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I was in Manchester last night for the UEFA Champions League Group C clash between Manchester United and Otelul Galati. An early goal, inside the first 10 minutes, from Antonio Valencia and a late goal, inside the last 5 minutes, from a deflected Wayne Rooney shot saw Manchester United win 2-0. It wasn't a great performance but it was enough to take the club back to the top of the group, and a win against Benfica on Tuesday 22nd November will see them qualify for the knockout stage as group winners.

Yeah, the photograph is at a weird angle, and yeah, it is deliberately so.

Netherlands 0 Spain 1
An Andres Iniesta goal 4 minutes from the end won the game for Spain.

Five minutes into the first period of Extra-Time and Cesc Fabregas is denied when one on one with Maarten Stekelenburg in the Dutch goal. Just after 100 minutes and Jesus Navas surged into the area but his shot takes a deflection off van Bronckhorst and flies into the side-netting.

Five minutes into the second period Heitinga is sent off for pulling back Andres Iniesta. There was contact but was it enough for Iniesta to go down? Four minutes before the end and Cesc Fabregas finds Andres Iniesta in the area. He steadies himself and volleys past Maarten Stekelenburg. There was a hint of offside in the buildup but it wasn't given.

It wasn't a brilliant game of football, but most big games don't tend to be in the end.

Spain become the eighth team to lift the World Cup; the first time a European nation has won outside of Europe. It also marks the first time that the reigning European champions have gone on to lift the World Cup. The Netherlands are now three time losers in World Cup finals.

Netherlands 0 Spain 0
Just after the hour mark Arjen Robben is put through when Wesley Sneijder's pass eludes Gerard Pique and Robben is one on one with Iker Casillas, who makes a brilliant save with his right boot.

On 70 minutes David Villa, meets a Jesus Navas cross but his shot hits the leg of Heitinga and flies over the bar. Seven minutes later and an unmarked Sergio Ramos heads over from six yeards out.

With 7 minutes left Arjen Robben outpaces Carles Puyol but Iker Casillas races off his line to gather. Robben races after Howard Webb and demands a free-kick. Still protesting a minute later, he picks up a yellow card for dissent.

It ends 0-0 after 90 minutes and we're headed to extra-time for the sixth time in a World Cup final.

Netherlands 0 Spain 0
Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas are both highly rated in England but neither of them have made the starting lineup for Spain tonight.

Five minutes in and Xavi whips a free-kick in for Spain right and Sergio Ramos sends a header goalwards but Maaretn Stekelenburg does well to turn it away.

Just before 35 minutes the Dutch almost score when the ball takes a horrible bounce as they try and give it back to Spain after Iker Casillas had put the ball out for Carles Puyol to receive attention; which wasn't needed after all. Casillas at full stretch just gets fingertips on it. Netherlands sportingly give the corner straight back to the Spanish captain.

It hasn't been a brilliant first half and we can only hope the second half is more open.

Germany clinched third place in the 2010 World Cup with this win. Although, Diego Forlan could have sent the game to extra time. However, his free-kick in injury time rattled back off the bar.

Germany took the lead after 18 minutes. Bastian Schweinsteiger's 30-yard shot was blocked by Fernando Muslera, and Thomas Mueller, following up, coolly slotted it home from eight yards out.

10 minutes later and Bastian Schweinsteiger is dispossessed by Diego Perez on halfway and Luis Suarez passes to Edinson Cavani who slips the ball past Hans-Joerg Butt in the German goal.

6 minutes into the second half and Uruguay take the lead when Egidio Arevalo plays a one-two with Luis Suarez and Diego Forlan acrobatically volleys home from the edge of the box.

5 minutes later and it's back level. New Manchester City signing Jerome Boateng crosses and Marcell Jansen heads into an empty net after goalkeeper Fernando Muslera's flaps helplessly at the cross.

With less than 10 minutes left Sami Khedira loops a header into the corner of the net to put Germany 3-2 up and break Uruguay's hearts.

Uruguay 2 Netherlands 3
Giovanni van Bronckhorst broke the deadlock after 18 minutes when he hit an unstoppable 35-yard left foot shot into the top corner.

But going ahead did not help the Dutch work out how to break down a well-organised Uruguay defence, and they also seemed unwilling to commit players forward in search of more goals.

Four minutes before half time Diego Forlan grabbed his fourth goal in six games when his swerving strike from 25 yards out beat Maarten Stekelenburg and leveled the game at 1-1.

The Netherlands were back in the lead after 70 minutes when Wesley Sneijder's shot hit Maxi Pereira and deflected into the net off a post. Three minutes later and Arjen Robben made it 3-1, when he met Dirk Kuyt's cross and headed firmly into the bottom corner.

Uruguay pulled it back to 3-2 in the 92nd minute when Maxi Pereira latched on to a quickly taken free-kick and curled a precise shot into the bottom corner of the net.

Unrelenting pressure in the final moments failed to find that all elusive equaliser and the Dutch ran out 3-2 winners and move on into a World Cup final for the first time since 1978.

Germany 0 Spain 1
Spain reached the World Cup final for the first time thanks to a second-half header from Carles Puyol who headed home Xavi's corner after 73 minutes.

Spain dominated the game possession-wise and Germany seemed unable to strike on the counter; a tactic that they had done so magnificently against England and Argentina, and as the game wore on they seemed to be playing from an ever deeper position.

Spain will now meet the Netherlands in the final of the 2010 World Cup at Soccer City, Johannesburg on Sunday evening. Germany and Uruguay will contest the third place match in Port Elizabeth on Saturday evening.

The final will be refereed by Englishman Howard Webb.

Netherlands 2 Brazil 1 (HT 0-1)
Felipe Melo (og 53) and Sneijder (68) for Netherlands
Robinho (10) for Brazil

Uruguay 1 Ghana 1 (HT 0-1) Uruguay win 4-2 on penalties
Forlan (55) for Uruguay
Muntari (45+2) for Ghana

Argentina 0 Germany 4 (HT 0-1)
Muller (3), Klose (67, 89) & Friedrich (74) for Germany

Paraguay 0 Spain 1 (HT 0-0)
Villa (82) for Spain

Friday 2nd July 2010

Netherlands v Brazil
Port Elizabeth Stadium, Port Elizabeth/Nelson Mandela Bay @ 15:00 BST

The Netherlands have played some good football at times but I think Brazil may be too strong for them. It'll probably be a close game though.

Uruguay v Ghana
Soccer City, Johannesburg @ 1930 BST

Ghana have impressed and Uruguay have been strong defensively. This game could go either way but I think Uruguay will probably just edge it.

Saturday 3rd July 2010

Argentina v Germany
Green Point Stadium, Cape Town @ 15:00 BST

Germany were very impressive on the counter against England but they didn't impress quite so much in their group. Argentina have impressed in every game they've played. This game will be a good test of how far the young German team has come but I think Argentina will prove a step too far.

Paraguay v Spain
Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg @ 1930 BST

Spain weren't overly impressive getting past Portugal and didn't look like world beaters in their group. However, I think they'll be stronger than Paraguay. Just don't expect them to win the whole thing.

Paraguay 0 Japan 0 aet: Paraguay win 5-3 on penalties
Paraguay won the first penalty shoot-out of the 2010 World Cup after Japan's Yuichi Komano hit the crossbar with his 's spot-kick.

The closest we came to a goal during the game was when Daisuke Matsui rattled the crossbar in the first half.

Paraguay become the fourth South American side to reach this year's quarter-finals.

Spain 1 Portugal 0
This game was decided just after the hour mark when Xavi plays a flick to put David Villa in on the left, his first shot is saved by the onrushing keeper but Eduardo can't get back up quick enough to prevent Villa's second shot from hitting the underside of the bar and bouncing into the net.

Just before the end of the game Joan Capdevila goes down after an off-the-ball challenge from Ricardo Costa. The referee, who was about 2- yards away, shows a red cardto Costa. Replays seem to suggest there was minimal contact at most. That's the second time in this World Cup that somebody has been sent off against Spain under suspect circumstances.

The game finishes 1-0 and Cristiano Ronaldo is another big name player that hasn't shone at this world cup.

Quarter Finals:
Paraguay v Spain
Ellis Park Stadium, Johannesburg
Saturday 3rd July 2010 @ 1930 BST

Unfortunately I didn't get to see either of these games. I was at work for the first game and I was out in the evening and missed the second game.

Netherlands 2 Slovakia 1
A superb strike from Arjen Robben after 18 minutes and a Wesley Sneijder goal after 84 minutes gave Netherlands victory over Slovakia to seal their place in the World Cup quarter-finals.

Robben collected a pass from Sneijder and then fired home from 25 yards. Dirk Kuyt pulled back for Sneijder to score late on. Robert Vittek scored a penalty with the very last kick of the match. His fourth goal of the tournament

The Netherlands will face either Brazil or Chile in the quarter-finals.

Brazil 3 Chile 0
Juan headed home a Maicon cross after 34 minutes. Less than 5 minutes later Robinho passes to Kaka, who passes first-time pass to Luis Fabiano, who rounds the keeper and slots the ball into the empty net.

Just under 15 minutes into the second half and Robinho curls the third into the far corner of Claudio Bravo's net following a brilliant run from Ramires.

Brazil move on to face the Netherlands in the last eight.

Quarter Finals:
Netherlands v Brazil
Port Elizabeth Stadium, Port Elizabeth/Nelson Mandela Bay
Friday 2nd July 2010 @ 15:00 BST

Argentina sealed a quarter-final tie against Germany thanks to a 3-1 victory. However, controversy marred the win once again.

When Carlos Tevez headed Argentina in front after 25 minutes he was a couple of yards offside when the ball was played to him by Lionel Messi. However, the referee and his assistant both failed to cancel out the goal.

Argentina doubled their lead after 33 minutes when Ricardo Osorio gave possession away to Gonzalo Higuain, who scored his fourth goal of the competition.

Tevez made it 3-0 less than 10 minutes into the second half with a sensational strike that found the top corner of the net.

New Manchester United signing Javier Hernandez pulled back a goal for Mexico on 71 minutes when he deftly spun past Martin DeMichelis on the edge of the box, before burying his shot past Sergio Romero.

Argentina move on and will face Germany in the last eight.

Quarter Finals:
Argentina v Germany
Green Point Stadium, Cape Town
Saturday 3rd July 2010 @ 15:00 BST

Many people may think that the result flatters Germany. But it doesn't. The scoreline could easily be double that. However, England's abysmal performance today isn't going to be the main talking point of the game. The main talking point is going to be a goal that wasn't given.

Germany took the lead on 20 minutes when Manuel Neuer's goalkick sails over John Terry's head and Miroslav Klose races onto the ball, holds off Matthew Upson and pokes the ball past David James. Woeful defending.

Just after the half hour, Lukas Podolski makes it 2-0 when a flick from Miroslav Klose finds Thomas Mueller and he finds Lukas Podolski, who smashes the ball low past David James.

On 37 minutes Steven Gerrard crosses from the right and Matthew Upson gets his head onto it to score into the empty net.

