Football and injuries tend to go hand-in-hand, with players putting their bodies on the line each week. However, it is not just on the field of play where they can find themselves at risk, with a fair few injuries occurring away from the action, and these tend to be absolutely hilarious.
Valencia midfielder Ever Banega found himself as the latest victim of such an incident, when refuelling his car. The Argentine left his vehicle without putting the handbrake on, causing it to roll back over his foot, fracturing both his leg and ankle. The automobile mis-hap may be very unfortunate and worrying for all involved, but that doesn’t make it any less amusing.
Banega is by no means alone in his rotten luck, with many footballing thoroughbreds suffering odd injuries down the years. Here’s a list of some of those stars and the baffling injuries they have suffered.
Gareth Bale believes that Tottenham should go into this afternoon’s game at the Emirates as favourites and feels there has been a swing in power in North London. The Welsh winger feels that last season’s 3-2 victory, having comeback from 2-0 down, was further evidence of the new found belief the football club has gained in the last 18months and thinks the club deserves all the plaudits it is currently getting.
Elsewhere in the news Pepe Reina reveals his European hopes; Frank Lampard concedes his relationship with Villas-Boas isn’t ideal, while Arsenal is set to offer Van Persie a bumper new deal to keep him at the Emirates.
Headlines
Stuart Pearce has praised Harry Redknapp and likened his managerial style to a mix of Shankly, Clough and Ferguson – Observer
Arsene Wenger has called for loyalty in this afternoon’s North London derby and is hoping the supporters show the same level of commitment as the players will throughout the 90mins – Observer
Pepe Reina is relishing a return to the European arena, providing they can beat Cardiff at Wembley this afternoon – Daily Telegraph
Ian Holloway believes that had Roman Abramovich been in charge of Manchester United he would have sacked Sir Alex Ferguson years ago – Independent
Frank Lampard has revealed there is a split at Chelsea and his relationship with Andre Villas-Boas isn’t ideal – Daily Mail
Martin Jol and Mark Hughes were involved in a heated exchange at the final whistle. The QPR boss felt he was being patronised when the Dutchman patted him on the head after the pair exchanged handshakes – Daily Mail
Arsenal are set offer Robin Van Persie a whopping 150k a week in order to keep the Dutchman at the Emirates Stadium – Daily Mail
Harry Redknapp has revealed that the England job is one that you will struggle to turn down if the opportunity presents itself – Mirror
Sir Alex Ferguson believes that the race row with Luis Suarez has left Patrice Evra mentally shattered – Mirror
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Aston Villa’s hopes this season has been dashed by news that Darren Bent could be set to face a long spell on the sidelines. Alex McLeish has said that the injury appears to be serious and it could be damage to his ankle ligaments – Mirror
Manchester United are reportedly keen on Porto’s James Rodriguez, who is known as the South American Cristiano Ronaldo – Metro
There was a football match recently in the football league, a competitive match between two teams only a few miles apart. There is no love lost between the respective fans, as is often the way in a (near) derby. The chairman of one of the teams had recently died, a tragedy their fans were reminded of during the match as the opposition fans chanted “where’s your chairman gone?”
Welcome to modern football.
But we are not all savages of course, happy to twist the knife and wind up the fans of the other side with the vilest, sickest song we can think of, to find their Achilles heel, the event in their history that will upset them most. But whilst a minority of fans use tragedy to abuse other fans, it often takes a tragedy to remind us what decent people we generally are, to remind us that football fans are a family, with a common bond, a common passion.
That Spurs fans (and Bolton fans too of course) acted with dignity during the horrific events on the White Hart Lane pitch on Saturday should not be something inspirational that deserves endless praise – they were acting how any decent human being should do. But we all know football fans don’t act that way sometimes, that normal men (and women, but mostly men) who have families, decent jobs, and a sunny disposition go to a football match and become possessed, become animals. So it is only fair after all that praise goes to the Spurs fans – it was a response from them that deserves to be acknowledged, and acts as a reminder to those that don’t follow the sport that grounds are filled with everyday people like you and I. Credit too apart from the brilliant actions of the medical staff must go to Howard Webb for his handling of the situation.
