Forza Italia!

Italy are champions of the world following their penalty shoot-out victory over France in the World Cup final, played in Berlin, last Saturday. The best squad may have won the trophy but how will the 2006 tournament winners be remembered?

The Italians began the tournament in fine style with a hard fought 2-0 victory over the impressive Ghana. A subsequent 1-1 draw with the USA and another 2-0 win over the Czech saw Italy top Group E with seven points. The second round encounter with Australia went right to the last minute of extra time. A hotly disputed penalty was converted by Francesco Totti and that last kick of the game saw the Italians safely into the quarter finals.

Ukraine was no match for the hard working Italian team in the quarter finals. The 3-0 demolition turned out to be the Italians most comprehensive performance in tournament. A cracking goal from full back Zambrotta followed by a brace from Fiorentina’s Luca Toni saw Italy into the semis. The semi final with hosts, Germany in Dortmund will go down as one of the games of the tournament. Both countries played out a pulsating end-to-end encounter which had fans on the edge of their seats.

Ninety minutes couldn’t separate the two sides and at half time in extra time, the possibility of penalties loomed large. Italy found an extra gear in the second half of extra time and a wonderful goal from left back Grosso put them ahead. As Germany pressed for an equaliser, the Italians broke from defence and secured victory with a classic goal. Cannavaro, who was superb on the night, broke up yet another German attack and set the Italians on the counter attack. Gilardino found Del Piero in the German penalty box and the diminutive Juventus striker chipped the ball into the far corner for 2-0.

The final may well be remembered for Zinidine Zidane’s acrimonious sending off but Italy’s Marco Materazzi should be remembered as the central character in the match. The ex-Everton defender gave a way a penalty early on which Zidane duly converted. Materazzi then equalised with a towering header for the Italians. The confrontation between Zidane and Materazzi will be replayed for years and we may never find out what was actually said that caused the violent reaction from the French Legend. Historians will recall the result that Italy won 5-3 on penalties. All five goals were expertly dispatched and the shoot out banished the memory of 1994 when Brazil defeated the Italians on penalties to claim the World Cup.

Overall, the Italians are deserving champions. They played the most consistent football throughout the tournament and had the best squad at the tournament. Italian manager, Marcello Lippi, used every squad player at his disposal (except for his two reserve goalkeepers) during the tournament. All of Lippi's strikers scored and the Italian defence lead by the exemplary Cannavaro conceded a meagre two goals in the whole tournament.

The only goals to rattle Buffon’s net were an own goal and a penalty from Zidane in the final itself. The pairing of Pirlo and Gattuso surpassed any other midfield combination in the tournament. The full-backs Grosso and Zambrotta consistently joined the attack at every opportunity and defended resolutely whenever called upon. Cannavaro was the player of the tournament with his consistent displays. The stocky centre back kept Thierry Henry of France and both Ronaldo and Adriano of Brazil scoreless.

Italy’s achievement is all the more remarkable against the backdrop of the current scandal hitting Italian football. Serie A teams Juventus, Lazio, AC Milan and Fiorentina have been accused of influencing referee appointments and as a result face possible relegation from Serie A. No less than thirteen of Italy's World Cup-winning squad are playing for the four clubs involved.

Italy’s success was built on a hard working team ethic. This year’s squad was short on superstars and built around lesser known players from smaller clubs such as Palermo and Livorno from Serie A. In four year’s time, the World Cup road-show moves on to South Africa. Few would bet against the Italians having a say in the destination of the trophy then, such is the strength of the Serie A and the seemingly endless conveyer-belt of young players coming through the youth and Under-21 squads.

Forza Italia

Relegation issue to go to final day of the season?

As the final few weeks of the Barclay's Premiership close in, the issue as to who will be relegated is still far from decided. What is becoming apparent is that two from the following three teams, Birmingham City, West Bromwich Albion and Portsmouth will be the ones to drop down to the Championship next season. After last season's final-day drama, the odds are this season's titanic relegation struggle will go right down to the last day?

