Arsenal's Theo Walcott came to the world's attention after his hat-trick against Croatia for England in the World Cup 2010 qualifying game in Zagreb . Here's what there is on YouTube of the young man (mostly for Southampton) with music by 50 Cent. Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Theo Walcott

Two top coaches in the English capital crashed this week and are recovering from their injuries. The first victim was a French national, Monsieur Arsene Wenger, whose vehicle 'Arsenal' (named after him), took the wrong turning from off a successful road to a league and European double, smashing into Liverpool in the Champions League, before being hit again by Manchester United in the Premier League. Arsenal have for my money played the sexiest football around this season, but once more were outwitted by cannier clubs when it counted, teams who exploited the Gunners' perennial inexperience and lack of grit when under pressure. A wonder goal such as that conjured up at Anfield by the irrepressible Theo Walcott and lethal Emmanuel Adebayor deserved to win any game, but only seconds later, Arsenal were outmuscled and shocked by an English-style counter and Liverpool scored via a questionable penalty. United exploited their home advantage and experience to dismiss the Gunners from the title race the following Sunday, sending Wenger into new depths of madness, as he bleated about referees having a conspiracy against his club. The gleaming new Emirates Stadium is thanks largely to that man, who has transformed London's top club into regular European contenders for the first spell in their long history. But Wenger, for all his tactical and inspirational genius, shames himself by his frequently one-sided post-match rants. It ill-behoves a coach of his talent to claim refs are out to get his team, when replays prove the Gunners benefit from at least as many 50-50 calls as anyone else. Equally, can there be anything more ridiculous than the comical 'I didn't see it' defence he trots out whenever the press needles him on such calls in Arsenal's favour? The second victim is Chelsea's Avram Grant, who under withering pressure from success-bloated 'fans', reported player dissatisfaction and above all the tabloids, 'lost it' with the press on Thursday evening. Grant answered in almost monosyllables alone to the press after his team won 1-0 at Goodison Park against Everton. It was terrific entertainment and I say Bravo, Avram! Managers should repay the contempt the press lob at them. Memories are extremely short at Stamford Bridge. Jose Mourinho was too combustible a personality for people to work with for much longer, and was fired because the results were poor at the start of the season. Grant has done a fine job in taking over from such a legend and keeping Chelsea in contention for both the league title and Champions League. Anti-semitism has reared its ugly head this season amid the Chelsea-haters, but the Israeli coach may yet have the last laugh. Another coach trying to keep the wheels on the road is Rafael Benitez at Liverpool. It seems crazy that the two American owners, who have fallen out incidentally, were gunning to replace the Spaniard with the untested Jurgen Klinsmann. Benitez works miracles in the Champions League and like, Wenger, revitalised a big club which seemed to be running out of steam. All three of the above managers, whose clubs are in the top four in the league and all reached the Champions League quarter-finals, have had their names mentioned in the UK press this week as possible summer axings. That any of Benitez, Grant and Wenger should be facing dismissal is ridiculous, but also a telling comment on the insatiable and utterly unrealistic demands of the new breed of soccer investor-operators, who have no feel or real understanding for the game. Only Sir Alex, high in his Old Trafford castle after 22 years of fortification, seems safe. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