But as mentioned, bad news unites, crosses boundaries. The death of Gary Speed for example was a shocking event that resonated throughout every club, throughout every fan, even those that had never seen him play for their team, or manage their country. Horrible things happen outside football every day, some worse than we could imagine, and it passes by, but there is no need to feel guilty about feeling more when something horrific happens on or around the sporting field. The idea that our heroes, these supreme athletes, can be cut down in their prime is hard to accept. Hard to accept that these people with millions in the bank, successful careers, the adoration of millions and beautiful families could ever be anything other than perfectly happy.
Football is tribal, and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. Though as people pray for Muamba and celebrate the early signs of what is hopefully a miraculous recovery, soon we will return to our default settings. Slagging off opposing fans, teams and managers, defending our own. Perhaps there is too much hatred in the sport, but that’s the way it is. Muamba’s collapse did indeed put things into perspective, but football does still matter nevertheless. And things will only be put in perspective for a short while, before we all return to behaving how we did before – that is the way of the world. And it’s because football matters to us all so much that incidents like Muamba’s hit many so hard, more than similar incidents elsewhere. And if people want to pray for a stricken footballer, then fine. I am an atheist, but football is the closest thing to a church, it’s the only place I have ever said a prayer (usually for a much-needed goal).
Tragedy struck north of the border too, with Kilmarnock’s Liam Kelly’s tragic loss of his father, who suffered a heart attack at full time, the greatest day of the Kilmarnock players’ lives overshadowed by this horrible turn of events. But at the weekend comes the next Old Firm derby, and no doubt the “banter” will be as vociferous as ever. That’s not a dig, but just saying that nothing will ever change, as we all know. And football needs tribalism, as whilst it may stray over the line of decency on many an occasion, it also helps make the game as passionate as it is – it would be pretty boring if we all sat in our seats politely applauding everything that happened.
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Football is always of huge importance, it brought Muamba away from civil war, it brought so many others away from poverty, it kept them out of prison, it provided for them and made many rich and it entertains us. So it’s nice to see the scarves of many clubs lain outside a ground as a sign of respect, it’s good to hear a crowd applause as one for someone, or stay quiet for the same reason, the silence almost deafening. It’s great that a bad thing happening to another teams player is of importance to us, is sufficient to make us reflect, if even for a day. And fans can get along, it’s not always a relationship based on hatred (though half and half scarves is pushing it). But we all move on, and when Chelsea visit the Etihad stadium this week, I’ll be booing John Terry (on the bench) and accusing David Luiz of diving just like I always would have done. God bless football.
Liverpool striker Andy Carroll’s return to Newcastle United didn’t exactly go to plan. The former Newcastle number nine got booked for diving, didn’t manage to find the back of the net and was substituted before the final whistle, resulting in him storming off down the tunnel.
The match at St James’ Park didn’t go much better for Carroll’s current teammates either, as Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina was sent off for his head-butt on Newcastle defender James Perch and the Reds succumbed to a 2-0 defeat.
Here is Carroll after his dive having a word with Newcastle defender Danny Simpson and referee Martin Atkinson, but what is Liverpool’s number nine saying?
[divider]
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Jose Mourinho has signed a new contract at Real Madrid until 2016, ending speculation over a move back to the Premier League for the Portuguese coach.
The outspoken manager led the Santiago Bernabeu outfit to their first La Liga title in four years in 2011-12, ending Barcelona’s dominance, but was being rumoured with potential roles at Manchester United and old club Chelsea.
However, Mourinho is happy in the Spanish capital and eager to accept the challenge ahead at Los Blancos.
“I’ve always said this squad is young and that its best years are yet to come,” Mourinho told the club’s official website.
“It isn’t a squad with players on the verge of extinction or playing their final years of top tier football. The club, with its incredible social reach and structure, can adapt to the times and to what we’re trying to do.
“As a manager, I always try to grow and improve. I’ve loved the professional experience I’ve had of working for different clubs in different countries and cultures, and to learn from that while giving my best. I’ve loved that process.
“It’s different for me now because I’m thinking about a club long term, and that club is Real Madrid, which has been more demanding and has forced me to do my absolute best due to its difficulties.
“I’ve had to improve as a coach and a professional. I think it is the perfect challenge for the next four years because you always have to do more when things are hardest. I need these great challenges in the maturity of my career; I need things to force me to be better,” he concluded.
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Glen Johnson believes that appointing Steven Gerrard as England captain has proved a masterstroke and the full back feels his Liverpool teammate is flourishing as a result.
