It’s not just a ”Battle of Britain” when Manchester United host Celtic in the European Champions League on Wednesday. It’s also a tussle between Scottish managers with a long personal history. It’s the first time Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and Celtic manager Gordon Strachan have faced each other in Europe.
If David Beckham was hoping for an early return to international football, the Real Madrid midfielder will have watched Steven Gerrard’s inspiring display in England’s 5-0 defeat of Andorra with a growing sense of gloom. Asked once again to fill the right-hand position that Beckham had for so long made his own, Gerrard responded in sterling fashion.
England striker Alan Smith declared himself happy on Monday with his comeback for the Manchester United reserves six months after suffering an horrific broken leg when playing for the first team. The 25-year-old former Leeds United star played for just over an hour in United’s 7-2 thrashing of Preston, failing to score but he was still more than satisfied.
The Humvee hits an Iraqi woman crossing a busy road at night. The driver pulls over and turret gunner Specialist Mike Moriarty watches helplessly as supply trucks run over her, spreading her body parts across the road — and we watch with him. That is the power of The War Tapes, a documentary shot by several members of the New Hampshire National Guard in Iraq’s deadly Sunni Triangle.
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney believes he has become the number-one target of over-zealous referees. The England forward faces a three-match ban after being red-carded for elbowing a Porto player in a pre-season game in Amsterdam last week. The incident comes just weeks after his controversial World Cup dismissal.
Monty Panesar and Stephen Harmison again proved a lethal combination for Pakistan as England won the second Test by an innings and 120 runs with more than two days to spare. The duo, who took 19 out the 20 wickets to fall (the other was a run-out), dismissed Pakistan for 222 in their second innings after England had piled up 461-9 declared.
Alastair Cook and Ian Bell both scored their second Test hundreds in as many matches as England built a commanding lead against Pakistan at Old Trafford on Friday. At stumps Pakistan were 12-0 for in their second innings, a deficit of 330, after England had declared their first innings on 461-9 with Bell 106 not out following left-hander Cook’s Test-best 127.
Stephen Harmison’s pace proved too much for Pakistan as England gained a first-innings lead following a dramatic collapse by the tourists on the opening day of the second Test at Old Trafford on Thursday. Harmison took 6-19 in just 13 overs as Pakistan were bundled out for 119, only three batsmen making double figures.
Getting a team on the field for the second Test at Old Trafford starting on Thursday is threatening to become a major achievement for England and Pakistan as both sides try to cope with mounting injury lists. Last week, England suffered a major setback when Andrew Flintoff was ruled out for the rest of the season with an ankle injury.
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson insisted on Thursday he expects Ruud van Nistelrooy to return to Old Trafford for pre-season training. Dutch striker Van Nistelrooy (29) has been linked with a move away from the English Premiership club after losing his place in the United team towards the end of last season.
When David Beckham went shopping during a break in England training this week, he was ”kidnapped” in a prank by a teammate and then mobbed by hundreds of fans when he got to the store — just another day in the fishbowl life of one of the world’s most recognisable soccer players.
A disappointing campaign at Euro 2004 and the emergence of Wayne Rooney as England’s new golden boy has eroded David Beckham’s position as Sven-Goran Eriksson’s main man. But Beckham’s match-winning display against Hungary at Old Trafford on Tuesday proved he still has the ability to guide England to glory in Germany.
Striker Michael Owen has been given the all-clear to play in the friendly against Hungary at Old Trafford on Tuesday after a new injury scare. Owen has only just fully recovered from breaking a bone in his foot on New Year’s Eve, but it was a ”tight thigh” after training on Monday that caused manager Sven Goran Eriksson to send him to hospital for a scan.
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson fears his World Cup squad will be distracted over the media obsession with Wayne Rooney’s broken foot. Eriksson is still confident the Manchester United striker will play some part in the World Cup, but he has requested his next CT scan be brought forward seven days to June 7.
Ruud van Nistelrooy did not walk out on Manchester United last weekend but was booted out by Alex Ferguson, it was reported on Tuesday. Tuesday’s Manchester Evening News said that the training ground rows last week between manager Ferguson and Van Nistelrooy were so serious that the United boss ordered the striker to go home.
Ruud van Nistelrooy will know by Tuesday at the latest if he has any future at Manchester United after walking out of the ground rather than appear as a substitute. The 29-year-old, scorer of 150 goals in 200 starts for United since joining in a £19-million transfer from PSV Eindhoven five years ago, left the ground after discovering he had been left out of the team.