About a minute or so later and the major talking point of the game occurs. Frank Lampard hits a shot from outside the area, The ball bounces off the underside of the bar and hits the ground about two feet over the line before bouncing back up, hitting the bar and landing in Manuel Neuer's arms. Amazingly enough, the refree and his assistant both failed to give it. Replays clearly show the ball was well over the line.

Going in at 2-2 at half-time may have ended up in a different second half and potentially a different result. Although to be honest England were probably very lucky to be only 2-1 down.

After 67 minutes, and with England chasing the game, a Frank Lampard free-kick from 25 yards is blocked and Gareth Barry loses the ball. Germany break with pace and Bastian Schweinsteiger plays an inch-perfect pass for Thomas Mueller and he smashes it past David James and into the net.

Three minutes later and it's 4-1. A Joe Cole cross is blocked, and Germany break with pace again. Mesut Ozil outpaces Gareth Barry and he crosses along the six-yard box for Thomas Mueller to score.

England were extremely poor defensively and Germany took every advantage of that. Germany move on and will face the winner of Argentina vs Mexico. England fly home.

A goal from Asamoah Gyan 3 minutes into extra-time gave Ghana a 2-1 victory over USA.

Ghana took the lead after 5 minutes when USA's Ricardo Clark loses the ball and Kevin-Prince Boateng races through to the edge of the box. His left-foot shot beats Tim Howard at his near post.

After 62 minutes the USA pull level. Clint Dempsey is brought down by a mis-timed tackle from Jonathan Mensah and the referee points to the spot and brandishes a yellow card. Landon Donovan steps up and slots it home off the left-hand post.

Ghana retake the lead 3 minutes into extra-time when Andre Ayew's long ball finds Asamoah Gyan on the edge of the box. He beats Carlos Bocanegra and smashes a left-foot shot past Tim Howard from about 16 yards.

Ghana hold out and make it through to the last eight.

Quarter Finals:
Uruguay v Ghana
Soccer City, Johannesburg
Friday 2nd July 2010 @ 1930 BST

Ajax striker Luis Suarez scored a spectacular winner to help Uruguay progress to the quarters-finals at the expense of South Korea.

Uruguay went ahead after 8 minutes when Diego Forlan played a low ball across the six-yard area which was misjudged by keeper Jung Sung-Ryong before Suarez slotted home at the far post.

After 68 minutes Lee Chung-Yong pounced on a poor clearance by Maurico Victorino and headed home from eight yards out.

With 10 minutes left Suarez backed away to the edge of the 18-yard area as a corner was swung in from the right and he was in the right place to curl in a superb goal off the post which left keeper Jung Sung-Ryong with no chance.

South Korean substitute Lee Dong-Gook had a chance late on the force extra-time but his weak shot squirmed under the keeper before being cleared.

Uruguay will face the winners of the Ghana vs United States match in the last eight.

North Korea 0 Ivory Coast 3
Yaya Toure, Romaric and Salomon Kalou gave Ivory Coast a 3-0 victory. But, it was not enough to see them progress.

Portugal 0 Brazil 0
An uneventful 0-0 draw saw both teams progress to the next round; Brazil as group winners and Portugal as runners-up.

Chile 1 Spain 2
Goals before half-time from David Villa, from 40-yards out, and Andres Iniesta gave Spain a 2-0 half-time lead. It appeared that defender Marco Estrada accidentally tripped Fernando Torres in the build-up to Iniesta's goal but referee Marco Rodriguez brandished a second yellow card and sent Estrada off. 3 minutes after the break substitute Rodrigo Millar pulled a goal back with the aid of a deflection off Gerard Pique.

Switzerland 0 Honduras 0
Needing a 2-0 victory to progress, Switzerland were unable to break down a spiritied Honduras side and ending up going out of the competition along with their opponents.

Second round ties:
Brazil vs Chile
Spain vs Portugal

Paraguay 0 New Zealand 0
A dour 0-0 draw saw Parguay qualify top of the group whilst New Zealand were eliminated after finishing third in the group. Not many chances in the game, and the best of those all fell to the South American side. Results elsewhere mean that Paraguay top the group and face Japan in the next round.

Slovakia 3 Italy 2
Slovakia clinched a place in the last 16 by beating and knocking out Italy. Robert Vittek scored a goal in each half, after 25 and 73 minutes, to knock out the reigning champions. Antonio Di Natale pulled a goal back with less than 10 minutes left only for Slovakia substitute Kamil Kopunek to beat goalkeeper Federico Marchetti in the last minute. Although Fabio Quagliarella score a superb injury-time goal to pull it back to 3-2. Slovakia claim second place and face the Netherlands in the next round.

Cameroon 1 Netherlands 2
The Dutch took the lead on 36 minutes when Robin van Persie scored from 12 yards following a one-two with Rafael van der Vaart. Cameroon equalised on 65 minutes when Samuel Eto'o scored from the spot after Rafael Van der Vaart had handled in the box. Klaas-Jan Huntelaar scores into an empty net after 83 minutes following an Arjen Robben shot that rebounded off the Cameroon right-hand post. The Netherlands qualify from this group with a 100% record and move on to face Slovakia next.

Denmark 1 Japan 3
Two stunning first-half free-kicks helped secure this Japanese win and a place in the last 16. Keisuke Honda sscored the first after 17 minutes although Thomas Sorenson should have done better. Yasuhito Endo curled the second in after 30 minutes. Jon Dahl Tomasson became Denmark's joint all-time top scorerwhen he followed up his own penalty to pull one back after 81 minutes. It was his 52nd international goal. However, a greate piece of solo skill saw Keisuke Honda set Shinji Okazaki to score the 3rd with 3 minutes left. It was a result that Japan full deserved and earned.

Second round ties:
Netherlands vs Slovakia
Paraguay vs Japan

Slovenia 0 England 1
England finally produced at this World Cup; and it was when it mattered most. In danger of being dumped out they took this game by the scruff of the neck and could have won more handsomely than the 1-0 score suggested. The solitary goal came after 22 minutes when a James Milner cross from wide out right was met on the volley by Jermain Defoe. Samir Handanovic couldn't stop it going in despite getting both hands on the ball.

Due to the result of the USA vs Algeria game England finish second in the group and will face the winners of Group D on Sunday.

USA 1 Algeria 0
This game was decided in stoppage time at the end of the match and the USA progress thanks to Landon Donovan. Jozy Altidore crosses in from the right and after Rais M Bolhi parries it, Landon Donovan jumps on the loose ball and puts Slovenia out. USA top the group and will face the runners up of Group D.

Australia 2 Serbia 1
In a game full of chances it's almost 70 minutes gone before Australia take the lead. Tim Cahill fires a header into the corner of the net after a cross from the right. Less than 5 minutes later and it's 2-0. Brett Holman fires in from 25 yards out. With about 5 minutes left Serbia pull one back. Mark Schwarzer spills a Zoran Tosic shot and Marko Pantelic steals in to tap in the rebound. Too little too late though. The result in the game's other game sees both these teams eliminated.

Ghana 0 Germany 1
This game was also full of chances and it took an hour before somebody broke the deadlock. Mesut Ozil, fires in a dipping shot from the edge of the area to give Germany a 1-0 lead and ultimately victory. Ghana had enough chances to pull level but their liuck seemed to desert them.

Second round ties:
USA vs Ghana
Germany vs England

France 1 South Africa 2
South Africa beat France 2-1 in their final group game but still failed to qualify for the next stage as both teams are eliminated from the tournament. France, in turmoil in recent days dropped Patrice Evra and started with Djibril Cisse up front. France coach Raymond Domenech made a total of 6 changes. Gael Clichy, Sebastien Squillachi, Alou Diarra, Yoann Gourcuff and Andre-Pierre Gignac all started. South Africa coach Carlos Alberto Parreira started Bernard Parker up front alongside Katlego Mphela, goalkeeper Moeneeb Josephs, midfielder Thanduyise Khuboni , Anele Ngcongoa and Macbeth Sibaya also start.

South Africa take the lead on 21 minutes when Siphiwe Tshabalala's corner from the left eludes Hugo Lloris in the France goal and Bongani Khumalo head in at the far post. 5 minutes later and France's Yoan Gourcuff receives a red card from Colombian referee Oscar Ruiz for an elbow in an aerial challenge with MacBeth Sibaya. After 37 minutes South Africa double their lead when a cross from the left falls fo Katlego Mphela and he taps the ball into an empty net from 3 yards out. France pull a goal back on 70 minutes when Bacary Sagna finds Franck Ribery on the right side of the box and he squares for Florent Malouda to score into an empty net. Siphiwe Tshabalala had a chance to make it 3-1 in injury time, but he some brave goalkeeping from Hugo Lloris denies him.

The game finishes 2-1 and that's not enough to see South Africa through. They go out on goal difference and become the first host nation to fail to qualify for the second stage.

Mexico 0 Uruguay 1
Cuauhtemoc Blanco and Andres Guardado both start for Mexico. Uruguay coach Oscar Tabarez makes one change; Mauricio Victorino coming in.

Uruguay took the lead just before half-time when Edinson Cavani crosses from the right and Luis Suarez heads in at the back post. Mexico seemed to be happy to sit back in the second-half and let time run out.

The score here means that both teams qualify for the next round.

Greece 0 Argentina 2
Greece coach Otto Rehhagel brings in defender Vangelis Moras and striker Georgios Samaras, Argentina coach Diego Maradona makes seven changes with Lionel Messi as captain. A very defensive performance from the Greeks see them hold out for 77 minutes. Martin Demichelis rises high to meet a corner but his header rebound after his team-mate Diego Milito on the edge of the six-yard box, However, Demichelis is first to the loose ball and he thumps it into the roof of the net. After being marked out of the whole game Lionel Messi plays a one-two before his shot is saved by Alexandros Tzorvas. Martin Palermo latches onto the rebound and side-foots home. 2-0 and Greece are goind home.

Nigeria 2 South Korea 2
South Korea bring right-back Cha Doo-Ri in. Nigeria start with Nwankwo Kanu up front. Yussuf Ayila, Rabiu Afolabi and Chinedu Ogbuke Obasi all start.

Less than 12 minutes in and Nigeria go 1-0 up. Chidi Odiah find Kala Uche 8-yards out amd he gets in ahead of Cha Du-Ri and slots the ball past Jung Sung-Ryong. After 38 minutes Ki Sung-Yeung's free-kick is met by Lee Jung-Soo at the back post to bundle the ball home. 1-1, game on. Less than 5 minutes into the second-half and South Korea go 2-1 up when Park Chu-Young curls in a free-kick from 20 yards out. Nigerian keeper Vincent Enyeama couldn't get to it. Less than 3 minutes after missing a sitter Yakubu makes amends when he slots home a penalty after Kim Nam-Il clattered into the back of Chinedu Obasi. 20 minutes left and all still to play for; however, the game ends up finishing 2-2.

Second round ties:
Uruguay vs South Korea
Argentina vs Mexico

After losing 1-0 to Switzerland in their opening game, this was a game that the Spanish had to win. Spain started with both Fernando Torres and David Villa and it was the latter that gave them a 1-0 lead after 17 minutes. He cut in from the left and his shot from the edge of the box finds the top corner of the net.

