Now Euro 2008 is in full swing, spare a thought for those not invited to the party. 36 European nations failed to make it to the Alps. England might stand out among them, but also missing is 2006 World Cup quarter-finalists Ukraine, plus nations of th e calibre of Belgium, Serbia, Denmark, Slovakia, Norway and Ireland. \ England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland really should have revived the British Championship this summer and for extra spice added the Republic of Ireland and as a wild card, Gibraltar. A friendly with Gibraltar from any of the four UK nations with an empty diary this month would be a nice affirmation of the peninsula's desires to stay British. The Rock is not affiliated to UEFA, thanks to Spain's filibustering, so like an ugly girl or boy, they are desperate for any date. Given that it is customary to play a reciprocal fixture at your visitors' stadium after inviting them to yours, England could easily drop by for 90 minutes, though the apes would probably nick the half-time oranges. England are on the quayside looking on again but looking tasty too after dispatching the USA 2-0 at Wembley last week. David Beckham is clearly a new man and seemed to be glowing post-match having seen off the challenge of his young pretender David Bentley, with a top-drawer 45 minutes. That Becks could figure in a fourth World Cup finals seemed impossible when he gave his tearful resignation speech in Germany 2006, but now the prospect grows ever likelier. England finally have found a rhythm under Fabio Capello and on that performance, could surely have made more of an impression at Euro 2008 than some of the qualifiers and 'qualifers' (host nations). 2010 now beckons for England fans hopeful of a renewed assault on the big prize. The USA took more of a psychological blow than anything from Wembley. Having lost by the same score 14 years ago at the same venue, the States were looking to prove progress had been made. In the meantime the States have achieved a World Cup quarter-final finish in 2002, have won three of the last four CONCACAF Gold Cups and enjoyed recent away wins over Euro 2008 qualifiers Poland and Switzerland. Barring an almighty catastrophe, the US will be in the World Cup finals forever more, given CONCACAF, one of FIFA's weaker regions, with coincidentally two large TV markets, is handed a generous three and a half places for the finals. But the US is most eager to impress against European nations like England, which makes Wembley's 2-0 defeat all the more depressing. "We're Americans, we want to be the best at everything," said winger DaMarcus Beasley post-game, and he meant it. The Republic of Ireland and Colombia squared up at Fulham a day later in front of a passionate and colourful 18,000 crowd. Both nations have been off the world radar for the past few years. Ireland did reach the second round of the 2002 World Cup where they lost on penalties to Spain, but their campaign was wounded by Roy Keane's furious outburst and exiling from the camp. While the Jack Charlton years were always going to be a one-off era, Giovanni Trapattoni looks to have what it takes make Ireland a regular qualifier for tournaments once again. Trap, a coach of enormous experience, belied his white hair and 66 years, by whistling as loudly as ever to his players (they nickname him 'il fischio' - the whistle, in his native Italy) and gesticulating manically as only he can on the touchline. Post-game, Trap had the enthusiasm of a teenager for the game, speaking as if he was in his first job and certainly in no mood for retirement. He mentioned Greece's unforeseen Euro 2004 win as his inspiration, explaining it thus; "If you are a pianist, you play the piano, if you are a singer, you sing, so I say to my players, 'What are we? We are a team." Eire played a solid, and almost Italian defensive game against Colombia, grabbing an early goal through Robbie Keane and then defending it against an increasingly rampant opponent. But it was no catenaccio night. Ireland showed impressive teamwork and a fluid organisation sadly lacking under previous incumbents Steve Staunton and Brian Kerr. Colombia look to be on the up too after defeating Argentina and drawing with Brazil in their 2010 World Cup qualifiers. Having not qualified for the past two finals, Los Cafeteros seem to be set fair to retake the place behind South America's big two which in the early 1990s seemed would be theirs for some time. Unbelievably, Colombia only entered World Cup qualifying in 1958 but made it to the finals in Chile four years later. Their next appearance in 1990, saw them draw 1-1 with eventual winners Germany in the group stage, a curious game in which captain Carlos Valderrama, the first Colombian ever to play in Europe, appeared to feign injury and be stretchered off before quickly r ecovering during the first half before his team left the soon-to-be world champions chasing shadows with some amazing passing football. Colombia seemed to be toying with the Germans, who then shocked them by taking the lead in the 89th through Pierre Littbarski, sending Colombia towards elimination. Freddy Rincon saved their bacon by nutmegging Bodo Illgner in injury time. Crazy goalkeeper Rene Higuita, he of the scorpion kick, monkeyed around against Cameroon in the next round and was dispossessed a good 40 yards out of his goal by Roger Milla, who went on and scored and sent Colombia home. Colombia hit the headlines for the wrong reasons in 1994 when they lost 2-1 to the USA in a game many have fingered as being fixed by drug baron Pablo Escobar and friends. His namesake Andres Escobar scored an own goal and was promptly murdered on his return to Colombia. Times have changed, Pablo Escobar is dead, the Medellin cartel and the FARC no longer hold sway, and the national