1. England have a good first XI. Spain have a very good squad
Starting last night’s match in Bosnia without Ramos, Xavi, Torres or Villa, Spain still smashed five past a side who were unbeaten at home in Group Five. By contrast, England laboured, and were outpossessed for swathes of the match against Belarus.
Critical injuries and suspensions in previous tournaments have often put paid to England’s chances. In 2006, the Italian XI who beat France contained four changes from their opening match against Ghana. Could England survive four players missing from their first choice line-up?
2. Beckham’s MOTM award says more about Lennon et al, than it does about Steve Bruce
National outrage, complaints to OFCOM, even Fabio Capello seemed mildly amused at Steve Bruce’s selection of David Beckham as Man of the Match last night. But there can be no doubt that the right side flourished when Becks came on, and all of a sudden England looked a threat from both flanks, rather than just the left.
Bentley, Walcott, Lennon - all have tried to displace Becks since Steve McLaren tried to axe him back in 2006. Yet over three years later, only the bearded one looks certain to make England’s world cup squad next summer.
3. Maybe it does all even itself out Brian
Cut to any professionally dull football pundit in the aftermath of a shocking refereeing decision or late equaliser, and they will, having mulled it over for a little while, cerebrally conclude that, “at the end of the day, it all evens itself out.” And events in Washington last night, appear for once to vindicate this viewpoint.
Having scored an added time equaliser during their CONCACAF Gold Cup semi-final against Mexico this summer, the ‘Ricans’ were undone by Jonathan Bornstein’s 95th minute header for the United States last night, which sent Honduras to South Africa, and Costa Rica to Uruguay.
Or U R Gay as Homer Simpson famously misread it.
Your chance to own C-Ron’s sloppy seconds - it’s the motoring equivalent of dating Nereida Gallardo
During his time at Manchester Utd, it is estimated that Cristiano Ronaldo spent around £2m on fast cars. With little use for a fleet of right-hand drive vehicles in his new home-land, however, the Portuguese star has put some of the motors he managed not to crash on Autotrader.
The GT has done only 7,000 miles, has been stored in a garage and can easily accommodate up to four prostitutes within its plush cream leather cabin.
Also for sale on the second hand car website is his fairly modest Mercedes C220CDI, which has covered 35,000 miles since it was purchased in 2004. It’s not his flashiest motor, but it could be yours for just £10,795.
The Ronaldo motor fire sale appears to be going quite well so far - the black Porsche 911 Carrera 2 Tiptronic S he listed on Autotrader last month is no longer available, suggesting someone stumped up the £69,995 asking price. Actually, it’s much more likely that he wrote it off.
Due to the fact that attractive models couldn’t resist his rugged good looks, Carlos Tevez was forced to tint the windows of his £140,000 Bentley in order to drive safely. The plan backfired, however, when police deemed his windows too dark and impounded the luxury vehicle.
To make matters worse, when the fuzz pulled the Argentinean over, they discovered he may not be eligible to drive in the UK, and he now faces the prospect of prosecution for driving without a licence.
With his car stuck on the driveway of his £1.8m Alderly Edge mansion, Tevez has been forced to bum lifts from his team mates to training. Hence, he is now known by his colleagues as “The Hitcher“.
Until he rides the bus with Robinho, or realises he is a millionaire who can easily afford a driver, the nickname will stick.
Today’s alliterated movers and shakers in the world of soccerball
The papers believe Frank Lampard is one step closer to the European fashion capital because Jose Mourinho has taken five days off his holiday to broker the deal. Yes, that’s a full five days he’s missing from his year-long vacation, so you know he means business.
Cristiano Ronaldo latest
Sir Alex Ferguson’s threat to let Ronaldo rot in the reserves is threatened by a FIFA ruling allowing players to rip up their contracts if they don’t play in 10% of matches. We doubt Fergie will be too scared: he could just play him in the Community Shield, League Cup, a nothing Champions League group game and against Hull and Stoke.
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Another stupid FIFA rule that will have little effect on the deal
Italian football to accept Adebayor defeat
AC Milan no longer believe they have a divine right to any Premier League player they want and will give up pursuit of Adebayor after Arsenal rejected an offer. Real Madrid may wish to take note. Dick Advocaat’s announcement that Andrei Arshavin will move to Spain or England won’t do much good for Italy’s ego either.
The Spoiler Truth-o-meter: Kudos to Milan if true
Aaron Lennon to Newcastle
So let’s get this straight. After a massive losing streak, King Kev stumbled
Does the armband belong back with Terry, or should it grace another bicep?
Stevie G was handed the captaincy in Capello’s first match in charge, but should he be in command at the France game next week, and indeed in the run up to 2010? Other contenders include John Terry (who is as much of a bully as Capello, but prone to injury, unnecessary aggression and illegal parking), Rio Ferdinand (who’ll probably be too busy and ‘merking’ people), David Bentley (a young player who is likely to feature prominently in the future), Micah Richards (whose favourite film is Home Alone) or Frank Lampard (whose favourite film is a tie between Dirty Dancing and The Notebook).
Sometime England skipper confirms priorities: 1) Me 2) My lunch 3) Everyone else
Running late for a leisurely lunch at Pizza Express, John Terry decided the empty 50p-an-hour car park was too much of a strain for a man who runs around for a living, so he did what any other self-absorbed ignorant fellow would do, and stuck his huge Bentley in a disabled bay.
It doesn’t matter that it’s against the law and potentially depriving a needy individual of access to local amentites, because the fine is only £60, a mere 0.04 per cent of JT’s weekly wage. And the Pollo ad Astra was GOOOOD.
Don’t worry - he’s getting the seats in his Bentley re-stitched
These days, the biggest problem for a Premiership star when relocating isn’t changing the kid’s schools, selling up the home or even dealing with the impossibly inefficient staff at BT. Sorting out grotesquely-personalised tat must come first.
Following his whopping £1.5m move to Derby, Robbie Savage has announced that he has already made plans to remove the ‘No8’ stitching from the seats of his Bentley. To show commitment to his new club and his unquestionable vanity, the man
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