The pen is mightier than the sword, but definitely not in the hands of a Frenchman. As a result of Arsenal’s hilarious spot-kick, Thierry Henry is now responsible for the remainder of the Gunners’ penalties. The showboat capsized spectacularly, but it’s the bookies that will be turned over; back the French genius to be top Premiership goal scorer at 4/1.

Arsenal’s visit to Tottenham is the highlight of the weekend coupon, the Gunners won 5-4 on their last visit to the Lane (I think I tipped up 5-3), and another potential cracker is on the cards. Arsenal were as short as 8/15 for the thriller last season; with Edgar Davids unavailable due to suspension and 6/4 on offer for the Gunners, Arsenal are the nap of the week.

Like all housewives, the Mrs. has a cushy life. But after long Satta King Result research, I’ve discovered an occupation that’s even easier than watching TV and eating chocolate all day. The West Ham defenders have the cushiest job in the country this weekend, even easier than being Robbie Savage’s fan mail opener.

Anton Ferdinand & Co have the simple task of marking Peter Crouch. It’s now 13 games without a goal for the beanpole striker, although unconfirmed reports suggest that he hit a post in training 2 months ago. We have to go back to 1963 to find the last time West Ham won at Anfield (I think Teddy Sheringham scored the winner), but the Hammers can be confident of a clean sheet in this one; back the goalless draw at 8/1.

Man City and Aston Villa both like to play football, and luckily for them, they meet in a football match on Monday night. City are in scintillating form on their own patch and have hammered the Villa in this fixture for the last three seasons. The 4/5 on offer for Man City should be treated like a jam doughnut in the presence of Wayne Rooney; it should be dived on before it disappears.

If you think that under/over 2.5 is the spread on the amount of goals Peter Crouch will score this season, you’re only partially correct, it’s also one of the most popular bets on a football match.

For the uninitiated, ‘under’ = 2 goals or less, ‘over’ = 3 goals or more. The match between Birmingham and Everton is a no brain ‘under’; it’s as close as you can get to a certainty without finding Jordan’s telephone number.

6 of the last 8 Birmingham matches have gone ‘under’ and it’s 9 out of the last 10 for Everton. You can back ‘unders’ at 4/7 in this match, and that’s similar to printing your own money, only a lot more legal. Never look a gift horse in the mouth, in fact, just stay away from Van Nistelrooy altogether.

West Brom are rock bottom of the recent form table (8 matches), making Newcastle a great bet at a whopping 5/4. Emre looks an unusually superb signing from Graeme Souness; his left foot is an absolute peach, which makes him a plum bet to bag a pair against the Baggies, get on at 20/1.

The following mixed bag of specials are all available at Super Soccer.

“Robben Hood” – Arjen Robben to score with a header 13/2

“Claude it back” – Makelele to score the last goal 33/1

“In Denial” – Mido to be sent off 25/1

“Crouch a tiger, Did a dragon” – Crouch and Drogba both to score 9/2

“Helmet Cole” – Andy Cole to score with a header 9/2

“Killing me softly, with Boumsong” – Boumsong to score at any time 10/1

Quote of the week:

“You know why they (Arsenal) took the penalty like that? They have so many penalties in a season; they had to do something different.”

Jose Mourinho is a genius.

Stat, you’re a liberty:

Peter Crouch is not the tallest player to have graced the Premiership, Portsmouth goalkeeper Kostas Chalkias stood a centimetre taller.

New Urawa Reds manager Gert Engels guided the Asian champions to their first win of the season on Sunday, snapping a four-game drought that included two losses in the J.League and a loss and a draw in the league Nabisco Cup.

The Reds defeated Albirex Niigata 3-0 on goals Satta King Takahito Soma, Marcus Tulio Tanaka and Yuichiro Nagai on a rainy afternoon at Saitama Stadium.

Afterwards we caught up with Engels, the former assistant manager who was promoted after the firing of fellow German Holger Osieck two games into the 2008 season. Engels said the win meant a significant weight had been lifted from his and his team’s shoulders and added that he hoped the victory would lead to greater things to come this year as the Reds look to regain the league and Emperor’s Cup titles they lost to the Kashima Antlers last year.

