Left field

Barca tired? Not on this evidence

Men tuning in for lots of action in Tuesday’s Champions League last 16 first leg ties would have rued the decision to stay in front of the TV on Valentines’ Night when Barcelona v Bayer Leverkusen and Olympique Lyon against APOEL Nicosia reached the 40-minute mark.

Both were 0-0. APOEL had not registered a shot on goal. Barcelona had dominated their German opposition with 78 per cent of possession, yet no opening score.

There have been reports of a tired Barcelona recently, justifiably. The La Liga and Champions League holders have slipped to 10 points behind arch rivals Real Madrid, who are about the strongest outfit left in Europe’s premier competition on current form.

Perhaps this woke Barcelona up as Alexis Sanchez netted a 41st-minute opener.  Coach Pep Guardiola said afterwards: “I think for the spectators the second half was more fun to watch than the first.”

Barcelona scored two more goals, Lionel Messi came alive, and the Catalans conceded just one in a hugely improved second-half display, that led Leverkusen defender Vedran Corluka to say the tie was over. Few would argue with him.

More in the balance is Lyon’s tie with unheralded APOEL, who will head back to Cyprus with just a one-goal deficit. Can the Nicosia side make more history and reach the quarters?

In action on Wednesday will be Arsenal’s record goalscorer Thierry Henry when the London-club travel to the San Siro for their AC Milan clash, while Zenit St Petersburg host Benfica. Valentine’s Day will be over so let’s hope for romance on the pitch in the first halves.

What can England achieve at Euro 2012?

Whoever takes over from Fabio Capello either as a caretaker manager or a long-term replacement faces the dauting task of living up to somewhat unrealistic hopes that England will land their first major trophy since the 1966 World Cup.

Let’s face it, the Three Lions have entered every tournament since, bar Euro 1996 on home soil, as one of the dark horses to bring the silverware back home but never as the top contenders among a plethora of more talented if not more resourceful nations taking centre stage either in European Championships or World Cups.

The Capello experiment failed for two reasons. One, as my colleague Mitch Phillips pointed out, was his inability to warm up to the English mindset and language. The other, in my humble opinion as an outsider, is that for all his impressive achievements with Real Madrid, Milan, Juventus and Roma, the 66-year old had never coached a national team during his illustrious career and lacked a certain verve.

There is precious little margin for error in international football and even more so for those who take the unforgiving job of coaching England. Many of Capello’s predecessors found the ever so thin line between success and failure too tough to navigate, amid cries from glory-hunting fans to bring the trophy “back home” to the birthplace of the game.

From the vast lands of eastern Europe, a region as alien to the English mentality as Capello’s largely incomprehensible attempts to address the players in an adopted language, an England triumph looks as unlikely as did in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, especially with Wayne Rooney out of their opening two games with suspension and John Terry’s involvement hanging in the balance all together after he was stripped of captaincy.

Then again, will one-game caretaker Stuart Pearce, whose penalty miss in the shootout against Germany in their epic 1990 World Cup semi-final denied England a chance of rekindling past glory, be given the opportunity for what would be a spectacular reprieve?

Is he the right man for the job on a long-term basis or should the FA roll out  the red carpet for favourite Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham Hotspur manager,  at the end of the season?

Mumbling Capello never at home in England

By Mitch Phillips

Fabio Capello arrived in London four years ago with a sparkling CV but for all his club success he departed still barely able to speak English and with his adopted country frought with division and long shots for success at Euro 2012.

It is ironic that his tenure was effectively ended by an interview given in his native Italian, when he said he disagreed completely with the FA’s decision to strip John Terry of the England captaincy.

Capello, rich beyond dreams, with trophies and titles galore and looking forward to retirement as he turns 66 this year, felt undermined and betrayed. The FA seemingly felt the same way and England fans, unanimously if the phone-ins and social media are any indication, were left pleading for an English manager who they, and the players, can understand.

In these days of multinational Premier League players and managers it seems a petty point, and one that would no doubt have been conveniently overlooked if he had found success at the 2010 World Cup.

But Capello’s inability to master even the most basic vocabulary required for a manager’s post-match press conference eventually came to symbolise his failure to get to grips with the English game and mentality.

Vastly experienced in the political machinations of Serie A and La Liga, he nevertheless seemed out on a limb when forced to deal with the vast baggage that comes with the job of England manager and was regularly left completely bemused by questions from journalists with a multitude of agendas.

from Photographers Blog:

The fight of their lives

By Kai Pfaffenbach

Steve Marcus, our Boxing expert in Las Vegas, is maybe the one and only photographer within the company who has shot more World Championship title bouts than I have throughout the last couple of years.

I shot “Iron” Mike Tyson in Copenhagen, South Africa’s “White Buffalo” Francois Botha on several comebacks, I got my picture taken with Lennox Lewis after a fight I photographed and I followed the untouchable Klitschko brothers on their way to dominate the heavyweight class as only “The Greatest of All Times” (Muhammad Ali) did before!

But it was an IBF cruiserweight re-match which fascinated me the most. Steve “USS” Cunningham challenged Yoan-Pablo Hernandez from Cuba to get his title-belt back. Cruiserweight is as fast as middle-weight but the punch power is almost as much as heavyweight.

From the first second those two men delivered an absolutely top-level fight with clean technique, accurate, fast hits and the ability to take those punches. It was in the fourth round when a combination and a straight right hand sent Cunningham on the deck twice within a minute.

NFL Superbowl live blog – New England Patriots against New York Giants

Click here to join our Superbowl liveblog where we will bring you all the latest from one of the biggest sporting events on the planet.

