Italy at the double

Aussie rules in late, late show

—– Tomas Rosicky - Arsenal’s recent signing - gives a taste of what might be to come as he scores twice in the Czech Republic’s 3-0 win against USA in Gelsenkirchen.
The Czech’s justify their current standing of second in the FIFA rankings to become the first team to win by a three-goal margin in the 2006 World Cup finals.
Jan Koller gives them an early lead before limping off before half-time although concerns about a thigh injury are not as serious as first feared.
Rosicky had already doubled the Czechs advantage with a superb 30-yarder before going on to seal the points with 14 minutes to go.

—– Italy overcome a tricky looking first hurdle with a deserved victory over World Cup debutants Ghana in Hanover.
Andrea Pirlo opens the scoring with a spectacular long-range drive late in the first half, then sub Vincenzo Iaquinta wraps up the points late in the game.
With their mix of youth and strength, respected Italy coach Marcello Lippi is impressed with their Group E rivals: “Our opponents showed themselves to be as strong as we thought they would be. In certain aspects they were better than us but I think overall we deserved to win.”

—– Just for a change, it’s a great day for Australian sport. Not only do they record their first win in the World Cup finals but also their first-ever WC goals in a 3-1 win against Japan in Kaiserslautern.
To add to a remarkable match, in a fantastic finale, the Socceroos come from behind to become the first team to score three goals in the last six minutes of a World Cup finals game.
After Shunsuke Nakamura gave Japan a controversial first-half lead, Everton’s Tim Cahill comes off the bench to score the first two goals with former Coventry City striker John Aloisi’s goal clinching the win.
A delighted Cahill enthuses: “It’s a dream come true. Just being a part of this World Cup means everything to all of us.
“To get the goals is the icing on the cake. We look to moments like these from when we were kids dreaming of this situation.”

—– Confusion reigns in the Togo camp as reports strongly suggest a return for deposed coach Otto Pfister.
The veteran coach resigned on Friday following a pay dispute between players and the Togo Football Federation but has now revealed that he is prepared to return for Togo’s first-ever World Cup game tomorrow against South Korea. However, a government official insists Pfister will not be reappointed.

—– Roy Keane - the main character in the most sensational story of the 2002 World Cup finals - announces his retirement.
The former Manchester United and Republic of Ireland midfielder joined Celtic in January with a contract to the summer of 2007 but he decides to quit after receiving medical advice on his on-going hip problem: “Having received advice from my surgeon and the Celtic doctor, my only option is to retire.”
United boss Sir Alex Ferguson pays tribute by calling him his best player during his long reign at Old Trafford.

Pauleta strike denies Angola

Bravo, Bravo for Mexico

—– Holland join Argentina at the top of the Group C but it’s Premiership champions Chelsea who are having the biggest influence in the 2006 World Cup’s so-called Group of Death.
After Hernan Crespo and Didier Drogba scored for Argentina and Ivory Coast, respectively, in yesterday’s group opener, their Stamford Bridge colleague Arjen Robben scores the only goal against Serbia & Montenegro in Leipzig. It’s the first World Cup finals game to be played in the old East Germany.
The Dutch prevail under the continuing hot climate to retain their encouraging record under coach Marco van Basten. Holland are now unbeaten in 13 competitive matches and have kept clean sheets in the last ten.
The S&M team suffer their first defeat in 14 competitive matches having conceded only one goal in qualifying.

—– The keenly awaited game between the past colonial masters and one of the poorest nations ever to reach the World Cup finals sees Portugal beat Angola 1-0 in Cologne.
Pedro Pauleta got the Portuguese off to the perfect start with his 47th goal in 83 international appearances with the opener after only four minutes.
However, the anticipated goal rush never materialises as the determined Angolans stick doggedly to their task.
Portugal duly extend their current unbeaten run to 15 matches since the Euro 2004 Final defeat to Greece in Lisbon, but Angola can be rightly proud of their showing on the biggest occasion of the country’s football history.
Coach Luis Goncalves declared: “We played our best football. We have evolved and presented ourselves well. We are the most humble team in the competition. We will continue to play with humility.”

—– Omar Bravo scores twice as Mexico beat Iran 3-1 in Nuremberg.
Veteran defender Yahya Golmohammadi became the ninth oldest player to score in the World Cup finals when he gave Iran a deserved leveller.
But a terrible defensive mix-up allowed Bravo in for his second before Brazilian born substitute Zinha completed the victory on 79 minutes.

