Scotland loses three goals; Gretna, three divisions

A couple of pieces of news today. The first (and foremost) is that George Burley led Scotland for only the second time today, against Euro 2008 qualifiers the Czech Republic, and went down 3-1. The scoreline isn’t to my mind representative of the game, but the Czechs definitely deserved the win. The Scottish finishing just wasn’t good enough, but there were some real upsides to the game, especially in terms of some of the young players in their first Scotland cap. My full match report is up at World Cup Blog.

In club news, relegated side Gretna, the worst team in the SPL in quite some time, took a rather incredible triple relegation this week, going all the way from the SPL in 2008 to Division Three (the fourth tier) in 2009. After being relegated once on the merits of their terrible football season, the additional two levels came after administrator David Elliot admitted that he could not guarantee the club would survive to the end of next season. The move will open up spots in Division Two (to be taken by Stranraer) and Division One (to be taken by Airdrie United). If they don’t manage to keep what’s left of their heads above water, a spot will also open up in the league itself, and a non-league outfit could take advantage. The final death of Gretna, which has been close so many times now, could come as early as this week, if a group of investors don’t come through and save the club. Another seemingly hard bottom slips away for the Black and Whites, revealing there’s even further left to fall.

Go to Source

Popularity: 1% [?]

Valencia winger Joaquin wanted by Premier League clubs

Interesting transfer news are comin out of the Premier League and it has been reported that the agent of Valencia winger Joaquin has revealed that he had held talks with Tottenham and Everton regarding a possible move for the player.

Eduardo Espejo, Joaquin’s agent reportedly said that big clubs such as AS Roma, Everton and Tottenham are following him closely.

The agent also added that he was in England a week ago to listen to those propositions and has said that everything is in Valencia’s hands now.

Joaquin officially moved to Valencia from Real Betis in late August 2006 for €25.0 million, making him Valencias most expensive signing.

BIO

Full name: Joaquín Sánchez Rodríguez
Date of birth: July 21, 1981
Place of birth: El Puerto de Santa María, Spain
Height: 1.79 m (5 ft 10 in)
Playing position: Right Winger
Current club: Valencia CF
Number: 17

Previous Clubs

1999-2006: Real Betis
2006- Valencia

Popularity: 1% [?]

Russia Euro 2008 Squad

Russia coach Guus Hiddink named his final 23-man squad for Euro 2008 and dropped newcomers Alexander Pavlenko and Oleg Ivanov.

Pavlenko, who plays for Spartak Moscow, and fellow midfielder Ivanov, who plays for Krylya Sovietov Samara, were included in a provisional 25-man list but had a little chance of making the final selection.

The Russians are in Group D along with European champions Greece, Spain and Sweden.

Russia Euro 2008 Squad

Goalkeepers: Igor Akinfeyev (CSKA Moscow), Vyacheslav Malafeyev (Zenit St Petersburg), Vladimir Gabulov (Amkar Perm)

Defenders: Sergei Ignashevich (CSKA Moscow), Alexei Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Vasily Berezutsky (CSKA Moscow), Alexander Anyukov (Zenit St Petersburg), Denis Kolodin (Dynamo Moscow), Renat Yanbayev (Lokomotiv Moscow)

Midfielders: Diniyar Bilyaletdinov (Lokomotiv Moscow), Yuri Zhirkov (CSKA Moscow), Igor Semshov (Dynamo Moscow), Dmitry Torbinsky (Lokomotiv Moscow), Vladimir Bystrov (Spartak Moscow), Konstantin Zyryanov (Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Shirokov (Zenit St Petersburg), Sergei Semak (Rubin Kazan)

Forwards: Andrei Arshavin (Zenit St Petersburg), Pavel Pogrebnyak (Zenit St Petersburg), Roman Pavlyuchenko (Spartak Moscow), Dmitry Sychev (Lokomotiv Moscow), Roman Adamov (FK Moscow), Ivan Saenko (Nuremberg).

Popularity: 2% [?]

Italy Euro 2008 Squad

Italy coach Roberto Donadoni has named his 23-man squad and Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Montolivo has been cut from Italy’s Euro 2008 squad.

Montolivo, who has one cap, had been expected to be the unlucky player having been a surprise pick in the initial squad. Udinese striker Fabio Quagliarella and AS Roma midfielder Alberto Aquilani were the other likely contenders.

The world champions face Belgium in a friendly in Florence on Friday ahead of their Euro 2008 Group C matches against the Netherlands, Romania and France.

Italy Euro 2008 Squad

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Marco Amelia (Livorno), Morgan De Sanctis (Sevilla)

Defenders: Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid), Marco Materazzi (Inter Milan), Christian Panucci (AS Roma), Andrea Barzagli (Palermo), Gianluca Zambrotta (Barcelona), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Fabio Grosso (Lyon)

Midfielders: Andrea Pirlo (AC Milan), Gennaro Gattuso (AC Milan), Massimo Ambrosini (AC Milan), Daniele De Rossi (AS Roma), Simone Perrotta (AS Roma), Alberto Aquilani (AS Roma), Mauro Camoranesi (Juventus)

Forwards: Luca Toni (Bayern Munich), Alessandro Del Piero (Juventus), Antonio Di Natale (Udinese), Marco Borriello (Genoa), Fabio Quagliarella (Udinese), Antonio Cassano (Sampdoria, on loan from Real Madrid)

Popularity: 2% [?]

Holland Euro 2008 Squad

Netherlands coach Marco van Basten dropped defender Khalid Boulahrouz on Tuesday from his 23-man Euro 2008 squad.

Van Basten brought in the Sevilla defender last week because Mario Melchiot and Andre Ooijer had minor injuries but the duo should now recover in time.

The Dutch play final warmups against Denmark on Tuesday and Wales on Sunday.

Van Basten’s team have been drawn in Group C with world champions Italy, France and Romania for next month’s Euro 2008.

Holland Euro 2008 Squad

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax Amsterdam), Henk Timmer (Feyenoord)

Defenders: Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa), Tim de Cler (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Ajax Amsterdam), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg SV), Mario Melchiot (Wigan Athletic), Andre Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers)

Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Orlando Engelaar (Twente Enschede), Nigel de Jong (Hamburg SV), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg SV), Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar)

Forwards: Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Ajax Amsterdam), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Real Madrid), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic).

Popularity: 2% [?]

Next Page »