Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2017 i FourFourTwo UK

From Luis Enrique calling it quits midway through the season, to the court cases hanging over the heads of some of their leading players and their Jekyll-and-Hyde form in La Liga and the Champions League, it’s been a crazy season at Barcelona. The best example of their erratic form was, of course, the Last 16 tie against Paris Saint-Germain: at once encapsulating the agony and ecstasy, incompetence and inspiration of a bizarre campaign at the Camp Nou. It could have been much worse were it not for Neymar. The 6-1 turnaround at home – inspired by the brilliance of the Brazil captain – was described by some members of the Spanish media as the greatest individual display in the Blaugrana’s history. Praise indeed. On p34, we speak to the Barça…

“THEY SAID THAT IF WE’D LEFT IT ANOTHER 30-45 MINUTES, THEY WOULD HAVE CUT OFF MY LEG AS OTHERWISE I WOULD HAVE DIED” CLUBS 1990-97 Bayern Munich 1997-99 Milan 1999-2000 Middlesbrough 2000-01 Liverpool 2001-04 Tottenham 2004-05 Monchengladbach COUNTRY 1993-2004 Germany The sun is beating down in Mallorca, and Christian Ziege is being asked to gesticulate at the camera as part of his FourFourTwo photoshoot. “You want me to be an actor, just like Vinnie Jones?” asks the former Germany star. Within seconds he’s launching into an imaginary team talk, jokingly veering off into a Godfather-esque Italian accent. “You’re going to do this and you’re going to do that, and if you don’t, then you’re dropped,” he mumbles. Although in The Godfather, one suspects they might have been sleeping with…

“I’LL NEVER FORGET THE FANS SINGING MY NAME THAT NIGHT - I COULDN’T UNDERSTAND THEM BECAUSE IT WAS IN GEORDIE” Cucuta 2 Millonarios 1 May 21, 1989 Campeanato Profesional “Every player’s dream is to score a goal on their debut and I managed to score against Colombia’s league champions. I was only 19 but played very well and scored both goals against the legendary goalkeeper Sergio Goycochea – that is where my story as a footballer began.” Milan 0 Parma 1 March 21, 1993 Serie A “This was one of the best moments of my life, as we were playing against one of the greatest teams of all time, Milan, who were undefeated in 58 games. It was tough at the San Siro but we won a free-kick 25 yards…

It’s a mode of travel usually only utilised by the most rabid of hen parties and stag weekends. Next stop: police cautions and alcohol poisoning. But minutes after their 2-1 win away at Gateshead in the National League, the players of Maidstone United were having it large on a glowing and tune-pumping ‘party bus’. But why? Ian Tucker – the club’s secretary – is the man behind the transport. “We went up to Newcastle by train, and then took a normal coach to the game,” he tells FFT. “But afterwards our bus got stuck on another job – so the coach company sent that over. The lads saw it circulating the stadium and made some jokes about it being for us... and it was! So they were all pretty delighted.”…

WOLFSBURG Russ Dobison Retired, 58 Christian Trasch Midfielder, 29 Q: Who scored the team’s first league goal of this season? RD: First game... I’ll go for Daniel Didavi. ✓ CT: I came on for him! It was Daniel Didavi. ✓ 1-1 Q: Which team beat Die Wolfe to win the 1995 DFB-Pokal Final? RD: I am sure it was Monchengladbach. ✓ CT: We lost 3-0 against Monchengladbach. ✓ 2-2 Q: Felix Magath led Wolfsburg to the 2009 title – in which country is he now a manager? RD: China, I think. ✓ CT: I’d guess China. ✓ 3-3 Q: Who has played in more Wolfsburg games than anyone else, ever? RD: Marcel Schafer? ✗ CT: Diego Benaglio or Marcel Schafer – two friends. I know Diego is leading this one!…

