ISR 3-1 MLT

Ramat Gan

A hat-trick from new Chelsea signing Yossi Benayoun has edged his country to a victory over Malta, in what was only the second in a long line of UEFA Euro 2012 Qualifying fixtures over the next year-and-a-half.

Like Estonia and the Faroe Islands a few weeks ago, the two teams would have had a boost in the amount of international attention that they recieve due to being the only game of the day. Israel would want to win this match to make a statement about their ability to qualify for a major tournament for the first time since 1970 and their first-ever European Championship, and got off to a flying start through Yossi Benayoun (7′). Malta, though, would want to prove that they are no pushovers, and an equaliser would come via Jamie Pace’s header (38′). The second half would see the better opportunities go to the home team though, and it was the captain Benayoun who grabbed two more goals for his country (64′(p), 75′). The result, for a day at least, sends Israel top of Group F, and Malta bottom.

The other teams in Group F, Croatia, Greece, Latvia, and Georgia, will play their matches tonight, alongside no less than 20 other fixtures to be played this evening in the Qualification campaign. For the teams on the British Isles, Republic of Ireland will start the evening with an early kick-off away to Armenia, while Wales will visit Montenegro. Lithuania play host to Scotland, while England begin their campaign at home to Bulgaria, and Northern Ireland visit Slovenia. For almost all of the teams, it will be the first of 8 or 10 games (with two more shoud they be in the Play-Off Round) that will form the result of their efforts to reach the tournament in Ukraine and Poland in 2012.

The overhead kick, with its variants of bicycle, scissor, and scorpion kicks, collectively produce some of the best types of shot seen in the sport. Below is a compliation of 10 of these attempts that found the back of the net:

On transfer deadline day yesterday, one of the main stories was the fact that Ghanaian striker, and World Cup star Asamoah Gyan has moved to Sunderland in a £13M deal from French club Rennes.

It was a move that looked set to happen for a long time throughout the summer, and on deadline day it was finally pushed through, with Steve Bruce probably set to use him as a replacement for recent Stoke recruit Kenwyne Jones.

In the World Cup, Gyan was one of the stars of a Ghana team which impressively made their way to the Quarter-Finals. Gyan got 3 goals, which included a late penaly winner against Serbia, an early penalty against Australia, and an extra time goal that saw off the USA in the Round of 16. In the Quarters against Uruguay, Gyan had the chance to make history, after Dominic Adiyiah’s goal-bound header in the last minute of extra time was denied with a deliberate handball from Luis Suarez. With the last kick of the match, Gyan had the opportunity to score from the penalty spot to put his country into the Semi-Finals, but unfortunately his shot hit the crossbar, and although he would score in the penalty shoot-out that followed, it was not enough to prevent Uruguay from winning.

Gyan will have to wait at least another four years to have another go at the World Cup, but for now the 24-year-old Ghanaian will want to help his new club to success.

The world of football has been stunned by the news that the last surviving player of the first-ever FIFA World Cup Final (in 1930), Francisco Varallo, has died at age 100 at his home in La Plata.

Argentine winger Varallo, aged 20 at the time of his country’s 4-2 defeat to host nation Uruguay all those years ago, has recently been referred to as the last surviving reference as to what it was like to play in that historic occasion, and due to special circumstances this year (he, the last surviving player, had turned 100, and it had been 80 years since the 1930 Final), was giving plenty of interviews to websites and magazines to share his experiences.

Varallo was also a success at club level, and until recently held the record for being all-time top goalscorer at Boca Juniors (the record of 190 goals was broken by Martin Palermo) to go with his World Cup silver medal.

It has been said that Varallo nearly missed out on the famed inagural final through injury, but he insisted on playing, saying that he “Wouldn’t miss it for the world”. The history books seem to be thankful of this decision, and although the subsequent defeat was his “biggest regret”, his mere presence in the match meant that he would be an ambassador of the game for many years to come.

This compliation shows just why the football variant of futsal can be a great place to hone your skills in fast and tricky ball control, leaving defenders completely bamboozled…

As long as it has two arms and two legs, it seems as though robots can, although a bit slower, play football like the rest of us, while the ones on wheels seem to be good fast entertainment as an alternative to the usual…

INTER MILAN 0-2 ATLETICO MADRID

After winning the Italian Super Cup last week, Inter Milan could not claim their second trophy of the season, after Rafa Benitez’s side lost 2-0 to Atletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup at the Stade Louis II in Fonteville, Monaco.

