very team he wanted to save him from MLS soccer for good, AC Milan.

Five months ago, the Los Angeles Galaxy sent David Beckham on loan to AC Milan. It turned out to be a wrong move in LA’s part since it was then when Becks realized just how much better playing for Milan is than with the Galaxy in the MLS. When Beckham pleaded the Galaxy to make his move to Europe permanent, soccer fans from Los Angeles were not happy and they made sure Beckham will know just how unhappy they were last Sunday.

Playing in his first home game with the Los Angeles Galaxy against AC Milan, David Beckham got a somewhat hostile reception. Yes, Beckham was booed the whole time he was on the pitch. Heck, the jeering got worse to the point that Beckham confronted a fan at halftime.

Yup, the frequent booing and derisive banners clearly angered Beckham. With homemade signs that have messages directed at Beckham like, ”Go home fraud” with a red slash through his no.23 jersey number, ”23: Repent,” ”Hey Becks, Here Before You, Here After You, Here Despite You,” and ”Is evil something u are… or something u do,” Beckham has every right to be pissed.

Of course, Beckham can only blame himself and his…

Apparently, the 37-year-old Texan wants more pain.

With still more than a few stages left in the 2009 Tour de France, seven-time winner Lance Armstrong is already looking towards the future.

You see, Lance Armstrong was asked by a pesky French reporter whether he’ll be back in the Tour de France next year or will this be his last one and guess what, the 37-year-old, who is competing in his first Tour since 2005, told that reporter that this won’t be his last one.

”Probably not. Probably not,” Lance Armstrong said. ”Maybe one more Tour.” Yes, Armstrong is so sure that he’ll be back next year that he made sure of it TWICE.

Armstrong also believes that there won’t be any major changes as far as the standings are concerned on this year’s Tour. According to Armstrong, that’ll happen once they get to Stage 15.

”There’s not going to be a lot of change until Verbier,” Armstrong said, referring to the grueling 15th stage between Pontarlier, France, and Verbier, Switzerland. ”We’ll have more moments there when we’ll see who’s truly the strongest.”

”I think that’s where the race is going to be decided,” he added of the Alps. ”The combination of those days from Colmar…”

Cavendish will go for his third straight win on Thursday.

The 2009 Tour de France continues its eastward journey across central France with Stage 12 running between Tonnerre and Vittel.

And as far as Mark Cavendish is concerned, he wants to win this one too. You see, he’s been riding on some kind of momentum lately that got him winning the last two races of the Tour. Thanks to Cavendish, the standings remain the same with Rinaldo Nocentini holding on to the yellow jersey, Alberto Contador second and Lance Armstrong remaining third overall.

The win also let Mark Cavendish take the green jersey from Thor Hushovd. ”I was able to get the jump on Thor and win, so it was perfect,” Cavendish said. ”It was just beautiful the way the guys could adapt to the situation and deliver me to the sprint.”

As big as this win was for Cavendish, don’t expect him to settle because we are entering to the crucial parts of the 2009 Tour de France where anything can happen, including Lance Armstrong catching up to the yellow jersey.

With stage 12 of the 2009 Tour de France running between Tonnerre and Vittel, the advantage now shifts to the breakaways as the race climbs six categorized climbs. None of the climbs on the menu are especially difficult. The constant up and down should enable the attackers to elude capture and contest the stage victory.

It’s a day of wine and water, as…

Nine stages have passed and Lance is still playing catch-up.

It’s been more of the same as far as the standings in the 2009 Tour de France is concerned. Rinaldo Nocentini has been hanging on to his spot on top and guess what, after nine stages, it hasn’t changed.

Yes, Nocentini is still hanging on to the yellow jersey Sunday as Frenchman Pierrick Fedrigo won the race’s ninth stage held over 160.5km from Saint Gaudens to Tarbes.

Fedrigo, who rides for the Bbox-Bouygues team, handed the hosts their third stage win from this year’s race after outsprinting breakaway companion Franco Pellizotti at the finish line. It is Fedrigo’s second stage win on the world’s biggest cycling tournament, having claimed his maiden win in 2006.

The main peloton containing all the race favorites came over the finish line 34 secs later, having failed to close the gap to the leading pair on the 70.1km descent leading from the summit of the Col du Tourmalet to Tarbes.

