Figueroa Wondergoal!

A little quick one here. Wigan's Figueroa makes a pre-Christmas claim to the Goal of the Season award. A fantastic shot, accompanied by a not so sublime sexist comment by Match of the Day's Alan Hansen. Someone should remind Hansen who Gabby Logan is married to! Surely the Scot is no match for a international class rugby player.

Hitting the Deck

What with Eduardo and Wayne Rooney, diving has been a big topic in football this week. Argue all you will about the aforementioned incidents, this one is as clear as day:

The WORST Penalty miss ever!

Aston Villa won the final of the pre-season Peace Cup last night on penalties against Juventus. Villa were aided greatly by what can only be discribed as a truely abysmal penalty attempt from Alessandro Del Piero. Penalties are largely regarded as a lottery and while embarrassing, no great shame is attached to missing - provided of course that the taker makes a reasonable attempt to score. Del Piero however, tries to do something clever but doesn't so much shoot as pass to the opposing goalkeeper.


He misses the rebound too...

Matt Le Tissier

I'm not sure anyone really understands why a player of such exceptional talent failed to have a more successful career. There are suggestions of a collapsed transfer to Tottenham and Le Tissier claimed to have turned down a move to AC Milan, one of the world's greatest teams in what at the time was probably the world's best league.

He retired after 16 years at perennial relegation battlers Southampton having won nothing and with just 8 England caps to his name. Whether he never left because he prefered to remain the big fish in the small pond or because of his genuine deep love for the club can be debated, however, his reputation as the scorer of spectacular goals is unquestionable.

Darius Vassell and Cristiano Ronaldo... in the same breath

I thought that the unveiling ceremony for Cristiano Ronaldo at Real Madrid was a little overblown what with 80,000 fans packed into the stadium, a catwalk and speeches. It looked more like LiveAid than the press conference and photos of a player holding up the shirt of his new club that usually suffice.

However, overblown is a relative term and having seen the welcome Darius Vassell (really) recieved when arriving at his new Turkish club perhaps I was mistaken.

Ronaldo positively loves the attention (watch him coyly soak up the crowd's chants) whereas Vassell look positively frightened. He's probably realised that he's got quite a lot to live up to once he gets out onto the pitch, or thousand of fans are going are going to be bitterly disappointed.

Self-improvement #1

If you've thinking about brushing up on your dancing skills before hitting the clubs this weekend then check this out...