Spain had a number of chances to increase their lead before David Villa once again scored, on 50 minutes. A Fernando Torres run creates space for Xavi who tees up David Villa and his 25-yard shot takes a slight deflection and loops in. Just after the hour mark Emilio Izaguirre brought down Jesus Navas in the area but David Villa puts it wrong side of the post.

The game finishes 2-0 and Spain will win the group if they beat Chile in their final group game.

This game was decided after 75 minutes when Estaban Paredes beat the offside trap, rounded keeper Diego Benaglio and crossed for former Liverpool winger Mark Gonzalez to head home from four yards out.

Saudi official Khali Al Ghamdi was rather card-happy in this game and handed out 9 yellows and 1 red card. Valon Behrami was sent off after 30 minutes for an elbow on Arturo Vidal. It didn't look that bad at normal speed and even though the slow motion shows that he did raise his elbow there's no way he impacted with enough force to do any damage.

Goals from Raul Meireles on 29, Simao on 53, Almeida on 56, Tiago on 60 and 89, Liedson on 81 and Ronaldo on 87 gave Portugal a 7-0 victory here.

Just before the half-hour Tiago passes to Raul Meireles and he puts a low shot past Ri Myong-Guk. On 53 minutes Raul Meireles plays a one-two with Hugo Almeida and then finds Simao, who fires home from 12 yards out. 3 minutes later and it's 3-0 when Fabio Coentrao crosses for Hugo Almeida to head past Ri Myong-Guk. Just on the hour mark and Cristiano Ronaldo picks out Tiago and he makes it 4-0 from the edge of the box.

With just under 10 minutes left in the game it's 5-0 thanks to Duda's cross reaching Liedson after a mistake by Ri Kwang-Chon. Liedson volleys home from eight yards out. With only 2 minutes left in the game Cristiano Ronaldo finally breaks his long lean spell at international level with the 6th goal of the game. A mistake in the North Korean defence put Liedson and Ronaldo through. Ronaldo's shot bounces into the air, hits him on the back of his neck before bobbling on to his head. As the ball lands he volleys home from 10 yards. Less than a minute later amd Miguel Veloso crosses for Tiago to head home. 7-0 it finishes.

Paraguay 2 Slovakia 0
With 27 minutes on the clock, Lucas Barrios slipped the ball through to Enrique Vera and he slotted the ball past Jan Mucha with the outside of his right boot. With less than 5 minutes left Paulo Da Silva tees up Cristian Riverosand he lashes the ball home from the edge of the box. Paraguay move top of the group and Slovakia now need to beat Italy to progress.

Italy 1 New Zealand 1
7 minutes in and Shane Smeltz sneaks onto the end of a free-kick and slots the ball past Federico Marchetti from close range. New Zealand lead 1-0. Just before the half-hour, New Zealand's Tommy Smith pulls Daniele De Rossi's shirt and De Rossi goes to ground rather easily. Vincenzo Iaquinta sends Mark Paston the wrong way and it's 1-1. New Zealand manage to hold on for the remainder of the game and end with a memorable 1-1 draw. Italy are now in the same boat as Slovakia. They must win their last game to progress.

Brazil 3 Ivory Coast 1
Brazil took the lead after 25 minutes after Luis Fabiano latches onto a Kaka pass and smashes the ball away at the near post. Luis Fabiano doubles the lead after 50 minutes. He flicked the ball over one defender's challenge, then over another before forcefully putting the ball past the keeper. He got away with a handball in there. Just after the hour Kaka goes past a couple of defenders on the left and lays the ball back for Elano to tap in from close range.

With about 10 minutes left, the Ivory Coast break from a Brazilian corner and Lucio's tackle of Gervinho results in the ball falling to Yaya Toure. His ball over the top is headed into the corner by Didier Drogba. 3-1.

That's not the end of things though. With only moments left Kader Keita collides with Kaka and goes down as if shot in the face. Referee Stephane Lannoy brandishes a second yellow and Kaka is off. Truly dreadful playacting and an awful decision.

Netherlands 1 Japan 0
Robin van Persie teed up Wesley Sneijder to score the winner on 52 minutes from just outside of the box. Although Eiji Kawashima in the Japanese goal should have done better with the shot than he did.

Australia 1 Ghana 1
Australia took an 11th minute lead when Mark Bresciano's right-foot shot from 30 yards out bounced in front of Richard Kingson and fell kindly to Brett Holman, who tapped in from close-range.

After 24 minutes Andre Ayew crossed from the right and Jonathan Mensah's shot hits Harry Kewell on the line. Italian referee Roberto Rosetti points to the spot and shows Kewell a straight red for handball. Asamoah Gyan confidently slotted home the penalty.

Cameroon 1 Denmark 2
Manchester United target Simon Kjaer foolishly passes straight to Achille Webo and he finds Samuel Eto'o in space in the box. A clinical strike past Thomas Sorensen amd Cameroon are 1 up.

After 33 minutes, Simon Kjaer hits a stunning 50-yard pass to Dennis Rommedahl out wide on the right and he crosses for Nicklas Bendtner to score from inside the six-yard box. All level.

Just after the hour Dennis Rommedahl outpaces Jean Makoun and he bends a left-foot shot around Hamidou Souleymanou from eight yards out. 2-1 Denmark and that's how the game finished.

The highlight of this game was the referee blowing the full-time whistle.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• England can still qualify from this group. If they beat Slovenia on Wednesday!
• Based on that performance, the England players on display tonight don't deserve to wear the shirt.

Slovenia took the lead after 13 minutes thanks to a stunning 25 yard strike from Valter Birsa that left Tim Howard stranded. They doubled their lead after 42 minutes thanks to Zlatan Ljubijankic who coolly slotted the ball past the onrushing Tim Howard following Milivoje Novakovic's pass. USA pulled one back after 48 minutes thanks to Landon Donovan who blasted the ball in from an acute angle whilst less than 6 yards out. Michael Bradley slotted home the equaliser on 82 minutes after a nod down from Jozy Altidore. Maurice Edu thought he'd scored the winner on 85 minutes but referee Koman Coulibaly pulls the game back for a foul.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Valter Birsa may end up at a top team before too long.
• This game ending in a draw does England no harm.
• USA can still qualify if they beat Algeria and England beat Slovenia.

A goal after 38 minutes from Milan Jovanovic gave Serbia a 1-0 victory. Milos Krasic crossed, Nikola Zigic knocked it down and Milan Jovanovic, right in front of goal, had time to turn the ball into the back of the net. The goal came less than 2 minutes after Spanish referee Alberto Undiano sent off Miroslav Klose for 2 bookable offences. The bookings, whilst technically correct, were both harsh. Lukas Podolski missed a 59th minute penalty. Nemanja Vidic handled a cross from the right and Podolski shoots low and to Vladimir Stojkovic's left but the keeper saves it.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Lukas Podolski was very wasteful in front of goal.
• Nemanja Vidic, apart from the stupid handball, was solid.
• The referee, Alberto Undiano, was very much over-officious today.
• Jonathan Pearce and Mick McCarthy are an awful commentary team. They are both annoyingly over-opinionated.

I never caught either of these games. The Junior Club was running at work during the first game and I had popped to Steve and Jo's for a meeting concerning the roleplaying club's website whilst the second game was on.

Kalu Uche gave Nigeria a 1-0 lead with a free-kick after 16 minutes. Nigeria's Sanu Kaita stupidly and unnecessarily kicked out at Vassilis Torosidis after 33 minutes and referee Oscar Ruiz produced a red card. Dimitris Salpingidis levels things up just before half-time, thanks in no small part to a huge deflection off Haruna Lukman. Greece's advantage showed in the second half and on 72 minutes Alexandros Tziolis' shot finds it's way back out to Vassilis Torosidis who pounces to give the Greeks a 2-1 advantage.

In the second game Mexico scored 2 second-half goals thanks to new Manchester United recruit Javier Hernandez, who beat the offside trap on 64 minutes and rounded Hugo Lloris to score. Eric Abidal fouled Pablo Barrera in the area and veteran Cuauhtemoc Blanco scored from the spot after 79 minutes.

The result condemns France to the uncertainty of having to beat South Africa in their final game and then hoping that the Uruguay vs Mexico ends up very one-sided. South Africa are in the exact same position in that they need to beat France and hope for a lop-sided game too. It's all well and good that FIFA decreed final group games should kick off at the same time to stop a repeat of the Austria and West Germany fiasco of 1982 that eliminated Algeria. However, Uruguay and Mexico go into their final game knowing that a draw between them would be enough to elimate France and South Africa.

An own goal from Park Chu-Young and hat-trick from Gonzalo Higuain gave Argentia a 4-1 victory over South Korea, Lee Chung-Yong scoring for the Asians. Argentina's first goal came after 16 minutes when Park Chu-Young deflected a Lionel Messi free kick into his own goal. After 33 minutes Argentina make it 2 when a Maxi Rodriguez cross is flicked on by Nicolas Burdisso and Higuain scores with a simple header at the back post. South Korea pulled a goal back out of nothing just before half-time. Martin Demichelis took too long on a clearance and Lee Chung-Yong nipped in, nicked the ball and clipped a shot past keeper Sergio Romero. Gonzalo Higuain made it 3-1 after 77 minutes, scoring in an empty net after Lionel Messi had an attempt saved by keeper Jung Sung-Ryong and a second effort come off the post. 3 minutes later and a counter-attack from Argentina sees Lionel Messi chip the ball over to Sergio Aguero, who crosses to Gonzalo Higuain to head home.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Teams are going to be pushed hard by this Argentina side.
• South Korea can still qualify from this group.
• In fact, Greece and Nigeria can also still qualify from this group.
• The strangest thing of all is that if Greece hammer Argentina and South Korea hammer Nigeria in the final two matches then Argentina could be eliminated still.

The hosts are in danger of going out after this game. Former Manchester United striker Diego Forlan was in sublime form, running the show, scoring 2 goals and having a hand in the other. After 24 minutes he picked up 35 yards out, swiveled and shot; a deflection off Aaron Mokoena took the ball past Itumeleng Khune. By half-time it seemed fairly obvious that there was only going to be one winner in this game. As the second half progressed nothing happened to change that perception and on 76 minutes South African keeper Khune clipped the feet of Luis Suarez and received a straight red as a result. Moneeb Josephs first act as South Africa's second goalkeeper of the game was to pick Diego Forlan's penalty out of the back of the net. Alvaro Pereira made it 30 in injury time after Diego Forlan had played a ball out wide to Luis Saurez and his cross was headed home by Pereira.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• I was always a Forlan fan but this was a much improved player than 6 years ago at Old Trafford.
• South Africa need a result against France in their final game to have any hope of progressing.
• France vs Mexico tomorrow is a huge game for South Africa.

In another game that I only managed to catch as background noise a 52nd minute goal from Gelson Fernandes gave Swizterland an unexpected victory over the highly fancied Spanish side. Spain have been perennial underachievers in virtually every major tournament they've entered up to winning Euro 2008; although they also won that self-same tournament in 1964 when they hosted it. Spain are probably still going to qualify from the group but they've not made it easy for themselves.

