The game has barely finished; the streets of Glasgow are still full of broken men dressed in kilts and ginger wigs. But it’s clear today’s Scotland-Norway World Cup qualifier is going to be remembered for one thing: Chris Iwelumo’s world-beating miss.
The Wolves striker looked distraught when he realised the shot was wide. And with good reason. That video clip is going to get an awful lot of air time.
The 0-0 draw leaves Scotland struggling to reach the finals in South Africa.
A triumphant Liverpool left Cardiff yesterday as the victors in world football’s grandest warm-up match: the FA Community Shield. Despite lining up against a Chelsea side which featured the shiniest new playthings from Abramovich’s toy box, Liverpool managed to put the Blues to the sword by a 2-1 scoreline. Peter Crouch delivered the fatal cut and thrust with a header from inside the six yard box.
There was a familiar aspect to Crouch’s winning goal. During the World Cup, the improbably large striker scored for England in the group match against Trinidad and Tobago. That was also headed goal from inside the six yard box. I don’t know about you, but I can see a pattern developing…
At first glance, Crouch’s effort against the Caribbean islanders looks like another soporific close-range finish. However, the embedded slow motion replay from German television reveals an exciting twist - a twist that nearly decapitated Brent Sancho.
The Gallic equivalent of a Glasgow kiss is - unfortunately for Marco Materazzi - not a French kiss, but un coupe de boule - a headbutt. Zinedine Zidane’s now infamous assault on Materazzi is the inspiration behind this musical tour de force.
Coup de Boule was penned by three colleagues from La Plage Records in Paris. The company’s bread and butter is advertising jingles, but Zidane inspired them to loftier purposes. The track is available in French and Spanish.
It was written to entertain the composers’ army of idle media friends. Against all expectations it became an overnight success, initially propagated through the Internet, but now distributed in twenty different countries by more conventional means. You can even download a ringtone for your mobile. Who says foreign music is inaccessible?