Archive for September, 2011
Beat the Scots and England can reach a third successive Rugby World Cup Final
At last it’s getting serious at the 2011 Rugby World Cup – and there is much more than a quarter-final stake at place in England’s final group match against Scotland.
Defeat by Argentina means it’s win or bust for the Scots, who need an 8-point victory margin to stay in the tournament and send England home.
England vs Scotland - Rugby World Cup 2011
Making it all the more exciting is that England will fancy their chances of going all the way to a third successive World Cup Final if they beat Scotland and claim no.1 spot in their group.
Topping the group means England will avoid host nation New Zealand, the red hot favourites, and instead meet a France team in meltdown.
And then the odds are that victory will land a semi-final showdown with Ireland or Wales.
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
![[Ask]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/ask.png)
![[BlogBookmark]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/blogbookmark.png)
![[Bloglines]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/bloglines.png)
![[BuddyMarks]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/buddymarks.png)
![[del.icio.us]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/delicious.png)
![[Digg]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/digg.png)
![[Facebook]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/facebook.png)
![[Faves]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/faves.png)
![[Google]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/google.png)
![[kirtsy]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/kirtsy.png)
![[LinkedIn]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/linkedin.png)
![[Mister Wong]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/misterwong.png)
![[MySpace]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/myspace.png)
![[PlugIM]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/plugim.png)
![[Reddit]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/reddit.png)
![[StumbleUpon]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/stumbleupon.png)
![[Twitter]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/twitter.png)
![[Windows Live]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/windowslive.png)
![[Yahoo!]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/yahoo.png)
![[Email]](http://visionsport.co.uk/wordpress/wp-content/plugins/bookmarkify/email.png)
Welcome to Manchester was the cheeky poster that hailed the arrival of Carlos Tevez – but now the joke is at City’s expense!
Tevez the sulk refuses to come off the bench as City crashed 2-0 at the Allianz Arena
BY JOHN GUBBA
There is something deliciously poetic about the way Manchester City’s love affair with the mercenary Argentine Carlos Tevez has turned into an embarrassing soap opera.
Roberto Mancini and the mega rich Arabs who have bankrolled City’s star-studded squad thought they were the kings of cool when they brazenly paraded their capture of the former United hero.
It was the start of a bright new era for the club that has toiled for so long in the shadows of the world’s most popular football institution. But anyone who has studied the career of Tevez the sulk will know by know that this is a footballer with no loyalty and no class when it comes to making sure he gets his own way.
For Tevez to refuse to come off the bench in City’s hour of need as they stumbled to a 2-0 defeat at Bayern Munich is the ultimate rejection for the club that has paid him millions and given him a platform to shine.
The last laugh is on City
The Tevez camp may privately feel this is giving City what they deserve for the way they crushed his pre-season transfer to his former club Corinthians. It was clear at the time that the Eastlands club were flexing their muscles. But no professional player can be excused for refusing to play when he is sitting on the bench.
It is reported that Tevez did not offer any reason or explanation. And at the post-match press conference, when asked if he said ‘no, I’m not playing’, Mancini replied “yes”.
The City boss added: “If I have my way he will be out of the club.”And that statement begs the question: Why did City deliberately scupper the deal to sell Tevez to Corinthians back in the summer? Did Mancini genuinely believe he could persuade Tevez to fall back in love with Manchester – or is the manager just a coach who has a limited input into who goes and who stays?
Whichever way you look at it, the whole sorry saga has made City look like a laughing stock.
UPDATE: Tevez has denied that he refused to come off the bench – but does anyone believe him?
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
It really is a funny old game Basel: Young’s last minute debut goal in 3-3 thriller could be priceless for Manchester United
Ashley Young celebrates his 90th minute equaliser with two-goal hero Danny Wellbeck
Beaten just twice in their 53 Champions League matches at Old Trafford over the past decade, the odds on Manchester United losing at home to Basel when they romped to a 2-nil lead with a quickfire double from Danny Wellbeck inside the opening 19 minutes looked as remote as can be.
But in the end it needed a brilliant last minute cross from substitute Nani to serve up a dramatic equaliser from Ashley Young on his Champions League debut. And that goal really could be priceless because it gives United the platform they need to get out of a group they were expected to breeze through.
Six points in the upcoming back-to-back games against pointless SC Otelul Galati will lift Sir Alex Ferguson’s men into the top two and quite possibly leave them top of Group C before the final matches against Benfica at home and Basel away.
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
Vettel is the world’s undisputed No.1. But who is Britain’s best Formula 1 driver – Lewis Hamilton or Jenson Button?
Formula 1 is only exciting when drivers overtake and it is not all about who has the best car – and that is what makes the battle for supremacy between Britain’s MacLaren team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button more interesting than the race for the world championship.
Sebastian Vettel has been so dominant in his Red Bull car that the F1 season is already a forgone conclusion with five races remaining. The German needs just one more point to make certain of a successful defence of his crown and he will almost certainly be champion even if he does not bother turning up to race again after his success in Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix.
