No rush for England's poisoned chalice

"There are not many candidates because it looks a bit like a crocodile that opens the mouth and says: 'Jump into that.' Once he's in there, he's eaten. And once you have eaten four, five says: 'No, maybe I don't jump in there.'"

So went the words of Arsene Wenger, the best coach working in England at present.

In the old days, before the savaging of Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor by the tabloids and the realization that the real money and chances of success were to be found in the Premier League and not the international game, the nation’s best coach would have leapt at the chance of managing England.

Not any more. In the aftermath of Steve McClaren’s quick exit from Soho Square, the candidates for the top job have been scurrying into the shadows. Like schoolkids desperate for the teacher not to pick them to answer a tricky question, the candidates are doing their best to look at their shoes instead.

Aston Villa coach Martin O’Neill could probably have signed a contract the day after the Croatia fiasco had he wanted to, but yesterday appeared to shut the door. “It’s gone for me. It’s absolutely gone,” he said.

Reading’s Steve Coppell would appear to be the best English candidate working in the Premier League, but also realises his nationality counts against him this time.

If the next leader of the Three Lions must be English, the options are fast disappearing beyond Coppell. Alan Curbishley now says he is no longer interested, Harry Redknapp’s colourful reputation surely precludes him and the FA are unlikely to go crawling back to the doors of two men they have previously fired – Glenn Hoddle and Terry Venables.

Almost certainly, the FA will pick another foreigner, following the appointment of Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2001.

Jurgen Klinsmann is believed to be interested and would have little trouble adapting once again to London. Indeed, ‘Klinsi’’s articulate and popular persona would probably pull the fans and media onside from the start, in a way few recent England coaches have succeeding in doing.

But the German legend still lives in Santa Barbara, California, which entails a day’s commuting and eight hours’ jet lag to reach England. His refusal to accept the USA job is still clouded in mystery and a flood of criticism will be inevitable as soon as results get sticky with England. The risk that it could all end in tears just looks too great for FA chief executive Brian Barwick to approach him in the first place.

Fabio Capello is the only man to so far declare his candidacy. The 61 year-old has long had an eye on English football, perhaps since scoring for Italy at Wembley in 1973, and had expressed an interest in replacing Alex Ferguson at Old Trafford back in 2002.

Capello has fallen out with a number of high-profile players over the years, including David Beckham, Alessandro Del Piero and Ronaldo, but boasts a stunning coaching CV including seven Serie A shields (four with Milan, two with Juventus and one with Roma) and two La Liga titles with Real Madrid.

Milan’s unforgettable 4-0 demolition of Barcelona in the 1994 Champions League Final in Athens remains perhaps the apex of Capello’s coaching history.

The other big name still in the frame is Jose Mourinho. The recently-departed Chelsea coach is surely a little tempted, or else he would have publicly ruled himself out this week.

Instead, the mercurial Portuguese is playing a game of brinkmanship, aware that vacancies may pop up before the end of the year at Barcelona, Juventus and Real Madrid.

While Mourinho’s family allegedly are keen to resume their London life, one cannot help but wonder how coaching a discredited national team without competitive fixtures for another year can compare to leading one of the European club heavyweights.

It is hard to see how maverick personalities like Mourinho could enjoy the amount of down time this position entails, when a man of his calibre could surely walk into one of the top jobs on the continent over the next few months and before long cross swords again with the best in the UEFA Champions League.

A team booed off by its own fans as it lost embarassingly on a bleak and rainy winter’s night was no advert for the manager’s job.

And perhaps all speculation on on this issue is pointless as the fault lines in English football run too deep for any magician to swan in and wave a magic wand in the first place.

In the 1970s and ‘80s, the outstanding English club coach, Brian Clough, winner of two European Cups, longed to be picked as England manager.

But in 2007, for coaches of real talent from whatever country, the chance of supping nectar at the helm of a top European club outshines the poisoned chalice of the England manager’s job by some distance.

Can you blame them for avoiding the telephone after all they have seen recently?

The top job has now become “the impossible job”, as a previous victim Graham Taylor memorably noted, adding that his advice to any future encumbent of the cursed throne would be this:

“Win every game!”

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

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England all played out again

The Emperor has no clothes and it’s official.

For the first time within the walls of the awesome citadel that is the new Wembley Stadium, the English national team has come a cropper in a big way, and this time there can be no hiding from the naked truth.

Now let these sombre words ring out across our green and pleasant land: England are a mediocre football nation and it’s high time we accepted it.

One final appearance in 57 continuous years of international football competitions tells its own story and cannot by any logic justify the perennial Mount Everest of expectations heaped upon the Three Lions.

As the 3-2 victory over England by a competent yet not exceptional Croatian eleven on Wednesday proved once more, there is simply no case for believing we deserve a place at the high table of the world’s football nations, so please don’t try to make it.

After such a miserable and humiliating surrender, can anyone seriously believe we can win the 2010 World Cup? Will the patriotic punters be out in force again to waste their money, like they have for the last forty years since we won the World Cup at home?

That the English invented the sport and still sustain a 92-team professional league is utterly immaterial if the national team consistently fails to perform, yet year after year, an inferno of fan fervour is stoked up by London’s boorish tabloid media with no basis in reality.

But the media is only partly to blame for the unrealistic expectations and to a great extent is only a mirror of the national zeitgeist.

The obscenely ballooning waistline of the cash cow that is the FA Premier League is also only reinforcing an existing tunnel vision shared by millions throughout the home of football.

There is a foreign influx in our leagues and globalization all around us, but it clearly does not follow that a great domestic league can produce a world-class national team.

So who do we blame this time?

The usual suspects for the latest shambles are lining up and while they all shoulder a part of the blame, are mostly red herrings while the prime suspect is still at large.

Steve McClaren is not the main culprit and I take no pride in having predicted as soon as he was appointed that he would fail.

Although guiding your club to 15th place in the Premier League is not the best preparation for coaching your country, McClaren had served apprenticeships under Alex Ferguson and Sven-Goran Eriksson and there were no realistic alternatives for England last summer.

While some fans are slating McClaren for starting with 4-5-1 at home, without Michael Owen and Wayne Rooney his striking options were limited and when reinforcements did arrive in the shape of Darren Bent and Jermain Defoe, the much-needed punch up front was still lacking.

In fact, the catalyst for England’s comeback was the arrival of David Beckham, in perhaps his last national team appearance, after halftime, a player from Major League Soccer who provided an artistry and finesse with the ball otherwise lacking from his team on the night.

The English players’ superstar salaries are almost irrelevant too. Serie A pays huge wages but that never stopped Italy’s national team winning the World Cup impressively last summer. And English players certainly do not lack passion. If anything, they play with too much heart and not enough head, yet England critics routinely bemoan a lack of passion and self-belief as the reasons for falling short.

That there may be too many foreign players in England for the national team’s good is also an argument that looks shakier by the day. In fact, on the evidence of last night, no wonder Arsene Wenger shops overseas.

The dissections and post mortems on the corpse of England’s latest failure are everywhere, though few have realised the fatal disease is merely an inherited and myopic attitude that the English way is best.

Like Charybdis, the fearsome whirlpool of Greek mythology, our semi-permanent debate on the national team ends up going round in circles of self-delusion, our consistent demand for unrealistic success devouring all passing managers lured too close to the job.

This insular hara-kiri was evident off the field as well as on. Thousands of England fans pointedly ignored the Wembley announcer’s request to respect both national anthems by booing Croatia’s loudly, before revelling in taunting the traveling fans with several renditions of ‘You’re not singing anymore’, only to be confounded as supersub Mladen Petric speared a spectacular 25-yard winner with 13 minutes remaining.

‘Rule Britannia’ is still one of our favourite songs, but its boasting of global dominance had a particularly pathetic ring at Wembley last night, a specious self-aggrandizement amid the carnival of English obsolescence on the field.

Sheltering from the Wembley monsoon while the queues to the tube station still stretched down Bobby Moore Way a full hour after the final whistle, I got talking to some Croatian fans, who gave me some refreshing points of view on our particular malaise.

