Jamie Phoenix, a man who epitomises everything Les Rosbifs stands for, has finally reappeared on the international football scene in far-flung Albania. Phoenix, who has a string of clubs in England and abroad to his name, including Altrincham, Stafford Rangers, Bolton Wanderers (perhaps) and Manchester City (perhaps), is currently on trial with Superliga side KS [.

One day Patrice Evra will write a book. He has an inspirational story to tell by a footballer who offers a rare insight into life at Old Trafford under the guidance of Sir Alex Ferguson. Evra is a...
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Patrice Evra is one of the best left backs in the world, and in an exclusive interview with Matt Lawton, he talks about what it's like in the Manchester United locker room.
Ferguson in pre-game: "Before a game he always tells a small story. Sometimes he talks about when he was the Aberdeen manager.

The U.S.A '94 World Cup Golden Boot, was shared by Russia's Oleg Salenko and Bulgaria's Hristov Stoickov, both 6 goals in the Finals.

Dimitar Berbatov yesterday announced his retirement from International Football following Bulgaria's failure to qualify for the World Cup in South Africa. He's been one of the most successful Bulgarian footballer winning Bulgaria's Footballer of the Year six times in the past eight years.

By Ollie Irish

The best pics of England going through the motions ahead of Friday's Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria at Wembley:

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England's Joe Hart (left) and Steven Gerrard during the training session at London Colney, London.

Over the past three weeks PUMA has released a slew of 2010/12 home and away kits. This included kit launches for PUMA-sponsored FIFA World Cup 2010 teams Italy, Switzerland and Uruguay. Also released were 2010/12 strips for PUMA teams and all previous World Cup qualifiers Austria (home and away), Bulgaria (home) and Saudi Arabia (away).

The debacle of the French performance at the World Cup was entirely expected. The players were too old, and Domenech too over-paid and arrogant a coach.
But what I found most interesting was what happened after the players' rift with Domenech. Because what the BBC commentator repeatedly said was that it was Henry who took the players through the warm-up and seemed to be pulling them together.

By Ollie Irish

Photo: Umbro (click to enlarge)

(Top row: Joe Hart, Adam Johnson, Eric Dier, Jade Bailey, Saido Berahino, Thomas Cruise; Bottom row: Jack Wilshere, Fern Whelan, Wayne Rooney, Connor Wickham, Theo Walcott)

Here's a first view of England's new Umbro home kit.

Well this is unexpected.

Peter Saville, who you might know as the man who designed the sleeves to some of Factory Records most iconic sleeves has been working on a new England shirt, which the team will run out in against Bulgaria on Friday.
Now some of you may remember last March when we sat looking quizzical at the hype and ridiculousness that surrounded the unvieling of that kit fake leaked kits, super secrecy, a big reveal on the pitch, so its kind of surprising that this kit has been a) announced really quite soon after the last one and b) they've told us what it is instead of making the players wear trackie tops and the unveil them at the last minute.

Steven Gerrard today demanded more of the same after England got their bid to qualify for Euro 2012 off to the perfect start.
Liverpool's captain was a key figure in England's 4-0 dispatching of Bulgaria at Wembley last night, playing with great elegance and control as Fabio Capello's men seized control of Group G.

Some of the top matchups in 2012 European Championship qualifying get underway Friday afternoon, with Germany-Turkey and Portugal-Denmark highlighting the day's fixtures. Defending Euro and World Cup champion Spain is also in action, as are Italy and World Cup runner-up Holland. D.C. United Designated Player Branko Boskovic is expected to play for Montenegro as well.

There are some who would crawl over shards of glass dipped in alcohol and salt for any and all individual awards they can accumulate. Dimitar Berbatov is no such man.

In fact, he doesn't want the good sports journalists of Bulgaria to vote for him at all anymore. Now is the time to think of the children, he says.

There are some who would crawl over shards of glass dipped in alcohol and salt for any and all individual awards they can accumulate. Dimitar Berbatov is no such man.

In fact, he doesn't want the good sports journalists of Bulgaria to vote for him at all anymore. Now is the time to think of the children, he says.

England have been drawn in Group G for the Euro 2012 qualifiers alongside Switzerland, Bulgaria, Montenegro, and most notably Wales. The two sides last faced each other in the World Cup 2006 qualifiers, with England emerging victorious on both occasions. The group has been described as one of the two toughest groups in the draw, with [.