Fans of the Brazilian club Fluminense de Feira often let their minds go wandering at a game, musing: ‘this is all very well – but how much do I pay for rice and beans around here?’ They need wonder no more, after the Serie D outfit began using players’ shirts to help advertise the latest promotions at a local supermarket. Jorge Wagner, while wearing No.7, pushed a box of sweets that cost 7.78 reias, while the fearsome No.5 endorsed shampoo. The deal earned the club the equivalent of £10,000 in only a couple of games. “We had to leave a few things – such as the sanitary pads – off the list,” laughs marketing director Xiko Mello. “And we would never let our keeper wear a shirt with a chicken…

Senior debut Makes debut for Silkeborg at 17 in 2015 – he’d already agreed to join Ajax after being scouted by John Steen Olsen, who spotted Zlatan Ibrahimovic and Christian Eriksen. Denmark call-up Form for Ajax in the Eredivisie and Europa League earns him a call-up to the Denmark national squad in November 2016, making his debut in the 4-1 victory over Kazakhstan. Ajax hat-trick A fortnight after his Denmark debut, the 19-year-old becomes youngest non-Dutch player to score an Ajax hat-trick, netting a treble against NEC on just his ninth league start.…

@Coppinger26 Delighted to have made it into the top 50 Football League players! @billysharp10 Reply to @Coppinger26 Sneaked on to the front page, me! @GraddersOnline It’s a shame Danny Blind won’t be managing Daley Blind with Holland anymore. Maybe last chance to use ‘D Blind leading D Blind’. @chriskabasele27 One guy sent me a photo to sign – but apparently I look like [Odion] Ighalo! @BallymenaUnited RED CARD – the ballboy has been sent off from the pitch for celebrating too hard in front of Winkie Murphy. @MUFCYorkRoad Delay here as the linesman has got to move his car.…

STANLEY MATTHEWS Blackpool 4-3 Bolton FA Cup final, 1953 It’s hard to pity a man with an FA Cup final hat-trick but spare a thought for Stan Mortensen, who hit a treble for Blackpool only for the match to become known as the ‘Matthews Final’. His fellow Stanley was out of this world, however, inspiring a famous comeback with mazy dribbles and pinpoint crosses. FERENC PUSKAS England 3-6 Hungary Friendly, 1953 Mocked as a “little fat chap” by the England team pre-match, Puskas made them all eat their words, expertly conducting the first foreign side to ever win at Wembley. He scored twice with his devastatingly fierce strike and dribbled rings around Billy Wright, leaving an entire host country utterly shellshocked. EUSEBIO Portugal 5-3 North Korea World Cup quarter-final, 1966…

Morning News March 18, 1872 “The officers from the Royal Engineers and the celebrated Wanderers played their final contest for the Association Challenge Cup at Surrey Cricket Club’s ground on Saturday. The ball was kicked off at three o’clock and the Wanderers got it down towards the Engineers, who had a downfall of their own lines by a well-directed kick from A. H. Chequer. Many battles were fought with no other result – Wanderers had it all their own way from beginning to end. The Engineers worked hard, though they could not alter the state of affairs. It was one-sided, with the Wanderers taking it easy, only defending their own goal. The Engineers could not get within many yards of their opponents’ quarters. It would be needless to state…

KINESIOLOGY TAPE Gareth Bale and Mario Balotelli have both been known to like a bit of the blue stuff. The duo, plus many other footballers, have been pictured with kinesio tape stuck to various parts of their body. Created by the Japanese chiropractor Dr Kenso Kase in 1979, it promises to reduce muscular pain, while providing support for joints. Yet, the benefits of the tape may be more psychological than physical. A review by Roger Kerry, an associate professor in the School of Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham, scrutinised various studies into the tape over the last decade and found that it offered minimal performance benefits. We’ll just stick to cans of Deep Heat, thanks. 1 “Kinesio-taping a joint can lower the chance of getting an ankle sprain…

