The Peas, the first Irish side ever to make the latter stages of a European club competition, provided very good value for their partisan home crowd and matched PSG woman for woman until the French professional side's superior stamina and physicality kicked on as the game wore on.

In fact, Peamount should have been ahead before substitute Nora Coton-Pelagi's speculative shot found the bottom corner of Linda Meehan's goal after taking a huge deflection off Louise Quinn who had tried to block the shot.

Sara Lawlor and Quinn both went close in the space of a couple of minutes in an extremely tight first half. Firstly Lawlor, who put in a sterling performance as the Peas' loan striker, forced Veronique Pons into making a smart save at her near post after she had ghosted past the tackle of PSG's captain Lea Rubio.

The resulting corner was whipped in with incredible pace by the impressive Steph Roche and with the goal at her mercy, Louise Quinn seemingly headed over with Pons beaten.

However, after talking to the midfielder after the match it became apparent that Laure Lepailleur had reached the ball just a fraction of a second before the Irish international to make a dramatic clearance.

After the match Quinn said "I wished I had touched it because I know I would have scored, but she just got there ahead of me."

It was just one of a whole string of last-ditch saves by Lepailleur during the match with the French star easily standing out as PSG's best player on the night.

Quinn for her part was equally as impressive and patrolled midfield superbly with the aid of Roche, on-loan Doncaster Belle, Aine O'Gorman, Ruth Comerford and Wendy McGlone.

The Peas manager, Eileen Gleeson, made a couple of early changes in the second half in an effort at introducing some more energy to her side but the phenomenal exertions of a match against a professional side eventually took their toll, as PSG went on to dominate the late exchanges with two late goals.

"We knew what their shape would be like and what they would do and we set our tactics out to get to them. But the two late goals really caught us, especially the last one in added time. We're unhappy at falling asleep with that one."

Getting to the knockout stages of a European competition is an historic achievement for Irish football; no other side has ever progressed as far and despite the loss, this is where she and Peamount will aspire to be from now on.

"It was great in playing in a game like this. We've never seen such a big crowd except in an international game. Playing against teams like that [PSG] was just so special. You'd love to be playing against teams like that every week; this is the highest level you can get at club level apart from the final."

Looking forward to the return leg in Paris on October 5, an upbeat Quinn remained confident of turning the tie around, saying:

"It's only halftime and I know it's 2-0 and we should have kept it 0-0 or 1-0 but it'll be a huge game next week and we'll come out all guns blazing because we have a chance."

Eileen Gleeson, the Peas manager, spoke at length after the game and said that the second goal in injury time had really taken its toll on her team after its fantastic effort.

"Overall we're very disappointed with the second goal. It came three minutes into injury time and I was saying to the girls to just lock it up. But we were a little nervous and just got caught out.

The girls are so disappointed with the second goal. It would have been so much easier to go away with just one goal behind but we're going to throw everything at them [in the return leg].

But I thought we showed great strength and stamina against a professional side and to get caught so late...Their quality showed and we're coming off the back of a long season while they're just finished preseason."

While Gleeson was thoroughly impressed with the overall performance of her own team she reserved special praise for Sara Lawlor who ploughed a lone furrow up front all night.

"She was really excellent, she covered a lot of ground and that pitch is really big when you're out there on your own. She got caught out with a few offsides but overall she was excellent."

The crowd, a record 2,109 for Peamount, really made a difference when PSG started to gain a foothold in the game and Gleeson was quick to heap praise and thanks on their support.

"The support was really just phenomenal. To get over 2,000 at a game is just amazing and I'd just like to say thanks to everyone."

Eventually the conversation gets around to the growing shadow that Irish teams have always had to compete with: bigger teams coming in to poach their players.

While a game like this last-32 against PSG brings huge prestige to the league and Peamount in particular it also represents an opportunity for scouts from professional leagues in America and England to watch the talent on show.

"That's always there. We'll always be competing with scholarships to America and with girls going over to the Super League in England but our own National League will be critical and now that is in place. So that gives our players more of a chance to play at the elite level in the future."

But, the best players are going to want to play with the best clubs and with [our] excellent facilities, excellent structure and brilliant underage section, we are going to attract those kinds of players [in Ireland].

Just like her captain, Quinn, Gleeson remains optimistic about the Peas' chances next week.

"We'll watch the game and go over things that we can improve little mistakes like offsides and things, those are things we can correct straightaway and we'll look to improve in the areas where they were stronger.

We matched them in a lot of places and we can get at them next week."

Peamount may be down, but they are definitely not out of this tie just yet.

Read more International Football news on BleacherReport.com

Hi, I'm Willie and I'll be your guide through what should be another important night in the race to Poland and the Ukraine for Euro 2012. As well as providing a live minute-by-minute for the Irish game I'll be providing updates for the rest of the Euro 2012 qualifiers.

You can join in the minute-by-minute by either leaving a comment on the bottom of the article or by leaving a message via Twitter on @WillieGannon or #BRFootball.

Read more International Football news on BleacherReport.com

FIFA Russian to Humiliate England

Was England's elimination at the first hurdle a slap-down from FIFA? One would have to suggest that it was.

Voting over the two rounds looked like this.

2018 World Cup Bid

Round 1: Russia 9, Spain/Portugal 7, Netherlands/Belgium 4, England 2. (England eliminated).

Round 2: Russia 13, Spain/Portugal 7, Netherlands/Belgium 2. (Russia wins with majority).

As you can plainly see from the way voting transpired, England was strategically voted out of contention. The Netherlands/Belgium bid garnered four votes in the first phase but that strangely dropped to two votes in the second phase leaving one with the conclusion that voters chose to pick a loser rather than vote for England.

Why vote the Benelux bid through in Round 1 only to remove your vote in Round 2 when the odds of progressing have strengthened?

Spain and Portugal fell victim to the same deceptions that the England bid fell to when they declared that they had eight votes last week. "All the fish are sold" will go down in football folklore as one of the great quotes but Sportugal were really "counting their eggs before they were hatched."

Perhaps their declaration of having eight votes guaranteed was the Iberian bid team's last roll of the dice against a very well run Russian bid. This bluff/statement was designed for one purpose: to make Sportugal look like a better option than Winston Churchill's "riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma."

In the end they only took seven votes, which stayed faithful until Round 2 where Russia conceivably took England's two floating votes and two surprising voters that jumped from the Netherlands/Belgium bid.

All of the bidding nations for the 2018 bid had strong cases. Each deserved to host the tournament.

Ironically, the common perception of FIFA is that it is an all encompassing power and money-obsessed machine. If it was all those things then England's bid represented the easy way out. David Cameron, Prince William, David Beckham, David Dein and Andy Anson put forward a very strong bid. It provided the best technical bid and best economic report but still found itself falling at the first hurdle as FIFA chose the riskier gamble, but not by much, of Russia.

