Tuesday, May 29, 2012

France avoid big freeze against Iceland

A late turnaround for France on Sunday evening saw Laurent Blanc's side's blushes spared as they saw off Iceland 3-2 on hometurf.
Les Bleus trailed their Scandinavian opponents 2-0 at the break, with both Birkir Bjarnason and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson exposing the wayward Patrice Evra down the visitors' right flank.

Yet, second-half goals from Mathieu Debuchy, Franck Ribery and Adil Rami - the latter two coming in the final 10 minutes of the game - ensured that France stretched their unbeaten run to 19 games...

Europe's giants take an unlikely beating

Saturday saw shock results all over the continent as some of Europe's best and brightest were brought down to Earth by the smaller nations.

Netherlands lost 2-1 at home to Bulgaria, Germany were blown away by Switzerland in an extraordinary 5-3, while Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal could only draw 0-0 with lowly Macedonia.

It was a day in which the Davids of European football delivered some unexpected beatings to the much-fancied Goliaths, putting preconceptions into doubt ahead of Euro 2012...

Pep rides off into the Spanish sunset

Pep Guardiola's glorious reign as Barcelona's manager came to an end on Friday with a 3-0 victory over Athletic Bilbao in the Copa del Rey final.

Two goals from Pedro and Lionel Messi's 73rd strike of an unbelievable season made it 14 trophies in Guardiola's four-year spell in charge of the Catalans.
The 41-year-old former Barcelona player announced last month that would be stepping down and it was a fitting end to the club's most successful-ever period.

Guardiola will be sorely missed by players and supporters alike as he takes a year-long sabbatical from the game - despite continued rumours of an approach from Chelsea....

Kagawa's sun rising at Manchester United

The news broke on Tuesday that Manchester United have launched a bid for Borussia Dortmund midfielder Shinji Kagawa.

The 23-year-old has scored 39 goals in 71 appearances for Jurgen Klopp's men as they have won back-to-back Bundesliga titles.
No wonder then that Sir Alex Ferguson is keen to do all he can to snag the Japan international ...

Friday, May 25, 2012

Hulk eyes Chelsea move

After being long linked with a switch to Stamford Bridge, Porto striker Hulk has once again begun to make eyes at Chelsea as he looks to seal a big-money move this summer.

With the Blues hoping to build on last weekend's Champions League success by further revamping their squad - as well as seeking to replace Didier Drogba - a move for the Brazilian could be on the cards.

However, the £83 million fee needed to acquire Hulk's services may prove a stumbling block, even if his agent suggests the forward has outgrown life in Portugal.