Keepers are crazy, so the cliché goes, and after watching Switzerland No.1 Yann Sommer wear a pair of shades during training, FFT is beginning to think that might be true. Yet, the Borussia Monchengladbach gloveman wasn’t doing his best Men In Black impression, but in fact trying out some cutting-edge technology created by Japanese fi rm VisionUp. The strobe glasses temporarily disrupt the user’s vision by intermittently closing the lens, which is claimed to improve eye performance in normal game situations. The battery-powered bifocals are also able to display fast-moving objects in slow motion, with the aim of bettering a custodian’s anticipation. VisionUp recommend wearing them for 15 minutes during training sessions, with changes in performance said to be achievable in eight weeks. They have certainly…

David Bauckham: The non-league snapper spent a season travelling up and down the UK to document the amateur game. “Rather than focusing only on the action, I also look to capture the landscapes and the people involved at the clubs – both fans and behind the scenes.” Lovatto: The die-hard Corinthians fan’s illustrations helped to bring our bonkers owners feature to life. “From the start I connected myself with all of the stories – plus I was given a lot of creative freedom to explore the sarcasm and humour that usually follow my drawings.” Paolo Bandini: The Italian football columnist not only chatted to Manolo Gabbiadini, but doubled up as interpreter during our photoshoot with the Saints’ goal-getter. “Manolo’s serious and earnest – but he’s certainly no big-time Charlie.”…

1 SOME JOKES ARE UNIVERSAL Singapore Sentosa Gary Neville maintained the straightest of faces when taking a snap with Shrek at Universal Studios in Singapore – but we suspect he knew what was coming. G-Nev promptly posted the image on Instagram, without comment, and the responses came flooding in. Cue more than 150 wisecracks on Wayne Rooney (yes, we counted them), although one or two went rogue with quips regarding Sam Allardyce or Jaap Stam. Poor Jaap. 2 A REAL BAD SPELL Ethiopia Addis Ababa ‘Wenger Out’ banners have been seen as far as New Zealand and Finland, at WrestleMania, marches against Donald Trump and the South African president Jacob Zuma, at a wedding – and even held aloft by two traditionally-dressed Maasais in deepest rural Kenya. Then one was…

Minutes before every Santos Laguna match in the Mexican top flight, a 50-year-old man emerges from the dressing rooms, legs it out into the middle of the pitch and then performs a somersault. Even more impressively, Eron Vargas performs this feat while dressed in a full Native American costume. Few know he’s actually half a century old – by the way he runs and jumps, Vargas could be 20 years younger. “It’s the suit – when I put it on, I get all this energy,” Vargas tells FFT. “We play at over 40 degrees Celsius, but I don’t care as I feel the stadium’s vibe. I’d never change that adrenaline rush – it’s why I love the job.” Always looking for new ways to entertain the crowd at the club’s…

The brand new San Diego franchise has taught us one thing – if you ask the fans to choose your club name, you may well end up with ‘Footy McFooty Face’. Hot on the heels of an internet vote calling an icebreaker ‘Boaty McBoatface’, supporters had one name in mind when SoccerCity San Diego – an ownership group with MLS aspirations – asked for new ideas. “We received 1,000 proposals, and Footy McFooty Face was in there enough to make the final pool of 50 names,” the club’s social media co-ordinator Andy Altman says to FFT. “We didn’t expect it to take off like it did.” And it eventually came top of the poll as the long list was cut down to 10 to be submitted to MLS for approval…

ST PAULI TOASTER If you’re looking for the most intimidating toaster in world football (and let’s face it, we all have been at some stage in our lives), look no further than the German second division. St Pauli’s skull and crossbones logo may be designed to frighten the life out of opponents, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be used on an array of club shop items – even teddy bears and baby clothes (sweet dreams, kids). But our favourite is this toaster, which even sears the scary image into the bread. Available for €39.95.…

