Pre-season globe-trotting is tour of duty for Premier League clubs

Top-flight has become a global brand via TV – but nothing builds fan bases – or swells the coffers – like a 17,000-mile summer tour.

Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas vows to learn lessons from Chelsea failure

New Tottenham manager Andre Villas-Boas insists he learned lessons from his short time at Chelsea but believes bringing silverware to Spurs is more important than his own reputation. Villas-Boas arrived at Stamford Bridge last summer amid huge fanfare but his intended revolution of the club hit the rocks and he was sacked in March after a string of disappointing results.

Maradona sacked by United Arab Emirates club Al-Wasl

Diego Maradona has been dismissed from his role as manager of United Arab Emirates club Al-Wasl following a trophyless season.

Tim Vickery in South America

Melo and Silva: Not silky smooth...

Spain's Euro 2012 triumph - their third consecutive international title - has prompted many to reach for comparisons with Brazilian sides of old in the quest to answer the bar-room question: Which is the world's best-ever international team? Fun stuff, but given the difficulties of comparing teams from different eras, it may be more worthwhile to peer in the other direction, looking forward rather than backward when making Brazil/Spain comparisons. The specific question is this: What impact might the success of Spain have on future Brazil sides?

2012 Olympics: Brazil Squad

Goalkeepers
Rafael Cabral (Santos), Neto (Fiorentina)

Defenders
Marcelo (Real Madrid), Rafael (Manchester United), Danilo (Porto), Alex Sandro (Porto), Thiago Silva (AC Milan), Juan (Inter Milan), Bruno Uvini (Sao Paulo)

Midfielders
Romulo (Vasco da Gama), Ganso (Santos), Oscar (Internacional), Sandro (Tottenham Hotspur), Lucas (Sao Paulo)

Forwards
Neymar (Santos), Alexandre Pato (AC Milan), Leandro Damiao (Internacional), Hulk (Porto)

Bad Lads: The pleasures of hating English football

IT IS TEMPTING to interpret the recurring delusion of the English national team’s unfulfilled potential by relating it to the delusion of the bottomless pool of British greatness, which is, of course, a mutation of imperial nostalgia. But the more prosaic, and reasonable, interpretation is that the establishment of the Premiership and its economic structure in 1992—which resulted in rivers of money flowing from TV rights and increased ticket prices—brought about a transformation of soccer from working-class pastime to front-page-friendly entertainment, made available to the affluent middle class and the sorry remnants of the working class by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation.

John Duerden: Keen Park Ranger

"It's finished, the party is over," said Guus Hiddink last Thursday evening as he sat next to Park Ji-sung at a Seoul press conference. The two had been reunited after a special ten-year anniversary game to mark the exploits of the 2002 World Cup team. Is it hindsight kicking in or did the Dutchman give a knowing look sideways to the South Korean? "Now it's time to look to the future. If you look to the past too much then you start to go downhill rapidly." None of the journalists in the room knew it at the time but Mark Hughes was also in Seoul and persuading the man who played over 200 games for Manchester United and won all kinds of medals, that the future was Queens Park Rangers.

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MLS Week 18 Power Rankings

Three stars make their long-awaited returns, a host of scoreless draws occur and MLS' 2012 All-Stars are initially unveiled. That and more from MLS Week 18:

John Terry Case: Football, racism and a four-letter word

Chelsea player finally comes face-to-face with Anton Ferdinand over the incident that led to England losing their manager.

Ganso The Fallen Star

It's August 2010 and the Meninos da Vila (Kids of the Vila) are in full swing. Santos are crowned Copa do Brasil champions, their first national title in six years, and the back pages of the country's newspapers are dominated by the team's young stars. The Meninos of Robinho, Ganso, Neymar and Andre have amassed 27 goals between them in just ten games. An 18-year-old Neymar is the tournament's top-scorer and Ganso, just two years his senior, its best player. This was a tantalising glimpse of Brazil's future - Neymar and Ganso in tandem, leading club and country to glory.

2012 Olympics: Great Britain and Uruguay Squads

Great Britain

Goalkeepers
Jack Butland (Birmingham), Jason Steele (Middlesbrough)

Defenders
Ryan Bertrand (Chelsea), Steven Caulker (Tottenham), Craig Dawson (West Brom), Micah Richards (Manchester City), Neil Taylor (Swansea), James Tomkins (West Ham)

Midfielders
Joe Allen (Swansea), Tom Cleverley (Manchester United), Jack Cork (Southampton), Ryan Giggs (Manchester United), Aaron Ramsey (Arsenal), Danny Rose (Tottenham), Scott Sinclair (Swansea)

Forwards
Craig Bellamy (Liverpool), Marvin Sordell (Bolton), Daniel Sturridge (Chelsea)

Uruguay

Goalkeepers
Martin Campana (Cerro Largo), Leandro Gelpi (Penarol)

Defenders
Sebastian Coates (Liverpool), Diego Polenta (Genoa), Ramon Arias (Defensor Sporting), Alexis Rolin (Nacional), Emiliano Albin (Penarol).