Q: You must be relieved to have won today …

A: Yes that’s the right word, relief. It was very important for us to win here and to win with such a goal difference is even better. 3-0 sounds good, even though it could have ended 3-1 or even 5-2. But I think we got the crowd to support because we tried to play aggressive and go forward and it’s important we do that here at home.

Q: It looked like the players were keen to run up the score.

A: In the second half we pushed a little too hard. We have to remember that we have a game on Wednesday. There were some situations where we shouldn’t have looked for the fastest way to the goal, we should have kept the ball a little more. There were a few scenes where (Hajime) Hosogai played the ball to Umesaki when he was under pressure. He should have stopped and passed back or tried the other side of the pitch. But I’m happy my players did this, they are young and can recover in the next two days. It’s better than playing too slowly. It was important for our fans that we pushed till the end.

Q: You used Tulio as a (defensive) midfielder for the first time. It looked like a stroke of genius in retrospect.

A: I think it worked. But everyone knows he’s not the big mover. And we have three games in a row now. We will see. The defense line worked well and Hosogai played 90 minutes with the Olympic team so I really though Tulio could influence the game more from the center of the pitch than from the back.

I know he’s a player who likes to push forward and I thought (as a defender) there would be situations where he pushed forward too much and left us with only two defenders.

As a midfielder he was in a situation where he could push. If he pushed too much, Keita (Suzuki) was there, Hosogai was there and even (captain Nobuhisa) Yamada, who was told to cover in the middle a little bit.

I thought Tulio’s movement was good, and he scored a beautiful goal, which was a very good combination from everybody up front.

Q: Keita Suzuki went off injured today and hasn’t looked at all sharp this season. Do you think he’s overworked?

A: As you see, not only in our team but the national team they are not in good shape. And there are a few injuries in the national team, including now our Keita and (Naohiro) Takahara and even from other teams. It’s a big problem.

I’m going to try to give the players more rest. If we play in the Nabisco Cup, these players play national team. It’s difficult to get them rest. We can try to rest them in training. If they have a lot of games we need to take care and maybe we can give them special training. It could be a problem with the Olympic squad, with Hosogai and (Tsukasa) Umesaki. We had a tough and long season last year and our players started up again in the middle of January.

Q: This is your first win as Reds manager. Was it a special victory for you?

A: I’ll remember this game, definitely. Whatever happens from now you never know. But I think the first win at home as a manager of a team like the Reds, I will remember it, definitely.

A: You left defender Keisuke Tsuboi on the bench today in favor of rookie Shunsuke Tsutsumi. Can we have a few comments on that?

A: We need to do this. If you are not really satisfied and you feel a player doesn’t have the confidence he usually has … We have a good squad and we can change players from game to game. And if they are used to this tension you can rest them and make them fresh again if you find the right way to do it. I think it’s very important for our team.

Last year of course the pressure from the Champions League was immense, that’s why we couldn’t change players so much, we didn’t want to, and it didn’t pay off in the final weeks. I hope I can change players with the same quality more often to give them more rest and to push them.

I spoke to Tsuboi and I think he himself was not very comfortable. He resigned from the national team and I thought that this would be a step forward to concentrate on his game and on his play. It showed that he was a little unsure. I said to him that if everything goes normal you will be a vital player for our team. But at the moment you don’t have the self confidence to do this. And he did very well in training the two days after. I think it was a relief for him, to be honest. But I’m sure we will need him. We will be playing offensively and we will need him to defend against counterattacking teams and I am sure we will need him. He’s a very important player for our team.

Q: Osieck was canned two games into the season. What do you feel you need to do to ensure you’re still around at this time next year?

A: It’s very easy: I need to win as much as possible. If we play good soccer like we did today, if we play Reds soccer, the people will forgive us if we don’t win all four titles. But my objective is of course to win titles with the Reds and to keep the team moving. And maybe also to bring young players in.