—– Meanwhile back in England, League Two Notts County appoint Steve Thompson as their new manager.
The former Lincoln City, Southend United and Cambridge United boss had a previous spell in charge at Meadow Lane alongside Colin Murphy from 1995 to 1996.
He succeeds Gudjon Thordarson.

Super Shaka saves heroic T&T

Ivory Coast push Argentina all the way

—– England win their opening game in a World Cup finals for the first time since 1982 but they struggle to impress as they feel the heat in the soaring temperature of Frankfurt.
Sven’s men are quickly out of the blocks and threaten to totally overwhelm Paraguay.
They soon make the most of the South Americans’ defensive weakness in the air when veteran skipper Carlos Gamarra heads David Beckham’s 3rd minute free-kick in to his own net.
As England pile on the pressure, Paraguay appear to be in disarray - especially after keeper Justo Villar has to be replaced after only eight minutes due to injury.
But despite their early domination, a second goal fails to materialise.
The first half exertions take their toll after the break as England wilt and could have suffered more had Paraguay possessed a cutting attacking edge.
Over 10,000 England fans without stadium tickets watch the game from the sun-kissed banks of the River Main on two huge video screens.
The all-important three first-game points are greeted with a collective sigh of relief but, to put it in to golfing terms, it’s impossible to win a tournament on the first day - but you can lose it.

—– The importance of England’s win is put in to context hours later as the other game in Group B sees gallant ten-man Trinidad & Tobago hold Sweden to a goalless draw in Dortmund.
It’s T&T’s first-ever World Cup and they are the smallest nation ever to reach the finals.
Their task was made even more daunting when first-choice keeper Kelvin Jack suffered a reoccurrence of a calf injury in the pre-match warm-up and was replaced by 37 year-old Shaka Hislop ten minutes before kick-off.
The oldest player in the tournament proved to be just one of the heroes for the Soca Warriors as the team that has a strong influence of unsung Football League players defied the Swedes.
A further blow came a minute after the break when Avery John became the first player to be sent-off in Germany 2006 when he was shown a second yellow card.
To the delight of the Caribbean, they held on for a famous draw.
Skipper Dwight Yorke is named Man of the Match. To the surprise of many seasoned observers, the former Manchester United striker gives a very convincing display as a tireless midfield dynamo.
It’s also a tremendous result for England. They will be through to the knockout stages with a game to spare if they can beat T&T on Thursday.

—– Another World Cup debutant Ivory Coast also make a very impressive bow as they are unfortunate to go down 1-2 to Argentina in Hamburg.
Argentina - one of the tournament favourites - live up to their billing with some sparkling football. With the great Diego Maradona supporting them from the stands, they are rewarded with two splendid goals from Hernan Crespo and Javier Saviola.
Ivory Coast give as good as they got though and a late strike from Crespo’s Chelsea team-mate Didier Drogba sets up an exciting finish.

Ecuador sink Poles

Togo no-go for Pfister

—– Hosts Germany get the 18th FIFA World Cup finals off to a flying start with the highest-scoring opening game in the history of the competition. Without the injured Michael Ballack, they beat Costa Rica 4-2 in Munich.
The first goal of the 64-game global extravaganza comes after only six minutes from left-back Philip Lahm but the Costa Ricans soon hit back through former Derby County striker Paulo Wanchope.
The Germans take the initiative on 17 minutes when Miroslav Klose converts from close range.
The Werder Bremen hotshot, who scored a hat-trick in Germany’s opening game of the 2002 finals, has even more reason to celebrate his 28th birthday on 61 minutes with his second strike.
Wanchope then joins him on a brace as he becomes the first-ever Costa Rica player to score more than once in a World Cup finals match.
Their hopes of a recovery are dashed in the 87th minute when Torsten Frings’ long range effort swerves past CR keeper Jose Porras - the trajectory of the shot drawing questioning remarks about the quality of the official Teamgeist matchball.
It is an historic goal though as the opening game produces six goals for the first time. The previous best was the first-ever World Cup game in 1930 when France beat Mexico 4-1 in Montevideo.

—– Ecuador stun Poland in Gelsenkirchen to join Germany at the top of Group A.
Their 2-0 win is only their second-ever victory in the World Cup finals and comes via goals from Carlos Tenorio and ex-Southampton marksman Augustin Delgado.
The defeat continues Poland’s tradition of poor starts. Fielding the oldest-ever line-up in the competition’s history, the Poles have now failed to score in the opening match of their last five World Cups.

