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Ramsey will improve, says Wenger
Celtic v Milan, Champions League, 7.45 Tuesday 26 November
Tony Pulis researches lost causes in Crimea to save Crystal Palace
Lionel Messi often asks Pablo Zabaleta about life at Manchester City
Sturridge no regrets over England
No Villas-Boas rift, says Vertonghen
West Bromwich Albion 2-2 Aston Villa – as it happened
West Brom 2-2 Aston Villa
Mourinho asks for Chelsea bravery
Carl Froch rematch with George Groves could take place at Wembley Stadium
Sports minister scores own goal in sporting quiz
Bill Foulkes obituary
Ten of the worst red card decisions ever
Amedeo Amadei obituary
… Sorry Spurs and Merseyside mayhem
Champions League: Ajax manager Frank de Boer talks Lionel Messi and facing Barcelona – video
The Fiver | Bayern Munich's mole problem
Thierry Henry's not coming back to Arsenal, says Arsène Wenger - video
David Luiz to miss Chelsea's trip to Basel with knee injury
Jan Vertonghen: Spurs will bounce back against Manchester United
MLS playoffs: Five things we learned as KC and Salt Lake reached the final
Ronaldo a doubt for Real Madrid's Galatasaray tie
Bill Foulkes – Manchester United legend dies aged 81
Henry not re-signing for Arsenal, says Wenger
England 3-6 Hungary: 60 years on from the game that stunned a nation | Jonathan Wilson

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 03:01 PM PST

• In-form midfielder has been rewarded for his hard work
• Win will see Arsenal qualify if Dortmund don't beat Napoli

Perhaps no player symbolises how much Arsenal have progressed more than Aaron Ramsey. There was a time when the midfielder was the target of such fierce criticism from a section of Arsenal's fans that Arsène Wenger wondered whether it would be best to leave him out of home matches for his own sake, but no one doubts his value now. These days the questions Wenger has to answer concern whether Ramsey will develop into one of the best players in the world after his outstanding start to the season.

It has been quite a turnaround for Ramsey, whose goal in the 1-0 win at Borussia Dortmund three weeks ago has put Arsenal in control in their Champions League group with two matches remaining. The 22-year-old has scored 11 times in all competitions but no goal has been more significant than the one in Dortmund. Marseille, who are bottom of Group F with no points, arrive at the Emirates on Tuesday night with nothing but pride to play for and a home win would put Arsenal through if Dortmund do not win at home to Napoli. If Dortmund lose, a draw would suffice.

Few predicted this scenario when Arsenal, who are likely to replace Jack Wilshere with Mathieu Flamini after the Frenchman's return from suspension, were drawn alongside Dortmund, the beaten finalists last season, and Rafael Benítez's Napoli. Yet Arsenal, the Premier League leaders and top of their Champions League group, have been busy confounding expectations and Ramsey, who has worked so hard to regain his form after breaking a leg against Stoke City in 2010, typifies their growing maturity.

"Let's not forget that one year ago people were saying to me: 'It's difficult to play him at the Emirates,'" Wenger said. "But you have to give him credit for that transformation – the credit goes to him because he could deal with that. He could come back, never give up, convince everybody that he has the needed quality.

"You could see there was an impatience with him. As a manager you think: 'Do I push him through and he can go more down or do you give him a breather to regenerate to get him a fresh start?' That's always difficult for us to assess because it is linked to their mental state. When their confidence is down they are in trouble. But he is a confident boy."

Confident enough to hit the post with a volleyed backheel in Saturday's 2-0 win over Southampton. Sitting next to Wenger, Ramsey smiled. "It was instinctive," he said. "The ball came to me at that angle so I thought: 'Why not? Have a go.'"

Wenger appreciates that ambition and imagination but stressed that Ramsey still has plenty to learn. "He's 22-years-old," he said. "I'm 64 and I still think I can improve so why should a guy who is 22 think he is at the top of his game. It's impossible. If he has the right attitude, he will continue to improve."

So will Arsenal, but they are taking nothing for granted. Even though Marseille are without the injured André Ayew and Dimitri Payet and could play several promising youngsters, Wenger pointed out that they have won their past two league matches and also refused to discuss whether Arsenal are among the tournament favourites. "If we qualify, maybe," he said.

Then again, Wenger, who said that Lukas Podolski needs another "three or four weeks" to recover from his hamstring injury after his return to training, does not mind if his side are seen as outsiders. "It's not too bad that they don't talk about us. What is important for us is that we qualify. In recent years we have not been spoiled by the draw. We didn't play Mickey Mouse teams. We played Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Milan.

"I like it that people are not talking about us because it means you can focus on what is important, which is to play well and not answer too many questions or get a false level of confidence. Just enjoy what you are really here for, which is to play football."

Jacob Steinberg

Celtic v Milan, Champions League, 7.45 Tuesday 26 November

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 03:00 PM PST

• Struggling Italians have not won in seven games
• Milan's ultras label Mario Balotelli a 'brat'

Should Celtic keep their Champions League dreams alive with victory over Milan, they would also plunge the Rossoneri even further into crisis.

Milan had cause to be grateful for some respite when landing in Glasgow on Monday evening. Some 400 furious supporters prevented the team bus from departing San Siro after the 1-1 draw with Genoa on Saturday. It took until midnight and for senior players, including Kaká, to address the irate crowd before calm was restored.

"Speaking to fans wasn't a huge burden for me," Kaká said. "It is not something I am used to but as one of the senior players I have to get used to responsibility."

The unrest is understandable. Milan sit 13th in Serie A, four points above the relegation zone and 20 adrift of the leaders, Juventus. Massimiliano Allegri's team have not won away from home all season or at all in their past seven matches.

"It is only normal that the fans are disappointed but they are not the only ones," Allegri said. "The staff and the players share that disappointment. We have to do better. We have three objectives: to qualify from the Champions League group stage, in Serie A we have to improve and we have the Coppa Italia. Any other problems, the players don't have to worry about. They just need to stay focused."

It seems apt that the infamous character of Mario Balotelli is caught in the midst of the turmoil. He and his team-mates have been branded "brats" by Milan's ultras, a theory hardly likely to subside amid reports Balotelli turned up late for training on Sunday.

On Monday morning the Milan vice-president, Adriano Galliani, who had pleaded with fans to ease off with their protests, insisted Balotelli would not be sold. For supporters of Manchester City, this will seem a familiar scenario.

"I think he'll enjoy it, you know," said the Celtic manager, Neil Lennon, of Balotelli's appearance in Glasgow. "I have seen him play at Old Trafford. City won 6-1 and he scored two and played brilliantly.

"He played brilliantly the other night despite all the negative headlines coming out of the game. He missed a penalty but his play in general was really good. He is so strong and his first touch was very good. I think he had 13 attempts on goal, didn't score but, with the fact he was making chances for himself or getting on the end of things, he looked a top, top player."

When reminded of Balotelli's negative alter ego, Lennon added: "I hope that Balotelli turns up tomorrow rather than the other one but you just never know."

In general, Lennon is wary of pointing to Milan's troubles as a reason for hope. "The Champions League is important for Milan in a lot of ways," he explained. "I just feel that with the players they have and the mentality of the club then if they can prevail in the group stages their form will pick up automatically.

"They have got a calibre of player and they like these nights. They like the Champions League and they have got the pedigree; they've got a backroom staff that have got four or five Champions League medals. So the whole structure of the club is geared towards the Champions League. It might not be a vintage Milan team but it's still an excellent side. They dominated the game against Genoa. For large passages of the game, Milan were excellent."

In the specific context of Group H, Celtic know that they must win to retain aspirations of reaching the last 16. Should that happen and Ajax fail to defeat Barcelona, Celtic will head to their final group match at Camp Nou with their fate in their own hands.

"It is win or bust for us," Lennon said. "I would like us to play really strongly at home and give the supporters something to really shout about. Whether that's enough on the night remains to be seen.

"I will be looking more to the performance than the result. If we win the game and don't play well I will still be obviously delighted. But I am looking for a really strong performance as well."

Lennon, who hinted he will hand his Dutch winger Derk Boerrigter a first Champions League start, will also have Kris Commons available. Commons' home was targeted by robbers as he slept during the early hours of Sunday, with two cars stolen from his driveway.

"It was not a nice thing for Kris and his family to suffer,"Lennon said. "But I have spoken to him and he is totally focused on the game. What happened can be traumatic but Kris, being the strong-minded individual that he is, has brushed it all off."

Ewan Murray

Tony Pulis researches lost causes in Crimea to save Crystal Palace

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 02:45 PM PST

New Crystal Palace manager defends his tactics at Stoke City but reveals little about plans to avoid drop

Tony Pulis may or may not keep Crystal Palace in the Premier League but after a bullish and unexpectedly allusive public unveiling at the club's training ground one thing seems certain. Palace's new manager is unlikely to go without a fight.

Looking rugged, lean and tanned alongside his – in the best Palace boardroom tradition – smooth, coiffed and perma-tanned co-chairman Steve Parish, Pulis refused to elaborate on tactics, January transfer targets or the rumours of a substantial anti-relegation incentive in his contract.

He did mention the charge of the Light Brigade, Genghis Khan, Winston Churchill and his own enduring love of Napoleon, while communicating also that familiar sense of single-minded purpose. Pulis left Stoke in May after five Premier League years garnished with a cup final and a mini-run in the Europa League, succumbing eventually to a sense of declining momentum and of gathering lassitude among the club's support.