Q: On injured striker Takahara:

A: Takahara himself feels good with his injury. He moved well yesterday but the doctor sees an injury on the X-ray so we have to be careful. I hope for him and for us he can play against Jubilo (April 5). But the medical staff says he’s got a better chance of being ready for the game here against Kashima (April 13). It’s a risk in a young season to bring him in. We’ve got Edmilson up front, Nagai and surely we will need Takahara, but now it’s a risk.

Q: On striker Nagai:

A: I’m happy with what he’s been doing the last couple of games. He works very hard and he’s in good shape. He is of the age now where he also has to take responsibility. I think he suffered in the past because he never really had the stability of playing regularly in a season. But he’s become a little bit stronger mentally which is very important for him.

Q: On striker Edmilson’s tantrum at being substituted late in the match against his former team:

A: We need to talk about that, definitely. That’s what we don’t need now, situations like this. It was 3-0, the game was shut out and I thought we should rest him a little bit. Of course he thinks about Niigata, his former teammates, which I understand 100 percent. But I am not in the position to think about Niigata, or how he wants to score against his old club. The game was won, he’s not yet in his best physical condition and we need him on Wednesday so that’s why I made the decision to take him out. We need to talk about this and then it’s finished. There will be no problem from my side.

UEFA Europa League Final 2010

Atletico Madrid v Fulham

When Liverpool sagged to let Diego Forlan net and send Atletico Madrid into the Europa League final, it was a mini-victory for the competition. An Anglo-Spanish final sounds more, well, continental than a re-run of a Premier League game.

English clubs might flash the cash but we don’t want an all-any nation European final any more than a Chelsea v Man U Champions League final every season. Contrasting styles is what European cups should be about. A bit sad for ‘Pool, whose fans could have followed in the footsteps of the Beatles on the Reeperbahn of that great German port city.

Perhaps the Europa League is just a punch diluted so much it lacks the satta king kick of the old UEFA Cup, as lukewarm as the lineup for the old Cup Winners’ Cup, a collection of Champions League rejects and former European greats like Marseille, Anderlecht, Benfica and Panathanaikos.

If we can forget the languorous saga of that 18-game odyssey the teams took to the final, the meagre winnings and overall feeling of second prize compared to the mighty Champions League, the meeting of big-ish Atletico and little Fulham has a lot to recommend it.

World Cup 2010 Referees and Assistants.

The 30 referees and their assistants for the 2010 World Cup in South Africa have been chosen. There are 4 referees and their assistants from Africa, 4 from CONCACAF, 6 from South America, 2 from Oceania, 4 from Asia and 10 from UEFA.

Joel Aguilar (El Salvador)

William Torres, Francisco Zumba

Khalil Al Ghamdi (Saudi Arabia)

Hassan Kamranifar (Iran), Saleh Mohamed Al Marzouqi (UAE)

Carlos Amarilla (Paraguay)

Ruiz Roa, Nicolas Yegros

Benito Archundia (Mexico)

Hector Vegara (Canada), Marvin Torrentera

Hector Baldassi (Argentina)

Ricardo Casas, Herman Maidana

Carlos Batres (Guatemala)

Leonel Leal (Costa Rica), Carlos Pastrana (Honduras)

Mohamed Benouza (Algeria)

Nasser Abdel Nabi (Egypt), Maamer Chabane

Olegario Benquerenca (Portugal)

Jose Manuel Silva Cardinal, Bertino Miranda

Massimo Bussaca (Switzerland)

Matthias Arnet, Francesco Buragina

The seasons are changing in South Africa. The summer weather is coming to an end and the beaches of Durban and Cape Town are no longer as busy as they were. Fall has arrived and soon, winter will come to bring pleasant days but cold nights to cities such as Johannesburg. In 2010 however, winter means one thing in South Africa – the World Cup.

That tournament looms large on the horizon of Yeom Ki-hun.The Suwon attacker hasn’t yet played a game for his new club since arriving in satta king result Gyeonggi Province from Ulsan Horang-I in the off-season. The likeable 27 year-old is battling through an annual problem – injury. He needs to start playing very soon if he is to take one of the 23 seats on the plane that leaves Incheon International Airport in late May.