The choice of Russia over its three rivals is a huge one. This is chance for a sporting organisation to have a massive influence on one of the most important countries in the world. The World Cup in 2018 will force Vladimir Putin's government to face up to a host of issues ranging from basic stadium infrastructure to racism to security issues to Russia's whole transport system.

If they can meet the promises they have made over the whole process then FIFA will be able to step back on the moral high ground that England's bid team is trying to scramble up at the moment.

Were England hard done by? Yes, but no more than the other losing nations. National pride is a phenomenal tool when tapped into and before this week, England was seen as third favourite of the four bids.

Somehow, between Saturday and Wednesday, England installed themselves as favourites. Perhaps it was down to the fact that David Beckham would be joined by Prince William and Prime Minister David Cameron when Vladimir Putin chose to stay away.

England saw Putin staying away as the Russian PM not wanting to associate with a losing bid while Russia saw David Cameron's appearance as nothing more than a last desperate throw of the dice by a bid destined to lose.

Ladbrokes made England favourites, but they were always an outside bet as far as 2018 is concerned; the English bookmakers effectively protected themselves against loss after a rush of national pride-type bets. The 24-hour news coverage by Sky News only served to whet the nation’s appetite.

It was the same during the World Cup markets for South Africa 2010 where national pride pushed England up to 8/1 at one stage when they should have never got beyond 16/1. It's not often that two World Cups eat you up and spit you out in the space of six months.

Whatever you say about Russia deserving to host the tournament, at least they have a footballing pedigree; the same cannot be said about Qatar 2022.

A Qatarostrophe for Football?

The most condescending note about Qatar's win is that they are the smallest nation ever to bid for the World Cup and that more people signed the USA's bid petition than live in the Middle Eastern country.

On paper, Qatar deserves to host the tournament as much as the USA or Australia for that matter. However, the little country that roared has done nothing as far as football is concerned except for contributing Farad Khalfan and the worst miss of all time.

The 2022 voting process was almost designed to see them win through with Japan, Korea and the USA all having hosted the competition recently while Australia wanted to bid for 2018 but were forced by Qatar's FIFA ExCo member to go for 2022 only.

With that in mind Japan, Korea and Australia were all scrambling for the same votes, as they could not count upon one another, while Qatar has lobbied South America and European votes with great effectiveness.

2022 World Cup Bid Process

Round 1: Qatar 11, South Korea 4, US 3, Japan 3, Australia 1. (Australia eliminated).

Round 2: Qatar 10, US 5, South Korea 5, Japan 2. (Japan eliminated).

Round 3: Qatar 11, US 6, South Korea 5. (South Korea eliminated).

Round 4: Qatar 14, US 8. (Qatar wins with majority).

As you can see, the voting was over after just one round with Qatar only needing to gain one more vote to win. Surprisingly that came in Round 4.

The most surprising aspect of the FIFA ExCo choosing to go for Qatar 2022 is that it does not have one stadium of World Cup standard at the moment and that it will either have to renovate or build 11 new stadiums to meet FIFA stadium criteria.

Like the Russian bid, Qatar has promised to improve its public transport system with a promise of some $40 billion being set aside for a rapid rail system to link the entire country and shuttle travelling fans around.

Most likely, Qatar's biggest ace in the hole was how the 2022 World Cup will change the face of how the rest of the world views the Middle East. This was the carrot that FIFA just could not turn down. Just as changing Russia appealed to the ExCo, changing how the world views a subcontinent was too good an opportunity to turn down.

One other major factor is the heat, which can be as high as 55-degrees celsius during June. To combat this, the Qatari bid has been looking into revolutionary air conditioning where a blanket of air sweeps across the top of the stadium to keep hot temperatures out.

As of yet, this process has not been tried on a full-size stadium but the travelling FIFA ExCo were shown a model of how it would work at a five-a-side stadium.

One important aspect to note is that FIFA were not entirely happy with the Netherlands/Belgium bid hosting the tournament from just five centres, but Qatar is even smaller than the Benelux brothers and the competition in 2022 will be the most compact of all time with supporters literally on top of each other.

Qatar is also a country where homosexuality is illegal, where women are regularly oppressed and where people have been flogged for alcohol consumption.

To say that FIFA's choice of Qatar 2022 shocked people is something of an understatement.

However, against its rivals there can be little doubt that, just as each bid for 2018 deserved to host the competition, you could argue that none of the bidders for 2022 deserved to host the competition.

FIFA Voting System

After Germany won the vote to host the World Cup in 2006 FIFA decided that the tournament would rotate around each continent from then on starting with Africa in 2010 and South America in 2014.

For 2018 and onwards, FIFA decided that the rotation system would no longer be used.

The rotation system was seen as Sepp Blatter's way of forcing the tournament towards South Africa (2010) and Brazil (2014).

However, this is actually the fairest system possible for the hosting of the World Cup. Perhaps to make it fairer, Europe could be split between Northern Europe and Southern Europe but the idea should have stayed the way it was.

As it stands, the FIFA ExCo of 24 men who decide is a system that is designed to promote corruption in the sport. These 24 votes are all powerful and deals must be brokered if they are to choose one bid over another.

England's bid team criticised the collusion between certain countries for the 2018 bid but were at the same time trying to collude with certain voters themselves. In short, the system has to change.

Rotation should be recalled for the future with each continent hosting the tournament in turn (i.e. the Americas, Europe, Africa, Asia) with a further local rotation being set in motion so that each relevant country has a chance to host the tournament, if able.

The FIFA ExCo should carry out all the technical analysis and only vote if a host cannot be decided upon.

The current voting system has upset a lot of people and, without doubt, it needs improvement for the future.

This article was previously featured on Tiger Beer Football, where Willie Gannon is the featured Blogger. Over 18s only.

Read more International Football news on BleacherReport.com

With Luzern and Basel battling it on top of the table many felt that this particular match should have taken pride of place and be broadcast live across the country in a prime time slot.

However…

The match was switched to 12:45 on Sunday morning as Swiss TV decided that the first round ATP Basel Tournament between Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic was more important.

This obviously upset both sets of fans who decided to vent their anger by throwing thousands of tennis balls onto the pitch as a protest. And just as stewards had cleaned up the first “volley” they decided to let loose with a second load. Who said the Swiss had no sense of humour?

The Swiss Super League has been dominated by FC Basel over the last ten years with Thorsten Fink’s side having won the title no less than five times, finishing second three times, and third twice. The ex-Bayern Munich midfielder took over from Christian Gross in 2009 and guided FCB to the title in his debut year.