Midfielders
Egidio Arevalo Rios (Palermo), Nicolas Lodeiro (Ajax), Matias Aguirregaray (Palermo), Gaston Ramirez (Bologna), Maximiliano Calzada (Nacional), Diego Rodriguez (Defensor Sporting)

Forwards
Luis Suarez (Liverpool), Edinson Cavani (Napoli), Abel Hernandez (Palermo), Jonathan Urretaviscaya (Vitoria Guimaraes), Tabare Viudez (Nacional)

Rangers in crisis: Carlos Bocanegra to explore options with prospect of Ibrox club in Third Division

"A lot of the fans now are starting to turn on the players because that's all they have left to get angry at," said Bocanegra, the U.S. captain. "It's just a tough situation, an unfortunate situation. Anybody who's leaving or staying, it's just a personal decision for those guys. You can't blame anybody."

During his vacation at home in California, Bocanegra has spoken with his agent, Lyle Yorks, and said he will contact him after speaking with McCoist. He's played for Major League Soccer's Chicago Fire (2000-04), England's Fulham (2004-08), France's Rennes (2008-10) and Saint-Etienne (2010-11) and could see himself returning to MLS. He attended Kansas City's game Saturday night against Houston at Livestrong Sporting Park.

Stuart Holden striving for fitness in order to help Bolton's promotion hopes

The former Houston Dynamo midfielder is working in Delaware to recover from his knee injuries that have prevented him from playing over the past year.


In the 14 months since Stuart Holden ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee, Bolton Wanderers have gone from a team that challenged for a Europa League spot to one suffering relegation.

It's clear that Bolton misses the American international, but Holden hopes that he can return this season to help drag the English club back into the Premier League.

Monday MLS Breakdown: New York leans on its depth and waits for its stars to return

Red Bulls coach Hans Backe continues to coax performances out of his depth players as he attempts to cull his lengthy injury list.

Breakdown

MLS midseason awards ... and some second-half questions

MLS has hit the midway point of the 2012 season, with almost all teams playing at least 17 of their 34 matches (only Philadelphia and Columbus will have yet to hit that point by the end of the weekend). This season has been marked by retroactive punishments, massive disappointments (Los Angeles, FC Dallas, Portland, Philadelphia and Toronto FC for starters), a pair of coaching changes, intensified rivalries, another expansion team, another new soccer-specific stadium and another class of big-name international talent -- both young and old -- making waves in North America. Here is a look at our midseason award winners and three emerging storylines to keep an eye on for the final half of the season:

Tom Vickery in South America

Spain's win at Euro 2012 - their third consecutive major tournament win - has sparked off all kinds of comparisons in the bar room debate over the best international team of all time.

Of course, such conversations have a strong subjective component, but it is hard to formulate arguments against the facts - and a fourth consecutive trophy will surely tip the balance in Spain's favour.

But title number four looks set to be the hardest of the lot. It entails doing what no European team has ever done - winning the World Cup on South American soil when the world come to Brazil in 2014.

John Terry 'used racist obscenity in response to affair taunts'

Opening the prosecution, Duncan Penny said: "The crown alleges that the words he used demonstrated hostility based on Mr Ferdinand's membership or presumed membership of a racial group."

The court heard that Terry maintains he was only sarcastically repeating words that Ferdinand wrongly thought he had used.

Terry faces a maximum fine of £2,500 if convicted.

Didier Deschamps is new France coach, replacing Laurent Blanc

France's 1998 World Cup-winning captain left Marseille almost a week ago and replaces Laurent Blanc, who quit after the national side's Euro 2012 quarter-final defeat by Spain, the eventual winners.

Deschamps' first job will be to unite an often fractious squad as they attempt to qualify for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil via a difficult group, including Spain, who are also world champions.

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The Trawler

Welcome to The Trawler, your weekly submersion through the teeming waters of life in the Championship, League One and League Two. You might be surprised what you find down there.

Friday MLS Forecast

The Forecast debates the cries of favoritism over the one-match ban handed to David Beckham for his hijinks against San Jose last weekend, plus a look at the weekend fixtures.

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Friday's Rumours






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Peace Cup 2009: Del Piero's Awful Penalty

David Conn: Glazers' plans to float Manchester United make the heart sink

The US owners hope to entice investors willing to buy Manchester United shares with reduced voting rights and no dividend, then register the company in the Cayman Islands.

