England manager, Fabio Capello, says that he will have to be ruthless if his defensive players do not tighten up. Capello was visibly annoyed during the 2-1 home friendly victory over Slovenia at the weekend but the manager says there are worries in defence.

England won the match thanks to goals from Frank Lampard and Jermain Defoe but were worryingly loose in defence, which was shown when Slovenia grabbed their consolation goal.

Capello has a history of dropping players without a second thought and has been previously involved in a number of heated arguments and exchanges at a variety of clubs he managed at before taking the England job.

Capello said: “Sometimes I shout but this time not. I will explain what I want them to do – if they want to stay with me.”

It is unlikely that Capello will make huge changes ahead of England’s World Cup qualifying match with Croatia on Wednesday. If England win the match then they will become one of the first teams to secure a place at next summer’s World Cup in South Africa.

However, the point is that another bad performance in defence from England could lead to a number of players falling out of favour with the coach and it could open up a corridor of possibility for fringe players that would not have been expecting a chance.

England have the team and the ability to do very well at the World Cup but the fundemental basis of Capello’s game is built around having a tight defence. Mathew Upson has not impressed since he was given the nod to replace Rio Ferdinand and Capello may opt to go for less experience but more desire in future games.

England’s strongest defensive pairing is still John Terry and Rio Ferdinand but the worry is what comes after this. Capello has already tried a variety of combinations that have for some reason or another not worked and the reliance on big name players is worrying.

There is no room for egos or mistakes in what the Italian is trying to achieve with the English national side. As he has said himself, there is room to do big and great things but this requires commitment and focus in every single national game that is played. England will not get off so lightly against better opposition.

Any lapse in concentration against an Italy, Germany, Spain or France, even for the smallest amount of time could be the difference between failure and success for England. Complete and utter focus is necessary if the side are to have any chance of winning a major tournament that they can do.

Liverpool manager, Rafael Benitez, has had a dig at the amount of money floating around in the modern game. Benitez believes that football has become tainted by its orientation to finances and says that players such as Gareth Barry should be ashamed of themselves for moving to a club because of cash.

Benitez had been linked with Barry for a very long time but he ultimately chose to go to Manchester City who were offering him a wage deal that Liverpool could not even get close to. Furthermore in a season where players are moving between clubs for world record amounts of cash, Benitez has praised the likes of Glen Johnson, who Liverpool themselves had to pay over the odds for.

Benitez said: “He [Johnson] was always thinking about Liverpool so for us to sign a player who wants to come, an England international with experience of being at a big club, is really good, because of his desire to be successful here. In this market, money is not the main thing because everyone at this level earns big money. If it’s just for money sometimes you make mistakes, like Barry.”

“I won’t say too much but that was clearly for the money, 100 per cent. It is not a bad thing to miss out on him. The most important thing is the passion of the player.”

Benitez does have a clear point in the respect that you would rather have a player at your club who seems genuinely grateful to be there as opposed to someone who is just there to go through the motions and then pick up his wage packet at the end of the day.

There are a lot of players in football who are just mercenaries and will go to the club that offers them the most money but this is now an accepted part of the game. Benitez is quite within his rights to come out and have a dig at Barry and the amount of cash floating around in football but it is something that Liverpool themselves have adopted, they did spend £30 million on Fernando Torres not too long ago.

What Benitez is probably more worried about is the ability of the biggest clubs in Europe to monopolise. The danger of this is that if only a few clubs can afford to buy the very best players in the world then the gap between them and everyone else will one day get so big that it cannot be overcome.

This is the real danger that Benitez probably has in mind but doesn’t want to talk about openly in the media. When a manager comes out and knocks certain players who are only in the game for cash, it is not really new news and we have all heard this sort of story before.

The point is that when you read between the lines of many transfers and players switching between clubs you begin to realise the massive dangers that you would otherwise have not paid any attention to. It is also important to consider that Liverpool are very much a club in transition. Benitez is trying to create something that will take his side closer to title winning form and give them a chance of lifting the European Cup they won not too long ago.

