Italy thanks Zidane for their trophy. Even pundits at renowned British publications like The Guardian have to throw their hands up occasionally when questioned about some of the more obscure teams and player in the World Cup. For a lot of Americans, the whole event seems cool, but getting up to speed can be daunting. Behold, the Easiest Way to Get Up to Speed on the World Cup! 1) The Unlikely Fan http://theunlikelyfan.blogspot.com/ The site only has 3 posts, but man are they epic posts. If you follow American sports at all, your top priority is to read their comparison of each World Cup squad to an American sports team. 2) ESPN's Top 50 Players http://soccernet.espn.go.com/world-cup/story/_/page/worldcup101-03012010/ce/us/top-50-players-2010-world-cup?cc=5901&ver=us This will be more helpful once we get to the elimination rounds, but any time you're sitting down to watch a match, it's worth a scan to see if there are any dudes in particular to keep an eye on. Like any list of top 50 blabbity-blahs, there's plenty to argue with here, but this is a well-thought-out stab (even if Steven Gerrard's ranking is based solely on rep). 3) The Guardian World Cup Guide http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/worldcup2010 This thing is jam packed. But my favorite part is the Fans' Network. Normally, sports sites fall on their face when recruiting fans to discuss any sporting event -- they typically select for people as vapid and cliche-driven as their hacks. But the Guardian, as always, seems to be the exception. Before each game, I recommend reading the fan previews for the teams involved -- they are frank, concise, and sometimes amusing. Just scroll down that homepage to "fan previews" for each group. Ta-dah! Those three simple steps will give you a leg up on your officemates, family, friends, and weird-guy-sitting-next-to-you-at-the-pub. Enjoy the footy and come back here to chat about it! @Pandagoal

Arsenal/Man U highlights the week, La Liga returns, and great games in all three other big Euro leagues (AC/ Inter in Italy, Marseille/Bordeaux in France, Bayern/Wolfsburg in Germany) All times Central Premier League Saturday 6:40 am: Burnley @ Chelsea, ESPN2 HD, live 8:30 am: Liverpool @ Bolton, Setanta, live 9 am: Birmingham City @ Tottenham Hotspur, FSC/FSE, live 11 am: Arsenal @ Manchester United, FSC/FSE, live 5:45 pm: West Ham @ Blackburn, Setanta, delayed 11 pm: Hull City @ Wolves, Setanta, delayed Sunday 7:25 am: Manchester City @ Portsmouth, Setanta, live 9 am: Wigan @ Everton, FSC/FSE, live 7 pm: Fulham @ Aston Villa, FSC, delayed 11 pm: Fulham @ Aston Villa, FSE, delayed

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Does Europe not have delay? Are all the games available played live? In other words, is it REALLY SO HARD for the British announcers to refrain from discussing other Champions League qualifying matches while calling their own? I'm just saying.

Second weekend of EPL (multiple games in HD!), return legs of the Champions League, and the Italian flopping begins. All times Central Premier League Saturday 8:55 am: Portsmouth @ Arsenal, Setanta, live 8:55 am: Blackburn @ Sunderland, Setanta Xtra, live 8:55 am: Manchester United @ Wigan, ESPN2 HD, live 9 am: Wolves @ Manchester City, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports Espanol, live 1 pm: Bolton @ Hull City, Fox Sports Espanol, delayed 4 pm: Bolton @ Hull City, Fox Soccer Channel, delayed 5:45 pm: Blackburn @ Sunderland, Setanta, delayed 7:30 pm: Stoke City @ Birmingham City, Setanta, delayed Sunday 7:25 am: Tottenham Hotspur @ West Ham United, Setanta, live 10 am: Chelsea @ Fulham, Fox Soccer Channel, live 5 pm: Everton @ Burnley, Fox Soccer Channel, delayed 6:30 pm: Chelsea @ Fulham, Fox Sports Espanol, delayed 9 pm: Manchester City @ Wigan (MUTV), Setanta, delayed Monday 2 pm: Aston Villa @ Liverpool, ESPN2 HD, live

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The EPL gets going this weekend and has around round of games at mid-week. There is still uncertainty about the 6:45 Saturday morning game; let's hope Setanta and ESPN2 work it out. Also, Fox starts their Champions League coverage this week, highlighted by Arsenal/Celtic live in HD on FSN this Tuesday at 1:30. All times Central Premier League Saturday 6:45 am: Hull City @ Chelsea, ESPN2 (?), live 9 am (coverage at 8:30 am): Manchester City @ Blackburn Rovers, Setanta, live 9 am: Wigan @ Aston Villa, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports Espanol, live 9 am: West Ham @ Wolves, Setanta Xtra, live 11:30 am: Arsenal @ Everton, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports Espanol, live 1:30 pm: Burnley @ Stoke City, Fox Soccer Channel, delayed 4 pm: West Ham @ Wolves, Setanta, delayed 5:45 pm: Fulham @ Portsmouth, Setanta, delayed Sunday 7:25 am: Birmingham City @ Manchester United, Setanta, live 10 am: Liverpool @ Tottenham Hotspur, Fox Soccer Channel, Fox Sports Espanol, live 9 pm: Hull City @ Chelsea (Chelsea TV), Setanta, delayed

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So The Gaffer at EPLTalk broke the story last week that ESPN2 would be carrying Premier League games in the USA. They've already scooped up all of Setanta's games in the UK, and fretting over their potential blundering of the coverage has become a pastime of its own across the pond.
Beautiful or ugly? Meanwhile, part of Setanta's EPL package in the US was actually sub-licensed from FOX, namely the 7:45am ET Saturday game and the 3pm ET Monday game. That package has been removed from Setanta's US listings and was precisely what The Gaffer's sources said would be part of ESPN2. But ESPN has made no official announcement of Premier League games being shown on their network in the US, and now the Orlando Sentinel has received this terse reply to an inquiry about it:

ESPN has not acquired the rights to EPL matches in the U.S.

So that's odd. Setanta lost the FOX licensed games, but ESPN claims they haven't picked them up. The Gaffer has a long history of getting these things right, but if this were true, you'd think ESPN would want to promote the Chelsea-Hull City game this Saturday that'd be part of the package. That game features one of the most popular teams in the US and another that just added a US striker to its roster. ESPN2 may not be "native" to soccer, but if they showed Premier Games in HD, I'd listen to babies screaming. I'd listen to nails on the chalkboard. I'd listen to Andy Gray.