When Póg Mo Goal spent some time living in Madrid, the Galácticos hype was at its peak. The Bernabéu Stadium was a mecca for day-trippers as the glamour of the game’s biggest names proved intoxicating. Across the city, however, beleaguered Atletico supporters still packed the Estadio Vincente Calderon and sang the name of ‘El Nino’.
Chelsea have announced a sponsorship deal with The Simpsons to create a range of club-branded merchandise. Centre-back John Terry said the cartoon is still his favourite programme.
With Andy Carroll looking like he may be on his way out of Anfield, is it fair to describe his time at Liverpool as a flop? A return to Newcastle seems imminent but to portray it as slinking back with his tail between his legs would be unfair to the rangy striker. As Ireland found out in Gdansk, trying to fill the gaps left by Fernando Torres can leave you isolated.
If report-cards were being handed out for the Irish players coming home from Euro 2012, there’d be a few large F’s and plenty of black marks against names. Former star pupil Shay Given also seemed to suffer from the class clowns around him.
Fernando Torres faces a fight to appear against Ireland at Euro 2012 after being dropped from Spain’s squad to face Venezuela last week. While Kevin Doyle has also suffered this season, there’s little danger of the Wexford man missing out, highlighting the gap in quality Giovanni Trapattoni must bridge in the summer.