Therefore whenever something happens along the line that dents the larger vision of a manager or club it is quite natural for that person to come out and have a sly dig at the person responsible. If Barry had gone to Liverpool then it is unlikely that Benitez would be talking about another target that Liverpool have missed out on, maybe David Villa, who looks set to remain in Spain for bigger wages.

It is a well used cliché in life but there is no smoke without fire and it is an unfortunate set of circumstances when a lot of players choose to join clubs they may not necessarily want to go to because it means they can retire as soon as their playing careers are over.

The point is that now a lot of clubs and managers have to be very careful with the people they are trying to buy. In a world where football is dominated so much by money it means that a lot of players in sides may not be giving their all for that particular club.

Therefore if you can buy a player that actually wants to be at your club, although he may be of less quality, he could turn out to be more valuable than a better player elsewhere on better money. A determined player who loves his club can often raise his levels of performance enough to be able to cope with a much better opposition side or player.

This means that sometimes when you are buying a player it is more valuable to look at the things that you may not normally look at. This is the underlying thing that Benitez is talking about because he clearly knows that there are particular players that Liverpool would want to sign but they are players that would not give their all for the club.

It is actually quite refreshing to see a manager who would rather buy someone who is not as good just because he wants to put the Liverpool shirt on every week and tap the sign each time as he walks out at Anfield. There are players like this out there but because money is bigger in football than it has ever been a lot of players are becoming tainted to epic proportions.

Football is a game where you have to play the system sometimes and Liverpool will have to in future months. The point is that Benitez will only part with his cash if it is for the right player, a player that wants to play for Liverpool and a player that is not buying into a lucrative Liverpool contract. He will quite happily spend a lot of money but the point is that he will not throw it away in trying to create something special if players are there for all of the wrong reasons.

Real Madrid President, Florentino Perez, is at it again after he has called Europe’s biggest clubs to come together and start a Super League. Perez’s comments have caused outrage within football communities because if his calls are acted upon it will mean the destruction of established leagues across Europe.

Perez has been in the headlines all summer long because of his outrageous spending of money on a small group of players that have recently arrived in the Spanish capital. Just as English fans may have been thinking that they weren’t going to read about this man again for the next few days, he rears his ugly head.

His idea is quite simple but it would destroy more than one league. Perez wants to hold effectively a permanent Champions League, meaning that the top two or three sides from England, France, Germany, Italy and Spain would all go off and play each other every single week in order for an over all prize. The problem means that these teams would have to leave the league of the country they play in and this would not be well accepted.

Really prestigious leagues such as the Premier League and La Liga would be forced to restructure and although the idea of a European Super League may be tempting and quite lucrative, it is this, which may be holding any thing from ever happening back.

Perez said: “We have to agree a new European Super League which guarantees that the best always play the best – something that does not happen in the Champions League.”

For the fortunate few that would be involved in a new league, they would be silly not to support it. The advantages of such a league are huge. Firstly there is the fact that the fans of each club would be able to travel around Europe on a constant basis, meeting new opposition fans and being able to experience beautiful cities that they would not have had access to before.

There is also the added factor of money that is always important in modern football. Television and media rights packages to show this new league would produce figures that have never been seen before, which in turn would put a larger amount back into the pocket of the clubs involved.

Thirdly, there is the respect that the players at these top clubs would be playing against a better class of opposition all of the time. This would mean that there personal levels of performance would increase and this can only be beneficial for the national teams, which will draw even closer as a result.

So the argument is there and it is a good one but when you weigh in the disadvantages you start to see the cracks that would be very difficult to replace. Firslty there would be the distruction of top flight leagues upon which a lot does depend. For example, restructuring the Premier League could mean that the Football League in England is completely changed to cope.

This would have to be done because if it isn’t it would only mean that the gap between the very top clubs and those trying to make a name for themselves would only increase even further, meaning that it would become virtually impossible for some sides to ever have a chance of getting Premier League or Super League football.

You also need to consider the viability of fans travelling large distances each week and the strain this would place upon the authorities of various countries. If this was not properly considered then it could result in a lot of violence from a small bunch of hooligans that are taking advantage of an inefficient new league to go around Europe expressing their dominance through violence and territory. Barcelona v Liverpool could become the new West Ham v Millwall.

