Countries
Thu, March 16th 2006
Reports in the English media indicate that Barcelona claim they have reached a verbal agreement to sign Arsenal striker Thierry Henry.
The Gunners’ inspirational skipper has long been a target for the Catalan giants and his continuing reluctance to sign a new deal in North London has resulted in constant speculation over his future in The Premiership.
From: Sky Sports
Its always been suspicious that Henry has looked to put off talks with Arsenal until the end of the season considering that you would expect his priorities to then lie with France’s attempts to regain the World Cup.
Related: Chelsea to sign Ballack ‘before World Cup’
Wed, March 15th 2006
German captain aims to move before June
Germany’s Michael Ballack is hopeful of signing for Chelsea before the start of the World Cup in June. The 29-year-old Bayern Munich captain is out of contract in May and his agent said: “I think there is definitely something happening before the World Cup.”
Sat, March 11th 2006
Rangers have announced that Paul Le Guen will replace Alex McLeish as manager at the end of the season.
From: BBC
See also: Guen deserves better than Scotland
Tue, March 7th 2006
...only if Sven can get them playing together
England head coach Sven Goran Eriksson believes he could have the world’s best midfield at his disposal for the World Cup this summer [From: Sky Sports].
Mon, March 6th 2006
A late equaliser from Inter Milan brought AS Roma’s record-breaking run of 11 consecutive Serie A wins to an end.
Roma broke the record held by Juventus (1931-2), AC Milan (1950-1) and Bologna (1963-4) last week with a 2-0 win over Lazio, but could not extend their run against Inter Milan, drawing 1-1.
Roma are 4th in Serie A after a poor start to the season.
Sun, March 5th 2006
Penalty shootouts instead of draws? Two points for a score draw? A bonus point for a team winning by more than two goals? These are not the latest madcap ideas from ‘soccer’ Stateside, but radical proposals the French League are taking very seriously in an effort to tackle the dearth of goals.
From: The Observer
Thu, March 2nd 2006
The problem of racial abuse in Spain rumbles on:
Fifa president Sepp Blatter has described the 9,000 euros fine imposed on Real Zaragoza for the racist abuse of Samuel Eto’o as “ridiculous”.
Even though the 9,000 euros fine (US$10,000) is significantly larger than the usual $700 imposed on Spanish clubs for such offences, Blatter believes the Spanish federation must do more to punish those involved in racist behaviour.
From: BBC
Blatter has called for punishements to include loss of points or even relegation. Eto’o has suggested a 1 year ground closure.
England win their final friendly before World Cup Final squad selected
ENGLAND beat Uruguay 2-1 in their final warm-up match before this Summer’s World Cup in Germany. Goals from Crouch and Cole late in the second half helped England overcome Uruguay who led from Pouso’s fantastic first half volley.
Tue, February 28th 2006
Alex Ferguson has offered Trinidad & Tobago captain Dwight Yorke the opportunity to train with Manchester United prior to the World Cup.
Trinidad & Tobago will play England in the group stage on 15 June.
With Ferguson regularly playing two of England’s potential star players (Rio Ferdinand and Wayne Rooney) out of position in midfield, could it be his deliberate intention to spoil England’s World Cup chances?
Barcelona striker Samuel Eto’o threatened to leave the pitch after being subjected to racial abuse by Real Zaragoza supporters on Saturday.
From: BBC
FIFA and UEFA must now put the Spanish FA under huge pressure to sort this out. Spain’s coach Luis Aragones was fined just 3,000 euros for racism remarks about Thierry Henry and Zaragoza received a paltry 600 euros fine for a similar incident last season.