Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has tipped club teammate Steven Gerrard to lead England during this summer's Euro 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

A dramatic sequence of events led to Chelsea skipper John Terry losing the Lions armband last Friday, which was followed by the resignation of manager Fabio Capello, who was upset at not being consulted by the FA over the captaincy row.

By Chris Wright

You turn you're back for one second and what happens? Just three months and three friendly games before Euro 2012 gets under way in June, Fabio Capello resigned as England manager last night after spending the afternoon bickering with FA chairman David Bernstein and general secretary Alex Horne at Wembley over his comments made to the Italian media vis-a-vis the FA's premature decision to strip John Terry of the national captaincy.

After sensationally being cleared of tax evasion charges and the subsequent dismissal of Fabio Capello as England coach by the FA all in one day, Tottenham coach Harry Redknapp is now being considered as the prime choice to replace the Italian. In fact, Tottenham are said to be bracing themselves for an approach by the FA.

It's been 17 years since Rene Higuita executed his audacious scorpion kick to block a weak shot from Jamie Redknapp in a friendly between England and Colombia at Wembley. Since then, it's become one of the most iconic in the sport's history and has been attempted by goalkeepers and attackers alike, some more successful than others.

Lo Swindon vola a Wembley Di Renato Cignoni SWINDON TOWN 1 (Connell '17)BARNET 0 Swindon Town:Wes Foderingham;Paul Caddis (capitano), Joe Devera, Alan McCormack, Callum Kennedy (Murray '84), Matt Ritchie, Simon Ferry (Risser '58), Jonathan Smith, Raffaele De Vita (Cibocchi), Alan Connell, Paul BensonSostituti: Phil Smith (GK), Lukas Magera Barnet:Dean Brill, Jack Saville, Michael Hector, Paul

by Adam Bate

What a return it has been for Kenny Dalglish. Only Cardiff City now stand in the way of Liverpool lifting the Carling Cup at Wembley later this month and thus securing the club's first trophy in six years. King Kenny has brought the buzz back to the city. And thankfully, whatever the dramas off the field, everyone at Anfield appears to be pulling in the same direction once again.

Fabio Capello is furious at the English FA for firing his captain John Terry, and you have to begin to wonder whether Capello will still be in charge of England when this summer's Euro 2012 rolls around.

Capello was interviewed by national Italian broadcaster Rai 1 at Stamford Bridge on Sunday afternoon, where he attended Chelsea's 3-3 draw with Manchester United, and he stated openly how angry he was.

February kicks off for Liverpool on Monday, with Spurs set to visit Anfield in the first match of another important month. Liverpool will look to carry their momentum from the domestic cup triumphs and a comfortable 3-0 win at Wolves into the match, which hopefully signals a turnaround from a disappointing league stretch to open 2012 that had seen them winless until the final day of January.

The Bolivian Campeonato Clausura kicked off this weekend, with hilariously named "The Strongest" paying a visit to Nacional Potosi. The visitors failed to live up to their overly confident name, however, succumbing 1-0 to a pretty incredible 20-yard scorpion kick by 23-year-old Nacional striker Erlan Mealla.

Cardiff City keeper Tom Heaton was the hero for the Bluebirds as they edged out Crystal Palace in an absorbing cup clash at the Cardiff City Stadium.
Heaton saved two penalties in the shoot-out to send Cardiff to the Carling Cup Final at the expense of Dougie Freedman's spirited Palace side.

On this week's main listening report we take a look at the FA Cup: the format, its history and its giant killing. There is a worksheet with this report and you can listen to the report by clicking on the link below, while vocabulary support appears at the foot of the report.

Deloitte report assessing the financial impact of The FA Cup reveals: £650m earned by clubs in the past 10 years Crawley Town receive £1m pay day from single FA Cup tie

As excitement builds ahead of The FA Cup with Budweiser Fourth Round Proper, the financial impact of the competition has been revealed in a new report by the Sports Business Group at Deloitte.

While German giants Bayern Munich are busy calming down fans who are angered that the club's commitment to unveil a major new signing today was simply a promotion for a new app, Liverpool managing director Ian Ayre is making sure that the Kop's transfer expectations remain low, to begin with.

