It may have escaped your attention, but there will be an American playing in tonight's Champions League final. That's right... USWNT ace Megan Rapinoe will suit up for Lyon's ladies when they go for their third straight title against Wolfsburg. - Greg Seltzer
Bayern Munich have press-ganged the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra and chief conductorLorin Maazelinto producing the club's official song for their upcoming appearance in the Champions League Final at Wembley on March 25th, and presumably didn't give them an awful lot of time to come up with a finished product.
It's not the last day of the season without the odd false rumour or two. Yesterday, someone at White Hart Lane started a very cruel rumour that Newcastle had equalised against Arsenal. Spurs needed the Gunners to drop points to have any hope of qualifying for the Champions League, so you can understand why their [.
If you'll excuse the slightly tenuous use of the word "legend" for a moment, a squad full of Manchester United old boys are currently whipping themselves into shape to take on a selection of equally venerable ex-Real Madrid players in aid of charity at Old Trafford on 2nd June.
Want to briefly regain your childhood? If you're about my age and answered 'yes', this is probably the match for you. Manchester United Legends are taking on Real Madrid Legends in a charity match for the MU Foundation. The teamsheets read like a who's who of mid-1990s sticker albums. Dwight Yorke, Andrew Cole, Denis Irwin, [.
West Bromwich Albion 5-5 Manchester United Premier League 19th May 2013
One imagines Sir Alex Ferguson wasn't expecting to see his side ship five goals in his final game in charge. However, on a crazy afternoon at the Hawthorns, a second-half hat-trick from Romelu Lukaku helped the Baggies to a creditable draw against the title-holders on a day which also saw Paul Scholes hang up his boots (again).
From an insurance standpoint, he's probably the last Chelsea player we'd trust behind the wheel of a buggy while zipping merrily around and among their expensively-assembled squad at Cobham, but the Brazilian jester somehow got his hands on one yesterday.
He even offered Yossi and Fernando a ride out to the pitch, though the nervous smiles on both their faces suggested the pair instantly regretted accepting a lift from a known loon.
Pies number themselves among the slim cross-section of society who have never seen Soccer AM so we have little-to-no idea who this "Tubes" character is, though from what we can garner he's some kind of binge-drinking crew member/lackey that raps a bit and asks one question and one question only to the various guests on the show every week.
Ko Panyi, a small fishing village in Thailand, is one of the most unique villages in the world. Built on stilts by the community itself, the village is a fisherman's paradise but provides little space for its just over 1,600 inhabitants. In 1986, a group of children on the island decided they weren't going to let the constraints of space prevent them from playing football.
Though France '98 is now fifteen years in the past, the memories and moments created from the showcase tournament still remain engrained in the minds of football fans around the world. Zinedine Zidane put his stamp (and stomp!) on history with his performances throughout the tournament as the French legend lead his nation to glory.
We're a little late to the hoedown with this one so please forgive our mortal souls for the grievous tardiness, but when Emmanuel "Big Spoon" Eboue was approached for a quick Q&A after Galatasaray sewed up the Turkish title at the weekend, the GSTV(Gala's in-house television station)reporter got a little more than he bargained for.
The future of Chicharito Hernandez has been a topic of discussion this season as the Mexican international has failed to once again find consistent playing time within Sir Alex Ferguson's team. With the arrival of Robin Van Persie, Chicharito was forced to once again play second fiddle in a team that secured the Premier League title several weeks ago.
In which, over in the Thai Premier League, Muangthong United's Macedonian midfielderMario Gjurovski celebrates scoring a rather nifty free-kick against TOT Sport Club (who have a mighty fine badge, we might add!) by whipping his shorts down and off, putting them over his head and gunning down the crowd with a fake machine gun.
Tottenham Hotspur may have just missed out on a spot in the Champions League next year after yesterday's dramatic final day in the Premier League, but the North London club have one massive positive to take from the season. Gareth Bale secured both PFA Player of the Year and PFA Young Player of the Year awards and impressed for Spurs throughout the year.
While they'll no doubt be question marks over the defence's offside trap, Ross Turnbull's wee sprong scored a slaloming, solo stunner at Stamford Bridge as his old man celebrated Chelsea's sort-of successful season on the grass at Stamford Bridge; charging half the length of the pitch and steering the ball across the line from close range.
Liverpool 1-0 Queens Park Rangers Premier League 19th May 2013
Brazilian imp Philippe Coutinho was once again the star of the show for Liverpool, with the schemer netting a superb long-ranger goal to secure a 1-0 win for the Reds.
Jamie Carragher was making his final appearance for Liverpool and almost topped it with a wonder striker, only for the effort to come back off the post.
Rafa Benitez's eventful reign as Chelsea's 'interim' boss finished at Stamford Bridge with a win which saw the Blues secure automatic qualification for next season's Champions League.
Juan Mata opened the scoring early on, only for Steven Naismaith the level the scores soon after.