It's hard to believe that it's exactly 48 years to the day since Chile last won a game at the World Cup; against Yugoslavia if you were curious. I didn't get to watch the game but I did manage to hear the second half in the background. A very one-sided 1-0 victory was sealed after 34 minutes after a shot from Jean Beausejour ricochetted into the goal off a Honduran defender. Chile could have scored again but failed to do so and the game ended with a 1-0 scoreline to the South Americans over their Central American opponents.

A brilliant defensive performance by North Korea gave us a 0-0 scoreline at half-time and the potential for a shock. After 55 minutes Elano feeds Maicon instead of pulling the ball back from near the by-line he bends the ball with the outside of his right boot and beats Ri Myong-guk at his near post; stunning! Elano doubled the lead on 72 minutes after an inch perfect through ball from Robinho. In the closing minutes Ji Yun-nam scores past Julio Cesar but the opportunity to hunt for an equaliser is curtailed by the final whistle. Not as one-sided as many people probably expected.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Kaka seemed very quiet today.
• Robinho is not the same player than Manchester City let go out on loan to Santos.
• North Korea may just manage to get something out of one of their 2 remaining games.

Both these games were played whilst I was at work today and I never got an opportunity to see either game. Slovakia took the lead in the first game after 50 minutes. Some hesitancy from defender Winston Reid allowed Robert Vittek to head in from a Stanislav Sestak cross. Although, replays suggest that Vittek may have been slightly offside. The equaliser came with 30 seconds left and was scored courtesy of Winston Reid; as he atones for his earlier error and heads in from 8 yards out. It seems that the best action from the second game was Cristiano Ronaldo hitting the post with a dipping, swerving shot from 25 yards out that had keeper Boubacar Barry well beaten. He also went close late on from a free kick. Another game or two and he might just have the taming of the Jabulani.

I didn't get to see either of these games. However, from all accounts, I didn't miss much in the first of the two, Japan winning 1-0 thanks to a Keisuke Honda goal after 38 minutes; the fact that they only had 3 shots on goal in the entire game tells you something. The second game ended 1-1. Paraguay had taken the lead thanks to a header from Antolin Alacaraz, who got onto the end of an Aureliano Torres free-kick after 39 minutes. Italy's equalizer came from another goalkeeping blunder. Simone Pepe whipped in a corner from the left, goalkeeper Justo Villar completely missed his punch away and Daniele De Rossi bundle the ball in from close range. Apparently, on reflection 1-1 was a fair result.

The Dutch got off to a winning start thanks to a Danish own goal and a tap-in from Dirk Kuyt. Not much of interest happened in the first half, but shortly after the restart, Robin van Persie put in a deep cross from the left which Simon Poulson heads away. However, the ball deflects off Daniel Agger's back into the Danish goal. With just about 5 minutes left Eljero Elia is denied by a brilliant Thomas Sorenson save only for Dirk Kuyt to tap-in the rebound.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Nobody has managed to find their free-kick range yet with the new Jabulani ball.
• Some really poor challenges are getting away unpunished whilst some seemingly not-so poor challenges are picking up yellow cards.

The harsh sending off of Australia's talisman Tim Cahill after 56 minutes ended this game as a contest. However, truth be told, Germany were already well in control by then and would probably have gone on to win the game anyway. Lukas Podolski put Germany ahead inside the first 10 minutes with a fine strike. Miroslav Klose doubled the lead with a header after 27 minutes. Thomas Mueller, the new young sensation of German football, slides home the 3rd, with aid from the upright, after 68 minutes. Brazilian born Cacau makes it 4-0, and completes the scoring, just 2 minutes later.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Mesut Ozil was easily the man of the match.
• Mexican referee Marco Rodriguez showed some inconsistency in his handing out of cards.
• Germany will definitely win this group.
• Australia should have strong grounds to appeal Tim Cahill's red card.

Unfortunately, I didn't see either of today's earlier games. I was at my Godson's first Holy Communion and a celebration party thereafter.

In the first game, Algeria's Abdelkader Ghezzal was dismissed after 72 minutes for 2 bookable offences before former West Brom midfielder Robert Koren scored late on with a dipping 20-yard drive that eluded Algerian keeper Faouzi Chaouchi.

In the second game, Serbia finished with 10 men after Aleksandar Lukovic was dismissed for a second bookable offence after 74 minutes. The game was decided after 85 minutes with a penalty from Asamoah Gyan, after substitute Zdravko Kuzmanovic handballed in the area.

A calamitous error in the last few minutes of the first half denied England victory in their first game of this year's World Cup. Steven Gerrard latched onto a sublime little touch from Emile Heskey to put England ahead inside the first 5 minutes. USA had a few chances to equalise before Clint Dempsey's 25 yard shot slipped through Robert Green's hands to gift the USA a 1-1 scoreline at half-time. England had the best chances in the second half, although Robert Green made a fine save after Jozy Altidore had skinned Jamie Carragher down the wing.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Emile Heskey may not score many goals but he contributes so much more.
• Both these teams should qualify from this group.
• We drew our first game in 1966 and went on to win the World Cup. So, it's not really that bad after all.
• Italy, who went on to win in 2006, drew one of their group games 1-1 against USA that year.
• Why have we left Theo Walcott at home and took Shaun Wright-Phillips?

Argentina won this game thanks to a Gabriel Heinze diving header from near the penalty spot. The goal came in the 6th minute after a corner from the right hand side; very lax marking. Scoreline should have been much wider than this but Argentina were very wasteful going forward and Nigeria had chances to equalise.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Nigerian goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama kept the score down.
• Argentina are much better going forward than backward.
• Older players are going to be more affected by the altitude as the games progress.

South Korea took full advantage of a lacklustre Greek display and ran out desrved 2-0 winners. Lee Jung-soo scored the first after only 6 minutes with a tap-in following a free-kick out near the corner flag. Park Ji-sung pounched on Loukas Vyntra's mistake after 52 minutes, held off 2 defenders before slotting the ball home to give the South Koreans a 2-0 lead. They had further chances to increase their lead but ended up running out comfotable 2-0 winners.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Giorgos Samaras, usually Greece's most influential player, going missing.
• Some empty seats in the stadium.
• South Korea have a chance in this group; especially if they get a result against Nigeria.
• Greece are going to get taken apart by Aregntina.

Today matches are:

South Korea v Greece, Kick-off 12:30BST.
Argentina v Nigeria, Kick-off 15:00BST.
England v USA, Kick-off 19:30BST.

Manchester United's Park Ji Sung is probably the best known of the South Korean squad and they will be relying on his industriousness in the heart of the midfield to cause Greece problems.  Greece are probably slight favourites but the South Koreans could easily nick this game.

With Lionel Messi at the heart of the Argentinian team you really can't see anything but a victory for the South American's in the second game of the day.  A victory for Nigeria would definitely be an upset.  It's likely that Argentina will start with a 3 man attack of Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Gonzalo Higuain,

The big game of the day though is undoubtedly the clash between England and the USA.  The 2 countries have met 9 times with England winning 7 of those.  The 2 USA victories came at the World Cup in 1950, in Brazil; 1-0, and in June 1993 in the USA; 2-0.  England are the seeded, and higher ranked team, and should win this game; especially against a suspect American defence.  But, you never know for certain.

Not exactly a great game of football. Both sides had a couple of chances to score but failed to take them. The only real talking point of the game was the red card handed out to Uruguayan substitute Nicolas Lodeiro after 81 minutes. He had received a yellow card for kicking the ball away only moments before a clumsy challenge on Bacary Sagna produced a second yeloow and then accompanying red card.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• Mexico may stand a chance of progressing, even with their short goalkeeper.
• South Africa also stand a chance, even with their lax defending
• Argentina and Nigeria, the likely second round qualifiers from Group B, don't seem to have a lot to fear from Group A.

Siphiwe Tshabalala scored a superb opening goal for the home team after 54 minutes but some very lax defending allowed Rafael Marquez to equalize for Mexico after 78 minutes. Katlego Mphela had a great chance to win the game for South Africa in the dying seconds of the match but his shot came back off the post.

Things that I noticed during the game:

• South Africa aren't going to go far with their defending.
• Cuauhtemoc Blanco may be a legend in Mexico but if the ball isn't directly to him he hasn't got the legs to chase it.
• Oscar Perez is way too short in the Mexican goal for them to go too far in the competition.
• Manchester United's new signing Javi Hernandez showed a couple of flashes.
• Not too sure if Adrian Chiles is the right choice to front ITV's football coverage.

I'm not too sure if I'll manage to watch every game of the World Cup; a lot of them occur whilst I'm at work. But, I will try to comment on each game that I do see.

The 2010 World Cup kicks off later today from Soccer City in South Africa.  The match pitches hosts South Africa against Mexico.

England's tournament gets under way tomorrow evening with a match against USA in Rustenburg. They then play on the evening of Friday 18th June in Cape Town against Algeria. Their final group game is against Slovenia in Port Elizabeth on the afternoon of Wednesday 23rd June.

Winning the group would lead to a second round tie against the runner-up of Germany's group and a possible Quarter-Final against France with Brazil waiting at the Semi-Final stage.

Ending up as runner-up in the group would likely see a second round tie against Germany, with Argentina in the Quarter Finals and Spain or Italy in the Semi-Finals.

The new football season got underway in England last weekend with the first games of the 2009/10 season for clubs in the Chmpionship, Leagues 1 & 2 and for clubs in non-league football. The Premiership kicks off tomorrow.

Over the past couple of seasons my hometown club Peterborough United have gained successive promotions and are now playing in the Championship. Things didn't go too well last weekend when they lost 2-1 at Derby County. A 4-0 midweek win over Wycombe Wanderers in the Carling Cup will hopefully give the club some momentum going into tomorrow's game against Sheffield Wednesday.

The club have once again brought in some young players to bolster the promotion push. I'm hoping for another good season and although I think promotion may be a step beyond the team I'm hoping for a good top-half finish. A play-off berth would be a bonus. Promotion to the Premiership would be dreamland!

In the Premiership things may be a bit more interesting this season. Many people are backing Liverpool to pip Manchester United to ther title but not me. First and foremost I'm a Manchester United fan so will always back them to win the title.

Whilst I think the loss of Cristiano Ronaldo will have an impact I believe that United have been shrewd and may have made the capture of the summer by signing Michael Owen on a free transfer. It's true that United will miss Ronaldo but the squad is strong enough to absorb that loss and move forward successfully.

Liverpool and Chelsea will push United hard but I'm hopeful that the Red Devils will have enough strength to beat back the challenge. I don't think Arsenal are as strong as they have been in the past and they will come under pressue from Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester City and Aston Villa.

At the foot of the table the three recently promoted teams; Birmingham City, Burnley and Wolverhampton Wanderers will struggle and may well be joined in a relegation dogfight by the likes of Sunderland, Hull City and even Portsmouth; who seem to be in a bit of turmoil at the moment.

The Guardian aren't doing Fantasy Football this coming season and I didn't fancy having to pay for the Telegraph Fantasy Football when I'm not working. However, Sky to the rescue. Their 2009/10 game is once again free.

Just go to here to sign up.

I have also set up a private fantasy league. If you want to join go to the link and sign up. Create a team and then join a Private League. The PIN number that you will need is 1371.

It's Free To Play.

