January 7 – When the draw was made for next summer’s World Cup finals, England manager Roy Hodgson said his team’s chances might well partly depend on how many players were missing through injury.
January 7 – Premier League club Liverpool have taken another step to expand their links with India, with the signing of a regional sponsorship with smart mobile device brand XOLO. This follows an agreement at the end of last year which sees Liverpool open its first academy in partnership with local team DSK Shivajians FC in Pune.
“You’ll never have me in your grasp, not in this chariot, a gift to me from my grandfather Helios, to protect me from all hostile hands.” Euripides, Medea
When the infanticide Medea, the original theatrical villain, is lifted with the bodies of her murdered children from the scene of her crime by the sun god’s chariot there is a sense of dissatisfaction about the outcome of Euripides play. It’s a bit of a cop out of an ending,
With roughly five months to the World Cup finals, the burning question of how the African quintet will perform in Brazil and what it might say, about the competitive state of the continental game, will soon be answered.
But what really bothers me, as we begin another year, way beyond whether an African team is able, for the first-time, to reach the semi-finals – as desirable as that is – is when the various countries within the continent will get down to the much-needed business of hammering out sustainable plans for long-term development.
Time was when the third round of the FA Cup produced excitement, surprise, fun and often a touch of magic to keep the winter blues away. Now all it does is produce moans about how the Cup has been devalued and the competition is not what it was back in the old days. The only surprise is this year the moans began even before the third round matches had been played, ignited by comments of Paul Lambert of Aston Villa that the FA Cup did not mean much to Premier League teams.
Driving back from an English FA Cup game in the pouring rain last Saturday, I was listening to a radio phone-in and suddenly became so incensed by a Chelsea-supporting caller, I gripped the steering wheel even more tightly in the treacherous conditions to avoid swerving into the path of another car in my rage.
The caller, displaying an arrogance so common among Johnny-come-lately fans whose clubs have enjoyed unlimited success and who disregard everyone else,
In 2002, I travelled to Sedan in northern France to watch a match against Lens that featured some of the Senegal players likely to represent their country in the opening match of that year’s World Cup against France.
Afterwards I wrote: “If Dakar-born Patrick Vieira were playing for the country of his birth, Senegal would have a real shout at springing the World Cup’s first upset.” I was wrong, of course: Senegal beat the then World Cup-holders,
By Paul Nicholson
January 6 – English football turned its attention away from league matches to the venerable FA Cup and its third round last weekend. But it seems there is a lack of respect for age amongst the fans as well as some of the Premier League managers.
By David Owen
January 6 – New analysis by professional services firm Deloitte foresees no sign that the premium sports rights “value bubble” is about to burst and predicts that growth in the value of global premium sports broadcast rights will this year accelerate by an eye-catching 14%.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 6 – Tributes continue to pour in from across the world following the death of Eusebio, the darling of Portuguese football who will for ever be remembered as one of the game’s true greats as well as true gentlemen. Top scorer at the 1966 World Cup, Eusebio died Sunday of a heart attack at the age of 71 with Portugal declaring three days of national mourning for their “eternal symbol”
By Jaroslaw Adamowski
January 6 – Czech Republic’s Gambrinus Liga has posted improved attendance results for the 2013/2014 mid-season. After fifteen rounds, the average match attendance was 5,062 spectators, up 10.5% from 4,584 spectators in the same period a year earlier.
January 6 – The South African hosts of the African Nations Championship (Chan) which starts January 11, have been saved the embarrassment of playing without key players from top club Kaiser Chiefs after a last-minute agreement was reached between the club and the federation last Friday.
January 6 – The debate over the number of foreign managers in the Premier League has been given fresh impetus – by none other than Chelsea’s own Portuguese boss Jose Mourinho.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 6 – FIFA president Sepp Blatter has revealed the full extent of Brazil’s lack of World Cup preparations with an unprecedented blast at this year’s hosts. As FIFA’s December 31 deadline for the 12 World Cup stadiums to be ready came and went with half of them still behind schedule, Blatter criticised the organisers by declaring no host had ever been as far behind at this stage in his 38 years with football’s world governing body.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 3 – Players are frequently seen to verbally abuse officials on the pitch but rarely does it happen the other way – not publicly at least. English Premier League team Southampton have made an official complaint, however, after accusing referee Mark Clattenburg of insulting their captain Adam Lallana in Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Everton.