Geraldo Wendel to Spurs | Antoine Griezmann to Liverpool | Sol Campbell to Hull

Observed every morning through the Mill’s emerald prism of rumour, half-truth, lies and things that appear in the Daily Star, football can look like a deeply envious kind of place. To the Mill’s unblinking green-hued gimlet eye this is a world of jealousy, grasping aspiration and sweaty men in shiny suits who make stuff up and have meetings in horrible wine bars with other shiny-suited men, at least one of whom is a nervous BBC journalist with a camera hidden in his satchel, in order to make more stuff up.

It’s natural in this world to want to be someone else. The Mill, for example, has always assumed it would be happiest as a long-serving and inoffensive Premier League full-back slash defensive utility man. The kind of faithful club servant who plays for 10 years without ever convincing anyone he’s actually very good, but just hangs in there maybe picking up a Carling Cup medal, maybe playing a single chaotic season in the Europa League, and never having to appear in the newspapers having opinions, or get booed for some tribal faux pas, just turning up and being OK. But through it all still being able to live in a monogrammed palatial converted bog draining plant in Cheshire with a cinema room and gold leaf Jacuzzi hot tub, and retiring at 35 to do nothing but play golf and be rich and mooch around Dubai with Steve McManaman. This is the Mill’s mediocre dream of a life cushioned by the dumb luck of unmerited riches.

Failing that, The Mill wouldn’t mind being an apparently indestructible heavily-tattooed multi-millionaire lumbering Italian center-forward. A kind of Christian Vieri-style figure, nothing to prove any more, but still stumbling around from Turkish league to the Denver Chicken Bucket to some mid-to-lower tier Premier League club picking up an endless final lap of honor pay day.

Which brings The Mill to news in this morning’s Daily Mirror that Luca Toni is threatening to “go on strike” at Bayern Munich unless he’s allowed to make a series of unconvincing appearances for West Ham, buy a nice flat in the docklands, injure his ankle or his calf or his earlobe, disappear completely for about six months and then jet off to Al Baargh of Qatar with an enormous severance cheque. “The trainer told me I should play for the reserves and get the chance to play 90 minutes. But I don’t think that is a good idea,” Toni said from his sofa yesterday, making a “what-ever”-style gesture and opening another packet of Pringles.

Leeds want to swap Chris Taylor for Oldham’s Alan Sheehan. Manchester United and Liverpool are “battling it out” to sign inevitably disappointing and fitful Real Sociedad “wonderkid” Antoine Griezmann, who sounds like the kind of surly, white-coated designer-stubbled man who might turn up on Saturday Kitchen making a soufflé in an atmosphere of forced and empty bonhomie that ends with everyone grinning glassily at the camera and saying “Antoine. Absolutely delicious. Now…”

In the Mail, Phil Brown thinks it’s a good idea to sign Sol Campbell in January, but only if he can “beat off” some invented “interest” from Genoa, Sampdoria, someone in the middle east, The Brisbane Flip-Flops and a crushing sense of overwhelming and deathly futility. And for some reason Big Phil “Luiz Felipe” Scolari says Zico stopped him signing Yuri Zhirkov for Chelsea, which sounds like a good idea for a radio panel game show called I’m Sorry Zico Stopped Me Doing It, hosted by Jack Dee or Stephen Fry. Zico once stopped The Mill getting to a wedding in Sussex on time, by accidentally filling up the Mill’s Austin Maestro with diesel rather than two-stroke when we stopped at the BP garage just outside Horsham. Beeeep. Sinitta? Yes, it’s a Zico Bluff. Five points.

In The Sun, Phil Brown has attempted to turn things around by taking his players for a walk on the Humber Bridge. He’s also defended giving Liam Cooper a nightmare debut marking Fernando Torres. “”It was a Catch 22 situation. If you’d asked him whether he wanted his debut at Anfield, he would have said ‘Yes’,” Brown explained, furiously scribbling over the text of his copy of Joseph Heller’s classic novel of war-time absurdity and re-writing the entire 454 pages into the moving tale of an 18-year-old defender being humiliated by a world class centre forward for no apparent reason.

According to Goal.com Spurs are snuffling around after Bordeaux winger Geraldo Wendel. “”I’m glad to have clubs like these who are interested in my football,” the Brazilian announced, gazing at his very interesting football. And Curtis Davies could leave Aston Villa in January in a tiff over not quite having played enough games to be given the huge sack full of gemstones, parmesan cheese and £2 coins stipulated in his contract, but wanting it anyway despite having spent most of the last year in a bath chair smoking a pipe.