On the third and final day in the Pyrenees and ahead of the race’s first rest day on Monday, Rinaldo Nocentini maintained his 06-second lead on Spain’s 2007 Tour de France champion, Alberto Contador.

Lance Armstrong, Contador’s teammate at Astana, is…

That’s right, the annual cycling event nobody probably gives a shit about anymore is on.

Lance Armstrong is attempting the impossible by going for an eighth title in the 2009 Tour de France, the world’s toughest cycling tournament. It is no surprise that the main plot will focus on a certain larger-than-life Texan who has come out of retirement to reclaim his spot on top of the sport. Can he do it?

If you really want to know, Lance Armstrong believes so. The Texan believes he still has the strength in his legs and the wind in his lungs to take an eighth yellow jersey.

But the odds are stacked against him.

At the age of 37, he will have to defy biology and the history books to end up with the yellow jersey in Paris in three weeks time. No rider has won the race at his age before. The oldest winner of the Tour was 36 when Firmin Lambot won way back in 1922. But despite this, it would still be unwise to bet against Lance Armstrong. How come? In case you missed it, his name is still Lance Armstrong.

Whether Armstrong can be on top of the Tour de France again or not, one thing is absolutely clear, him being back is good news to a sport riddled by controversy the last couple of years.

”He’s one of the biggest legends in the sport and the influence he has had has been absolutely incredible and for him to come back shows a lot of courage,” veteran Tour de France rider Stuart O’Grady said. ”It is also great publicity for the sport whether or not he wins.”

If there’s this one guy who can give Lance Armstrong a…

FINALLY, after all the doping scandals that have plagued this year’s Tour, we finally have a winner.

Of course, I won’t be surprised if this guy gets tested positive for dope as well but for now, Spain’s Carlos Sastre will be recognized as the winner of the 2008 Tour de France.

10 days have passed since we last saw another guy tested positive for performance enhancing drugs. And when the Tour concluded last Sunday with Carlos Sastre being crowned champion, guess what, another doping allegation came out of the woodwork.

He he… You read it. These doping scandals have tagged along with this year’s Tour from start to finish and it was only fitting that we have one last one before they crown a new champion.

This time, according to the head of France’s anti-doping agency Pierre Bordry, it was Dmitriy Fofonov who was tested positive for a ”very heavy dose” of…

Aside from Cadel Evans of course.

The 2008 Tour de France is almost ready to conclude despite all these doping scandals that have fucked it up for us already.

Of course, this year’s Tour is still something Cadel Evans to lose. He already has a firm grasp on that title and if everything works out as planned, I won’t be surprised to see this guy winning it. So who else will win this year’s Tour if Evans finds himself being tested positive for performance enhancing drugs? (Hey, you never really know right?) Hopefully, these guys won’t be tested positive for dope.

First we have Damiano Cunego. He has shown considerable growth as a rider since winning the 2004 Giro d’Italia, the type of results and maturity that is needed to win the world’s biggest cycling race.

The 26-year-old won the young rider classification in his only Tour de France appearance in 2006 but failed to live up to his earlier promise until he won the Giro di Lombardia last fall. Add to the fact that he is a former winner of the Giro d’Italia, the ”little prince” who rides for Lampre is a huge talent in stage racing, especially in the mountains. Next we have Alejandro Valverde. Known as the ‘Green Bullet’ in some circles, he might just be blasting his way to the top of the Tour de France podium.

The 28 year-old Spaniard from Murcia who was brilliant throughout 2006 has that same spark this…

Now THAT was only a matter of time.

After 10 stages of the 2008 Tour de France got off with just one steroids scandal, it seems the sport was finally free of doping issues until this year’s Tour concludes. When the 11th stage got here Wednesday, guess what, another doping scandal erupted.

You read it, after Kurt-Asle Arvesen won the 11th stage of the 2008 Tour de France, a much bigger news story (for some reason) came out after Spain’s Moises Duenas Nevado was tested positive for the banned performance enhancer EPO.

The arrest of Moises Duenas Nevado is this year’s second arrest for performance enhancing drugs. That’s probably why it left International Cycling Union president Pat McQuaid puzzled why their cyclists just keep on biting the ”enhancing” dust.

”I just can’t understand when are these guys are going to learn,” Pat McQuaid said. ”If the ‘B’ sample is positive, then all I can say is the guy’s a fool. The net is closing in.”

”The Tour is the biggest event in the world and people will…”