team is undergoing renaissance too. Jorge Luis Pinto has fashioned a neat passing team with plenty of pace and technique, although against Ireland they showed the classic shortcoming all great passing teams suffer from, the lack of a powerful striker. Euro 2008 might be underway, but those not at the party still have the future to dream about. (c) Sean O'Conor & Soccerphile 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 03/23 Slaven Bilic vows to keep coaching Croatia The Croatian coach Slaven Bilic has said he will stay on the national team's bench beyond the European Championship in spite of a sweet offer from Germany's Hamburger SV. Bilic said that at a press conference putting an end to speculations caused by the Croatian FA's inertia. The FA inexplicably hesitated to renew the supremely popular coach after the momentous win at Wembley last November, fuelling the nation's concern Bilic could go to accept a financially more profitable offer abroad. "I'll stay as Croatia's coach. Salary doesn't matter to me. Let them give me a bianco contract and I'm going to sign it," said the former West Ham and Everton defender. "I do want to work in a club, but it will not be before 2010," added Bilic. What the fans think of FA's slowness to tie the coach for at least two more years has been reflected in a poll conducted by Vecernji list dails. No less than 77% of the voters believe the FA's president Vlatko Markovic should quit if Bilic goes. Record ban for a Chilean coach Marcelo Vega, former coach to the youth team of Chile's Santiago Morning was hit by a record 50 games ban for assaulting a referee. The former international was found guilty by the FA for knocking out the ref at the game between his team and Universidad de Chile on March 8th. This is the heaviest ban ever imposed in the history of the Chilean soccer. Club's vicepresident Luis Faundez called upon Vega to "leave the club in order not to cause more damage." The 37-year-old coach collected 30 caps and one goal in the national team between 1991 and 1998 playing as a midfielder. Capello recalls Beckham for France friendly David Beckham will finally get his chance of making the 100th appearance for England as Fabio Capello showed him mercy after several months of uncertainty. Capello, who was at odds with Becks during their spell at Real Madrid, had said he had left out the former captain for the Switzerland game due to his lack of fitness. Tottenham goalkeeper Paul Robinson has also won his return to the national side instead of the injured Scott Carson, Liverpool's keeper on loan to Aston Villa. On the other hand, other two in-form Spurs' players, Jermaine Jenas and Jermain Defoe, have been left out by the Italian coach, traditionally determined to keep the public guessing about his moves and motives. Donadoni's future at Italy uncertain Roberto Donadoni has not reached a new deal with the Italian FA, whose leaders say they will not consider extending his contract before the end of the European championship. "The issue will be dealt with when the current coach's contract expires on July 18th," said FA's chairman Giancarlo Abate. The man growing increasingly linked to the spot is Carlo Ancelotti, whose era at AC Milan is inexorably reaching the finale. Ancelotti has admitted he is interested in coaching his country but not before 2010. "I believe Donadoni deserves to stay. He has worked well so far and I trust he will do well at the European championship and the next World Cup," said Ancelotti. Ever the fair player, Milan's coach does not want to make an impression of being too eager to replace Donadoni, his former teammate in club and the national team. Athletic's keeper has his head smashed by a Betis fan The Spanish FA has punished Betis with two home games behind closed doors and awarded their game against Athletic to the visitors, confirming the scoreline of 1-2 prevailing before an incident forced the referee to signal the end. With 23 minutes remaining, a 40-year-old Betis fan threw a full plastic bottle in Athletic's keeper Armando's face. The Bask goalie suffered a deep cut and an injury to the left eye, which doctors fear may lose its function due to the detachment of retina. The fans helped the guards and the police catch the perpetrator, who was arrested and released on 3000 euros bail. Betis hoped the FA would enable them to play the remaining 23 minutes of the game, but the authorities would not heed their pleas remembering last year's incident in which the former Sevilla's coach Juande Ramos was also hit with a bottle thrown from the stands. The perpetrator of that incident will likely be sentenced just to a hefty fine since Ramos was not seriously injured. The recent bottle-thrower may be looking at a prison sentence should Armando lose the sight on the injured eye. Francesco Totti prefers Champions League to scudetto If he could chose, Roma's captain Francesco Totti would rather win the Champions' League than the Italian league, since an European club trophy is what is missing from his trophy room. "To win a title would be special because it would mean overtaking Inter, but I would prefer the Champions League as I have never won a international trophy at the club level.Who knows, maybe it would also boost my chances of achieving the Golden Ball. Still, if the performance at the European Championship turns out to be decisive for the Golden Ball, then I will not win it because I'm not going back to the national team," said the forward who has not played for the Azzurri after the victorious World Cup in Germany. On Roma's path to the European title lies, lest we forget, Manchester United. Copyright Soccerphile & Ozren Podnar Bet with Bet 365 World Soccer News Soccer betting tips Soccer Books & DVDs Tags Soccer News soccer football J-League K-League Betting

