By Chris Wright
Everton have agreed a deal with Azerbaijani side Neftchi Baku to sign their 18-year-old
'wonderkid' Araz Abdullayev once the transfer window re-opens in January.
The promising midfielder will move to Goodison on an initial three-year contract (with the
option for two more seasons) subject to gaining a work permit.
(Summary is not available.)
Ballack Is Captain Once Again But Must Fight For His Place In The Side.
Joachim Loew announced that veteran midfielder Michael Ballack will remain the captain of the
German national team and has thus ended all debate surrounding the issue. Despite this, Loew has
not chosen Ballack for Germany's two upcoming European Championship qualifiers against Belgium and
Azerbaijan, and has not promised him a place in the squad for Germany's next round of
qualifiers.
By Ollie Irish
Tottenham dynamo Gareth Bale was the subject of a "big-money bid" over the
summer, according to Wales manager John Toshack.
Toshack said: "It was a big-money bid it's big money to me anyway. You'll have to ask Tottenham,
they know about it.
After France's shock defeat at home to the Belarus on Friday night manager Laurent Blanc
will hope to regain those three points lost against Bosnia tomorrow , England will hope to continue
their winning ways also, even if Wayne Rooney's mind
may be elsewhere against the Swiss who defeated Spain in South Africa in the Summer 1-0 and the
Rep.
Legendary Berti Vogts Will Battle His Home Nation.
After grabbing a pivotal three points in Belgium on the weekend, Germany host Azerbaijan today
in what should be a one-sided goal-fest. While Joachim Loew has called for focus in his pre-match
press conference, Germany's attacking stars should fully take advantage of an Azerbaijani side who
are ranked 106th by FIFA.
Per Mertesacker Could Miss Vital Games For Werder Bremen.
During Germany's European Championship qualifying match against Azerbaijan, towering defender
Per Mertesacker received an accidental elbow to the face after challenging for a ball with an
Azerbaijani attacker. While at first the knock looked minor, it has been confirmed that Mertesacker
will miss up to six weeks of action due to his injury.
These days FIFA release their much derided (but pretty good) World Rankings, and UEFA release
c0-efficients for the rankings of leagues. I thought it'd be interesting to compare these two
rankings to discover the most over-performing leagues and the international sides that
under-perform (or the other way around, whichever way you want to look at it).
