Competitions
Fri, September 15th 2006
When Englishman Justin Hoyte came on as sub in Arsenal’s Champions League game against Hamburg, every player came from a different country.
Jens Lehmann (Germany); Emmanuel Eboue (Ivory Coast), Johan Djourou (Switzerland), Justin Hoyte (England), William Gallas (France) Tomas Rosicky (Czech Republic), Gilberto (Brazil), Cesc Fabregas (Spain), Alexander Hleb (Belarus) Emmanuel Adebayor (Togo), Robin van Persie (Holland).
While striking in its self, its more surprising that the only English player has join from the bench, and that none of the other players were even British. English teams have for a long time had a huge variety of cultures, but has been rare that some of the team has not come from Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland.
Tue, September 5th 2006
European minnows should face pre-qualification
With the new expanded European qualifiers starting at the weekend, it has become obvious that there are too many poor quality nations competing.
England 5 - Andorra 0
Defoe and Crouch score two goals apiece as McClaren’s perfect start as England coach continued.
Fri, August 25th 2006
France coach Raymond Domenech has warned Chelsea’s Claude Makelele he risks a two-game club ban if he fails to report for the Euro 2008 qualifiers.
The 33-year-old is in France’s squad for games against Georgia and Italy, despite announcing his retirement after the World Cup final loss to Italy.
From: BBC
Thu, August 24th 2006
Chelsea and Champions League holders Barcelona will renew their rivalry after they were drawn together in the first phase of this year’s competition.
From: BBC
Tue, August 15th 2006
Accrington Stanley battle to win over local fans
The low attendances for League 2 new-comers Accrington Stanley’s first two home games have shocked the club’s chairman Eric Whalley, and there are fears that the club will struggle to survive.
Just 2,600 fans (including 700 opposition fans) watched Stanley’s first game after returning to the league 44 years after they slipped into non-league oblivion.
The Sun newspaper is reporting that Newcastle will tell Inter Milan to drop the £10m asking price for Obafemi Martins because the Magpies are looking into rumours from Nigeria that the striker is possibly six years older than his reported age of 21.
Via: BBC
Fri, July 21st 2006
FIFA set dangerous precedent
FIFA have announced that Italy defender Materazzi will receive a £2,170 fine and 2 game suspension, and Zidane a £3,260 fine and 3 game ban.
In choosing to punishing the ‘victim’ nearly as strongly as the perpetrator, FIFA have given players a who commit serious foul play a dangerous ‘get out’ by allowiing provocation to be blamed.
Mon, July 17th 2006
With Juve effectively relegated for 2 seasons due to their 30 point deduction in Serie B it seems inconceivable that they will be able to hang on to all their players or even loan them out for a year.
Not too many leagues will be able to match the Italian clubs’ salaries, so England will be a likely destination for many who leave.
Here’s a list of transfer speculation of England’s top clubs and who they are targetting.
Chelsea
Alessandro Nesta (Milan), Fabio Cannavaro, Pavel Nedved, Gianluca Zambrotta (Juve);
Manchester United
Patrick Vieira, Pavel Nedved (Juve), Gennaro Gattuso (Milan), Luca Toni (Fiorentina)
Liverpool
Mauro Camoranesi, David Trezeguet (Juve)
Arsenal
Gianluigi Buffon, Lilian Thuram, Patrick Vieira, David Trezeguet (Juve), Filippo Inzaghi (Milan)
Tottenham
Lilian Thuram (Juve), Filippo Inzaghi (Milan)
Source: BBC
Tue, July 11th 2006
After an exhaustive study of the match video, and with the help of an Italian translator, Rees claimed that Materazzi called Zidane “the son of a terrorist whore” before adding “so just f*** off” for good measure.
From: The Times
Seems to be corroborated here: The Daily Mail