The heavens were downright miserable, but there was some blue-sky thinking to be found beneath the deluge.

“England has good players, but they don’t play as a team,” thought Branko from Dubrovnik.

“You’re right,” I said, “but we don’t know any different.” Contrary to some opinions aired this week, England can produce great talents.

I could reel off names such as Bobby Charlton, Tom Finney and Stanley Matthews, but from more recently, what about John Barnes, Paul Gascoigne, Gary Lineker and Chris Waddle from the 1980s and David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Owen and Rooney from the ‘90s.

“Your style is twenty years behind the times,” offered Zlatko from Mostar. “You hit long high balls to the big forward, Crouch. We know that is what the English do. It is simple to play against.”

“Well Crouch did score tonight,” I offered in defence, but I broadly agreed with his analysis.

“Look at the Germans,” said Goran from near Split. “They work hard the whole time too, but they do it as a team.”

I then racked my brains for times in my life when England have played with great fluidity and got stuck on a handful of occasions: In the latter stages of Italia ’90, for the first half of a friendly against Mexico in 2001, against Italy in Rome in 1997 and most famously smashing the Netherlands 4-1 at Wembley in Euro ’96 and Germany 5-1 in Munich five years later.

Our national style still leans towards passionate and direct attacking – ‘droit au but’ –‘straight to goal’, as the motto of Marseille says. And we have to change this mindset, wholesale, from the grass roots up, if we want to challenge for international trophies.

One final in 57 years of FIFA and UEFA competition is surely proof there is a hairline fracture in the monolith of the Football Association, a lingering faultline that cannot and should not be attributed to any particular coach or set of players.

The one excuse I didn’t hear on the tortuous journey from the Wembley mega-arena back to my home in North London was perhaps the most obvious one: Croatia were just better than us.

“Wake up,” Croatia coach Slaven Bilic said succinctly post-match. “We’re simply a better team.”

They undoubtedly were the superior side, having defeated England home and away in the qualification campaign, yet I still heard a fan moaning that England had played badly and lost to ‘a shit team’. ‘Yeah, they are a shit team,’ echoed his equally dim friend.

Well, relativism aside, any team who tops a UEFA qualification group cannot by any sound reasoning be made of caca.

The Croats gave England a footballing lesson in both Zagreb and London in soaking up pressure, throwing bodies into attack or defense appropriately, counter-attacking and shooting from distance.

But what really stood out for me at Wembley was their outfield players’ superior technique.

The Croats’ creed is possession, like it is for all great football nations, while England still go for broke in the final third and try to hit that killer ball into the channels or lump it onto the head of that big lad in the box, too often finding their optimistic punts intercepted or overhit instead.

On the night, Shaun-Wright Phillips typified what is wrong with English football. Energetic and brimming with passion, the Chelsea winger charged goalward whenever he was given the ball, but too often his ardour burned out as he mishit a cross, collided with a defender or ran the ball out of play.

Time and again, England played without any telepathy when they managed to get the ball near the opponents’ box, while every Croatian tap, layoff or backheel seemed to be wired to an incoming teammate.

The Croats clearly knew how to counter-attack better than we did, sprinting upfield, stretching our retreating defence and hitting first-time passes to runners without hesitation. They built a shape-shifting, multi-dimensional game which defeated our rigid, one-dimensional structure with ease.

We might lazily lump all Eastern European football nations together as tough, former communist, crack army sides from chilly lands, but remember Croatia, like Romania, is essentially a Mediterranean country whose warm weather breeds skilful ballplayers.

Facing Italy across the Adriatic, Croatia has only been a country since 1991 and with a population of under five million, has in that short space of time, produced stars of the calibre of Zvonimir Boban, Alen Boksic, Robert Prosinecki and Davor Suker.

Yet however you compare the two countries, England should be a far better football nation than Croatia.

Once again, I fear we will skirt around the answer to our ills – a complete and radical overhaul of the coaching culture.

The intangibility of the problem and its equally nebulous solution just discourage us from addressing it properly, and so England stumble to under-achievement every time.

It almost seems a treasonable offense to the Anglo-Saxon virtues ingrained in our national game to tell our kids to keep the ball instead of to ‘get it in there!’, to think about their shape and position instead of to ‘get stuck in lad!’ and to bring others into attack instead of to ‘go on your own, son, have a pop!’ etc.

The continental method does seem anathema to a windy Sunday morning league game in Rotherham, but ask yourself who is the more successful soccer nation – Italy or England?

‘Look at Arsenal,’ Zlatko continued. ‘They have a great coach and play in a European style but are an English team’.

Treating football seriously from a young age also draws us into a political debate we would rather steer clear of, that of mass education’s historic lack of importance in England in general.

If we want well trained footballers, we need well educated players, who understand the professional commitment and the intellectual ability the game demands at the highest level.

‘What about Wayne Rooney?’ you holler. Nothing can compensate for raw talent like his, surely; only to a point. Imagine what Gascoigne could have done with the self-discipline of a Zinedine Zidane, or how Rooney could prosper with the spatial awareness of strikers like Dennis Bergkamp, Thierry Henry or Henrik Larsson.

On the train home, there was no anger, nor misery at England’s premature exit from Euro 2008, just a resigned mood, an unspoken acceptance that we have seen it all before.

I really felt that maybe for the first time, an accommodation of our ineptitude had begun to set in with the fans, a growing acceptance of the obvious mediocrity we have been dealing with for years.

Make no mistake. This umpteenth failure for England will not be the last, unless we do start again from the grass roots, bite the bullet and admit the FA’s manuals are mistaken in many ways and our coaching outdated.

Or, we can bury our heads in the sand once more, blame Steve McClaren or whoever underperformed last night and come 2010, summon up the blood to bellow from the rooftops our belief that England can win the World Cup, if only we the fans and they the players want it enough.

Unless there is a revolution, the future history of the England team writes itself.

All may not be lost however. As I traipsed down the many steps from Wembley’s upper tier, and some fans began to sing ‘Jose Mourinho’, I began to think that the foreign influx in our game could end up being the solution instead of the problem, whoever the next coach may be. The tide of the world game is all around us now, at home and abroad.

And what is for sure is that England’s national football culture, more than ever, is all played out.

(c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile

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The Mr. Off, the Mrs. On, As Beckhams' World Turns

The Beckhams--David and Victoria--have been in Los Angeles for barely two months, but their individual careers may never be the same.

Mr. Beckham was injured this week as his Galaxy of the MLS fell in the first-ever SuperLiga final to Mexican club Pachuca. The SuperLiga features midweek, inter-league play between the top clubs in MLS and Mexican football.

Beckham's injury--a knee ligament sprain--basically spells an end to his play for the regular MLS season and may see him miss two Euro 2008 qualifiers for England as well.

In all honesty, the Bendy One does not seem happy in Los Angeles or MLS and this reporter would not be very surprised to see him end his career in red at Old Trafford one day very soon. He seems to have been born Cockney Red and so perhaps that's as it should be. It's likely that even the earlier transfer to Madrid was a mistake as well.

Meanwhile Mrs. Beckham, the artist formerly known as Posh Spice, has signed for her first acting job on a nationally televised prime-time program("-me"?) entitled, "Ugly Betty". This follows an earlier "reality show" one-off titled, "Coming to America", about her move from Spain to California which was generally ignored by the summer viewership.

It is said that PS will play herself (again) in "Ugly Betty", a weekly "dramady" (part comedy, part drama) which presents the serialized adventures of a less-than-stunning dental patient who is employed as a New York fashion magazine excutive's assistant.


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Beckham Makes His Mark as MLS Tries to Turn "Soccer" Into "Football" in USA

David Beckham finally took the field last night (August 15) as captain of the Los Angeles Galaxy at the club's Home Depot Center in California. Playing at something approaching full speed for the first time in his new "kit", the bendy one scored once from a free kick at 20 meters and placed an assist at the feet of linemate Landon Donovan for a second half clincher. The Galaxy advanced, 2-0, to the first ever finals of the brand new SuperLiga tournament featuring MLS and Mexican league clubs.