Reference: http://www.buzzle.com

Dave Cameron’s Etonian Cabal – My Hot Tip for the 2010 at Westminster

Usually it is the Conservative Party conference that is profoundly depressing (and to be the fair to the bastards, I am sure they won’t disappoint this week as they prepare for power by taking it in turns to smug up to the lectern and denounce as demented anyone who has the temerity to call for a small windfall levy on those whose properties have risen from £300,000 to an easy million and in the process earned their owners, tax free, as much as a teacher or nurse might make in a career). But even so it will struggle to be more deflationary than Labour’s effort in Brighton which, with Peter “Suits you, sir” Mandelson as camp impresario, was an end-of-the-pier show to end end-of-the-pier shows.

The polls and the odds don’t lie: the Tories are back and this time they’re Etonians. The only question to be resolved is which sport they will choose to adopt. For the past decade there was a symmetry between New labor and New Football as both attempted to combine traditionalist supporters loyal to their roots with swing voters attracted to the glitz. It was pork pies and prawn sandwiches. Little wonder it sometimes felt queasy.

Now it is the Tories’ turn. Cameron and Osborne can hardly do football. The leader-in-waiting’s support for Aston Villa is as convincing as Prince William’s (a fellow alumnus, which means that should the Queen and Prince Charles simultaneously fall under a bus the monarch, the prime minister and the mayor of London would all be Old Etonians). As for Osborne, the nearest one can envisage him to being at a football match is scalping tickets for it outside the stadium.

Nor can the political Ant and Dec really do rugby or cricket. The former because it sends out the wrong message, the latter because it is very hard to wing a love of cricket (those that don’t know cricket, will not cricket know). Moving down the list, there’s motor racing, but that brings Bernie Ecclestone into the equation and, God forbid, maybe Jeremy Clarkson into the cabinet as car czar. Then there’s tennis, but cuddling up to Andy Murray doesn’t immediately appeal as a vote winner. And after that there’s horse racing. This, I think, would be quite clever. There would be something refreshing about an incoming prime minister ending his induction speech with a “keep it under your hat, but I don’t half fancy Alfred Nobel for Saturday’s Guineas”. However, being a pair of spivs, the last thing Osborne and Cameron will want to be seen as is at all spivvy. Which leaves swimming …

Or, I’m afraid, football. And if England win the World Cup next year (which they won’t because one player, almost certainly at the quarter-final stage, will do something stupid and the rest of his team-mates will not possess the collective wit to stage a recovery) the first man to the microphone will be Dave, hailing: “Johnny Terry and his boys for proving Britain can be Great with the right manager and the right prime minister …”

That’ll put a dampener on things.

Reference: http://www.buzzle.com/

Rooney Eyes Perfect 10

After leading England to an impressive 3-1 victory over Belarus last night, Wayne Rooney has set his sights on finishing World Cup qualifying with a perfect record…

The Manchester United star netted twice in Minsk as England claimed their fourth consecutive win to increase their stranglehold on UEFA Group Six.

The Three Lions will be aiming for five in a row when they take on the Ukraine in April, but Rooney is looking even further afield.

“It would be nice to win all the qualifiers,” he said in the Daily Mail. “The two most difficult games, in Belarus and Croatia, we have got out of the way and we have managed to come out with maximum points. I don’t see any reason why we can’t win all the qualifiers now.”

England have fallen pray to complacency before with major tournaments on the horizon; few will forget the embarrassment they suffered last year when they failed to qualify for the EURO 2008 finals.

However, things have gradually improved since Fabio Capello took the reins. His tactics, teams selections and disciplinary policy continue to cause the odd stir, but the results are there for all to see.

Rooney, like the rest of the squad, is determined to ignore the hype and focus on improving game by game.

“We have worked really hard to be in the position we are in and we’ve got to keep working hard,” he said. “We are in a comfortable position and we need to get as many points as possible over the remaining games.”

Rooney’s brace in Belarus took his tally to five goals in the last three games – an impressive response from a player whose goalscoring record has been widely criticised.

The former Everton player added: “I always believe I’m going to score when I go out there. I’m a confident person.”

Kieran Quentin

Source: http://www.goal.com/

Improving the image of Indian football

One wonders why the All India football Federation (AIFF) took all of a dozen years to apply a concrete structure to a tattered National Football League (NFL) and make it I-League. Come to think of it, the federation didn’t have any set goals. NFL was conceived and implemented in a flash. The federation may have eyed a broader representation but somehow it was limited only to a few traditional football pockets.

One of the biggest bane is that talent flow has come from only one academy – Tata Football Academy. The AIFF has been guilty on this count, they have hardly encouraged any academies to set up shop.

