World Cup finalists Wesley Sneijder and David Villa head a ten-man short-list for the player of the tournament award.
The Netherlands playmaker and Spain striker will be on opposing sides in Johannesburg on Sunday evening, as both nations look to win their first-ever World Cup.
The successful nation could then be able to boast the player of the tournament after the list of nominees for the adidas Golden Ball were unveiled by FIFA's Technical Study Group.
Spain have three entrants on the short-list in five-goal joint leader scorer Villa plus Barcelona midfielders Xavi and Andres Iniesta.
Netherlands have two in fellow five-goal scorer Sneijder and team-mate Arjen Robben.
Germany pair Bastian Schweinsteiger and Mesut Ozil featured strongly in their march to the semi-finals and find their names on the short-list.
Meanwhile, four-goal Uruguay striker Diego Forlan, Ghana's Asamoah Gyan and reigning FIFA world player of the year Lionel Messi of Argentina complete the list of candidates.
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The winner of the prestigious award will be unveiled after Sunday's final at Soccer City.
Zinedine Zidane was the last winner of the accolade after helping France reach the final in Germany four years ago.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Manchester City's England defender Micah Richards is determined to stay at Eastlands and fight for a regular starting spot, despite being constantly linked with a move away from the club.
The versatile 22-year-old faces competition for a starting spot at right-back from Pablo Zabaleta and summer signing Jerome Boateng, but Richards is up for the challenge.
He told the club's official website:"There have been lots of things said and written about my future at City this summer.
"But I think from the effort I have put in during training and in the pre-season games that it is evident to everyone that I want to stay at City.
"It does affect your concentration when you are consistently linked with a move away or people are talking about you being replaced – especially as I have been here for so long.
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"Sometimes you get a bit down when these things are constantly being said and I play best when I am happy and confident, which I am at the moment."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson has warned midfielder Javier Mascherano that he will not be allowed to leave the club on the cheap, despite continuing interest from Barcelona.
The 26-year-old was absent from the Reds squad for the 3-0 defeat at Manchester City on Monday evening, with Hodgson feeling that the Argentinian's head was not right for the game.
He warned after the game:"Unfortunately the fee the club thinks is the correct fee and the fee we are being offered are very far apart.
"Unless that can be resolved he might be unhappy for a long time to come. But I have no wish to create headlines over the Mascherano situation.
"The discussions between Barcelona and the club are being held at high club level and as a result I don't really want to get involved in it.
"It is not the first time these things have happened – there are quite a lot of clubs suffering at the moment by their players being courted by others and their players being unhappy at being required to fulfil their contracts.
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"It has happened to us now. Hopefully matters will get resolved, certainly before the end of the transfer window and I'll have a chance to pick him again, but last night would not have been a good time to select him.
"It will happen, I guess, a day when the offer for him matches our valuation, but until that day he stays with us."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Newcastle United boss Chris Hughton has played down rumours suggesting he is interested in bringing Shay Given back to St James' Park.
The Manchester City shot-stopper has lost his place to Joe Hart at Eastlands and was linked with a move away from Roberto Mancini's side before the transfer window closed three weeks ago.
It had been suggested that Hughton was keen to bring the Republic of Ireland international to Tyneside after Steve Harper sustained a shoulder injury during Saturday's 1-0 victory at Everton.
However, when quizzed about the possibility, Hughton would only say the rumours were "wild stuff".
He had earlier said of Harper:"Steve is still being assessed. It's shoulder ligament damage and he'll be out for more than just weeks. We'll have to wait and see.
"We'll use the squad and there will be significant changes (for Wednesday's Carling Cup clash at Chelsea).
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"I don't mind the supporters who are travelling down knowing that. You have to look at the members of the squad who didn't play at Everton. We have a lot of options and there will be changes to the team."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
A mixed week at Tottenham with a win, lose and draw; however the North Londoners seem to have finally got over their Champions League hangovers. A hard earned point today sees Harry Redknapp’s men enter the top four for the first time this season – a position that they will endeavour to keep hold of all season.
This week at FFC we have seen a mixed bag of Spurs blogs which has included…Bale the perfect role model; Tottenham must reject transfer approach and Jamie O’Hara faces dilemma.
Plus we have taken a look at the best Tottenham stories on the Web this week.
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Featured Articles of the week:
Tottenham WAG Arena Just Got Better
Top 10 Most Famous Tottenham Supporters
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Other Tottenham Blogs
PART ONE – ‘If Premier League Clubs Were Musicians’
Gareth Bale: The perfect role model for others to aspire to
Hate to say it but it’s time to take Tottenham seriously
Why Tottenham must respond to transfer speculation with an iron fist
Gareth Bale scoops the Performance Award [Video]
TomTom route appears rosy for Tottenham Hotspur
Jamie O’Hara’s transfer dilemma
Crouch and Van der Vaart make top 10 in Champions League report
Top 10 transfers moves from hell – for the players anyway!