“IT’S TOO BIG A STEP TO GO TO CITY OR UNITED NOW. IT’S IMPORTANT TO KEEP PLAYING. IN ENGLAND I WOULD FOLLOW ARSENAL, AS I LIKED HENRY” This season, you’ve earned a place in the Ajax first team and made your debut for Denmark. Has 2016-17 gone better than you expected? Yeah, absolutely. My goal was to play for Ajax’s reserve team, become their best player and maybe get a few matches in the first team. But then Arek Milik went to Napoli and I got the chance. Then in the first game of the season I played and scored against PAOK in a Champions League qualifier. From that point I was motivated. The coach gave me confidence to play in the way I’ve always done. What have been your…

GUARDIOLA WAS APPOINTED TO THE SORT OF FERVOUR USUALLY RESERVED FOR RELIGIOUS APPARITIONS Around this time last year, I happened to be having a chat with a player from a mid-table Premier League club. We were discussing, to no particular end, the remarkable season just gone – the one that had seen Chelsea collapse, Louis van Gaal sacked and Leicester, somehow, win the Premier League title. It was a bit of a shock to find out that he was not quite as swept up in the romance of that last story as the rest of us – this was, remember, before all of the unpleasantness with Claudio Ranieri. But his reasoning, once explained, was sound. Leicester, he claimed, had given his club – and many clubs like them, clubs with…

THE BLADES ARE BACK A great job done by Chris Wilder to get Sheffield United promoted – six seasons in League One have come to an end. Rob Healy RESPECT JUVE FEATS Juventus never get the praise for dominating Serie A the way they do. Maybe they’re actually a good football team? Alan Barr CHANGE THE FORMAT Surely the EFL Trophy format will be changed at the Football League AGM? It was so obvious that it just didn’t work. Stuart Boyle SANCHEZ LUCKY  a second Alexis Sanchez reader shouldn of’t have been on the it’s list taken of nominees for PFA figure Player out of the Year – he line has . not done enough this term. at Steve Coates be a top-six -generation AR  FourFourTwo The more , so…

English footballers are not sexy. That’s not to say they’re an uglier breed than their foreign counterparts, but while exotic imports impact English culture, from David Ginola hijacking TV schedules with L’Oreal commercials to Paul Pogba collaborating with Croydon-born grime artist Stormzy 20 years later, the favour isn’t returned. You can’t imagine football fanatics in Brazil naming their offspring after a jug-eared tap-in merchant such as Gary Lineker, can you? Well, actually, there are 606 Brazilians called Lineker. All were born from the 1980s onwards. Lineker is the 5,511th-most popular name in Brazil, and while that doesn’t sound like very much, it’s an Anglo-Saxon surname meaning ‘flax-grower’ being used as a given name in a Portuguese-speaking country. The finest striker to come out of Leicester – sit down, Emile –…

Who is he again? Belfast-born forward Whiteside bustled up front for Manchester United, Everton and Northern Ireland. At 6ft 2in, Norm matured early – he became the youngest-ever player at a World Cup finals (1982) and youngest scorer in an FA Cup final (the 1983 replay victory over Brighton). He was a bit injury prone though, right? Knee knack ended his playing career in 1991, aged just 26, although it did give him a new direction. “I became interested in the medical side of the game,” he reveals. “I had spent so much time with the physio, he started setting me homework.” Norman later established his own private podiatry clinic in Manchester. So now he fixes feet rather than kicking with ’em? Indeed, and he’s got advice for us all.…

1 LET’S DANCE Middlesbrough, 1997 Fanatical Boro supporter Bob Mortimer’s version of the gravel-gargling Chris Rea hit also featured an odd vocal turn from Brazilian playmaker Juninho. “As s**t as that song was,” Bob later admitted to FFT, “it was still better than Suggs’ Chelsea one.” Harsh. 2 ALL TOGETHER NOW Everton, 1995 Liverpool-supporting baggy merchants The Farm were persuaded to rewrite their jangly hit about the First World War Christmas Day Truce – cunningly replacing ‘in no man’s land’ with ‘for Everton’. Nice. 3 OSSIE’S DREAM Spurs, 1981 ‘Rockney’ kings Chas ’n’ Dave were practically the north Londoners’ house band, and their slightly xenophobic and Ossie Ardiles-inspired “in de cup for Totting-ham” pretty much tops the lot. Jabs at every London knees-up-round-the-old-Joanna cliché going. 4 BLUE IS THE COLOUR…