Whether you are a New England Patriots fan, a New York Giants supporter or a neutral, give us your views on the Indianapolis showpiece.

http://live.reuters.com/Event/NFL

Which quarterback would you want to be your president?

Feb 2011 Reuters Ipsos QB Poll Topline (020312)

Should Terry go to Euro 2012 at all?

So now we know. John Terry has been stripped of the England captaincy (again) but is available for selection for Euro 2012, which ends days before the start of his trial for alleged racist abuse.

Of course, Terry is innocent until found guilty and most fans would agree he should not be dropped from the team because of a so far unproven allegation, which he denies.

Related issues must come into coach Fabio Capello’s thinking though when selecting his Euro squad.

Firstly, will worries over the court case affect Terry’s form? Let’s face it, the centre back is not the player he once was. The likes of Joleon Lescott, Phil Jagielka and Chelsea team mate Gary Cahill are champing at the bit to take his place assuming Rio Ferdinand will recover full fitness and be the other main centre back. Which leads me onto the second point.

How will Rio react to playing with Terry, a man accused of racially abusing his brother Anton?

How will other black players in the England squad react to Terry and could it upset the team’s hopes in Ukraine and Poland? Stripping him of the captaincy alleviates some of the issues but bigger ones may remain.

Capello has a massive decision to make.

Best Australian Open semis and final – Rusedski

By Greg Rusedski

Again, in the men’s draw it turned out to be all about the top four in the world. In the semi-finals it was Roger Federer versus Rafael Nadal and Novak Djokovic versus Andy Murray. Could Federer finally beat Nadal in a major again? The last time he beat Nadal at a major was 2007 in the Wimbledon final. Nadal leads Federer in their Grand Slam matches 7 wins to 2 losses.

Federer started like a house on fire to win the first set, but Nadal wasn’t worried. He knew he could not lose to Federer in a major because he knew that physically he would wear him down. When that happens Federer loses his concentration ever so fractionally and that is when Rafa pounces and turns the match in his favor. The strategy against Federer is simple for Nadal. Nadal’s left handed high heavy topspin forehand moves Federer all over the court and breaks down Federer’s backhand side. Physically, Federer cannot keep up with Nadal in a three out of five set match anymore. Federer has to beat Nadal in three sets, which is nearly impossible. Also on his serve Rafa can start the point on his terms because Federer cannot really attack his serve with the one-handed backhand.

Rafa won in 4 tight sets and this really hurt Roger because he felt that he was playing well enough to win and that Rafa had to have been a bit tired after his epic four hour win against Berdych in the previous round.

At the moment I do not think Roger will win another major because Nadal, Djokovic, and Murray are all five years younger and stronger which makes a huge difference physically in major play. I hope I am wrong because he is such a great champion.

Woods caught between Rock and not such a hard place

There was no first full-field event win for the first time since November 2009 for Tiger Woods despite starting the final round of the Abu Dhabi Championship tied for the lead, but at long last the future seems bright for the 14-times major winner.

Englishman Robert Rock could barely believe what he had achieved in seeing off Woods in the final round to claim his second European Tour victory. It was a heart-warming triumph for the lesser known players who battle each season just to keep their tour-playing rights, galaxies away from the world Woods inhabits.

The American however seemed to return to earth during his time in the desert. Gone was his aloof, hot and cold manner of the past two years since his much-publicised sex scandal, replaced in the Middle East by friendly TV interviews and a vastly improved on-course demeanour.

Next up for the 36-year-old is the Pebble Beach Pro-Am starting on Feb. 9, another favoured location for Woods where he stormed to a record 15-shot U.S. Open win in 2000 when at the peak of his powers.

With two children to make time for, Woods’ schedule won’t be a packed one but will centre around the big events in the lead-up to the season’s defining months of April, May, June, July and August.

Another hurdle for the former world number one, now up to 17th in Monday’s rankings from 25, will be the release of former coach Hank Haney’s book on his time with the American, which provoked criticism from Woods himself given it will hit the shelves just before the first major of the year (U.S. Masters) in early April.

Nevermind. During his recent woes there were glimmers that Woods could enjoy himself and was relaxed, but they were few and far between. Those days are behind him now. As the old adage goes, form is temporary, class is permanent.

Sweden boosted by Guidetti and Ibra displays

By Phil O’Connor

Under normal circumstances Zlatan Ibrahimovic’s dipping first-half free kick in AC Milan’s 3-0 win over Cagliari on Sunday would have been enough to give Sweden coach Erik Hamren a pleasant end to the weekend.

But if Hamren had been watching Feyenoord beat Ajax in in Holland’s Eredivisie on Saturday he would have seen another Swede, John Guidetti, net a hat-trick as Feyenoord won 4-2, giving him a mouthwatering selection problem ahead of Euro 2012.

On loan from Manchester City, Guidetti is widely considered to be one of Sweden’s most promising talents in the post-Zlatan generation, but until his move to Rotterdam he hadn’t done much at the top level of the game.

Starved of opportunities at mega-rich Manchester City, he had a successful spell on loan back in Sweden with Brommapojkarna and a short stay at Burnley. These two stints have given a glimpse of his precocious talent, but it is in Holland that he is finally starting to deliver.

Fourteen goals so far this term for Feyenoord have made him a fan favourite, with his hat-tricks against Twente and Ajax going a long way to establishing his reputation.   He broke into the Swedish Under-21 side in May 2010, and with Alexander Gerndt – recently convicted on a domestic violence charge – unlikely to be picked for the foreseeable future, Guidetti may be fast-tracked into Hamren’s senior setup in time for Euro 2012.

If Hamren is considering bringing him to face France, England and Ukraine at the finals it is likely that he wil be in the next squad to face Croatia in a February friendly.