—– Otto Pfister is reported to have resigned as Togo’s coach four days before the Hawks make their World Cup finals debut.
The 67 year-old former Zaire and Ghana coach, who replaced Stephen Keshi in March, quits as an unresolved dispute over bonus payments threatens to sink the outsiders hopes before they’ve even started.
Togo are the lowest FIFA-ranked team in the tournament, and are in Group G with South Korea, Switzerland and France.
Team doctor Joachim Schubert tells a German magazine that Pfister’s assistant Piet Hamburg has also left.

—– Ronnie Moore is the new manager of League One Tranmere Rovers. He replaces Brian Little.
53 year-old Moore made 328 league appearances for Rovers and had a brief spell as player / manager in 1987. He was also player / coach and later assistant manager under Johnny King.
The former Rotherham United boss was sacked as manager of Oldham Athletic last month.

FIFA wants 18-team Premiership

Match of the Day gets extra time

—– On the eve of the tournament, we can reveal that England will reach the World Cup Final. Well, that’s if our Wisdom of Fans experiment proves to be correct.
We sent out an open invitation to viewers of our 11v11.co.uk web site to give us their prediction for the World Cup. They each had 100 percentage points to be allocated amongst the competing nations as they saw fit.
The Wisdom of Fans works on the theory that groups of random people can provide remarkably accurate information, and usually outperform individual experts.
Over 4,000 votes later, the result is that - not too surprisingly - the 2006 World Cup winners are predicted to be Brazil with 36.02% of the aggregate vote.
It’s England who come in second at 17.52%. The semi-finalists are tipped as Argentina (14.01%) and Germany (12.53%).
The other would-be quarter-finalists are a European quartet of Italy (10.28%), France (9.12%), Holland (8.73%) and Spain (6.99%).
All 32 nations receive some supports but it’s Saudi Arabia who are the rank-outsiders with 1.96%.
We shall see.

—– FIFA’s 56th Congress endorses a proposal for Europe’s top leagues to be reduced to a maximum of 18 clubs by the start of the 2007-08 season.
Many observers will see it as a familiar kite-flying exercise by Sepp Blatter but the FIFA president insists: “We’ve been given the power to work on it. We’ll do it. It’ll give four more days to the international calendar.”
The Premiership would have to lose two clubs and it seems the Premier League will take some convincing. Spokesman Dan Johnson sighed: “There’s no appetite for this kind of change. The only people who are going to tell us how to run the Premier League are the member clubs’ chairmen.
“They are the only ones who can change the composition of the league and they are just not going to go for this - no way.”
“We reduced the size of the league from 22 clubs to 20 in 1995-96, and since then UEFA have expanded the Champions League, FIFA have expanded the World Cup and brought in the Confederations Cup and World Club Championship so it’s a bit rich for anyone to talk about reducing the number of matches.”

—– Premiership highlights will continue to be screened on the Saturday night and Sunday night Match of the Day programme until at least 2010.
BBC make a successful bid of £171.6million for the rights for the new three-year package from the start of the 2007-08 season.
Premier League chief executive Richard Scudamore says: “The market for the highlights rights was very competitive and we were extremely impressed by other proposals. However, we now look forward to extending the great relationship we have with the BBC, one that goes further than this rights deal.”
ITV won the highlights rights in 2000 but Match of the Day - which dates back to 1964 - returned in 2003 at a cost of £105million.

Cisse’s World Cup heartbreak

Southgate named Premiership’s youngest boss

—– Although official confirmation has yet to be issued, Wayne Rooney’s return to the England training camp in Baden Baden, following the scan on his injured foot in Manchester, means he his almost certain to be included in the 23-man World Cup squad.
After hours of discussion between the medical teams, the only statement comes from Manchester United and it’s hardly an overwhelming endorsement: “He is now in the care of the England medical team. The expert independent [FIFA] medical view is that Wayne has a good chance of being fit after the group stage.
“At that point, the expert independent medical view is that his participation in the tournament will require very careful assessment in order to address his suitability, as he will not have had the opportunity to play in less demanding games.”
The World Cup future for France’s Djibril Cisse is, unfortunately, much more decisive. The Liverpool striker broke his right leg in tonight’s friendly against China in Saint-Etienne.
Cisse fractured his left leg while playing for Liverpool against Blackburn Rovers in October 2004.
His likely replacement is either Nicolas Anelka of Fenerbahce or Barcelona’s Ludovic Giuly.

—– Gareth Southgate becomes the Premiership’s current youngest boss after Middlesbrough appoints him as their new manager. The 35 year-old defender is four months younger than Fulham’s Chris Coleman.
He has been given the job despite not possessing the required UEFA Pro Licence.
The League Managers’ Association have already voiced their disapproval and Boro will now have until 12 weeks after the season starts on 19 August to explain why Southgate has been appointed without the relevant certificates.
Chairman Steve Gibson is quick to state his case: “The burden of responsibility falls on me and if I make a list of values I’m looking for in a manager, a certificate doesn’t come into it.”