Perez did promise big changes when he was up for election for the Madrid presidency but the billionaire clearly needs to have a sit down and rest his head for a little bit. He may well be getting carried away with the fact that he is physically having an impact on the power shift in Europe. When you sign the best players in the world and money is no object it would take a special person not to be buoyed by this and try to develop an idea in another area.

However, just because Real Madrid can spend hundreds of millions of Euros on one or two players does not mean that Perez can go about trying to change football completely. Someone at FIFA should maybe get on the phone and have a chat with him for a little bit before he gets too carried away and thinks up ideas such as using two footballs in a match or something similarly mad.

In essence, it is a very good idea that could develop at some point in the future, but this point will not come for a long time. The leagues of each country would not allow it to happen and it would take something special for a Super League to be up and running within the next decade. The beauty of football is that you slug it out in the domestic leagues each week before having a special European night against another team that you would otherwise not play. It is these type of strange beauties that people in football value so much more and is just another reason why a Super League may not happen.

When you are at the very top of the game it is easy to try and make predictions and come out with statements that you believe will help to take the game forward but what Perez is not thinking about is how League One or League Two teams in England would cope when the Premier League is changed because there will obviously be a knock on effect. If someone somewhere can come up with a package that suits and helps all involved then there is no reason why a Super League cannot happen soon.

Valencia striker, David Villa, has put an end to the speculation surrounding his future by stating that he will not be playing in England next season. It is thought that at least two or three English sides were tracking the player and were preparing bids for yet another high profile summer swoop.

However, there has also been heavy speculation in Villa’s home country of Spain and it seems he would prefer to stay there than move to another club abroad. Both Real Madrid and Barcelona are going head to head to try and sign the player from Valencia with either likely to match or better the mammoth price tag that will be slapped on Fernando Torres’ international strike partner.

Villa said: “A week ago my future was clear, and now it’s not. I’ve been through some tough moments, which are partly my own fault, but I decided to put it all aside and I’ve not thought about it in the last five days. When I said I had taken a decision it was true, and this decision is that next season I will play in Spain because it is the league that is best for me, I will not go abroad.”

The English clubs that were tracking him may be annoyed but they have to respect his decision. It is the growing trend of football today that a lot of players are going off to play in La Liga as it seems another high profile star is making the transition with every other day that passes.

However, there will be a slight glimmer of hope for Liverpool. They are the only club that Villa would even think about joining, firstly for the fact that there is such a heavy Spanish influence at the club and secondly because Villa has very close friends there in Torres and manager, Rafa Benitez.

Until Liverpool actually managed to put together a huge bid for the player and submitted it, it cannot be known whether or not Villa would make a u-turn on his promise to be in Spain at the start of the next season. The problem for Liverpool is that they may be unable to cope with the financial competition of Madrid or Barca who could both probably scramble more money than the Merseyside club given very little notice.

Villa seems to be one of the very last good players at the moment who is up for grabs. This may start a bidding war in Spain that no English club, apart from Manchester City, can even get near. The problem is that when City submitted a bid to Valencia for him in January it was dismissed out of hand.

This was probably a bid that would have been higher and more lucrative for the player than any thing he will get offered from this point on. When this is turned down then it is quite obvious that you are not going to shake the player from the agenda that he clearly wants and will stick to.

It can happen in the blink of an eye. Just ask Italy. Their Confederations Cup world came crashing down around them today (June 22nd) in the matter of a few minutes as Brazil ripped them apart with some fascinating attacks between the 37th and 45th minute to take a 3-0 stranglehold on their Group B game. To add insult to injury, the third one was an own goal.

I’ve often thought Brazil has been over rated throughout the years, but must say I was quite impressed with their performance today, in the first half anyway. They only need a point to go through to the semi finals, but they sure aren’t just playing for a typical boring draw with the world champions.

It’s actually half time in the match now, and although Brazil seems to be in complete control, it’s really annoying to listen to the announcers keep on saying that there’s no way back for Italy. I suppose no team in the history of football has ever come back from a 3-0 first half deficit. Tell that to Liverpool please. Who can forget their comeback from 3-0 down to win the European Cup? These guys should keep their mouths shut and stick to reporting on the game.

