Mourinho’s Notebook – Iceland, Baby!
Do It Like They Do In Iceland
Fans of Premier League stars like Eidur Gudjonsen and Gylfi Sigurdsson might be surprised to hear this, but Iceland has never before competed at a major tournament. That record is no longer, after beating the Netherlands 1-0 and holding on for a draw with Kazakhstan, they’ll be there at EURO 2016. A massive feat for a country with a population of just 330,000.
A remarkable effort from the tiny Scandinavian team. They’ve risen 89 places on the FIFA rankings in just five years, owing their turnaround to clever coaching and a big upgrade on facilities – especially indoor centres in a country that is usually below freezing for the entire winter. Here’s a good exploration of all that on SI.
Swede Lars Lagerback has been hailed as a hero in Iceland for his job in managing this side, but he’s humbly denied any such talk”
“I wouldn’t say that I am a hero. Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and people like that are real heroes.”
And in the spirit of small nations qualifying, Wales and Northern Ireland are both on the precipice. Northern Ireland haven’t made a major tourney since the 1986 World Cup and for Wales it’s even longer – the 1958 World Cup!
The Name’s Becks…
At the moment he’s busy scouting land for his proposed Miami MLS franchise, but David Beckham is a much busier man than just that.
Becks is also turning his sights towards the other American coast as Hollywood beckons. Ol’ Golden Balls is gonna have a cameo role in Guy Ritchie’s upcoming King Arthur film. ‘Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur’ it is called, and Beckham will play a “grumpy knight”. But don’t worry, he’s not taking this lightly.
“I had 13 lines and practised a huge amount beforehand. Guy had someone come and rehearse with me, and I did that an hour every day in the build-up.”
Beckham’s grumpy knight will be one of many that try and fail to pull Excalibur from the stone. There have been football puns written for the scene, as per Film Divider. Not sure if that’s something to be excited about or not.
“I am very aware that many sportsmen and other celebrities have turned their hand to acting and failed. I know that it is a tough profession, where you need a huge amount of skill and discipline, and I wouldn’t want to push myself forward too soon, without learning more about it, and doing a lot more practice. But what I have done so far, I have loved. I can deal with most things. I am a well-known person, so I have got used to criticism.”
Granted he probably won’t be competing for roles with Vinnie Jones or Eric Cantona. But it can’t be worse than Stan Collymore’s appearance in ‘Basic Instinct 2’.
This isn't the first time Beckham and Ritchie have worked together, by the way. They did this ad back in 2013 for, well... it's pretty self-explanatory.
Protect Pique!
The Spanish Football Federation have made the call to move an upcoming November friendly between England and their own team from the Santiago Bernabeu in order to save defender Gerard Pique from getting booed.
The game will now be played at the Rico Perez, home of Hércules CF, as it was thought that hosting it at Real Madrid’s home ground might not be the best atmosphere for Barcelona defender Pique.
It’s not just his club allegiance that’s caused factions in the crowd, it’s his outspoken support of Catalan independence. Moving the game might not help though, judging by the reception he got against Slovakia this week.
Spain manager Vicente Del Bosque to AS:
"It is unpleasant. I find it disgraceful that a player of the national team is being booed, and I hope this doesn't happen again."
Pique has recently lent his support to a referendum on Catalan independence and has never exactly been subtle about it. Carrying a Catalan flag and planting it in the middle of the pitch after the Champions League final, for example. Politics and sport have a much closer relationship in Spain and many Catalonians refuse to acknowledge any Spanish nationalism. At Barcelona home games you can often hear groups in the stands start chanting for independence after 17 mins and 14 seconds of games – in reference to the year 1714 when Catalonia was (begrudgingly) declared a part of Spain.
With the financial dramas of recent years, the call for Catalonian statehood has only gotten louder. Pep Guardiola is another vocal advocate.
R50NEY!
Big credit to Wayne Rooney, England’s highest ever goal scorer. He tied Sir Bobby Charlton with a penalty against San Marino and surpassed him with a penalty against Switzerland. And in a lovely moment of unity, it was former Liverpool, current City winger Raheem Sterling who won that penalty for him with a generously blatant dive in the box. Beautiful.
Now, Rooney’s copped it a bit in the past and it’s always the case with any athlete let alone one like Rooney who’s had his bouts of bad form and silly indiscretions. But he’s very obviously an all-time great of his nation and anyone who says he doesn’t deserve the acclaim he’s now getting is pretty simply wrong.
Rooney’s never done it on the biggest stage? Well, what about Gerrard, Lampard, Beckham, Terry, Ferdinand, etc.? What about every other England player since 1966? Coincidentally (or maybe not) it was Sir Bobby Charlton, a key player of that ’66 team, that Rooney surpassed with his 50th international goal.
Only 43 other men have ever scored 50 goals for their nation. And Wayne Rooney has achieved this before his 30th birthday. Can’t even blame him for getting a lil emotional…
- Ali Daei (Iran) – 109 goals in 149 caps
- Ferenc Puskás (Hungary/Spain) – 84 in 89
- Kunishige Kamamoto (Japan) – 80 in 84
- Hussein Saeed (Iraq) – 78 in 137
- Pelé (Brazil) – 77 in 92
- Sándor Kocsis (Hungary) – 75 in 68
- Bashar Abdullah (Kuwait) – 75 in 133
- Majed Abdullah (Saudi Arabia) – 71 in 116
- Miroslav Klose (Germany) – 71 in 137
- Kiatisuk Senamuang (Thailand) – 70 in 131
- Stern John (Trinidad & Tobago) – 70 in 115
- Gerd Müller (West Germany) – 68 in 62
- Hossam Hassan (Egypt) – 68 in 176
- Robbie Keane (Rep. of Ireland) – 67 in 142
- Didier Drogba (Ivory Coast) – 65 in 104
Lionel Messi had this to say about him:
“Wayne Rooney is for me a once in a generation player. One of those special players, who is not comparable to any other. There are many special players, but Rooney has exceptional quality and technical ability as well as being one of the strongest players I have faced with an exceptional work rate - there is nobody like him.”
But after watching that speech of his, you might sympathise with these recent Van Gaal comments:
"When I speak, I am well-articulated. If you put Wayne Rooney here in the seat, and you start talking to him, do you think people can understand Wayne Rooney? You simply can't understand what he says."
And it was a famous week for national scoring records. Wayne Rooney is one thing, but we’ve gotta spare a shout out for Jake Gosling too. His late consolation in an 8-1 loss to Poland made him Gibraltar’s highest ever scorer. He started things by scoring on debut against Estonia and… that’s it. He has two goals.
Gibraltar, to be fair, only got international status in 2013 and have five goals in total. On a similar note, San Marino just scored their first away goal in 14 years. Not 14 games, but 14 years.
The Rivalry Is Real
Son Heung-Min is expected to make his Spurs debut this weekend against Sunderland. But it may take him a little longer to get used to the heated rivalries of English football. Like his new ne against Arsenal, for example.
"Tottenham officials already told me I can’t even buy a red car." - Son Heung-Min
It’s white or back on that flight, son.
Despite how illogical that sounds at first, this isn’t as uncommon as you’d think. Back in 2006, Manchester City prepared for a derby with Man United by replacing all their red tomato sauce with a mysterious blue condiment instead.
How’s The Weather?
“It’s totally different in England, it rains a lot. In Portugal you can stroll in the afternoon, with the heat, we can be out until eight in the evening. In England, at three in the afternoon it’s raining, it’s too dark, we have to stay home and turn on the light” – Eli Mangala, Man City