After a dull first half, the UEFA Champions League winners conceded a goal after sloppy defending allowed Jose Antonio Reyes the opportunity to score (62′). Soon after Atletico had substituted their star striker Diego Forlan for a rest, they were 2-0 up, after an unalert Inter defence failed to notice Sergio Aguero coming over to convert a square ball into the open goal (82′). A few minutes after the goal, Inter had a chance to set up an exciting finish when they won a penalty, but David De Gea saved Champions League hero Diego Milito’s effort, and 2-0 was the final score.

The result meant that Atletico Madrid, the first-ever team to win the UEFA Europa League, also became the first Europa League winners to claim the Super Cup.

ASTON VILLA (3)2-3(4) RAPID VIENNA

Aston Villa have been knocked out of the UEFA Europa League in the Play-Off Round for the second season in a row, and for the second season running, it has come at the hands of Austrian club Rapid Vienna, almost a year to the day since the two teams last met at Villa Park.

It was a good start for Kevin McDonald’s side, with Gabriel Agbonlahor (who would later go off injured) opening the scoring (22′). However, the half-time break seemed to do wonders for Rapid, with Atdhe Nuhiu equalising (52′) to make it 1-1, a score which would take the match to extra time. Villa captain Stilyan Petrov had a chance to amend that prospect, but saw a tame penalty saved, with Emile Heskey blasting the rebound over the bar. Heskey would make up for his mistake soon after, after turning in an affort with his chest (77′).

For a moment, it looked as though Aston Villa would erase the sour memories of last years’ encounter with Rapid Vienna, but the Austrian club had other ideas. In fashion with their name, rapid strikes from Mario Sonnleitner (78′) and Rene Gartler (81′) turned the game around drastically, an aggregate lead which Villa would not be able to claw back.

Rapid now go into the pot for the UEFA Europa League Group Stage draw alongside 47 other clubs, including holders Athletico Madrid, and the two remaining English clubs, Manchester City and Liverpool. None of the Scottish or Welsh representatives managed to make it past the Play-Off Round.

BOL U15 5-0 HAI U15

Singapore City

Bolivia have won the final of the 2010 Youth Olympic Boy’s Football Tournament, after their second demolition of Haiti in the space of 2 weeks. Goals from Rodrigo Mejido (5′), Jorge Alpire (31′), Christian Arano (53′), and Luis Banegas (60′, 72′) gave the South American representatives over their Northern counterparts, which followed on from a 9-0 win over Haiti in the Group Stage. The Haitians will be proud of their efforts though, and will hope that their silver medal will restore some happiness to their recovering nation.

In an earlier game, host country Singapore took the Bronze medal with a 4-1 triumph over Montenegro in a match between the losing Semi-Finalists. The remaining teams that were knocked out in the Group Stage, Zimbabwe and Vanuatu, played a 5th-Place Play-Off a couple of days previously, with the Oceanians winning 2-0. As there were no qualification tournaments beforehand, each of the six continental confederations were asked to choose a nation to represent them in this event for Under-15 teams.

The 6-team tournament was one of the best-attended events of the 2010 Games (also surpassing the women’s tournament), in the first-ever Youth Olympic Games, which were staged in Singapore City (Singapore) (the next edition, in 2014, is to be staged in Nanjing (China)). The highest attendances came when the host nation were involved, with crowd levels at the Jalan Besar Stadium reaching the 6,000 capacity. The tournament, and the Youth Olympics as a whole, seem to have been viewed as a success, and the organizers will hope that this carries over into the next edition.

2010 Youth Olympics Football Tournament - Statistics

Final Standings:

1) BOL
2) HAI
3) SIN
4) MNE
5) VAN
6) ZIM

Other Statistics:

Top Scorer: Rodrigo Mejido (BOL), 6 goals
Total Goals: 44 (in 11 matches)
Highest Attendance: 6,000, SIN 0-2 HAI, Semi-Final, Singapore City

During a knockout game between Germany and Sweden at the 2006 FIFA World Cup, it seems that referee Carlos Simon is rather pleased with himself after dishing out a red card to Sweden’s Teddy Lucic…