Meanwhile, in the other Group B game, The USA is leading 1-0 over Egypt and there are just so many possible scenarios to go through to tell you who can make it to the semi finals and how, so I’m just going to enjoy the second half of the match and will. Talk to you later.

Well, not too much happened in the second half. Italy didn’t perform any better and Brazil took their foot off of the gas a bit. Italy only created one or two chances and whenever they did try an attempt on goal it sailed off target. So the final is 3-0 for Brazil.

Too bad for Italy, they usually ride their luck as far as they can take it in tournaments like these, but today they were simply beaten by a better team. But even though they were getting completely outplayed by Brazil, they still had a chance of going through, depending on the other result.

This is where it gets really interesting. All Egypt needed was a win, or a draw to go though, and they could even lose the game and still get to the semi final. However, they could only afford to lose by two goals. So to make things edge-of-the-seat exciting they found themselves down 3-0 to the USA with 19 minutes to go in the game. On the other hand, the USA had to win the game and they had to win it by three goals and Italy had to lose by three.

And to complicate things even more, the US could have still gone out if Italy had lost by three, but scored one or more goals. Anyway, Egypt, America, and Italy all had three points, but the Americans ended up on the same goal difference as Italy, but scored one more goal.

In Group A, things weren’t quite as frantic. Spain set a new world record by winning its 15th game in a row and tied the record of 35 games without a loss, held by Brazil, when they beat host South Africa 2-0. South Africa had a bit of luck on their side as they wouldn’t have gone through if Iraq had won against New Zealand, but that ended in a 0-0 draw. South Africa only needed a draw to guarantee a semi final spot, and that’s what they played for, just one point and that got burned by it.

The semis will see Brazil play against South Africa on June 25 and the USA hooking up with Spain on June 24. The smart money says bet on a Brazil vs Spain final. But as you know from today’s games, anything can happen in football so don’t bet too muc

Group A is still up for grabs in the Confederations Cup. Spain has clinched a spot in the top two with six points and will be taking on second-place South Africa, who has four points, and could win the group with a win over the Spaniards. Third place Iraq with one point will be playing the winless cellar dwellers New Zealand.

Iraq can go through only if Spain beats the hosts South Africa. As I wrote the other day though, Iraq don’t deserve anything as they sat back in their own end for the first two games and were happy with a point out of six. Now manager Bora Milutinovic will do a 180 degree turn actually attempt to attack.

They have a pretty good chance of winning, as New Zealand has been basically hopeless so far in the tournament. However, a convenient draw between South Africa and Spain guarantees both teams are into the semi finals and Iraq would be out on their ass. In fact, it would look good on them, especially Milutinovic.

Spain would actually be pretty satisfied with a draw against South Africa as it would equal Brazil’s world record of 35 games without a loss. They might go for the win though as they face the second place team in Group B in the semi finals, but that’s a flip of a coin situation anyway as that group is wide open for any of the four teams. There’s a good chance Spain will have to play Italy or Brazil, providing Italy makes it.

If Iraq does manage to make it out of their own end for a change and beat New Zealand, and South Africa loses to Spain, that the all important goal difference will decide who goes through to the next round as both teams would be level on four points. As it sits right now, the South Africans are currently ahead in that scenario as they are plus two and Iraq is sitting at minus one.

This means Iraq has to win at least by two goals to become a plus one, and if South Africa loses by a goal they will also be plus one. Things would get a little tricky then as they drew 0-0 in the head-to-head game against each other, so then total goals for would come into account. South Africa has two and Iraq none.

Of course, let’s not forget that South Africa can even lose their game and still go through if Iraq also loses. How does that sum it up? You can put your calculators away now.

It would be nice to see South Africa go to the next round as the fans really seem to be getting into it now. It seems like it took them a few days to warm up to the tournament, but now they’re coming out in full force and making hell of a racket at the stadiums with those horns. And speaking of that noise, it seems that a lot of the world’s broadcasters are lobbying at having the constantly-buzzing horns banned from the stadiums at next year’s World Cup. We’ll just have to wait and see how that goes.

England Under-21s have secured their place in the semi-finals of the European Under-21 Championships with a 2-0 win over Spain Under-21s.