Champions League review England in extasy as Milan and Real fall It looks like three English teams will make it to the semifinals of the Champions League, just like they did last season. Arsenal or Liverpool are sure to be there while Manchester United and specially Chelsea are favourits against Roma and Fenerbahce, respectively. We may well see a repetition of last year's semifinals setup with Liverpool, United and Chelsea, with Barcelona instead of Milan this time. Well, last year Milan defeated the English competitions, United by a 5-3 aggregate in the semis and Liverpool by 2-1 in the finals, but Milan is out, after being well defeated by Arsenal in the eight-finals. Milan: End of an era The Gunners cut short the magnificent Milan's European run since the 2001/02 season. In the last six campaigns, Red and Blacks made it at least to the quarterfinals, in fact playing five times in the semifinals. Such balance made the Italians the most successful European side in the said period. Since 2002, when they were stopped in the UEFA Cup semis by Borussia Dortmund until last season's grand finale in Athens against Liverpool, Milan failed to make the last four just in 2003/04. On that occasion it took a magnificent performance by Deportivo to kick Silvio Berlusconi's boy out of the competition. Apart from that incident, Milan won the Champions League in 2003 and 2007, got narrowly beaten by Liverpool in 2005 and eliminated in the semis of 2006 by eventual winners Barcelona. Arsenal have thus made history as the team that ended the latest era of Milan's continental domination, but making it past Liverpool will take an extra effort. The Champions League is Rafael Benítez's lucky ground and the Reds in Europe regularly look quite a different side, significantly superior to the one seen in the Premiership. Prediction: Liverpool to progress Manchester United last year demolished Roma by 7-1, the heaviest defeat in the club's European history. This season in the group stage the Devils won by a mere 1-0, salvaging a draw in Rome. Francesco Totti and the rest of the ragazzi may be closing on United, but they are not matching them yet. Prediction: Manchester United by a narrower margin this time Of all English sides, Chelsea should have the easiest task against the ferocious Turks from Fenerbahce. The Canaries from Istambul boast a reported army of 20 million fans, but Roman Abramovich's invested millions will count far more on the pitch. Prediction: Chelsea absolutely must go through In the remaining tie, the mighty Barcelona's squad face Schalke, theoretically the weakest side left in the competition. The Germans are struggling even in the Bundesliga, where they have practically surrendered all chances of winning the title (the fans are accustomed to them doing that, by all means). But, this is a spirited, fighting German team which will engage Barca stars in a pitched battle with some, not many, hopes of pulling a stunning upset. Prediction: Barcelona is so much more talented Round of sixteen 1st 2nd Schalke 04 vs Porto 1-0 0-1 (4-1 pen) Arsenal vs Milan 0-0 2-0 Roma vs Real Madrid 2-1 2-1 Liverpool vs Inter 2-0 0-1 Olympiacos vs Chelsea 0-0 0-3 Celtic vs Barcelona 2-3 0-1 Fenerbahce vs Sevilla 3-2 2-3 (3-2 pen) Lyon vs Manchester Utd. 1-1 0-1 Quarterfinals (1/2nd and 8/9th April) Arsenal vs Liverpool Roma vs Manchester Utd. Schalke 04 vs Barcelona Fenerbahce vs Chelsea Copyright: Ozren Podnar & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

