Mexico 1 Honduras 0
July 2 – The question on the lips of pundits and fans at Levi Stadium, Santa Clara, was “would tonight be business as usual or unusual business?” as Mexico and Honduras met for the right to face the United States in the Concacaf Gold Cup Final on Sunday in Houston.
Spain 5 Portugal 0
July 3 – With an imperious display, world champions Spain waltzed past neighbours Portugal at the Wankdorff Stadion in Bern, winning 5-0 to back up their status as tournament favourites.
Ever since UEFA announced its financial fair play regulations designed to stop clubs over-spending, Michel Platini has been at pains not to single out the Premier League as the prime culprits. Penny for the UEFA President’s thoughts now.
Any of us who thought – and there are a good many – that the age of mind-boggling transfer fees had been swallowed up by the credit crunch were brought right back to reality when the mid-season window reached its frenzied dramatic conclusion.
By Andrew Warshaw
February 1 – The architect who wrote the original Olympic Park study over a decade ago insists that ground-sharing is the only solution after next year’s London Games and that the Government must step in to resolve the ongoing dispute over the future of the site.
Andy Gray and Richard Keys are the only people who appear to be surprised by the storm their comments have caused.
But what really intrigues me are the two issues the whole affair raises. Neither have received much attention. One relates to Sky Sports. The other is best summed up in the following question: where is England’s Karen Espelund?
February 1 – The cost of tickets for Euro 2012 matches in Ukraine and Poland will cost from €30 (£26/$41) to €600 (£513/$828), UEFA revealed today as they launched the details of how fans could buy them.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 31 – English football wants to scrap the mid-season January transfer window so that clubs can compete more fairly.
By Duncan Mackay
January 30 – Leyton Orient today pleaded not to be “steamrollered out of existence” and blasted the Premier League and Football League for refusing to listen to their appeals about West Ham United or Tottenham Hotspur being allowed to take over the Olympic Stadium after London 2012.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 30 – Asian Football Confederation (AFC) President Mohamed Bin Hammam has given yet another strong hint that he may try to unseat Sepp Blatter (pictured) as head of FIFA.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 30 – Tottenham Hotspur icon Gary Mabbutt (pictured) has entered the increasingly bitter Olympic Stadium debate by warning the North London club would struggle to play Champions League football if they do not move to a bigger ground.
January 29 – Morocco was today awarded the 2015 African Cup of Nations, defeating its only rivals South Africa, who will stage the 2017 tournament.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 29 – The row over the Qatar 2022 World Cup looks set to escalate after Asian Football Confederation (AFC) chief Mohamed bin Hammam (pictured) rejected UEFA President Michel Platini’s suggestion that the tournament should be spread across the entire region.
January 28 – Euro 2012 co-hosts Ukraine have been given a week to resolve a row over Government interference or be banned from international football, UEFA warned today.
January 28 – German football federation (DFB) President Theo Zwanziger (pictured) will be unopposed to fill the place on the FIFA ruling Executive Committee created by the decision of Franz Beckenbauer to step down.
By Andrew Warshaw
January 28 – Sepp Blatter (pictured) has made a potentially significant pre-emptive strike in his bid to hold on to the FIFA Presidency by donating to every federation an extra $300,000 (£189,000) as a share of profits from the 2010 World Cup.
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Funny game football, they say, Except that no one is laughing at the moment.
What with the sexist piggery at Sky, the sordid squabbling over who kicks off at the Olympic Stadium after 2012, the ineptitude of those who run the game, the ever-escalating greed-is-good philosophy of the Premier League and those who play in it, you would think it would be a total turn-off by now.
But perversely, the public continue to turn on.
January 27 – England and Wales have lost their rival bids to host the 2013 European Under-21 Championships after UEFA today chose Israel to stage the tournament.