With Germany having earlier moved top of the group after beating Finland 2-0, manager Stuart Pearce knew his side would regain control with victory over the Spanish.

After a relatively low-key first half, which saw James Milner miss a penalty, Pearce’s men came back out and goals from substitute Fraizer Campbell and Milner saw off their opposition, who now look like joining Finland on the road home.

Campbell, a first-half replacement for the injured Gabriel Agbonlahor, capitalised on some woeful Spanish defending as Mario Suarez’s misplaced pass sent the Manchester United forward through on goal.

He still had work to do, however, as he cut inside Javi Garcia onto his left foot before drilling an unstoppable shot into the bottom corner past the heroic Spanish keeper Andres Sergio Asenjo.

The introduction of Theo Walcott, who was surprisingly left on the bench, galvanised the English youngsters and he was instrumental in Milner’s strike which effectively wrapped up the points.

Walcott used his electric pace to beat the Spanish defence down the left flank before squaring for Milner, who made amends for his earlier miss, as he thumped the ball past Asenjo.

It was just the response Pearce wanted from Walcott, and Franco Baldini, who was scheduled to attend, will probably send a glowing report back to England boss Fabio Capello.

Pearce will be praised as well because his youngsters are now in the semi-finals, with a Group B match against Germany to spare.

Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who was strongly opposed to his youngster travelling to Sweden after representing the seniors against Kazakhstan and Andorra, cannot complain either as Walcott has only played 75 minutes in the tournament so far.

Pearce battled to keep Walcott in his squad, dismissing fears of burn-out ahead of next year’s World Cup, but then responded by removing the highest-profile player of the tournament after a quiet 45 minutes against Finland.

“Reputations and being well-known count for nothing,” Pearce said on the eve of the finals, and he kept his word by replacing Walcott with Middlesbrough winger Adam Johnson against Spain.

Pearce’s attitude is that players may have to “fall on their sword” for the good of the team, so Walcott started on the bench and Mark Noble retained the captaincy despite the return of Nedum Onuoha from a thigh complaint to replace suspended Michael Mancienne.

As he admits himself, Pearce is still learning as a manager and his decision not to train at the ground almost cost his youngsters an early goal.

Onuoha over hit a backpass, misjudging the pace of the turf, with Joe Hart racing back and clearing on the line. Even then, it required England to hack away as the Spaniards closed in.

Hart also sent a clearance along the floor straight to Javi Martinez, a possible Manchester City target, but the Spain midfielder could not direct his finish. Milner’s crosses appeared England’s most likely route to goal.

The Aston Villa midfielder put one on Agbonlahor’s head which got deflected over, then from the corner Onuoha and Martin Cranie had close-range efforts blocked.

Milner earned and took England‘s penalty just after the half-hour mark. Spain lost possession in their own half and Johnson fed through Milner, who twisted his way past Javi Garcia before getting brought down.

It was a well-struck penalty but Sergio Asenjo was down sharply to his right to palm away.

Worse was to follow for England as Agbonlahor had to be taken off six minutes before the break but it was Campbell, not Walcott, who came on.

Hart had a rush of blood to the head 10 minutes after the restart, racing out to meet Martinez even though there was little danger.

The Spain midfielder rolled the ball towards goal and Cranie was needed to clear off the goal line.

There were jeers when Barcelona’s Bojan Krkic was taken off for Diego Capel just before the hour mark, with two of the biggest stars of the tournament on the bench at that stage.

That lasted until the 62nd minute, when Walcott was introduced for Johnson.

Five minutes later, England were ahead.

Milner won the ball in Spain territory and poked the ball through for Campbell, who cut inside Garcia before planting his finish in the bottom corner.

Smoke then came out of the stand at the end Campbell scored in, but the situation appeared to be in control.

Pearce danced down the touchline when Walcott set up the second goal, racing behind the Spain defence by outpacing Garcia, then cutting the ball back for Milner to smash home.

The only sour point was Milner’s late booking, which rules him out of the Germany game although it did appear as though the Villa man knew what he was doing.

Pearce has defended his decision to leave Theo Walcott on the bench in the wake of the winger’s second half demolition of Spain Under-21s.

