Search: ' Club World Cup'

At 37, Kevin Muscat’s playing career could be over following his latest reckless challenge. Graham Willgoss examines the Australia international’s controversial reputation

Is Kevin Muscat mad, bad or misunderstood? The controversial former Crystal Palace, Wolves and Millwall defender dived two-footed into the latest – and possibly the last – media storm of his playing career after committing a horror challenge. Muscat’s latest misdemeanour came while playing for his current club Melbourne Victory in Australia’s A-League. In the closing minutes of a frenetic 2-2 draw with city rivals Melbourne Heart, Muscat launched himself at Heart winger Adrian Zahra with a studs-up scissor-kick that connected with his opponent somewhere around the knee.

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Simon Tyers looks at how football coverage on Sky Sports has changed since it was first introduced in 1991

Without fully raking over the Gray-Keys saga, two further points. One is to note the irony in Sky considering Andy Gray’s last straw to be remarks of a sexual nature towards Charlotte Jackson, who promoted the new season on Sky Sports in August by doing a shoot for Loaded magazine. The other is to consider that they were keen to get rid of Gray because pundits are ultimately replaceable – think of Ron Atkinson and remember that Sky did it themselves five years ago with Jeff Stelling’s primary sparring partner Rodney Marsh – while main presenters aren’t.

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Known for his eccentric wardrobe and time in Brazil, Miura is now breaking records in Japan. Simon Coterill explains

Now that Shunsuke Nakamura has returned from Europe and Hidetoshi Nakata has retired, Japanese “sakka” is looking for a new leading man. Competing are Borussia Dortmund’s new talisman Shinji Kagawa and CSKA Moscow’s Keisuke Honda, whose World Cup goals, bleached-blond hair and penchant for expensive fashion make him the favourite. Whoever lands the role will be the latest to replace Japan’s first football superstar, Kazuyoshi Miura. Now aged 43 Miura is still playing professionally, seemingly unwilling to relinquish his limelight.

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The biggest problem for the Brazilian champions is how to sustain their recent success. Robert Shaw reports

Fluminense’s Brazilian National Championship success in 2010 was a remarkable turnaround by any standards. In October 2009 the club was reckoned to be heading for Serie B but a spectacular series of victories saved them, creating the platform for a tilt at the top in 2010. Following the end of the season in December the Brazilian FA (CBF) revised the status of previous championships, so Fluminense were also declared “national champions” for 1970 (the national competition only started officially in 1971).

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Faced with winding up order and Peter Ridsdale, it’s a grim time to be a Plymouth fan. But their local rivals are offering Supporters’ Trust solidarity and three valuable point, writes Gareth Nicholson

Derby day in Devon, and the Exeter fans are high on schadenfreude. The home supporters, meanwhile, are discovering that hubris is a cold mistress. Eight years ago, when Argyle cruised to a 3-0 victory on their way to a League Two title and year-on-year improvement all the way to the Championship, the Green Army had honestly believed that “We’ll never play you again”.

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