Beckham's heroics come just one month into his MLS career and one day after former league star Freddy Adu debuted with Benfica of Portugal. Adu, entering the league as barely a teenager in 2004, had been touted as the star who could bring US soccer some star power and some devoted fans. After helping DC United win MLS Cup in his first season he made clear his intention to play professionally in Europe. He departed Real Salt Lake City, his last MLS club, for Portugal at nearly the exact moment that Beckham arrived from Madrid in July.

MLS has become the most successful professional soccer league in the history of the USA over the eleven years of its existence, but soccer still has yet to achieve the same status here as it does in those countries where it is known as "football". In the US, "soccer" is associated with moms driving minivans, and co-eds (mostly female) kicking the ball around at private colleges.

If Beckham can change that image, and give the US game the same kind of street-cred that Tiger Woods has given golf, or that John McEnroe gave tennis in the 1980's, MLS is hoping that fans and advertisers will naturally follow.


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Beckham to LA Galaxy

Ex-England captain David Beckham will leave Real Madrid for the MLS when he joins LA Galaxy in August this year.

The deal

The 31 year-old player will earn £128m (US$250m) for a five-year contract. Equivalent to £50 a minute and make Beckham the highest-paid sports star in the US.

The contract provides for Beckham to share a part of profits made by his new team LA Galaxy possibly worth US$10 per year.

Beckham's annual salary with the Galaxy will be US$10m.

David Beckham's four main sponsors - Gillette, Motorola, Pepsi and Volkswagen bring in approximately US$25m a year.

David Beckham shirt sales total US$10m each year.

His share of the club profits: US$10m



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Where are you now…when I kneed you

Without constructive criticism, improvement is virtually impossible. Armed with this noble philosophy and an in depth knowledge of the beautiful game, I have decided to share a couple of potentially helpful observations with the great minds of the English FA.

Steve McClaren is a tool. Macca was a poor manager at club level, he’s so far out of his depth on the international stage that it’s a miracle he’s not suffering from the bends.

His original decision to drop Beckham was flawed at best, but when offered the ‘get out of jail free’ card that was the injuries to Hargreaves and Lennon, he preferred to utilise the ‘skills’ of Jenas, Downing and Richardson. You simply can’t back this England team at odds of 1/10 against a reasonable Macedonian outfit; although I wouldn’t dissuade anyone from perming a 1-0 / 2-0 / 3-0 win at a much healthier 7/5.

I’m not a great admirer of Peter Crouch as a rule, but thanks to a process of elimination i’ve reached the shocking conclusion that he’s England’s most likely goal scorer. Rooney’s struggling, Gerrard’s wasted on the wing, Downing’s a million miles from international class and Lampard would need 29 attempts to score on an 18-30 (stone) holiday. Back Crouch at even money to keep up his incredible recent record.

If the England team were picked on current form, Wayne Rooney wouldn’t get a look in; he’s currently giving the ball away like a ginger schoolboy. Wayne hasn’t scored a competitive goal for England for over two years, my initial shock at seeing 8/13 for a Rooney goal soon faded as the realisation dawned that he’ll be available at 6/5 not to score. Merry Christmas, everyone.

Most people know ELO as the awful 1970’s progressive rock outfit, but the ELO ratings are a tool for judging the strengths of international football teams. While FIFA have Scotland as the 34th strongest team in world football, ELO show a more realistic 40th place. Strangely, both differ dramatically from my own personal rating system, where the Sweaties are sandwiched between the Amazonian Forest and Krakatoa in 594th place.

France have the luxury of a match against Scotland at Hampden; or ‘Le Bye’ as it’s known in Paris. Value is normally harder to find than a Scotsman at a World Cup but the French are the literal definition at 7/10.

Call me paranoid, but before buying lamb from a butcher I always enquire from where the meat originated; you can’t be too careful. Wales host Slovakia in their qualifier and an away win is definitely on the cards. The Slovaks have seen off Germany and France over the last year; you should get involved at 2/1.

How on earth did the phrase ‘the luck of the Irish’ originate? An 80 year war for independence must have been grating, running out of potatoes is always annoying and if conclusive proof was needed that luck is not on their side; they landed in the same qualifying group as Germany and the Czech Republic. The Irish have been decimated by injuries for their trip to Cyprus, the draw appeals at 16/5.

Northern Ireland’s recent win over Spain was perhaps the most unlikely result since Goliath took a dive against David after laying himself heavily on the exchanges. There are many phrases that could adequately describe the 2/7 on offer for a Danish side (who have recently destroyed Poland, Portugal and England) playing at home to Lawrie Sanchez’s minnows; I’ve settled for ‘the best bet in the history of gambling’.

The Italians have stubbornly refused to win in their campaign so far, somehow knowing they were the last leg of my accer. Italy destroyed Ukraine in a world cup quarter final in the summer, a repeat at 1/2 should not be ruled out.

Ever since I watched Prisoner Cell Block H as a child, i’ve felt a strong affinity with the Aussies. Bea Smith’s fight against drugs within the prison system was as inspirational as it was dramatic. Australia face Paraguay in a friendly match live on Eurosport, I like the Aussies at a criminally large 11/10.

There’s always something happening in the Dutch camp. An injury to Huntelaar forced the Holland manager to offer Van Nistelrooy a return to the International stable, but the Ruud boy told Van Basten where to stick his olive branch, and it wasn’t in a local dike. Holland have the quality to stroll to a win in Bulgaria, the 4/5 should be snapped up.

The acc of the week:

This week’s accer is so delightful; Paul McCartney is considering reuniting with Heather Mills as a direct result. “I may go out on a limb and ask her to come back,” a loved up McCartney may have mused. Slovakia, France, Holland, Denmark and Italy are the teams, the payout is a generous 16/1.

The quote of the week

“I don't like diving, football doesn't need it.”
Wayne Rooney on the curse of the modern game; Sol Campbell is currently looking for a fresh pair of underpants.

The lay man:

While the fat cats hoover up all the free money laying Northern Ireland at 16/1, us normal Joes can make a profit taking on the Sweaties at 6/1.

Weekend Betting:

Wales v Slovakia Saturday 7th October 15:00 Live on Sky

Wales 6/4
Draw 11/5
Slovakia 2/1

Selection: Slovakia

Suggested bet
No bet

England v Macedonia Saturday 7th October 17:00 Live on BBC

England 1/10
Draw 8/1
Macedonia 33/1

Selection: England

Suggested bet
England to win either 1-0/2-0/3-0 3 pts @ 7/5

Scotland v France Saturday 7th October 17:00 Live on Sky

Scotland 9/2
Draw 5/2
France 7/10

Selection: France

Suggested bet
France to win 2 pts @ 7/10

Cyprus v Rep of Ireland Saturday 7th October 17:30

Cyprus 13/2
Draw 16/5
Rep of Ireland 1/2

Selection: Draw

Suggested bet
Lay Ireland at 1/2 (to win 2 pts)


Bulgaria v Holland Saturday 7th October 19:00

Bulgaria 4/1
Draw 12/5
Holland 4/5

Selection: Holland

Suggested bet
No bet

Denmark v Northern Ireland Saturday 7th October 19:00 Live on BBC NI

Denmark 2/7
Draw 4/1
Northern Ireland 16/1

Selection: Denmark

Suggested bet
Denmark to win 7 pts @ 2/7

Italy v Ukraine Saturday 7th October 19:50

Italy 1/2
Draw 14/5
Ukraine 13/2

Selection: Italy

Suggested bet
No bet

Australia v Paraguay (Int’l friendly) Saturday 7th October 10:30 Live on Eurosport

Australia 11/10
Draw 9/4
Paraguay 3/1

Selection: Australia

Suggested bet
No bet

Copyright (c) Gerry McDonnell & soccerphile.com

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The bitterest pillow

I am not a happy man. As a rule, the wife and I are normally easy going, or to be more truthful, she’s easy and I’m going. But for some strange reason, after just two weeks of quality football, the Premiership has been sidelined to make way for the International, like Cinderella being dumped in favour of her ugly sister. (The other one married me.) I haven’t been this upset since the wife first told me she was pregnant, (It was my own fault, i was hoping that her looks would provide adequate contraception; damn those pillow cases.) luckily, i have now calmed down enough to point the way to a few cracking weekend punts.