Steven Gerrard has arguably been England’s player of the tournament so far with four assists to his name and Johnson thinks Roy Hodgson decision to give him the armband has paid immediate dividends as the responsibility has seen his game elevate to the next level on the international front:
“Stevie has been a fantastic player for many, many years but with the armband I think he feels like he needs to step up just that tiny bit more and I think he’s done that more than anyone so far.”
Johnson also feels that there is also a change of atmosphere around the England camp than there was in South Africa two years ago and believes there appears to be a new found positivity around the squad and added belief:
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“Obviously it’s a different environment, with different members of staff. We tried our very best to do well in South Africa but for whatever reasons it didn’t turn out too great. We’re positive at the moment and we’re hopeful.”
Bert van Marwijk is calling on his players to maintain their focus as Holland prepare to open their Euro 2012 campaign against Denmark at the Oblast Sports Complex “Metalist” in Kharkiv
The Dutch have been tipped as one of the favourites to lift the Henri Delaunay trophy and are expected to progress from Group B without much issue despite the media attention surrounding the tournament.
Preparations for the game have been overshadowed though after it was claimed several players were subjected to racial abuse during an open training session in Krakow.
With that weighing heavily on his mind van Marwijk declined to comment on the subject during his post-match press conference and was keen ensure his players weren’t distracted from the task in hand instead opting to warn them not to take their eye off the ball prior to their meeting with Denmark.
“I think we are the favourites as well, but it will not be easy,” he said.
“You can make the comparison to two years ago (when Holland beat Denmark 2-0 at the World Cup en route to the final) but two years ago everything was new for me and for the players in a big tournament.
“We have that experience now, but that just means you can’t be complacent because you’ve done it before. We need to make sure we are as sharp as possible.”
Danish coach Martin Olsen admitted that his side are the underdogs doing into the game but insists they have improved since they last met the Dutch in group stage of the 2010 World Cup which they lost 2-0.
However the 62-year-old has heaped the pressure on Saturday’s opponents stating they would be considered failures if they didn’t end the finals as champions of Europe.
“They are a good team in all positions, and on the bench as well, they are filled with great quality.
“The Dutch have become better since the last time we met but so have we.
“The Dutch are a team who will say if they do not win this title it will be an enormous disappointment, but I do not think we can say that.
“I think we will say if we can get through this group we will have won.
“We are playing against a better team. That’s the realistic situation but it doesn’t mean we will throw the towel in. Of course we would like to be the favourites because that means you are the better team.”
Injury News
Defender Joris Mathijsen is the only injury doubt for Denmark with a hamstring injury whilst Denmark have a fully fit squad to choose from.
Key Players
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Robin Van Persie
The Arsenal striker enters the tournament on the back of his best goal scoring season of his career after notching 37 times in all competitions. Holland will be relying on the 28-year-old to provide a similar goal threat and fire them to a priceless first win over the Danes and put them on course for the knock-out phase.
Daniel Agger
Denmark captain Agger will be the man charged with containing Van Persie in Kharkiv and, having played against him numerous times in the Premier League, will be confident of keeping the Dutchman under wraps. He’ll have to keep his defence well organised though if they are to take anything from their opening game.
English football is all about passion, isn’t it? Running all over the pitch, putting your body on the line, dangerously enthusiastic challenges, showing you want it more; fine, so I’m being little facetious but the sentiment is half true.
The days of confusing physicality with passion and, in turn, passion with quality football may be behind us in England but there definitely seems to be something lacking when many of our players perform for the national squad?
The opinion for a long time now has been that our national squad just care more about their performances for their clubs. There may be elements of truth in such a statement but ultimately it is over-simplistic.
Please don’t mistake my quoting Michel Platini for liking him, but the UEFA President once said: ‘English players are lions in the winter and lambs in the spring’ and it was about the only time I’ve given him any credit for anything he’s done during his post-playing career
The problem with the physicality, aggression and pace of the English game is that it is unsustainable, and we all know it. Regardless of how the national manager may wish us to play, if every single member of our squad is exhausted after a gruelling Premier League season (with no winter break) then our players will never look as if they are trying as hard for the country as they do for their club.
For all those conspirators out there, there are also other reasons why it might not look as though England were ‘trying hard enough’ – an idea, which, in itself, demonstrates everything that is wrong with the way we think about football in England. For anyone who has ever watched the Eurovision song contest, everyone there is trying extremely hard, but it doesn’t make them any good. The same rules apply to football. But, like I said, for anyone who thinks England weren’t trying hard enough, have you also considered that some managers’ tactics are not just to run around as much possible and Hodgson may be one of them.
