“He made his international debut in 2001 and won his first major trophy with Italy in 2006, as part of the World Cup team. Materazzi played in the final of the competition and became the centre of much controversy when he was headbutted by Zinédine Zidane mid-match after having insulted him.” Wikipedia, YouTube
“Steve Coppell is lying on the floor with four metal clips attached to his hands and feet. He’s in the process of being wired up to some sort of electronic device. For a brief moment, I fear the Reading boss is about to be sacrificed in the name of scientific research.” (BBC)
Pro Vercelli: From the Diary of Walter Colombo, 31 August 2014 (The Run of Play – Brian Phillips)
“By the time we made landfall near Palermo, the hours of steady rattling had left me sore from head to toe. I crawled ashore, my muscles aching, my tie dangling in the surf. Before I reached the bar of dry sand at the top of the beach, a deafening roar and a sudden wave-churning wind told me the Achilles was gone.” (The Run of Play)
Once again, Super Eagles on the precipice, Nigerians are crying (Vanguard – Patrick Omorodion)
“Again Nigerians have started another permutations on another World Cup qualification series. After the exit of Dutchman, Clemens Westerhof, Nigeria has never found it easy qualifying for any World Cup. When he quit after the 1994 World Cup in the United States, the boys he groomed to win the Africa Nations Cup were still around and qualified for the France edition in 1998 almost effortlessly.” (Vanguard)
Capello must tackle flaws of England’s work in progress (Guardian – Kevin McCarra)
“Fabio Capello proved more resilient than his back four. Following the unkempt 2–1 victory over Ukraine, the manager’s own defensive work was impeccable. England may now have won all five of their World Cup qualifiers but the sole shut-out came against Andorra.” (Guardian)
“If the England national team was hoping to tilt the Wembley pitch and roll over Ukraine in their World Cup 2010 qualifier, those dreams evaporated quickly into the London haze. Oleksiy Mykhaylichenko’s side proved they are not pushovers as they produced their best showing during the tenure of their much-maligned manager.” (World Cup Blog)
Only Spain can deny England global supremacy (Times Online)
“To return from Wembley late on Wednesday night, turn on the television and find Argentina being mangled by Bolivia was to be reminded of just how close England are to world supremacy.”
Can England win the World Cup? (The Game)
“In his latest Times column, Patrick Barclay says England deserve to be considered as one of the early favourites for the 2010 World Cup.”
Axed Scottish Pair Shame The Nation (SoccerLens)
“What Scotland needed least of all following a morale-boosting victory over Iceland was a nightmare scenario which sees both the nation’s captain and a promising goalkeeper banned from ever playing for Scotland again.”
Bizarre Happenings In Wales v Germany (World Cup Blog)
“Craig Bellamy was left out of the starting lineup for a knee issue. At least that’s what they’re saying publicly. To open up the sans-Bellamy proceedings, Michael Ballack scored a fantastic goal in front of what looked to be precisely no one at Millenium Stadium in Cardiff.”
Hot-headed Wayne Rooney (Guardian)
“Wayne Rooney’s two-footed lunge against Ukraine’s Oleksandr Aliyev was the latest in a long line of moments when he has lost his rag.”
“The 2010 FIFA World Cup Qualification (Final Round) seventh match day action takes place on April 1, 2009. Easy links to all the previews, match reports and coach reactions are available on this page, which will be updated regularly throughout the period of action. Click on the links to get the latest news from the qualifiers.” (AFC)
Mixed reactions in Asian media (FIFA)
“While winning is supposedly the be all and end all for football coaches, it seems that even maximum points are often not enough to keep the critics at bay. Just take Pim Verbeek.”
Scissors Kick 