After an unproductive World Cup, it’s time to embrace a brand new dawn for the English game. I’d like to offer my best wishes to the man who was without a shadow of a doubt, the most outstanding candidate to replace Sven Goran Eriksson; good luck at the Villa, Martin O’Neill. Incredible as it may seem, O’Neill was overlooked as the FA first courted ‘Big Phil’ Scolari, before settling for ‘first choice’ Steve ‘I once bought Michael Ricketts’ McClaren.

Let’s be honest, Macca is no Brian Clough, his record at Middlesbrough was a joke. The Boro board backed him to the hilt financially, yet McClaren could only finish in the top half of the Premiership once. Still, there’s no point in crying over spilt milk (only a significant loss of lager justifies tears), even Macca can lead England to a comfortable victory over Andorra. The English are unbackable at 1/50, playing on a 4-0 scoreline at 13/2 can prove a profitable alternative.

McClaren’s first duty as England manager was to shut the door on David Beckham, the best crosser of a ball in world football. The situation would be comical if it wasn’t so serious. There’s no Becks, there’s no Rooney, the first goal scorer betting centres around Crouch and Frank ‘one goal every thirty shots’ Lampard. God help us all. Lamps is the lesser of two evils at 5/1.

I’m a big fan of John Terry; I can honestly say that I would never, under any circumstances, throw him out of a nightclub. The new England captain is available at 9/2 to score with a header; that’s worth a second look.

Scotland host the Faroe Isles in their opening qualifier and I’m preparing for a bad day. It’s absolute carnage in my house when the Jocks play, the wife gets all patriotic; out comes the haggis, the bagpipes and the syringe. Scotland were held to a 2-2 draw by the Faroe Isles four years ago, I think there’s a great chance of a shock here; I think Scotland can nick it at 1/8.

Krissy Boyd scores plenty of goals at a domestic level, but I’d probably score 30 a season in the SPL. I’m tipping Boyd to net the opener for our skirt-wearing neighbours at 3/1 thanks to a complex new system I’ve been developing, if a team has only one decent player, pick him.

Tomas Rosicky could do with an easy match to guarantee a win after a depressing start to the season with Arsenal. Luckily for Tommy, the Czech’s are hosting Wales. There’s been a few tears shed in Robbie Savage’s caravan since John Toshack was appointed the Welsh manager, there will be a few more when the Czech’s take an easy three points at 2/5.

I’m a big fan of Bjork, the Icelandic nutcase once beat up a reporter for saying, “Welcome to Bangkok,” tough but fair. Iceland have been priced up at 9/4 for their trip to Northern Ireland, be like Bjork and get stuck in. There’s only one call for first goalscorer betting, that’s Gudjohnsen, Eidur put a bet on it at 6/1.

The Republic of Ireland are in the same group as Germany and the Czech Republic, but have kindly promised to fulfil their fixtures anyway. The Irish travel to Stuttgart to begin their campaign, the Germans will walk it at 4/9.

Stan Staunton was held at gunpoint recently, police are looking for a complete madman, Niall Quinn hasn’t been ruled out. Another lanky forward looks the call to open the scoring, take a Klose look at Miroslav at 4/1.

Ruud Van Nistelrooy has been left out of the Dutch squad for the trip to Luxembourg. The horse-faced goal machine was reportedly devastated by Van Basten’s decision, but he’s since been stabilised. Only the rich can play on the Dutch at 1/50, a correct score perm of 3-0 / 4-0 will have to suffice for the rest of us at 12/5.

There’s a real treat in store for footy fans on Sunday, when Brazil lock horns with Argentina at the Emirates. From the look of the squads, both managers are taking this friendly seriously; Tevez, Messi, and Riquelme will face off against Ronaldinho, Robinho and Kaka. Ronaldo ‘too fat to have two names’ hasn’t made the squad which gives the Brazilians a glimmer of hope, but I’ll be on the Argies at 7/4.

The acc of the week:

The accer this week is so nailed on, a team of demolition experts would struggle to loosen it. Iceland, Scotland, France, Czech Republic, Germany and Italy are the teams, the payout is a pleasing 10/1.

The quote of the week:

“When you are good enough to go to Arsenal, you are good enough to play in the England team; because there are many players who play for England who would not play at Arsenal.”

Arsene Wenger is such a diplomat, he refused to name Peter Crouch.

The lay man:

England are a fantastic lay at 6/1 to win Euro 2008, but if you want your money tied up for years you should consider marriage. On the weekend action, Northern Ireland should definitely be layed on the exchanges at 13/10.

Weekend Betting:


Northern Ireland v Iceland Saturday 2nd September 15:00 Live on BBC NI

Northern Ireland 5/4
Draw 11/5
Iceland 9/4

Get on: Iceland

Match Special:
Iceland to score three or more goals 6/1

Scotland v Faroe Isles Saturday 2nd September 15:00 Live on Sky

Scotland 1/8
Draw 15/2
Faroe Isles 25/1

Get on: Scotland

Match Special:
Boyd to score a hat-trick 12/1

England v Andorra Saturday 2nd September 17:00 Live on BBC

England 1/50
Draw 10/1
Andorra 80/1

Get on: England

Match Special:
The first goal to be scored before/during the 18 minute mark 5/6

Georgia v France Saturday 2nd September 17:00

Georgia 7/1
Draw 16/5
France 4/9

Get on: France

Match Special:
France to score in both halves 5/4

Czech Rep v Wales Saturday 2nd September 19:15 Live on Sky

Czech Rep 2/5
Draw 10/3
Wales 8/1

Get on: Czech Rep

Match Special:
Rosicky to score from outside the area 13/2

Luxembourg v Holland Saturday 2nd September 19:30

Luxembourg 50/1
Draw 9/1
Holland 1/50

Get on: Holland

Match Special:
Kuyt to score a hat-trick 11/1

Germany v Rep of Ireland Saturday 2nd September 19:45

Germany 4/9
Draw 3/1
Rep of Ireland 7/1

Get on: Germany

Match Special:
Germany to win and keep a clean sheet 11/10

Italy v Lithuania Saturday 2nd September 19:50

Italy 1/7
Draw 11/2
Lithuania 16/1

Get on: Italy

Match Special:
Pirlo to score direct from a free kick 13/2

Spain v Liechtenstein Saturday 2nd September 21:00

Spain 1/50
Draw 10/1
Liechtenstein 80/1

Get on: Spain

Match Special:
Villa to score a hat-trick 10/1

Brazil v Argentina Sunday 3rd September 16:00 Live on BBC

Brazil 6/4
Draw 11/5
Argentina 7/4

Get on: Argentina

Match Special:
Riquelme to score at any time 7/2



Copyright (c) Gerry McDonnell & soccerphile.com

Ask and Ewe Shall Receive

As tradition dictates, the first week in January is a time for New Year’s resolutions. Robbie Fowler has pledged to improve his fitness, David James has vowed to overcome his fear of crosses and Steven Gerrard has promised to stop using Bolton players as trampolines.

Sam Hammam has one wish for the New Year, a Cup upset at Highbury. The charismatic Chairman is one of the games most colourful characters, when he signed Spencer Prior for Cardiff, he inserted two clauses in the contract; Prior had to eat sheep’s testicles and engage in a physical liaison with a sheep. Prior signed the contract, but he flat out refused to eat the testicle.
Mad Sam’s new crazy gang are in for a beating at Highbury, you can back the Cup holders at 1/7.