Walcott’s introduction in the second half of the Group B clash prompted an explosion of life into the team as England opened the scoring just five minutes after he replaced Adam Johnson.

“I felt with the game going to be being stretched in the second half he’d have an impact – he proved me right,” Pearce said after the game.

“But then I know Theo and I know what he’s capable of and little Adam Johnson had done nothing wrong for me.

“He took the sting out of the Spaniards to start with and enabled Theo to come on and put on the virtuoso show that he did.

“I must mention at this stage Theo Walcott’s attitude.

“We spoke before the game about how he answers not being in the starting line up. You know, it’s difficult for him to understand how he’s played for the seniors and then he didn’t start here.

“The only way you answer a managerial team selection is to put in a performance of both attacking and defending that he did and credit to him, but I expected no less from him.”

Current European champions Spain did what was expected of them today (June 17th), as they reached the semi finals of the Confederations Cup in South Africa with a 1-0 win over Iraq. However, if Iraq had put a little more effort into attacking as much as they did defending, they might have slipped out of town with a point to show for it.

It was quite a monumental game for the Spaniards as it was their 14th straight international victory, which equals the world record held by Brazil, France, and Australia. It was also the squad’s 34th consecutive game without a loss. If they win or draw against South Africa on Saturday (June 20th) they’ll equal the record of 35 unbeaten games which is held by Brazil.

Striker David Villa continued his hot streak as he was left unmarked in the box and he thundered home a header from a cross by Joan Capdevila in the 55th minute to seal the win in the Group A match. It was his 30th goal for his country, which makes him Spain’s second-highest scorer of all time at the moment. Raul holds the team record with 44. It was also Villa’s fifth international goal in just over a week as he slammed home a hat-trick against Azerbaijan on June 9th and scored against New Zealand on June 14th.





Iraq, who are the Asian champions, weren’t intimidated and they still have a chance to make it to the semi finals after earning a point against host South Africa in the opening game. Iraq plays New Zealand next, on Saturday (June 20th). Spain thumped New Zealand 5-0 in their opening game and sit on top of the group with six points followed by South Africa with four, Iraq with one and New Zealand with none. South Africa beat New Zealand 2-0 in today’s other game on a pair of goals by Bernard Parker.

Spanish manager Vicente Del Bosque made four changes to the starting lineup from the game against New Zealand as he sat out defenders Carles Puyol and Raul Albiol along with midfielders Cesc Fabregas and Albert Riera. Taking their places were Gerard Pique, Carlos Marchena, Juan Manuel Mata, and Santi Cazorla.

However, Iraq were happy with the loss, as it was only by one goal and this shows exactly what’s wrong with the sport of football. Teams are going into games with the sole purpose of trying to let in as few goals as possible. They’re not going out for a win, or even a draw. It’s such a defeatist and negative attitude that is a complete insult to the fans who travel around the world on their hard-earned money to follow their team and a disgrace to the sport itself as well.

Iraq coach Bora Milutinovic set out with a purely defensive team with six defenders and a midfielder as the only striker and he has one point out of six to show for it. The smug Serbian manager had this to say, “I am very, very happy with the defeat, I am not only happy I am delighted. I was very happy with the way my team played and I am very pleased we did not lose by four goals. In the first game it is important not to lose, in the second game it is important to get the best possible result and we did that today. Maybe we can go through to the semi-finals with only two points. It is possible.”

Anybody who shows a complete lack of respect for the game and its fans by not even putting an effort into winning and then coming out with this drivel should be fired on the spot. I hope New Zealand stuff them on Saturday for this reason alone.

Here’s something new for football, controversy. After just one round of matches at the Confederations Cup in South Africa, there’s already been plenty of it.

The biggest fuss surrounded the thrilling 4-3 win by Brazil over Egypt in Group B on Monday (June 15th). Brazil seemed to have the game in control and were cruising with a 3-1 lead in the 52nd minute, but Egypt struck with two quick goals and the game was all squared up at 3-3 by the 54th minute.

The one point would have been a moral victory for the Egyptians and of course it would have helped them immensely in the standings, but somebody always has to spoil the party and this time it was Egyptian defender Ahmed Al Muhamadi, who handled the ball on his goal line just before the game was over. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Muhamadi then went down as if he’d been hit in the head with a cricket bat.

