The boyhood teams of some the game’s biggest names
Generally speaking, Premier League footballers are well advised to be discreet about the team they truly support. Nowhere is this more evident than in the case of David Bentley, a supposed lifelong Arsenal fan who suddenly professed to be a boyhood Spurs fan upon switching to the north London side. With this imprudent declaration in mind, Spoiler correspondent Ben Baker has rounded up ten footballers whose loyalties don’t necessarily lay with their employers…
Andrei Arshavin
Despite only recently joining the Gunners, fan favourite Arshavin has never hidden the fact that Barcelona are and always have been his team of choice. He has said he was devastated when a move to the Catalan giants never fully materialised when he was at Zenit and has even stated that he would love to play for Barca since he has been at Arsenal. Now if that isn’t a ploy to gain a bigger contract…
John Terry
Mr. Chelsea didn’t make it to Manchester City in the end this summer. Many Chelsea fans will like to think that it is because he is Blue through and through. However, Terry was actually a Manchester Utd fan growing up. Could this be why he couldn’t bring himself to join the Citizens?
Ole Gunnar Solskjaer
The baby faced assassin made a name for himself at Manchester Utd,
The stars who have enjoyed facing their previous employers
This weekend, a whole host of players faced their former employers, most notably Emmanuel Adebayor at Eastlands and Dimitar Berbatov at White Hart Lane. Face kicking and celebrating aside, the former put in a performance that truly represented his stunning talent (something which was somewhat of a rarity during his final months at Arsenal), while the latter moped around and fluffed numerous chances (prompting the chant “That’s why we sold you!” - a chorus only bettered by the “You’re not signing any more!” that Chelsea received at Stoke).
With these acrimonious encounters in mind, Spoiler correspondent Liam Jarvis has selected his top five players who have enjoyed facing the teams that used to sign their puffed-up pay cheques…
William Gallas
The tantrum-prone Frenchman scored the winning header from a Cesc Fabregas corner to beat Chelsea 1-0 back in 2007. The goal ended a 3-year winless streak against their London rivals.
Alan Shearer
Alan Shearer marked his 300th club career goal in perfect fashion, a simple penalty against former side Blackburn in 2002.
Michel Platini has another sleepless night as English clubs triumph in Europe
Liverpool 4/ Real Madrid 0 (5-0 agg) The statistics suggested Liverpool would struggle to get anything more than a draw last night, but Rafa’s side gave Madrid an almighty spanking at Anfield. The Spaniards may complain about the legitimacy of the first two goals, but the better team triumphed, and the other one suffered their worst Champions League defeat ever. If only Liverpool would play like this in the league…
Juventus 2/ Chelsea 2 (3-2 agg)
Meanwhile, there were plenty of controversial incidents in Turin, in a match that could have gone either way. Despite Drogba’s free kick goal crossing the line unnoticed, the Pensioners had enough resolve to overcome the Old Lady.
Spoiler Bonus: Highlights of the other two matches - including Bayern Munich’s ridiculous 12-1 aggregate victory over Sporting - after the jump…
Reds steal Spanish victory, Pensioners defeat Old Lady
Real Madrid 0/ Liverpool 1
Fernando Torres didn’t manage to break his Bernebeu goal curse, but finally had the honour of playing in a side that defeated Real Madrid last night. Yossi Benayoun’s late strike at Rafa Benitez’s old stomping ground put the gaffer in a jubilant mood, giving him cause to quash the departure rumours that circulated yesterday:
“Believe me, I am staying. I know all about the news in England but I can tell you I am thinking to stay and I want to work hard for this club.”
Chelsea 1/ Juventus 0
Meanwhile in west London, Didier Drogba showed his new lease of life under Guus Hiddink by sending Juventus back to Italy with nothing to show for. Roman Abramovich, who skipped across the pitch with Bono and The Edge after the final whistle, was clearly satisfied.
Spoiler bonus: Highlights of Bayern Munch’s demolition of Sporting and Villarreal’s draw with Panathinaikos after the jump…
We’ve been bringing you the world’s finest WAGs for over a year now, and somehow we’ve never crossed paths with Portuguese TV presenter and model Marisa Cruz.
Former Benfica and Sporting striker João Vieira Pinto was once happily married to a lovely lady named Carla, but things turned sour and an incredibly dragged out divorce process ensued (lots of arguing about a Mercedes and an Algarve villa, apparently). The split may have had something to do with Miss Cruz, with whom he now has a child, and perhaps a new Mercedes.
The good officials of the Champions League gathered around the trough in Monaco this afternoon, pausing briefly to pompously remove some plastic footballs from mixing bowls in one of their favourite little rituals.
As per, various pundits and sundry authorities were on hand to discuss the mouth-watering nature of the dance card, while those associated with the managerial side of things vowed not to underestimate anybody, as decreed by UEFA’s guidelines on how to talk to the press at times such as this.
Of the English teams, Liverpool probably feel the men in blazers could have looked harder to find them a couple of soft sides, but at least
Eldrick Woods, known as ‘Tiger’ to friends and fans, is on such unstoppable form that he could conceivably win all four majors this summer. Main competitor Phil Mickelson has backed him on that one, and the folk at Paddy Power are so resigned to his Augusta victory that they are doing everything they can to make you bet against him (if you back Mickelson at 11/1, for example, and Woods wins by five or more shots, you’ll get your money back).
UEFA Cup quarter-final first leg
Sporting/ Rangers (ITV4, 7.45pm)
US Masters Golf
Augusta, Georgia, Day One (BBC2, 9pm)
Yes, all the English teams have been dismissed from Europe’s least loves competition, but north of the border, hopes are very much alive for Rangers to make the UEFA Cup semi-finals. They are 11/10 favourites - not a bad punt considering they have lost just one game in the last 25.
UEFA Cup Quarter-final First Leg
Rangers/ Sporting (ITV4, 7.45pm)
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