“‘Zizou, you are a legend!’ The cry comes from an overexcited young boy in the midst of a crowd gathered at Sun City, one of South Africa’s most popular tourist destinations, to watch Zinedine Zidane play in a five-a-side tournament. The French icon appears relaxed and unfazed as eager fans try to squeeze past his four bodyguards for a photo or an autograph. He grins, but says little.” (FIFA)

Drogba is unlikely Chelsea hero (BBC)
“Just three months ago, this season looked like being one to forget for Dider Drogba. But now the Chelsea striker is threatening to make it the most memorable of his career. The powerful Ivory Coast star capped an impressive display at Wembley on Saturday with a dramatic late winner to sink Arsenal and put his side into the FA Cup final.”

English clubs are the envy of Europe, so why listen to MPs? (Mail Online)
“With three teams in the Champions League semi-finals for the third year in succession and the national team enjoying a 100 per cent record in their World Cup qualifying games (matched only by Spain and Holland in Europe), it could be argued that English football has been doing pretty well of late. ”

UK inquiry: Man U, Liverpool in ‘financial doping’ (AP – Forbes)
“British parliamentary report Monday of engaging in ‘financial doping.’ Among 27 recommendations at the end of a yearlong inquiry, legislators urged England’s football authorities to curb ‘ludicrous levels of borrowing’ and the use of profits to service large debts.”

Gold Cup favorites Mexico, USA have challenging summer ahead (CONCACAF)
“Both Mexico and the United States will have multiple challenges this summer, and that doesn’t even take into account another potential meeting for the CONCACAF Gold Cup title. The two are in the midst of the final round of World Cup qualifying, with Mexico having to adjust to Javier Aguirre, the team’s fourth different manager in less than a year.”

The big attraction of the Libertadores (BBC – Tim Vickery)
“Same old same old in Europe, all change in South America. The Champions League has the same semi-finalists year after year, but it’s a very different story in the Copa Libertadores. The group phase is not yet complete in South America’s premier club competition, but even before the action got under way there was a guarantee that there would be no repeat of last year’s final.”