Meanwhile in the duel between the MacLaren duo we have an intriguing clash of styles. The more conservative reliability of 2009 world champion Button against the more aggressive driving style of the 2008 world champion Hamilton.
On this season’s showing the world championship standings show that second placed Button is currently in better form than fifth placed Hamilton. But there can be little doubt who is the sport’s most exciting driver. Hamilton is the entertainer who makes the sport interesting. The question is will he ever again find the consistency needed to win a world title?
In China and Germany Hamilton delivered two of the greatest wins of the season. But his aggression back-fired in Monaco, again in Canada when he collided with his team-mate, in Belgium when he crashed out after misjudging an overtaking move; and this weekend in Singapore he got into two altercations in two days with Massa.
Love him or hate him, the sport of motor racing would be so much poorer without Lewis Hamilton
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
‘Freak’ Manu Tuilagi excites Mike Tindall – but will he ever catch England’s greatest ever try scorer Rory Underwood?
Flashback: Tuilagi flattens England team-mate Ashton
Just as Will Carling famously described Jonah Lomu as a ‘freak’ at the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa – Mike Tindall has paid the same ‘accolade’ to his England team-mate Manu Tuilagi after his devastating display in the 67-3 rout of Romania.
Tuilagi may not have yet trampled over his opposition in quite the way the former All Black wing did against England in the semi-final 16 years ago, but the Samoa-born midfielder is making his presence felt.
Intriguingly, Tuilagi is a completely different beast from England’s greatest ever try scorer Rory Underwood – one of the backs demolished by Lomu all those years ago – but there is already the belief that the 20-year-old can break all records.
Tuilagi, who has four brothers that have represented Samoa, has only been a Test player for five matches. But he has already scored four tries, including one of England’s 10 in their Pool B romp against Romania at the Otago Stadium on Saturday.
The Official Tribute to Rory Underwood - click to buy
Qualified to play for England on residency grounds, Tuilagi only made his Premiership debut in September last year but went on to score seven tries in 20 league matches for Underwood’s former team Leicester Tigers.
As Tindall, moved from outside to inside centre to accommodate Tuilagi in England’s World Cup team, said after his display against Romania: “Manu is getting better and better so it will take something to go wrong to knock him out of that spot.
“He’s a freak to be honest, in the nicest possible way. The power he’s got and his feet and that little change of pace…He’s got a massive fend and it just makes it difficult for people to tackle him.
“Even if people do tackle him he’s always half-through and we can play off quick ball. He’s a handful.”
Manu Tuilagi is an awesome talent who can make his mark on the 2011 Rugby World Cup . . .
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
Better than Ronaldo? There is something about Nani . . .
Portugal's finest? Luis Nani is maturing into one of the world's best players
Like it or not Luis Nani is going to be compared to Cristiano Ronaldo every time he does something special – and the way the 24-year-old Portuguese boy wonder is maturing into a world class performer that is going be a regular occurence.
The truth is Nani can do most things Ronaldo can do and then some. And the stats show he is a better team player than his fellow countryman was in his first 100 Premier League games for Manchester United . . . both scoring 19 times but Nani has nearly three times as many assists.
Nani does not like being compared to his former team-mate and you have to respect United’s current Portuguese superstar for wanting to be judged as an individual. He certainly deserves the right to be revered as one of the game’s outstanding talents.
100 up - and Nani's record is more than a match for Ronaldo. Special thanks to Sky Sports
Since marking his 100th Premier League game with an awesome strike in United’s 3-1 demolition of Chelsea, Nani unloaded another stunning strike that earned a point at Stoke City this evening. But it is his all round contribution that is really starting to get noticed. And his growing maturity is great news both for Manchester United and Portugal.
Watch out for upcoming news about my new film with Nani coming soon
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
Rugby World Cup: South Africa 87-0 Namibia – What’s the point?
The problem with the Rugby World Cup is that the format of the tournament is damaging to the sport because there are too many matches that are embarrassingly one-sided.
Too many meaningless games at the Rugby World Cup
Sport is of no interest when you know what the result is going to be before the match has started. And nobody outside the two competing nations cares that South Africa trashed Namibia 87-0 and romped home with no fewer than 12 tries. Big deal. Wake me up when the real tournament starts in the quarter-final knockout stages.
I am all in favour of giving the emerging nations a platform at the Rugby World Cup. But in my opinion it would be far more exciting for everyone concerned if the the tournament was seeded so that the group stages are only contested by the weaker nations.
Rugby Master Class DVD: Train with the rugby legends - Rugby World Cup Special - click to buy
Why not give the top eight countries a bye to the knockout stages – and the rest can play out the group stages to compete for another eight places so we start the sudden death part of the tournament with the top 16 nations. Now that would raise the stakes and cut out the meaningless walkovers.
If that is too radical we could use the same formula and the last 16 could be split into four groups of four teams competing for a place in the quarter-finals. Either way it would be far more exciting than the current out-dated format being played out in New Zealand.