The managerial career of Graeme Souness hangs by a thread as Michael Owen is ruled out through injury. Michael has fell to the curse of the metatarsal, Wayne Rooney, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard and Gary Neville have all been laid up with a similar injury, that reads like a who’s who of English football; and Gary Neville. All that trouble, from just a little bone. Get on the Geordies to keep Graeme in work for another week; they’re 1/6 to beat Mansfield.

It’s been a tough season for West Brom, they’re odds on to be relegated, their only quality player has handed in a transfer request, their ball-boys have ginger hair and they’ve drawn the hottest team in the Country in the FA Cup. Reading are on a 27 match unbeaten run in the Championship; they’re available at 15/8 to beat the Baggies at the Hawthorns. I have three words of advice; get stuck in.

After a few choice tackles of his own, it’s somewhat ironic that Michael Essien has been ruled out due to a nasty challenge. Maybe there’s something in this karma; there is, half a poppadom. Chelsea are 1/14 to beat Huddersfield; they will win.

Peter Crouch has shown incredible improvement in recent weeks, at the start of the season he looked abysmal, now he’s scoring like Wayne Rooney on an 18-60 holiday in Amsterdam. Steven Gerrard is currently sizzling like a pan full of bacon, you can’t oppose the Reds; a 2/5 banker.

Why is it the characters in Eastenders are always depressed at Christmas? Possibly because they’re West Ham supporters. After losing three matches on the trot, the Hammers won’t fancy a trip to Carrow Road; the form book says the Canaries are a decent investment at 9/5; I refuse to argue with a book.

Kevin Nolan would like to get something off his chest; Stevie Gerrard. He believes Bolton have an excellent chance in the FA Cup this season, I agree. Bolton at 28’s, Villa at 33’s and Reading at 200’s are all worth a small each way tinkle.

With the Lions, Tigers, Owls and Rams all in action, the weekend specials have gone a bit animal.

“A Stag party” – Mansfield to score a goal Evs
“A bald Eagle” – Andy Johnson (Palace) to score with a header 4/1
“A Canary dwarf” – Dean Ashton to score with a header 7/1
“An old Deer” – Wayne Rooney to score a hat-trick 9/1

Quote of the week:

“If I’m at home, yes, I will see it, but maybe my wife would like to go somewhere. It all depends on my wife.”

Jose Mourinho (surprisingly) is mortal.

Stat, you’re a liberty:

The team with the sloppiest finishing in the Premiership is...Aston Villa. Less than 35% of Villa’s attempts trouble the goalkeeper.

Acc of the week:

Aston Villa, Everton, Bolton, Liverpool and Tottenham form the weekend accer, it pays out at 16/1.

Weekend Betting:

Hull v Aston Villa Saturday 7th January 12.30 Live on BBC

Hull 5/2
Draw 9/4
Aston Villa 10/11

Get on: Aston Villa

Villa have drawn Hull in the FA Cup on four previous occasions, the Villa qualified every time. Villa are unbeaten over the Xmas period, away win.
Match Special:
Villa to score three or more goals 7/2

Arsenal v Cardiff Saturday 7th January 13.00

Arsenal 1/7
Draw 5/1
Cardiff 12/1

Get on: Arsenal

The Gunners have failed to find the net in their last two and a half matches. Cardiff conceded five against Reading in their last match, the Gunners will put that stat to bed.
Match Special:
Cardiff to have a player sent off 6/1

Wigan v Leeds Saturday 7th January 13.00

Wigan 4/6
Draw 12/5
Leeds 7/2

Get on: Leeds

Leeds have won their last four, Wigan have lost their last two. Leeds won their only previous FA Cup encounter, a shock is on the cards; if Leeds beating Wigan is a shock.
Match Special:
Leeds to score two or more goals 5/2

Chelsea v Huddersfield Saturday 7th January 15.00

Chelsea 1/14
Draw 6/1
Huddersfield 25/1

Get on: Chelsea

The last time Huddersfield travelled to the Bridge in a Cup match, Chelsea took a 1-0 mauling. It’s seven games without a win for Huddersfield, a repeat can be safely ruled out.
Match Special:
Joe Cole to score at any time 11/8

Ipswich v Portsmouth Saturday 7th January 15.00

Ipswich 7/4
Draw 9/4
Portsmouth 5/4

Get on: Ipswich

Pompey look a stronger outfit under Harry, but five defeats away from home on the bounce tells a story. Joe Royle will have his boys up for this one; home win.
Match Special:
Jason De Vos to score the only goal of the game 175/1

Millwall v Everton Saturday 7th January 15.00

Millwall 5/2
Draw 9/4
Everton 10/11

Get on: Everton

It’s two wins on the bounce for Everton, their improved form should see them past a relegation threatened Millwall.
Match Special:
Tim Cahill to score the only goal of the game 28/1

Newcastle v Mansfield Saturday 7th January 15.00

Newcastle 1/6
Draw 9/2
Mansfield 12/1

Get on: Newcastle

The Geordies have conceded two goals in each of their last three matches. Fortunately for the Toon Army, Mansfield are awful.
Match Special:
Alan Shearer to score a hat-trick 12/1

Norwich v West Ham Saturday 7th January 15.00

Norwich 9/5
Draw 9/4
West Ham 6/5

Get on: Norwich

It’s five wins out of six for Norwich, while the Hammers have lost three on the bounce. The Premiership side are up against it.
Match Special:
Dean Ashton to score two or more goals 8/1

Watford v Bolton Saturday 7th January 15.00

Watford 9/5
Draw 9/4
Bolton 6/5

Get on: Bolton

Watford have a 100% record against Bolton in the FA Cup, played one, won one. One fancies Bolton in this one.
Match Special:
Diouf to score two or more goals 13/2

West Brom v Reading Saturday 7th January 15.00

West Brom 6/5
Draw 11/5
Reading 15/8

Get on: Reading

Reading are unbeaten in the league since the opening day, the Baggies are boinging out of the FA Cup.
Match Special:
Dave Kitson to score the first goal 15/2

Luton v Liverpool Saturday 7th January 17.30 Live on BBC

Luton 13/2
Draw 11/4
Liverpool 2/5

Get on: Liverpool

The Pool are flying, Luton have earned 4 points out of the last 21 available. A banker away win.
Match Special:
Djibril Cisse to score two or more goals 9/2

Burton Albion v Man Utd Sunday 8th January 16.00 Live on Sky

Burton Albion 25/1
Draw 11/2
Man Utd 1/12

Get on: Man Utd

Cloughie and Cup success are synonymous, but this fairytale does not have a happy ending. Burton have been tight at the back recently, they haven’t conceded more than one goal in their last 14 games. It won’t be a cakewalk for United.
Match Special:
Man U to win 2-0 9/1

Leicester v Tottenham Sunday 8th January 18.30 Live on BBC

Leicester 5/1
Draw 12/5
Tottenham 8/15

Get on: Tottenham

These two have drawn each other in the FA Cup on eight previous occasions, Spurs have qualified seven times. It’s eight games without a win for Leicester; it’s a question of how many.
Match Special:
Tottenham to score four or more goals 6/1

World Cup Qualification Highlights

Best of the Qualifying Stage

Najznačajniji trenuci kvalifikacija za Svjetsko prvenstvo 2006.

Kvalifikacije za Weltmeisterschaft u Njemačkoj su za nama, ali neće biti zaboravljene. Iznenadjenja, preokreta, incidenata i sudačkih previda bilo je dovoljno i za najistančanije ukuse: prvi uspjeh Ukrajine, portugalska "sedmica" Rusiji, engleski poraz kod Sjeverne Irske,
tučnjava u Istanbulu, uspon Lihtenštajna, katastrofa Kameruna i napokon ostvarena nadanja Australije...

