photo credit: gordonflood.com
Yes, we’re doing this again, but I finally have it figured out…
Ok, so this thing with Fabio Capello is getting out of hand. Now Alex Ferguson is in the middle of this mayhem because Rooney hurt himself again in the English friendly with Egypt.
Now, here’s where I think we have some seriously backwards thinking. Fergie says that Fabio Capello isn’t to blame for Rooney’s injury because Rooney should have “taken care of it himself”. Ok, so what was Rooney supposed to do? Tell Capello–a maniac–that: Read more... (374 words, 4 images, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)
![[Premier] Arsenal v Chelsea : 01](http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3359/3644501659_d54d531f32.jpg)
photo credit: Crystian Cruz
On the field is where it’s at.
John Terry has asked that he be judged by happens on the field of play instead of by what happens in his personal life. On the one hand I want to say, “Amen, brother! Tell it all!”, and on the other hand I want to say, “Can you really expect that?” Read more... (339 words, 4 images, estimated 1:21 mins reading time)
photo credit: Darco TT
The bull’s gonna get taken by the horns if Rafa has anything to do with it.
Rafa Benitez REALLY has a man-crush on Fernando Torres. First, he said he was walking if Liverpool sold him. Now he’s saying that he’s got a “special relationship” that will protect his man-crush during the World Cup. Huh?
You know how guys go off to war and they ask their buddy to look after their wife and kids? Or, a dude says, “You take good care of them for me!” Yeah, this is what that sounds like. It’s a little creepy. Read more... (342 words, 4 images, estimated 1:22 mins reading time)
George Burley has been sacked as Scotland’s national team manager. The former Premier League Manager of the Year in 2001 could only muster three wins in fourteen appearances over his reign and Scotland was unable to qualify for even a second seed playoff knockout spot in the FIFA World Cup Qualifications this season. The club lost their final match of the qualifier 1-0 to the Netherlands which guaranteed their vacancy from South Africa this summer. Burley was scheduled to be under contract until 2012. Read more... (350 words, 3 images, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)
The Scandal: Can their be any doubt that the 2006 Italian match-fixing scandal belongs at #1 on this list? Though Brazil and Germany’s match-fixing scandals were widespread, it seemed like Italy’s was all-encompassing. It brought shame to the nation just as it should have been celebrating its 2006 World Cup title. It was – as we say – a real doozy.
The Participants: It would be easier to list the names and organizations who were not implicated in this scandal than it would be to name them all. Several Serie A (including giants Juventus, Milan, and Lazio) and Serie B teams were part of the scheme. Team managers, players, referees and league officials were all embroiled in the scandal. Read more... (304 words, 3 images, estimated 1:13 mins reading time)
The Scandal: Sven-Goran Eriksson, the Swedish football manager, is no stranger to controversy. In fact, he has courted scandals his entire career. But, in 2004 he suffered through his most humiliating scandal after it was exposed that he was having an affair with his secretary at the FA, who just so happened to also be sleeping with the FA CEO.
The Participants: Eriksson was widely reputed to be a real “ladies man”, and his tenure as England’s National Team manager had probably only helped him with the ladies. One such lady was Faria Alam, a secretary with the FA. Insanely, Alam was sleeping with Mark Palios, the top FA official, at the same time. As scandals go, this one was juicy. Read more... (263 words, 3 images, estimated 1:03 mins reading time)
The Scandal: You knew Diego Maradona would be somewhere on this list, didn’t you? The only real question was which of his scandals would land him here. I am not going to go with the controversial “Hand of God” goal, because it really wasn’t a scandal, or his 15 month ban for cocaine. No, I am citing the scandal occurring at the ‘94 World Cup.
The Participants: Maradona had been reputed to be the best player in the world for a long time prior to the 1994 World Cup in the USA, but he had lost his form after his suspension in the early 1990s. Amazingly, Maradona showed up svelte and fit for the 1994 Cup and many wondered how he had done it. Well, it was his use of Ephedrine. Read more... (252 words, 3 images, estimated 1:00 mins reading time)
The Scandal: The same year Brazil’s top flight was entangled in a match-fixing scandal, Germany’s second division was as well. Referee Robert Hoyzer allegedly bet on matches he called and then fixed the results. The scandal rocked Germany just before it hosted the 2006 World Cup and badly tarnished the German league, its players and coaches.
The Participants: Hoyzer was not alone in perpetrating the match-fixing, German players and coaches engaged in the fraudulent activity as well. Apparently, Hoyzer had regular meetings with members of a Croatian crime sydicate who paid him to fix the results in their favor. Some players also were accused of throwing games for money. Read more... (227 words, 3 images, estimated 54 secs reading time)
The Scandal: The Zimbabwe Football Association (ZIFA) was embroiled in one of soccer’s most memorable scandals in 2008 when its CEO, Henrietta Rushwaya, was accused of sexual misconduct with some of the country’s star players. Rushwaya allegedly forced the coach to bench players who would not submit to her sexual needs.
The Participants: Rushwaya was reputed to have sex with three star players: Benjani Mwaruwari, Harrington Shereni and Cephas Chimedza. Known as the “Iron Lady”, Rushwaya apparently had an insatiable sexual appetite and she would demand players have sex with her and threaten to expel them from the team if they did not please her. Read more... (220 words, 3 images, estimated 53 secs reading time)
The Scandal: I told you Justin Fashanu (John’s brother) would appear on this list (making their family the most scandalous in world football history), and I wasn’t lying. Fashanu was a a good player who served as an able forward for teams all over the globe, but allegations of sexual assault against him would lead to his suicide and a worldwide scandal.
The Participants: Fashanu was the first openly gay player in soccer history and the first black British player to ever be transferred for more than 1 million pounds. After he was embroiled in the same match-fixing scandal as Grobbelaar, he eventually ended up in America where he was accused of sexual assault by a 17 year old male. Read more... (242 words, 3 images, estimated 58 secs reading time)