Birmingham City’s injury crisis deprived them of the services of key players such as David Dunn and Mikael Forrsell for much of the season. Yet recent results have been encouraging including a superb 0-0 draw with title favourites, Chelsea. Bryan Robson's West Brom side has the experience of last year's relegation battle. The Albion side’s recent run of form makes poor reading though.

Portsmouth are currently on a great run which has seen impressive victories over Fulham and West Ham United. Harry Redknapp has his team playing with confidence again. The south coast side also currently has a crucial game in hand on both Birmingham and West Brom. That extra game could prove pivotal before the season ends.

On the final day of the season Birmingham City are set to face a tough trip to high-flying Bolton Wanderers. Manager Steve Bruce will be buoyed by the fact that just this week, his side defeated Bolton 1-0 at St. Andrews with a stunning Jiri Jarosik goal. Sam Allardyce and Bolton may well head into this final day encounter looking for the three points that will clinch European football for Wanderers for the second consecutive season. If Bolton have to win on the last to secure their passport into Europe, then the task facing Birmingham will become all the more difficult.

On the last day of the Premiership season Portsmouth are set to face Rafa Benitez's resurgent Liverpool. Harry Redknapp will be delighted his side is at home on the final day. The Fratton Park faithful have been an inspiration to the Portsmouth side in recent weeks. By the time they travel to the south coast, Liverpool should have secured a top four place and with it qualification for next season's Champion's league. This could mean that the pressure will be off the reds which might inspire Portsmouth to an unlikely victory. Bryan Robson’s West Bromwich Albion side is set to face Everton in their final match of the season. Everton’s recent winning streak at Goodison Park means West Brom will have their work cut out if they are to secure any points there.

With all the potential twists and turns that will inevitably occur in the coming weeks, each of the three sides desperately need to pick up points wherever they can. If the relegation issue does go down to the final day of the season, only the team with the strongest nerve will survive.

At the time of writing, the bottom of the Premiership table currently looks like this:

17 Birmingham 32 -20 28
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18 West Brom 32 -21 27
19 Portsmouth 31 -25 27
20 Sunderland 32 -36 11

Svens Boys Will Not Win This World Cup

The starting eleven players (when fit) for England are amongst the most talented footballers in Europe, if not the world. So why is it when it comes to the finals of the major tournaments that the English always seem to fail? Sven Goran Eriksson has moulded together a decent squad over the past few years so England are not short of options in most positions. With the manager's tendency to stay loyal to individual players, irrespective of form, it is unlikely the opposition will face any surprises in the English team selections during the World Cup.

There are certain issues within the English setup which could be critical to preventing Sven's boys from winning the World Cup this summer. One of the main problems with England's recent record of poor performances in the latter stages of both World Cups and European Championships can be traced to one specific issue: Complacency.

With Eriksson, most of the established English players know they are assured of their place irrespective of how badly they playing. A case in point is captain, David Beckham. At the recent European Championships in Portugal, Beckham found himself in a wretched run of form and struggling for full fitness. His normal pin-point accurate crosses and long range passing were non-existent. Still, despite these failings, Sven persisted with him and as a result his and England's midfield performances suffered.

Lack of serious competition for places within the starting eleven of any team, breeds complacency. There is currently no incentive for the established players within the majority of the English starting eleven to improve their individual performances, should they play particularly badly during a game. Sven has been so loyal to the likes of Rio Ferdinand and Micheal Owen that even at this stage of the season, I feel they are assured of their starting positions despite poor form and long-term injury. How must the likes of Jermain Defoe, Darren Bent and even Peter Crouch feel knowing that no matter what they do between here and the World Cup, that Owen will more than likely start, irrespective of his form or fitness?