EUROPA

Skupina 1

Velika Van Bastenova serija

Trostruki osvajač europske Zlatne lopte, Marco van Basten, bio je wunderkind kao igrač, a u kvalifikacijama za Svjetsko prvenstvo pokazao se i kao darovit trener. Izabravši niz manje poznatih igrača iz nizozemskog prvenstva ostvario je 10 pobjeda u prvih 11 utakmica, a drugi je neriješeni zabilježio u zadnjem kolu protiv Makedonije, kad je njegova momčad već bila sigurno prva u skupini. Njegovi protivnici kažu da je kroz čitave kvalifikacije imao i mnogo sreće, no mi mu nemamo sto zamjeriti: zahvaljujući pobjedi Nizozemske u Pragu 8. listopada i Hrvatska je mogla proslaviti proboj u Njemačku, četiri dana prije no sto smo očekivali.


Armenija zapanjila Rumunjsku

Bio je 17. studenog 2004. kad je Rumunjska došla na prag eliminacije na terenu na kojemu se najmanje nadala teškoćama: u Jerevanu. Gosti su započeli po planu, vodećim pogotkom Cipriana Marice, no Armenija im je pomrsila planove izjednačivši posredstvom Dorhoyana u 62. minuti. Od tog su trenutka Rumunji zaostali u trci za Nizozemskom i češkom...i nikad se nisu vratili na kolosijek.

U ovoj je skupini pothvat izvela i Andorra, svladavši Makedoniju s 1:0, također u početku natjecanja.


Skupina 2

Adio, Grčka

Vašeg novinara nije zbunila pobjeda Grka na Europskom prvenstvu 2004. Prognoza je glasila: "Neće se plasirati na Svjetsko prvenstvo. Potrošili su sreću za idućih 100 godina."
Već 9. rujna 2004., Grčka je posrnula kod Albanije u Tirani s 1:2. Edvin Murati i Adrian Aliaj pogocima u prvih 11 minuta vratili su Grke tamo gdje spadaju, u europsku osrednjost.

Danska je 8. listopada ove godine, pobjedom od 1:0 u Kopenhagenu, i konačno zaustavila euro-prvake na putu u Njemačku. No, i sama je Danska počinila grijeh, koji ju je konačno stajao plasmana: 17. studenog prošle godine odigrala je samo 2:2 u Gruziji i zaostala za odlučujući korak u trci s Ukrajinom i Turskom.

Napokon Ukrajina

Tri je puta Ukrajina ispadala u dodatnim kvalifikacijama: 1997. od Hrvatske s 0:2 i 1:1, 1999. od Slovenije s 1:2 i 1:1 te 2001. protiv Njemačke s 1:1 i 1:4. Napokon će se i Ševčenko pojaviti na jednom velikom natjecanju. Ne možemo reći da nije zaslužio.


Skupina 3

Lihtenštajn zaustavio Portugal!

Portugal je europski doprvak i priznata velesila svjetskog nogometa, no skauti Luiza Felipea Scolarija nisu kvalitetno snimili igru sile u nastajanju - Lihtenštajna. Mora da su Portugalci 9. listopada 2004. očekivali sigurna tri boda, osobito nakon što su nezaobilazni Pedro Pauleta i domaši igraš Daniel Hasler u prvom poluvremenu postigli 0:2. No, nakon odmora Lihtenštajn je pokazao pravo lice i izjednačio golovima Burgmeiera i Becka.

I godinu dana kasnije momci iz minijaturne kneževine namučili su Portugal, izvukavši u Lisabonu časnih 1:2 nakon vodstva od 1:0 do kraja prvog dijela!

Sedmica u ruskoj mreži

Ako nije mogao svladati Lihtenštajn, Portugal se u punoj formi pokazao samo četiri dana kasnije protiv Rusije, svladavši je sa 7:1, uz po dva pogotka Cristiana Ronaldo i Petita te po jednim Paulete, Deca i Simaa.


Skupina 4

Neporaženi Izrael tek treći

Niti niz od 10 utakmica bez poraza nije pomogao Izraelu da se izbori barem za dodatne kvalifikacije. Hrabra je bliskoistočna momčad, u nastojanju da se domogne prvog nastupa na Mundialu od 1970., ostala neporažena i u Francuskoj i u švicarskoj i u Irskoj, no svoje suparnike nije uspjela svladati ni kod kuće. Minimalne pobjede nad Ciprom i Farskim otocima zadržale su Izraelce na trećem mjestu, s istim brojem bodova kao švicarska i s dva manje od Francuske. Možda im je za odlučujući korak nedostajao jedan - Giovanni Rosso?

Skupina 5

Slovenci frustrirali Italiju

Italija je velesila, Slovenija je momčad običnih radnika, no taj odnos snaga nije bio viđen u Celju u dvoboju susjeda. Slovenija ne samo da nije bila nadigrana, već je pobijedila s 1:0, golom glavom tadašnjeg Dinamovca Boštjana Cesara. Na koncu će Italija, dakako, zauzeti prvo mjesto, no "Janezi" će se uvijek moći tješiti da su nadmašili momčad 25 puta veće države trostrukih svjetskih prvaka.

Skupina 6

Sjeverna Irska stekla nezavisnost!

Engleska je po nekima favorit Svjetskog prvenstva. Oduševila je promatraše pobjedom nad Argentinom u nedavnoj prijateljskoj utakmici. No, u kvalifikacijama ne samo da nije oduševila, već je razjarila vlastite navijaše i, ponekad, nasmijala neutralce. Poraz od vrlo slabe Sjeverne Irske s 0:1 9. rujna ove godine, dok još nije osigurala mjesto na Mundialu, naveo je engleski dio publike na skandiranje, "Sack the Swede" (Maknite Šveđu). Uslijedila je na jedvite jade izborena pobjeda protiv Austrije, iz jedanaesterca i s igračem manje nakon isključenja Beckhama.

Austrijanci u "ekstazi"

Našim dragim prijateljima i vodičima u Europsku uniju naprosto ne ide: Azerbajdžan-Austrija 0:0. Ako ništa drugo, u ovim kvalifikacijama Austrijanci nisu "popili" devet pogodaka kao koncem devedesetih od španjolske.


Skupina 7

španjolska u milosti moćnih

Već je u Zenici BiH pokazala da je u stanju nositi se s razvikanom španjolskom. Bilo je 1:1. U drugom krugu natjecanja, u Valenciji, 8. lipnja ove godine, Bosanci su vodili s 1:0 pogotkom Mišimovića od 38. minute i taj rezultat držali do 90. minute. I do 92. I do 94. I do 96. No, do pobjede nisu došli, jer je Marchena ugurao loptu u mrežu kad je već počela 97. minuta, preciznije 52. minuta drugog poluvremena. Engleski sudac Bennett imao je poseban doživljaj dimenzije vremena, a prethodno je isključio i dva bosanska igrača. Uzalud su se Bosanci bunili, jer ta dva ključna izgubljena boda više nisu mogli nadoknaditi.

I u doigravanju, španjolska je imala kvalitetno sušenje. Pobjeda od 5:1 protiv Slovačke bila je jednako realna kao i nedavni uspjeh njihove košarkaške reprezentacije nad Hrvatskom na Euru u Beogradu.

Skupina 8

Mjuzikl u La Valetti: "Malta, Malta"

Hrvatska je dvaput pobijedila švedsku, koja jako, jako rijetko gubi u kvalifikacijama. Ali, Hrvatska je samo jednom tukla Maltu. U Zagrebu. U La Valetti 7. rujna 2005. bilo je teško, 1:1. Nakon vodstva golom Nike Kranjčara, Vatreni su posustali i u 74. minuti primili pogodak direktno iz slobodnjaka. Steve Wellmann zabio je s 30 metara, "kroz uši" Stipe Pletikose.

Ako je reprezentacija posrnula, nisu i hrvatski navijači. Na tribinama Ta'Qalija izveli su veličanstveni spektakl, svladavši brojna plastična sjedala i susjedne navijaše, te hrabro se borivši protiv domaše policije. Sto je Hrvata potom osušeno za prekršaj i deportirano, uz molbu da se neko vrijeme ne vraćaju na Maltu.