South Africa’s Oscar Pistorius and Natalie du Toit both won double gold at the Visa Paralympic World Cup in Manchester this weekend. Pistorius won gold in the 100 and 200m during Sunday’s athletics events, while Du Toit smashed two world records in the pool on Saturday.
England number two Tord Grip has admitted that they are devising a ”Plan B” for the World Cup after injuries to top strikers Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen. Rooney broke a bone in his foot on Saturday but has refused to give up hope of playing some part in England’s World Cup campaign, despite the scepticism of his Manchester United boss, Sir Alex Ferguson.
Alex Ferguson believes that Manchester United’s trip to Chelsea on April 29 will decide the outcome of the Premiership title race after Wayne Rooney’s dazzling display inspired United to a 2-0 victory over Arsenal here at Old Trafford. Having slashed Chelsea’s lead from 18 points to seven since the beginning of March, the veteran United manager is convinced his players can pull off an amazing comeback.
Alex Ferguson insisted he had no qualms with Wayne Rooney’s lifestyle after a Sunday newspaper report alleged the England striker had a major gambling hambit. Rooney put the claims from the Sunday Mirror tabloid that he’d lost £700 000 since the start of the season firmly to one side by scoring United’s first and creating their second in a 2-0 win over Arsenal.
Darius Vassell knocked former club Aston Villa out of the FA Cup on Tuesday, scoring to lead Manchester City to a 2-1 victory in a fifth-round replay and into the quarterfinals. After Greek striker Georgios Samaras put City ahead, Vassell — who left Villa at the start of the season — made it 2-0 four minutes into the second half.
Quinton Fortune has defied predictions that his career could be over by recovering sufficient fitness to return to action for Manchester United, the club confirmed on Thursday. The South African midfielder, who has not played this season because of a knee injury, was named in the United reserve line-up that was due to take on Wolves on Thursday evening.
Manchester United have demanded that Fifa take action against Chelsea if it is proved the English Premiership champions hijacked the John Obi Mikel transfer. The 18-year-old Nigerian who initially signed a contract with United from his Norwegian club Lyn Oslo, only to later claim he was forced to sign and wanted to join Chelsea instead.
Giuseppe Rossi scored twice while Louis Saha, Kieran Richardson and Ryan Giggs had a goal each to pace Manchester United over semi-pro Burton Albion 5-0 on Wednesday in their English FA Cup third-round replay. Everton also advanced to the fourth round with a 1-0 victory over League Championship side Millwall.
Sir Alex Ferguson has insisted he is not fretting about the performance of Premiership leaders and reigning champions Chelsea as the season enters the busy Christmas and New Year period. Chelsea lead Ferguson’s second-placed Manchester United by nine points heading into Monday’s programme.
Manchester City crushed 10-man Birmingham 4-1 in the late Saturday kick-off to put paid to the Midlanders’ brief Premiership revival. The defeat left the Blues second from bottom and quickly brought them back down to earth after last week’s morale-boosting 1-0 win over Fulham.
Quinton Fortune’s Manchester United future could be in doubt after the South Africa international was referred to a specialist in a bid to discover why a knee injury is not healing. Fortune (28) has not played since he came on as a substitute for John O’Shea in the FA Cup final defeat by Arsenal at the end of last season.
Cycling chief Pat McQuaid has described as ”obscene” the plan by the sport’s three biggest races to offer teams appearance money. The tours de France, Italy and Spain have moved to split from the International Cycling Federation’s official ProTour series introduced for the first time this year.
England’s players will pocket a reported £300 000 (R3,5-million) each if they win the World Cup in Germany next summer. The payments are outlined in a bonus package the England players agreed in principle with the Football Association during talks in Manchester that involved senior squad members.
Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson hit back at the club’s critics with an angry tirade after seeing Darren Fletcher’s first-half header seal a 1-0 win that ended Chelsea’s 40-game unbeaten run in the Premiership. Ferguson had endured talk of a club in crisis and rumours about the security of his job following humiliating away defeats at Middlesbrough and Lille.
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson admitted on Wednesday that his side do not have the financial means to compete for the same players as champions Chelsea. Ferguson has seen targets Arjen Robben, Damien Duff and Michael Essien all snub Old Trafford in favour of the Roman Abramovich-backed Londoners.
Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz has insisted he has been unaffected by the criticism coming his way following the lacklustre start to the Red Devils’ Premiership season. Adding to the pressure has been the fact that Premier League champions Chelsea are already 10 points clear of United at the top of the table.