A few days after Real Madrid seal a £56m deal for Brazilian star Kaka comes news that they have been given permission by Manchester United to discuss the details of a proposed £80m move for Cristiano Ronaldo. A lot of people have already; just 10 hours later, had lots to say on the matter. I'd just like to remind everybody that he has always expressed a desire to play for Real Madrid. If he doees leave then I wish him luck and say "Thank You" for the 6 years service that he has provided. I will be more than delighted if he goes on to win many trophies at the Bernabeau. With one caveat; that none come at the expense of Manchester United.

A lot of names have already been bandied about as possible replacements or targets. One thought I have is that United already have a young gun that could step up; the Serb, Zoran Tosic. Lyon forward Karim Benzema, Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery and Wigan midfielder Antonio Valencia are some of the names mentioned. Benzema has stated that he is happy at Lyon and I'm fine with that. Bayern are allegedly looking for anywhere from £40m to £65m for Ribery. He's good, but not that good. I'm not 100% sure about Valencia either.

One player I would love to see at Old Trafford come August is Lionel Messi. Although I doubt that the little Argentinian wizard would want to leave the Camp Nou and he would likely cost a significant chunk of that £80m. Andreas Iniesta may end up being surplus to requirements at Barcelona if rumours of him been offered as part of a swap deal earlier in the week are true. He has shown repeatedly the sort of quality that would slot right into United's midfield. Another is Andrea Pirlo, who apparently is unhappy with Kaka leaving AC Milan. There doesn't appear to be any other players, especially in the Premier League, that would get a United fan excited.

Oh, one final thought. United need to get a permanent deal sorted for Carlos Tevez. They guy gives 110% and deserves the love he receives from the Old Trafford faithful. It's time the club follwed the fans' lead.

The Champions League final kicks off in about 25 minutes. I will be cheering on Manchester United, who are attempting to retain the trophy, by beating FC Barcelona.

It seems that Chelsea's Russian owner has once again lost patience/faith with the man appointed to run the football club. Roman Abramovich has now seen four managers depart since his arrival in 2003. Claudio Ranieri was sacked in 2004, Jose Mourinho in September 2007, Avrram Grant in May 2008 and now Luis Felipe Scolari. You could understand if Chelsea were languishing in the lower reaches of the table and out of all the cup competitions. Hoiwever, they're not. They're fourth in the Premier League and are still in the Champions League and FA Cup. I would imagine that the next manager they appoint may be a bit wary of Abramovich. Russia coach Gus Hiddink seems to be the front runner at the moment. We shall just have to wait and see.

Manchester United beat Chelsea 3-0 at Old Trafford this afternoon. In a game that United dominated Chelsea never looked to be a real danger. The win pulls United within 5 points of the leaders, Liverpool, with 2 games in hand. United play Wigan on Wednesday before visiting Bolton next weekend; and could in theory overtake Liverpool, who don't play in the league again until Monday 19th.

I've just finished watching last night's NFL game. The Chicago Bears came from behind to beat the Green Bay Packers 20-17 in Overtime. For long periods of the game it looked like Aaron Rodgers and the Packers were going to be too strong for the Bears but a fourth quarter fightback and a field-goal attempt that was blocked by Alex Brown forced Overtime. The Bears won the toss, elected to receive and proceeded to move the ball down into field goal range for Robbie Gould to win the game. The Bears need to win next weekend to have any chance of making the playoffs. If they beat the Houston Texans and the Minnesota Vikings lose to the New York Giants they will claim the division. If both the Bears and Vikings win then They can grab a wildcard place if other results go their way. I'm not 100% sure buit I think they need both the Dallas Cowboys and Carolina Panthers to lose.

Manchester United have just clinched the FIFA World Club Championship by beating Ecuador's Liga de Quito 1-0; thanks to a late Wayne Rooney strike. United totally dominated the first half without managing to make a breakthrough. Nemanja Vidic stupidly got himself sent off after throwing an elbow at Bieler whilst both were on the ground just after the start of the second half. The remaining 40 minutes proved a sticky proposition for United but their worries were eased after Rooney slotted home the winner on 73 minutes.

I watched the Manchester United vs Aalborg European Champions League game last night. United scored within the first 5 minutes and were totally dominant for the vast majority of the first half. With the number of chances United had within the first 10 to 15 minutes it seemed that they were about to hand out a serious drubbing. However, Aalborg equalised about mid-way through the half and then stunned the 74,000 watching in the stadium by taking the lead just before half-time. United got back on level terms within 10 minutes of the restart but, despite continued pressure, failed to add a third. United qualify for the next stage as group winners. The draw will be made next Friday, the 19th.

England, currently ranked 10th equal by FIFA, produced a fine display to beat the country that FIFA ranks as second best in the world.

A goal in the first 25 minutes from Matthew Upson put England in command of the game. However, a mix up between Scott Carson and John Terry just after the hour allowed Patrick Helmes to score and fetch Germany back into the game. England still looked dominant and good chances went begging to Darren Bent and Shaun Wright-Phillips before John Terry popped up in the last 10 minutes to seal the win with a header.

Manchester United just lost 2-1 to Arsenal in what has been undoubtably the game of the season so far. To be honest, Arsenal played well and I can't really begrudge them the win. Manchester United also played well but just didn't seem to have the rub of the green when it really mattered. I think the Premier League will go all the way down to the wire again this season.

Two disputable goals by Dimitar Berbatov and yet another goal from Wayne Rooney gave United a 3-0 victory that saw that remain in control of their Champions League Group. Berbatov definitely looked offside for both of his goals but to be honest United never looked like losing the game. They are joined at the top of the group by Villareal who beat Aalborg 6-3.

The Champions League group stages kicked off this week. Last night, Liverpool came from behind to beat Marseille 2-1 and Chelsea beat Bordeaux 4-0. This evening Celtic drew 0-0 with Aalborg, Arsenal came from behind to draw 1-1 with Dynamo Kiev and Manchester United could only manage a 0-0 draw with Villarreal. For me, the highlight of the evening was the return to action of Cristiano Ronaldo.

Saturday would normally find me sat around a table roleplaying but not today. Well, not until a bit later than normal. The reason for the delay is that my hometown club Peterborough United are live on Sky Sports today. They're hosting Bristol Rovers and could really do with getting a win, having lost 3 of their first 4 games this season. I'll be watching the game live before going to the roleplaying game late.

Arsenal cruised into the draw for the group stages of the Champions League with a 6-0 aggregate victory over former England manager, Steve McClaren's Dutch side, FC Twente.

Liverpool had Dirk Kuyt to thank for their qualification. A poor Liverpool had to wait until the 118th minute of tonight's game before Kuyt pounced on a Ryan Babel cross to give them a 1-0 victory on the night, and on aggregate, over Belgian outfit, Standard Liege.

They both join England's two automatic qualifiers, Manchester United and Chelsea, in Thursday's draw. 17 nations are represented in this year's draw, and no 2 clubs from the same nation can be drawn in the same group. By co-efficient Manchester United are actually the 5th ranked club in the tournament, but are seeded number 1 as holders. All 4 English clubs are in Pot 1, along with 2 of Spain's 4 entrants, 1 of Italy's 4 entrants and 1 of France's 3 entrants. Scotland's only surviving entrant, Celtic, are in Pot 3.

The draw will be made at 18:00CET and the teams involved are as follows:

Pot 1:
1 Manchester United FC (ENG, holders)
2 Chelsea FC (ENG)
3 Liverpool FC (ENG)
4 FC Barcelona (ESP)
5 Arsenal FC (ENG)
6 Olympique Lyonnais (FRA)
7 FC Internazionale Milano (ITA)
8 Real Madrid CF (ESP)

Pot 2:
9 FC Bayern München (GER)
10 PSV Eindhoven (NED)
11 Villarreal CF (ESP)
12 AS Roma (ITA)
13 FC Porto (POR)
14 Werder Bremen (GER)
15 Sporting Clube de Portugal (POR)
16 Juventus (ITA)

Pot 3:
17 Olympique de Marseille (FRA)
18 FC Zenit St. Petersburg (RUS)
19 FC Steaua Bucureşti (ROU)
20 Panathinaikos FC (GRE)
21 FC Girondins de Bordeaux (FRA)
22 Celtic FC (SCO)
23 FC Basel 1893 (SUI)
24 Fenerbahçe SK (TUR)

Pot 4:
25 FC Shakhtar Donetsk (UKR)
26 ACF Fiorentina (ITA)
27 Club Atlético de Madrid (ESP)
28 FC Dynamo Kyiv (UKR)
29 CFR 1907 Cluj (ROU)
30 Aalborg BK (DEN)
31 Anorthosis Famagusta FC (CYP)
32 FC BATE Borisov (BLR)

I've just watched England grab a thoroughly undeserved 2-2 draw against the Czech Republic at Wembley in their final friendly game before their 2010 World Cup Qualifying campaign starts.

Milan Baros had put the visitors ahead after 21 minutes before Wes Brown equalised just before half-time with his first ever goal for England. A minute into the second half and the Czech Repblic are back ahead thanks to a brilliant curling free-kick from Marek Jankulovski. Joe Cole got England back level with a scrambled equaliser in injury time at the end of the game.

To be honest, England never really looked like winning the game and the Czech Republic can rightly feel disappointed that they didn't leave with a victory. England's only highlights were Wes Brown, who had a really good game, and Joe Cole, who came on after 55 minutes. From watching the game I have to wonder about some England players and their downright refusal to pass the ball. I counted at least half a dozen times when either David Beckham or Gareth Barry were calling for the ball in midfield with nobody near them and they were ignored.

England next play against Andorra in Barcelona on 6th September and should win that game. Andorra aren't a strong nation and England should be able to beat them. However, 4 days later, they play away in Croatia and on tonight's performance they will need to improve dramatically to get anything out of that game.

I know that the English Championship and Leagues returned last weekend, along with the Scottish League; but for most, the return of the English FA Carling Barclays Premier League for the 2008/09 season today marks the true start of the new season.

I was disappointed with Peterborough United losing away to Southend in League One last weekend and then going out of the Carling Cup in mid-week by losing to Bristol City. Hopefully, they can get back on track by beating Leyton Orient this afternoon. I'm not going to predict that they'll win the division but I'm hoping they will be there or thereabouts come mid-May.

In the top flight, West Bromich Albion visit Arsenal in the first game of the new season at lunchtime, live on Sky Sports. The rest of the programme kicks off as normal at 3pm. Sunderland host Liverpool this evening in the live game on Setanta Sports. Tomorrow sees Chelsea host Portsmouth followed by Manchester United hosting Newcastle United. Both games are on Sky Sports.

In terms of the season as a whole it would appear that the three newcomers, Hull City, West Brom and Stoke City, along with the likes of Wigan Athletic, Fulham, Bolton Wanderers and Middlesbrough could all find themselves struggling in the bottom half of the table.

At the top of the table you really cannot look beyond the usual suspects of Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal and Liverpool fighting it out for the title. Tottenham Hotspur have made some significant moves in the transfer market and could end up forcing their way into the mix also. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Aston Villa, Everton, Blackburn Rovers, Newcastle United and Manchester City all had an effect on the title race. I can't see them breaking into the mix by they could definitely get results to upset the apple cart.