Majstorija Ibrahimovića

Ne mora nam se sviđati Zlatan Ibrahimović kao tip, ali kao nogometaš je "broj 1", ili negdje blizu tog mjesta. Pogodak Mađarskoj u sudačkoj nadoknadi bio je remen djelo nogometnog genija. Suhi dribling u kaznenom prostoru i bomba, iz oštrog kuta, pod prečku Gabora Kiralyja.


DODATNE KVALIFIKACIJE

Istanbul, opasan grad

Turska je trećeplasirana nacija s prošlog Svjetskog prvenstva, no neće braniti broncu iz Japana i Koreje. U razigravanju sa švicarskom nedostajao joj je gol za prolaz. Alpinci su kod kuće slavili s 2:0, Turci su uzvratili s 4:2. Uzbudljivo je bilo na travnjaku, još uzbudljivije na putu prema svlačionicama. Švicarci kašu da su dobili batina te da su ih udarali ne samo domaši igrači već i redari. FIFA-ina je istraga u tijeku, a Turskoj prijeti drastična kazna. Govorka se i o isključenju s idućeg Mundiala, no tako drastična valjda neće biti. Neka im se naredi da igraju domaše - u Grčkoj. To bi im bila dovoljno oštra kazna.

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Becks, Rugs and Rock and Roll

We’ve all heard the expression, ‘It could be a war out there’, when Argentina play England at football; it’s not a cliché, it’s a valid prediction.

Tension between the two countries began to surface in 1982, when an argument broke out over the Wolves and Ipswich defender, Mel Venus.

The hostility increased at the World Cup of 1998, where in a moment of madness, David Beckham made a decision that upset the whole of England; he agreed to marry Victoria Adams.

Also in ’98, Beckham was sent off for kicking Diego Simeone, but fate allowed Beckham to partially redeem himself four years later, as his penalty effectively sent the Argies home from the 2002 World Cup.

David Beckham and his wife normally shy away from the spotlight, but he’s always at the centre of attention when England face Argentina; you can back Beckham to score the only goal of the game at 55/1.

In a somewhat surprising move, Sven has recalled David ‘Calamity’ James and Peter Crouch to the squad for the Argentina match; hopefully he’ll play James up front and Crouch in goal.

Admittedly, I’m not a football manager, I’m a gambling guru; but if I had to pick an England team, I wouldn’t touch Crouch with a barge-pole, in fact, I’d rather play the barge-pole. For all you believers, Crouch is a 9/1 shot to score the last goal.

One of my South American contacts has advised me to back Placente to score the first goal for the Argies at 50/1, but I’ve found that somewhat hard to swallow. I’ll be on the draw at 15/8.

The Americans are marching towards Scotland, and somewhat surprisingly, it’s not related to North Sea oil. According to FIFA, the Yanks are the 7th strongest team in the World, which is absolutely ridiculous; it’s the biggest joke in International football since Robbie Savage. Don’t fall for FIFA’s rug-pulling, Scotland are terrific value at 7/5.

France v Germany is an interesting match. Both countries dislike America; I wish they could both win. With Thierry Henry firing on all cylinders, France are the call at 5/6.

The following specials are all available at Super Soccer.

“Oil be back” – The USA to win from behind 11/1
“Argy bargy” – Argentina to have a player sent off 8/1
“Turk up like a kipper” – Hakan Sukur to score with a header 8/1
“The Italian Job” – Italy to score three or more goals 7/1
“Rocking Robin” – Van Persie to score two or more goals 9/1
“A Swiss Roll” – Switzerland to score three or more goals 11/2
“Lord of the Fries” – Thierry Henry to score a hat-trick 16/1
“Throw the towel in” – Germany to have a player sent off 11/1

Quote of the week:

“He is very special, and I would like to have him in the World Cup squad.”

Sven Goran Eriksson should have spent more money on English lessons, Peter Crouch is the subject.

Stat, you’re a liberty:

Wayne ‘Rucker’ Rooney may be considered the best thing since canned lager, but his contribution to World Cup qualification was minimal. Rooney hasn’t scored a competitive goal for England since Euro 2004.

Acc of the week:

Scotland
Holland
France
Spain
Uruguay

The five-fold pays a juicy 18/1.

Weekend Betting:

Scotland v USA International Friendly Saturday 12th November 16.00 Live on Sky

Scotland 7/5
Draw 11/5
USA 6/4

Get on: Scotland

Here’s a sentence you rarely see, Scotland are value to win a football match.
Match Special:
Scotland to keep a clean sheet 6/4

Argentina v England International Friendly Saturday 12th November 16.45 Live on BBC

Argentina 7/5
Draw 15/8
England 7/4

Get on: Draw

This is why bookmakers all drive Ferraris. Any result is possible, except the one that I back. I’m losing my money on the draw.
Match Special:
Lampard to score a penalty 7/1

Holland v Italy International Friendly Saturday 12th November 19.45 Live on Bravo

Holland 6/5
Draw 2/1
Italy 2/1

Get on: Holland

The future’s bright, the future’s orange. 6/5 for the Dutch is a corking investment.
Match Special:
Van Nistelrooy and Van Persie both to score 8/1

France v Germany International Friendly Saturday 12th November 20.00 Live on Eurosport

France 5/6
Draw 9/4
Germany 13/5

Get on: France

The French have quality throughout their team. The Germans have Michael Ballack.
Match Special:
Henry and Trezeguet both to score 5/1

Norway v Czech Rep World Cup Qualifying play-off 1st Leg Saturday 12th November 18.30

Norway 2/1
Draw 2/1
Czech Rep 5/4

Get on: Czech Rep

The Czech’s were unlucky to draw Holland in their qualifying group. Will the Czech Republic lose? Nor way.
Match Special:
Milan Baros to score at any time 6/4

Switzerland v Turkey World Cup Qualifying play-off 1st Leg Saturday 12th November 19.45 Live on Setanta

Switzerland 6/4
Draw 15/8
Turkey 7/4

Get on: Switzerland

The Swiss will get the result they need at home, but the 2nd leg in Turkey will be no picnic.
Match Special:
Frei to score with a header 7/1

Spain v Slovakia World Cup Qualifying play-off 1st Leg Saturday 12th November 21.00

Spain 1/4
Draw 7/2
Slovakia 10/1

Get on: Spain

The Spanish were rubbing their hands after the draw, they can afford to take a little siesta and still win the match.
Match Special:
Raul to score two or more goals 7/2

Uruguay v Australia World Cup Qualifying play-off 1st Leg Saturday 12th November 23.00

Uruguay 4/7
Draw 9/4
Australia 5/1

Get on: Uruguay
The Uruguayan coach will play videos of neighbours in the dressing room pre-match to get the players nicely wound up. Uruguay beat Argentina at home, and drew with Brazil home and away; the Aussies are if for a mullering.
Match Special:
Uruguay to score in both halves 6/4

Betting at Soccerphile

South Korea's Dynamic Duo

It’s a pretty good time to be a Korean football fan. Qualification for the World Cup was expected but still welcome for all concerned. But what is really getting people excited are the ‘Two Parks’ – Park Ji-sung and Park Chu-young.– the hottest properties in Asian football.


The older of the two, Ji-sung, has just joined Manchester United in a $7.4 million deal; one that thrusts the shy Suwon native stumbling onto one of the brightest stages on the planet.

Manchester United is the biggest and richest sports franchise in the world, have fans from Auckland to Argentina, have lifted the English title eight times in the past thirteen years and have young players like Wayne Rooney and Cristiano Ronaldo and will be challenging for titles at home and abroad for years to come.

The 24 year-old will need to use all of his, not inconsiderable, experience in England. He took the unusual route of moving to Japan without ever appearing in the Korean league. His two years at Kyoto Purple Sanga were successful ones but they weren’t the reason why the midfielder earned a move to Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven.

Ji-sung’s exploits in South Korea’s run to the semi-finals in the 2002 World Cup were the clincher to his European move as was his relationship with then Korean boss Guus Hiddink. When Park scored an exquisite goal against Portugal in Incheon, he ran straight to the Dutchman and jumped into his arms.