Furthermore, another gripe I have with complaining about the dwindling effort levels of English players is that people think that blaming a lack of endeavour somehow excuses the woeful gap in technical ability between ourselves and our Italian foes.
The sooner we get out of the trail of thought that we need to run more in order to win things the sooner we will find ourselves on the path to join the actual top teams of Europe.
I’m not saying that effort is not important, clearly it is, but it can be demonstrated in more ways than just physical exertion. Effort in terms of discipline, positioning, the timing of one’s passes, concentration and other factors are but a few examples of, arguably more effective, ways of showing how much you care for the national shirt.
People will argue that the inflation of wages amongst players in England has caused them to only care about their actual employers or that they only care about performing well for other such materialistic incentives. This may well be the case but if it is then it would be true in Germany, Spain, Italy and France too so we are at no direct disadvantage, certainly not to the extent that we could blame our failings on such an issue.
Also, maybe certain players do work harder for their clubs, but this could be down to any number of factors. The, perhaps sad, truth is that many players do need a manager to help motivate them and that may not be Hodgson’s forte. Therefore is that the fault of the players or the manager?
Clearly a team consisting only of players with the team spirit, selfless behaviour and work ethic of Mario Balotelli or Arjen Robben is not going to win any trophies but just in the same way England are not going to win anything by only having spirit and gusto. Our faults as a footballing nation run deep. We’ve been ‘giving it our all’ since 1966 and it has got us nowhere. The sight of Steven Gerrard getting cramp after ninety minutes last night was enough to show how hard he was working, and we still lost. The time has come to throw out our old book of excuses and look for recipe to take us back to football’s top table.
So am I right in thinking that technical ability matters most if England are to prevail in international tournaments, rather than relying on simply effort and spirit?
Samsung have asked football fans ‘what matters most’ to them and while I have added my thoughts on England’s failing, you have the opportunity to suggest your view by clicking here.
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Swansea City are weighing up a bid for Bolton Wanderers’ Mark Davies as Liverpool’s interest in midfielder Joe Allen intensifies, according to The Daily Mail.
Davies joined Bolton in 2009 and became an increasingly regular part of the team due to his energetic, dynamic midfield displays. However, his best season as an individual, with 35 league appearances and four goals, coincided with his side suffering relegation from the Premier League last term.
He could receive salvation in the form of Swansea as the Welsh club plan for life without Joe Allen with former manager Brendan Rodgers growing increasingly keen over a bid for the midfielder.
Talking of Allen, Rodgers said to The Daily Mail: “I have a great relationship with Swansea but if there is a market for any of the players, I would like to be in that market.”
Liverpool may well capture the 22-year-old who will represent Team GB at the Olympics with a £12m bid and Michael Laudrup will use some of those funds to sign Davies, who is believed to be available at £6m.
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The Anfield club are also believed to be close to securing the signature of Clint Dempsey from Fulham but the futures of Andy Carroll, Charlie Adam and Craig Bellamy all remain uncertain.
The Bundesliga has steadily built a reputation of being an entertaining and competitive division. The competitive part has waned a touch over the last few years, but at the start of its 50th season, Germany’s premier division proved it is both entertaining and competitive. After all, only two games were won by more than a goal this weekend. The league has also garnered a reputation of uncovering new talent but on the first weekend, credit had to go to both last seasons’ top performers and to the division’s necomers.
Take Fortuna Düsseldorf’s Dani Schahin for instance. He was one of an incredible 20 new signings for Fortuna who are back in the Bundesliga for the first time in 15 years. What’s more, he was unsure if he’d even be in the squad for the first game. Schahin ended up scoring both goals in a 2-0 away at last year’s surprise package Augsburg. Such was his performance it even led to an unlikely invite that evening to “Aktuelle Sport Studio,” one of Germany’s most prestigious sports shows. Elsewhere, there was also a debut goal for Wolfsburg’s new striker Bas Dost who struck an 89th minute winner. It came just two minutes after Stuttgart’s Vedad Ibisevic had won a penalty, had it saved and missed the rebound from just a few yards – a strangely impressive achievement.
Yet, it was hard to ignore the efforts of some of last season’s stars. Marco Reus is an obvious starting point, what with Borussia Dortmund playing the first game and with the high profile nature of his move from Borussia Mӧnchengladbach. It took the German Player of the Year just 11 minutes against Werder Bremen to get his first goal for Dortmund. BVB weren’t at their best though and Theodor Gebre-Selassie’s goal (another new signing doing well) threatened to spoil the Champions opening game. Mario Gӧtze’s late winner though ensured Borussia started with a win meaning its 29 league games unbeaten now for the Champions.