Forget about the starting lineup and tactics, this is the talk of the day. Tomorrow, against Bulgaria, we'll play in a brand new away kit (mind you, the game takes place in Warsaw). It is, as you can clearly see, navy blue. Yep, there isn't a slight hint of blue on our national flag, nor is it a colour traditionally associated with Poland.

It was quite a nice evening yesterday as the Bialo Czerwoni defeated Bulgaria 2:0 at Polonia's stadium in Warsaw. It wasn't a perfect game by Poland, but at least the fans were able to see Franz Smuda's idea of the national team and its style. Most importantly, we saw really spectacular goals from Kuba Blaszczykowski and Robert Lewandowski.

After the controversy sparking blue kits that were used during our last friendly against Bulgaria, this time Nike went for a more traditional look. Our home set will consist of white shirts and red shorts, whereas the away set will be plain red. The odd blue kits will be our third choice, possibly for the games against similarly dressed opponents like Denmark, Croatia or Norway.

Nigeria is part of Group B with Greece, which I already covered, South Korea which I also discussed, and Argentina.

The Nigerian team, also known as the Super Eagles, have qualified for 4 World Cups including the one to be played in South Africa. They almost caused a major suprise in their first World Cup in 1994, narrowly loosing during the extra time to Italy in the second round.

"La Holanda del 74 jugaba el mejor fútbol del mundo. Perdimos la final pero dejamos mejor recuerdo que el campeón." Excelente entrevista a Johan Cruyff en la revista Esquire de septiembre de 2009 en la que destacamos esta frase.

Como sabéis, en retrofootball nos gusta el buen fútbol, y la Holanda de los años 70 es un claro exponente del mismo.

Los que apenas éramos unos niños nos acordamos de uno de los mejores momentos de México en la historia de los mundiales, Manolo Negrete anotaba un espectacular gol de tijera a Bulgaria en la victoria del tricolor con marcador de 2-0 en un repleto estadio azteca.
Difícil encontrar tal documento historico, pero en esta buena campaña para concientizar a la sociedad mexicana lo podemos revivir.

Ya estamos a sólo 5 días de Sudáfrica 2010 y seguimos reviviendo momentos cruciales de la Selección Mexicana en los mundiales. Les presentamos ahora la serie de penales contra Bulgaria en la Copa del mundo Estados Unidos 94.

Una vez más el "ya merito" por culpa de los "malditos penales".

Four years of anticipation and expectations are now only hours away. Some of football's greatest stars are assembled in South Africa preparing to put on "The Greatest Show On Earth" but a number of...
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21-year-old Andy Carroll looked an awesome striker on Sunday afternoon, as Aston Villa found the local Newcastle number 9 just too hot to handle. Andy Carroll - awesome display yesterday Andy, who has already represented England at U19 and U21 level, is pushing hard for a call-up for the International against Bulgaria a week come Friday.

So England's Euro 2012 Campaign kicks off on Friday against a (thankfully Berbatov less) Bulgaria, and the main thing is...well the squad is decimated. Lampard and Terry had already announced they couldn't take part (although some may have breathed a sigh of relief there), Bobby Zamora is out just as he was beginning to look like a genuine first choice option, Phil Jagielka has sat out of training, and Peter Crouch has gone home not being able to play after picking up a rib injury against West Ham.

So England's Euro 2012 Campaign kicks off on Friday against a (thankfully Berbatov less) Bulgaria, and the main thing is...well the squad is decimated. Lampard and Terry had already announced they couldn't take part (although some may have breathed a sigh of relief there), Bobby Zamora is out just as he was beginning to look like a genuine first choice option, Phil Jagielka has sat out of training, and Peter Crouch has gone home not being able to play after picking up a rib injury against West Ham.

The Three Lions resume meaningful international competition this Friday v Bulgaria at Wembley stadium as weary and untrusting eyes focus on equal parts Fabio Capello's management and various members of the new look England squad. Bulgaria is the opponent and three points towards Euro 2012 qualification is the goal.

So another day passes of the interlull,isn't it too soon for life to be this dull?England are playing against the mighty Bulgaria,but that doesn't make me feel any less wearier.The Sun continues to report the so called news,but they're mainly concerned with who's being screwed by whose.Young Jack Wilshere is the subject of their latest concocted tale,but at least he wasn't climbing trees like

By Ollie Irish

Routinely included on 'Ugliest Footballers' lists, Trifon 'The Wolfman' Ivanov also played ugly. If Trifon didn't intimidate opponents with his wild looks and intense stare, he would simply hack them down.

