Sunday, November 18, 2012

MADebayor goes from hero to villain with north London derby red

Emmanuel Adebayor went from hero to villain in the space of eight minutes on Saturday, with his sending-off in the north London derby kickstarting Arsenal's 5-2 comeback victory over Tottenham.

The Togo striker had handed Spurs the lead against his former side after 10 minutes, yet was quickly given his marching orders shortly afterwards following a reckless lunge on Santi Cazorla.

Down to 10 men, the floodgates opened as the Gunners romped to victory, leaving Adebayor to apologise to Tottenham fans for his moment of madness...

Save Real Oviedo

Wenger vexed by Arsenal injury crisis

Arsene Wenger this week revealed his plans for Arsenal's north London derby clash with Tottenham on Saturday have been plunged into chaos by a squad plagued with injuries.

The Frenchman has concerns over the fitness of Theo Walcott, Mikel Arteta, Olivier Giroud, Wojciech Szczesny, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and Bacary Sagna after the midweek internationals.

On Friday, he told reporters: "There are so many - I think we need a few doctors this morning. We have so many players who have come back with injuries or small injuries.

"We will see this morning, but it is difficult to give you a clear idea of who will be available tomorrow or not."

So at the end of what undoubtedly must have been a frantic 24 hours for the Gunners boss, which of his stars will make it onto the pitch to take on Spurs?

Sexiest athlete Ronaldo struts his stuff

Who is the better player - Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo? The debate ahead of the announcement of the 2012 Ballon d'Or winner rages on.

But there can no longer be any doubt around the ultimate question involving the two: just who is the sexier man?

American celebrity weekly People Magazine has named the Portugal star the sexiest athlete of 2012, and his Barcelona counterpart didn't even make the top 10. Oh, the shame!

Ronaldo beat competition from the likes of Miami Heat superstar LeBron James, tennis ace Andy Murray and NFL revelation Tim Tebow for the prize.

Thursday, November 15, 2012

Chrissie Hynde

The Pretenders leader Chrissie Hynde is one of the sweetest voices that I've ever heard, here is my tribute to her.

Magic Ibrahimovic bamboozles England hopefuls

There are few doubts about who was the star of the show in England's 4-2 defeat to Sweden on Wednesday night - the inimitable Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

England had six debutants on show in Leon Osman, Raheem Sterling, Wilfried Zaha, Ryan Shawcross, Steven Caulker and Carl Jenkinson.

But there was little any of them - or indeed Roy Hodgson's more senior players - could do about Zlatan Ibrahimovic, who had already scored twice before completing a hat-trick with a powerful long-range free-kick.

And for his next trick, the Swedish magician rounded off the scoring with a mystifying, looping overhead kick from over 20 yards out which almost defied logic, leaving Hodgson and his charges thoroughly dumbfounded.

'Husband and wife' Mancini & Balotelli still happily married at Manchester City

Dropped from the Manchester City squad after reportedly partying into the early hours on the morning of a crucial clash with Tottenham, the writing appeared to be on the wall for Mario Balotelli with regards to his future at the club.

Roberto Mancini is understood to be ready to finally wash his hands of the enigmatic Italy international for good.

But Balotelli's agent, Mino Raiola, insists that is not the case, and gave a rather surprising indication as to why the 22-year-old will remain at the Etihad Stadium for at least a little while longer.

"His [Balotelli's] relationship with Mancini is like that between a husband and his wife," Raiola told Radio CRC. "They argue but they love and respect each other so much.

"Everyone has their own ideas, but Mario will remain at Manchester City. He won't go to AC Milan."