For the top football clubs in the world, mid-February is the start of crunch time – as they compete both in league play and in the final knockout rounds of various cup tournaments, both national (such as England’s FA Cup) and international. For instance, the European Champions League round of 16 starts this week; ESPN2 has two intriguing Spain-England matchups: Real Madrid-Arsenal, two teams really struggling in their leagues, and Chelsea-Barcelona, both dominating in league play, but both coming off disappointing losses this week. That’s Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, Feb. 21-22, 1:30pm.

And national teams are in action as well, with added urgency as World Cup preparations take place. The U.S. men take on Guatemala 1pm Sunday, Feb. 19 in Frisco, north of Dallas (also on ESPN2). The U.S. is coming off a nice 3-2 win over Japan last Friday night.

This article appears in February 17 • 2006.

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