Yeom, who still bears the scars from a serious automobile accident in 2006, rarely plays a full season. A series of physical problems have blighted his career and prevented him, perhaps, from becoming the star he could have been. The latest setback came in February when he fractured a bone in his foot during training with the national team at the East Asian Championships.

It was a cruel blow for the player and the former Ulsan star, who has played 30 times for the Taeguk Warriors, is keen to get back on the pitch to show what he can do. “I haven’t given up on going to the World Cup. The operation went well and at the moment, I am feeling good,” Yeom told local media in March.

“My recovery is coming on leaps and bounds,” he added. “My strong points are such things as taking free-kicks, crossing and shooting. If I show that I am at my best, opportunities should come my way.”

Yeom expects to be back around the middle of this month and that is looking a little optimistic and is cutting it fine. Assuming he does return on schedule, and with this versatile attacker you can never be sure, it doesn’t give him much time to get himself back to match fitness and build his stamina.

National team coach Huh Jung-moo has an exhibition match in Seoul against Ecuador planned on May 16 – the only game in the Land of the Morning Calm before the big event – and the selected stars will get together on May 9. If Yeom is not in that roster then it all will be too late.

The same applies to Seol Ki-hyeon, another winger who can play on either side or even in the middle. The former English Premier League star left Fulham in the winter to come and play for Pohang Steelers. At the age of 31, he had never played in the K-League in his career and he still hasn’t. A knee injury that didn’t seem to serious at first has dragged on.

At almost every press conference early in the season, Pohang boss Waldemar Lemos told reporters that the player was almost ready but then in late March, it was revealed that ‘The Sniper’ has gone under the knife. It wasn’t a big operation so Seol could be back this month but if he wants to go the World Cup, (and who doesn’t?) he needs to be back, fit and playing well as soon as possible.

In truth it doesn’t look good for either, especially Seol, but at least they will be in good company with the likes of David Beckham of England and Spain’s Cesc Fabregas also likely to be watching the tournament from the sidelines.

Lionel Messi once again showed off his credentials as the most exciting talent on the world stage with a superb hat-trick for Barcelona in a 3-1 win on Tuesday night.

The diminutive Argentine terrorised the Atletico Madrid defence all night before receiving a standing ovation from the Vicente Calderon Satta Matka crowd when he was replaced 10 minutes before full-time.

The result leaves Barcelona well placed to reach the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey when the teams meet again at the Camp Nou next Wednesday.

The 21-year-old sensation set about his task early in the match with great combination play with Daniel Alves, another of the few Barca regulars to feature in a ‘weakened’ first eleven.

With 11 minutes on the clock Alves fed Messi with a well worked one-two which left the striker clean through on Gregory Coupet’s goal. A cool finish into the near post gave Barcelona an early lead.

The teams continued sparring for the remainder of the first half with Maniche going close for Atletico and Seydou Keita wasteful in front of goal for the visitors.

Messi had to wait until the second half for his next decisive moment of the match.

The Rojiblancos had been reverting to dirty tactics in an attempt to stop the Barca man throughout the game. No surprises then when Messi drew a foul in the penalty area five minutes into the second half.

Again great link-up play between Alves and Messi saw the Brazilian full-back slip a ball into the box for his team-mate. Before Messi had a chance to convert the centre he was pulled down by Dutchman Johnny Heitinga.

Referee Gonzalez had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and sending Heitinga off for an early bath. Meanwhile Messi dusted himself off and slotted home the penalty, sending Coupet the wrong way in the process.

The Vicente Calderon crowd made their feelings clear to the home side with jeers and whistles. This proved a much needed spur to the hosts as they mustered a reply shortly after Barca had taken a 2-0 lead.

Substitute Ujfalusi found room to meet Simao’s corner and nodded it behind Pinto to reduce los Colchoneros’ deficit to a single goal once again.

Messi seemed to take this strike personally and promptly got the ball at the other end, skinned two defenders and thumped the ball past Coupet once more. This time he was denied by the crossbar.