The Left Side Dilemma
As the World Cup looms England currently have no fully fit, out-and-out left back within their ranks. Arsenal's Ashley cole is still struggling with injury, Fulham's Wayne Bridge likewise. So a right-footed, central defender, Liverpool's Jamie Carragher, looks the best option. Coupled with that, England also have no naturally left sided midfielder (excluding Middlesborough's Stuart Downing) so again, a right-footed midfielder, Chelsea's Joe Cole, may well be asked to fill the void. This all means that England have no naturally left footed player on the left hand side of the pitch.


Lampard and / or Gerrard
Frank Lampard and Steven Gerrard are two very talented but similar players in the same English midfield. Eriksson has no specialist 'holding' type player that can sit in front of the defence and break up opposition attacks. For example, someone in the mould of Claude Makelele at Chelsea. Playing both Lampard and Gerrard doesn't suit England when they have to defend for long periods. Both players are devastating on the counter attack, but neither have the discipline to maintain a holding role for a full 90 minutes.

Probable English Team v Paraguay in their opening World Cup encounter:
1. Paul Robinson 2. Gary Neville 3. Jamie Carragher 4. John Terry 5. Rio Ferdinand 6. Steven Gerrard. 7. David Beckham 8. Frank Lamaprd 9. Joe Cole 10. Wayne Rooney 11. Michael Owen

Republic of Ireland's future is bright...for now

So the first match of his new international managerial career is now over. It's the proverbial morning after the night before and I can only imagine how relived Steve Staunton must feel. Following months of hype and speculation, his new-look Irish management team completed their first 90 minutes and recorded a hugely impressive 3 - 0 victory. Goals from the electric Damien Duff, new captain Robbie Keane and a 25-yard thunderbolt from the enigma that is Liam Miller, secured a comfortable Irish victory, over a disappointing Swedish side.

He stood in the Irish dugout as manager for the first time last night, resplendent in his dark overcoat, ginger hair. I had to laugh as he struggled to keep his emotions in check throughout the game. Staunton couldn't help but jump for joy when Damien Duff opened the scoring. A nice touch too from the diminutive winger who made a point of sharing his goal celebration with his manager. The trend continued for the remainder of the game when the Sky cameras momentarily panned to him, only to show either a grit of the teeth and murmured expletive at a poor decision or his arms aloft, beaming smile, at yet another Irish goal.

It reminded me of another ex-player who recently became a manager, Stuart Pearce. Recent ex-pros such as Pearce and Staunton can't help themselves. They still kick every ball, make every tackle and scream at every poor decision against their team. It is simply the intoxicating football blood that still pumps through their veins. But it is this encouragement and reaction from a manager that should inspire the players on the pitch. It certainly did last night.


Since Staunton took over the reigns of the Irish team, the one attribute he has repeatedly referred to in his interviews with the media, is passion. Following last night's victory he is clearly well on the way to instilling this passion into his team. The Irish players produced the type of performance Staunton had craved and in doing so, delighted the Irish fans.

The movement and trickery of wing-wizard, Damien Duff, had the unfortunate Swedish right back in a spin for the entire game. Duff's performance represented a marked improvement from his previous games under Brian Kerr. Captain Keane (where have we heard that before!) also played with much more maturity and dropped deep and helped out midfield, whenever asked. I feel Staunton's decision to put the armband on the Tottenham striker could well prove to be a master-stroke. The excellent performance of Richard Dunne was also very encouraging. I feel Dunne will be the rock at the heart of this Irish defence for the next few years and his growing maturity and improved performances for Manchester city will hopefully help him fulfil his potential.


Now time for a little perspective. The pitch was awful and in poor condition following the RBS Six-Nations match the previous weekend. This fact, coupled with the freezing temperatures made any hope of attractive football, difficult, to say the least. I'd love to know what the Swedes thought of it in their pre-match warm-up as they proceeded to put in one of the most un-inspiring performances from a visiting Scandinavian country that I have ever seen at Lansdowne Road.