Ultimately, and I'm no expert, I think that Stoke City, Hull City and West Brom will find life in the top division too hard and will end up going back down to the Championship come the end of the season.

At the top of the table I'm predicting Manchester United to win the title again; I couldn't say anything else as a fan really. I think Chelsea will finish 2nd and Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham will fight it out for the two remaining Champions League spots in 3rd and 4th. With the unlucky third of the three finishing 5th and qualifying for the UEFA Cup. The 2 main domestic Cups could end up anywhere but I think they'll both be dominated by the top six or seven clubs in the League. The Johnstone Paints Trophy will hopefully find it's way to London Road; the home of Peterborough United.

In terms of this season's UEFA Cup I think there are too many strong sides in the competition for an English Club to win it. I could see it going to Spain with Sevilla FC, Valencia CF or RC Deportivo La Coruña, to Italy with AC Milan or Napoli, to Portugal with SL Benfica or even to France with Rennes . It could all depend upon the eight teams that end up in the knockout stages of UEFA Cup after finishing third in the Champions League groups. The UEFA Cup Final will be held on Wednesday 20 May 2009 at the Şükrü Saracoğlu Stadium in Istanbul.

The same four English clubs that qualified for last season's UEFA Champions League have qualified again this season. All four clubs have proven they have the ability to go all the way and will all face tough competition from Europe's elite. Europe's top clubs such as Real Madrid CF, FC Barcelona, FC Internazionale Milano, Juventus, Olympique Lyonnais, FC Bayern München and Sporting Clube de Portugal will all feature prominently. However, I wouldn't be surprised if we end up with multiple English participants in the latter stages again and I am once again picking Manchester United to win the trophy. The Champions League Final will be held on Wednesday 27 May 2009 at the Stadio Olimpico in Rome.

A friend was kind enough to pass me some Manchester United memorabilia earlier this year; as thanks for some work that I had done for them. However, I now find myself in the position of needing to raise some cash to fund a trip later this month and have taken the unfortunate decision that the memorabilia may help raise the necessary funds. I would really have liked to keep them but needs must.

If you're a Manchester United fan then please check out what I'm selling on eBay.

Manchester United have won the first silverware of the season by beating Portsmouth on penalties in the 100th Community Shield. United have won the Shield a record 13 times and have also shared it 5 times. Ryan Giggs became the first player in history to win the Shield 7 times.

United thoroughly deserved the win and should really have won the game before it went to penalties. Darren Fletcher missed a good chance near the end of the first half and Carlos Tevez was pulled down in the Portsmouth box with less than 15 minutes left; but nothing was given.

With the new football season less than a month away the time has come for the papers to start hyping their Fantasy Football games. Over the past few years I've played in the Telegraph Fantasy Football along with a bunch of work colleagues. I received an email this morning about the Guardian Fantasy Football, which is free, and since I'm not working at the moment I've decided to join up. You're given a budget of £100m and have to pick a squad of 15 players. My current first eleven is M Almunia, L King, P Evra, M Skrtel, S Warnock, G Barry, C Ronaldo, R Giggs, D Bentley, R Santa Cruz & D Berbatov. My substitutes are M Schwarzer, S Campbell, A Smertin & J Elmander.

You can sign up here and I have created a league called "Bowch's Blog League" which I have already invited a load of friends to. If I haven't invited you and you would like to participate then drop me an email and I'll give you the password.

My mate Mark is a huge Manchester United fan and something of a stats nerd; which is something I would never have pegged him as when we were younger. Anyway, he has been running a website for about 10 years now and had recently decided it needed sprucing up.

We've sat down a few times together over the last couple of months and had come to a decision to transfer all the content over into Movable Type from Frontpage. However, after I'd transferred about ½ of the content we re-evaluated and came to the decision that Movable Type was really not suitable for the task. After further delving with Frontpage we've came up with a really elegant solution that uses more of Frontpage's core features.

The site did have a sort of uniformed design already; a header, footer, left sidebar and a right sidebar on most of the pages. The rest of the pages just had the header, footer and left sidebar. However, all the pages used inline frames for the header, footer and sidebars.

Mark has spent most of this week playing with Frontpage and has managed to come up with a set of templates that can be assigned to the entire site. The beauty of the system is that Frontpage will update all attached pages if he updates the templates. The test pages he had uploaded looked good but for one or two niggles. I've been up there this evening and have modified the templates to give them a more fluid ability. The newly updated test pages now display great at any resolution of 1024x768 or higher. Previously the right-hand sidebar had expanded to take up all the remaining screen width. Now, the entire page dynamically resizes to take advantage of the extra screen width.

An added advantage is that rather than the updating process taking most of the next month or so we can get it done in only a few nights. I'm due to pop back up to have a look at something else for him next week and fully expect the site to be fully updated to the new template design.

One of the other things we were going to do was add a redirect on his old webspace to point to the new domain. Unfortunately, his old ISP has deleted the old Index pages and won't allow him to upload any files to the space. This has prevented him from installing any sort of redirect. I think the next course of action is to delete the entire site from the old webspace and hope that Google trawls the site again soon, finds no content there, and removes the entries from it's database.

Anyway, the newly relocated site can be found here.

Chelsea are set to smash the world record transfer fee with a £119m bid for AC Milan's Brazilian midfielder Kaka.

The press has been going nuts over the last couple of days regarding comments attributed to Cristiano Ronaldo likening himeself to s slave. This is not what he said.

What actually happened is that in an earlier interview Sepp Blatter, the president of FIFA, had previously stated that Ronaldo should be allowed to leave United and likened modern football contracts to slavery.

Ronaldo, hobbling on crutches along a pavement in Portugal, was asked if he agreed with Sepp Blatter's comments that he should be allowed to leave Manchester United and go wherever he wishes. His reply was "Yes, I totally agree with Mr Blatter's comments." There was no mention of Blatter's comments about slavery in the interview that took place.

The British media picked up on Ronaldo's reply, took it out of context, and implied that he felt he was a slave at Manchester United. Another case of the British media distorting the facts to suit their own ends and sell more papers.

As a Manchester United fan I'm annoyed in the extreme at Real Madrid's conduct over the last month or so in publicly courting a player under contract at another club. Roman Calderon, Real's president, can deny trying to cause unrest, but the coverage Marca, a Spanish paper, have had over the matter and the fact that every Real player has been instructed to big up Ronaldo whenever interviewed, suggests more than what Madrid are saying. FIFA's investigation of the matter and subsequent decision that Real have done nothing wrong makes a mockery of the tapping-up situation. It would appear that FIFA are saying "If you want to sign a player but don't want to approach his club, just let the papers know and they'll do the job for you."

Ronaldo is being vilified at the moment but the truth of the matter is that he has always expressed a desire to play for Real Madrid one day. All during his time at United he has said this. United fans may have hoped in the past that the day would be long in the future, if at all, but the reality is starting to appear that it could be very soon.

Carlos Quieroz leaving United to take over as Portuguese national manager doesn't help United in their cause but one can only hope that Ronaldo listens to Sir Alex and realises that the best place for him to develop further as a player is currently still in Manchester.

I'm hoping Ronaldo stays for at least one more year, and would hope that he stays until Fergie retires at least. But, I'm a realist, and if he insists on leaving now then United should agree to let him go and try and get a stupid amount of money out of Madrid. Madrid have previously said that they would pay upto €100million before backtracking and saying they would go as high as €70million. If I were the United hierarchy I would reiterate that Ronaldo is not for sale and even if he were then €100million would be a good, although unsuccessful, initial first bid.

The current FIFA world rankings can be found at the following locations:

• Men.
• Women.

Spain have won their first major football title for 44 years by beating Germany 1-0 in the final of Euro 2008. The winning goal was scored after 33 minutes by Liverpool's Fernando Torres and 1-0 doesn't really reflect the dominance that Spain had throughout the game. Germany were very lacklustre and they really cannot complain about the result. In fact, truth be told, it could easily have been 3-0 or more. Early on in the tournament the Netherlands were really the grabbing all the headlines but Spain have also played really well throughout the tournament and more than deserve the title.

Last night's first semi-final saw Germany beat Turkey 3-2 in a game that Turkey twice pulled back to level pegging. Truth be told, Turkey were much the better side for periods of the game and Germany could have had no complaints if they had lost.

Tonight's second semi-final saw Spain beat Russia 3-0 in what was a free-flowing, attractive game. All 3 goals were scored in the second half and the Russians can really have no complaints about the result.

Sunday night's final between Germany and Spain should be a pretty good game and I'm going to predict that Spain will win a very tight game. It could possibly go to extra time or perhaps even the dreaded penalties.

The second semi-final will be between Russia and Spain.

Russia beat Netherlands 3-1 after extra time on Saturday night, in a game that I didn't see. However, Russia apparently were very impressive.

Spain overcame Italy on penalties after a 0-0 draw. I had said that this would either be a very good game or that the Italians would defend and invite the Spanish to try and break them down. It transpired that the Italians played a very defensive game and although both teams had opportunities, 2 hours later and the game went to penalties.

Of the 4 teams I had picked to make the semi-finals only Spain have and on that basis I will pick them to win the second semi-final. I think Germany will probably win the other game, but you just can't write off the Turks.

The first semi-final of Euro 2008 will pit Germany against Turkey. The game will be played next Wednesday; 25th June 2008.

Germany beat Portugal 3.-2 last night and Turkey beat Croatia on penalties following a 1-1 draw after extra time. I had picked Portugal to win the whole tournament and had picked Croatia to get past Turkey.

Following my lack of success in the first two quarter-finals don't be surprised if Russia beat Netherlands and Italy beat Spain to give me an 0-4 record.

The quarter finals of Euro 2008 will feature the following four matches:

Portugal vs Germany
Expect to see a different Portugal side from the one that lost their final group game when the core of the team was rested. Germany didn't have such a luxury after losing to Croatia and had to field a full strength side in their last group game. As long as the Portuguese players don't get dragged into a physical battle with the much bigger German side I can still see Portugal progressing.

Croatia vs Turkey
Croatia surprised a lot of people by beating Germany in their group and are rewarded with a game against Turkey. I haven't been all that impressed with Turkey and I think Croatia will edge a scrappy game.

Netherlands vs Russia
I, like everybody else, have been blown away by the Dutch performances so far. Masterful victories over France and Italy were followed by a relaxed, but still victorious, outing against Romania. I'm not convinced Russia were a better side than Sweden but they managed to get out of the group anyway. I honestly can't see the Russians winning this game and I'm backing the Dutch.

Spain vs Italy
A potential mouth-watering prospect for Sunday night. It really depends if the Italians turn up and play or just sit back defensively and try to snatch a winner, has been their modus operandi in the past. If they sit back I envisage a dour game with the Spanish valiantly trying to break them down. However, if the Italians come out and play a nice, attacking game then I can see this being a very good game. This game could go either way but I think the Spanish will prevail.

Tonight has been a night of shocks in football.