“My toughest opponent? My old friend Gary Neville. He was not a dirty player, but he gave me plenty of kicks!” You’re right-footed but played on the left. How did you end up in that role? I had come through as a youngster in France playing as a left-winger, so was already comfortable in that role before I moved to the Premier League. When I joined Arsenal from Marseille in 2000, Arsene Wenger told me, “You’re going to play on the left wing to replace Marc Overmars. Do you think you’re capable of playing on that side?” As I knew the position I replied, “Yes, I feel like I can replace him.” I remember fans being really confused and saying things like, “Why is Pires playing on the left when…

What is it? Kinetic speed bands are a piece of resistance training equipment that are used in football training drills – including ladder work and sprint sessions – to help players gain an additional yard of pace. How does it work? The user is forced to work against the resistance of the speed bands during movement. This activates the fast-twitch muscle fibres in the hamstrings, quads, glutes and core – prompting them to adapt and become stronger. Who uses it? The bands have proved popular with gymnasts, track athletes and footballers. Ex-Leeds and Manchester United striker Alan Smith posted a video of himself using them on Twitter recently. Why are they using it? We’d all benefit from having that extra yard of pace, wouldn’t we? Kinetic bands are an elementary…

NIKE TIEMPO RIO III If you look good, you play good too (sometimes). Enjoy unrivalled comfort with the indoor version of Nike’s classic. Cost: £35 Buy: nike.com ADIDAS KAISER 5 GOAL Prefer tradition? This timeless design is made of full-grain leather so you can drill the ball about just like the Germans. Cost: £55 Buy: prodirectsoccer.com UNDER ARMOUR COMMAND ID Built to look good on the five-a-side pitch or the high street, the cushioned kangaroo leather will boost your touch. Cost: £45 Buy: underarmour.co.uk…

Arsenal vs Man United May 7 Wenger vs Mourinho is usually good fun to watch – even if this season hasn’t gone ideally for either Rennes vs Monaco May 20 The final day of the Ligue 1 season: can Les Monegasques win their first title since 2000? FA Cup final May 27 Manchester United beat Crystal Palace to win the cup last year, but who will succeed them? Barcelona vs Alaves May 27 Barça face an Alaves side seeking a first-ever major trophy, in the final of the Copa del Rey Championship play-off final May 29 Wembley plays host to the most lucrative game in world football. The winners earn £200 million Champions League final June 3 A late finish to the club season as Europe’s elite go head-to-head at…

Argentinian outfit General Lamadrid don’t require any intimidating ultras, as a large helping of their spectators are real prisoners. The fourth division club’s ground in Villa Devoto, Buenos Aires, just so happens to be overlooked by a jail, where inmates will watch home games through their bars – cheering goals and also creating some makeshift banners. Pablo Lucas was already a Lamadrid supporter when he was banged up for two years. “I could see my wife and my brothers – plus my dog – in the ground,” he tells FFT. “It was just like I was in the stands with them.” Mario Oriente was a Boca Juniors fan, but loved Lamadrid amid his time in the slammer, becoming a director once he’d got out and writing the club’s anthem. Some…

