Arteta Will Not Play For England
Mikel Arteta who is thought to be interested in playing for England despite playing for Spain at U-16 and U-17 levels has been dealt a blow by FIFA. Article 18.1a states that any player that has represented their country in an official competition, at whatever level, would at that time have needed to have held a passport for country they later wish to play for in order to be permitted to make the switch.
There had been a campaign growing recently backing the Spanish midfielder as a potential England candidate after he completed five years residency in the United Kingdom.
It’s uncertain whether the FA or indeed Fabio Capello would have been interested in approaching Arteta with a view to playing for England.
Van Der Vaart Deal Confirmed
The Premier League have today confirmed that Tottenham successfully signed Dutch International midfielder Rafael van der Vaart from Real Madrid before the close of the transfer window. The player cost Spurs in the region of £8m on a four year deal.
The statement on Spurs’ website read “We are delighted to announce that we have reached agreement with Real Madrid for the transfer of Rafael van der Vaart.”
Spurs moved quickly after van der Vaart’s proposed move to Bayern Munich fell through.
It’s a move that’s likely to anger rival fans with the dubious nature of the delayed confirmation from the Premier League.
Transfer Deadline Day Deals
Deadline day is great, except for all those deals you hear that you really couldn’t care less about – like Martyn Waghorn joining Leicester. We’ll have none of that on Football-Banter.com. Here’s our roundup of the day’s biggest deals.
Robinho has signed for AC Milan for around £18m. Stoke have brought in Eidur Gudjohnsen and Jermaine Pennant on loan deals. Paul Konchesky finally signed for Liverpool. Birmingham have landed Alexander Hleb (loan) and Joseph Yobo has joined Fenerbache on loan.
There are rumours that Spurs have signed Rafael van der Vaart, we’re just waiting on news to find out whether the paperwork was completed in time.
Don’t Call Harry A Wheeler and Dealer
Anyone know how to wind up Harry Redknapp? Call him a wheeler and dealer…
La Liga Round Up – 30 August 2010
Barcelona continued where they left off last season with a 3-0 win over Racing Santander – David Villa on the scoresheet (how many times are we going to say that this season?).
Real Madrid failed to get off to a winning start, they were held to a 0-0 draw at Mallorca.
Other matches saw Real Sociedad beat Villareal 1-0 and Espanyol beat Getafe 3-0. Deportivo could only manage a 0-0 draw against Real Zaragoza and Osasuna also played out a no score draw against Almeria.
Premier League Round Up – 29 August 2010
Chelsea maintained their position at the top of the table with a comfortable 2-0 victory over Stoke at Stamford Bridge. The goals coming either side of half time with Malouda grabbing the opener and Drogba killing the game from the spot.
The Walcott continued his fine form in Arsenal’s away win over Blackburn. Walcott scoring in the 20th minute, Diouf responding in the 27th and Arshavin taking the game to 2-1 with the winner in the 51st minute. (more…)
Champions League Group Stage Draw
Tottenham face a stern test in their first outing in the Champions League having been drawn in the same group as current holders Inter Milan. Werder Bremen and FC Twente complete the group.
Group G, already touted as the group of death sees AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax and Auxerre facing off. There’s been a lot of hype surrounding this group but both Ajax and AC Milan are not the teams they once were.
Full group listings below…
Group A
Inter Milan, Werder Bremen, Tottenham, FC Twente
Group B
Lyon, Benfica, Schalke, Hapoel Tel-Aviv
Group C
Manchester United, Valencia, Rangers, Bursaspor
Group D
Barcelona, Panathinaikos, FC Copenhagen, Rubin Kazan
Group E
Bayern Munich, AS Roma, Basel, CFR Cluj
Group F
Chelsea, Marseille, Spartak Moscow, Zilina
Group G
AC Milan, Real Madrid, Ajax, Auxerre
Group H
Arsenal, Shakhtar Donetsk, Braga, Partizan Belgrade
Talksport Interviews – Mick McCarthy’s Antics
Brilliant fake interview from Talksport magazine about Mick McCarthy’s meat and two veg…
Dave Bloke Upstages Michael Owen
Take a look at this video from the FA featuring Michael Owen advertising their Umbro Fives tournament at Wembley.
Young Boys 3 Tottenham 2
Harry Redknapp was left fuming about the plastic pitch after Tottenham almost imploded against Young Boys. 3-0 down early in the first half Spurs were handed a lifeline when Bassong scored and Roman Pavlyuchenko added a second after the break.
Watch the goals here…