They are the side to beat once again this season as Luzern have emerged from the crowd as early contenders. With the wind in their sails Die Leuchten entertained FCB with the winners of the match guaranteed top spot in the league.

This is a tie that has been dominated by Basel in recent years having won eight of the last eleven games between the sides as Luzern claimed the other three. In 2009 the two sides played out the game of the season as Basel won 5-4 with Marco Streller scoring the winner in the 93rd minute.

Luzern’s Allmend Stadium is currently being demolished in anticipation of being re-built for 2011 so for the last two seasons they have played all their matches at 4th Tier FC Emmen’s Gersag Stadium which only holds 8,700. And that was after Die Leuchten renovated the ground to add enclosed seating and an extra 3,750 seats.

Nelson Ferreira opened the scoring for Luzern with a thunderbolt in off the crossbar in the 63rd minute after being set-up by Swiss legend Hakan Yakin. As Basel forced the issue FCL was forced deeper and deeper and in the 93rd minute the champions scored the equalizer their play deserved.

Ferderico Almerares, who had replaced midfielder Benjamin Huggel, popped up to nick the ball past Zibung as Basel literally got out of jail.

In the end the day was a good for Basel. A highly credible draw away to the closest rivals and Roger Federer, their number one fan, won too.

This article was previously featured on Tiger Beer Football, where Willie Gannon is the featured Blogger. Over 18s only.

Read more Tennis news on BleacherReport.com

On Tuesday, Oct. 5, Matty Burrows scored one of the greatest goals ever seen in football.

His audacious back-heeled volley from the edge of the box has catapulted the hitherto unknown Glentoran striker into being mentioned in the same breath as the likes of Diego Maradona, Pele, Lionel Messi and Archie Gemmill for when it comes to talking about the greatest goals ever scored.

Then on Friday, Oct. 8, Steven Davis saw himself inserted in football blooper reels for years to come before Burrows contributed with yet another wonder goal on the Saturday.

Such is the popularity of his first goal that, in the following seven days, the goal has been hit over three million times on Glentoran TV and has become one of the defining moments of the footballing year.

Which is really saying something when you consider that we had the World Cup in the summer, the debacle at Liverpool all year long, and GroundDrog day every time Arsenal plays Chelsea!

The goal was made all the sweeter by coming in what was literally the last kick of the game in the 92nd minute, after Burrows had been sprung from the bench in an effort at breaking Portadown’s resolve.

Despite scoring what will definitely go down as one of the greatest goals of all time, the 24-year-old Burrows seems to have taken all the attention in his stride.

“I have been really surprised by the amount of people who have been talking about it and contacting me,” he said.

“I got a lot of texts that night from people I know who were at the match and the boys were giving me a bit of stick too, but the next day it all went a wee bit crazy.

“I got loads of messages and people were phoning me up saying that thousands and thousands of people had seen it on the Internet and that all these newspapers and TV stations all over the world were putting it on their sites.

“It’s incredible, really, and I couldn’t believe it when someone told me that it had gone up to over a million hits.”

“It’s not often that Irish League football gets a mention on such a scale, so I am happy that I have been able to give Glentoran, and our league, a bit of a lift,” he said.

“Hopefully people can pay a bit more attention to it because we the players know the standard is a lot better than some people think it is.”

For the most of this season, Burrows has been playing second fiddle to Daryl Fordyce. The striker is the top scorer in the league, with 12 goals from 13 starts, but Burrows has proved to be a very capable substitute as he has also contributed a healthy eight goals from three starts and eight substitute appearances.

When asked if his goal would force his way into Scott Young’s, the Glens' manager, plans he kept his tongue firmly in his cheek and gave the best answer possible.

“Daryl Fordyce is in my position at the minute and he is the league’s top goal scorer so it will be hard to shift him,” he added. “Hopefully I will have at least given the manager a headache!”

Burrows' reward was a start against Glenavon…and another wonder goal!

This time the ball was chipped into the box on the left-hand side, and after running into the area without support, he tried an incredible overhead lob! The ball sailed into the top corner at the far post.

It would also be remiss on my behalf not to mention Glentoran v. Glenavon in the past.

The symmetry is almost too perfect, but in 2009, this fixture contributed one of the most fantastical bloopers of all time, when Elliott Morris, Glentoran’s ‘keeper, scored a brilliant own goal. Even now it is still hilarious.

In between Burrows' two wonder goals for the part-timers at Glentoran, Northern Irish football also contributed one of the biggest blunders ever seen in football. The incident was made all the worse as it came from Rangers midfielder Steven Davis’ corner against Italy.

The midfielder tried to take a quick corner but ended up kicking the corner flag instead and prodding the ball over the touch-line for a kick out!

If there was ever a case of from the sublime to the ridiculous and back again, this was it.

Northern Irish football never proved so popular.

This article was previously featured on Tiger Beer Football, where Willie Gannon is the featured Blogger. Over 18s only.

Read more International Football news on BleacherReport.com

The Ryder Cup is the only real team event in the golf calendar and is watched by an audience of millions around the globe. The television rights for the event are extremely lucrative, with television corporations across the world battling it out for the honour of showing the competition in their own particular regions.

As ever, the Sky Corporation has won the rights for showing the Ryder Cup across the UK. The Rupert Murdoch owned broadcaster also owns the rights for showing the vast majority of live Premier League matches too.

So just when the Ryder Cup reaches its climax on Sunday with the singles competition between Team Europe and Team US, many fans will have to debate: do I stay with the best Golf tournament of the year or do I switch over to Chelsea vs. Arsenal, which has been rescheduled by Sky to take place on Sunday afternoon.

It would seem to be an incredible piece of scheduling by Sky, who will broadcast both events simultaneously in competition with each other—in effect, splitting their audience when the corporation could have realistically shown the match on the less important date; possibly Saturday or Sunday afternoon or even Monday nights slot could possibly attracted a larger audience.

It leaves Sky facing a low viewing figure for at least one of their major events of the year.

So, what makes the Ryder Cup so special?

Golf is an individual sport and the golfers are reliant on themselves and maybe their caddie for a few sage words of advice. Their psychology is built around having no one else to rely on, pitting their game against the elements, and facing and overcoming their greatest enemy—their own mind.

The Ryder Cup takes this individual approach and for two days, it's thrown out the window.

Even on the last day, you are not playing for yourself, as your result will impact on the team.

The competition is split into three separate sections:

Foursomes are a competition between two teams of two golfers. The golfers on the same team only use one ball and take alternative shots. The hole is won by the team with the lowest score.

Four balls are where four golfers, two from each team, play their own ball. The golfer who comes in with the lowest score wins the hole for his team.

The last day sees the Singles, where each golfer plays off against an opponent from the other team.

