Where's Guus?

After Guus' FA Cup winning swansong at Wembley eleven days ago, Guus disappeared off the face of the earth.

Well he didn't really.

He went quietly back to Russia to resume his coaching duties with the national team.

Last night he took his Russian side to Finland and won the game 3-0, a victory that took Russia top of their WC2010 qualifying group.

So Wembley Got A Crowd

Just over 58,000 fans made it to Wembley (despite the tube strike) this evening (Wednesday) to see England beat Andorra 6-0. To be honest it should have been 12 or more, but the crowd went home happy with SIX and I wonder how many punters got the correct score.

For the record Wayne Rooney scored 2, Jermaine Defoe scored 2, Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch scored the others.

Next week England U21s start their campaign to become European U21 Champions in Sweden.

Murdering A Principality?!?!

Still there is no news on the tube strike due to start 7pm Tuesday night, perhaps Wembley will be 'murdered' if the tube strike goes ahead let alone Andorra.

But what do you know about Andorra? Back in September England travelled to Andorra and won 2-0 thanks to two Joe Cole goals.

Andorra is bordered to the right by France and to the left by Spain and Andorra is predominately by occupied Spanish speaking residents. Approximately a quarter of the population (70,000) is made up of Andorrans.

To say Hello in Andorra, say 'HOLA,' but as Andorra will be in London this week, say HELLO.

But what does Andorra have to offer the intrepid traveller? Duty free, Skiing, The Pyrenees and Andorra for those with a load of £ or $ is a taxman's nightmare - A tax haven.

To quote The Lonely Planet:

"The town of Andorra la Vella is squeezed into the Riu Gran Valira Valley and is mainly engaged in retailing electronic and luxury goods. With the constant din of jackhammers and shopping-mall architecture, you might be in Hong Kong - but for the snowcapped peaks and an absence of noodle shops?"

I Watched

As well as watching England beat Kazakhstan yesterday I also watched Brazil dismantle Uruguay in Uruguay 4-0. It was Brazil's first competitive win in Uruguay for 33 years.

Straight after that I watched Argentina luckily beat Colombia 1-0 in Buenos Aires and as I write Peru have just kicked off against Ecuador and they say the football season is over.

Asalam Aleykum (Peace Be With You)

After an indifferent start where England could have been 2-0 down inside twenty minutes, England won in Central Asia beating Kazakhstan 4-0 with goals from Gareth Barry, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard from the penalty spot.

Roll on Andorra!!

Extract from the The Lonely Planet

"The ninth largest country in the world, Kazakhstan lies at the heart of the great Eurasian steppe, the band of grassland stretching from Mongolia to Hungary, which has served for millennia as the highway and grazing ground of nomadic horseback peoples."

World Cup 2010

England are in action twice over the next five days, trying to qualify for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.

Tomorrow (Saturday) England play Kazakhstan and next Wednesday England host minnows Andorra at Wembley.

If the proposed tube strike goes ahead next week, how will people get to Wembley?

Wembley could be deserted as the Marie Celeste.

Beckham to Join AC Milan

East End boy made good, David Beckham, joins Serie A's AC Milan in January according to AC's Vice-President Adriano Galliani.


"The player (Beckham) will train with us and in January he will sign with us until the end of the season.


"He will be available for coach Carlo Ancelotti for both the domestic competition and the UEFA Cup.


"It's not just a marketing operation but a great acquisition."


AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti has given the blessing for the former Manchester United star to arrive to the San Siro because Beckham's arrival means there would be more competition for places in the squad.


"For me there are no problems," he said. "The players that will go on the bench will have problems."


Beckham is able to 'transfer' to another club as the MLS season ends on Sunday.


Beckham needs at least to be training, so he can still be part of Englands World Cup plans under coach Fabio Capello.

Is This The Worst Miss Ever?

Chris Iwelumo on as a sub for Scotland v Norway this afternoon, making his debut.

Wishing the ground would open up and swallow him after this miss, moments after coming on.

At least England won 5-1 LOL.

Flying the Flag

England, Scotland, Wales and N Ireland are all in action today - WC 2010 qualifiers.