There is undoubtedly a mutual expediency to his appointment on a contract rumoured to be worth up to £1m a year. Palace need a dramatic and improbable shift of fortunes. Pulis needs a club who need Tony Pulis.

"I went to the Crimea and spent a week looking at different things. I saw the field where the charge of the Light Brigade took place. I saw the palace where Churchill and Roosevelt divided the world up after the war," Pulis said of his recent spell out of football.

He will no doubt get the desired militaristic headlines but beyond the Balaclava analogies – the British may have charged straight and long but they were also cut to pieces – this was still a rather opaque opening statement of intent by a manager whose methods have already attracted a degree of scepticism from Palace fans after a month in which the club has been linked with an ever-revolving cast of improbables (from Dan Petrescu to Iain Dowie).

Pulis may have a distinguished Premier League pedigree at a club of similar stature, albeit with more in the way of disposable income, but attention will naturally focus on his preferred style of play, an unapologetic version of aerial muscle ball.

In the white heat of the Terry Venables era Palace were once dubbed "the team of the 80s". Under Pulis, enduring zealot of direct football, they might get the chance to live up to that billing. Not that he has ever accepted this is the way he sets his teams out to play.

"I personally don't think we were [a long-ball team] at Stoke. When you have Matthew Etherington, Charlie Adam, Steven Nzonzi you've got some really top players and we weren't that. The problem is you start in a way that will make you successful and you build up from there and you get a reputation for playing a certain way, but you try to take it on. For the seven years I was there we had that upward curve.

"It's down to the players you've got. You put an identity on a team, you put an identify on a football club.

"I hate going to watch games of football and at the end you don't know what that team is trying to achieve. So having an identity is key for me. Whether it's Swansea or whoever. It's determined by the players."

Methods aside, Pulis can point to the fact he has never been relegated (sacked, but never relegated) during a 21-year career as a manager during which a key strength has been his ability to reverse failing fortunes.

For those supporters concerned about whether Palace have the right man to manage the development of a thriving club academy there were some reassuring words, albeit laden with caveats.

"The academy was one of the reasons I came here. They've always produced fine young players," Pulis said, referencing his past successes with Ryan Shawcross, Asimir Begovic and Nzonzi at Stoke (none of whom actually came through at Stoke) as evidence of his credentials.

"Sometimes it gets lost in the wash. Everybody wants to have a young vibrant team, everybody wants young players but they have to be good enough."

It is a dilemma that seems to speak to Palace's position. Supporters may want a manager for the next five years, and a move away from the club's own grand Premier League tradition of mid-season panic hires, but for the board the next six months are everything.

It is a familiar wrangle at a time when simply existing in the Premier League carries such vertiginously disproportionate financial rewards.

Pulis may not be everybody's Mr Right but he is Mr Right Now.

Palace's new manager will take training for the first timeon Tuesday, the first step in a lucrative two-and-half-year contract that is rumoured to have its fair share of exit clauses, before kicking off the Crystal Pulis regime at Norwich on Saturday.

Barney Ronay

Lionel Messi often asks Pablo Zabaleta about life at Manchester City

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 02:31 PM PST

• Messi's future at Camp Nou the subject of speculation
• Pair became firm friends from their time in Barcelona

Lionel Messi is fascinated by Manchester City and often asks Pablo Zabaleta about life at the club, according to the Argentina right-back who numbers the world player of the year as a close friend.

Messi's future at Camp Nou has been the subject of speculation after Barcelona's president, Sandro Rosell, was forced to deny that Cristiano Ronaldo's new five-year deal worth €17m (£14m) a year had moved the Argentinian – who has a €250m (£208m) release clause and earns €16m a year – to demand a review of his current agreement, which ends in 2016.

Zabaleta, who joined City in 2008 from Espanyol, said: "I remember when we were in Barcelona we were very close friends because we were living in the same city and had known each other for a number of years. I was just starting out at Espanyol and Lionel was at Barça. When I signed for City I think two days later the news broke that Sheikh Mansour had bought the club and Lionel always recalls that I joined at such a fantastic time.

"He asked me a lot about City but I couldn't tell him much because I didn't know much myself – but it's something we often talk about. Plus the fact that I'm still here."

City's passage to the Champions League knockout stage is already secured, and despite the Catalan club's recent record in the competition, winning it three times in the last eight years, Zabaleta would relish a tie against Barcelona.

"If we have to face Barça in the Champions League, we will be ready and I think it will be a fantastic game – but we'll wait and see. I played against Messi for Espanyol against Barça and I recall in my second season at City when we played in the Nou Camp in the Joan Gamper Trophy and we won 1-0 with a goal from Martin Petrov," he said. "So I think we are about level at the moment."

Zabaleta also played down the prospects of him claiming a Premier League, Champions League and World Cup treble this season. "I don't know, the good thing is we are in the race for all those trophies and as a player you have to try and win everything you are involved in," he said.

"There are differences between each competition, of course. The Premier League is over 38 games while the Champions League and World Cup is over fewer games and anything can happen. From my own experience, winning the Premier League was so special because it means everything to the players and the supporters and it is the biggest prize in England.

"As for the Champions League, we are up against the best teams in Europe and it is a difficult competition to win being realistic. But we will try our best and you never know in football."

Jamie Jackson

Sturridge no regrets over England

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 02:30 PM PST

• 'When you are selected by England you do the best you can'
• Brendan Rodgers said striker was 'not right' on return to club

Daniel Sturridge has no regrets about putting his country before his club last week. The Liverpool forward's patriotic, if arguably foolish, decision to play 90 minutes for England against Germany while carrying a thigh injury infuriated his club manager, Brendan Rodgers, and saw Sturridge restricted to substitute duties for the first 79 minutes of Saturday's Merseyside derby.

He stepped off the bench to score an 89th-minute equaliser against Everton in the 3-3 draw at Goodison Park but Rodgers was not in forgiving mood. "I am looking at him in training on Friday and he is not right," he said. "Whose responsibility is that? It is the FA's and the player's."

Refusing to see his stance as either selfish or potentially self destructive, Sturridge viewed things differently. "For me, regardless of what condition you are in, if you are selected by the England manager you go out there and do the best you can regardless of whether you are carrying an injury or not," he said. "The manager gave me an opportunity and it's always a pleasure to put the England shirt on. Regardless of what condition you're in, fit or not fit, if you are selected for England you go out there and do your best."

The thigh problem has been troubling Sturridge for some time and he acknowledges that being on England duty hardly accelerated his recovery. "I have been hampered for the past three games," he said. "Since West Brom [on 26 October], when I got a bang, I've had blood underneath my muscles in my thigh. It's still there now. When I shoot from long distance I still feel pain but it's getting better.

"It's important that I'm training but I didn't get to train much when I was away with England. I only trained once before the game. I need to get the momentum going and just try to get it right and make sure I'm in the right condition to be able to go out there and do myself justice. I hope I'll be fit enough to start against Hull next weekend. It would be great to be back in the side."

Rodgers may have to calm down first. He was upset about a perceived indifference on Sturridge's part to the prospect of starting his first Merseyside derby, but at least the striker seemed suitably impressed and excited by the occasion.

"It was a remarkable game to be a part of," Sturridge said. "I wasn't too sure whether I would get on as we were holding on to a lead at 2-1 but when Everton scored the manager told me to warm up again and then put me on. It was great to be a part of it and help the team get a draw.

"In the end we have to be happy with a point. We were a bit disappointed that we didn't win having led twice but now we'll look to push on. We showed great character and resilience to get back into the game and that was important. It's not about individuals, it's about Liverpool Football Club and it's great to be part of it."

Rodgers will hope he backs up words with actions. "If you want to be a champion, if you want to win things, you have to be ready," he said. "I felt Daniel wasn't ready. The games he has disappointed in have come when he hasn't trained. That was the call here."

Louise Taylor

No Villas-Boas rift, says Vertonghen

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 02:29 PM PST

• Players to blame for 'painful' 6-0 City defeat, says defender
• Manchester United visit White Hart Lane on Sunday

Jan Vertonghen has denied there is a rift between André Villas-Boas and the Tottenham Hotspur players that might have been to blame for Sunday's 6-0 humiliation by Manchester City at the Etihad Stadium.

Two goals each from Jesús Navas and Sergio Agüero, plus an Álvaro Negredo strike and a Sandro own-goal consigned Tottenham to their heaviest Premier League defeat since 1996.

André Villas-Boas's side crumpled from the moment Navas started the rout after only 14 seconds. Yet Vertonghen said: "If there's a problem between the players and the manager? Absolutely not. There are also no troubles between [individual] players. This [defeat] was painful. Also the way we lost. I've the feeling I want to play this game again.

"We even could have conceded more goals. This is a painful experience, but it's just a snapshot. Not everything is lost. Not only the defence was to blame, the whole organisation wasn't there. The manager tries to make the right choices. Sometimes the choices turn out to be good, sometimes not."

Vertonghen, a recognised central defender who is continuing to be played at left-back in place of the injured Danny Rose by Villas-Boas, maintains he has no problem with the decision. "That I was playing as a left-back is not important," he said. "Our left-back is still out for a few weeks, so only when he's back I will be playing in a central role again."

Despite the defeat to City, Vertonghen insists Tottenham can beat the champions, Manchester United, on Sunday at White Hart Lane, claiming the defeat was "not a big problem".

