3-nil Brazil with goals by Diego, Ronaldinho and Jo.

With the Olympics getting set to kick off in Beijing, you just know that the city is about to be a non stop party. After seeing images of the smog level and bugs that have invaded, it might not be a bad idea to get acquainted with some indoor activity. If you are going to be in Beijing and are looking for a place to hang with some gorgeous people while you knock a few back, I suggest checking out China Doll Club. Founded by award-winning Chinese actress/producer Ai Wan and club designer Wu Ying, this place is a cornerstone in the Beijing night life. More pics after the jump

[Pics via The Cool Hunter]

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With the Olympics set to kick off next week, we can show you a sneak peak of what our American athletes will be wearing in the opening ceremony. Ralph Lauren was hired to create the collection for the Olympians and he did not disappoint. For the closing ceremonies the look will be quite a bit more casual with the athletes wearing shorts, a polo and a sleeveless sweater. Check out more images after the jump.

[Via Selectism]

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“DOG may be off the menu for the Olympic Games, but adventurous gourmets can still choose from a dazzling array of culinary delights in Beijing - from seal penis to cow stomach, deep-fried scorpions or sea urchins, turtle (really best done as a broth) and brains in hot pot.

…Locals may be grumbling after some of the city’s favourite eateries were forced to close for two months because they are considered too close to venues, but others such as Beijing’s first specialty penis restaurant is still taking bookings….”

Image via IndianaJones

Are you ready for this year’s Olympics to kick off? HKLUG is…They’ve created their own reprdocution of some of Beijing as they get set to host the Olympics. This little mini version contains over 300,000 Lego bricks and 4,500 mini figures. I can’t even imagine how long it took to put this together. Let’s hope Lego kicked them down to help them complete this. More pics after the jump.

[Via Hypebeast and HKLUG]

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Interesting article from the Washington Post.

BEIJING — My country is about to host the world’s greatest sporting event and, we hope, claim a truckload of Olympic gold. But to hundreds of millions of Chinese, our widely anticipated bonanza of medals will mean very little. The real metric by which China judges itself against the rest of the world isn’t the discus or the decathlon. It’s not even our record-beating economic growth rate or our postmodern skylines.   It’s soccer. And when it comes to our beloved sport, China is not just the sick man of Asia. It’s the sick man of the world…(more)…

Image via Daylife

The US Women have landed in Beijing (without our girl Leslie Osborne, Cat Whitehill and Abby Wambach who will all miss the Olympics due to injury) to prepare for their 2008 Olympic grouping in Qinhuangdao, the venue for the first two matches.

Now it’s training, passport, paperwork, drug testing and everything else that happens behind the scenes before an Olympic Tournament.

Follow the team’s updates on WNT-USSoccer.BlogSpot.

image via WNT-USSoccer

Feel like rocking the Eric Bana in ”Munich” look (minus the strange love scene at the end)?  Grab one of these. 

Image via Modculture

With all the confusion surrounding the 2008 Olympics, FIFA President Sepp Blatter has released an official statement regarding club’s responsibilities to allow their under contract players that are under 23 years of age to join up with their respective National Teams.

Via FIFA.com

In its official statement, FIFA states that “the principle is that each team can field players until the age of 23. In addition, the teams that qualify for the final tournament have the right to include in their squad three players over the age of 23″. That said, the rights and obligations of the clubs with respect to these two categories are different. “

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Former Chelsea striker Pierluigi Casiraghi (and his former Chelsea drop-back forward, Assistant Gianfranco Zola) have named their official 2008 Olympic Squad that’s heading for Beijing.

Italy’ squad: Abate (Milan), Acquafresca (Cagliari), Bocchetti (Genoa), Cigarini (Parma), Coda (Udinese), Consigli (Atalanta), Criscito (Genoa), De Ceglie (Juventus), De Silvestri (Lazio), Dessena (Parma), Giovinco (Juventus), Marchisio (Juventus), Montolivo (Fiorentina), Motta (Udinese), Nocerino (Palermo), Rocchi (Lazio), Rossi (Villarreal), Viviano (Brescia)

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