It is important the 3-0 rout be put into correct context and that is why I am highlighting the poor Swedish performance. It was after all, only a friendly and when Ireland face more illustrious opponents in a qualifying game they will need to be much more solid and cohesive than they were last night. I asked some friends who attended the game about the atmosphere being generated by the crowd. It appeared to me, whilst watching on TV anyway, that the crowd were apatheitc for much of the encounter and only roused themselves once the second goal went in.

I have been reliably informed that the atmosphere was OK, bearing in mind it was "fecking freezing". So as the temperatures were below zero, I shouldn't read too much into the fact the crowd may have been more interested in keeping warm than roaring on their country for 90 minutes. Following the match it seems most punters outside the ground were upbeat and very positive about the qualifying campaign ahead. Although in reality, it was only a friendly match so its hard for the corwd to get too worked up if qualification points aren't at stake.


Let's be optimistic. The overall performance last night was hugely encouraging and the emergence of new talents such as Doyle, Ireland and Henderson is great news for Irish football. Staunton passed his first test as the new Irish manager with flying colours. There was passion, creativity, good movement and above all, self-belief from his Irish players. More importantly, there was a renewed hunger from a team that has failed to qualify for a major football tournament for far too long.

The Republic of Ireland's future is bright... for now...



3 things to be cheerful about following last night's encounter:
* The players 'huddle' before the match and shared celebrations with the bench following their goal shows a togetherness and renewed team spirit amongst the Irish squad that I felt was sadly lacking during Brian Kerr's reign as manager. New captain Robbie Keane, thought differently: "The team spirit has always been here, it was here under Brian as well. You can't say it wasn't here under Brian because it was. But to have Mick Byrne come back has been nice. You've seen how much all the lads like Mick and that was just my way of saying 'welcome back'."

* Staunton playing down the win immediately after the match. I was delighted to hear the common sense spoken by the manager after the 3-0 victory. He put the result into perspective and made sure everyone's (media / squad / fans) feet remained firmly on the ground. Staunton: "It was a bit of a fairytale, but I am not kidding myself because I know we're going to face harder times." He was right to remind everyone that there are much more difficult tests ahead for this team.

* The superb performances of Richard Dunne, Damien Duff and each of the debutantes will have delighted the new Irish manager. Joey O'Brien, Kevin Doyle, Stephen Ireland and Wayne Henderson all acquitted themselves well. Stephen Ireland in particular, is someone I would love to see get an extended run in midfield alongside O'Shea or even Reid. Staunton: "I was delighted with the four debutantes. They came in on what was a tricky pitch and I thought they tried to play the game the way we wanted. Only for a bobble here and there we might have nicked another one," said Staunton.


3 things to be worried about following last nigh's encounter:
* Ian Harte's defending and the unavailability of a quality (international) left back

* Andy O'Brien's indecisiveness and poor defending in general.

* Hype. We have been here before with new Irish managers. I sincerely hope Staunton succeeds, but how will we measure his success? Qualification for the next European Championships? A couple of 'plucky' performances against the Czech and Germans? Only time will tell, but for now at least, the debutante manager has Ireland on the right track.

Final Thought:
On a night of meaningless international friendlies across Europe, one result caught my eye. It was the Slovakian performance and subsequent victory over France. Slovakia recorded a 2-1 win in Paris, handing France their first defeat since Euro 2004. Nemeth and Valachovic scored for the Slovakians in the second half before a Sylvain Wiltord penalty pulled one back for Les Bleus.

Everyone has been speaking about the difficulties in facing the Czechs and Germans in our upcoming Euro2008 qualifying group. However, we would do well to realise that the Slovakians too, are a quality outfit and I feel our two games with them in the qualifiers will prove pivotal.