While the I-League still flip-flops between a 10 or a 12-team format with national coach Bob Houghton as the guiding force, the event could still have expanded with more teams. Though the India coach talked about a 20-team EPL-like format, it seems to be nothing more than just

Source / Reference : http://sports.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/quickiearticleshow/3510739.cms

Euro Cup champions reach home

Spain National team on a plane displaying the word “Champion” landed in Barajas airport on Monday evening (June 30) where they received a warm welcome home from the elated airport staff waving Spanish flags.

After lifting the long awaited trophy and posing for the media and the squad jumped the open top bus that led the 23 players and coaching staff through the Spanish capital.

Hundreds of elated fans packed the beltway sidelines and hailed the Champions Bus on its way to the city’s Columbus Square where the ‘Red Fury’ eagerly awaited their heroes.

Traffic on motorways was stopped as an open-top bus carrying the team crawled past crowds lining the road for most of the 15 km route from Barajas airport to Colon Square in central Madrid in the hot summer evening.

Fans draped in red and yellow Spanish flags thronged the streets and chanted “Viva Espana” as the bus swept past flanked by police and trailed by a phalanx of horn-beeping motorbikes.

Spain’s 1-0 victory over Germany was the first time the country has won a major soccer tournament in 44 years.

At the front, scorer Fernando Torres swung precariously over the side with the 6 kg-trophy in his hand, while other cheering players danced around.

The normally reserved and dour coach Luis Aragones, who is stepping down, allowed a smile to creep across his face as his players tossed him up and down to the delight of elated fans.

After a flare released red smoke and confetti flew over the exuberant supporters the players left on a bus.

Spain won their only previous title when they beat the Soviet Union 2-1 on home soil in the final of the 1964 European Championship.

They reached the final again 20 years later, but lost 2-0 to a far more talented France side. They went out at the quarter-final stage at five major tournaments before breaking the jinx with a penalty shootout victory over world champions Italy at Euro 2008.

Source: http://www.timesnow.tv/

Spanish PM sets sights on World Cup after Euro 2008 win

MADRID (AFP) — Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero is dreaming of glory for Spain at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa after his side beat Germany 1-0 to win Euro 2008, its first major title in over 40 years.

“They deserved to win and this is only the beginning. The best is yet to come. We have to go for the World Cup now,” he told private Spanish television Cuatro from Vienna, Austria after congratulating the squad.

“I am happy, really happy. Its a privilege because I believe I am the first premier of the democratic era who has presided over a title win. My generation had the right to enjoy seeing its national team win a championship like this,” he added.

Spain last lifted the European Cup in 1964, when right-wing General Francisco Franco ruled the country with an iron grip, with victory over the former USSR in what was its only triumph at a major tournament to date.

Spain was ranked fourth in the world by FIFA before the Euro 2008 final while Germany was ranked fifth.

Source: http://afp.google.com/

Spain ecstatic at Euro 2008 win

Thousands of euphoric Spanish fans have been celebrating in Madrid after their football team won Euro 2008, beating Germany 1-0 in the final.

Fernando Torres’ goal gave Spain their first major trophy in 44 years.

The capital was awash with the red and gold national colours as fans draped in flags danced and sang in the streets.

The BBC’s Steve Kingstone in Madrid describes noisy scenes of jubilation in the Plaza Colon, where thousands of people gathered.

‘Works of art’

Spanish newspapers revelled in the victory.

“We are the Champions” crowed the Marca and AS dailies on Monday morning.

Coach Luis Aragones was praised for sidelining some top stars, and deciding to field a young side.

“Aragones has been the hero, the saviour, the key figure in the success,” the Sport daily proclaimed.

AS used lofty language to hail the Spanish triumph.

It said football “has evolved over a century and a half. This team is at the apex of this development and has won with a succession of works of art”.

Spanish Prime Minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero was at the stadium and visited the team in their changing room afterwards.

“It’s a privilege to be able to be here,” he said.

“But this is only the beginning, there is more to come. The World Cup is next.”

All-night party

Our correspondent says that the victory is seen as a major triumph for the young Spanish team, and the championship has in many ways been a unifying event, in a country that is politically and regionally divided.

In the past autonomous regions such as Catalonia and the Basque Country have traditionally been reluctant to support the national team.

The enduring image of the tournament, he says, will be King Juan Carlos embracing Spain’s goalkeeper and captain Iker Casillas as he accepted the trophy in Vienna.

In Madrid hundreds of police struggled to keep traffic moving as fans spilled out of the city’s main square into restaurants and bars for a night of partying.