He said: "Of course we didn't play well but we are better than this. We can solve the problem. We will talk and bounce back on Sunday against Manchester United. It is a good thing we play Manchester United next [in the league]. We play at home. I know we have the support of our crowd and we can win that game on Sunday."

The defender did admit that the Spurs players were upset after their performance. "It is very disappointing. We came here for a better result than this," he said. "It is a shame we end up losing 6-0. We came here with a good motivation and for a good result. If you concede a goal after 15 seconds it is a bad thing if you want to win. We did well after that but then we conceded a second goal and it became a very difficult game for us."

Manuel Pellegrini's side have amassed 26 league goals in six games at the Etihad Stadium, with Wigan Athletic also being beaten 5-0 in the Capital One Cup and CSKA Moscow 5-2 in the Champions League there. "Manchester City score a lot of goals at home but we gave three or four of them away too easily," said Vertonghen. "That is our own fault. They are a very strong team but I would love to play this game again next week because we are better than this. Everybody was fit. We have had the internationals but we play European games as well so that was not a problem.

"We are very disappointed. We felt we could do something here. We need to talk with the group but everybody is motivated for the rest of the games."

Jamie Jackson

West Bromwich Albion 2-2 Aston Villa – as it happened

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 02:12 PM PST

Minute-by-minute report: Aston Villa fought back from two goals down to secure an unlikely draw at the Hawthorns

Simon Burnton

West Brom 2-2 Aston Villa

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 01:59 PM PST

Ashley Westwood could hardly have picked a better moment to score his first Aston Villa goal. Looking dead and buried at the interval after a first half when they were unable to deal with the effervescent presence of Shane Long, Villa completed a stirring comeback when Westwood ensured this West Midlands derby ended with honours even for the fourth time in succession.

It was role reversal from the corresponding fixture last season, when Villa raced into a two-goal lead only to be pegged back by Albion in the second half. Paul Lambert deserves credit for the substitutions and formation change that transformed Villa, although Albion will rue their failure to build on such a promising start after two outstanding goals from Long had put them in a commanding position.

Stéphane Sessègnon will feel more frustrated than anyone. He squandered a gilt-edged chance in the first half, when Albion were leading 2-0, and another presentable chance at a critical juncture in the game in the second half. Karim El Ahmadi pulled a goal back for Villa shortly afterwards, setting the stage for Westwood to strike a fine equaliser.

The match was only 11 minutes old when Long's name was reverberating around the stadium. At that stage the Albion forward had already struck twice and Villa were in a state of disarray. When Sessègnon missed an absolute sitter in the 19th minute to put Albion three-nil up, it seemed bizarre to think that Villa had come into the game with the best defensive away record in the Premier League. A rearguard that had kept four clean sheets in their previous seven games was a shambles here.

Playing like a man possessed, Long terrorised Villa's backline with his aggressive running. His first goal, after only three minutes, was an absolute beauty. Chris Brunt delivered a raking 50-yard pass that Long, stretching out his right leg, brought down with a wonderful piece of close control. He took one more touch to shift the ball on to his left foot, taking Nathan Baker out of the game in the process, before drilling a left-footed shot that fizzed into the bottom corner of the net. It was a goal of the highest calibre.

If Baker failed to cover himself in glory on that occasion, Leandro Bacuna was guilty of an even worse piece of defending in the lead-up to the second goal. The Dutchman, looking every inch a midfielder that has been turned into a right-back, carelessly gave away possession deep inside his own half with a dreadful pass that never looked like finding Baker. Long, razor-sharp, pounced on the ball, beat Baker with a clever dummy and had the composure to execute a pitching wedge of a chip over the head of Brad Guzan and into the net off the underside of the bar. "Two-nil to the smaller club," sang Albion's jubilant supporters, responding to Lambert's pre-match comments.

Although Aleksandar Tonev's deflected 25-yard shot forced a decent save from Boaz Myhill in between Long's two goals, Villa were on the back foot and looked vulnerable every time Albion attacked. Morgan Amalfitano escaped on the right and swung in an inviting cross that Sessègnon, standing inside the six-yard box, looked nailed on to turn home. Yet somehow the former Sunderland forward contrived to make a hash of a routine volley and sliced horribly wide.

There was a glimmer of hope for Villa at the opposite end when Libor Kozak, set up by Christian Benteke, took the ball down on his chest and struck a half-volley from the edge of the area that clipped the top of the crossbar. Normal service quickly resumed, however, when Long, picking the ball up inside his own half, tore away from Ron Vlaar and sprinted at the heart of the Villa defence before unleashing a 20-yard piledriver that Guzan parried.

Lambert needed to change things and the only surprise was that the Villa manager waited until the 57th minute. A triple substitution at that point led to Fabian Delph, Andreas Weimann and Gabriel Agbonlahor entering the fray. Reconfigured from 4-4-2 to their more familiar 4-3-3, Villa came close to pulling a goal back within two minutes. Benteke and Gareth McAuley tangled on the edge of the area and the ball broke kindly for Weimann to drill a low shot that Myhill, rather unconvincingly, managed to deflect behind.

With Villa chasing the game it was inevitable that chances would open up for Albion. Sessègnon was again guilty of profligacy when, after being set up for a second time by Amalfitano, he side-footed over the bar. The significance of that miss became clear moments later when Weimann got in front of Claudio Yacob to head Bacuna's cross into the path of Karim El Ahmadi, whose first-time volley looped over the head of Myhill and into the net.

The momentum in the match had shifted. Villa were playing with renewed belief and hauled themselves back into the game after Goran Popov's poorly directed header from Agbonlahor's cross dropped at the feet of Westwood. The midfielder took a touch before striking a glorious 25-yard shot that flashed inside Myhill's near post.

Stuart James

Mourinho asks for Chelsea bravery

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 12:51 PM PST

• A win would secure Group E and knockout stage for Chelsea
• Manager, in his crewcut, could then rest players for busy run

José Mourinho has called on Chelsea to secure their passage into the knockout phase of the Champions League with victory at Basel on Tuesday as his players enter a cluttered and pivotal period of the season where "only the brave can survive".

A victory at St Jakob-Park will claim Group E for the Europa League holders and allow Mourinho to rest key personnel for the final group game against Steaua Bucharest. Chelsea have nine fixtures in all competitions in December with Mourinho, sporting a repeat of his self-styled "going to war" crewcut from 2006, urging his players to prove their quality and stamp their authority on the campaign.

"This is a period I like, a period where the squad can play a role, not just the team," the manager said. "It's a period where I think only the brave can survive because it's so hard. We go into the Christmas period and the accumulation of matches is so high. We don't do it as a normal thing … we do it as a special group with a special mentality, enjoying the situation and forgetting we don't have a Christmas like the Spanish, Italian and German players. But we have the pleasure of playing a period that's only for the brave.

"I always enjoyed this part of the year when I was in England, and I missed it when I was in Spain and Italy. We need a special mentality to cope with that situation. Nine matches, and one of them is the match against Steaua. Finish the job against Basel and we would ensure that, instead of having nine competitive matches, we only have eight. That would be important. That's our motivation, to kill the situation in the group stage and give us a bit of space in December."

Mourinho, who has Fernando Torres available again after a groin injury but has lost David Luiz to a bruised knee, admitted he had cut his own hair at the training ground last week while all but four of his players were absent on international duty. The savagely cropped style is similar to that sported seven years ago when he had embarked on his third and ultimately tempestuous campaign at the club by declaring: "Look at my haircut – I am ready for war."

This time the crop may more have reflected the tedium of the international window, even if he had felt compelled to send a selfie to his wife before venturing back home. "I did it myself down at the training ground," he said. "I asked Fernando to give me his machine [clippers], and I did it myself in front of the mirror. It's nice and cheap. Some people can't do what I did. In a couple of months, I'll have hair again. Some other people wouldn't … I did send a picture of it to my wife before I arrived home to see if I'd be allowed in, and yes, there was no problem."

The desire to win the group should see Torres restored having missed three club matches with a groin injury sustained in training, though Juan Mata may once again be left stewing on the bench despite his manager praising his professionalism on the fringes. "That's a consequence of the squad we have because Juan deserves to play given the way he works and behaves," he added. "It's hard for them when they're not playing, and it's hard for me. I don't have a special pleasure leaving players out. I enjoy playing them and making them happy, but there's nothing I can do."

Basel, top of the Swiss league and unbeaten domestically since mid-August, won the group's opening fixture at Stamford Bridge only to struggle in the months since. There was an admission from their midfielder, Fabian Frei, that they would welcome even a point against the Londoners with one eye on securing Europa League qualification.

"If somebody tomorrow has to feel the pressure, it's not us," Mourinho said. "It's Basel because they are in a limited situation to qualify for the next round. This is a difficult game, but this Chelsea is better than the Chelsea that played at Stamford Bridge. Hopefully we can continue the good run we've had in the Champions League and finish the job."

Dominic Fifield

Carl Froch rematch with George Groves could take place at Wembley Stadium

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 12:35 PM PST

• Historic venue where Cooper knocked down Muhammad Ali
• 'Stamford Bridge my preferred option' says Groves

A lucrative open-air showdown at Wembley Stadium is one option being discussed for a rematch between Carl Froch and George Groves following the controversial end to their WBA and IBF world super-middleweight title fight.

The promoter Eddie Hearn has received a number of approaches to stage the fight, which would most likely take place in late May or early June. It is understood that Wembley – which has not staged a boxing bill since Frank Bruno beat Oliver McCall to win the heavyweight title in 1995 – is the preferred option at this early stage owing to its 90,000 capacity and long association with the sport.