Mourinho Hasn't A Leg To Stand On

If the self-proclaimed 'special one' has his way, then the fallout from the Champions League encounter between Chelsea and Barcelona, played in Stamford Bridge last night, may will stretch right on until the end of the season. José Mourinho lambasted Barca's Lionel Messi for his reaction to being nearly decapitated by a rash challenge from Chelsea's Spanish left-back, Asier Del Horno, in the first half of last night's gripping encounter. Down to 10 men for much of the game Chelsea battled bravely and even took the lead, somewhat fortuitously, before being taught a football lesson from the likes of Ronaldinho, Samuel Eto'o and Carlos Puyol.

José is no fool. His after-match comments about Messi and his apparent play-acting, were meant to deflect attention away from the fact that Barcelona played his side off the park. Had the visiting Catalans taken half of the chances that came their way, Chelsea could have been beaten by a much wider margin and would have had little argument. I can't help thinking the Chelsea manager must have hoped the media and tabloids in Britain would back him up and concentrate on the fact the referee might have made a huge error in sending Del Horno off and that it was this incident that cost Chelsea the game. Thankfully, on this occasion at least, the British hacks were having none of it with most, if not all of the main newspapers correctly suggesting that Barcelona outplayed the home side and deserved their win.


As for the television coverage of last night's game, well all I can say is thank God for RTE. There is nothing like a dose of reality which the three wise men and 'Okey Doke' himself on the panel, regularly dish out, when analyzing the Champions League. For example, when asked by Bill-O, for his reaction to the Chelsea managers comments, the caustic Liam Brady (and Arsenal employee) simply answered: "Mourinho should be ridiculed for making those comments. Ridiculed" and followed that by saying that it was "Pathetic. He's pathetic". Eamon Dunphy said:" his comments were nothing more than a smoke screen to hide the Chelsea performance." Finally, the redoubtable Gilesy quipped:" It's a smokescreen Bill. Eamon's right. Chelsea took a proper hiding tonight, by a team who play a higher class of football than Chelsea ever could".

Compare that reasoned reaction to the utter rubbish spilled out on to the screen by the Sky Sports Champions League panel. The 'pundits' comprised of Walter Smith, Glenn Hoddle and Jamie Redknapp. I won't waste time recounting their pathetic attempts to try and justify the claim that Del Horno should have been booked and the fact that Chelsea were 'unlucky on the night'. Anyone who has bothered to watch Barcelona in the Primera Liga this season will tell you just how consistent their form has been and some of the football being played at the Nou Camp is amongst the best I have ever seen. They were deserving winners and no sending off can change that fact. The triple strike-force of Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Messi were dazzling to watch and Chelsea had nothing to counter-act the Catalans with, apart from the occasional dangerous run / effort on goal from Hernan Crespo.

So just where does last night's result leave Chelsea and it 'special' manger? With the vast sums of money that has been spent on their current squad, Chelsea should expect to be winning domestic trophies on a regular basis, such is the poor quality of opposition they face, week in, week out, in the Premiership. But I would imagine Mr. Abramovich expects much more of a return from his huge investment and may not tolerate continued european failure. There are plenty of other potential managerial candidates out there hould Chelsea wish to look beyond the 'special one'. Successful, experienced managers such as Fabio Capello, Otmar Hitzfeld and even Frank Rijkaard(!) to name but a few, may well be tempted to join the blue's with their open cheque book and a chance to manage in the Premiership. José would do well to limit his smart comments - after a defeat such as last night's - to a minimum and concentrate on making Chelsea a force in europe, sooner, rather than later.

I feel Chelsea will be deserving domestic champions this season, but will continue to struggle against the cream of european talent in the Champions League for some time to come. Until they manage to purchase a better quality international striker (Adriano, Shevchenko etc.) and their manager refuses to engage in silly 'mind games' after a defeat, I fear this Chelsea side may go down in history as one that dominated domestically, failed on the European stage and is primarily remembered for it's outspoken manager.

I just wonder about the vast investment from Chelsea's Russian billionaire and how much of his patience is wearing thin with his current manager's antics?