America had dominated the Cup until recently. In 1927, the first Ryder Cup took place in Worchester County Club, Massachusetts, with Team America running out as victors. The great Walter Hagen became the first captain to hold the trophy aloft.

When the now famous tournament first originated, it was competed between America and Great Britain. The competition was very one sided, with Team USA winning 16 and Britain only winning three.

So in 1973, Ireland joined the UK to play against America. America's domination of the Cup wasn't even dented so, after losing the next three in a row, Great Britain and Ireland gave way to Team Europe.

Team USA continued their domination winning the next three competitions against Team Europe, and it wasn't until 1983, in a fantastic competition where Team USA won on a dramatic last day by one point (14.5-13.5), that their domination was truly tested.

Since that fateful day in 1983, Europe has won eight Ryder Cups, including five in the last seven, to America's four.

For those of you who would not normally tune in for a golf tournament, may I suggest you change your ways for the Ryder Cup, as a sporting competition it is truly one of the world’s great events.

The team dynamic really has a way of lifting and changing the event, raising the tension to otherwise untold levels, making even the greatest of players quake while other lesser known lights shine and rise to the occasion in spectacular fashion.

The USA will travel to Wales, having won the cup two years ago and have every chance of retaining the trophy in what is looking like the hardest to call Ryder Cup in years.

While all that is going on, Arsenal and Chelsea will have licked their wounds from last weekends Premiership defeats, against West Brom and Manchester City respectively.

The Premier League title race looks to be a two horse race between Chelsea (5/6) and Manchester United (9/4), with Arsenal (8/1) and Manchester City (8/1) as outside bets. However, a win for the Gunners would see their odds shorten dramatically.

As a match, it is one of the most important games in the calendar and always has had a major say in determining the contenders for the title.

In recent seasons, the fixture has been dominated by Chelsea whose brand of football has literally blown the Gunners out of the water.

Should the match end in victory for one of the London based sides, it would leave the losing side with two defeats from just seven games and facing an uphill battle to win the title.

But while the competition between the USA and Europe and Arsenal and Chelsea will never be in doubt, the competition between fans to watch the idols on Sunday could be equally fierce.

In an age of economic recession, many people have cancelled their subscription fees to sporting channels; it means the occasional Sunday afternoon trip to the local public house is most fans only access to live events.

On Sunday, those fans will invariably be competing with each other to see their idols play.

Red or blue; Arsenal or Chelsea; USA or Europe; friend vs. friend.

This article was previously featured on Tiger Beer Football, where Willie Gannon is the featured Blogger. Over 18s only.

Read more Golf news on BleacherReport.com

The famous incident with Dorival Jr. came about after the youngster was taken down for a penalty against Atletico Goianiense. With Neymar having missed Santos' last three penalties, Dorival decided to chose another player for the vital spot-kick.

As the penalty was scored Neymar berated Dorival and his team mates on the bench from a height in a tantrum that a two-year-old would have been proud of. Everyone was shocked, from team mates to opponents, especially his manager.

Neymar even went as far as telling his team mates that he would never pass the ball to any of them ever again after they had betrayed him.

Having seen the incident first hand, Goianiense’s manager Rene Simoes had this to say.

"What this lad has done is unacceptable. I'm disappointed. I've always worked with youngsters and I've never seen anything like this. Someone has to educate this kid or we're going to create a monster."

Dorival was obviously upset at Neymar's behaviour and tried to suspend his star-striker for two weeks. I say tried because Santos' board only allowed the player to be suspended for seven days, and sacked Dorival for wanting a further extension.

Essentially allowing Neymar to dictate the terms at the club, as he is the biggest and most valuable star at the club.

The match that Santos' board deemed so vital to sack their manager over was the Classico Alvi-negro against bitter rivals Corinthians. Manager less Santos were beaten 3-2 despite Neymar opening the scoring.

Neymar is such a huge star in Brazil now, and has been for the last five or six years, that he is basically treated like a God wherever he goes. He is also incredibly important to the brand of Santos in Brazil and having made him their highest paid player of all-time in the summer, to fend off Chelsea.

The club are now basically being held to ransom by the player.

The publicity and revenue that the youngster generates is hugely important to the club, hence their stance with Dorival, but one cannot help feel that this was a battle the club should have sided with their manager on.

Because the route they have now decided to go down reads something like a contract with the devil after meeting him at midnight on a dusty crossroad.

Before he was sacked by the club, Dorival Jr. had spoken with great dignity about the problem of Neymar and how these young players are now feted throughout Brazil.

"We're all to blame in this case," he said last week. "Unhappily, we live in a country where we've lost our references and people act as they please. Institutions such as the family and the education system are not working properly, and there are no positive references for Neymar.

What the former-midfielder was trying to get at is that young players in Brazil are now viewing themselves as being better than everyone else. It is an incredibly tough situation for them and very few if any remain grounded in reality.

Most leave school and the education system, if they're lucky enough to even have an education, at around 13-years-of age and if they are prodigious, as Neymar obviously was, they are immediately treated like royalty.

Families tend not to protect their children from the pit falls of celebrity life for one so young, as very often their child's career bankrolls the entire family and it is in their own interest to keep the money coming in to better their own lifestyles.

While there were many who spoke out against Neymar joining Chelsea at such a young age and moving to a league that has proven to be a graveyard for many a Brazilian before him, there were a few who reckoned that a move away from the influence of his entourage and into a bigger pond would help him develop emotionally as well as technically.

The level of skill that Neymar has shown since making his debut last year is just frightening. He is incredibly quick and direct, with his speed of footwork just dazzling to see.

In many ways, he is reminiscent of Cristiano Ronaldo in terms of dribbling ability and need to steal the limelight on the pitch, but he shows superior signs of vision in terms of creativity.

It is little wonder that some of the world's largest teams started sending scouts over to watch the free-scoring striker.

In his debut season with Santos, he managed an impressive 14 goals from 48 games. This season, at just 18, he has doubled that output with an amazing 32 goals from 46 games.

When it looked as if the immensely talented youngster was about to sign for Chelsea for £25 million, having increased from their initial offer of £17 million, Santos asked Robinho and Pele to talk him into staying at the club.

Brazil's Sports Minister was also called in to intervene as newspapers ran with headlines likening Neymar to a national treasure and that to lose him from the country would be nothing short of criminal.

While Mario Zagallo, a former Brazilian international and manager, and Mano Menezes, the current Brazil manager, tried to force the issue home by commenting on the proposed transfer during Neymar's first press conference in the lead up to his first cap.

Neymar managed to score in his debut as Brazil cruised to a 2-0 win over the United States and in doing so he joined an elite group of stars like Pele and Zico.