It would be harsh on Ivanov to remember him only as a hatchet man he possessed a fine pair of shooting boots too, and could play a bit, as 77 caps for Bulgaria attest, not to mention this fine strike against Wales:

So, foot like a traction engine and, er, a face like a traction engine too.

European Championship Qualifying

Armenia v Rep of Ireland, B, 16:00
Kazakhstan v Turkey, A, 17:00
Andorra v Russia, B, 17:30
Moldova v Finland, E, 17:30
Faroe Islands v Serbia, C, 18:00
Montenegro v Wales, G, 18:30
Latvia v Croatia, F, 19:00
Romania v Albania, D, 19:00
Sweden v Hungary, E, 19:00
Lithuania v Scotland, GI, 19:15
Luxembourg v Bosnia-Hercegovina, D, 19:15
Estonia v Italy, C, 19:30
Slovakia v FYR Macedonia, B, 19:30
Belgium v Germany, A, 19:45
Greece v Georgia, F, 19:45
Liechtenstein v Spain, GI, 19:45
San Marino v Netherlands, E, 19:45
Slovenia v Northern Ireland, C, 19:45
England v Bulgaria, G, 20:00
France v Belarus, D, 20:00
Iceland v Norway, H, 20:00
Portugal v Cyprus, H, 20:45

In their first competitive game since the World Cup, England easily defeated Bulgaria 4-0 at Wembley tonight, with an excellent hat-trick from Spurs' Jermaine Defoe. Jermaine Defoe great hat-trick for England tonight England played as well as they did in the World Cup Qualifiers, when they won nine of their 10 qualifying game, and they [.

In an exiting round of Euro 2012 qualifying games, the shock of the evening's games was France's 1-0 home loss to Belarus in Group D.
The most exciting match was Portugal's 4-4 draw with Cyprus in Guimaraes, where the visitors came back to gain a last-gasp point.
The big teams, with the exception of France, all had comfortable wins: world champions Spain cruised to a 4-0 win in Liechtenstein, the Netherlands won 5-0 away in San Marino, England defeated Bulgaria 4-0 at Wembley behind a Jermaine Defoe hat-trick, and Italy came from behind to beat Estonia 1-2.

Watch match highlights of England's 4-0 victory against Bulgaria featuring a hat-trick for Jermain Defoe and the first international goal for Adam Johnson.

It was a convincing win for England, but let's hope England doesn't get too overconfident from this one victory when they face a tough Switzerland team on Tuesday.

With the pressure on Fabio Capello, England finally delivered a performance to make the country proud. But was this result and the performance the start of a change in fortunes for Capello or another result that get's our hopes up only to be disappointed down the line?

England may have gone some way to igniting some confidence amongst fans last night.

Wayne Rooney assisted three of England's goal against Bulgaria in the Euro 2012 Qualifiers and gave a brilliant pass for the first goal as well. Roo was fantastic. Here are all the assists:

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By Ollie Irish

We've rated the England players, and now we present the best pics from Wembley, starring Joe Hart, Jermain Defoe, Adam Johnson and a typically vexed Capello...

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Joe Hart, England's keeper, warms up with a dive

Photos: PA

A very impressive display by England, but let's not go overboard after Defoe's early first goal, Bulgaria offered little.

Neither Darren Bent or John Terry will play against Montenegro for England tomorrow, both have joined the England Injury List Peter Crouch will start up front with Wayne Rooney with Lescott and Rio Ferdinand (Who has regained the captaincy on his return to England duty from Steven Gerrard) in the centre of defence.

Tucked away inside this article on plans for a US tour next summer is the news that we have offered a contract to Martin Petrov - with talks by all accounts 'enouraging':

City have offered Martin Petrov a new contract and are encouraged by the way the negotiations have gone with the Bulgaria international.

Snap pop quiz: what's Hristo Stoichkov doing these days? Don't know, huh? Well, he's coaching Mamelodi Sundowns in the South African Premier League and doing a damn fine job of it if the table tells any stories. But while his coaching may be above par, his English isn't, despite spending his sundown in the States.

Obviously we're all focused on World Cup 2010. How can we not be?

But whatever England achieve in South Africa, life and football will continue afterwards, and from September 2010 we'll begin our attempt to qualify for Euro 2012 in Poland and Ukraine. The groups for Euro 2012 qualifying were drawn today, and we made out OK.