The following table shows the average age of player that each of the competing nations fielded during the group stages of the Africa Cup of Nations 2012 in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea. As expected Cote D'Ivoire's fading golden generation who are attempting to win their nation their first major trophy since 1992 is one of the oldest squads at the tournament.

Chasing the Big Leagues Real Valladolid and the contenders (Spain Segunda) is a post from: Just Football

Just Football's Tales from Tier Two series, in association with @tiertwofooty, continues now as we continue with Spain's Liga Adelante. First we assessed the promotion chances of Deportivo La Coruña in Spain's Segunda Division:

Real Valladolid have been in and around the top six all season in Spain's Segunda Division following a run of just 2 defeats in 22 games since kicking off the season with a 3-0 win at Gimnastic Tarragona.

by Adam Bate

November 7, 1990 – Napoli were eliminated from the European Cup by Spartak Moscow on penalties.

Look out for Ciro Ferrara and Diego Maradona converting their spot-kicks for Napoli with Marco Baroni the unfortunate Italian to miss presumably put off by the goalkeeper's prescient Movember contribution.

By Alan Duffy

Following on from yesterday's news about the arrest of former French international Tony Vareilles on suspicion of attempted murder, we have another crime-related Euro football tale (featuring another man with dodgy hair).

Can Thiago Alcantara force way into Barca reckoning after committing long-term future? - originally posted on Soccerlens.com

Thiago Alcantara has signed a two-year contract extension at Barcelona subsequently warding off any potential suitors. After impressing in Spain's European Under-21 Championship triumph, speculation had arose that interest from Italy and England had surfaced.