What everything added up to was the inflating of an ego that had steadily grown to huge proportions over the last six years.

While Pele was trying to talk the youth into staying with the club, he was also publicly stating that he was worried about how much young players were earning these days.

Saying that minds could easily be swayed by having such extravagant amounts waved in front of them.

Santos' answer to keeping Neymar at the club was to make the 18-year-old their highest paid player of all time.

Under the murky terms of his new contract, Santos would continue to pay him €70,000 per month with private investors and sponsors’ paying what is suspected to be a similar amount.

In short those sponsors want to see their investment on the pitch and care little for the turmoil it may bring about on or off the pitch.

It leaves Neymar being used as a tool for the financial gain of others outside football. Many of these hangers-on, his entourage if you will, are only with the kid for self serving gain and the sooner he rids himself of these "yes-men," the sooner he will begin to grow up.

When looking at this situation, one can't but help compare Neymar to Paul Gascoigne. The ex-England international was one of the most exciting players of his generation and was also coveted by every major team after making his major break through at Spurs.

While Gazza never had an on-pitch bust up with his teammates over a penalty, he did struggle to come to terms with expectations on the wider stage.

His off-pitch meltdown as Terry Venable's readied his Spurs team for the 1991 FA Cup final with Nottingham Forest springs to mind.

One of Gascoigne's biggest problems was the people he surrounded himself with. Hangers-on who encouraged his bingeing off the pitch and who used the star as their meal-ticket.

Neymar's problems stem from not having a solid grounding and if he is to join the likes of Zico and Pele as true legends, he will do well to separate himself from the leeches that support his ego to feed off him.

Not taking advice from the likes of Robinho would probably be the best place to start.

His star has taken a severe dent this week and top clubs in Europe will be more wary of signing the prodigy than ever before.

As a South American player he will long ago have accepted that to be considered a true success and possibly a great he will have to move to Europe and make the break through.

As Lionel Messi can testify, moving abroad to the right surroundings can reap huge benefits both in terms of football and in terms of personal development.

The little Argentinean is still an incredibly grounded individual despite being the highest-paid player in the world.

Neymar should follow his example. Concentrate on football, let loose the leeches, and grow up. If he doesn't, he will be just another "next Pele" in a long, long line.

This article was previously featured on Tiger Beer Football, where Willie Gannon is the featured Blogger, over 18s only.

Read more International Football news on BleacherReport.com

The king is dead, long live the king.

The World Cup may be long gone, but this season's UEFA Champions League has kicked off in spectacular fashion with some of the most exciting football seen in decades. You could tell straight from the start that almost every team has learned a valuable lesson from this years World Cup; negativity will only get you so far.

After the shameful performance of the Dutch in the final against Spain and the negative tactics employed by teams throughout the tournament, it is fair to say that South Africa 2010 was easily the worst World Cup since the debacle that was Italia '90.

Such was the pessimistic tone of the competition, FIFA, under the guidance of Sepp Blatter have been looking at ways to make the tournament better. Technology is back on the cards, as is the Golden Goal, as is banning draws.

It is quite clear that FIFA and Blatter have huge problems with the lack of adventure in the competition especially the first round of games in the group stages.

This particular World Cup's first round of matches produced the fewest shots, the fewest goals, the fewest amount of free-kicks on target, and the smallest amount of entertainment in the great competitions 80-year history.  

There are always mitigating factors—heat, humidity, altitude, etc.—but one would be remiss not to mention the marketing disaster that was the Jabulani football. A spherical shaped object that looked like a ball and, according to the boffin who created it, even acted like a ball; but only when his robot kicked it.

The fact that the ball was almost uncontrollable meant that it aided the defensive tactical decisions taken by many managers and was a major contributing factor in how the games were played out.

So just two months on and it would appear that lessons have been learned.

The negativity of the World Cup has been cast aside, and for that we have much to thank Spain for.

When analysing the recent World Cup and how it has played, it can be construed that it was well and truly been abandoned by footballing teams with real ambition,  and all we have to do is compare it with this weeks Champions League matches to see how.

Although the Champions League has a home and away type structure and has six games in its group stage it is similar in construction the World Cup.

Eight groups of four, with each team having to play other to progress. Granted the margins of error are perhaps greater in the Champions League due to more matches, but there is also great pressure to get off to a good start.

This week, we were treated to a number of highly entertaining matches. The mind almost boggled at some of the football on show.

Instead of teams going out not to lose their first game we saw teams going out to win their first game, this huge shift in tactical ambition by many of the games great managers comes hot on the heels of UEFA summoning many of the regions elite coaches to a think in where many of the topics plaguing the game were discussed, including the growing negative use of the 4-2-3-1 formation, and whether tactics used in South Africa would overspill into European football.

In the first instance, it would seem that attacking and ambitious football has won through.

During the first round of games in the World Cup group stages in South Africa, only 25 goals were scored across 16 matches.

Compare this to the Champions League this week, where an astonishing 44 goals were scored across 16 games.

Overall, there were 145 goals scored in the entire World Cup of 64 matches, an average of 2.26 goals per game. The Champions League average sits at 2.75 goals per game at the moment, only half a goal per game in the difference. But in terms of entertainment, enjoyment, and sheer enterprise, the club competition outstrips its senior counterpart in every way.

The overriding factor of the European club competition when compared to the international competition is undoubtedly ambition over fear.

In the Champions League it would appear that teams are not happy at 1-0 and want to create a lead that is unassailable. Whereas in the World Cup it would appear that once teams are 1-0 up they resort to defensive tactics where the aim is to hold onto the lead without having the ambition to increase it.

It is this backwards outlook that is turning fans away from the game, and the best FIFA seem to be able to come up with is to simply ban draws and force every match into penalties after 90 minutes.

All you have to do to see that the game is phenomenal the way it is, is to look at the way the likes of Arsenal and Barcelona played this week.

Having seen the current La Liga champions take Panathinikos apart 5-1 at the Camp Nou in a performance that simply left me stunned, I was amazed to see Arsenal produce a performance the following night that was equally as spectacular if not better in almost every area.

The way these two teams moved on and off the ball was pure poetry in motion. Fluid, beautiful, mesmeric, and deadly in its simplicity. At times Braga and Panathinkikos must have wondered if they were even playing the same sport as their two esteemed rivals.

Arguably, the two players that dominated the opening round of this years club competition were Cesc Fabregas and Lionel Messi, neither of which put in half a similar type performance during the World Cup.

It must be noted that Arsenal's and Barcelona's attacking in mid-week owes a lot to their opponents tactics.

One must hold out a cap in respect to both Braga and Panathinikos. They could have easily gone into the respective Lions Dens and defended to the hilt. Instead they both went out to attack, which is another contradiction to international tactics where the outsider often goes out to stifle the bigger teams, and tries to nick the game.

