Search: 'UEFA'

After playing in front of thousands, having a first date watched by millions didn’t seem too strange to Celtic’s former Portugal star, as Dan Brennan reports 

Jorge Cadete is remembered at Celtic as one of the Three Amigos, the forward line that bedazzled and delighted the Parkhead public during 1996-97. He and his two compadres – Paolo Di Canio and Pierre van Hooijdonk – also had manager Tommy Burns and chairman Fergus McCann reaching for the valium. It was McCann who first coined the epithet – more a sour reference to their fanciful wage demands and antics off the pitch than their buccaneering exploits on it.

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Mark Tallentire explains why Everton are staying put

When Everton announced they were pulling the plug on their plan to join the King’s Dock development, not a single letter or email of com­plaint was received by the club. However, more than 40 had arrived by mid-morning on Monday after the 2-1 win against Aston Villa kept their bid for UEFA Cup football going for another week, either congratulating David Moyes on another three points or complaining about Duncan Ferguson’s conduct in the same game. Therein lies a tale as the fans, while broadly in favour of the proposed 55,000-seat city-centre stadium on the banks of the Mersey, are more interested in seeing Moyes create a winning team.

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Wednesday 2 England surprise many by playing Wayne Rooney from the start and go on to beat Turkey 2-0 at the Stadium of Light, with late goals from Darius Vassell and a penalty by David Beckham, who says: “It wasn’t a bad display for a team of no-hopers, was it?” Around 100 England supporters are arrested before the match after trouble in Sunderland city centre and at the ground and there is a pitch invasion after the second goal during which a spectator appears to strike Turkey defender Alpay. There is also allegedly a punch-up in the players’ tunnel. UEFA are to investigate. Scotland concede a dubious penalty to lose 1-0 in Lithuania. Northern Ireland have two sent off in a 2-0 home defeat by Greece (“There is not a thought in my head about not carrying on,” says Sammy McIlroy), while the Republic draw 0-0 in Albania. Fulham announce that they are considering a “revised plan” to move back to Craven Cottage.

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Chris Taylor sifts through the fantasy and the reality to explain the compulsive appeal of the Championship Manager computer game

When all but two of an Economics A-level class fail the subject there are going to be inquiries. We all had the same teachers, the same opportunities to learn, the same text books, but not all of us had Championship Manager. So, in turn, not all of us spent the night before our exam trying to take Bury to Premier League glory. And while I ended up only with the UEFA Cup and an E grade in microeconomics, I feel satisfied that the right choice was made.

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Neil Heath looks at the career to date of a former Nottingham Forest striker, torn between football and rock ’n’ roll and not quite succeeding at either

Paul McGregor was once branded the first “Britpop footballer”. In 1995 he broke into the Nottingham Forest first team and a year later his band, Merc, were brought to the attention of the man who discovered Oasis. There seemed to be no end to his talents. But during the 1997-98 season McGregor was sold to Ply­mouth Argyle, and he now plays for Northampton Town. Was he a victim of turbulent times at the City Ground or did rock ’n’ roll stall his football career?

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