—– League One Yeovil Town also have a new man in charge as the Huish Park vacancy is filled by Russell Slade.
The 45 year-old left Grimsby Town at the end of last month after failing to agree a new contract. He had guided the cash-strapped Mariners to the League Two Play-Off Final.
Steve Thompson, who took over following the departure of Gary Johnson in September, becomes assistant manager.

—– Carlos Alberto is named as the scorer of the World Cup wonder goal of all-time.
Using the unique classification formula created by AFS senior analyst Mark Baber, the fourth goal in Brazil’s 1970 Final win against Italy came out on top of the list that was screened by FIVE this evening.
To the surprise of many - including guests Glenn Hoddle and Archie Gemmill - Dennis Bergkamp was the runner-up with Holland’s winner against Argentina in 1998.
Diego Maradona’s classic second against England in 1986 came in third.

FIFA hand refs strict guidelines

Dragons move closer to survival

—– Referees due to officiate at the World Cup are given strict guidelines by FIFA Head of Refereeing Jose-Maria Garcia Aranda.
The 21 refs have come through a gruelling 18-month training programme after FIFA president Sepp Blatter described refereeing standards at the 2002 tournament as ‘a disaster’.
Top of the hit list is lunging. Be it one or two footed, the clear instructions are to dismiss a player who lunges for the ball and makes contact with an opponent.
Blatter has described elbowing as a ‘devil’ and refs have been instructed that reckless use of the arm must bring an immediate booking. Done with intent then it must be punished with a red card.
An offence that seems to have gone completely unnoticed up to now is holding but, if a player is prevented from getting to the ball as he is being held, then the offending player should be shown a yellow card.
Diving, or as FIFA prefer to call it ’simulation’, will only warrant a yellow card if the referee is convinced that a player has dived. A card will not be issued for a ‘probable’ dive.
FIFA have also encouraged refs to come down hard on time-wasters with yellow cards to be shown to players taking a free-kick from the wrong place to force the referee to order a retake, preparing to take a throw-in and then giving the ball to a team-mate, kicking or carrying the ball away after the ref has stopped play, taking too long to leave the pitch when substituted and deliberately provoking a confrontation by touching the ball after the referee has stopped play.
You can’t say you haven’t been warned!

—– Wrexham’s long-term survival moves a major step forward with Football League officials deciding against expelling the League Two club.
The FL’s board votes to accept a rescue plan by a consortium led by businessman Neville Dickens to take the club out of administration. Plans for a multi million pound land redevelopment near the Racecourse Ground are also given the green light.
With debts of around £4million, Wrexham went into administration in 2004 and League rules state that clubs must not remain in administration for more than 18 months.
The Dragons’ shareholders and creditors last week voted unanimously in favour of a takeover by the local consortium but completion is still several weeks away. The 18-month deadline for expulsion passed on 3 June.

—– Conference club Crawley Town are placed into administration.
The Reds were deducted three points and fined for breaking Conference financial regulations last season and now face a ten-point deduction next season.
Last season also saw a 50% wage cut implemented by the owners, Chas Majeed and Azwar Majeed.

Magilton steps up at Ipswich

Gorman returns at Northampton

—– Reports suggest that Middlesbrough’s bid to appoint Gareth Southgate as their new player / manager have been thwarted by the Premier League.
Boro chairman Steve Gibson wants the 35 year-old captain to replace England-bound boss Steve McClaren but it is thought that he is at least two years away from obtaining the required UEFA Pro Licence.
Although there was a recent precedent set by Glenn Roeder’s appointment at Newcastle United, League Managers’ Association chief executive John Barnwell reveals the Southgate request has failed: “They can’t do it - it’s as simple as that.
“My understanding is that Middlesbrough have had lengthy discussions with the Premier League, and they have been flatly refused.”
Boro could get round the problem by appointing the fully qualified Steve Round alongside the former England centre-half.

—– A new name amongst the managerial ranks is former Northern Ireland midfielder Jim Magilton.
At 37 years and 30 days, he takes over from Watford’s Adie Boothroyd as the Championship’s current youngest boss after being named as Joe Royle’s successor at Ipswich Town.
Magilton retired from the Portman Road playing ranks at the end of the season.
He will be assisted by long-serving coach Bryan Klug.

—– John Gorman makes a quick return to management following his departure at Wycombe Wanderers last month.
He takes over at newly-promoted Northampton Town following Colin Calderwood’s move to Nottingham Forest.