David Conn: Arsenal's self-financing model comes under scrutiny from within

The club's 30% owner Alisher Usmanov has written an open letter to the board criticising a system that sees Arsène Wenger denied team-building funds and top players leaving the club.

Michael Bradley glaring away the obstacles to secure Roma move

Roma will finalize a transfer for Michael Bradley imminently, with the Rome club representing a significant step forward in the American's career.

Euro 2012: Internal strife forces Blanc, Van Marwijk to pay ultimate price

The end of a major tournament often brings a rash of coaching changes. Euro 2012 has been no different. Some, like Franciszek Smuda (Poland), Dick Advocaat (Russia) and Slaven Bilic (Croatia) already were at the end of their contracts -- but Laurent Blanc and Bert van Marwijk, who coached France and Holland, respectively, were two surprise coaching casualties following Euro 2012.

No doubt, both teams did flop spectacularly in the competition: France won one game out of four, eschewing the identity that Blanc was trying to give it in its quarterfinal loss to Spain; while Holland lost all three matches, including its opener to Denmark.

Sam Kelly in South America

The 2012 Copa Libertadores final ended up being fought out between two of South America's biggest clubs. Boca Juniors, one of the competition's most successful sides, who have six titles and are only one behind all-time record holders Independiente, and Corinthians, a club that despite their grand stature were hoping to win their first ever Copa. After a hard-fought couple of legs, it was Corinthians who came out on top, to become the 23rd different club to win the trophy.

Nesta joins Montreal Impact

Former AC Milan defender Alessandro Nesta has opted to continue his career in Major League Soccer with the Montreal Impact.

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The Homes of Football

This intimate short film will accompany photographer Stuart Roy Clarke's show at the National Football Museum in Manchester in July 2012. The film was made by Northern Stars and features an original score by British Sea Power.

 

The Big Interview: Xabi Alonso

Spain's midfielder talks about his side's mental attitude, philosophy, and the chances of winning the 2014 World Cup.

Euro 2012: ‘Live’ footage of crying German fan was pre-recorded – and it’s not right

It has emerged that during Germany’s semi-final defeat to Italy at Euro 2012, the television directors at Uefa tricked us. With the favourites trailing by Mario Balotelli’s two goals, the camera panned to a tearful German lady. Oh, the emotion. While we in England had shed our tears in the previous round, now it was the Germany’s turn – and it was hard not to feel some sympathy. But it has since transpired that the lady in question was not shedding tears of sadness, but tears of patriotism. She had been filmed during the playing of the German national anthem, and then the clip was inserted 37 minutes into the match.

Uefa have admitted the manipulation, saying they were trying to show “the human story of the game”.

Norman Hubbard on Liverpool

Whereas some managers have to adapt to suit the players they inherit, the Liverpool squad may find they are required to adjust to Rodgers' preferred system and style of play.





All of which poses the question: which can? Whereas Kenny Dalglish's team, with increasing incoherence, switched tactics, Rodgers played 4-3-3, tweaking it to 4-2-3-1 after Gylfi Sigurdsson's January arrival gave him an attacking central midfielder.

Copa Libertadores Final: Corinthians defeat Boca Juniors

Corinthians won the Copa Libertadores for the first time in their history with a 3-1 aggregate victory over Boca Juniors.

Jonathan Wilson: After the Brazilian side prove themselves at long last in the Copa Libertadores, Juan Román Riquelme bids an emotional farewell to Boca.

Robin van Persie will not renew with Arsenal

"I've thought long and hard about it, but I have decided not to extend my contract," the Dutchman, at the club since 2004, wrote on his website.

Richard Jolly: Arsenal at Crossroads

Kevin McCarra: Van Persie ran out of patience

Phil McNulty: Disillusioned Van Persie is disaster for Arsenal

Jeremy Wilson: Van Persie has let Wenger down

Matt Fortune: Van Persie has tainted his Arsenal legacy

Arsenal investors reproach Stan Kroenke over Robin van Persie

July 4, 2012

There's not really much going on today anyway. Spurs signed Sigurdsson and that's about it. 

Sid Lowe in Spain

The players had not left the Olympic Stadium in Kiev before minds were being focused on winning the 2014 World Cup.

Spain's history boys are already looking to the future.

Gabriel Batistuta’s Goals for Fiorentina: 1991-2000

In demand Ezequiel Lavezzi joins Paris St Germain from Napoli

Argentine forward Ezequiel Lavezzi has joined Paris St Germain from Napoli on a four-year deal, the Ligue 1 club said today. Lavezzi, 27, is PSG's first recruit this summer as they look to build a competitive team for next season's Champions League after finishing second in Ligue 1.