Rugby fans want to see golden rugby like this classic try scored by France against New Zealand at the 2007 Rugby World Cup . . .
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
Ginger McCain was Mr Grand National and the story of his fairytale triumphs with Red Rum would make a blockbuster movie
Ginger McCain and his beloved Red Rum on Southport Beach
Records are made to be broken. But there are some achievements that will surely last forever – and in the case of Red Rum and his trainer Ginger McCain I believe it is a racing certainty that their story will never be bettered.
Racing lost one of its greatest ever servants yesterday when Donald McCain, that was his real name, died two days short of his 81st birthday.
To many he was Mr Grand National. And his achievement in training the legendary Red Rum to win the world’s most famous race three times in 1973 1974 and 1977 – finishing second in the two years in between – is nothing short of miraculous.
It was a fairytale story with a script deserving of a blockbuster movie that began with McCain working as a Liverpool taxi driver to supplement his income.
That was how he got to know Noel Le Mare for whom he bought Red Rum for 6,000 guineas and then trained him on Southport beach to become the greatest National hero ever.
As a young boy I remember my father, an old pal of McCain, was tipped off by the charismatic trainer that he had this super horse destined to win his first national.
Red Rum romped home as the 9-1 favourite that day at the end of March 1973 – but my father had got his bet on six months earlier and his winnings were manor from heaven for a family of seven.
McCain famously went on to claim his fourth National win in 2004 with Amberleigh House, two years before retiring and passing on the reigns to his son Donald.
He is as much a part of Liverpool folklore as The Beatles and the Anfield Kop – a true legend – and I have always been a fan. From the moment Red Rum famously reigned in Crisp in the final strides of that first epic race. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
The worst miss ever? After Macari rubbishes Torres it was almost unbelievable to see the one-footed Spaniard spurn an open goal
It was fascinating to hear Lou Macari slaughter Fernando Torres on BBC Radio 5 Live before Manchester United’s showdown with Chelsea – and even more so to reflect on those pre-match comments after the Spaniard had blown the Blues’ chance to get back in the match with one of the worst misses you will ever see.
Radio presenter Ian Payne was flabbergasted when Macari insisted: ‘Torres has never been a great player.”
Clearly shocked Payne asked: “You are joking Lou?” But Macari was adamant. “Some players are over-rated and I don’t think Torres has ever been a great player. That’s just my opinion.”
Torres must score!
It was a stunning pre-match dismissal of the Spanish international Chelsea paid Liverpool £50 million to sign in January. But no less shocking than the unbelievable miss by Torres when he raced clear of United’s defence and waltzed past David De Gea only to shoot tamely wide of the empty goal with his left foot from six yards out.
The worst miss of all time? It has to be one of the biggest blunders ever by a top striker in a big match and it is a moment that will be re-played forever by TV channels the world over.
The harsh reality is that Torres cost £50M but he is a hopelessly one-footed player. For any professional footballer who gets paid to train all week not to be able to kick with both feet has always baffled me. For a player feted by some as one of the world’s great strikers to be so blatantly one-footed is a disgrace.
Just when Torres seemed to have signaled his return to form with a superb right-footed finish at the start of the second half that reduced Chelsea’s arrears to 3-1, it is another hammer blow to the confidence of a striker who has become a laughing stock since he chose money over loyalty to Liverpool and made the move to Stamford Bridge.
As for Macari’s pre-match rubbishing of Torres, it is hard to disagree when you consider that the Spaniard is a one-footed wonder.
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
Irish upset for the Wallabies is priceless for the Rugby World Cup
Irish eyes smiling after one of their country's greatest wins in the Rugby World Cup
The Official Tribute to Rory Underwood - click to buy
BY JOHN GUBBA
Ireland’s stunning 15-6 win over Australia is just what the Rugby World Cup needed. And it is no more than the Irish deserved for producing a magnificent performance at Eden Park.
There is nothing more boring in sport than knowing who is going to win every match in the opening stages of a major tournament. And while we have had a few close calls for the favourites so far, this was the first upset. Where Wales failed to take their chance of upsetting South Africa in a thrilling 17-16 defeat last weekend, not helped by being denied a penalty that clearly went over the posts, there was no way the Irish were going to let the Wallabies off the hook.
Jumping for joy! Irish fans celebrate
Intriguingly, if Ireland can now win Pool D they will expect to play either Wales or Samoa in the quarter-finals and that will give them a great chance of reaching the final four for the first time.
Two penalties and a drop goal from Jonathan Sexton and another two penalties from Ronan O’Gara proved decisive as the Irish pack, and their scrum in particular, secured the of the great wins in the history of Irish sport.
“It was the performance we knew we had in us,” said jubilant Ireland captain Brian O’Driscoll, who was thrilled with his team’s performance and the amazing support of the traveling fans. But the skipper insisted: “It’s just half the job done. As much as we’ll enjoy this, let’s not lose sight there are two more games.”
Sporting freeviews onVISIONSPORT.TV
CLASSIC GOALS from Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Manchester City, Liverpool, Tottenham