English media has heavily linked Liverpool with the likes of Real Madrid's Esteban Granero, Groningen's David Texeira, Rangers' Nikica Jelavic, and Udinese's Mauricio Isla.

Get In Bellers!...Liverpool booked their place in the League Cup final at Wembley on Wednesday night after beating Manchester City 3-2 on aggregate. It was a fantastic tie for the neutral as City took the lead twice at a boisterous Anfield but the home side were the better team over the two legs and Craig Bellamy's 73rd minute goal made sure the Reds would be fighting for some silverware next month.

Liverpool overcame Manchester City to reach the Carling Cup Final their first final at Wembley since the 1996 FA Cup Final and the club have already chosen what suit they will be wearing. The Reds last played at the home of English football in 1996 when they took on mortal enemies Manchester United in the [.

Liverpool were set to face Everton in the Merseyside Derby on February 25th, this game will have to be rescheduled as Liverpool now face Cardiff in the League Cup final on February 26th at Wembley.
No date has been set for the rescheduled match as yet.

Liverpool were set to face Everton in the Merseyside Derby on February 25th, this game will have to be rescheduled as Liverpool now face Cardiff in the League Cup final on February 26th at Wembley.
No date has been set for the rescheduled match as yet.

Craig Bellamy once again starred for Liverpool as they booked their place in the League Cup final with a 2-2 draw against Manchester City. This resulted in Liverpool winning the semi-final 3-2 on aggregate.

Liverpool were the dominant team in the second leg of the semi-final and if it wasn't for the heroics of Joe Hart Liverpool could quiet easily run away with the game.

By Alan Duffy

Liverpool 2-2 Manchester City (Aggregate 3-2) Carling Cup Semi-final 25th January 2012

Liverpool came from behind twice against Manchester City at Anfield to secure a place in the final of the Carling Cup, and their first appearance at Wembley in 16 years.

So far the 2011-12 season's FA Cup campaign has been a high quality tournament. Just 32 teams remain in the competition and are all fighting the claim their spot in the Fifth Round of the cup. In this article I shall be talking about the up-and-coming matchup between Premiership side Queens Park Rangers and their league compatriots Chelsea.

25 January 2012: FA Cup winner and Hollywood hardman Vinnie Jones has returned to Wembley for the first time in nearly 25 years, to star in an interactive film in which he presents fans with their personalised Wembley Way stone.

In the film, Vinnie plays tribute to the national stadium and the position that Wembley holds in the hearts of football, sport and music fans and jokes: "it's a lot like Hollywood only closer to the North Circular.

By Chris Wright

With Palace going into the game with a 1-0 aggregate lead courtesy of centre-back Anthony Gardner, Cardiff levelled the score after just 7 minutes through Palace centre-back Anthony Gardner who somehow got his head down lower than his own feet to power a header past Julian Speroni and in off his own post.

A trip to Wembley and Liverpool's first cup final in nearly five years are on the line on Wednesday, with Manchester City heading to Anfield for the second leg of the League Cup semi-final. Liverpool have a 1-0 advantage from the first leg after a Steven Gerrard penalty capped a dominant opening spell for Kenny Dalglish's squad, but there's little illusion that they'll be able to coast into the final, with City more than capable of turning the tie over.

A trip to Wembley and Liverpool's first cup final in nearly five years are on the line tomorrow, with Manchester City heading to Anfield for the second leg of the League Cup semi-final. Liverpool have a 1-0 advantage from the first leg after a Steven Gerrard penalty capped a dominant opening spell for Kenny Dalglish's squad, but there's little illusion that they'll be able to coast into the final, with City more than capable of turning the tie over.

Former Liverpool midfielder Dietmar Hamann believes winning the Carling Cup would represent a major step forward for the club and put the Reds "back on the map".
Kenny Dalglish's team takes a 1-0 lead into Wednesday's semi-final second leg at Anfield against Manchester City, another of the ex-Germany international's sides.

I was lucky when I first used to go to Manchester United matches, over fifty years ago. Although the team was in the painful early stages of recovery from the Munich Air Crash they still often managed to play wonderfully expressive football in keeping with the finest traditions of the club.

I might be clutching at straws a little, but there's a small amount of evidence to suggest that our best results against Manchester United in recent times come during difficult periods.