Elsewhere, the competition served up even more entertainment as Spurs and Werder Bremen played out a highly entertaining 2-2 draw while Inter Milan and FC Twente also served up a 2-2 draw, giving Group A of the Champions League as many 2-2 draws as the entire World Cup group stage.

Frightening as it seems, Chelsea and Valencia were equally as brilliant as the home country counterparts while other sides like Real Madrid, AC Milan, and Bayern Munich all clocked up impressive 2-0 wins.

All in all, the Champions League was incredibly entertaining in almost every match, the exception being the bore 0-0 draw between Manchester United and Rangers at Old Trafford. But even that game couldn't be compared to an average World Cup draw as the Red Devils were simply inept and put in one of their worst ever home performances while Rangers seemed incapable of breaking them down.

Of course, the club game and the international game are very different animals. The pressure that international footballers are under is incredible as their entire countries hopes and fears rest on their, often slender, shoulders. In effect making one international game worth about 10 club games in terms of pressure and importance.

The closest thing the club game has in terms of spectacle and pressure to the international game is the Champions League. Players have to hit the ground running and ambitious football is awarded with progress to the next stage and with it the finances and endorsements that come with it.

UEFA have realised that the Champions League is now recognised as the elite club tournament in the World, it is catching up fast with the World Cup in terms of importance, and has pushed and promoted the competition across the globe to such an extent that UEFA is now defined by the tournament.

If FIFA do not get up off their respective backsides and find a way to promote attacking football, just like UEFA have done so with the Champions League, then it won't be long before the international game is dead and buried.

As I said before, negativity can only bring you so far.

FIFA know it, UEFA know it, the fans know it, and the stats show it.

The race is on to become the most important competition in football.

World Cup or Champions League, you decide.

This article was previously featured on Tiger Beer Football, where Willie Gannon is the featured Blogger, over 18s only.

Read more International Football news on BleacherReport.com

On September 2, UEFA confirmed that their experimental additional assistant referees behind each goal would continue for the next two years; two days later, FIFA, having taken a solid stance against video technology, released a statement stating that they would not interfere if a national association wanted to punish players guilty of diving.

On September 9, FIFA then announced that they would be publicising extended interviews with Joseph S. Blatter, as he gives his unique insight into the hot topics within the game today.

The significance of the timing of FIFA's statement's should not be underestimated.

Since coming into office in January 2007, Michel Platini has had much to say concerning the health of the game.

The 55-year-old has been vocal on the many issues concerning the health of football: From player wages, to direct foreign investment, transfer spending, to reducing the influence of the four major leagues in European competition, and diving, Michel Platini comes across as a man who knows about the evils plaguing the sport.

These many statements have seen his popularity rise as the ex-France No. 10 comes across as a "hands on" kind of boss and he is now seen as one of the most progressive minds in the game today.

All of this while Sepp Blatter, FIFA's President, goes on whatever photo opportunity will afford him the most publicity.

Blatter has recognised that his tenure as FIFA boss is under threat from the popular Frenchman and from Korean vice-president Chung Mong-Joon, and has begun a PR style campaign to raise his profile before next year's presidential voting begins.

In June, as the World Cup kicked off in South Africa, Sepp Blatter even started a Twitter account so he could show the world his musings—this backfired incredibly, as though Blatter (or his PR people) completely misinterpreted what the site could be used for and how easy it was to communicate through with many twitterers, asking the FIFA president to come clean about bribes, corruption, fraudulent behaviour, and sexism amongst other topics.

However, Blatter is on the front foot and is essentially canvasing and knocking on doors as we speak, trying to get one up on the dark horse in the FIFA race to be president, Michel Platini.

This time last year, diving was in all the headlines after Eduardo Da Silva's outrageous simulation against Celtic in the Champions League Playoff almost earned him a two match ban.

UEFA had taken the stance after it was lobbied by the Scottish Football Association to take action after Arsenal had dumped Celtic out of the Champions League. After holding a meeting UEFA's disciplinary committee announced that the Croatian striker would serve a two match ban under Article 10 (1c) of UEFA's statutes.

This was the first major case of its kind concerning a player at the highest level and indicated to the world that UEFA was prepared to use video evidence as a tool going forward. In the end, Arsenal's team of lawyers argued that their player could not conclusively be proved to have dived, while Arsene Wenger declared it as a "witch-hunt," and the case was thrown out.

Arsenal's case centered on a certain camera angle where they claimed contact between Artur Boruc and Eduardo, while UEFA was able to use different camera angles to show that no contact had been made.

With video evidence inconclusive, the vital evidence came from the referee on the night, Manuel Enrique Mejuto González, the man who awarded the penalty, and the case swung in Arsenal's favour.

To all and sundry, it looked as if UEFA was not prepared to go the whole hog and fight the case, while the silence coming from FIFA's headquarters in Switzerland was deafening.

The inconclusively of the video evidence in the Eduardo incident fell perfectly into Michel Platini's greater plan for the game, as the following day he announced that UEFA was piloting an experimental system using referees behind each goal in the Europa League—a progressive move that garnered him much support from Europe's elite managers.

For the most part, the scheme was a success and on September 2, UEFA announced that the experiment would be rolled out across all UEFA fixtures over the coming two years to further address the situation.

It should be noted that UEFA's reaction to dealing with simulation was tempered by FIFA's view on the problem: Meaning that the European based governing body did not have the authority to introduce video technology as a tool in matches without FIFA's say so.

While all of this was going on, FIFA sat coolly back and watched how the cards were laid out—not knowing that a mere three months later, the entire world would be talking about video technology again.

On November 18 2009, Ireland travelled to Paris to take on France in the second leg their playoff to reach the World Cup in South Africa. With France leading 1-0 thanks to a Nicolas Anelka goal in Dublin, few expected Ireland to progress.

However, a heroic performance from the Irish put them firmly in the driver's seat.

Robbie Keane's early strike made the match level and the two teams headed towards extra-time.

In the 103rd minute, the incident that will be forever remembered as "the hand of Frog," or to be exact: The day the argument against video technology died happened as Thierry Henry controlled the ball with his hand before passing to William Gallas, who scored the winning goal.

That goal sent France through to South Africa and Ireland home with their tail between their legs.

Video technology was once again on the agenda as the media of the entire world focused in on this one incident. FIFA went running for cover as commentators called for video technology to be introduced immediately.

They rejected the claims and countered by conducted their own investigation into the incident—the end result was a complete rejection of video technology as a tool for use in football, with the governing body further stating that the referee had all the laws of the game as his disposal to deal with such incidents.