"We have had a number of approaches from football clubs and outdoor stadiums," Hearn told the Guardian. "Don't forget, when Matchroom did Nigel Benn v Chris Eubank II at Old Trafford it sold 45,000. I think Froch v Groves II would be the biggest grossing outdoor boxing event of all time in this country."

Holding the rematch at Wembley, where 35,000 people saw Muhammad Ali put on the seat of his pants by Henry Cooper in 1963 and similar numbers saw Bruno lose an unsuccessful heavyweight title challenge against Tim Witherspoon in 1986, would also appeal to Groves. "There is no doubt the rematch will be in London. Wembley would be nice but Stamford Bridge would be my preferred option," said Groves, a long-time Chelsea fan.

Such a high-profile event would have a card to match, with at least one other world title fight. "Any show of this magnitude would carry a very meaningful world title fight involving a British fighter," Hearn said. "It could be Darren Barker fighting a Daniel Geale or Martin Murray, or even Scott Quigg v Carl Frampton. British boxing is buzzing and this would be a great chance to capitalise on it."

Hearn, who stressed that the deal is still some way off, intends to speak to both fighters early next week, once he returns from Canada after watching Tony Bellow challenge for the world light-heavyweight title in the early hours of Sunday morning. "We're talking about a great idea but there's a long way to go before this fight is made. Both men want specific deals and what they feel they deserve.

"It's all very well Groves saying he wants a rematch at any time but at what price? He also says he feels he deserves the lion's share of the purse but that ain't going to happen. Everyone has to be realistic and if they are, it can be done."

Hearn warned that if Groves priced himself out of the market, Froch could go elsewhere. "I've seen George saying that Carl only has one option: fight him or retire but I totally disagree with that," he said.

"HBO would love Carl to fight Andre Ward, Gennady Golokvin or Julio César Chávez Jr. They are all big fights on the world stage. And while Froch v Groves II is massive in British terms it is not globally."

Groves is still bitter that the fight was stopped in the ninth round when he was ahead on points on all three judges' scorecards. "At the time I was sickened and gutted but now I am a bit angry," he said. "It was a shocking decision for the referee to stop the fight. I would love a rematch as we have unfinished business but I wouldn't be surprised if he retires."

Hearn insisted that Froch would fight on. "I know in his heart that once the dust settles Carl will want to confirm to people what he believes would have happened if the Groves fight had gone on," he said. "And I think it's the fight he will take in the future.

"I am disappointed Carl got booed afterwards," he added. "People say it was because of what he said. It wasn't. He was booed the moment he lifted his arms up after winning the fight. It's not Carl's fault. He came back from the brink. Even if you do think it was too early, and I'm one of those people who do after reviewing it, he deserves enormous credit for what he did."

Sean Ingle

Sports minister scores own goal in sporting quiz

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 12:21 PM PST

Helen Grant was unable to answer a single question in a quiz that covered Wimbledon, the Paralympics and the FA Cup

Minister for sport Helen Grant visited her constituency to highlight the government's offer of tax breaks for sports clubs around the country but was stumped when it came to answering questions on the subject.

ITV Meridian asked the MP for Maidstone five sports questions after interviewing her in the Kent town over the weekend but she was unable to answer any of them.

Questions included naming the current Wimbledon women's champion, knowing who won the FA Cup this year and naming the England rugby union captain, a spokesman for the regional news channel said.

Grant also did not know when Maidstone United had left the football league and which Paralympic competitor had won more gold medals than any other, a Meridian spokesman said.

He said the MP claimed that the questions were unfair but he said a test run on a group of young children saw most of them get the majority correct.

Last month, Grant told the Independent on Sunday that sport was in her DNA shortly after being promoted to the role of sports minister.

During her youth she showed sporting talent, becoming captain of the school tennis and hockey teams, and representing the county in hockey, tennis, athletics, and cross country, according to her parliamentary website.

She later became under-16 judo champion in the north of England and southern Scotland, it said.

Grant said: "I wasn't told there was going to be a quiz thrown in at the end of an interview for local television at a grassroots sport event in my constituency on Saturday night.

"If I'd known I would have done some proper revision. My sports pub quiz knowledge may not be encyclopaedic but I completely understand the positive impact that participating in sport has on people's lives.

"That's why I was there on Saturday, to help switch on Maidstone Hockey Club's new floodlights that will mean more young people can use the facilities all through the year."

Bill Foulkes obituary

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 10:33 AM PST

Manchester Utd 'rock' who survived the 1958 Munich air disaster

In his remarkable 17-year career with Manchester United, during which he played in no fewer than 688 matches, Bill Foulkes, who has died aged 81, scored only nine goals. But one of them was among the most important ever scored for the club. It came in the second leg European Cup semi-final of 1968 against Real Madrid in a packed Santiago Bernabéu stadium. United had won the first leg at Old Trafford, 1-0, but for much of the first half they were outplayed, finding themselves 3-1 down and therefore 3-2 behind on aggregate.

David Sadler with an unorthodox flick made the score 3-2 then, ignoring cries of warning from his team-mates, Foulkes, the 36-year-old veteran at centre-back, trotted up field. When George Best beat his man and crossed, there was Foulkes to side-foot the ball into the net and United into the European Cup final.

It must have been all the more satisfying for Foulkes, in that as long ago as 1957, in the first leg of the European Cup semi-final, also at the Bernabéu, playing right-back, his original role, he had been given a torrid time by the flying Real left-winger, Paco Gento, who was far too fast for him. United's manager, Matt Busby, had eulogised Gento's pace before the game, which prompted the young Bobby Charlton to ask himself, "What did that mean to Bill Foulkes, who had to mark him?" In the event, Foulkes gave away Real's first goal in a 3-1 defeat when he fouled Gento, the referee played the advantage rule, and the left-winger raced on to set up a goal for the Argentinian Héctor Rial.

Foulkes, who was 5ft 11in tall and weighed just over 13 stone, was born in St Helens, Lancashire. In his teens he became a miner at Lea Green colliery, and played for Whiston Boys Club. His talent came to the notice of Manchester United and it was there that he spent the whole of his professional playing career.

His first-team debut came against Liverpool in December 1952, and he gained a single cap for England, against Northern Ireland in 1954. Only then did he give up part-time work at the colliery, and from 1955 was faced with the difficulty of reconciling his football commitments with doing national service.

League championship medals came in 1956, 1957, 1965 and 1967, and Foulkes was a member of the United team that beat Leicester City in the FA Cup final of 1963. He was one of the survivors of the horrific crash of the team's aeroplane at Munich airport in February 1958, returning from a European Cup match in Belgrade. A couple of weeks later, a United side carpentered together by Jimmy Murphy, the acting manager while Busby was recovering from his injuries, met Sheffield Wednesday at Old Trafford before 65,000 impassioned fans in the FA Cup. "Sheffield had no chance," thought Foulkes, "and I felt sorry for them. The crowd was hysterical, and I wasn't far off being the same way." United won 3-0, and went on to reach the cup final.

In the Munich disaster, the team had lost both their first-choice centre-halves, Mark Jones, who had died, and Jackie Blanchflower, so badly hurt that he would never play again. In due course Foulkes moved into the middle to replace them, a dominating and implacable figure nicknamed "Rock Face". He could not be thrown off his game by physical challenge, though he did have troubles when faced by a quick centre-forward. It was at centre-back that he won his European Cup medal at Wembley, in the United team that beat Benfica 4-1 after extra time, following their success against Real Madrid.

Only Charlton in Foulkes's day, and Paul Scholes and Ryan Giggs since, have made more appearances for United. Charlton said of him: "He was as hard as nails, as tough as teak – I was always glad I didn't have to play against him."

After his final first-team appearance in 1969, Foulkes coached Manchester United's reserves, who tended to find him a hard taskmaster. In 1975, he went to the US, where he managed the Chicago Sting and the Tulsa Roughnecks. From 1980, he managed clubs in Norway, and from 1988 to 1991 he was in Japan, managing FC Mazda of Hiroshima.

Foulkes is survived by his wife, Teresa, daughter, Amanda, and sons, Stephen and Geoffrey.

• William Anthony Foulkes, footballer, born 5 January 1932; died 25 November 2013

Brian Glanville

Ten of the worst red card decisions ever

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 09:51 AM PST

After Wes Brown was shown a harsh red card for Sunderland against Stoke City, we look at 10 other dubious decisions

Sunderland captain John O'Shea hopes "common sense" will prevail and the decision to send off Wes Brown will be overturned by the Football Association; Gus Poyet has asked for an apology from referees' chief Mike Riley; and Robbie Savage called it the "worst decision" he had ever seen.

Brown, who was making just his second league start since January 2012 after coming back from injury, was dismissed by Kevin Friend in the 36th minute for a sliding tackle on Charlie Adam during Sunderland's 2-0 defeat to Stoke City on Saturday.

The tackle, while delivered at speed, appeared to be clean with virtually no contact. Robbie Savage is not the only person who has taken to Twitter to pour scorn on Friend's decision, with Dietmar Hamann also questioning the discrepancy between an unpunished Wayne Rooney challenge against Cardiff and Brown's sending off. But is the Wes Brown decision the worst case of a misjudged sending off ever?

1) Aleksandrs Cauna (CSKA MOSCOW v Anzhi Makhachkalak)

In a decision that has to be rated at least 10 times harsher than Wes Brown's sending off, Aleksandrs Cauna of CSKA was given his marching orders for doing precisely nothing in a Russian league game with Anzhi Makhachkala, who later went on to win the game 2-0. Hmm.

2) Hakan Unsal (Brazil v TURKEY)

Proving himself a more unconvincing actor than even Nic Cage in the Wicker Man remake, the overriding memory of the 2002 World Cup was Rivaldo clutching his face by the corner flag as if he'd taken a hammer to the jaw.

What actually happened was Hakan Unsal had dinked the ball at his knee, but saw red for a second offence. Rivaldo was later fined £5,180 for playacting, which is approximately the average bar tab for any footballer on a Monday night.

3) Robin van Persie (Barcelona v ARSENAL)

One of the most controversial red cards given in recent memory, Arsène Wenger declared the sending off of Van Persie for ostensibly kicking the ball away as "killing" his side's Champions League tie with Barça, while Van Persie called it "a total joke". His argument was that he couldn't hear the whistle and so took his shot. No news yet on Wenger's argument for wearing that ridiculous coat.

4) Josip Simunic (CROATIA v Australia)

Graham Poll made English referees a laughing stock when he gave probably the most ridiculous red card of all time; a red card resulting from three yellow cards. Short of tripping over his own feet, or giving a goal for a ball hitting a post, we're not sure how else he could have embarrassed himself further.

5) David Healy (Wales v NORTHERN IRELAND)

Probably the most mean-spirited sending off in the list, Northern Ireland's David Healy was given two yellow cards in quick succession after scoring against Wales in a World Cup qualifying game. Domenico Messina booked Healy for his goal celebrations – kicking a corner flag and gesturing non-offensively to his dad in the crowd.

6) Ashley Vickers (DORCHESTER TOWN v Havant and Waterlooville

Possibly the finest example of having sympathy with a player sent for an early bath is this instance in which player-manager Ashley Vickers rugby tackled a streaker who had been disrupting the game.

The streaker didn't even have the balls (ahem) to go properly naked, instead wearing a Borat-style mankini.

7) Kaká (BRAZIL v Ivory Coast)

Clearly taking pointers from the Rivaldo school of acting, Abdul Kader Keita went down clutching his face during the 2010 World Cup as a result of Kaká, er, brushing him in the chest with his arm. The Brazil coach at the time, Dunga, described the decision as "a totally unjustified sending-off".

8) Roman Shishkin (LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW v Zenit St. Petersburg)

In what is the football equivalent of being wrongly chastised at school for your friend passing you a note, Roman Shiskin of Lokomotiv Moscow was sent off for a foul his team-mate committed on Hulk.

"You don't have to be a genius to understand that this was a big mistake", said manager Slaven Bilic. (Not that he can talk on the matter of unjust red cards, see No10 in our list).

9) Gianfranco Zola (Nigeria v ITALY)

Gianfraco Zola, generally regarded as one of the nicest guys in football, had his final World Cup appearance ruined in 1994 by this pretty awful decision courtesy of Arturo Brizio Carter.

Zola's frustration is clear to see as he drops to his knees and kicks an advertising board before leaving the field for the final time in a World Cup. In the interests of balance however, he had shamelessly dived about 10 seconds before all of this happened.

10) Laurent Blanc (FRANCE v Croatia)

While Laurent Blanc is clearly in the wrong and his flailing arm probably did deserve a yellow card, the straight red he received in the World Cup 98 semi-final thanks to Bilic's theatrics meant the heartbreak of missing the final.

Hannah Jane Parkinson

Amedeo Amadei obituary

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 09:47 AM PST

Centre-forward for Roma and Italian international who was dubbed 'the eighth king of Rome'

The Italian footballer Amedeo Amadei, who has died aged 92, was an incisive centre-forward for Roma and represented his country 13 times, scoring seven goals, in a distinguished career. Compactly built, canny and skilful, he first found the net for Roma in 1937 at the age of 15, shortly after his debut for the club, setting a longstanding record for the youngest goalscorer in Italy's Serie A league.

Born in Frascati, near Rome, Amadei was nicknamed both il Fornaretto (the Little Baker), because his family ran a bakery, and l'Ottavo Re di Roma (the eighth king of Rome), because of his pivotal importance to the club. He scored 174 goals in Serie A for Roma, and helped them to win their first ever championship; this came in 1942, under the managership of a once celebrated Hungarian forward, Alfréd Schaffer.

Amadei left Roma in 1948 and moved north to Milan to play for Internazionale. There, he found himself operating side by side with Benito "Poison" Lorenzi, a Tuscan of great talent but renowned for his aggressive play. They did not get on, not least because they often found themselves looking for the same space. In March 1949 both men were called up for the first time by Italy to play against Spain in Madrid. It was considered a dangerous experiment, but in the event it worked well. Both scored in a 3-1 victory.

Two months later there came the horrific Superga air disaster. Almost the whole of the Torino team – which meant a great proportion of Italy's national team players too – were killed in a plane crash on the fringes of Turin after a match against Benfica. Little more than two weeks after the disaster, Italy were due to play in Florence against Austria. Having established himself at international level, Amadei returned and scored again for Italy. He and Lorenzi stayed in the team for the ensuing 1-1 draw in Hungary that June.

In November 1949, through the swirling fog of White Hart Lane, Amadei led a dazzling Italian attack against an England team that staggered and struggled, saved only by the inspired goalkeeping of Bert Williams. England eventually won 2-0. Amadei kept his place at centre-forward in the Italian team but in the opening game of the 1950 World Cup in São Paulo, Brazil, against unfancied Sweden, his position went to Gino Cappello and Italy were sensationally beaten 3-2. Amadei returned for the second game, against Paraguay, but the 2-0 win did not save the Italians from elimination.

In 1951 he scored three more goals for his country, moving to play on the right wing. He had by now joined Napoli, where he would play out his remaining championship years, becoming a great favourite of the Neapolitan fans and eventually finding a berth at inside-left. His last cap for Italy came in May 1953 when the Stadio dei Centomila (which later became the Olympic stadium) was opened in Rome with a friendly. The masterly Hungarians swept to a 3-0 victory but those of us who saw the match knew that the Italians, though criticism rained on them, had far from disgraced themselves.

Amadei went on to become a popular manager of Napoli and he also coached the Italian women's national side in the 1970s. Among Roma's top all-time goalscorers, he was one of several much-loved Giallorossi players inducted into the club's Hall of Fame in 2012.

• Amedeo Amadei, footballer, born 26 July 1921; died 24 November 2013

Brian Glanville

… Sorry Spurs and Merseyside mayhem

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 08:52 AM PST

James is joined by Sean Ingle, Raphael Honigstein and Gregg Bakowski to discuss an eventful weekend in the Premier League and around Europe.

As Tottenham lose 6-0 to Manchester City, the pod wonder how they can pick themselves up and rescue their season. And just how good are this City side?

In the high-scoring Merseyside derby, contentious refereeing decisions are given the once over, and the pod are purring over that Luis Suárez free-kick.

Cardiff equalise late on against Manchester United but David Moyes is happy with a point. Is he showing a shocking lack of ambition? The pod think so.

Plus there's the big Borussia Dortmund v Bayern Munich game in Germany, trouble from the Ultras in Milan and Sid Lowe has news of some high-scoring games in Spain.

Champions League: Ajax manager Frank de Boer talks Lionel Messi and facing Barcelona – video

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 08:50 AM PST

Ajax manager Frank de Boer says Barcelona are still a strong team without the injured Lionel Messi

The Fiver | Bayern Munich's mole problem

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 08:37 AM PST

Click here to have the Fiver sent to your inbox every weekday at 5pm, or if your usual copy has stopped arriving

HOLY MOLE-Y

Scene: chief executive's flat, night. Karl-Heinz Rummenigge leads Pep Guardiola into a sitting room. The Spaniard sits on the arm of a sofa, surrounded by piles of newspapers and folders of cuttings, while Rummenigge sits on a black office chair, turned to face away from an antique wooden desk, also piled with papers. On the wall behind the sofa are photographs cut from the pages of Kicker and 11 Freunde, featuring men wearing red shirts whose faces are circled in blue pen.

RUMMENIGGE: You weren't followed?

Guardiola raises an eyebrow and picks an invisible fleck of dust off his v-neck sweater.

RUMMENIGGE: Trust no one, Pep. Especially not them [gestures to photos]. You thought about tactics for the CSKA Moscow game?

GUARDIOLA: Sure. I thought I'd ask the players to pass the ball among themselves absolutely loads, and then …

RUMMENIGGE: Shut the hell up, Pep. You keep me out of it, I don't want to know.

Conversation stops as a police siren draws near, and the room is briefly filled with spinning blue light before the sound fades again.

GUARDIOLA: What's this about, Kalle?

RUMMENIGGE: There's a rotten apple, Pep, and we've got to find it.

GUARDIOLA: You're talking about that story in Bild?

RUMMENIGGE: I'm so close I can almost feel his heart beating. I know it's one of 11 men, some substitutes, a group of coaches, a couple of physios, the club doctor, the kit guy and Franz Beckenbauer.

He points to a team photo pinned above the desk. Guardiola himself sits at the front of the picture, grinning, wearing the same v-neck sweater that he is wearing today. Or one of his other ones. It's hard to tell. Guardiola stand up and walks across the room to peer at the poster, takes half a step back and puts on his reading glasses. Each man's name has been crossed out and replaced with another word. Rumenigge joins him, and points to the man in the bottom left corner.

RUMMENIGGE: Rafinha – Tinker. (points at the next man) Alaba – Tailor. Boateng – Soldier. Dante – Sailor. Müller – Richman. Mandzukic – Poorman. Lahm – Single pivot. Then there's you. Then Robben … [Snip – Fiver Lawyers].

GUARDIOLA: Arjen Robben, scheibenkleister. How did you work all this out?

RUMMENIGGE: Come on, you read that report before the Dortmund game, Pep. That stuff had to come from one of these men.

GUARDIOLA: But Kalle, think about what you're saying here. You're telling me that one of these guys – my guys – could be a traitor. It can't be.

RUMMENIGGE: It's got to be, Pep. Nobody else knew the stuff that was in the paper on Saturday. Nobody. But don't you worry, I've got a plan.

GUARDIOLA: And when you find out who the mole is, what then?

RUMMENIGGE: They'll get a free transfer to the other side. If you know what I mean.

GUARDIOLA: Don't do anything drastic, Kalle. You know I thought you might be planning something. That's why I asked every one of them, one by one, if they were responsible. Every one of those men denied it.

RUMMENIGGE: Hell, Pep, you should know this better than anyone …

A look of dawning awareness crosses Guardiola's face. He walks back to the sofa, sits, and puts his head in his hands.

GUARDIOLA: One of them must have used a false nein!

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Aston Villa is a massive club. I don't think anyone can ever dispute that. It's a club that's won a [Big] Cup, league titles, has a massive fan base and has a bigger stadium. That's no disrespect to West Brom at all – they're a good club in their own right. I haven't been at West Brom or managed the club but Aston Villa, for me, is a bigger club" – Paul Lambert sets the scene for a tasty trip to the Black Country. Speaking of which …

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE TONIGHT

Join Simon Burnton for MBM coverage of West Brom 1-1 Aston Villa, from 7.30pm GMT.

FIVER LETTERS – STILL WITH PRIZES

"Regarding Daniel Rice's concern about the Fiver costing the British economy nearly £30m (Friday's Fiver letters), it should be noted that the cost in wasted productivity is less as many of us are foreigners, thus we cost nothing to the British economy – other than the cost of the Fiver's time in producing this fine piece of work daily" – JJ Zucal.

"I can only assume Daniel was laying some maths-logic bait for us. He clearly states his assumption that there are more than 80,000 subscribers to the Fiver – an inequality (and an implausibility) – and yet claims the cost to the economy is precisely £29,714,285.71. His argument is self-perpetuating anyway, as the 1,057 pedants replying will each have added a few minutes to the count. And don't even get me started on how many working days are in a year …" – Lewis Tye.

"Daniel may be underestimating the Fiver's financial impact. Many subscribers to this not-so-tea-timely email live in other parts of the world, so the Fiver must therefore distract many people from their jobs for at least the time it takes to skim the message and not find the punchline. I live in Winnipeg, Canada, and the Fiver usually arrives some time after I've had my elevenses. I therefore waste Daniel's six minutes in the middle of my workday (10 minutes today, as I have actually stopped skimming to write a letter of my own and then, after proof-reading my initial effort, sent another). The economic implications are huge. Perhaps the Fiver's real purpose is get people around the world to Stop Working. Is GCHQ involved?" – John Kendle.

"While most people were laughing themselves silly watching Spurs get hammered 6-0 by Manchester City, I was too busy caught up in the final round of the Zimbabwean Premier League. Dynamos won the league on goal difference from Highlanders (there can be only one and all that) but, more importantly, the wonderfully named Chicken Inn came sixth ahead of How Mine (seventh), Triangle (eighth), in addition to the relegated Motor Action (15th) and Triple B (16th)" – Noble Francis.

"Kiwi extreme roundabout drivers (Friday's letter)? Ten laps around a roundabout? Really? Sounds like a walk in the park compared to these bad boys" – Gary Forshaw.

"I'm not certain I'd read the Scrumpy Jack and Apples novel (Friday's Fiver), but there are second-tier cable networks here in USA! USA!! USA!!! that would concuss one another for the chance to turn that concept into half a season of really bad television" – Derek Catsam.

• Send your letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver. Today's winner of our letter o'the day is: Gary Forshaw, who wins a copy of Football Manager 2014, courtesy of the very kind people at Football Manager Towers. We've got more copies to give away this week, so if you haven't been lucky thus far, keep trying.

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

We keep trying to point out the utter futility of advertising an online dating service "for interesting people" in the Fiver to the naive folk who run Guardian Soulmates, but they still aren't having any of it. So here you go – sign up here to view profiles of the kind of erudite, sociable and friendly romantics who would never dream of going out with you.

BITS AND BOBS

Bill Foulkes, the former Manchester United defender who survived the Munich air disaster and went on to make 688 appearances and win Big Cup, has died aged 81.

Wayne Rooney has angrily stomped upstairs to his bedroom after hearing Martin Tyler and Graeme Souness's criticism of him on Sky. "Martin Tyler didn't shut up about it all game," sulked Rooney, who got away with a booking after booting Jordon Mutch. "Sourness [sic] was sarcastic for everyone biting."

Spurs defender Jan Vertonghen insists the team will bounce back from a 6-0 shellacking at Man City. "It is not a big problem," he understated. "Of course we didn't play well but we are better than this … It is a shame we end up losing 6-0."

Sunderland have appealed against Wes Brown's red card against Stoke, the one that got Gus Poyet so hot and bothered he started stripping off. "We have lodged our intention to appeal against the decision," said a fully clothed Sunderland suit.

Everton's Leighton Baines has been ruled out for a month after suffering toe-snap in the topsy-turvy Merseyside derby.

And Fifa want cheats to take a long, hard look at themselves. "You cannot win the game with simulation," honked Fifa's head of refereeing, Massimo Busacca. "What are you to tell your children when you go home?"

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

Goals on film (and via the medium of animated gif).

STILL WANT MORE?

Guardian writers thought up 10 talking points about the weekend's Premier League action so that you don't have to.

That Wayne Rooney kick gave Jamie Jackson flashbacks. You can read about them here.

England's 6-3 beatdown by Hungary 60 years ago led to 1966 and all that, writes floating football brain in a box Jonathan Wilson.

Sevilla beat Betis 4-0 in the local derby but it wasn't enough for their fans – they wanted the full manita, reports Sid Lowe, thankfully going on to explain what that is.

Raphael Honigstein went to watch Dortmund get walloped by Bayern and came back with the nagging feeling that Jürgen Klopp's pressing game is one dimensional. Yes, this is for you hipsters.

Download Football Weekly! Download Football Weekly! Download Football Weekly! Or at least do it in a bit when it's up.

Who is Basel's former bank intern who is frustrating Big Cup bigwigs? Quizmaster Paul Doyle has the answer.

Chievo's Flying Donkeys are soaring again with the 'Genius' back in the saddle, tootles Paolo Bandini.

Oh, and if it's your thing, you can follow Big Website on Big Social FaceSpace.

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'DY-NA-MO'!

Simon Burnton

Thierry Henry's not coming back to Arsenal, says Arsène Wenger - video

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 08:04 AM PST

Arsenal manager Arsène Wenger says on Monday that former Gunner Thierry Henry will not coming back to the club

David Luiz to miss Chelsea's trip to Basel with knee injury

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 07:50 AM PST

• Luiz sidelined for a week with bruised patella
• Fernando Torres returns to Champions League squad

David Luiz has a knee injury and did not travel to Switzerland for Chelsea's Champions League Group E clash at Basel.

The Brazil defender, who scored the winner in April's Europa League semi-final first leg against the same opposition, has a bruised patella and will be out for around a week.

Fernando Torres was included in the 21-man squad after recovering from the adductor injury which saw him miss the last three games. Chelsea need a draw to advance to the knockout stages and victory would secure top spot in the pool.

José Mourinho's men lost at home to Basel at the start of the Champions League campaign.

The injury to Luiz means the captain John Terry and Gary Cahill are likely to continue in central defence following Saturday's 3-0 win at West Ham.

Ashley Cole was in the travelling party despite his niggling rib problem, yet César Azpilicueta's impressive performances on his 'wrong' flank mean the Spain right-back is likely to continue at left-back at St Jakob Stadium.

Branislav Ivanovic will almost certainly start at right-back, while Mourinho may opt to continue with the three-man central midfield which served the Blues well at Upton Park.

The presence of Mikel John Obi in defensive midfield allowed Frank Lampard to get forward – and score twice against his former club – and let Ramires rampage forward, too.

Basel ended Chelsea's 29-match unbeaten run in the group stage in September, but Mourinho's men have since made an impressive recovery.

Chelsea are seeking a third away win in the tournament, having won 4-0 at Steaua Bucharest and 3-0 at Schalke.

Last season the Blues faced Basle in the Europa League after suffering the ignominy of becoming the first holders to be eliminated at the Champions League group stage.

Jan Vertonghen: Spurs will bounce back against Manchester United

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 07:02 AM PST

• 6-0 defeat at Manchester City 'not a big problem'
• Under-fire Spurs host Manchester United on Sunday

Jan Vertonghen believes Tottenham Hotspur can still beat the champions, Manchester United, on Sunday despite the side's 6-0 humiliation at Manchester City on Sunday, with the Belgian claiming the defeat was "not a big problem".

Two goals each from Jesús Navas and Sergio Agüero, plus an Alvaro Negredo strike and a Sandro own goal consigned Tottenham to their heaviest Premier League defeat since 1996.

André Villas-Boas's side crumpled from the moment Navas started the rout after only 14 seconds. Yet Vertonghen, who played at left-back in Danny Rose's absence through injury, said: "It is not a big problem. Of course we didn't play well but we are better than this. We can solve the problem.

"We will talk and bounce back on Sunday against Manchester United. It is a good thing we play Manchester United next [in the league]. We play at home. I know we have the support of our crowd and we can win that game on Sunday."

The defender did admit that the players were upset at the display. "It is very disappointing. We came here for a better result than this," he said. "It is a shame we end up losing 6-0. We came here with a good motivation and for a good result. If you concede a goal after 15 seconds it is a bad thing if you want to win. We did well after that but then we conceded a second goal and it became a very difficult game for us."

Manuel Pellegrini's side have now amassed 26 league goals in six games at the Etihad Stadium, with Wigan Athletic also being beaten 5-0 in the Capital One Cup and CSKA Moscow 5-2 in the Champions League there.

"Manchester City score a lot of goals at home but we gave three or four of them away too easily," said Vertonghen. "That is our own fault. They are a very strong team but I would love to play this game again next week because we are better than this. Everybody was fit. We have had the internationals but we play European games as well so that was not a problem.

"We are very disappointed. We felt we could do something here. We need to talk with the group but everybody is motivated for the rest of the games."

Jamie Jackson

MLS playoffs: Five things we learned as KC and Salt Lake reached the final

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 07:00 AM PST

Graham Parker and Steve Davis: Five things we learned as Real Salt Lake and Sporting KC booked their tickets to MLS Cup final

Graham Parker

Steve Davis

Ronaldo a doubt for Real Madrid's Galatasaray tie

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 06:59 AM PST

• Ronaldo suffered hamstring strain in La Liga win over Almeria
• Doubtful for Champions League visit of Galatasaray

Cristiano Ronaldo is doubtful for Real Madrid's Champions League match against Galatasaray on Wednesday after doctors confirmed he has a hamstring strain.

The Portuguese limped off at the start of the second half of Saturday's La Liga victory over Almeria, but fears of a serious injury were immediately played down by Carlo Ancelotti, the Real manager.

Ronaldo left a medical examination on Monday morning, telling reporters: "I am fine", but the club released a statement later, saying "there is an injury to the back of the thigh which will be monitored".

Ronaldo has been in great form, with 14 goals in seven games for club and country, and the injury comes after a demanding start to the season where he has played every match so far.

Bill Foulkes – Manchester United legend dies aged 81

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 06:27 AM PST

• Foulkes was part of famous Busby Babes team
• Sir Bobby Charlton leads tributes to friend

Sir Bobby Charlton has led the tributes to Bill Foulkes, his fellow Munich air disaster survivor, who has died aged 81, saying he had helped change the course of Manchester United's history.

Foulkes, who died in the early hours of Monday morning, became captain following the plane crash in Munich in 1958 which claimed the lives of 23 people. He played a key role in United's 1968 European Cup triumph, the first by an English club, including scoring the winning goal in the semi-final against Real Madrid.

A central defender, Foulkes made his debut in 1952 and went on to play 688 times for the club – a figure surpassed only by Charlton, Ryan Giggs and Paul Scholes.

Charlton described his friend and colleague as "a marvellous man" and said the news of his death was "very sad".

"He was as hard as nails, as tough as teak. I was always glad I didn't have to play against him. He was a really good defensive player and you could say he helped change the course of history for United. He survived the Munich air crash and then became captain for a time."

Foulkes, whose father and grandfather had both played rugby league for his home town St Helens, started work as a miner and was still going down the pit at Lea Green Colliery in the mid-1950s, by which time he was a regular member of Matt Busby's United first team and had won his only England cap, in 1954.

He played for United for his entire career, the highlight coming near the end of his playing days when he was part of the 1968 European Cup-winning team aged 36. Foulkes had played a key part in the semi-final too, scoring the winning goal against Real Madrid at the Bernabeu to secure a 4-3 aggregate win for United.

Charlton said: "I couldn't believe what he was doing in the Madrid penalty area in the first place, something must have been triggered in his mind, then George Best crossed it and Bill sidefooted the ball into the back of the net.

"It was one of the most important matches in the history of Manchester United so you could say he helped changed that history."

United are expected to wear black armbands in the Champions League match against Bayer Leverkusen on Wednesday and to also mark Foulkes's passing at their next Premier League home match, against Everton on 4 December.

Sir Alex Ferguson told United's website: "I was very sad to hear the news. Bobby and I were talking about Bill yesterday on the way down to Cardiff. He was a really nice man and a great servant to the club, too.

"When I first came in as manager, Bill was managing in Norway and he used to bring players over to training at the Cliff. He came to training quite a lot and I got to know him well through that. He was such a nice, quiet man to know.

"The story of his life was absolutely incredible and he's assured of his place in our history by his appearances and by the way he performed, particularly in the aftermath of the Munich air disaster.

"Having gone through that, how he and Harry Gregg managed to perform a couple of weeks later, leading those young lads out against Sheffield Wednesday – and winning the game - was absolutely incredible. He was an exceptional man."

The club's executive vice-chairman Ed Woodward said: "Bill was a giant character in the post-war history of Manchester United. He was a very gentle man, who I was privileged to meet on several occasions, including most memorably with his team-mates at the Champions League final in Moscow, 50 years after his heroics in the Munich air crash.

"Bill's contribution over almost 700 games and nearly 20 years will never be forgotten. The thoughts of everyone at the club – directors, players, staff and fans – are with Bill's family."

Henry not re-signing for Arsenal, says Wenger

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 06:22 AM PST

• Henry has been training with Arsenal to keep fit
• Gunners take on Marseille in Champions League on Tuesday

Arsène Wenger has ruled out a move to bring the former striker Thierry Henry back to Arsenal for a third spell, but will always welcome old players to the club's training complex.

Both the 36-year-old Henry – now playing for the New York Red Bulls in the United States – and the former midfielder Robert Pires, 40 last month, have been using the Gunners' Hertfordshire base to help keep up their fitness levels.

Henry, Arsenal's record scorer with 228, returned to Arsenal for a loan spell in January 2012. Wenger, however, insists there are no plans for a repeat move. "At the moment Thierry is invited just to practise when he can and when he wants," said the Arsenal manager.

"We have a big staff, a very competent one, and we have the right number to support the team to achieve the targets. Thierry is a player, one day certainly it will be different, but at the moment no."

Henry signed from Juventus in 1999 and went on to help the Gunners to Premier League success as part of Wenger's Invincibles side of 2003-04 before leaving for Barcelona in the summer of 2007. During his loan spell last year, Henry scored both against Leeds in the FA Cup and then a winner in stoppage-time at Sunderland on his last appearance.

The presence of such inspirational former players can only have a positive impact on the squad, who moved four points clear at the top of the Premier League with victory over Southampton on Saturday.

Wenger said: "They have no real target to bring something, they just want to enjoy themselves and keep their fitness. Usually they don't practise with the first team, because they come in and work on fitness.

"It is a little bit less competitive, but when we have some room we invite them to play with us. They integrate well [with] the spirit of the team."

England 3-6 Hungary: 60 years on from the game that stunned a nation | Jonathan Wilson

Posted: 25 Nov 2013 06:17 AM PST

Wembley thrashing sparked fresh thinking in this country and ultimately led to England winning the World Cup in 1966

Hungary's 6-3 victory at Wembley 60 years ago resonates like no other in the history of English football. It wasn't just that this was a first home defeat to non-British or Irish opposition, the magnitude of the scoreline or the brilliance of the Hungarian display: it was the sense of shock. Over the course of one game – one hour even, given Hungary pretty much eased off in the final third – the complacency and the insularity of the English game were exposed. After 25 November 1953, none of the old certainties were certain any more.

Six months earlier, four of the England team had been at Wembley playing for Blackpool in the FA Cup final, a match that was seen as representing English football at its best; it's arguable even, that was the day when football replaced cricket as the pre-eminent sport in England. As Stanley Matthews dribbled down the right again and again, attacking Tommy Banks, a full-back struggling with a pulled muscle, and inspiring Blackpool's comeback from 3–1 down to win 4–3, even cynics in the press box stood on desks to applaud. The master, at the age of 38, at last had a medal and as Gordon Richards rode Pinza to his maiden Derby triumph and a British expedition conquered Everest in the weeks that followed, it seemed 1953 heralded a golden age for British sporting achievement.

Yet the warning signs had been there had anybody been minded to see them. England's first defeat to continental opposition had come away to Spain in 1929 and had been blamed, in so much as anybody paid it any attention at all, on a hard pitch, hot weather and an excitable crowd that at one point had to be kept off the pitch by officers wielding swords. There was a prevailing sense that football not played in English conditions was barely football at all.

Perhaps those were legitimate excuses, but a trend was developing: England struggled against teams that set up in any other shape than the W-M. Deep-lying centre-forwards invariably unsettled them. Matthias Sindelar had worried England by dropping deep for Austria in a friendly in 1932, Vsevelod Bobrov had done much the same against a range of sides on Dinamo Moscow's 1945 tour, and Switzerland's Alfred Bickel had troubled England in 1947. In 1951, England toured Argentina and found themselves facing the same difficulty.

They were scheduled to play the national team twice, first in a representative game and then in a full international. England, taking the distinction more seriously than their hosts, fielded a number of fringe players in the representative game and were beaten 3-1 by a full-strength Argentina inspired by the deep-lying centre forward José Lacasia, who kept drawing the centre-half Malcolm Barrass out of position.

Walter Winterbottom, the England manager, came up with a plan. "Some people wanted to have a man following him, dogging his footsteps," he said, "but Billy [Wright] quite vehemently wanted the centre-half to stay back, in position, and let someone else pick off Lacasia. We decided that [Harry] Johnston, the centre-half, would go with him in the early part of the match, with Billy and Jimmy Dickinson covering the gap in the middle, then Johnston would fall back in favour of someone else so that the Argentina team would not quite know if we were going to persist in man-to-man marking. But the match was washed out by rain after 20 minutes' play so the issue was not really joined."

Winterbottom is an under-appreciated figure these days, derided as professorial and out of touch and the man who presided over England's decline. Yet the truth is he saw the future and was prevented from doing anything to avert it. Part of the problem was Matthews and the cult of dribbling he inspired.

When Stan Cullis, for instance, captaining England in a war-time international against Wales at Wembley, reacted to the news that the Welsh planned to double-mark Matthews by instructing his side to spread the play as often as they could to Dennis Compton on the left, he was roundly condemned, despite the fact that England went on to win 8-3. "The newspapers gave me a right rollicking," Cullis said, "and asked how I'd dared treat Stanley Matthews like that. They insisted the spectators had gone to watch Matthews, not me, and demanded that I be forced to give up the captaincy."

Matthews, not surprisingly, was all in favour of self-expression, something clear from the explanation he gave in his first autobiography for the shambles of the 1950 World Cup, when England were eliminated in the group stage after losing to the USA in Belo Horizonte (it didn't help that he had missed the beginning of the tournament after being forced to go on an FA goodwill tour of Canada). "A will to win was sadly lacking in the England team," he wrote. "I blame this on the pre-match talks on playing tactics that had been introduced for the first time by our team manager [Winterbottom].

"You just cannot tell star players how they must play and what they must do on the field in an international match. You must let them play their natural game, which has paid big dividends in the past. I have noticed that in recent years these pre-match instructions have become more and more long-winded, while the playing ability of the players on the field has dwindled. So I say scrap the talks and instruct the players to play their natural game."

He was not alone. "The unpalatable truth," wrote the Swedish journalist Ceve Linde in Idrottsbladet, "is that English soccer has gradually deteriorated, finally fallen off its pedestal and now keeps rolling downwards. The sorriest feature in the drama is that the English, with very few exceptions, cannot get themselves to recognise what has happened. In their self-satisfaction and conceit they still fancy themselves the first in the football world and their defeats sheer accidents.

"The fact is that English soccer has an enormous amount to learn from the rest of the world, about training, courses, tactics, organisation and strategy … 'England must find her traditional spirit' they are writing now. This is easily said but how shall this be found again in a country which has been hit so hard by two world wars and which has been forced by national weakness to let go her possessions all over the world? The same tiredness is to be found in English soccer. This perfectly understandable lack of strength, however, is mated with a haughtiness which to an outsider appears unpleasant, even frightening …"

After the 1951 tour of South America, Winterbottom knew the tide was against him. "Some good players are coming through," he said, "but in team play we are way behind. From match to match there are too many changes to make planning possible." It could be a lament for the whole history of English football.

In October 1953, England played against a Rest of the World side to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the foundation of the FA. The Rest of the World used a fluid attacking trident of Gunnar Nordahl, Bernard Vukas and Laszlo Kubala – and England again failed to react, with their the centre-half Derek Ufton struggling badly. "Deserted by his 'prey', he felt like a fish out of water," wrote the Austrian journalist Willy Meisl. "One could see he felt acutely embarrassed, not to say lost. To follow Nordahl, or to let him roam? This stopper led a purposeless life for 90 minutes because a fanciful foreign centre-forward refused to play the game according to the British pattern." A dubious last-minute penalty earned England a 4-4 draw.

What Hungary then achieved was simply another chapter in the same story. Nandor Hidegkuti sat deep, as a 'false nine', Harry Johnston had no notion of how to deal with him, and as a consequence the Hungarian No9 had time and space to dictate the game as a fluid front four roamed in front of him. The scales fell from English eyes: 6-3 was bad enough but the truth is that result scarcely reflected Hungary's superiority.

They had one goal incorrectly ruled out for offside, missed countless chances and were unusually sloppy at the back; that they beat England 7-1 in Budapest the following year was no surprise. "It was the mother and father of a good hiding," wrote Clifford Webb in the Daily Mail. "We were out-speeded, out-smarted and out-stayed … I can only hope it will have a revitalising effect, and jolt our soccer chiefs into the realisation that control of the ball at speed is the secret of success nowadays."

Up to a point, it was. Suddenly everything was up for debate. A spirit of innovation took over the English game. Peter Doherty, the manager of Doncaster, noting that Hungary's team was numbered unconventionally, that it wasn't as simple as the 2 marking the 11, 3 marking the 7, 5 marking the 9 and so on, had his players wear random numbers to try to confuse the opposition. At Manchester City, Don Revie aped Hidegkuti and dropped deep, his performances in 1954-55 making him footballer of the year.

What Hungary had done at the other end was just as significant, with Jozsef Zakarias operating so deep as to be almost a second central defender (there is some confusion about this, but the notebooks of Gusztav Sebes, Hungary's coach, show clearly he saw Zakarias as a very deep-lying midfielder). By the end of the decade, after Brazil had won the 1958 World Cup using the system, the back four was an accepted fact and was being deployed at Ipswich by Alf Ramsey, who had been England's right-back in the defeat at Wembley. The wingerless system with which Ramsey led England to the World Cup in 1966 can be seen as a logical evolution of Hungary's shape – if not their style.

But to draw the conclusion, as many have, that Ramsey was directly influenced by the defeat is probably over-simplistic. His instinctive suspicion of anybody non-English was such he would probably never had admitted learning from a foreigner anyway, but he seems genuinely to have felt Hungary were fortunate, blaming the England goalkeeper Gil Merrick for the defeat and noting that four of the goals came from shots from outside the box (actually, only three did). But there was another source of similar lessons that was probably far more significant: Ramsey's Tottenham manager Arthur Rowe.

Rowe had been a key figure in Peter McWilliam's Tottenham side of the late 30s, and it was his development of the push-and-run style that had led Spurs to promotion and then the league title in 1951. Rowe was so inculcated in the style that he went to Budapest to lecture on it and found he shared many ideas with the Hungarians before being forced home by the Second World War. For Ramsey, Hungary probably seemed just a more intense version of the style he was used to at club level anyway.

What the defeat did, though, was to shatter the myth of English superiority. Harking back to the way things had always been done as though the ancient tradition were some kind of immutable wisdom was no longer viable; an environment was created in which Ramsey and others were able to experiment. This had not been a defeat in Madrid in May, or in Belo Horizonte in July; it had been a defeat at Wembley on a damp pitch on a misty November afternoon, in conditions most believed football was meant to be played in. The shackles of the past were broken and were only reapplied when, after 13 years of innovation, victory in the World Cup established a new tradition.

There was much talk, encouraged by Sebes, of Hungary representing a bold socialist future set against the individualism and conservatism of an imperial Britain in retreat – something emphasised by the fact that Wembley was then known as the Empire Stadium – but what his team's victory achieved was liberation for English football. Most assumed that afternoon they had seen the future World Cup winners. In a sense they had; it's just that success came not in Bern the following year but on the same field in 1966, and it wasn't Hungary who would be champions but England.

Jonathan Wilson

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Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:26

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

1) Aleksandrs Cauna (CSKA MOSCOW v Anzhi Makhachkalak)

2) Hakan Unsal (Brazil v TURKEY)

3) Robin van Persie (Barcelona v ARSENAL)

4) Josip Simunic (CROATIA v Australia)

5) David Healy (Wales v NORTHERN IRELAND)

6) Ashley Vickers (DORCHESTER TOWN v Havant and Waterlooville

7) Kaká (BRAZIL v Ivory Coast)

8) Roman Shishkin (LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW v Zenit St. Petersburg)

9) Gianfranco Zola (Nigeria v ITALY)

10) Laurent Blanc (FRANCE v Croatia)

HOLY MOLE-Y

QUOTE OF THE DAY

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Tuesday, 26 November 2013

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

07:26

Football news, match reports and fixtures | theguardian.com

1) Aleksandrs Cauna (CSKA MOSCOW v Anzhi Makhachkalak)

2) Hakan Unsal (Brazil v TURKEY)

3) Robin van Persie (Barcelona v ARSENAL)

4) Josip Simunic (CROATIA v Australia)

5) David Healy (Wales v NORTHERN IRELAND)

6) Ashley Vickers (DORCHESTER TOWN v Havant and Waterlooville

7) Kaká (BRAZIL v Ivory Coast)

8) Roman Shishkin (LOKOMOTIV MOSCOW v Zenit St. Petersburg)

9) Gianfranco Zola (Nigeria v ITALY)

10) Laurent Blanc (FRANCE v Croatia)

HOLY MOLE-Y

QUOTE OF THE DAY

LIVE ON BIG WEBSITE TONIGHT

FIVER LETTERS – STILL WITH PRIZES

JOIN GUARDIAN SOULMATES

BITS AND BOBS

RECOMMENDED VIEWING

STILL WANT MORE?

SIGN UP TO THE FIVER

'DY-NA-MO'!

Written by TBMU Admin

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