English referee Howard Webb originally fell for it and pointed to the corner, but after a chat with the fourth official, he then pointed to the penalty spot about two minutes later and gave Muhamadi the heave ho from the game. Kaka then calmly strode up for Brazil and slid home the game winner.

Now, the fact that Webb called a penalty didn’t seem to upset the Egyptian coaching team as they freely admitted it was a penalty. In fact, a blind man could have spotted it from the last row of the stadium, and of course that’s why the three refs on the pitch missed it.

What upset the Egyptians is the fact Webb pointed to the spot after they claim he was told it should have been a penalty by the fourth official after said official watched a video replay of the infraction. Egypt filed a complaint at the way the penalty was called, not why it was called, because they say replay isn’t allowed.

Well, it was a nice try and of course there’s no way to prove it. But this nonsense is the exact reason that replay should be brought into the game. It was a blatant penalty and if the fourth official didn’t say anything it would have been daylight robbery. It took about 10 seconds to see via TV replays that the ball was clearly handled by Muhamadi and his injury was a figment of his imagination. What the hell is a fourth official good for if he can’t tell the referee what’s going on during the game if he sees it with his own two eyes?

The America vs Italy Group B game also stirred up some emotions as a dodgy penalty and red card were awarded by the referee in that affair. The US had Ricardo Clark sent off in the 32nd minute, but then took the lead seven minutes later on a penalty as Landon Donovan converted from the spot for his 40th goal for his country. It wasn’t enough though as Italy came back with goals in the 58th, 71st, and 90th minutes for a 3-1 win.

In Group A, Fernando Torres scored a hat trick in the first 17 minutes as Spain thumped New Zealand 5-0. In the other Group A match, host nation South Africa drew 0-0 with Iraq.

The European Under 21 Championships kicked off in Sweden on Monday (June 15th) with a couple of pretty good games.

England got the three points they so desperately wanted with a 2-1 win over Finland. However, there were a few rocky moments for them a long the way, with the worst one being the sending off of Michael Mancienne in the 31st minute for a professional foul on Berat Sadik in the penalty box.

England were already in the lead by then though, as Lee Cattermole gave them an early lead in the 15th minute after Gabriel Agbonlahor set him up. Tim Sparv tied the game up at 1-1 in the 33rd minute as Mancienne’s red card had led to a spot kick for Finland. Sparv sent keeper Joe Hart the wrong way with a fine penalty.

England’s brightest star and national squad member Theo Walcott of Arsenal was taken off at half time and replaced by Fraizer Campbell.

Micah Richards scored on a fantastic header in the 53rd minute off of a corner by James Milner to give England the 2-1 win and they did enough the rest of the way to hang on to the win. They are a huge three points as Spain, and Germany are also in Group B with them.

While England manager Stuart Pearce was happy with the points, especially with 10 men, he said the team needs to get better if they have any chance of winning the tournament.

“What we need to show is more ability. That performance, for this standard of team, wasn’t good enough. They know it before I even tell them. We have to improve on that. I’ve got three points, I’m pleased. I’m delighted with the points. We need to get better than that and we are better than that.”

They won’t have to wait long to see if they are better as they take on Spain on Thursday (June 18th), and Germany will take on Finland.

In the other Group B game, Spain and Germany played to a 0-0 draw in a game that produced quite a few good scoring chances along with some pretty good saves. The result was actually the best thing England could have hoped for as it allowed them to sit atop the group on their own for the time being.

Spain had most of the possession in the first half, but the Germans’ counterattack was pretty impressive. Spain came close to taking the lead, but Jose Chico was beaten by a good save from keeper Manuel Neur, and Marc Torrejon, saw his powerful header slam off the crossbar.

Germany then hit the post just before the half time whistle as Marko Marin’s shot nicked the outside of the post.

Germany had the better chances in the second half, but Spanish keeper Asenjo pulled off a series of fine saves to earn his side a point. None of them were bigger than in injury time when Anis Ben-Hatira almost won it for Germany, but Asenjo again the hero.