Murray celebrates a point on clay

The Last King of Scotland. That was how the Daily Mirror so inaccurately described Andy Murray (@andy_murray) earlier this week. Ever one to play on words with no real thought behind them, the Mirror has nevertheless raised an interesting question: will Murray ever rise to the pinnacle of the men’s game and be crowned the real king of tennis?

Continue Reading

We just found this on the BBC website:

Goalkeeper Ivan Banovic was booked after rescuing a pitch-invading cat during a top-flight match in Croatia.

Medjimurje Cakovec’s Banovic picked up the wandering feline after it strayed on to the pitch 20 minutes into his team’s match at Sibenik.

He placed it safely near a scoreboard but was then booked by the referee for leaving the pitch without permission.

Media reports said the official’s actions annoyed fans, who barracked him for punishing Banovic’s kind deed.

Source: BBC Sport

No doubt next week a top flight manager will get a touchline ban for attending a charity event…

At the risk of appearing slightly Beckham-obsessed (and it’s fair to say that The Ed is), Sporting Fare just HAS to comment on the MLS Cup final. Played last night between David’s LA Galaxy and Real Salt Lake, the score after 120 minutes stood at 1-1. A penalty shootout later – in which Beckham put away his spot kick – and it was RLS that stood triumphant, winning it 5-4.

That doesn’t tell the full story however. It was a night of high drama in Seattle, with a fairytale for one team and, in the end, heartbreak for one Englishman.

And what about that news that Beckham could end up owning an MLS team in his own right?!

Continue Reading

When Thierry Henry tarnished his reputation/destroyed his reputation/knocked Ireland out of the World Cup/cheated/proved human/did what anyone would do* by handling the ball before pulling it back for William Gallas to head in and effectively end Irish hopes of qualifying for the 2010 World Cup he reignited the video referral/more referees debate. We at Sporting Fare will get to that little discussion soon enough. For now though, just look at what COULD be achieved with a simple replay for the ref…

* Delete as you see fit!

Continue Reading

The countdown for the qualifying teams for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa now begins for real. The final matches were played last night, the final berths filled and as some countries count the cost of failure – not least the Thierry Henry robbed Ireland (more of that later!) – the rest start to dream.

Let Sporting Fare guide you through who’s in, who’s out – and who stands even the slightest chance of lifting football’s biggest prize.

Continue Reading