World Soccer News For week of 2/24 Martin Taylor shocks Arsenal and Croatia Arsenal's Eduardo da Silva saw his great season cut short as he was cynically mowed down by Birmingham's Martin Taylor on Saturday. The Brazilian's left fibula snapped under Taylor's irresponsible tackle and doctors say that the Gunner, operated the same evening, will be out of action between five and eight months. Arsenal's coach Arsene Wenger fumed over Taylor's dreadful tackle, pleading for a lifelong suspension. "This guy should never play again. It is horrendous and you cannot tell me he tried to play the ball first. It is unacceptable," said the Frenchmen, who hours later toned down his fury towards the Birmingham player. In Croatia, the news immediately grabbed all the headlines. Eduardo's former teammates at Dinamo were so shocked by their pal's injury that they lost the league game to Varteks (1-2), their first home defeat in 23 months. Croatia coach Slaven Bilic was close to tears as he lamented over Eduardo's misfortune. "He is like a son to me. We grew together, he as a player, me as a coach. Why did it have to happen to our best guy? To the Devil with the European Championship, what I care about now is his health. I hope he recovers as soon as possible," said the former Everton and West Ham defender. And Martin Taylor? For the Croatian fans he will forever remain a synonim for the brutality in soccer. Cruyff and Van Basten to return to Ajax While still a player, Johan Cruyff oversaw Marco van Basten's debut for Ajax in 1982. Later he coached the talented centre forward at the time when Ajax won the Dutch Cup and the Cup Winners' Cup. The two of the greatest European footballers of all time will reunite again in the following season, Cruyff as the director and Van Basten as coach. This has been announced by the current Ajax board of directors, who plan to retire at the end of the current season to make way for somebody who can hopefully turn the club's fortunes around and make it great in Europe again. Van Basten will coach the Netherlands until the end of the European Championships, while Cruyff will abandon his unofficial role of advisor to Barcelona's president Joan Laporta. Alternative weapon: brief history of spitting Atlético Madrid's Sergio Agüero has been banned for two games by the UEFA for spitting at Bolton's Matthew Taylor in their first leg UEFA Cup game. Agüero at 20 has already joined an illustrious group of soccer giants who also salivated their rivals or the nearby grass in the past two decades. Since the television cameras started to cover more attentively all the events on the pitch, the first notable spitting was performed by Real Madrid's Juanito in the direction of Uli Stielike of Xamax. The German had apparently incurred Juanito's grudge while they both played for Real. Stielike would have the last laugh though with a tremendous tackle on his Spanish foe later on in the game. The author of the most famous incident of this type was Frank Rijkaard at the 1990 World Cup, spitting several times at Rudi Völler. The latter had previously insulted him, possibly even on the racial basis. They were both sent off. Other famous spitters include Lazio's Serb Sinisa Mihajlovic, who soaked and stepped on Adrian Mutu of Chelsea in 2003, earning himself an eight-match European cup ban. A year later, Francesco Totti got sent off and suspended at the 2004 European Championship for spitting at Dane Christian Poulsen. Spectacular hommage to Hans Krankl in Vienna Austria is preparing a charming event to honour Hans Krankl, the nation's most prolific goalscorer after the Second World War. During the Euros, the streets of Vienna will be decorated by hundreds of plastic life size figures of the legendary Hansi. The organizer of the show, Peter Jöbstl, says that is the way Vienna will welcome numerous tourists who may like to pose by the figure of the cult soccer hero. After the Championship, the figures will be sold at an auction and during the event they will be fixed onto a 250 kg pedestal to discourage the fans from taking them home. The European Golden Boot in 1978, Krankl played in Rapid, Barcelona and Salzburg. Austria will always remember him for the winning goal against West Germany at the 1978 World Cup in Argentina. Not a joke: lottery to help Brazilian clups repay debts The Brazilian government has presented a public lottery whose primary goal will be helping the clubs to repay their huge tax debts. The lottery, called timemania (team-mania) should raise 300 million dollars in the first 12 months alone. The winners will share 137 million dollars, while the rest will go to the clubs for the specific purpose of paying their debts to the Public Treasury. All in all, the clubs will have five years to pay off the debts which amount to 450 million dollars. Incidentally, the players will be required to write the name of their favourite club on the coupon and the club that gets mentioned the most times in any one round will get 2% of the revenue. All other professional clubs will get just 1% apiece. Since the most popular Brazilian clubs are Flamengo, Corinthians and Sao Paulo, the biggest share will probably end up on their bank accounts. Embarassment for the tabloid: Guti's "boyfriend" was his sister Knowing that Real Madrid's Guti is married to tv-presenter Arancha de Benito, the Spanish public must have been shocked by a series of photos showing the blond midfielder in a suspect position with another man, as it seemed at the moment. Spanish weekly Cuore spotted Guti in a restaurant and shot his "passionate" farewell kiss with a "man". The subsequent story titled "Tender Mr. Guti" effectively shed some doubts as to Guti's sexual preferences. A day later, the serious daily El País uncovered the true identity of Guti's "boyfriend": the other person on the photos was Guti's short-haired sister! "What happened in the restaurant was a family dinner during which the member's of Guti's family congratulated the girl on her second pregnancy," confirmed the player's manager Zoran Vekic. Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