Football lovers the world over hung their heads in shame at FIFA's pig-headedness and blatant refusal to recognise video technology as a tool that could be used to advance the sport.

The silence coming from Switzerland left many to ponder that FIFA actually wanted all the controversy that such incidents caused as that vital moment would be played out across the media, in all shapes and forms, for days after the match.

In effect, controversy keeps soccer on the back pages.

The video technology issue came back to bite FIFA in the most outrageous way possible in South Africa this summer as Frank Lampard scored a legitimate goal for England against Germany with the scores at 1-2.

The vital miss by the referee left Jogi Loew's lethal side to eventually run riot in a 4-1 win but should the game have gone 2-2 then who knows what would have happened.

That same evening and everybody in the world saw exactly how video evidence could be used to benefit the game, after one of the video technicians in Soccer City mistakenly allowed the replay of a controversial goal to be shown live.

It took all of 30 seconds for the entire world, and most importantly the referee, to see that Carlos Tevez's goal should have been disallowed.

The referee looked bewildered as to what to do. He had missed the initial offside but could plainly see that the goal was offside. Mexican players surrounded him to get the goal chalked off while Argentinean's argued that video technology was not permissible!

In the end the decision lay with Roberto Rosetti, with the Italian referee deciding to play within the confines of the rules and allow the goal.

FIFA's statement on the matter after the match?

Nothing on the goal being offside—No, that would have been too easy. FIFA decided to castigate the video technician for allowing the incident to be replayed, and then criticised the standard of refereeing.

The world's governing body was at its lowest point, possibly since the whole ISL corruption scandal, and needed to regain ground quickly if Blatter was to ride on as FIFA president for another four years.

On September 2, UEFA announced at a meeting of Europe's elite coaches that their Europa League experiment would continue for another two years. Hamstrung by FIFA's refusal to allow video technology, Platini moved ahead with his vision for improving the game.

Only for Blatter to gazump the Frenchman.

Just two days later, FIFA released a statement allowing national associations to use video technology to retrospectively ban players for diving.

The statement went further by stating that under Article 79 of FIFA's rules that players could indeed be punished for offences missed by the referee.

This contradicts conventional wisdom and indeed FIFA's past views on the matter, as the governing body has always refused to allow video technology as the referee's word on the matter was final. In 2006, FIFA told the English FA that retrospective video evidence was not allowed and only last year the Swiss based governing body turned the SFA's exact same request down on the lines that the referee's word was final.

The effect on the game may be huge in the long run, but the effect that this decision could have on Blatter's campaign as he assembles supporters for his election could be a defining moment, either way.

Many feel that Blatter is now just pandering for votes after his steadfast refusal to listen to pleas over his 12 year tenure as FIFA president.

Feeling that he is firmly in the driving seat, Blatter has begun to push home his "insights" into the game and is now considering changing the way World Cup matches are played.

UEFA announced that the away goals rule, as far as extra time is concerned, is an issue that they are seriously considering.

Not to be outdone, Blatter then announced that FIFA was considering doing away with extra time altogether or a re-introducing the Golden Goal rule to increase attacking play.

However, as anyone who has played football will attest that the Golden Goal actually promotes defensive play rather than attacking play, as the smallest of mistakes could see a team being knocked out the tournament.

What all this adds up to is that Blatter sees Platini as a very viable candidate and dangerous opponent for the Presidential elections.

Platini and Chung are both clean as far as ISL is concerned and it is likely that some old questions may be dragged up for Blatter to answer during the election run in.

The skeletons in Blatter’s closet during this campaign are his links with the collapse of FIFA's marketing partner ISL.

In 2002, Blatter was directly accused corruption by the then-FIFA's secretary Michel Zen-Ruffinen after he submitted a 30 page report detailing corruption, cronyism, fraud, and other malpractices during Blatter's four year reign as President between 1998 and 2002.

The allegations went one step further by stating that Blatter was linked to the collapse of ISL, FIFA's marketing partner, and that the final cost of its collapse could cost FIFA around $300 million. Lennart Johannsen, the President of UEFA at the time, backed the claims completely.

ISL was awarded the most lucrative television rights contract in the world in 2000 when they won the tender for the TV rights to the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. However, by 2001 the organisation no longer existed and had debts estimated at around $300 million with allegations that the company was bribing FIFA officials to win lucrative contracts.

A dossier of the allegations was handed to Swiss Police so they could investigate the matter but no wrong doing on Blatter's behalf was found. An internal FIFA investigation into the allegations was then set up but it was halted by Blatter in April 2002, just one month before the re-election.

FIFA became splintered at the time with long time Blatter supporters South America and Central America backing him while Europe, Africa, and Asia campaigned against him. However, it would appear as if Blatter was able to split the opposing block vote through the promise of future tournaments.

Blatter was dealt a blow in August of this year when Zug Investigative Magistrate Thomas Hildbrand forced him to admit that some senior FIFA Executive Committee members took massive kickbacks from the ISL marketing company. The ability of Hildebrand to get Blatter to admit to such dealings some ten years after he had though the case closed may bring some old wounds to the fore as the run-in begins.

The news is also likely to bring up old hostilities in the corridors of power in the footballing world as Chung and Platini line up to oppose Blatter. The move is likely to infuriate South America and Ricardo Teixiera in particular, the nephew of Joao Havalange, who are already believed to have given Blatter full backing for 2011, as it is generally believed that Blatter will endorse Teixiera in 2015 when he steps down.

All in all, this makes for an interesting next year in footballing politics.

Blatter, it would appear, is coming out fighting and is doing his best to come across as more progressive than Platini, the question left though; is what will he do when Chung and Platini actually start their campaigns?

This article was previously featured on Tiger Beer Football, where Willie Gannon is the featured Blogger, over 18s only.

Read more International Football news on BleacherReport.com

The Texan recently signed for Championship side Derby County after impressing Nigel Clough in a three week trial during the summer. Clough Jr. was so impressed with the physique and technique of the youngster that he awarded the player with his debut against Crewe Alexandra just four days after Doyle signed on the dotted line.

Doyle began his career in Texas with the Dallas Texans Soccer Club. The club have a huge standing in American soccer and were named second in America's Top 40 soccer clubs for boys and in first place for girls.

Always one of the most progressive clubs in the states, the Dallas Texans recently agreed a coaching exchange with Manchester United where the two clubs will send ideas and advice each others way. It has caused great excitement in Texas, where Manchester United will offer advice and expertise on the development of junior players.

Likewise, players and coaches that are identified by Manchester United as having great potential will also be invited to Carrington for exclusive training sessions with the Red Devils.

During Manchester United's recent Tour of North America, they played against the MLS All-Stars. Before the game, players from the Texans got their chance to train with the Red Devils first team. The video can be seen here.