First, Switzerland, already eliminated from Euro 2008, salvaged some pride by beating a below strength Portugal 2-0. In an amazing finish to this evening's other Euro 2008 game Turkey came back from a 2-1 deficit with ten minutes left to shockingly beat Czech Republic 3-2 and progress. An uncharacteristic blunder by Petr Cech in the Czech goal gifted Turkey the equaliser before they got the winner with less than five minutes to play.

In the South American 2010 World Cup Qualifiers Paraguay maintained their spot at the top of the table by beating Brazil 2-0, even after having had a player sent off. In the other qualifier broadcast by Sky this evening Argentina struggled and had to rely on a last gasp equaliser to draw 1-1 at home with Ecuador. Ecuador, who had lost their previous 2 games by a combined ten goals, had taken the lead with just over twenty minutes left and it appeared that they had weathered the storm to end Argentina's 28 game unbeaten home streak in World Cup Qualifiers. However, Argentina equalised with the very last kick of the game.

All the teams at Euro 2008 have now played twice and there have been 1 or 2 shocks so far.

Group A:
Portugal, my original pick, continue to look good, and have already qualified from their group as winners. They play Switzerland tonight with nothing to play for. The other 2 teams in the group; Czech Republic and Turkey also play tonight; at the same time. The winner of that game will go through as runners-up of the group. If they draw, the game will go to penalties to decide who goes through.

Group B:
After drawing their first game against Austria, Croatia went and surprised everybody by beating Germany. They now sit atop this group and if they manage to avoid defeat against Poland tomorrow then they will qualify. If they beat Poland they will qualify as group winners. If Germany beat Austria or even just draw then they will qualify. If Austria win then they will qualify.

Group C;
The Netherlands look unstoppable in what was dubbed 'The Group Of Death'. They followed up their sensational demolition of Italy with an even better thumping of France. They have qualified for the next stage as the winners of their group. France and Italy meet later this week and the loser will definitely be going home. The winner will be hoping that the Netherlands continue in the same form and beat Romania. If Romania win that game then they will go through and both Italy and France will be going home.

Group D:
Spain followed up their emphatic defeat of Russia with a scraped win against Sweden yesterday and have qualified from this group. Russia and Sweden will play each other on Wednesday with the winner advancing to the next stage. A draw favours Sweden. Greece, the defending champions, are rooted to the bottom of this table and have already been eliminated.

I'm sticking with my original pick of Portugal but you cannot discount either the Netherlands or Spain.

The first round of matches at Euro 2008 concluded today with Sweden beating Greece 2-0. Before the tournament began I had been saying that I was backing Portugal and was pleased with their first game victory. They play the Czech Republic tomorrow and victory would all but guarantee a second round berth.

Other countries that have impressed during the first round of matches are the Netherlands; 3-0 winners over Italy, and Spain, 4-1 winners over Russia. Germany didn't impress in beating Poland 2-0 and Sweden seemed to struggle first half before finally beating defending champions Greece 2-0 this evening. France and Romania failed to impress in their 0-0 draw and Italy were outclassed by the Dutch.

All 16 teams still have 2 games to play in the first round of group games, but, my money would still be on Portugal. However, I think Netherlands and Spain will also be thereabouts; and you really cannot discount Germany and whichever team between Italy and France manage to make it out of their group.

Celtic were crowned champions of Scotland for the third consecutive season this evening thanks to a 1-0 win away at Dundee United. Rangers, who had started the night level on points but with a 4 worse goal difference, lost 2-0 at Aberdeen. For long periods of the season Rangers had been in pole position but a couple of poor results handed the advantage to Celtic, and they refused to let it slip.

Manchester United have beaten Chelsea 6-5 on penalties after drawing 1-1 after extra time. Cristiano Ronaldo put United ahead after 26 minutes and United could have had 2 more before Frank Lampard levelled the score just before half-time; thanks to a fortuitous double deflection. Chelsea bossed the second half but couldn't make their advantage count. Both teams had chances in extra time and Chelsea's Didier Drogba was sent off for a stupid slap on Nemanja Vidic.

Crisitano Ronaldo had his penalty saved by Petr Cech before John Terry slipped whilst taking his penalty and hit the post. The tie was decided when Edwin Van Der Sar saved Nicolas Anelka's penalty and handed Manchester United their third European Cup. Iin the 50th anniversary year of the Munich Air Disaster there cannot be many better tributes to the Busby Babes.

Tonight is the night. A night of destiny for either Manchester United or Chelsea. Tonight is the Champions League Final. Kick-off is 7:45pm BST; 10:45pm Local Time. The game is being shown live both on Sky Sports and ITV1 in the UK. It'll be carried live globally by a myriad of other channels.

There's no disguising who I'll be rooting for. It's won't be the blues of Chelsea. I'm a die-hard Manchester United fan and I'll be glued to the TV for the entirety of the game. If anybody tries to contact me, they will be ignored. The only way I'm leaving the front of the TV is if the house burns down around me.

The press conferences yesterday gave some indication of the mood of both teams.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was 15 minutes early for his and happily joked with Wes Brown and Rio Ferdinand before proceedings started in earnest. In buoyant mood throughout, he made reference to not letting down the Busby Babes, exuded confidence in his team and ominously predicted that they can get better. He ended proceedings with a beaming smile and his arms spread wide, "I love you all, I've come to spread peace."

By contrast, Chelsea manager Avram Grant was in a glum and dour mood when he arrived for his press conference 15 minutes late. He responded very defensively to a stream of questions regarding his relationship with Chelsea's owner, the support he has received from the club and questions about his future. Whilst Ferguson is fully aware of the huge part he has to play it would appear that Grant feels differently, "I am a very small part of this."

Both teams should have full squads to choose from when the teams are announced prior to kick-off; although a rash challenge by Claude Makelele on Ashley Cole in a training session caused some concern for Chelsea. Cole resumed training after some treatment but moved gingerly and eventually left training early.

A statement released on Chelsea's official website stated "In a challenge with Claude Makelele in front of hundreds of cameras and the world football press, Ashley Cole hurt his right ankle. He was treated, it was tested, then strapped - but after consultation between Grant, club doctor Bryan English and physios Dave Hancock and Thierry Laurent - Cole resumed and took full part in the final training game - only disappearing down the tunnel after the players had listened to Avram's address and been stood-down for a final kickaround."

Come 10pm this evening; or thereabouts, the destiny of this season's Champions League trophy will have been decided. Hopefully, as a Manchester United fan, I will be celebrating by then.

Congratulations to Portsmouth who just beat Cardiff City 1-0 in the FA Cup Final at Wembley. The goal was scored just before half-time by Nwankwo Kanu after a mistake by Cardiff's goalkeeper Peter Enckelman. It wasn't a particularly good or exciting game but all credit to Harry Redknapp's team.

Portsmouth will join Everton, Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester City in the UEFA Cup next season.

The Premier League season that just ended was the first in the new 3-year tv deal and as a sign of how much extra money has gone to teams this year, Bolton, who finished 16th, received £32m; the same amount that Manchester United received last year as Champions. Derby, who were relegated with the worst record ever in the Premier League, received £29m. A total of £940m was paid out this year; with £815m paid to Premier League clubs, £77.5m going to the Football League and another £47.5m going to charities and other good causes in Britain and abroad.

Over the next two season Reading, Birmingham City and Derby will receive £11.4m in "parachute payments" to ease the burden of relegation.

Television revenue for 2007-08 season (2006-07 in brackets)

1. Manchester United £49.3m (£32m)
2. Chelsea £45.6m (£30.9m)
3. Arsenal £47m (£29m)
4. Liverpool £45.4m (£28.4m)
5. Everton £42.1m (£25.3m)
6. Aston Villa £42.3m (£22m)
7. Blackburn Rovers £40.2m (£22m)
8. Portsmouth £40.4m (£23m)
9. Manchester City £39.7m (£21m)
10. West Ham United £36.8m (£21.1m)
11. Tottenham Hotspur £36m (£27.3m)
12. Newcastle United £39.2m (£21.2m)
13. Middlesbrough £34.2m (£20.5m)
14. Wigan Athletic £33.4m (£18.4m)
15. Sunderland £33.6m (£6.5m*)
16. Bolton Wanderers £32m (£24.6m)
17. Fulham £31.3m (£20.4m)
18. Reading £30.6m (£23.6m)
19. Birmingham City £29.8m (£6.5m*)
20. Derby County £29.1m (n/a)

Total £815,175,812 (£502,533,570)

* denotes parachute payment for clubs promoted from the Coca-Cola Championship.

Manchester United won 2-0 at Wigan and Chelsea could only draw 1-1 with Bolton; resulting in Manchester United winning the Premier League by 2 points.

At the foot of the table Fulham survived but Birmingham City and Reading joined Derby County in being relegated.

Roll on the Champions League final in a week and a half.

Today is the final day of the FA Premier League season and the title can still be won and lost.

Manchester United and Chelsea both sit atop the table on 84 points. Manchester United are away at Wigan Athletic and Chelsea are at home against Bolton Wanderers this afternoon.

If Manchester United beat Wigan they will almost certainly be champions. The only way Chelsea can win the title if Manchester United win today is if they beat Bolton by 18 goals more than Manchester United beat Wigan. Possible, but highly improbable.

If Manchester United only draw against Wigan then Chelsea just need to beat Bolton and they'll be champions.

If both Manchester United and Chelsea draw their games then Manchester United will be champions.

If Manchester United lose at Wigan then Chelsea just need to draw against Bolton to become champions.

If both Manchester United and Chelsea lose their games then Manchester United will be champions.

At the foot of the table only Derby County have been relegated so far.

In order to survive, Birmingham City need to win today and hope that both Reading and Fulham lose.

For Reading to survive they need to get a better result than Fulham. If Fulham and Reading both win then Reading need to win by 7 goals more than Fulham win. Not impossible, but considering their positions, highly unlikely.

Fulham have the best chance of the three to survive. If they win, they survive. If they draw then they are safe as long as both Reading and Birmingham don't win. They could still be safe if they lose as long as Birmingham and Reading both lose also. However, if they lose by 7 goals more than Reading then they would be relegated.

There is also the possibilty that Fulham and Reading could both survive. They would both need to win and then it would need Chelsea to absolutely destroy Bolton.

Chelsea will play Manchester United in the Champions League Final in Moscow on Wednesday May 21st.

The first half of tonight's game wasn't particularly inspiring; in fact I fell asleep during it. Liverpool played very poorly in the first half and Chelsea went into half-time with a deserved 1-0 lead thanks to a superb finish by Didier Drogba. The second half saw Liverpool play much better and Chelsea seemed to vanish. An excellent finish from Fernando Torres saw Liverpool equalize on the night and force extra time.

The first half of extra time saw Chelsea have a Michael Essien goal disallowed for offside and then a mistake by Sammi Hyppia which gave Chelsea a penalty that Frank Lampard converted for a 2-1 lead. Another superb strike from Didier Drogba, after good work by Nicolas Anelka and half-time in extra time saw Chelsea leading 3-1 on the night. A trip by Didier Drogba on Sammi Hyppia early in the second half of extra time should have resulted in a penalty for Liverpool but the referee waved away the claims. A late strike by Ryan Babel with less than 5 minutes left pulled it back to 3-2 but Liverpool couldn't find a way to equalize.

