There Is Only One Sinnacle

Despite Portugal not playing yesterday I have no interest in thinking about the European World Cup Qualifiers.

Maradona Heartbroken After Argentina Humiliated By Bolivia

Diego Maradona failed to maintain his 100 per cent start as the coach of Argentina when he suffered his first taste of defeat in Round 12 of the CONMEBOL World Cup qualifiers, although not many would have expected it to come against Bolivia – and by a 6-1 scoreline, no less.

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Needless to say the honeymoon is now over regarding Maradona as the coach of Argentina. With Argentina holding down the 4th spot in CONMEBOL the press is going to demand that Maradona and his team create some breathing room or risk dropping down to 5th place and having to play a home and away fixture in order to qualify for the next World Cup.

Brazil Cruise Past Peru In Style

The five-time world champions proved too strong for Peru with a comfortable 3-0 victory at the Beira-Rio stadium in Porto Alegre…

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Nice rebound for Brazil after giving up the tying goal late against Ecuador in a game their controlled for 90 minutes. Dunga won’t win any praises from the Brazilian press but calls for his head have all but stopped with Brazilian comfortably in second place with 21 points, three points behind leaders Paraguay.

U.S. 3-0 T&T: Altidore hits hat trick

After sitting on the bench for European clubs during most of the season, the 19-year-old became the youngest American with an international hat trick, leading the United States over Trinidad and Tobago 3-0 in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday night.

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The main reason for U.S.A’s flop in World Cup 2006 is they didn’t have any one player who could creating scoring chances out of nothing. If Jozy Altidore can develop over these next 12 months that lack of firepower upfront may not be an issue for the U.S heading into World Cup 2010.

Honduras 3 – 1 Mexico

SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras, (Reuters) — Carlos Costly scored twice to help Honduras beat Mexico 3-1 in a World Cup qualifier on Wednesday, the second time they have beaten Sven-Goran Eriksson’s team at home in six months.

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Can’t see how Sven-Goran Eriksson avoids the sack after this loss to Honduras. Taking nothing away from Honduras who are a good team but this will be seen as one slip up to many for Eriksson who hasn’t been able to get Mexico playing their best during his nine months in charge.

Chelsea are putting together a list of English transfer targets, with Aston Villa’s Ashley Young near the top of it. (Daily Mirror)

Last time Chelsea over paid for an English wide player Shaun Wright Phillips found himself returning to Manchester City a couple of years later.

They are also interested in Juventus striker David Trezeguet, who has recently fallen out with Juve’s ex-Blues coach Claudio Ranieri. (Daily Express)

Chelsea doesn’t need another 30+ if they plan to unseat Manchester United from the top of English football.

Alan Shearer will earn around £1m for his eight games in charge of Newcastle, with an additional £1m to come if he keeps them in the Premier League. (Daily Mail)

Even Michael Owen would be jealous of that pay package.

Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez has admitted he seriously considered walking out on the club before signing his new contract last month. (Daily Mirror)

As he should of with the knives pointing out in the Liverpool boardroom trying to stab Benitez in the back. All’s well that ends well for Liverpool fans.

Robinho says he is benefitting from playing for Manchester City as he is getting more regular games than he did at Real Madrid. (Daily Telegraph)

I could tell you I’m not benefiting from Robinho’s move to Manchester City. I’d had Real Madrid -1.5 several times last year and Robinho would come off the bench when it was 1-0 or 2-1 and score the late FU goal to give Real Madrid a two goal lead.

Wigan duo Mido and Amr Zaki have fallen out while away on international duty with Egypt. (Daily Mirror)

Mido may be misunderstood, then again he could be a big head case. Either way he never seems to be happy at one place for long.

Chelsea Are Interested In Juventus Star David Trezeguet – Agent

The Frenchman’s representative has confirmed that the Blues and other Premier League sides are chasing his client.

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Let me break down the Trezeguet-Juventus tiff the best way I know how. Let’s say you are in a long term relationship with a girl, things are going smooth but quite frankly that spark is long gone. Now the girl is this case being Trezeguet (or his agent) wants to make the boyfriend jealous and spicing herself up trying to draw attention from other suitors in an attempt to make the boyfriend jealous. That in a nutshell sums up Trezequet agent trying to drum up interest in his player.

Valdes’ agent demands Casillas’ pay packet

Valdes’ contract expires in the summer of 2010 but negotiations with the club over an extension have been at a standstill for several months.

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Barcelona Could Turn To Diego Lopez To Replace Victor Valdes – Report

The Blaugrana’s ongoing goalkeeping saga continues as they look solve a problem that is their homegrown No. 1…

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Another reason why Barcelona are one of the best run football clubs in the world. Victor Valdes was little more than average from 2006-2008 and now that Barcelona are scoring goals at will Valdes agent wants his client to be paid like Casillas? Upon hearing that news I’d turn around and look for a replacement as well.

Really slow news day heading into another round of World Cup Qualifiers today.

Tottenham will try to bring former Manchester United defender Gabriel Heinze back to England from Real Madrid in the summer. (Daily Express)

Don’t think Real Madrid will fight too hard trying to keep Heinze. Almost a blessing in disguise that Liverpool didn’t end up signing Heinze in 2007.

Robert Lee is in line to work as Alan Shearer’s assistant when his return to Newcastle as manager is confirmed. (Daily Mail)

Good luck against Chelsea this weekend comes to mind when thinking about Shearer and Newcastle.

West Ham striker Carlton Cole could be out for the rest of the season after injuring his groin on England duty. (The Sun)

There goes Zola’s plan to ease 9 million pound signing Savio into the West Ham setup as he’ll be counted on to replace the void of Cole’s and previous to that Dean Ashton’s missing from this lineup thanks to injury.

The Football Association has delayed plans to launch a women’s super league for 12 months because of the financial crisis. (Daily Mail)

No offense but they should delay it for even longer as Women ‘s professional sports have done nothing be bleed red ink. Besides with the new professional league in the U.S featuring the likes of female world player of the year Marta and England’s own Kelly Smith. So even if they manage to get off the ground the league will be playing catch up trying to recruit top level talent.

Capello also requested that the badge on the new England shirt be put higher than usual to avoid rubbing on players’ nipples. (Daily Star)

So that has been the issue with the National team for all these years.

“Shearer to make shock return to Newcastle”

Reports suggest that Alan Shearer is set to make a shock return to St James’ Park and take the managerial reins at Newcastle United. The appointment, in the absence of Joe Kinnear, currently recovering from heart surgery, is said to be until the end of the 2008-9 season.

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It’s not like Newcastle could turn to Kevin Keegan again to bring that warm and fuzzy feeling back to the Toon army. Desperate times call for desperate measures and with Newcastle heading to the Championship under previously interim coach Chris Hughton something needed to be done. This appointment almost reminds me of the Diego Maradona appointment for Argentina where it’s not about X’s and O’s it’s about bringing in a person who the players respect and can create a positive vibe in the dressing work. Will bringing in Shearer work? Who knows but one does know that Chris Hughton was not getting the job done with Newcastle.