Could these two big deals make all the difference for Tottenham?
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Click on PAGE 2 to see the BEST SPURS ARTICLES around the Web this week
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Best of Web
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You’ll always find you can’t smile without Tottenham – Dear Mr Levy
Resurrection Man – Spurs Musings with JimmyG2
Wilson, Jenas and Shifty Looking Robots – Who Framed Ruel Fox?
Arry Redknapp Is Mavis Riley – Harry Hotspur
Inter 4 Spurs 3: Astonishing Bale (Part II) – Dear Mr Levy
So far, so still unsure. UEFA have brought the experiment of six referees to the Champions League, after a year with its little brother. The Additional Assistant Referees (AARs), if anybody didn’t know, patrol the line between the goalkeeper’s right post and the corner flag. They cannot actually give decisions, but can aid the referee in decisions, most probably concerning the goal line, fouls in the box at set-pieces, and simulation. After the Champions League, the next logical step is the domestic game, and thus, the Premier League.
Last year a review by the League Managers Association (LMA), including notable contributions form David Moyes and Roy Hodgson, concluded that there is still much work to be done regarding the system and how it operates. Their concerns, among other things, included:
1. AARs should not be considered as an alternative to technology.
2. Managers, coaches, players and referees should all be consulted regarding any decision-making.
3. AARs should be encouraged to contribute more to the running of the game.
The last point is the key one for me. The referee will always have the final decision, and that is the way it should remain. I agree with the point that, if the AARs are going to be there then they should provide an active role. The tendency so far, is for them to stay rather anonymous, so as not to cause any negative press of highlight any flaws. But the flipside is too much interference, and as I said, the referee should remain in charge of the game.
With a season under its belt in the Europa League, and now being trialled in the biggest club competition in the world, there is time for the Premier League to assess the pros and cons of the initiative. The scheme is on the biggest stage possible; the only reason it wasn’t used at last summer’s World Cup was intervention from Sepp Blatter, and so it falls under Michel Platini and UEFA’s remit, but not FIFA’s. If there still issues to be nutted out, they will be under the gaze of the world; and I’m sure Graeme Souness et al to argue on Sky Sports European nights.
I can’t see the logic in not trying the system out in the Premier League. If this is the direction that UEFA are taking, then it worth keeping up. Having two extra pairs of eyes must surely help the referee, especially considering it is still he that makes the final decision. I also agree however, that this should not be introduced instead of technology. The system, and uses of technology are a far longer issue to try and comprehend, but I can’t see why goal line technology can’t be the first to dip its toe in the game’s water. The AARs would have very good views of goal line incidents, but there may be players in the way, and there is still room for human error (I don’t buy the notion the game needs things to go wrong so ‘we can talk about it in the pub’. The game has got plenty going on, and always will – taking out wrong decisions does not render the game boring).
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As a beacon in domestic football, the Premier League should be seen to advance the game as much as possible. Any chance it has of improving football, should be certainly considered, and in this situation, potentially trialled. If the PL gives it a go, and it either doesn’t work, or even doesn’t improve the refereeing decisions made, then it can be dropped. There is nothing wrong with attempting to improve the game as long as it is done in a considerate manner, and with the backing of those involved.
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1. Liverpool 2-0 Chelsea – Despite (sort of, like, just) winning their last three fixtures, Liverpool entered this clash at the longest odds they’ve ever been to win a home game in the Premier League era. Unfortunately for the bookies, Fernando Torres – who was also probably the longest odds he’s ever been to score during his Premier League era – suddenly remembered that he was still Fernando Torres, despite the masculine hair, and that Fernando Torres was once actually pretty good, before he went to the World Cup and tried to help boost Wayne Rooney’s reputation. Chelsea missed the man flued Drogba in the first half and looked the better side with him on in the second. But they still couldn’t beat Reina, leaving John Whenry and his clearly fascinated wife to enjoy their first taste proper of the Anfield experience.
2. Arsenal 0-1 Newcastle – After having to spend mid-week listening to everyone and their cat wax lyrical about how brilliant Tottenham are, Arsenal fans had to suffer the further ignominy of losing at home to a manager with a 20-year Spurs connection. Chris Hughton is now firmly a Toon – as evidenced by his admirably dedicated black and white striped hair – and his greatest achievement here was that this wasn’t, by any stretch of the imagination, a smash and grab win. Arsenal of course had the best of it, as they’re wanton to do against any and all comers to the Emirates, and Łukasz Fabiański was culpable for trying to camply swat the ball away from the large hairy bullet train head of Andy Carroll, but the Magpies held their own and went for it. If Mike Ashley isn’t a masochist for the good old days of being hated he’ll give Hughton the contract he so clearly deserves, and make him the 435rd Messiah at St James Park since the invention of the iPod.
