Archives › Nick Webster
-
The last few days before last night’s epic win over Costa Rica in Denver have felt like a referendum of sorts on coach, Jurgen Klinsmann. Of course three points and 2nd place in the ‘Hex’ have shut the detractors up for now however I’m sure they’ll be back in force should the team lose to…
-
A World Cup finals without the defending champions would be a severely diminished competition however that is becoming an increasing possibility after Spain were stunned at home by Finland. Teemu Pukki’s late equalizer cancelling out a Sergio Ramos strike has put the defending and two-time European champions in a decidedly awkward situation. They now trail…
-
Born in the USA and made great in the high-octane atmosphere of the English game. It began with Kasey Keller who dared tread where no one had gone before when he moved across the pond to the east end of London and the hostile environment of Millwall in 1992. With the door pushed open, Brad…
-
Former Manchester United and England legend, Bobby Charlton has enjoyed his view from atop the England scoring charts for 43 years now. The World Cup winner scored 49 times in 106 appearances and no one bar, Gary Lineker, who was sensationally substituted with England needing a goal in the ’92 Euros stuck on 48 has…
-
England duly completed their expected slaughtering of San Marino demolishing the tiny nation to the tune of eight but really what was the point of this whole worthless exercise other than to pad statistics and give the Three Lions their biggest victory since 1993 when they demolished…San Marino. As much as they try San Marino…
-
Some international rivalries transcend football and Croatia versus Serbia tonight in Zagreb certainly achieved that. Check out these pictures that sum up the nature of this match. The two countries who less than 20 years ago were at war with each other were playing for more than World Cup qualification, they were playing for nationalistic…
-
The statistics of San Marino’s national football make for some grim reading… They have zero points in the FIFA world rankings and are dead last. They have won once in their history and lost an incredible 111. They have scored only 16 goals although one of them was the fastest goal in World Cup history…
-
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay said in a meeting attended by AC Milan’s, Kevin-Prince Boateng that “It is time for football to catch up with 21st century values of respecting diversity.” The world’s most popular sport is coming under increasing scrutiny and rightly so as it has the power and…
-
Manchester United striker Robin van Persie is having a hard time letting go of his teams loss to Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League. According to different sources Van Persie is said to have spoken to Dutch website Ad.nl while training with the national team ahead of World Cup qualifying and aired some major…
-
Qualification to the World CUp finals is tough for everyone however making the show from the CONMEBOL region is downright murderous. There are no gimme as all ten countries usually slug it out for the four-and-a-half spots. With Brazil automatically through as hosts, it means that a spot has opened for one of the smaller…
-
A white elephant is an idiom for a valuable but burdensome possession of which its owner cannot dispose and whose cost (particularly cost of upkeep) is out of proportion to its usefulness or worth. The most common form of white elephants these days is Olympic and World Cup Stadiums and the planet is full of…
-
As the campaign approaches its climax and the realization that qualification to the big dance known as the UEFA Champions League is nothing more than a dream for yet another season, thoughts of greener pastures enter many players heads. Liverpool’s Uruguayan talisman, Luis Suarez is no exception and with a skill set of the highest…
-
When Croatia and Serbia meet tomorrow night at the Maksimir Stadium in Zagreb, the three points on offer for World Cup qualification in Group A are a mere subplot as the two nations meet for the first time since 1999. The tie has already been dubbed the ‘match of the decade’ by the media and…
-
The Rio Ferdinand/Roy Hodgson ‘back’-and-forth took another fantastic twist yesterday. As you may well know by now because that’s all we’ve spoken about in the last week, Rio Ferdinand was welcomed ‘back’ into the England squad by Roy Hodgson for ‘football reasons’ only to pull out at the death to look after his chronic ‘back’…
-
Now that’s a news flash eh! It’s sort of like saying you get wet in the shower and drinking 10 pints of ESB gets you hammered. When the decision to host the World Cup in Qatar was made, the first reaction was questions about the heat, actually that was the second reaction, the first was…
-
On February 24, Manchester City fans let out a huge sigh of relief as they were greeted by this headline in the sporting pages of the Sun newspaper. Yaya Toure, one of the world’s most dominant midfielders saying the magic words ‘I want to stay at City forever.’ Fast forward 24 days, that’s right, 24…
-
For many managers in football, the day you get hired by a professional team is the pinnacle however as my mentor once told me ‘you’re now a day closer to getting the sack,’ yes, like death and taxes, getting sacked in football is as inevitable as the sun rising in the morning. This season has…
-
No that’s not a typo; it was in fact, the score after 8.3 seconds of a World Cup qualifier between the two countries back in 1993. To this day, it is the fastest goal scored in World Cup competition and the earliest the England team has ever conceded. San Marino haven’t progressed much further in…
-
At Stamford Bridge in a heated London derby, Chelsea superstar and former West Ham idol bit the hand that used to feed him and scored against the club where his dad, Frank Lampard Sr was a legend and where he began his own storied career. Scoring goals is nothing new for junior though however this…
-
The Premier League rightly prides itself on being the toughest in the world. It’s physicality is legendary and it’s not for the faint hearted. Callum McManaman in his first start for Wigan Athletic would certainly have been up for it and the adrenaline would’ve been pumping however there can be no excuse for this challenge…
-
It has been said that the Barclay’s Premier League is a marathon not a sprint. This is because it’s a nine month slog through late summer, fall, winter and spring with only the fittest surviving. With less than ten matches to play the race for those valuable Champions League places has become a flat-out sprint.…
-
Chelsea interim boss, Rafael Benitez has had a roller coaster three months since being appointed by billionaire owner, Roman Abramovich. Over the last week though, results have finally started to go his way. The stirring 2-2 comeback at Old Trafford as his tactical moves changed the course of their FA Cup quarter-final against Manchester United.…
-
Who would be a referee? Have an off day and the players hate you, the managers loathe you and 50,000 supporters get to abuse you. Your parentage is questioned, you eyesight ridiculed and the chant of ‘you don’t know what you’re doing’ is sung with fanatical glee. On the other hand, when you do a…
-
Players play for trophies and a by-product of winning silverware is individual awards. The two gongs that are most treasured by professionals in England are the Football Writers and Player’s Player awards. The writer’s is awarded by members of the press while the players player is voted by their peers. It is rare that one…
-
It has been said that managing the England national team is ‘an impossible job’ and after watching this fascinating show, you will probably agree with me. Roy Hodgson, the current incumbent certainly knows what former manager, Graham Taylor went through as he deals with his own problems concerning the recall to the squad of Rio…
-
Play
Video: Highlights: Union outlast Fire
-
Play
Video: Sir Alex says goodbye
-
Play
Video: Morgan committed to growth of new women's league
-
Play
Video: Boy with cancer, 8, scores against major league soccer team
-
Play
Video: Red Bulls pull off win on the road
-
Play
Video: Highlights: Montreal extinguish Chicago