It was victory for the Bundesliga’s other Borussia too with Gladbach securing a 2-1 home win. They beat Hoffenheim, the only side to defeat them at the Borussia Park last year. This was mainly down to one of their heroes from last season, Juan Arango. The Venezuelan set up Gladbach’s opener by curling in a free-kick to Mike Hanke to nod home. He then scored their winner – a free-kick on the edge of the box, which he dispatched into the corner. This led to Arango proclaiming after the game “I shoot sharper than Ronaldo,” a statement he might struggle to back up this season, even if his left foot is somewhat mercurial. Still, Arango certainly helped to lift spirits in Gladbach ahead of their daunting trip to Kiev on Wednesday, where they’ll have to score at least three if they want to qualify for the Champions League.
Bayern Munich and Schalke have no such problems on that front – both have qualified direct to the Champions League group stages. They were the two sides that finished just ahead of Gladbach last season and some of the usual suspects were on form again over the weekend. Even though he is a new signing, Mario Mandzukic comes into this bracket for Bayern, as he’s effectively proven himself in the Bundesliga. The ex-Wolfsburg striker scored his first in the Bavarians 3-0 win at newly promoted Greuther Fürth with Thomas Müller and Arjen Robben grabbing the others.
Schalke meanwhile were the only one of last season’s top four not to win on the opening weekend as they were held in Lower Saxony by Hannover. That didn’t stop last season’s Bundesliga top scorer, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar, from opening his account for this campaign. He scored the equaliser after Hannover’s centre back Felipe (yet another new signing) netted the opener just before half time. Lewis Holtby put the away side in front before another one of Hannover’s new signings Adrian Nikci came off the bench and rescued a point for Mirko Slomka’s side.
So as far as opening weekends go, this was a good one, not just for players old and new, but also for their teams. Three of the top four won whilst two of the three promoted sides gained impressive victories – the standout being Eintracht Frankfurt’s win over Bayer Leverkusen. For now though, you can’t make too much of these results as it is so early on in the campaign. Nevertheless, when it comes to reaching 50, the Bundesliga certainly did so in the exciting manner it has become renowned for.
Matchday One Results:
Borussia Dortmund 2-1 Werder Bremen
Augsburg 0-2 Fortuna Düsseldorf
Freiburg 1-1 Mainz
Fürth 0-3 Bayern Munich
Gladbach 2-1 Hoffenheim
Hamburg 0-1 Nuremberg
Eintracht Frankfurt 2-1 Bayer Leverkusen
Stuttgart 0-1 Wolfsburg
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Hannover 2-2 Schalke
Table
Rank
Club
Matches
W*
D*
L*
G*
GD*
Pts.*
1
FC Bayern Munich
1
1
0
0
3:0
+3
3
CL*
2
Fortuna Düsseldorf
1
1
0
0
2:0
+2
3
CL*
3
Borussia Dortmund
1
1
0
0
2:1
+1
3
CL*
Borussia Mönchengladbach
1
1
0
0
2:1
+1
3
Eintracht Frankfurt
1
1
0
0
2:1
+1
3
6
1. FC Nuremberg
1
1
0
0
1:0
+1
3
EL* Qual.
VfL Wolfsburg
1
1
0
0
1:0
+1
3
8
FC Schalke 04
1
0
1
0
2:2
0
1
Hannover 96
1
0
1
0
2:2
0
1
10
1. FSV Mainz 05
1
0
1
0
1:1
0
1
SC Freiburg
1
0
1
0
1:1
0
1
12
1899 Hoffenheim
1
0
0
1
1:2
-1
0
Bayer 04 Leverkusen
1
0
0
1
1:2
-1
0
SV Werder Bremen
1
0
0
1
1:2
-1
0
15
Hamburger SV
1
0
0
1
0:1
-1
0
VfB Stuttgart
1
0
0
1
0:1
-1
0
17
FC Augsburg
1
0
0
1
0:2
-2
0
Relegation
18
Greuther Fürth
1
0
0
1
0:3
-3
0
Relegation
Table from Official Bundesliga Website
For more musings and info on the Bundesliga, follow @archiert1 on Twitter