—– Graham Rodger is the new man in charge at League Two Grimsby Town.
The Mariners’ former centre-back is promoted from assistant manager after Russell Slade failed to agree a new contract despite leading to the Play-Offs.
39 year-old Rodger has also served the Blundell Park club as Football in the Community officer, reserve team coach and caretaker manager.

As the World Cup approaches, it must be said that - should it be needed - the appetite is being whetted by some fine television programmes.

The result is the two-hour show which counts down the Top 50 of all time, and talks to the men who scored them, saw them and conceded them; and looks back at the tournaments in which they were scored.

Mark has evaluated the top 100 in terms of technique, aesthetics, final strike, assist, build-up, save-ability, stop-ability, difficulty, intention, build-up, importance of the goal, time of the goal, quality of the finish and quality of opposition.

The goals are then placed into six categories - volleys, shots outside the box, team goals, dribbles, headers and free-kicks - and each was compared to an imagined perfect goal of its type.

As well as the expert scientific view, there’s also the qualified opinion of a vast array of leading professionals.

How about this for just part of Wednesday’s cast list:
- Sir Bobby Charlton, Sir Bobby Robson, Bryan Robson, Jorge Burruchaga, Carlos Alberto, Carlos Bilardo, David Platt, Dennis Bergkamp, Liuz Felipe Scolari, Graeme Le Saux, Glenn Hoddle, Jack Charlton, Jairzinho, John Barnes, Nobby Stiles, Ossie Ardiles, Peter Beardsley, Peter Shilton, Rivelino and Socrates.

So will it be Maradona, Pele, Michael Owen, Carlos Alberto, Dennis Bergkamp, Jairzinho, Bobby Charlton or another of the great legends of the game who will be revealed as the scorer the World Cup’s greatest-ever goal. There’s only one way to find out - tune into FIVE at 9 on Wednesday.

To back-up the theory we’d love to receive your nominations for top three World Cup goals. Please leave your thoughts in the Comments box below.

Sven signs off in style

Seadogs demotion earns Alty reprieve

—– England complete their pre-World Cup programme with a stroll in the sunshine at Old Trafford as they beat Jamaica 6-0.
It’s coach Sven-Goran Eriksson’s last game in charge of the Three Lions on English soil and the Swede signs off in style.
It’s England’s biggest win under his charge (beating the 6-1 victory against Iceland at the City of Manchester Stadium on 5 June 2004) and he is cheered off the pitch by the Manchester crowd at the end of the game.
The star of the show though is Peter Crouch who seals his World Cup starting place with a hat-trick. Having now scored five goals in seven England outings, is it really the same Liverpool striker who went through an 18-game goal drought in the first half of the season?
Employing an orthodox 4-4-2 formation, England cruise in to a four goal lead in the first half-hour. Frank Lampard, a Jermaine Taylor own goal and Crouch put them three up before Michael Owen scores his first goal of the year.
The Jamaican defence tightened up in the second-half and it isn’t until the 66th minute that Crouch adds his second.
The lanky striker appeared to have fluffed his chance of a hat-trick when he missed a penalty but he duly completed his threesome with a clinical finish.
Especially as Paraguay are noted for being weak in the air, it seems certain that Crouch will now start next Saturday’s World Cup opener in Frankfurt.
On the back of six consecutive wins, Eriksson leads his team to Germany in a confident mood: “We know which teams we have to meet sooner or later, that we will have to beat teams such as Holland, Brazil, Italy or Argentina.
“But I strongly believe we are one of the countries who can win it - and that we are not worse than any of those teams who could win it.”

—– England’s opening World Cup game with Paraguay will be refereed by Mexican Marco Rodriguez
Argentine Horacio Elizondo will take charge of the opening game of the tournament between hosts Germany and Costa Rica on Friday.
England’s ref representative Graham Poll’s first game will be the Group G meeting between South Korea and Togo on 13 June.

—– Scarborough - a Football League club up to 1999 - will play in the Conference North next season after their relegation was finally confirmed at the Conference board’s AGM.
The Seadogs were found guilty of an ‘unspecified breach of rules’ and will also begin next term with a ten-point deduction after the Football Association and Conference asked them for financial, ownership and ground information.
Boro finished bottom of the table but earned a reprieve when Altrincham were docked 18 points for fielding an unregistered player.
Alty have now avoided demotion and been reinstated into the Conference.
Scarborough’s former chairman Malcolm Reynolds responded: “If we believe that the Conference has acted outside of its jurisdiction, we reserve the right to seek immediate judicial redress through the courts.”