Tottenham Hotspur 1-0 Sunderland Premier League 19th May 2013
Gareth Bale produced yet another magnificent long-range strike to secure a late win for Spurs against Sunderland at White Hart Lane, but even that slice of genius wasn't enough to secure a Champions League berth next season.
Newcastle United 0-1 Arsenal Premier League 19th May 2013
Arsenal once again secured a top four berth and a shot at the Champions League as their superb recent run of form culminated in a vital 1-0 win at St. James' Park.
Laurent Koscielny, arguably the Gunners' best player over the past few months, netted the vital goal which sees rivals Spurs face another campaign in the Europa League next season.
Chelsea star Juan Mata says Jose Mourinho would be welcome at the club because he is one of the best managers. Mourinho will leave Real Madrid at the end of the season and is widely expected to return to Stamford Bridge. Mata said: "Well, obviously Jose is one of the best. He won everything in [...]
Chelsea legend Gianfranco Zola says former manager Jose Mourinho's expected return to the club 'should be good'. Asked about the Special One's imminent return to Stamford Bridge, he said: "Well, it looks like it. He's certainly a great manager, he knows the players, he knows the atmosphere, so... it should be good.
Footballers' contracts usually have a long list telling them things they aren't allowed to do. We would have thought driving a cart round like this with two team-mates on board is one of the items on that list. Chelsea star David Luiz did a bit of off-roading at the club's Cobham training ground this week, [.
Roman Abramovich has long envisaged a time when Chelsea bring through homegrown talent, so you can imagine his was delighted to see Josh Turnbull, son of Blues keeper Ross, score at Stamford Bridge on Sunday. The toddler picked the ball up on the edge of the box, dribbled into the area, stopped to literally pick [.
'Tis very much the season for kit launches and Manchester City are the latest to parade their wares for next season, traveling Stateside (where they now have major business concerns) to unveil their smart new Nike home strip for 2013/14 ahead of a post-season friendly against Chelsea inSt Louis, Missouri, on Thursday.
We've already seen the teaser photo earlier this afternoon, but Nike have now sent out a full wodge of photos of their new England strip for 2013, and here the bugger is in all its glory...
Here's a few choice lines from Nike's accompanying blurb.
In a quest to "unite histhree greatest passions: beer, music and Barca," this plucky chap has set about recording Barcelona's club anthem, "ElCant del Barca", using nothing but a range of half-emptied Estrella bottles.
The result, via a dash of computer jiggery pokery (though we are assured that all sounds are 100% genuine), is really rather impressive.
Here's a wonderful little snippet from Barcelona's league title celebrations last night, wherein Carlos Puyol picks up the silverware from its podium and brings it back to the rest of the Barca lads for them to lift it.
For some reason Alex Song thought it was going to be he that the captain selected to lift the trophy alongside him, with the Cameroon midfielder's heart filling with joy for a split second before realising that Puyol had actually selected nearby Eric Abidal a man who, lest we forget, had a liver transplant and still ended the season back in the first-team squad and Tito Vilanova a man who, lest we forget, managed to fight off cancer this term to split the hoisting duties with.
Joe Hart says Manchester City need to 'improve massively' next season after failing to achieve their goals in this campaign. Speaking during the club's post-season trip to the USA, Hart said visiting New York where City announced their involvement in new MLS franchise New York City FC was indicative that the club was [.
Things are rather quiet at the moment in the footballing ether but here's is a morsel of Teutonic silliness from Hamburg's amateur Oberliga division during a game between Altona 93 and Vier-und Marschlande.
Playing the game on an American football pitch may be a good dual use of the local facilities, but when a shot from one of the Altona 93 players went out of play only to rebound off the American football goal-frame and back into play, things got a tad confused.
We all know Luis Suarez has a fondness for handling the ball, but that's no usually because he's the goalkeeper. In a twist on the old adage that strikers are the first line of defence, the Liverpool star positioned himself in front of Reds keeper Brad Jones and proceeded to do his job for him. [...]
You've seen the success that deploying the false nine has brought to its proponents. Now, football's latest tactical innovation is the false teeth. A fan of Argentinos Juniors expressed his unhappiness at the team's current run of form by throwing his dentures onto the pitch during the 3-1 defeat to Belgrano on Monday.
I've seen some cracking free-kick routines in my life but this was most definitely the best of the season even if it didn't hit the back of the net it was original!
There was a good reason they called him "Duncan Disorderly" you know!
Having signed for Rangers in the July of 1993, Ferguson's Ibrox career started fairly dismally as the target man, being routinely played on the left wing, contributed little in the way of form or goals.
It's not a real day of the week without an entertaining Paolo Di Canio quote. The Sunderland manager is ready to wield the axe after getting fed up of the lack of discipline among his players. He said: "I don't care to have argument with my players but they have to go through the rules. [...]
Gareth Bale again came to Tottenham's rescue with this stunning 30 yarder with just a minute left on the clock against 10 man Sunderland, however it was to no-avail as Arsenal pipped them for the lucrative final Champions League spot with their having trailed Spurs by 8 points in March!
