Monday, May 14, 2012

Wenger cooks up another stomach-churning final day for Spurs

North London rivals Arsenal and Tottenham are battling alongside Newcastle for a third-place finish in the Premier League, which would secure automatic qualification to the Champions League.
The dramatic last-day chase for a spot in Europe's elite club competition brings back memories of the 2005-06 campaign, when a dodgy lasagna ruled out a number of Spurs players for their final match against West Ham - which they subsquently lost - allowing the Gunners to take advantage and claim qualification.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

Calm before Sunday's Premier League title storm

We're approaching the final day of the Premier League season and Manchester City are poised to snatch the title from rivals Manchester United.
Roberto Mancini's men host QPR in the knowledge that a win would secure the championship, while Manchester United travel to Sunderland, hoping a victory and a City slip be will be the outcome which will see them retain their crown.

Alessandro flying the Nesta from AC Milan to the MLS

After 223 appearances and 10 titles with AC Milan, Alessandro Nesta has called an end to his time in Serie A.
The 36-year-old, who will depart San Siro at the end of the season, claimed the pace of European football was too fast for him but revealed he is likely to continue his career in the MLS.

Falcao leaves Bilbao's kids in tears

Atletico Madrid secured Europa League success with a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao on Wednesday evening and Radamel Falcao was instrumental in his side's showpiece triumph.

The Colombian opened the scoring with a superb curled effort before completing his double 11 minutes from half-time with a sharp turn and finish from close range.

Falcao has enjoyed an extremely positive first season with the Spanish club following his arrival from Porto in the summer, notching 35 goals in all competitions - and now he has brought the Europa League trophy with him.

Rashidi Yekini's hearty celebration

It came as rude shock when the news was announced that Nigeria's record goals scorer Rashidi Yekini had died on Friday, May 4.

The man who almost single-handedly qualified the Super Eagles for their maiden World Cup in 1994 had died in ignominy, away from the klieg lights that heralded his playing days. The 1993 African footballer of the year led the Super Eagles to win the 1994 Africa Cup of Nations in Tunisia where he scored five goals.

Perhaps the most memorable of all his record 37 international goals is that which he scored in Nigeria's first game at the World Cup, USA '94. It was a just reward that Yekini would score the country's first ever goal on the biggest stage of all and he celebrated by running into the goals, grabbed the net and screamed into the Dallas air.

The powerful man was all heart...