Answers 1) Arsenal vs Chelsea; 2) Greece vs Czech Republic; 3) Everton vs Man United; 4) Atletico Madrid vs Athletic Bilbao; 5) Italy vs Germany; 6) Blackburn vs Wigan 7) Man City vs QPR; 8) Brazil vs Turkey; 9) Holland vs West Germany; 10) Real Zaragoza vs Arsenal; 11) Man United vs Necaxa; 12) Palace vs Liverpool; 13) Swansea vs Chelsea; 14) Man United vs Bayern; 15) Croatia vs Australia; 16) Argentina vs Greece; 17) England vs Algeria; 18) Northampton vs Man United; 19) Liverpool vs Tottenham; 20) Barcelona vs Chelsea WELCOME BACK Street vendors sold toilet rolls bearing Gonzalo Higuain’s face and pics of the Juve striker stood in a toilet bowl when he returned to face old club Napoli…

No Hunger In Paradise Michael Calvin (Century, £16.99) ●●●●● The award-winning writer’s new forensic, and also sometimes alarming, case study into why some young prospects make the cut – and others fall away – is fascinating. In London, Calvin looks at Liverpool’s full-back Nathaniel Clyne, signed up by Crystal Palace after several knock-backs, and Lambeth-born Andre Blackman, at the time struggling to carve a career for himself at MAS Fez in Morocco. The finest of margins dictated their career paths. He draws upon the examples of setups across the continent – Roy Makaay’s calm approach when he was with Feyenoord during a youth event contrasts with a QPR youth team whose dugout “is carrying on just like a typical English pub team”. Gareth Southgate also discusses – in bewildering detail…

Giovanni Simeone CLUB Genoa POSITION Forward VALUE £14m FOOT R HEIGHT 1.81m NATION ARG AGE 21 TECHNICAL The offspring of Atletico Madrid coach and David Beckham nemesis, Diego Simeone, Giovanni likes to operate as a central striker. But he is equally effective when working off a strike partner and opening up the space to bring other team-mates into play. He’s got good positional sense, loves to take defenders on and is potent in the air as well. Tactically astute, he has thrived in more than one formation, with the most lucrative being a 4-3-1-2 for Argentina under-20s. The occasional tendency to overcook things a tad points more to youthful enthusiasm rather than any long-term problems. MENTAL He coolly took his chance when Genoa’s first-choice striker Leonardo Pavoletti was on the…

“MY FAVOURITE ERA OF HISTORY IS THE ZULU WARS. IT WAS LIKE HEREFORD VS NEWCASTLE” Hi Neville. You received an MBE while still playing, and the Queen asked you what you were doing “now that you are retired”. Did your opinion of Her Majesty go down a little after that? Ha, that was a bit of a killer, yes. But the Queen’s great. There are so many rooms full of people to meet – how can she be properly briefed on everyone? I was just pleased she got my name right. If she could remember it all, she’d be winning Mastermind. It must be a long old day. Do you think the Queen enjoys being the Queen, or do you think she’d have been happier with some regular work? She’s…

The overhead kick may have been invented in South America, but it was a rather less exotic tie between QPR and Barnsley that produced one of the most famous examples of it. Few have been able to master the skill quite as spectacularly as midfielder Trevor Sinclair, though remarkably his acrobatic FA Cup Fourth Round strike – from outside the penalty area, no less – isn’t even his personal favourite. “It may be my best, but it is not my favourite,” Sinclair tells FFT. “I’ve said my piece on that. I won’t repeat it again to avoid getting into even more trouble with my wife!” Indeed, Trev once described a goal for his boyhood club Manchester City at home to rivals United as better than, well, you know what, but…

It didn’t take Manolo Gabbiadini long to hit the back of the net in a Southampton shirt – 12 minutes, to be exact – and it didn’t take him long to track down a decent plate of spaghetti carbonara in Southampton. Back when he was first contemplating the possibility of a move to England this January, some of his friends attempted to put him off purely on culinary grounds. “Everyone was telling me bad things about the food in England,” he tells FFT at the Saints’ plush Staplewood training ground. “But I’m eating well,” he chuckles. “And I’ve even found it OK driving on the left-hand side of the road here.” Safe navigation of a nation’s highways is essential, but so is a decent dinner to an Italian gentleman –…