I would have preferred to see a Manchester United - Liverpool Champions League Final but beating Chelsea in Moscow will probably feel even better.

For the last 30 minutes I've been a bit of a nervous wreck; hoping and praying that Barcelona wouldn't get an equalizing goal that would take them through to the Champions League Final. Both teams played a lot of the game on the front foot and both sides could have scored a couple of goals.

I've been a bit critical of Paul Scholes in recent weeks; I thought he'd been playing poorly and giving the ball away much more than he should. The goal he scored tonight forgives him of all of that. Rio Ferdinand and Wes Brown were excellent in the centre of defence and Carlos Tevez was tireless all over the front line.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow's second semi-final between Chelsea and Liverpool. I'd prefer Liverpool to go through but with an all-English final assured I'm not really going to be too bothered if Chelsea succeed and go through to face Manchester United in Moscow.

A hard fought draw for a below par Manchester United has opened up a three point lead for them over Chelsea at the top of the Premier League table. Both teams have 3 games left and they meet next weekend at Chelsea's Stamford Bridge stadium.

For long periods it looked like United were not going to get anything out of the game; especially with Blackburn's Brad Friedel making a string of excellent saves near the end of the match. United felt they should have had a penalty within the last 10 minutes when the ball struck Brett Emerton's elbow but with about 5 minutes left Carlos Tevez headed in from a corner to cancel out Roque Santa Cruz's first half goal.

Even if United lose to Chelsea next weekend they have a vastly superior goal difference and the title would still be in their own hads. They round out the season with games against Wigan Athletic and West Ham United. However, their next game is the Champions League Semi-Final 1st leg vs Barcelona at the Camp Nou on Wednesday evening.

Tonight, Manchester United successfully joined Liverpool and Chelsea in the semi-finals of this season's Champions League. This is the second season in a row that 3 English clubs have made the semi-finals and marks the 4th season in a row that an English side will reach the final.

The 2 semi-final first legs will be held on 22nd and 23rd April with the second legs on 29th and 30th April. First legs are:

• Chelsea vs Liverpool
• Barcelona vs Manchester United

I've just watched the France - England game and can honestly say it was a poor game and England can feel disappointed that they lost the game. England didn't play particularly well and with such a lacklustre display they definitely didn't deserve to win the game, but can feel that they, maybe, deserved a draw. France looked dangerous going forward, but the defence seemed to cope well enough.

David James didn't really have much to do other than pick the ball out of his net after the penalty that won the game for France. The back four was pretty solid throughout other than the momentary lapse that led to the penalty from which France scored. Rio Ferdinand and John Terry were solid again. Ashley Cole is probably the best choice we have at left-back although his distribution is questionable at times. Wes Brown wasn't at all impressive and his distribution was woeful at times. I'm a Manchester United fan but Glen Johnson impressed me more in the brief spell he got. I'm not totally sure that we have a natural successor to Gary Neville yet.

In midfield Owen Hargreaves was solid and dependable; probably our best player. Gareth Barry also had a really good game. Steven Gerrard was pretty decent. David Beckham, winning his 100th cap, spent good periods of the game watching the game go by him and spent a lot of the game underused, but the moments he did get the ball, his distribution was as good as ever. David Bentley came on after an hour in place of Beckham and did well. England, for whatever reason, decided to play a lot on the left side of the pitch in the first half and it was rather compact at times. However, Joe Cole was pretty good out there. Stewart Downing replaced him for the second half and I really have to question his continued selection. The guy can't bring a ball under control, can't pass the ball and definitely can't cross the ball. I doubt very much that he can even run or tackle. I'm not a Chelsea fan but it's patently obvious that Joe Cole is the best left-sided midfield player that England has.

Up front, Wayne Rooney was exposed for much of his time on the pitch. Playing by himself, he tried his best but was often crowded out by the defence. It just felt that the balls in to him were not of sufficient quality and support from midfield was lacking. Michael Owen and Peter Crouch came on for the second half and were both pretty unimpressive.

All in all it was a pretty laboured performance. I think the core of the side is there but we need somebody at right back to replace the absent Gary Neville and we need to stop playing just 1 up front. As good as Wayne Rooney is, he can't work miracles against quality defences on his own. He needs a partner up front, be it Michael Owen, Peter Crouch or even somebody like Jermaine Pennant or Jermaine Defoe.

Chelsea 2-1 Arsenal

Didier Drogba scored twice in the last 20 minutes to cancel out Bacary Sagna's first ever goal for Arsenal; scored on the hour, and give Chelsea 3 vital points near the top of the table.

United are top with 73 points and the result has helped Chelsea leapfrog over Arsenal and maintain the 5 point gap Manchester United had on them at the start of the day. Arsenal are a further point behind in 3rd. Liverpool are still 4th; but 14 points adrift of United. All 4 teams have 7 games remaining. United will feel confident but they still have to entertain Arsenal and visit Blackburn Rovers and Chelsea within their final 7 games.

Manchester United 3 - 0 Liverpool

I've just watched the first game of Sky's double-header and as a Man Utd fan I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was a pretty even first 30 minutes until Wes Brown popped up and scored. Then just before half time Fernando Torres was fouled and ended up getting booked for complaining. Javier Mascherano came running across from halfway across the pitch to complain to the referee. After previously been booked for a foul and spending most of the first half harping on at Steve Bennett, the referee, he ended getting himself a second yellow card, and sent off; reducing Liverpool to 10 men. Bennett's reaction did seem a wee bit over the top but given the fallout from Ashley Cole's behaviour in midweek it can be somewhat understandable. Cristiano Ronaldo scored with a header from a corner in the second half and Nani scored a quite sublime goal late on to make it 3-0. Liverpool can probably feel a bit aggrieved at the referee but United really were dominant.

I'm now going to go and watch the 2nd game: Chelsea vs Arsenal.

The draw for the Quarter Finals, Semi-Finals and Final of the Champions League have just recently been drawn in Lyon.

Quarter Finals (1st/2nd April 2008 & 8th/9th April 2008)
1. Arsenal vs Liverpool
2. AS Roma vs Manchester United
3. FC Schalke 04 vs FC Barcelona
4. Fernerbache SK vs Chelsea

Semi Finals (22nd/23rd April 2008 & 29th/30th April 2008)
a. Winner 1 (Arsenal/Liverpool) vs Winner 4 (Fernerbache SK/Chelsea)
b. Winner 3 (FC Schalke 04/FC Barcelona) vs Winner 2 (AS Roma/Manchester United)

Final (21st May 2008)
Winner b vs Winner a

Both the quarter finals and semi finals will be played over 2 legs with the final being played at a neutral venue, the Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow.

First impressions are that if Chelsea get past Fenerbache it would mean that an English club would definitely reach the final with their semi-final opponents either being Arsenal or Liverpool. And if that happens then Manchester United would need to get past both AS Roma, whom they met in the group stages this season, and the winner of the Schalke/Barcelona tie to get to a possible all English final.

Today's Manchester derby ended in a shock 2-1 win for the blue half of the city. This was the fifth game that Wayne Rooney had missed so far this season; he was suspended, and United have lost all 5 times.

Prior to the game starting both teams were lead out by a lone bagpiper and as they gathered on the edge of the centre circle both managers laid a wreath. The minute silence in honour of the 23 victims of the Munich air crash was impeccably observed by everybody in the ground.

In honour of the occasion City wore shirts devoid of any sponshorship and United wore 1958-styled shirts numbered 1-11 with no logo or sponsorship on. The names of the victims were displayed around the ground on the pitch-side advertising boards prior to kick-off. However, I was really disappointed that, after all the hooplah over paying respect by removing the sponsorship logos from the shirts, they still ran their normal range of advertising on the boards during the match.

As the game itself wore on it became obvious that City were going to be very strong defensively and it also became more apparent that United were just not on song. City went in at the break 2-0 up and both goals had a wee touch of fortune about them, but I'm taking nothing away from City; they played really well. United got their equalizer in injury time at the end of the game, but, by then, it was way too late.

United are still 2 points behind Arsenal, who will be hoping to extend their lead to 5 points when they play Blackburn on Monday night.

Today marks the 50th anniversary of the Munich air disaster.

British European Airways Flight 609 crashed on its third attempt to takeoff from a slush-covered runway at the Munich-Riem airport in Munich, Germany. 23 of the 44 passengers on board the aircraft died in the disaster.

The flight was operated by British European Airways (BEA) as an "Elizabethan" class Airspeed Ambassador charter aircraft G-ALZU Lord Burghley.

Eight of the victims were Manchester United footballers:

• Geoffrey Bent
• Roger Byrne
• Eddie Colman
• Duncan Edwards
• Mark Jones
• David Pegg
• Tommy Taylor
• Liam "Billy" Whelan

Three were members of the club's staff:

• Walter Crickmer, the secretary
• Tom Curry, the trainer
• Bert Whalley, the coach

Eight were newspaper representatives:

• Alf Clarke of the Manchester Evening Chronicle
• Don Davies of The Guardian
• George Follows of the Daily Herald
• Tom Jackson of the Manchester Evening News
• Archie Ledbrooke of the Daily Mirror
• Henry Rose of the Daily Express
• Eric Thompson of the Daily Mail
• Frank Swift of the News of the World; the former Manchester City and England goalkeeper

Two were members of the BEA crew:

• Captain Kenneth Rayment, the co-pilot
• Tom Cable, a steward

Two other passengers also died:

• Bela Miklos, the travel agent
• Willie Satinoff, a supporter

Please also visit Munich58 for more details.

Thursday was football's transfer deadline day. In the past my hometown team; Peterborough United, have tended to be rather busy on deadline day. However, today there has be no announced business from them. In fact, their main activity during the entire month was just signing Joe Lewis from Norwich City for £400k on 8th January.

My main club, Manchester United have also been very quiet this month. Other than signing Manucho from Petro Atlético for an undisclosed fee their only other main deals have been the sale of Ryan Shawcross to Stoke for £1m on 18th January and the sale of Phil Bardsley to Sunderland for £2m on 22nd January.

I've just watched one of the best games of football I've seen in a long time.

Tottenham Hotspur just beat Arsenal 5-1 in the second leg of the Carling Cup semi final; progressing by a 6-2 aggregate score. The game was very open and swung from end to end for virtually the entire match. Although Spurs were at full strength and Arsenal rested some key players the result is still quite a shock.

Spurs will now play the winners of the second semi final; either Everton or Chelsea, who conclude their tie on Wednesday evening. Chelsea lead the second semi final 2-1 after the first leg and Everton have it all to do.

The final will be played at Wembley on 24th February.

There can't be many people unaware that England have failed to qualify for next Summer's European Championships in Switzerland and Austria.

Went back home at the weekend; first time in over 30 years. Went to watch Peterborough United vs Morecambe. Was a good game. Finished 1-1.

Tonight is the Champions League Final in Athens between Liverpool and AC Milan.

Went to the Manchester United vs Portsmouth FA Cup match today.

Drove down to Manchester yesterday afternoon.

Well, the season is almost upon us and it's time to pick Fantasy Teams again.

Just read mcphee's blog and discovered that Averil has sold the Sutton Park.

Normally a result like this would fill me with joy, but not tonight.