Now is certainly one of those periods. After we looked like recovering a season that looked lost as soon as it started, we are now being shown up for our weaknesses again, with the recent defeat to Swansea feeling like another of many 'final straw' moments that we've experienced in recent seasons; another on the long list of new lows.

Hull legend Dean Windass has attempted suicide twice in recent days, he has revealed. The Tigers' Wembley hero confessed he had tried to end his life as booze and depression took their grip after a series of problems in his personal life. The Soccer Saturday reporter said: "People have this image of me as this [.

Even though my first game is now a whopping 29 years ago, which doesn't seem possible in itself, the memories are still very vivid.

I was approaching my twelfth birthday and being that age for my first Spurs game, it appears so clear and fresh in the memory. Your first Tottenham match is something I'm sure that nearly all will recall fondly, as nothing is more important to you back then.

This afternoon Portsmouth travel to Stamford Bridge to take on Chelsea in the FA Cup third round. Can you believe that just over a year and a half ago, both sides fought out a tight encounter in the FA Cup final at Wembley!?.
Since then, both sides have had their dramas. We as Chelsea fans think we've had it bad but for Portsmouth fans, they had to face the reality of their football club being wound up, court cases, liquidators and contemplating life without their club anymore!

It's that time of year again when I allow myself to go all misty-eyed about the FA Cup while the less sentimental (and perhaps younger) among us tut-tut and denounce the old jug as a busted flush.

The Champions League is bigger, bolder, more watched, more important and above all more lucrative than the FA Cup, this we all know.

Alan Pardew has done well at the other clubs he has managed in Cup competitions and he's been in a Wembley final as a player too. Alan Pardew while at Crystal Palace in 1990 He's going to love me for showing this In the 2006 FA Cup final at the Millennium stadium Alan was on [...]

Alan Pardew has done well at the other clubs he has managed in Cup competitions and he's been in a Wembley final as a player too. Alan Pardew while at Crystal Palace in 1990 He's going to love me for showing this In the 2006 FA Cup final at the Millennium stadium Alan was on [...]

Paul Dickov insists his Oldham side will look to attack when they chase an FA Cup upset against Liverpool on Friday night.
A second-round replay victory over Southend at Boundary Park in December booked a mouthwatering trip to face Kenny Dalglish's side for the Latics, who currently lie 14th in League One.

Defender's Wembley dream

Jon Flanagan has set his sights on achieving the dream scenario of Liverpool reaching Wembley twice this season.

View the full story here: Liverpool FC

A news article on 2012-01-04 09:23:52 from: Liverpool FC

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

From Barcelona's Wembley masterclass to Fernando Torres' open-goal miss Goal.com team share their top moments of 2011

As we near the end of the year, our writers share their picks for the most memorable incidents and highlights we have seen in football over the past 12 months

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-30 09:44:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

From Barcelona's Wembley masterclass to Fernando Torres' open-goal miss Goal.com team share their top moments of 2011

As we near the end of the year, our writers share their picks for the most memorable incidents and highlights we have seen in football over the past 12 months

View the full story here: Goal

A news article on 2011-12-30 09:44:00 from: Goal

This news item has been reproduced from today's media.

In looking back at 2011, in my capacity as a particularly grizzled campaigner of many seasons, I've decided to pick out some highs and lows that have stuck in my Peroni-soaked mind, Arsenalistically speaking.

We started 2011 very much in the title race and in contention for all four trophies and early on that year my favourite goal of the season was scored.

Cardiff City are enjoying a good start to the 2011-12 season, and whilst the priority for all clubs in the Championship will always be to make it to the Holy Land of the Premiership, this season a rare opportunity has opened up for Malky Mackay's side.
Having defeated Blackburn Rovers in the quarter-finals of the Carling Cup, they now find themselves just two games away from an appearance at Wembley in what would be their second run-out at the famous stadium in the last four years – not a bad record for a side that has been stranded outside the top tier of English football since 1962.

There is no doubting manager Kenny Dalglish has made a big impact since his return to his beloved Liverpool and the Scotsman would love nothing better than to secure some silverware in his first full season back in charge at Anfield.
The Merseyside outfit have splashed the cash under Dalglish which in turn has created some strength in depth at Anfield; something that was lacking for a number of years previous under the likes of Rafa Benitez and Roy Hodgson.