Materazzi wins damages case

November 3, 2008

Italy and Inter Milan defender Marco Materazzi has won damages from the Daily Mail newspaper after claims by the paper that he has racial abusive comments to Zinedine Zidane during the 2006 World Cup Final between Franc e and Italy. The amount awarded to the player is undisclosed.

Zidane head butted Materazzi in the chest and the newspaper claimed Materazzi had called the French international “the son of a terrorist whore”

Materazzi was not in London for the settlement of the case but his counsel Jane Philips said that there were a series of articles run by the newspaper that claimed that Materazzi had used vile racist abuse during the match but that this was wholly untrue. Ms Phillips said the newspaper accepted all of the allegations were wholly untrue and that there was no question of Materazzi having said anything of a racist nature to Zidane such as to goad him.

Zidane has been asked what the abuse was that made him react in such a way but has refused to specify claiming only that it was about his mother however Materazzi later stated that Zidane’s sister was the subject.

“I was tugging his shirt, he said to me ‘if you want my shirt so much I’ll give it to you afterwards,’ and I answered that I’d prefer his sister,” he said.

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November 1, 2008

After winning their opening four World Cup qualifying games, England are on somewhat of a role. More to the point, it will now be an enjoyable experience to be part of Fabio Capello’s squad. However, not that long ago – this was far from the case. Middlesbrough midfielder Stuart Downing has admitted that it became a ‘chore’ to play for England at Wembley when things weren’t going so well.

When, under Steve McClaren, England failed to qualify for the European Championships, Downing was one of a number of players that received some rather brutal individual criticism. Because of this, Downing felt that he and the England team were on a hiding to nothing when they played at the new Wembley stadium.

The 24-year-old said that a number of players were wondering what the point of playing for England was when ‘I am only going to get booed’. This attitude obviously made it difficult for the team to perform to their best ability and perhaps it played a substantial part in a few dire performances from England.

Reacting positively to the criticism, Downing has said that the fans ‘can boo all they want but if I get picked for England I must be doing something right’. This is a fair point. What is the thinking behind booing someone who is deemed good enough to represent their country? Fair enough, Downing has failed to show that much for the national side, but he never will if people continue to get on his back.

Taking all these comments into account, the whole situation is clearly something that got to Downing. Especially when you consider his message to any England fans that boo: ‘’What are you doing? It is not helping your team one bit’. It is not like we are trying to play badly. Get behind us.”

Hopefully though, as Downing points out, things are better now and the crowd are starting to get behind the team. The midfielder says that the Croatia game – where England emerged victorious against most football odds – has acted as the turning point.

I suppose the worrying thing for players like Downing though is that it could all turn around again. As much as one result produced a positive response from the fans, a negative one could see them turn on the team once again. This shouldn’t be accepted as the norm, but when you are paid as much money as these international footballers are; perhaps it is something they should get used to.

By Thomas Rooney – A sports writer who blogs on football betting

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Srna Listed for Most Popular Player Award

November 1, 2008

The International Federation of Football History and Statistics (IFFHS), has chosen 100 players, from 58 different countries, playing in 37 national leagues to compete for ‘The Most Popular Football Player’ in 2008 award. Among these 100 contestants is Croatian Darijo Srna, who currently plays for Shakhtar Donetsk in the Ukraine and the national team of Croatia. Before Srna, only two other Croatians have won, current coach, Slaven Bilic for ‘The World’s Best National Coach’ in 2007 and Eduardo Da Silva, member of the national team and Arsenal, for ‘The World’s Best Top Division Goal Scorer’ in 2007.

Voting for this award closes on January 3rd, 2009, and the winner will be announced later the same month. To vote for Srna visit, www.iffhs.de and click on ‘IFFHS User Vote.’

Jill Guthrie

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