Last night England's U21 beat Wales U21 3-2 at Cardiff's Ninian Park to take a first leg lead, in the play-off to qualify for the U21 European Championships.


The 2nd leg is next Tuesday at Villa Park, home of Aston Villa.

Credit Crunch..... What Credit Crunch?

The FA have reported that England's World Cup qualifier against Kazakhstan at Wembley on Saturday is SOLD OUT.

It's now another 'boring' two weeks without the Premiership, just when everything is starting to take shape.

The Premiership returns on Saturday 18th October.

WC 2010 Qualifiers Over... For at least a Month.

Well the first rounds of games of qualifying for South Africa in 2010 are over (Thank God for that) and normal regular football returns for at least four weeks.


How did your country do?


England!! 2 wins out of 2 and six goals scored with only one conceded.


Incidentally I have been approached by a sports website to write reviews for their products and if their offer is as good as it says it is, I get to keep the goods that they send me.

(Must be doing something right then!)

Shining Stars

I really don't know how the 7,000 plus England fans do it. Travel away to see England play no-hopers Andorra in a World Cup qualifier in Barcelona - perhaps the attraction of a weekend in Barcelona did it.

Its bad enough supporting your club every weekend without expending more energy and emotion on a two-bit, two-bob international team who really haven't done anything since Sir Bobby Robson was in charge.

It took England 46 plus mins to break down a stubborn Andorrian side last night and to me a result, anything less than 5-0 is considered a failure, but England have been a failure for many a year.

Two goals in the space of ten minutes from half-time substitute Joe Cole, who still got told off by England manager Fabio Capello, was one shining star of two.

The second shining star was Theo Walcott of Arsenal. Walcott started his first England game and terrorised the Andorrian defence especially in the first-half.

As for the rest.... pah. The biggest culprits were Stewart Downing of Middlesbrough (what on earth is he doing in an England shirt) and Wayne (The Prodigal Son) Rooney!!!

At least Frank Lampard wasn't booed!!

England have to do alot better if they are to overcome Croatia in Zagreb on Wednesday night.

Johnstone's Paint Trophy

Now the Premiership has finished its 3rd round of games (Sunday), Chelsea 1-1 Tottenham, Aston Villa 0-0 Liverpool and Sunderland 0-3 Man City, the Premiership has closed for two weeks, no sooner had the Premiership started, for qualification games towards 2010 World Cup to be held in South Africa.

Of course Man Utd were not in Premiership action this weekend, they were in losing action in Monaco against Zenit St Petersburg for the right to be Super Cup holders which is a trophy that Sir Alex Fergurson HASN'T won.

But before the WC Qualifiers kick-off we have a week of Johnstone's Paint Trophy games. Just check out this video of how much it means to the supporters of MK Dons who won the trophy last season.

Friendly Internationals

Always makes me laugh, no sooner does the Premiership season kick-off, we have a plethera of midweek International 'Friendlies.'

Personally I would prefer the 2nd game of the Premiership season on a Wednesday night... especially after Chelsea's superb performance against Portsmouth last Sunday.

So for your delight here is a complete list of 'friendlies' taking place throughout the World this Wednesday evening:

England v Czech Republic (8.00pm)

Wales v Georgia (8.05pm)

Norway v Rep of Ireland (6.00pm)

Scotland v Northern Ireland (8.00pm)

Denmark v Spain (7.15pm)

Germany v Belgium (8.oopm)

Sweden v France (8.00pm)

Switzerland v Cyprus (6.45pm)

Ukraine v Poland (5.00pm)

Russia v Poland (6.15pm)

Italy v Austria (7.45pm)

Turkey v Chile (7.00pm)

Portugal v Faroe Islands (8.45pm)

Romania v Latvia (6.45pm)

Slovakia v Greece (7.15pm)

Slovenia v Croatia (7.45pm)

Bosnia v Bulgaria (7.15pm)

Belarus v Argentina (6.00pm)

Finland v Israel (5.00pm)

A lot of these games are to prepare for the 2010 World Cup which will be held in South Africa and if you think tonight is bad without Premiership action, wait for ten days or so when the Premiership shuts down for two weeks.

Oh what to do, what to do??????

All times stated are UK and ANY updates on scores and scores and final results, will appear in the comments section.