"There are not many candidates because it looks a bit like a crocodile that opens the mouth and says: 'Jump into that.' Once he's in there, he's eaten. And once you have eaten four, five says: 'No, maybe I don't jump in there.'" So went the words of Arsene Wenger, the best coach working in England at present. In the old days, before the savaging of Bobby Robson and Graham Taylor by the tabloids and the realization that the real money and chances of success were to be found in the Premier League and not the international game, the nation’s best coach would have leapt at the chance of managing England.

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.

The Beckhams--David and Victoria--have been in Los Angeles for barely two months, but their individual careers may never be the same. Mr. Beckham was injured this week as his Galaxy of the MLS fell in the first-ever SuperLiga final to Mexican club Pachuca. The SuperLiga features midweek, inter-league play between the top clubs in MLS and Mexican football. Beckham's injury--a knee ligament sprain--basically spells an end to his play for the regular MLS season and may see him miss two Euro 2008 qualifiers for England as well. In all honesty, the Bendy One does not seem happy in Los Angeles or MLS and this reporter would not be very surprised to see him end his career in red at Old Trafford one day very soon. He seems to have been born Cockney Red and so perhaps that's as it should be. It's likely that even the earlier transfer to Madrid was a mistake as well.

At the final whistle in the Home Depot Center last night, the Beckham bandwagon in America first began to lose its sheen. Only a few days ago it had all looked so rosy . Having impressed in the few weeks since he moved to the West Coast of America with LA Galaxy, pulling crowds of up to 66,000, Beckham last night appeared less than fit and less than happy as his sub-par team stumbled to a miserable 0-3 defeat to local rivals Chivas USA. The Galaxy is far from stellar - LA have won only three of their 17 games so far and have a goal difference of minus 7. Eight of the 13 clubs in MLS qualify for the end of season playoffs but it looks like Beckham's will not now be one of them after this thumping by their mid-table local rivals. The Galaxy have still to win away and boast the second to worst home record in the league.

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Weekly World News Mahdavikia suspected of faking a penalty Hamburger SV have scored their first home win this season but the authorities are now questioning whether it was achieved in an ethical fashion. Hamburger's player Mehdi Mahdavikia is being investigated by the German FA for supposedly having simulated a foul to win a penalty for his team in the game against Borussia Dortmund (3-0). The Deutsche Fussballbund started the investigation after analyzing the TV images which suggest that the Iranian feigned a fall in the penalty area in the 10th minute of the game, without having been touched by the Dortmund keeper, Romann Weidenfeller. Referee Lutz Wagner awarded the penalty to the relegation threatened HSV, which resulted in the first goal for the hosts. Capello's Real equal their best ever away record as Becks returns By winning 2-1 at San Sebastian, Real Madrid equalled their best-ever number of away wins at this stage of the season. Real also had eight wins after the first 22 games during the 1960/61 and 1987/88 seasons, winning the title both times. This time, however, the Castillians have no more than five wins out of ten home games, which is one of their worst home records in the history of the club. In spite of supposedly terrible results this season, Fabio Capello's side is just five points behind leaders Barcelona, a deficit that can be overturned in two games. The other bright point in the match against Real Sociedad was the return of David Beckham, who even got one of the goals. At the end of play at Anoeta Stadium, euphoria broke out around Becks as everybody approached the hero of the day and among the congratulators was even Capello himself, who had found he could not ignore the pro-Beckham pressure from inside the dressing room. Phrases such as "you had to come on for us to win" and "it's los galácticos all over again" were commonplace, as Becks smiled at this unexpected return to fame at the club that had almost ostracized him over his U.S. transfer. £100 FREE BET BASKET FOR NEW CUSTOMERS Register with bet365 to qualify for up to £100 in Free Bets. Your first bet will be matched (up to £25) with 3 x free bets (up to £25) available once you’ve placed an additional 10, 20 and 30 bets of £5 or more with bet365 .

Weekly World News Inter and Roma each other's destiny When the time comes for this season's Italian Cup final, it will be the fourth time that Inter and Roma meet in a cup final within a space of 24 months. Since 2004/05, they competed twice in the Coppa Italia finals and one Supercoppa, with Inter winning every time. 2005 Coppa Italia Inter 2-0, 1-0 Roma 2006 Coppa Italia Inter 1-1, 3-1 Roma 2006 Supercoppa Inter 4-3 Roma 2007 Coppa Italia Inter ? Roma Real's players call for Becks Beckham should be reinstated in Real Madrid's team. This is what the players and most of the media believe. After the former England's captain announced he was leaving for MLS at the end of the season, Fabio Capello stepped up and, quite irrationally, claimed he did not believe he could count with Becks' commitment seeing he had such a profitable contract ahead of him.

1/17/07 Beckham, The Best Hope Yet For Soccer In The USA A string of extraordinary players have attempted to make soccer big in the USA. Among them the King (Pele), the Kaiser (Beckenbauer) and the Prophet (Johan Cruyff), but it is David Beckham that may turn out the be the most telling signing a US team has ever made and crucial for the development of soccer in the USA. Many international stars have attempted to help the game take root in the USA but its popularity has always remained largely limited to the Hispanic or Italian communities.