By Chris Wright

With the Bundesliga currently ensconced on their mid-season break, Schalke 04 took the opportunity to send their players 1,000 metres below the surface of the Earth on a tour of the Auguste Victoria coal mine in Marl, Germany what with the club originally being founded by miners back in 1904 and all.

Mais um jogo das eliminatórias da Eurocopa de 2012, foi realizado no dia 06/09/2011, na cidade de Riga-LAT, onde jogaram as seleções da Letônia (84º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleção da Grécia (32º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Eliminatórias Copa do Mundo
2010Athens 10/10/2009 GRE5:2 (1:2)LVA First stage2010Riga 10/09/2008 LVA0:2 (0:1)GRE First stage
Eliminatórias Continentais
Piraeus 08/10/2010 GRE1:0 (0:0)LVA 2000Athens 09/06/1999 GRE1:2 (1:1)LVA Preliminary round2000Riga 31/03/1999 LVA0:0GRE Preliminary round
O árbitro desse jogo, foi:Stanislav Todorv-BUL
O primeiro gol do jogo, foi de Aleksandrs Cauna, aos 19 minutos do primeiro tempo.

Schalke's Kyriakos Papadopoulos. Recently identified as a player that 4 out of 6 Kickette staff members wouldn't mind seeing (naked) in their stocking. The other two claim his tongue looks weird. Image: AFP PHOTO / PATRIK STOLLARZ.

'Tis the season of miracles, and a time to take stock of all the things in life you should be grateful for.

By Chris Wright

Here you go, Pies' pick of the ten best still exposures from the past two day's worth of Europa League action...

FC Vaslui supporters are silhouetted by burning flares during their game against Lazio in Piatra Neamt, Romania

FC Vaslui's Mike Temwanjera and Lazio's Modibo Diakite hit an isolated hotspot of weak gravity

Fulham's Bryan Ruiz waves to the Twente fans after receiving a hero's welcome on his return to the Dutch club

AEK Athens vs Anderlecht quickly descends into an all-out gurn-fest as a corner is swung into the Greek side's penalty area

Schalke 04′s Kyriakos Papadopoulos throws up the big twos after scoring against Steaua Bucharest in Gelsenkirchen

Ibrahim Toroman is not exactly enamoured with the view as Besiktas celebrate scoring against Maccabi Tel Aviv

Billy Conolly and Rod Stewart turn up at Parkhead to watch Celtic take on Atletico Madrid, and are seen here presumably discussing exactly why Beram Kayal felt to need to duck and let Arda Turan's shot fly in over his head

Hapoel Tel-Aviv's Abbas Mahmmoud watches on while Rapid Bucharest's Iulian Apostol endulges in a spot of light turf rotivation

Hannover 96 fans do their thing ahead of the German side's game against Standard Liege in Belgium

A lone Tottenham fan taunts the travelling PAOK Salonika supporters by holding a tenner aloft to mock Greece's debt crisis.

Mais um jogo das eliminatórias da Euro 2012, foi realizado no dia 04/06/2011, na cidade de Piraeus-GRE, no Karaiskaki Stadium, onde jogaram as seleções da Grécia (12º no ranking da FIFA) e a seleçãod a Malta (161º no ranking da FIFA).
Antes desse jogo, as 2 seleções jogaram:
Eliminatórias Continentais
2008Athens 17/11/2007 GRE5:0 (1:0)MLT 2008Ta'Qali 28/03/2007 MLT0:1 (0:0)GRE 1992Ta'Qali 22/12/1991 MLT1:1 (1:0)GRE Group matches1992Athens 31/10/1990 GRE4:0 (2:0)MLT Group matches1976Thessaloniki 04/06/1975 GRE4:0 (2:0)MLT Preliminary round1976Gzira 23/02/1975 MLT2:0 (1:0)GRE Preliminary round1972Athens 18/06/1971 GRE2:0 (0:0)MLT Preliminary round1972Gzira 11/10/1970 MLT1:1 (0:0)GRE Preliminary round
O árbitro desse jogo, foi: Pawel Gil-POL
O primeiro gol do jogo, foi de Ioannis Fetfatzidis, aos 7 minutos do primeiro tempo, ele que é jogador do Olympiacos-GRE, que marcou seu terceiro gol pela seleção nacional.

Liverpool is reportedly considering a bid for teenage Greek defender Kyriakos Papadopoulos.
The Schalke centre back has been earning rave reviews in Germany after signing from Olympiakos in the summer, and Liverpool have reportedly sent scouts to watch the player's progress.
Reports in Germany claim Arsenal, Spurs and Chelsea have also sent representatives to take a closer look at the player, who is set to be sold by the Bundesliga outfit amidst financial troubles at the club.