Over the last 20 years, Texas has become synonymous with American soccer with the state producing many players who have gone on to the professional ranks of the game. Names like Clint Dempsey (England), Jared Jeffries (Germany), Gregory Garza (Portugal), Lee Nguyen (Holland), Hunter Freeman (Belgium), and Conor Doyle (England). In addition to these, countless Texans players have also gone on to play professionally in the MLS.

Doyle played for the Texans at schoolboy level before moving on to play for McKinney Boyd High School. The school only opened in 2006 but has already become a major player in volleyball, American football, wrestling, and cross country. With Doyle's move to England, the reputation of the school has only been enhanced.

The Kansas-born youth only graduated from McKinney last year and went on to earn a scholarship with Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. However, upon the news that Derby County were willing to offer him a two-year deal, the striker understandably decided to give up on his studies.

Conor had this to say on the decision, "It was a big decision to make and I talked to my parents and a lot of family members about it," he said. We decided that school will always be there but this is my dream and I need to follow it.

"It was tough at the beginning but, in the end, it was an easy choice to make. It's always been a dream of mine to play over here, since I was about two or three. Now it's come true and it's unbelievable that it's happened at 18.

"I'm hoping to push on now and move on to bigger things."

Creighton University Bluejays head-coach Jamie Clark could understand the decision completely saying,

"It's our job to help student-athletes prepare both on the field and for a career after school. Conor has been offered a job in the same division as World Cup starters, so this is a big opportunity for him.  We will continue to sign and bring in student-athletes that will have the opportunity to move on and play at the highest levels of professional soccer when they leave Creighton."

The Bluejays also have something of a fantastic reputation for producing professional soccer players, with the college contributing 45 players to the professional ranks since 1993 with 10 of those coming in the last four years alone.

With the move to Derby County, young Conor Doyle came into contact with Irish international Paul Green, who has immediately alerted the FAI of the youngster's eligibility.

Doyle's father was born in Ireland before he moved to America to take up a professional soccer career in the now defunct Major Indoor Soccer League. Between 1987 and 1998, David Doyle played for the Kansas City Comets, Dallas Sidekicks, St. Louis Rush, and Wichita Wings, where he scored an incredible 637 goals in 520 games.

His father went to college in Campbell University where he excelled at soccer, making the All-American side in 1986 and setting records that stand to this day. 

Doyle now has a coaching role with the Dallas Texans.

With the Irish links, and passport, Derby County did not have to go through many of the formalities they would normally have to travail to sign the American born youngster. As he carries an Irish passport, he is a UK resident as far as the FA is concerned.

The FAI are watching the youth's progress as we speak and with the news that he already has an Irish passport and has so far been overlooked by the USSF's youth set-up it is believed that the FAI may approach the youngster for an U-19 or U-21 international in the near future.

Paul Green only came to the FAI's attention after Giovanni Trappatoni ordered a search of England and Scotland for eligible players. The 27-year-old midfielder is Yorkshire-born and has only been with Derby since 2008. The central midfielder has been one of the Rams' most impressive players over the last two seasons and has won the man-of-the-match award twice in just three internationals for Ireland.

Over the last couple of seasons, the FAI have become embroiled in a number of disputes with rival federations over players.

The SFA took umbrage with the FAI over how they "poached" James McCarthy and Aiden McGeady even though the SFA only started to take notice of the prodigious youths after they had been called up to Sean McCaffrey's underage teams.

Both players may have been born in Scotland, but they were both raised in the Irish way of life and never even considered declaring for the land of their birth.

Back in the '80s, Ray Houghton declared for Ireland after what he described as poor treatment by the SFA who purposely refused to pick players who were not 100 percent Scottish.

More recently, the FAI ended up in the Court of Arbitration of Sport after the IFA deemed their Southern counterparts as poaching their best talent.

Over the last couple of years, three players born in Northern Ireland who have represented the land of their birth at underage level—Darron Gibson, Marc Wilson, Shane Duffy, and Daniel Kearns—have all either declared or stated their desires to declare for the Republic.

This forced the IFA to take a landmark case against the FAI over Daniel Kearns' inclusion in one of McCaffrey's U-19 squads.

The FAI have taken advantage of FIFA's new ruling which states that players who have not played at senior level, regardless of how many underage caps they have, can declare for a country in which they are eligible to play. Shane Duffy captained Northern Ireland through every rank and even sat on the bench for an international, but never played.

The ruling by FIFA came into play after countries like France, Italy, and Germany began playing youth footballers from Africa to tie their nationality up.

The new dictate has left a political loophole open for the Republic of Ireland that they have so far pursued. After the Good Friday Agreement in 1999, it was declared that any person born on the island of Ireland could hold an Irish passport.

Since Northern Ireland has a hugely nationalist population, it immediately opened the door for such declarations.

The landmark ruling by CAS has come as a huge blow to Northern Irish football and could effectively reduce their playing pool by up to 40-percent.

After the case CAS said, "The ruling upholds the right of individual choice on this matter for players born north of the border. I would like to recognise the determination of Daniel Kearns and his family to uphold his right as an Irish citizen to play for his country."

Following the Irish food shortage in the late 1840s the population of Ireland was reduced from almost nine million to around four million through deaths and mass emigration.

As a result, Ireland is now the only country in the world whose population is lower than the figure it had in Napoleonic times. The mass emigration also means that Ireland has one of the widest diaspora's of any nation on Earth.

In some cases such as Kilburn, Liverpool, and Manchester, there is a larger Irish population in these areas than in many major cities in their home country.

For instance, there are an estimated 700,000 people in Argentina of Irish ancestry, approximately 16 percent of Ireland's current population.

That figure grows substantially when you reach the USA. In the last census, around 41 million people declared themselves as either fully or part Irish.

These figures have had a major say in the way the FAI will scout potential Irish players in the future and they have already declared their intent to scout the MLS.

It would seem that Conor Doyle may prove to be a test case between the FAI and the USSF.

"To be honest, I was expecting to have two weeks here before going back to college," he admitted.

"But then I started playing in more and more games and they started talking to me (about signing). It was only then that I started to realise that this really could happen. It's a lot more than I expected.

"My expectations have been raised and now I will be aiming to get on the field a little bit longer," he added. Being young and coming in the team only a couple of weeks before the season starts, you don't necessarily expect to play much.

"But to train with the squad every day is a great experience. I am just hoping to get some games and when I do play, to take that opportunity."

One thing is for sure, he will be given the opportunity to play international football sooner rather than later.

But for whom?

This article was previously featured on Tiger Beer Football, where Willie Gannon is the featured Blogger, over 18s only.

Read more International Football news on BleacherReport.com