3. West Brom 0-2 Man City – With the Italian National coach Cesare Prandelli in disguise as the Scarlet Pimpernel watching two Italian managers battle it out on a cold night at the Hawthorns, it was fitting that the game was decided by the Italian youngster the Special One decided was both a special talent and special needs. Mario Bat-shi*teli gave us our first real taste of the Jekyll and Hyde character he can be by scoring twice in six minutes, diving to try and win two penalties, refusing to smile at anything before getting himself sent off for petulantly kicking a player who was himself sent off a few minutes later. And another new star of the Premier League is born.
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4. Man Utd 2-1 Wolves – 24 years to the day that Sir Alex Ferguson took charge of Manchester United, and 28 years to the day that Owen Hargreaves was last truly fully fit, the aging red nosed maestro pulled a surprise out of his magic hat by naming the curly haired Germanandian Englishman in his starting line up for the first time since 2008. And after watching his manager pull that surprise, Hargo pulled one of his own, in his hamstring, and trudged off the field swearing like a sailor after only 5 minutes. As United’s remaining first team players struggled admirably to remember who their team mates were, Wolves gave them a good run for their money until Park Ji Sung – In apparent fancy dress as Rufio from the 1991 Steven Spielberg film Hook – grabbed that most United of footballing things, the last minute winner to leave Mi’ Muc’Harthy in his usual post match role as Unlucky Alf from the Fast Show. Bugger.
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5. Bolton 4-2 Spurs – At the spiritual home of ‘being brought back down to earth’ Tottenham suffered the dreaded European hangover as Gareth Bale failed to live up to his newfound status as the greatest player to ever grace the world ever ever, slightly embarrassing overenthusiastic twitterers (and the occasional respected journalist) the world over. Managing to live up to their newfound expectations however were Owen Coyle’s Bolton, who’s recent ability to actually play some slight variation on attractive football has left Big Sam’s assertion that he’s just as good a coach as Arsene Wenger for what he did there a little wide of his already considerably wide mark. Kevin Davies continued his assault on the England squad with two goals and a Javier ‘Chicharito’ Hernandez back headed assist, whilst the player who was actually marking The Balenator, Grétar Steinsson, grabbed one himself, officially making him the greatest right back in the World ever under boxing rules.
Other things I noticed – Match of the Day’s insistence on trailing not just future programs, but future segments of their current program after every single game. Manchester City’s logo’d undershirt, which is much nicer than their actual shirt. Asamoah Gyan’s celebratory tribute to the dangers of stepping on a firework during Guy Fawkes night, and David Sullivan’s evil genius decision to take his Mini-Me along to the Birmingham game in lieu of David Gold’s banning. Awwww
If you ask a group of football fans what annoys them the most about the modern game, there is a good chance that a many of them will say ‘diving’, or as the FA so harmlessly put it ‘simulation’. It is arguably the scourge of the world game, but what can be done about it?
Let me tell you about an incident from Italy. On the 24th of October this year, Juventus were playing away at Bologna and in the 34th minute of the game Serbian midfielder Milos Krasic won a penalty. Vincenzo Iaquinta missed the spot-kick, but the controversy after the game surrounded the way in which the penalty was won. It was clear from video evidence that Krasic had dived, and two days later the Italian FA gave the player a two week ban for ‘unsporting behaviour’, the sixth such ban issued by the FIGC.
Many who have just read the above story will have breathed a sigh of relief, happy that somebody is trying to tackle this problem. But equally, many will see the problems that this raises. A ‘dive’ is hard to define and where do you draw the line? One man’s dive is another man’s foul and when running at speed it can only a take a small touch to knock you off balance. Has a player dived if he jumps out of the way of a knee high two-footed challenge? The game has evolved so much that it is hard to define exactly what a foul is.
Marouane Chamakh won a penalty for Arsenal against Birmingham last month and his description of the event blurred the lines even further. “There was definitely a contact – the Birmingham defender touched me and then it was all about the ref, to give it or not. If they think it is not a penalty then they can be disappointed but for me I was definitely touched and I fell because I was touched otherwise I wouldn’t have fallen down in the area…But for me it was definitely a penalty”. This quote tells us two things about the mentality of the modern game. Firstly that a ‘touch’ is the same as a foul, and secondly that a referee’s decision can justify the means. So is a dive an incident where there has been no contact at all or where there has been an overreaction to the amount of contact received?