Henry Winter: Spain’s magical team show just how far behind England have fallen in the international game

England’s anticipated quarter-final exit from Euro 2012 has prompted much debate about the state of the national game. Unfortunately, too many people within club football and the media remain resistant to the pressing need for a winter break.

Euro 2012: Spain's Iker Casillas asked an assistant referee to blow for time early out of 'respect' for Italy in final

Spain's captain Iker Casillas is not just a great goalkeeper and multiple champion, he is also a man with a heart and a sense of sportsmanship, it seems. He saw Italy were suffering at the end of the Euro 2012 final, and was moved to ask the referee to spare them.

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André Villas-Boas confirmed as new Tottenham manager

Yay! Excuses to use photos of the wrong Villas-Boas...

André Villas-Boas has been confirmed as the new manager of Tottenham and is understood to have signed a three-year contract at White Hart Lane.

MLS Week 17 Power Rankings: Emotion get best of Beckham

David Beckham's tumultuous week, the summer transfer window opens and more from MLS Week 17:

Roberto Gotta in Italy

Italy’s best tactical move since last Thursday, when their football team beat Germany to qualify for the Euro2012 final, was made by President Giorgio Napolitano, who invited the Azzurri to visit him at his presidential palace on Monday, win or lose. Lose, they did. Sunday’s 4-0 defeat became Italy’s worst ever result in the final stages of European Championship or World Cup finals.

Their second worst was in the 1970 World Cup final, when an Azzurri team which had not been expected to go that far (have we heard this before?) were beaten 4-1 by Brazil. Angry fans pelted the returning party with tomatoes and rotten eggs, their ire directed more at coach Ferruccio Valcareggi, for his selection policy, than at the players, in what remains a shameful moment in a long list of indecent behaviour by calcio supporters.

Seldom has defeat been accepted in a country with a poor culture of sportsmanship (during Sunday’s final the main megascreen in Rome’s Circo Massimo had to be turned off after flares, bottles and flagpoles were thrown at it late in the second half), but Napolitano’s gesture sent a message of goodwill and decency which is, sadly, not likely to be taken by as many as it should, despite the fact the whole thing will be broadcast live.

Phil Ball in Spain

Spain keep coming up with novel ideas. The latest one was to save their best performance for the final. In so doing they set a couple of records, and delivered an exemplary response to those who have accused them of being boring. Well - they can be, occasionally, but that’s all a part of the mix. They don’t need to be. There’s a difference.

Euro 2012: More Fun With Super Mario

Henry Winter: Michel Platini will sour a winning formula with ill-conceived Euro 2020 plans

For a former midfielder fabled for the intelligence of his movement, particularly during European Championship finals, Michel Platini could really have timed his run better.

Monday MLS Breakdown

San Jose and Los Angeles offer up a potential match of the season: The I-5 rivals shared seven goals in the Earthquakes' 4-3 victory at a sold-out Stanford Stadium on Saturday night, plus a look at the other action from an entertaining week.


Breakdown

The Joy of Six: How we'll remember Euro 2012

From Andrea Pirlo's cheeky penalty to Mario Balotelli's coming of age, here are half a dozen things we will not forget.

The Mill

Monday's Rumours

Euro 2012: Best Of, Best Ever?, Highs and Lows, Verdicts

Buffon; Arbeloa, Ramos, Mellberg, Jordi Alba; Xabi Alonso; Ronaldo, Pirlo, Iniesta; Fábregas, Balotelli (??)

Iniesta Named Player of the Tournament

Team of the Tournament 

Team of the Tournament II

Team of the Tournament III

Are Spain the Best Ever?

Jeff Carlisle: Spain Best Ever

Verdicts

Highs and Lows

The Best Goals

Euro 2012: Spain Win

Just like clockwork, Spain's "tiki taka" passing game tore Italy apart. The World Cup champions controlled the play Sunday in the European Championship final, as they usually do. They moved the ball up the field with short pass after short pass, as they usually do. But, incredibly, they also managed to score a whopping four goals, something they don't usually do. It all added up to a 4-0 win over Italy and a third straight major soccer title for Spain.

Sid Lowe in Kiev

Henry Winter in Kiev

Daniel Taylor in Kiev

Phil McNulty in Kiev
Richard Williams in Kiev

Jonathan Wilson: Spain sheds 'boring' charges with Italy's help

Paul Hayward: Everyone's a striker for Spain

Grant Wahl: Three Thoughts

Jason Burt: All to much for Balotelli

Player Ratings

European Press Review