If sections of the media are to be believed, £31m of Roman Abramovich’s hard earned cash might just as well have been flushed down the Stamford Bridge plumbing this summer. Why? Because one of European football’s greatest ever strikers can’t hit the proverbial cow’s arse with a banjo now that he’s wearing the blue of Chelsea. Andriy [...]
Steve McClaren has signalled his intent to escape the shadow of Sven-Goran Erikkson by dropping former England captain David Beckham. Beckham stepped down from the role of captain after this summer’s World Cup and yesterday McClaren appointed John Terry as his replacement. Today the former Middlesbrough manager named his 25-man squad to play Greece at Old Trafford [...]
John Terry has been named England captain by Steve McClaren. The Chelsea skipper replaces David Beckham who stepped down from the role after this summer’s World Cup. His first game as captain will be the friendly against Euro 2004 winners Greece on August 16.
Three days after Fabio Cannavaro lifted Italy’s fourth World Cup in the Berlin Olympiastadion, the planet still chatters incessantly about Zidane’s heartfelt tribute to Yosser Hughes. Statements and denials, interviews with lip-reading experts and some good old-fashioned “He said, she said…” playground cat-calling: all terribly dignified. The incident will forever remain a moment that made [...]
When later tonight two men lead out their charges for the World Cup final showdown at Berlin Olympiastadion, football aficionados will be scrutinizing their every move on the touchline to see how these affect the direction or outcome of the game. Though this encounter may have thrown up seemingly different characters at the helms in [...]
In every one of those countries that have just lost in the World Cup quarter-finals (apart from Ukraine), the mother of all blame games is on. These postmortems are particularly emotional because even though everyone agrees that there are no easy games at that stage of the World Cup, these countries were supposedly the favourites [...]
Dortmund is a quiet, unremarkable town; middle Germany, if you like. The Park Hotel opposite the Westfalenstadion, home of Borussia Dortmund, is hardly a venue the Bridget Jones generation would choose for their romantic mini-break. Businessmen meet in the pleasant but ultimately forgettable restaurant to discuss deals and ponder their trips back to [...]
Four years ago Guus Hiddink led South Korea to the semi-finals of the World Cup. On that fairytale run they benefited from several appallingly inept refereeing decisions, not least when they played Italy in the second round. Prior to Ahn Jung-Hwan’s golden goal for South Korea in extra-time Giovanni Trapattoni’s team had a perfectly legitimate [...]
David Beckham became the first England player to score in three World Cups as his free kick guided Eriksson’s team past Ecuador into the last eight of the tournament. In another tepid performance by England, there were again plus and minus points in equal measure. They swung between looking comfortable and passing the ball well [...]
The sparring is over; the business is on – Germany v Sweden, England v Ecuador, Argentina v Mexico, Holland v Portugal, Italy v Australia, Switzerland v Ukraine, Brazil v Ghana and Spain v France. So, who’s getting knocked out and who’s staying? Germany v Sweden: The Dutch-Indian, Leo Beenhakker did not leave Germany without disbursing [...]