As the African Cup of Nations gets underway in Ghana this Saturday, objecting voices over the tournament’s timing are coming thick and fast from the English Premier League. No fewer than thirty-four players have left UK shores for the competition, which runs until February 10. Between now and then three full weekends of Premiership fixtures, in addition to fourth round FA Cup ties and Carling Cup Semi-Final second legs, are to be played. Aston Villa, Derby County, Manchester City and Wigan Athletic are the only clubs not to have a representative in Ghana, while other teams are facing up to reality of losing between three and four first team players. Only time will tell if the African Cup of Nations is to have any serious ramifications in the championship race, relegation dog fight or battle for European qualification places. One thing is for sure though, the league’s managers will refuse to hide their distain for the international competition until each and every one of their African stars are back in England, fit and ready to put on their club jerseys. One of the strongest objectors to the African Cup of Nations being played in its current calendar spot is Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger. The French manager has lost three key first team players to the tournament, at a crucial time when the Gunners find themselves level on points with Manchester United at the top of the Premier League table. Kolo Toure and Emmanuel Eboue are to represent the Ivory Coast while Alex Song will be playing for Cameroon. Their departure will leave a major gap in the north London side’s defence as they prepare for a weekend trip to Fulham and Tuesday’s Carling Cup Semi Final, second leg against rivals Tottenham. Arsenal’s only relief is that top goal scorer Emmanuel Adebayor will be staying in London as his Togo side failed to qualify for the tournament. Wenger has called for the African Cup of Nations to be held just once every four years, rather than biennially and that it should be played in the summer instead of winter. He has also gone on record as stating that if the tournament’s timing is not changed, it could mean that English clubs no longer look to buy African players. "(Organisers) know more and more players play in Europe for the big clubs, and the big clubs don't want to pay the price," Wenger recently told the BBC. "That means it will be detrimental to the African players because the big clubs will not give them a chance any more." The Arsenal boss commented this week that he thinks his Gunners side along with Chelsea and Portsmouth will be the Premiership clubs most effected by the African Cup of Nations. That seems a fair assessment looking at the list of players who have left for Ghana. Chelsea have lost Michael Essien (Ghana), Didier Drogba (Chelsea), Salomon Kalou (Ivory Coast) and John Obi Mikel (Nigeria). The shock waves of those departures should be eased by the Blues’ January signings of striker Nicolas Anelka and defender Branislav Ivanovic however. Portsmouth are to be without Sulley Muntari (Nigeria), Geremi (Cameroon), Habib Beye and Abdoulaye Faye (both Senegal). Like Arsenal, Pompey boss Harry Redknapp can at least draw comfort in the fact their most prolific hit man this season, Benjani, wont be required in the competition, as Zimbabwe also missed out on qualification. The Fratton Park club have been quick to seek cover for their departing players, adding the 22-year-old French international defender Lassana Diarra to their squad this week. The Premiership and other top European leagues will gain encouragement from FIFA president Sepp Blatter’s view that the African Cup of Nations should be moved to June and July sooner rather than later. He has set the Confederation Football Africain (CAF) the challenge of moving the tournament to the summer months by 2016. That’s despite CAF’s insistence they want to keep the biennial competition in its original calendar position, claiming the weather in Africa is better for football then. Some signs of a compromise with football’s world governing body have been evident this week though, when CAF announced the African Cup of Nations will kick off ten days earlier in Angola in 2010. This will ensure players return to their clubs in good time ahead of Champions League and UEFA Cup matches. The inconvenience felt by the Premiership’s high and mighty over the African Cup of Nations is set to run long after the February 10 final. Given the Premier League’s profile and power, it will be interesting to see just how long CAF can continue to frustrate England’s elite clubs with their defiance over a January tournament in the future. © Andy Greeves & Soccerphile Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football Premier League Arsenal Betting

The Emperor has no clothes and it’s official. For the first time within the walls of the awesome citadel that is the new Wembley Stadium, the English national team has come a cropper in a big way, and this time there can be no hiding from the naked truth.

World Soccers News for the week of October 24 Lehmann "humiliated" by Wenger Arsenal's goalkeeper Jens Lehmann said he felt humiliated by being left out of the team in the past weeks and warned the coach Arsene Wenger that his patience had limits. The veteran goalkeeper has not played after committing a blunder against Blackburn on August 19th. "I have taken all of this as a humiliation," said Lehmann to pay tv Premiere. "But I believe no player should be humiliated for a long time". The beneficiary of Lehmann's situation has been the Spaniard Manuel Almunia, the first choice keeper ever since, with Lukasz Fabianski of Poland on the bench.

Holders Brazil reached the final of the 2007 Copa America by beating Uruguay 5-4 on penalties after a 2-2 draw in Maracaibo, Venezuela. Inter's Maicon opened the scoring for the seleçao in the 13th minute before former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan equalised for Uruguay in the 36th and ex-Arsenal man Julio Baptista sent Brazil into a 2-1 lead with a strike five minutes before the interval. Los Charrúas' Sebastián Abreu levelled matters at 2-2 in the 71st minute and no further goals followed through extra-time, resulting in a penalty shootout.

David Dein, one of the top movers and shakers in European football, has resigned as vice-chairman of Arsenal, the club he first joined in 1983. Dein cited "irreconcilable differences" with the rest of the board, but was effectively fired for attempting to lever US sports tycoon Stan Kroenke, who owns 11% of the shares, into the club. Hours before Dein's departure was announced, Gunners chairman Peter Hill-Wood told the Guardian: "We would be horrified to see ownership of the club go across the Atlantic," referring to Kroenke as "some stranger". Dein was synonymous with the modern breed of entrepeneurial, commercially-aware directors of the Premier League, but interestingly was against the construction of the 60,000-seat Emirates Stadium for Arsenal, preferring a rental of the new Wembley.

Disabled soccer player trains for the Olympic tournament in rowing The former Uruguayan international Dario Silva, who had his right leg amputated under the knee because of injuries sustained in a traffic accident desires to return to the world of sports. Not to soccer, obviously. He plans to make the Uruguayan rowing team for the Beijing Olympics next year. "I have a coach who is preparing me for the return to sports. My future is rowing. I want to be a professional rower and take part in the Olympics", said the 33-year old forward whose soccer career was cruelly truncated on a street in Montevideo.