José Mourinho’s had a haircut.
I’m not really in a position to offer authoratative comment on male attractiveness. However, I’m prepared to venture my opinion that the Chelsea manager was quite a handsome bastard before his trip to the barber’s. Now he’s just a bastard - I’m sure about that.
What on earth possessed him? Too many late night calls from advertisers looking for a photogenic face to tout their wares? Not much chance of that being a problem now.
The glory of the Internet - plentiful pornography and eBay aside - is the speed at which football news can spread across the globe. No matter how obscure the fixture, you can read the match report within half an hour of the final whistle having been blown. Unfortunately, information doesn’t disseminate so quickly when I’m involved in the process.
January 7th 2006, Luton Town vs Liverpool FC:
Luton fought back from a goal down to take a 3-1 lead early in the second half. Spurred on by the prospect of a very public embarrassment, Liverpool engineered a comeback that silenced Kenilworth Road: three goals were scored during a twelve minute blitzkrieg.
With the Merseysiders leading 4-3 in the ninetieth minute, Luton laid siege to the Liverpool area for a corner kick. Keeper Marlon Beresford joined the assault in a desperate effort to take the tie to a replay at Anfield.
The ball was cleared by the Liverpool defence and Beresford was left like a fish out of water. Xabi Alonso took one touch around the motionless keeper and scored from seventy yards. The goal is all the more remarkable for being scored with his weak foot.
The third place play-off against Germany saw Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo raise his game to new heights. His take off, the limp lifeless form of his body and the seemingly neverending flight are all magnificent, of course, but exactly what we’ve come to expect of the Manchester United winger. It’s the rotation towards the referee and the television cameras that’s truly exceptional.
The adidas Oliver Kahn billboard got a mention on the most tenuous of links to German squad selection. So, in the interests of providing balanced coverage to purveyors of sweatshop-manufactured footwear, here are some inventive World Cup ads from Nike.
The ball is buried in a vacant building in Parque Vía, Mexico City. JWT México is the agency behind all the adverts on this page.