Police made 52 arrests, and one 40-year-old Spanish fan was found dead in the morning – it is assumed he fell and bashed his head while drunk, the AFP news agency reported.

“It’s so many years since we even got past the quarter-finals, and now we’ve won. I can’t believe it,” Dani, 19, a student from Madrid told AFP.

“We are the best, and now we’re ready to win the World Cup,” Joaquin, 48, said. He and his family travelled to the capital from the western city of Salamanca.

The excitement had been growing throughout the day as fans gathered in the Plaza Colon amid soaring temperatures, to watch the match broadcast live from Vienna on giant television screens.

They are likely to return to the square later on Monday, for an expected victory parade by the Spanish players.

Spain last won the European championship in 1964 with victory over the former USSR – its only previous triumph at a major tournament.

Source: http://news.bbc.co.uk/

The risers and the faders

VIENNA: And so we reached the final curtain of Euro 2008, which reached out to a wider global audience than one continent was designed to expect and no doubt banked a heftier financial profit than its predecessors.

In sporting terms, the grand finale gave us Spanish flair versus German order. Olé for Spain, a true soccer nation at last making whole the sum of its considerably fine parts. Germany is an old friend, persevering despite this being far from its most accomplished collage of talents and its getting to the last night in spite of some bad nights.

That, in a way, was a reflection of the tournament as a whole: Its standards fluctuated, its weather was challenging, with ferocious downpours on some nights and sapping heat and humidity on others.

The championship sustained its enthusiasm to the end despite the early, inevitable fall of host nations that on balance are both better with skis beneath their feet or – in Roger Federer’s case – with a racket in hand and grass beneath the feet. But this was as tricky as a slalom race, because the two hosts are neighbors with different currencies, largely different languages and differences in culture.

Some Swiss citizens let it be known at the outset that they hoped soccer euphoria would not disrupt the tranquillity of their lifestyle. Some Austrians, far too young to recall sepia-tone memories of when Austria was great at soccer, lament that Euro 2008 put opera and music on hold for a whole month.

However, they reap some windfall in terms of tourism, and, if they were so inclined, they could share with us the lesson of sport that it need not take a lifetime for “new” soccer powers to rise and old ones fade.

The faders were France, which really never arrived, and Italy, which did not stay. They may have been No. 1 and 2 at the World Cup only two hot summers ago, but by bringing predominantly over-age teams, the French wilted from the kickoff and the Italians reverted to a mass defense that, thankfully, had no longevity in this tournament.

Who, then, left the mark of real progress on the event?

Simple answer: Turkey and Russia.

The Turks, until they ran out of players through a combination of suspensions and injuries, made comebacks in round after round reminding us that if you combine genuine technical ability with never-say-die spirit, there are few giants out there that will trample upon you. Underlying that is the message to those who follow the game that investing in youth, grooming teams through almost a decade and a half toward this peak, was a worthwhile progression.

Russia? Maybe the almost mythical powers of Guus Hiddink, a peripatetic Dutchman who has succeeded in coaching his own nation, then South Korea, then Australia and now Russia, took the plaudits. But what we saw, and what we will go on seeing, is that the injection of gas and oil riches into mainstream sport is giving that vast nation its due place among European – and soon world – soccer.

We might look at Euro 2008 and conclude that it was better, overall, than 2004.

There, the victory by Greece, while obviously historic and an important landmark to its people, was predominantly a triumph of tactics over style. It truly was remarkable that Otto Rehhagel, a septuagenarian German, was able to organize the Greeks against their nature to put up a wall of defense that nobody could scale.

Here, they could. Greece went home as early as Switzerland and Austria – and France. Turkey became the “new Greece” in so far as it threatened to linger all the way to the final.

It fell, but only just, to a last-minute German strike in its semifinal. But Turkey’s 2008 is likely to outlive the Greek 2004. Turkey is a nation that, less than 20 years ago, appeared so naïve in soccer that it lost, 8-0, 8-0, to England in two World Cup qualifying matches.

More humiliated than one can recall any nation being blitzed by another, Turkey came back from there to stand, at this moment, above the English.

England, it may have been noticed – and surely it was clear from the lack of crowd problems its hordes lamentably bring – was not a participant. But how did Turkey come to eclipse, for however short a time, its conquerors?

The motivational powers of the national coach, Fatih Terim, can be saluted, although he at times went overboard in verbally assailing match officials. Also, players like Nihat Kahveci, Tuncay Sanli, Hamit Altintop and young Arda Turan demonstrated that rare combination of innate talent and fervor.

Source: http://www.iht.com/