Hiddink has since been reluctant to let go and when he took over the reins at Eindhoven he wasted no time in persuading Park to join him and despite some initial settling-in problems, the Korean established himself as an integral part of the midfield in southern Holland, leading the team to the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League.

Such performances inevitably attracted the attention of bigger fish and they don’t come any bigger than Manchester United. It’s difficult for any player to turn down the “Red Devils” and Park will soon become the first South Korean to play in the Premier League.

Equally inevitable were suggestions in the English and European media that United bought Park to ‘crack’ the Asian market – to help boost the focus of the club’s smooth merchandising machine in the east.

The biggest service the star, for a star he now is, can provide to the Asian game during his time at United is to prove that European clubs can actually sign Far Eastern players for their talent and skill and not for the dubious perceived benefits of selling shirts in the Orient.

It won’t be easy, as he has to break into the first eleven in England and stay there but playing with stars like Rooney and Ronaldo can only help the Asian develop.
“What is important for me is whether I can play in games or not,’’ Park, who is planning to study English, said in a press conference.
``I don’t think I will become a big star like David Beckham right now,” joked the Korean about the former Manchester player. “Maybe I can if I was that handsome, but I am always trying to be a better player, so I don’t think it is impossible to become a player like Beckham.’’
Such humor will serve him well as will his typical Korean determination to succeed. English fans prize effort, heart and willingness to give everything for the team above everything, qualities that Park has in abundance as well as no little skill.

If the elder Park is Batman then Chu-young is certainly the boy wonder and plans to follow the trail blazed by the United man, repeatedly stating his desire to play in England. With the meteoric rise of the player, who turned 20 on July 10, few would bet against the sensation doing just that.


To anyone living in north-east Asia, it is scarcely believable that the Daegu native was unknown just a year ago. The striker’s six goals during last November’s Asian Youth Championship, won the title for his team and the prize of MVP for himself.

The greater award of the AFC’s Young Asian Player of 2004 title was received in January 2005 as was attention from a host of K-League clubs with FC Seoul eventually capturing the services of the emerging celebrity.

Encouragingly for Park and for South Korea, he seems to be able to make the step up to the next level with breathtaking effortlessness. He finished the pre-season Hauzen Cup competition as joint top scorer and then went one better by becoming the outright leading marksman in the first stage of the K-League, despite missing five games due to international duty. His mere presence tempts the sometimes reluctant Korean public to pour into stadiums all over the republic.

If observers didn’t believe the hype, they had to reconsider in June. After only three appearances in the K-League, national coach Jo Bonfrere bowed to media pressure and included the deeply- religious goalgetter in the starting line-ups for the vital World Cup Qualifiers in Uzbekistan and Kuwait.

A last minute equalizer in Tashkent kept his country on the road to Germany 2006 and five days later, the striker scored the first goal in a sweltering Kuwait City and earned the penalty for the second to secure the win that guaranteed South Korea a place in a seventh World Cup.

Rarely has a rise been so dramatic but the ambitious and single-minded 20 year-old doesn’t plan to stop anytime in the near future as his avowed intent is to move to England as soon as possible.
South Korea just may have a pair of global stars on its hands

Park Ji Sung

Busan I’Park are just two points away from clinching the first stage title in the 2005 K-League season.

The FA Cup holders remain unbeaten after ten games and with two games remaining are in the enviable position of sitting five points above second-placed Ulsan Hyundai Horangi.

Coach Ian Porterfield has turned I’Park into an impressive, effective machine who in 2005 seem to effortlessly pick up points wherever they go. In sixteen games in the K-League and AFC Champions League the south-coast outfit have won thirteen and drawn three.

Such consistency is based on a tight defence, well-supported by international understudy Kim Yong-dae in goal but the Busan success story is one of some unsung heroes of Korean football – Lim Kwan-shik, Lee Jong-hyo, Park Seong-bae and Doh Hwa-seong. These players can’t be seen at the national level, which is not something that will overly concern their Scottish boss, but have produced a number of impressive performances that will, barring disaster, give Busan the first-stage ‘title’.

Another plus point for I’Park is the performances of new foreign signings, Brazilians Luciano and Bobo who have slowly but surely settled in well and made important contributions to the team’s success.

A 1-0 victory at the home of Chunnam Dragons, courtesy of a Lim Kwan-shik strike has put the AFC Champions League quarter-finalists within a win of the top spot and a place in the end of season championship play-offs.

With both remaining games to be played at the Busan World Cup Stadium, not many would bet against the leaders staying in pole position.

Even if the required two points are not forthcoming both Ulsan and Incheon United would have to collect the maximum return to overhaul the leaders. Such a feat seems to be beyond United who are going through a rough patch at a bad time and have collected just two points from the last four games, leaving the sophomore club sliding down the table.

Still, United will be more than happy with the first stage in only their second season in existence and the performance of Jang Woe-ryong at the helm of the club bodes well for the future of the west coast club.

As Incheon have slipped, Seongnam Ilhwa have found their form with three wins in a row that have lifted the six-time champions into fifth place. It is much too late for Ilhwa to challenge Busan but the improvement means that the 2003 champions can look forward to the second stage.

The 2004 champions, Suwon will be looking forward to the next stage also but for different reasons as the opening phase has been a nightmare for the Bluewings who finally managed a second win of the season at the home of bottom club Gwangju Sangmu.

Coach Cha Bum-keun will need to win the second stage to have any chance of defending the title he won in his first season back in his native land; failure to do so will increase the pressure of the former Bundesliga star.

It is a similar story for FC Seoul, tipped by many to be Suwon’s challengers for the title. Injuries to the highly-rated Nonato and international duty for Park Chu-young have interfered with the capital club’s much-vaunted dream strike force and it has been Kim Eun-jung who has taken on the goalscoring burden for the LG-backed outfit. The team, formerly known as the Anyang Cheetahs, are yet another one under a lot of pressure to produce a dramatically improved second half of the season.

The same can be said, only more so, for Chonbuk Hyundai Motors, who only a few months ago were unluckily losing the AFC Champions League semi-final to eventual champions Al-Ittihad of Saudi Arabia.

The Motors have spent much of the season rooted to the bottom spot, a dismal record that cost Jo Yoon-hwan his job as coach. His replacement Choi kang-hee has a wealth of experience with the national squad but will have his work cut out restoring confidence to a decent team – though the 2-1 win at Incheon United will help.

Park Ji-sung to United

The protracted transfer of South Korea’s star midfielder was finally settled with the English club paying a reported $7.4 million for the PSV Eindhoven midfielder.

The Dutch champions did their best to hang on to the 24 year-old but the lure of becoming the first Korean to play in the Premiership and for one of the world’s biggest clubs was too much for the former Kyoto Purple Sanga star to resist.

Park returned to his native Suwon to open a new road named in his honour and admitted that his first challenge was to break into the star-studded side.
“ I welcome the challenge and know that I have to prove myself,” the versatile midfielder told reporters “But playing at PSV gave me confidence and I believe that I can do well in Manchester, too.’’
The 2002 World Cup star has much to do to displace players such as Giggs, Keane, Scholes or Ronaldo but the player will be happy just to play.
``I don’t care much about my position. What is more important for me is whether I can play in the game or not,’’ he said.
Park’s determination, engine and no little skill should endear him to the Old Trafford faithful as well as the manager and the Korean hopes to win them over.
``I don’t think I will become a big star like David Beckham just yet. Maybe I can if I was more handsome,’’ he joked. ``But I strive constantly to improve my game to become a better player, so I don’t think it is impossible to become a player like Beckham.’’
The Suwon-born star has come a long way since being turned down by his hometown club, Suwon Samsung Bluewings and is excited about playing for the two-time European champions.
“The facilities, the stadium, everything show why people call them the best club in the world. I felt so happy to be there,” he also had the opportunity to briefly speak to new boss Sir Alex Ferguson by phone. “It was a short conversation but he welcomed me to Manchester and said that he expected much of me.
The same could be said of his countrymen who will be watching his every move in the north-west of England.

K. League