| Scotland's James Morrison shrugs off Spain defeat and insists they can still qualify James Morrison claims qualification for the 2012 European Championship remains possible despite 3-2 home defeat at home to Spain. telegraph.co.uk |
Judge rules against owners in Liverpool dispute A British judge ruled against Liverpool's owners Wednesday in a decision that clears the way for the debt-ridden Premier League soccer club to be sold to the owners of the Boston Red Sox. cbc.ca |
World Cup Bidding Lurches Into Final Week ZURICH (Reuters) - The contest to host the 2018 and 2022 World Cups lurched into its final week on Monday with more allegations of corruption against high-ranking FIFA officials and continuing uncertainty over the number of voters. feeds.nytimes.com |
The Fiver | Conical bifter; and FiverLeaks | Barry Glendenning and Tom Lutz Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arrivingTHE WINDOWS ON THE BUS GO SMASH, SMASH, SMASHWhen Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez said winning El Clasico against Real Madrid "is like an org@sm, like a casino win", the Fiver took this to mean that it's great. In terms of euphoria the majority of the Fiver's readership will hopefully understand, he made the experience sound "like discovering a rogue Skittle in the corner of a bag you thought was empty, like getting punched in the face when you were expecting a kick on the swingers".La Liga's titans go toe-to-toe at Camp Nou tonight in a match the Fiver's siesta-taking, castanet-clacking Spanish cousin Juan Miguel Manuel Ole! Ole! Ole! Lispy Bit Fiver is billing as the greatest club football match ever played, featuring such a dizzying array of decorated talent on one football pitch that ... it's almost certain to fizzle out into a crushingly dull nil-niller and end up being eclipsed by Droylsden 7-6 Leyton Orient, which is on at around the same time.When news broke that the Real Madrid coach was stoned upon arriving in Barcelona, the Fiver believed that, even by his own lofty standards of coolness in the face of pressure, Jose Mourinho was adopting a particularly relaxed approach to tonight's big match. Then it emerged that far from toking on a carrot-sized conical bifter, Mourinho and his players were stoned in a more biblical sense by a welcoming committee of Barcelona fans, who smashed several windows on their team bus as it pitched up at the visitors' pre-match digs."I won at Camp Nou with Chelsea and with Inter but the past does not matter," said the Special One, mentioning the past anyway while managing to tacitly imply it matters a great deal. "I am persona non grata at Barcelona and I know my reception will be negative." Just how negative may well depend on the negativity of the tactics employed by Real Madrid this evening. If their trusty bus features as prominently in the Special One's game plan as it has in the build-up, there won't be a Catalonian stone left unthrown as it trundles back to Madrid.• Join John Ashdown from 7pm for live MBM coverage of Barcelona 0-0 Real Madrid.QUOTE OF THE DAY"It makes me sick to see the white Real Madrid shirt. This is the Clasico, but it does not stop me from repeating myself" - former Barcelona player Hristo Stoichkov sets the scene for tonight's game in typically understated fashion.FIVERLEAKSYou were probably too busy talking about the defining moment of last week – when the brother of that one out of Beady Eye drew Hartlepool/Yeovil to play Watford in the FA Cup third round – but Big Paper/Website has totally stuck it to the man by publishing revelations from WikiLeaks that Silvio Berlusconi is a bit odd and America has been urged to go in studs up on Iran's knees. So in tribute to some fine proper journalism, we Sky+ed Match of the Day (flicking through the boring bits with no goals) and copied and pasted some bits from the wires to bring you a dossier on what world powers are really saying about the Premier League after this weekend.Chelsea Once powerful Russian backed state now going to seed. Suspected double agent – codename Alex – appeared determined to bring Chelsea down from the inside by giving backpasses to the enemy. Severely weakened defensive capabilities – even Wayne Routledge now able to cause panic at will.Manchester City Rising power following Liverpool civil war and break-up of Big Four. Leadership has consisted of misguided figure with links to human rights abuser. Huge amounts of money spent on building arsenal capable of world domination but still unable to deal with crudest methods of incursion. Unlikely to attack, even if provoked.Sir Alex Ferguson Volcanic-tempered dictator with strong left-wing tendencies, hated and respected in equal measure. Has been in power for decades and will only be removed by force. Was believed to have been on wane but has recently rediscovered weapon long thought to be malfunctioning.TalkSport Supposed valuable information source but research reveals content includes highly prejudiced rants from civilians (See also: Tim Lovejoy, Spoony).The Fiver Not as clever as it thinks it is. Holds very little influence in wider world.DOUBLE YOUR MONEY WITH BLUE SQUARE!Open an account with online bookies Blue Square, place a bet of at least £5 and they'll give you a free £10 bet, win or lose! (terms apply). Register now.FIVER LETTERS"I urge you to spread the word to all right-minded Manchester United fans to purchase this special piece of merchandise for Christmas. And if you're still unsure, check out the reviews for piece of mind" - Tranmere Kev."Having read about the 55-0 thumping of Madron (Friday's quote of the day) in the Cornwall Mining League (Division One) and then studied their results, I think it would be a good idea for Mr Ancelotti to send his goal-shy strikers to watch any team playing against them. This way they might remember how to score against woefully inferior sides rather than squandering every opportunity given" - Richard Lacon [especially as Madron lost 22-0 this weekend, though St Buryan is never an easy place to go to. And they're still not bottom. - Fiver Ed].Send your letters to the.boss@guardian.co.uk. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver.BITS AND BOBSSam Allardyce has said sorry to Blackeye Rovers fans who paid £40 each for the pleasure of watching their players act like hot coals and get walked over by Manchester United at Old Trafford. "I would like to apologise," sobbed the manager who said he's 'more suited to Inter or Real Madrid', after the 7-1 walloping. "It is not what we wanted or expected but we have to take it on the chin."We can all go home now: David Beckham is confident England will win the 2018 World Cup bid on Thursday. "We believe we can host the World Cup best," eloquently-put the man England are pinning their hopes on.Schalke boss Felix Magath has cut short his team's winter break in a raging funk at their poor form. "The winter holidays of Schalke players will be short, sniffed a Grinch-like club statement. "They will start their holidays after the German Cup third round on 21 December. It will end only four days later, with the first training session set for 27 December."And the Sheffield Wednesday board have agreed to sell the club for £1 to Milan Mandaric, who has struck deals with the Owls' creditors to wipe out their £30m debts.STILL WANT MORE?Hamburg boss Armin Veh's 'heaven and hell' approach is yet more evidence that Bundesliga managers aren't as good as the league's players, huffs Raf Honigstein.Paolo Bandini watches so much Italian football that when he says Palermo fancy a bit of Big Cup action after beating Roma, you had better believe him.When is a snood not quite a snood? The Fiver couldn't care less. But James Richardson and the Football Weekly crew seem to.Marcus Christenson learned that Sol Campbell does more than produce carbon dioxide on Tyneside – he can still produce the odd decent defensive display too. He also learned four other things this weekend.And Michael Cox doesn't need to use words to prove that Manchester United's Rafael da Silva is a good defender. He just needs 13 blue dots and his regular chalkboards column.SIGN UP TO THE FIVERWant your very own copy of our free tea-timely(ish) email sent direct to your inbox? Has your regular copy stopped arriving? Click here to sign up.'AND DON'T CALL ME SHIRLEY'Barry GlendenningTom Lutzguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
U.S. soccer leaders to make final pitch for 2022 World Cup This week President Bill Clinton and other leaders from the USA Bid Committee are in Zurich to make a final presentation before FIFA's executive ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |