Tag Futebol

‘It all goes pretty quickly’ © Getty Images

Despite the result being a foregone conclusion, 29,262 turned up at the MCG to show their appreciation of one of Australian cricket’s most beloved sons. “This is one Waugh we won’t forget,” said one banner, while another simply said, “Tugga, Our Hero”. Steve Waugh was certainly moved by it, as he trooped around the crowd, soaking up the acclaim. “It all goes pretty quickly,” he said afterwards. “But the crowd was outstanding and they showed why it’s one of the great sporting venues.”Waugh admitted that the stage was set for a fitting finale in Sydney, with the series so beautifully poised. “I’m really looking forward to it,” he said. “But I want to think about the side and concentrate on the job that I have to do, both as a captain and as a batsman.”He said that there was a brief period following the blow on the elbow from Ajit Agarkar when he feared that Sydney would prove one hurdle too many. “I thought I’d broken my arm,” he said. “And I thought this might be it … but the X-rays didn’t show anything and I’ll definitely play in Sydney.” He said it was a struggle to get any sort of momentum going with the bat. “I couldn’t hit through the off side, but it was mainly a case of getting a partnership going.”According to Waugh, the game tilted decisively in Australia’s favour on the second morning, when they ripped out the last six Indian wickets for just 16. “We were desperate on the first day because I was bowling,” he said with a laugh. “But I got a lucky wicket. The crucial session though was the first one on day two. I think India realised, too, that it had slipped out of reach after that.”Waugh refused to compare the emotions centred around the upcoming Sydney Test to those that had propelled him to an epic century against England last year. “While there’s a lot happening around me and the team, I think it’s positive. Last year, there were a lot of negative emotions leading up to the Test, because I thought that might be it if I failed.”He promised that neither he nor his team would be fazed by the occasion. “You want pressure,” he said with a hint of a smile. “The best teams and the best players lift themselves for the big occasion.” There was also no question of ruling India out of contention, despite the fact that the momentum may have shifted in Melbourne. “Against most sides, barring India, you might think that. But they have a great batting side, a world-class spinner in Kumble, and three guys who can swing the ball. They’re very hard to get out, and just tougher mentally than they were in previous years. Not many teams have lasted five days against us.”Waugh refused to be drawn on Sachin Tendulkar’s recent travails, saying, “Dravid, Laxman, Ganguly and Sehwag have covered for him. I think instead of being concerned about him not making runs, they should be proud of how the other guys have stepped up. That’s the beauty of team sport.”

Matthew Hayden and Ricky Ponting: starting a contagion © AFP

He paid fulsome tribute to his own bowlers, and admitted that it would be difficult to leave out anyone if Jason Gillespie was indeed fit to play in Sydney. There were also encomiums for Ricky Ponting and Matthew Hayden, who both continued to pile on the runs without pause. “It’s hard to say who’s batting better,” he said. I’m just happy that I’m playing in a team where I can watch them both. If I wasn’t playing, I’d be turning the TV on to watch. They’ve made people watch Test cricket again.” Waugh suggested that Australia’s aggressive approach had rubbed off on other teams, saying, “I think it’s contagious. Kallis, Gibbs, Kirsten, Lara … all these guys are doing it because they’ve seen the Australian guys do it.”The applause that rang around the stands at the end, from spectators on both sides, will linger long in the Waugh memory, but for the moment, the blinkers are on for Sydney. “I don’t want to go out as a losing captain,” he said with extra emphasis. “It happened to me in my last series as one-day captain, and I don’t want to leave Tests that way.” And unless India find large doses of the Eden Gardens-Adelaide elixir, not to mention a couple of bowlers to support the lion-hearted Kumble, he won’t.

ADELAIDE, Dec 20 AAP – Justin Langer finally capitalised on what he believes is his career-best form to score his first first-class century of the season, handing Western Australia first innings points and control of its Pura Cup match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval today.At the end of day two, the Warriors were 2-299 in their first innings, with Murray Goodwin on 108 and Mike Hussey on nine, holding a first innings lead of 73 after SA was dismissed for 226 in its first innings on day one.The highlight of the day was WA skipper and Australian Test opener Langer’s 164, which included 16 fours and two sixes from 263 balls, and ensures he will head into the fourth Ashes Test, starting at the MCG on Thursday, in absolute top form.While Langer’s performances have been overshadowed by his run-guzzling Test opening partner Matthew Hayden this summer, he said he had been batting better than ever, despite failing to notch a hundred until today.”I’ve got a lot of starts and I’ve been batting probably as well as I have in my whole career,” Langer told reporters.”I said a number of times for the last three or four weeks ‘someone’s going to pay soon’ because I felt like I was due for a really big score.”Batting’s about getting momentum and it doesn’t matter whether you play in a grade game, a Pura Cup game, or a one-day game, if you’re scoring runs the momentum usually goes with you, so I’ll be looking to take that momentum into Boxing Day.”Langer and Goodwin shared a 247-run second-wicket stand, dominated by Langer, which carried WA past SA’s total and was only one run short of the highest second-wicket partnership for WA against SA, scored by Greg Shipperd and Mike Veletta here in 1984/85.It was eventually broken by Paul Rofe in the third over with the second new ball, when Langer got a thin inside edge to keeper Shane Deitz with the total on 267.But by then WA was in command, and Langer said he expected SA would find it difficult to get back into the match on a pitch that is likely to get tougher to bat on.He said young left arm spinner Beau Casson, who took six wickets in the first innings in just his second first-class match, was likely to pose an even bigger threat in the second innings.”We’re in a great position now, I imagine it’s going to get harder and harder to bat on,” Langer said.”We saw it spin in the first innings, so young Beau Casson will be confident and for our other guys it will be a bit up and down, it will be tough to bat on.”In the one bright spot for the Redbacks, 19-year-old debutant paceman Shaun Tait showed promise and captured the wicket of WA opener Chris Rogers for six in the 10th over of the day.The fiery teenager also struck Langer on the shoulder with a short ball during his opening spell.

Northern Districts won an extraordinary and sometimes bizarre match by three Duckworth/Lewis runs at Blake Park, Mount Maunganui, leaving Wellington angry and disappointed at the end.With 14 still needed, six overs and two balls to bowl and the last pair at the wicket, the umpires offered Northern the light. Knowing that they were ahead on Duckworth/Lewis calculations, the offer was gleefully accepted.With two spinners bowling (as demanded by umpire Bowden as a condition for play continuing in the gloom) there was no danger to the batsmen. Indeed, it could be argued that they were in less danger than anybody else in the ground.Wellington were obviously disgusted at the decision, with hats being thrown on the ground and the players remaining in the middle for some five minutes, debating the issue with umpires Wright and Bowden before reluctantly accepting their fate.That was not all. Earlier a rain interruption had been extended by an unnecessary 90 minutes because the covers had come apart at the seams, like the two teams at various stages of the day. Without this interruption a full, fifty over match might have been completed.All this overshadowed a magnificent performance from Wellington quickie Andrew Penn. He finished with figures of 8-1-28-7, the second best ever in domestic limited overs cricket (Willie Watson holds the record with 7-23 for Auckland against Otago in 1984/85). Penn now holds the best bowling records for Central Districts and Wellington, both against Northern.He finished with figures of 8-1-28-7, the second best figures ever domestic limited overs cricket (Willie Watson holds the record with 7-23 for Auckland against Otago in 1984/5) Penn now holds the best bowling records for Central Districts and Wellington, both against Northern.It was an outstanding piece of bowling, with movement and extra bounce on a consistent off stump line. It was also one of those days when the edges were found and carried to the fielders, but Penn deserved any good fortune that came his way. With the ODI squad being announced tomorrow, he could not have picked a better day to stake his claim.Wellington began well, having won the toss and chosen to bat. Nevin hit three fours off Tuffey in the sixth over, taking his side to 47-2 when he was out.Thereafter it was a struggle, as Wellington crept to 119-7 from 40 overs when the rain fell and the covers leaked. Bradburn, as usual, was Northern’s best bowler, finishing with 10-1-25-1.The numbers having been crunched, Northern were left with a target of 144 in forty overs. They began appearing to think that it would all be a bit of a breeze, Hamish Marshall and Simon Doull appearing to be aiming to finish it all in less than 20 overs, never mind 40.Then, thanks to Penn, it all turned to dust, with a spectacular collapse reducing the home team to 47-6. Hart and James Marshall worked quietly and carefully to bring Northern back into it (the required rate was always around three an over and was never an issue).The return of Penn disposed of both of them. Tait and Tuffey continued the good work, Tuffey hitting a six over mid-wicket off Jefferson, a sign that the light was not an impenetrable problem for the batsmen.The last few balls were, in some ways, the strangest of the lot. Roger Twose bowled them, his first spell of the season. His first four balls were all wides, with another following later in the over. However, he got the wicket of Tait, caught by a skyer at mid off.It was then that the umpires took the decision to offer the light. Common sense said that the game should be played to a conclusion, but when has that had much to do with events on a cricket field?The win puts Northern equal on points with Otago at the top of the table. Wellington are bottom and need to win against CD on Sunday if they are not to lose touch.

Wolves’ midfield could look completely different next season, with both Ruben Neves and Joao Moutinho possibly leaving the club at the end of the season.

Youngster Luke Cundle is expected to feature more for the first team next season after impressing in the limited appearances he has made so far, while fans will be hoping Morgan Gibbs-White is given a chance next campaign after impressing on-loan at Sheffield United in the Championship.

Meanwhile, Leander Dendoncker could be the club’s most senior midfielder – having been a regular at the club since 2018, when he initially joined on-loan from Anderlecht, before signing permanently for £12.42m the summer afterwards.

However, Bruno Lage might be nervous about deploying the Belgian in place of Ruben Neves, given he has averaged just a 6.79 match rating this season, compared to the 7.20 match rating that the Portuguese star has averaged in the Premier League this season.

If the West Midlands club went down an alternate route back in 2018, they could have had Cameroon international Andre-Franck Zambo-Anguissa already in place to step up and replace Neves – and have had him to start alongside the Barcelona target.

According to French news outlet Espoirs du Foot, via Get French Football News, Wolves were interested in bringing  Zambo-Anguissa to Molineux for their first season back in the Premier League, back in 2018. However, he joined Fulham instead for £22.3m.

The Cottagers star, currently on-loan with Serie A giants Napoli, was labelled “first-class” by former manager Scott Parker during the club’s Premier League campaign back in the 2018/19 season, and he has gone from strength-to-strength in Italy – with his value increasing to £27m according to Transfermarkt.

His manager in Italy, Luciano Spalletti, has admitted he is a huge fan of the former Stade Reims and Marseille youngster, saying earlier in the season: “He always comes into the locker room and talks about what happened in the first half, what was going on around his position, paying close attention to the movements that the opposition do. He is very tactically intelligent.”

The 26-year-old has proven himself as not just a physical brute in the defensive third to get past, but also a progressive midfielder like Neves, ranking among players in his position across Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions in the top 3% for both dribbles completed per 90 (1.77) and tackles in the attacking third per 90 (0.56), as well as ranking in the top 8% for carries into the final third per 90 (2.42).

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Described as a “machine” by Joachim Andersen, his development since first arriving in England four years ago has been significant, having spent time on loan at La Liga giants Villarreal too – and he is now proving Wolves wrong for not taking a chance on him.

Chairman Jeff Shi will likely rue that decision in the summer if they do lose Moutinho and Neves.

In other news: Lage can find Wolves’ next Traore in rarely-seen teen who does “things out of nothing”

Manchester United and Chelsea will look to step up their interest in Juventus’ Milos Krasic in January after the winger claimed he would be interested in a move to the Premier League according to the Metro.

The Serbian international has featured just six times this season under new manager Andre Conte; after being a key player last year; and with Juventus flying at the top of Serie A he may find it hard to earn his place back in a winning side.

Having only spent one season in Italy after his £15million move from CSKA Moscow last year, Krasic has failed to impress his new manager and he feels it could be time to move on if he is not playing regular first team football.

The English giants could battle it out for Krasic’s signature along with teams from Germany and Spain as the 27-year olds agent, Dejan Joksimovic confirmed they were open to offers.

“My client has already turned down two offers and I don’t think he would accept Borussia [Dortmund], mainly because of his wage. I don’t think they can afford him,” said Joksimovic.

“His future depends on what happens at Juventus in the next months. If he starts playing regularly then he could stay in Italy otherwise he will have to go.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

“He would certainly move to a top division like the Bundesliga or the Premier League.”

[ad_pod id=’writer-1′ align=’right’]

There are half a million professional footballers in the world. None of them are gay, at least, not openly so. England wicketkeeper Steven Davies has made headlines in the last couple of days by becoming the first English cricketer to announce his homosexuality during his career but he is by no means the only elite British athlete to do so. Take Gareth Thomas, the most capped male Welsh rugby union international of all time, as an example.

Thomas admitted he was gay just over a year ago and despite having suppressed his sexuality for many years, the 36-year-old admits to feeling ‘liberated’ by coming out and it appears players and officials within the game seem to have gained even more respect for him. So if young Davies feels confident enough to come out and, alongside Thomas, can do it without huge public outcry, then why is homosexuality still a taboo for professional footballers?

If you listen to the FA, they will tell you that those Neanderthal football fans are not ready for something as scandalous as a few players admitting to their homosexuality. According to Ellis Cashmore, Professor of Culture, Media and Sport at Staffordshire University and his research partner, Dr. Jamie Cleland, a Senior Lecturer in the Sociology of Sport at the same institution, this stance is no more than a cop-out.

Cashmore suggests: “I think the FA’s approach is quite lazy. The easiest thing they can do to allow them to continually ignore this issue is to blame the fans. It is widely accepted that the fans generally create a hostile, homophobic culture which is highly prohibitive and the players are fearful of their reaction. Our research reveals something entirely different though.”

[ad_pod id=’fox-mpu’ align=’right’]

Cleland adds: “93% of the three and a half thousand fans we sampled think that there is no place for homophobia within football. This goes against the football authorities’ view of football supporters. It appears that there is a very liberal and permissive culture and our results suggest that it is time that the powers that be look at alternative means to challenge this particular process.”

Cashmore and Cleland surveyed over 3,000 fans online – at www.topfan.co.uk – deciding that this was the best method of achieving accurate results for their research. Cleland says: “If you survey someone on the way to a match when they are with their contemporaries, they might not answer truthfully for fear of losing face in front of their mates. In academic research, you are always searching for the truth and the best way to do that, as obvious as it sounds is to take away the incentive to lie. By conducting the survey anonymously online, we have managed to do that. The conditions we set and the size of the sample we took makes our research stand up to scrutiny and makes the results all the more significant.”

So if academic research suggests that the fans are okay with gay players, then why are players still so reluctant to come out? “I think that there are two main factors inhibiting players from coming out,” says Cashmore. “Firstly, they are assigned to football clubs, conservative institutions wary of the consequences of being the first club to have a gay player or players. They are concerned that it could result in damage to their brand, and obviously clubs are very concerned about that as it would affect their annual turnover.”

“The other determining factor I think is agents. Agents make up to 10% commission off of a player’s overall earnings, across the board. If a player comes out then his agent cannot guarantee that he will make the same earnings form endorsement contracts and such. It takes the element of control away from the agent and they will be immediately aware that it could affect their own earnings so they will advise the player to keep quiet.”

Continue to the NEXT PAGE…

Justin Fashanu, who of course took his own life in 1998, is the only football player up to ever have come out up until now. There can be no doubt that the circumstances surrounding his life and eventual death has contributed to football being somewhat left in the dark ages when it comes to the accepting gay players.

Cashmore, though, contends: “You have to remember that was back in the 1990’s and football has moved on a lot since then. We have become much more liberal and open-minded in our attitude towards gay men and women people since then and the world of sport as a whole has moved on. Many major sports now have had gay competitors who have come out quite openly and without fear or favour. Nobody has really batted an eyelid.”

“With Gareth Thomas for example, he was expecting a torrid time but with the exception of one incident at Castleford, which he was able to laugh off, he has not had any problems. I think the image of football is different but the culture and the environment is no different to other sports. This representation of the game is perpetuated by figures like Max Clifford, who described the game as recently as a year ago as ‘steeped in homophobia’ and that is not helpful. It leaves the culture of football stuck in the dark ages and that does not do anyone any favours. It just serves to perpetuate this misleading idea that football is still medieval when it isn’t!”

[ad_pod id=’unruly’ align=’left’]

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Cashmore and Cleland both remain critical of the FA and initiatives such as the Kick It Out campaign, claiming that they will not work because they are targeted at eradicating homophobia within the fans, instead of within the game itself. “I don’t think any of the campaigns, and there are a few of them come even vaguely close to tackling the problem,” says Cashmore. “Simply because, they don’t know what they are tackling. They accept the orthodox opinion that there is homophobia within football fans and they are trying to combat that. The truth is that there isn’t. If they really want to tackle the insidious forms of homophobia, they need to go to the managers of the clubs, the directors, the agents who handle the players’ business contracts. In other words, get to the inaccessible areas. It’s very easy to blame fans, but I said before, that is just lazy and does not tackle the issue at all.”

“I don’t think any of these campaigns can work, because they are ill-considered and, in any case, when did football fans ever take notice of what the authorities think? They haven’t got a clue what they are doing. They are looking at the fans, which is woefully off target and, quite frankly, it’s embarrassing. Campaigns such as Kick It Out and Football Against Homophobia just don’t get it. I’d rather they didn’t have any campaigns at all as opposed to continually targeting the fans.”

Strong words from Cashmore, and despite or perhaps due to the FA’s apparent inertia, this is an issue that will continue to crop up until the first gay footballer decides to out himself. The progress made in the last 30 years on the issue of race and ethnicity should hopefully offer some encouragement that football will eventually drag itself into the 21st century.

To hear the full interview with Cleland and Cashmore, go to: The Football FanCast Interview Show podcast.

Enter the Sure Men Survey now for the chance to win a Raceday Experience!

[divider]

Arsenal have followed the example set by north London rivals Tottenham and banned vuvuzelas from the Emirates Stadium.

Spurs were the first Premier League club to block fans from bringing the controversial World Cup instrument to White Hart Lane on match days.

A number of Championship clubs had already banned the plastic horn before Spurs' decision to act.

Now the Gunners have followed suit after citing the "safety and enjoyment" of fans as reasons for the ban.

During the early stages of the World Cup, players, supporters and broadcasters claimed the continued noise from the traditional South African instrument was a distraction to the on-pitch action.

"Further to their hugely debated involvement at this summer's World Cup finals in South Africa, Arsenal Football Club has decided to forbid the use of vuvuzelas within Emirates Stadium with immediate effect," read a club statement.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

"This decision has been taken to ensure the enjoyment and safety of supporters on match days, which is of paramount importance to the club."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Returning to Manchester United after loan spells of varying success last season were forwards Danny Welbeck and Kiko Macheda. As if it wasn’t tough enough having to compete with each other to gain a place in the United line-up, they also had to contend with the fact that Rooney, Hernandez, Berbatov and Michael Owen were ahead of them.  No one would have blamed either Fergie or the players themselves for asking to go out on loan for a further season in order to clock up game time and goals. However, this was not the case and both vowed to fight for a place in the squad.

Pre-season, it has to be said, I genuinely thought that it would be Kiko Macheda that would stand up and be counted this season, and break into the first team. After a disastrous loan spell at now relegated Sampdoria, where the player stated he was too afraid to leave his house due to abuse from the fans, he had a decent pre-season for United, scoring a couple of goals during the game against New England Revolution, and looked to be putting last year behind him, expressing his happiness to be playing in the Premier League and for United.

Although Welbeck had a more successful time at Sunderland, playing 21 premier league games and scoring 6 goals in that time, I was less enamoured with the player and after pre-season was beginning to come to the conclusion that, although a premier league player, Welbeck was not at the level needed yet to break into the United first team.

Imagine my surprise then when not only did the player start the Community Shield game against City, but also started the Premier League opener against WBA, and played well in both of them, taking full advantage of the concussion sustained by Hernandez. Meanwhile, Macheda was nowhere to be seen, and Welbeck was busy making sure he did not slip out of anyone’s thoughts, scoring against Spurs and then Arsenal before sustaining a hamstring injury and missing the next couple of games.

It would have been easy for Welbeck to fade away after a decent start to the season then an injury which took away his momentum, but the player is made of much tougher stuff than that, returning from injury to score twice and rescue United in the Champions league and then against Norwich in the league. Clearly Welbeck by this point had more than justified his place in the United squad, and against Liverpool lead the line up top, setting up Hernandez for the equaliser.

Evidently Welbeck has repaid the faith shown in him by Alex Ferguson, and the whole attitude of the player is nothing short of a consummate professional, not unlike name sake Daniel Sturridge, who had a similar situation at Chelsea, returning from a loan spell at Bolton and taking every opportunity provided to prove his worth and cement his place in the squad.

During a period where everyone is talking about Rooney’s ban for England in the Euros, rather than bemoaning this, we should be looking to talents like Welbeck and Sturridge as players who can bring England forward and more than compensate up front in the summer. Fergie certainly seems to think Welbeck is ‘more than capable’ of doing this, and on Welbeck’s form so far this season, who can disagree with him?

Fancy watching United at Goodison Park in a box – click on the banner below

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Moments that shaped English football: No. 6 Liverpool 2-1 Blackburn Rovers – May 14th, 1995.

With every year that passes the 1994-95 season becomes the most fascinating of anomalies on the graph that is Premier League performance over the last 19 years. As Manchester United were in the process of winning four of five titles between 1992 and 1997, the emergence of Blackburn Rovers, albeit fleetingly, looks to remain the most unlikely of stories in the history of the Premier League.

The truth is at the time, Blackburn’s victory was not the underdog story that it now appears. Manager Kenny Dalglish was given what was then a vast sum of money by Rovers owner Jack Walker to bring in re-enforcements to a squad that began the Premier League era with promotion from the second tier of English football. The purchases of Chris Sutton and Alan Shearer, created what was briefly the most feared partnership in the division, and a second place finish in 1993-94 hinted at the potential of the men from Ewood Park.

The last day of the following campaign will go down as one of the most dramatic in the history of the division. Blackburn visited Liverpool in the knowledge that only a victory would guarantee a first league title in 81 years. United needed to win to maintain pressure on the Lancashire club, but with a trip to struggling West Ham their final day assignment, that result appeared a formality.

Nevertheless, Blackburn started well – Alan Shearer netting his 34th goal of a prolific season, looking to rule United’s result irrelevant. Dalglish’s men had won only two of their previous five leading into the Anfield clash and the strike of their top marksman settled the nerves of the visiting contingent.

[ad_pod id=’fox-mpu’ align=’right’]

As news of Shearer’s goal rang round Upton Park, West Ham capitalised on some slack defending and distracted minds to tip the balance of power further towards Blackburn.

If it had appeared the race was run, the second half would prove to be anything but a formality. Brian McClair nodded in an equaliser for the champions, United, and lay siege to the Hammers’ goal in the hope that one more strike could wrest the title from Blackburn’s grasp if Liverpool could themselves find a goal.

Half an hour passed without further notable action in either game, and as the clock ticked towards the final five minutes of the season, it appeared that Blackburn had done enough to weather the threat posed by English football’s two most successful sides. Then, disaster, in the form of a John Barnes equaliser left Dalglish’s men completely at the mercy of the result in London.

When Sir Alex Ferguson looks back at the very small list of regrets during his time at Old Trafford, the inability of his team to muster a winning goal against a committed but limited West Ham side that afternoon, may well be top of his list – a handful of frantic goalmouth scrambles the only reward for constant second half pressure that afternoon.

Further north, a Jamie Redknapp free-kick turned what had been a carnival atmosphere into a funeral procession. However, as the players trudged back for the restart news of United’s failure to score at Upton Park was transmitted to the supporters and the party began – a stray fan kissing a bemused Dalglish as the players accepted the congratulations of the victorious Liverpool side.

For Blackburn, this was the start of a very sharp decline. Dalglish relinquished control at the end of the season, and within four years the club were out of the top-flight, having lost a number of their prized assets in their slip down the league.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Owner, Jack Walker, who had made it is personal goal to bring the league title to Ewood, died in 2000 – destined never to see his beloved hometown club back in the top-flight.

Would you like to nominate a moment from your club’s history for this feature? Find me on Twitter and let me know!

[ad_pod id=’unruly’ align=’left’]

England scraped a 1-0 win over Slovenia in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday afternoon to qualify for the last 16 of this summer's World Cup finals.

Jermain Defoe's first-half strike was enough put the Three Lions into the next stage, but Fabio Capello's men finish as Group C runners-up following USA's last-gasp 1-0 triumph over Algeria.

England started the game nervously with Matthew Upson replacing Jamie Carragher in defence and Defoe and James Milner coming into the starting 11 for Emile Heskey and Aaron Lennon.

Successive fouls by Glen Johnson saw referee Wolfgang Stark have a stern word and it was the dangerous Valter Birsa who forged the first shooting opportunity of the day as he cut in from the right to fire straight at David James.

A number of corners fell England's way, but the inspired Samir Handanovic in the Slovenia goal kept the men in red at bay.

But, in the 23rd minute, Capello's men grabbed the crucial breakthrough. Fine play on the right between Johnson and Milner led to the Aston Villa man sending a mouth-watering ball into the area.

Defoe was on hand to beat his marker and shin the ball at Handanovic. The shot-stopper got two strong hands to the effort, but he could only tip his strike into the roof of the net to send the England faithful wild in the stands.

England were now in the ascendency and another right-wing cross from Milner was palmed to the edge of the box where Frank Lampard fired narrowly over. Johnson's centre then almost found Steven Gerrard at the back post, but the Liverpool man's control let him down.

Then Handanovic kept his side in the contest as he saved from Defoe. The ball ricocheted to Wayne Rooney and his clever pass found Gerrard unmarked, but the England captain's side-footed strike was turned away as a second goal beckoned.

Immediately after the re-start, Rooney's quickly-taken corner almost brought Defoe's second of the day.

His corner was punched away by Handanovic and, as the ball was looped back in, Defoe, with his back to goal, nonchalantly flicked wide from six yards out.

The 1966 World Cup winners began to dominate once more, but the failure to score that elusive second goal allowed Slovenia to grow in hope.

Defoe had a goal disallowed for offside and then John Terry had his header expertly turned behind by Handanovic.

Rooney missed another gilt-edged chance to put the opposition out of sight from the resulting corner.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

---

Subscribe

By subscribing, you agree to receive newsletter and marketing emails, and accept Valnet’s Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You can unsubscribe anytime.

Lampard hoisted the ball into the area to the unmarked and onside front man, but he could only watch his tame effort bounce off the post after Handanovic made another telling stop.

Sloppy play from Gareth Barry allowed Birsa to break with 20 minutes remaining and, as the ball broke to Milivoje Novakovic, he could only shoot at Terry. Substitute Zlatko Dedic was then cruelly denied by Johnson as England rode their luck.

Joe Cole and Heskey made their way into the action as Capello freshened things up and, with time running out, Upson made a last-ditch diving challenge to deny Dedic.

However, England held firm to seal their place in the last 16 where they will meet Germany, Ghana, Serbia or Australia on Sunday afternoon.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email