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/ 21 October 2005
On the night Jonathan Woodgate finally came good for Real Madrid with the equaliser in their 4-1 win over Rosenborg, my mind remained filled with the image of Thierry Henry on Tuesday night. The elegant French substitute was called into action after 16 minutes at Sparta Prague when Jose Reyes limped off.
The long-awaited Ashes cricket series hasn’t even begun and already football’s big spenders are starting to dominate the headlines. The big summer sale? Michael Owen, by the look of it. Though the former Liverpool striker has said he wants to stay with Real Madrid, word is that Chelsea is set to attract the him back to the Premiership.
If Liverpool lose at Newcastle on Saturday, our Scouse friends should treat it not as just another dip in a roller-coaster season, more as the start of a long goodbye to most of their men in red. If the whispers emerging from Anfield are right, just six of the current inconsistent, overpaid foreigners will survive a major summer clear-out by Spanish boss Rafael Benitez.
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/ 19 November 2004
Modern international football throws up all kinds of rubbish outside of the major competitions. Friendlies were becoming a farce. Fifa had to step in to reverse the trend of 11-man substitutions and non-matches that robbed the public – in the stands and on TV – of decent entertainment.