Did you have any idea your name was an offensive term in Spanish before you moved to the country? Had it ever been an issue before? Yes, I knew what my name meant in Spanish even before I went there, but it had never been a problem for me beforehand. I don’t remember exactly when it was that I realised, but I wasn’t too bothered. It wasn’t something that I could influence – so I didn’t feel it was too important. Did you get much abuse from fans in La Liga? What did you make of it? Certainly not from my own fans, no. Getafe are a team with a wonderful set of fans and there were never any shouts from supporters that made me feel uncomfortable. Not from the…

MYTH BUSTER Mo Johnston was Rangers’ first Catholic player The most high-profile (and controversial)? Definitely, but not the first. Pat Lafferty, in 1886, claims that one Items supplied by the National Football Museum The exhibition ‘Pele: Art, Life, Football’ opens May 18. Visit nationalfootballmuseum.com for more info…

LOOK OUT ABOVE One of the club’s oldest (and oddest) traditions is that no Spurs gaffer should travel beneath a railway bridge while a train is crossing it, as tracks had passed over Tottenham Marshes – their first home ground. ANGELS’ BLESSING Hurt by talk that ‘dirty’ Tottenham had been “no angels” after losing 4-2 at Gornik Zabrze in the 1961-62 European Cup, three fans darted around the White Hart Lane pitch in divine outfits before the return leg. Spurs then won 8-1. REAL MACKAY Dave Mackay (below) was a hardman – but he could play a bit as well. He would toss up a coin and catch it on his foot, then flick it up and catch it on his neck, and flick it up again and catch it…

Hummel white boots Worn by 1966 World Cup winner Alan Ball in the 1970 Charity Shield, these snappy boots may have been “like cardboard” but sure looked the part. Player Manager Taking the reins of a third-division side as player-boss, you choose the tactics, training and teams (while also playing) to rise through the leagues. Full of bugs, but full of Atari fun. USSR 82-84 away shirt Nothing screams Cold War chic more than red pinstripes against minimalist Soviet white – it’s the positive face of communism, perfectly realised.…

▲ Everton The Merseyside outfit are helping to school youngsters who have fallen out of the main educational system. ▲ Bradford City An under-11s season ticket at Valley Parade next term costs just £5 – that’s only 21p per game. Bargain. ▲ Hoffenheim Bayern Munich’s run of 20 games without defeat was ended by the surprise package. ▼ Neil Taylor The Wales full-back’s bad tackle on Seamus Coleman in a World Cup qualifier left the Irishman with his leg broken in two places. ▼ Group selfies in the dressing room Celebrating an easy win with a photo of 20 sweaty six-packs isn’t cool. Cut it out. ▼ Salt Research has claimed consuming too much of it could make you need the toilet in the middle of the night.…

If your idea of healthy eating is a low-calorie McDonalds meal washed down with some orange juice, we’ve got bad news. Researchers at Imperial College London believe the recommended consumption of fruit and vegetables should be raised, so your five a day goes up to a whopping 10. A study concluded that eating 800 grams of fruit and veg daily lowered the possibility of a stroke by a third and heart problems by 24 per cent. Lead author Doctor Dagfinn Aune, from the School of Public Health at the university, said: “We wanted to investigate how much fruit and veg you need to eat to gain maximum protection against diseases. “Eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day is good, but 10 is better. Fruit and vegetables have been…

GIANLUIGI BUFFON “I remember his debut in Serie A with Parma. It was a match against my Milan team and he was only 17. He made five incredible saves, but my main memory of him is his first match for Italy. It was against Russia in a play-off for the 1998 World Cup, when he came on as a sub for Gianluca Pagliuca. We were worried because he was so inexperienced, so we went over to give him some advice and encouragement. As it turned out, it was him who encouraged us; he just told us there was no problem and to be calm! He was 19 – he was a young veteran.” PAOLO MALDINI “I was the captain of the Milan U19 side when, in 1985, a lad called…