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When UEFA tried to take a stand on cheating players by banning Eduardo for his dive to win a penalty against Celtic it was refreshing to see an instance where a governing body was actively trying to clean up the game. But after all the fuss the ban was over-turned when Arsenal appealed and produced a video of the incident where they could prove that there was ‘contact’. I imagine UEFA would have watched a video of the penalty decision before they handed out the ban, so if they didn’t know what they classed as a dive, so how could anybody else?
If the Premier League were to introduce retrospective bans for diving they would need a crystal clear set of guidelines regarding what they would issue punishments for, otherwise each decision would result in a farcically drawn out appeal process.
The idea of such a ‘Simulation Panel’ wouldn’t be to hand out fines or bans, but to act as a deterrent to players who cheat to gain an advantage. But if a player wins a decisive penalty through deception in the last minute of a game will he be booed by his own fans or criticised by his manager? Of course not. There is too much money involved in football nowadays, if a player ‘does his job’ and helps his team win the game, he knows that he will always have the backing of his club should the FA intervene.
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I consider myself a football traditionalist and seeing players go down easily and feign injury really winds me up, so retrospective bans for diving is a fine concept, but one impossible to enforce. Has a ball gone over the line? It either has or hasn’t, it’s black or white. Whether a player has dived or not is the opinion of an individual and arguments could usually be made for both sides. Diving ruins the integrity of football, but unless players start to take responsibility it appears that little can be done.
Arsenal managed to book their spot in the knock-out stages of the Champions League with a 3-1 win over Partizan Belgrade, while Chelsea suffered their first defeat in the competition this season at Marseille.
The Gunners started brightly but were frustrated for the first 30 minutes of the tie by a resolute Partizan side. However, Robin van Persie won a penalty which he calmly dispatched himself to hand Arsenal a 1-0 lead at half-time.
The Serbian side made Arsenal sweat when Cleo levelled matters early in the second-half as his shot took a wicked deflection off Sebastien Squillaci before looping over a stranded Lukasz Fabianski.
Arsenal were always the stronger side and their persistence paid off as second-half substitute Theo Walcott restored their lead, before Samir Nasri put the game to bed to make it 3-1 late on.
Had Braga won on their trip to the Ukraine anything less than a victory for the Gunners would have resulted in Europa League football at the Emirates this season but the Portuguese side were beaten 2-0 by Shakhtar Donetsk.
Chelsea had already guaranteed top-spot in Group F ahead of their visit to the Marseille but boss Carlo Ancelotti chose to start with key man Didier Drogba regardless. With both the French side and the Blues already through to the next round the contest was never going to be the most exciting of affairs but there were talking points in the first half.
Chelsea were awarded an early penalty after Salomon Kalou was brought down in the area but the referee changed his mind, under pressure from the Marseille players, after consulting his assistant.
Drogba was removed from the action in the second-half and received a standing ovation from the Marseille fans, with the French side the club where he made his name.
The bragging rights went to the French side though as Brandao snatched a late winner for the hosts.
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In Group G Real Madrid destroyed French side Auxerre 4-0, with Cristiano Ronaldo amongst the goal scorers. Real had already qualified from Group G and AC Milan will also be involved in the latter stages despite slipping to a 2-0 defeat at the San Siro to Ajax, who will now be competing in the Europa League.
In Group E a 1-1 draw at CFR Cluj-Napoca was good enough for Roma to secure their spot in the next round, the Romanian side's European dream came to an end despite Basle's 3-0 defeat at Bayern Munich.
In Slovakia crowd disruption at the start of the game halted proceedings in the contest between MSK Zilina and Spartak Moscow, the other two side's in Chelsea's Group F. When the action resumed the Russian side managed to secure a 2-1 victory, with Spartak heading into the Europa League after finishing third in the group.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
No change at the top of the table as the top four teams all took maximum points to leave the table as it was. Carlo Ancelotti will be desperate for a home win, this afternoon, to ensure they remain within touching distance at the top of the table.
In the papers this morning there has been a mixed bag of stories including Redknapp hints that Beckham deal is close; Roy Hodgson believes he has total backing of the owners and players, while Ryan Giggs is wanted by the New York Cosmos.
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Newcastle line up bid for PSG’s Stephane Sessegnon – IMScouting
Redknapp hints Beckham deal is close – Guardian
Balotelli committed to City – Sky Sports
Aston Villa prepare second offer for Jean II Makoun – IMScouting
Players and owners back me at Liverpool, insists Hodgson – Guardian
Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs wanted by New York Cosmos – People
Ferguson: Rooney was out of this world – Daily Telegraph
Liverpool lead the race for Germany star – Mirror
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Fans’ fractured faith could be Houllier’s downfall – Guardian
Ancelotti opts against Video nasty – Daily Telegraph
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