Moments later the mercurial talent received the ball in the box with the game entering the final 10 minutes. Instant control allowed him to dribble around the keeper and poke the ball in the empty net and claim the match ball

Atletico fans were able to put the disappointment of their own team’s showing aside for a second and give La Pulga an enthusiastic ovation when he was subbed shortly after completing his hat-trick.

This sentiment for a phenomenal exhibition of skill was shared by the on looking Argentina national coach, Diego Maradona.

The 3-1 win gives Barcelona their 21st victory in 26 games in all competitions for the season. The Catalan’s are 11 points clear in La Liga and bookie’s favourites to win the Champions League again.

However, coach Pep Guardiola’s was quick to play down his role in Barcelona’s impressive start to the season.

“I was merely chosen to train these players. They are the ones who make the coaching staff look good and they are the ones who make this club great.” The 37-year-old said after the game and added, “My job is to ensure they never lower their standards and that they always have the same winning spirit. I’m just lucky to be able to lead this team.”

The coach also seems keen that the people around him should remain in this same level headed mode. When asked what he had said to Messi after such a dazzling performance he said, “I just shook his hand, just like I would with any player.”

The celestial Albiceleste himself seemed chuffed with the display and reaction of the fans when he was taken off.

“It was a very special moment for me to be given a standing ovation. It’s something unexplainable and a beautiful experience for any player.” The pint-sized marvel said.

All Change In Overseas Ranks.

South Korean clubs teams don’t change coaches at the drop of a hat and usually wait until the season ends before taking a look at how their man in the hotseat has done. Sackings are rare, coaches tend to leave as contracts end or better offers come along. This off-season period is a little unusual however as three of the four clubs that were under overseas stewardship last season will have a new coach when the 2010 K-League season kicks off at the end of February.

Only Incheon United will have the same foreign face in 2010. Serbian Ilja Petkovic was rewarded for taking the West Coast club into the championship play-off series in 2009, his first season in Korea, by being offered a new one-year contract.

FC Seoul, Pohang Steelers and Jeju United have all seen their coaches head out of South Korea. The biggest story and the biggest shock has been the satta matka convoluted departure of Sergio Farias from Pohang. The Brazilian led the team to the 2007 K-League title and then, famously, the 2009 Asian crown.

Such success naturally attracts covetous eyes. In December, reports started to surface that suggested he was talking to Saudi Arabian club Al Ahli. “It is ridiculous that they publish something which is not true,” Farias replied when asked about the rumours. “Teams from West Asia tend to say things before checking all the facts just to show off. This kind of behavior should be avoided.”

Pohang CEO Kim Tae-man also dimissed the reports. “Farias is now famous so these kinds of rumours are common,” said Kim. “I know him personally and I don’t need to even ask him about it because it is not an issue.”

It soon became one as Farias signed an 18-month deal with the Jeddah club worth a reported $2.5 million. That dwarfed his Pohang pay and despite the manner of his leaving, his five years and success in Korea meant that Farias left with good wishes.

Pohang openly talked of their desire for another Brazilian coach and hired Waldemar Lemos de Oliveira, a 55 year-old with experience coaching in Japan and Saudi Arabia as well as his native Brazil. He has signed a one-year deal at his new club and will join them with immediate effect.

“He has lots of experience with big clubs in Brazil and he has also worked in the Asian region, and he is able to get the players working together well as a unit,” Kim Tae-Min said.

“Most of all, however, he showed a good understanding of Pohang Steelers and what we are about. He likes to play fast and attractive football that excites the fans and wants to win respect from other teams through beautiful and clean football.”

Oliviera will be able to communicate easily with the new boss at FC Seoul. Nelo Vingada hails from Portugal but has coached all over the world. He replaces Senol Gunes who returned to Turkey in December as his three-year contract with Seoul expired.

It is not the most inspiring choice for Seoul fans. Gunes was named FIFA’s coach of the year in 2002 as he took an unheralded Turkey team into third place at the World Cup. Vingada’s list of jobs may be lengthier but doesn’t carry the same weight. His last national team position was with Jordan.

“I’m very happy to be here. My feelings are very optimistic,” Vingada told local media as he arrived. “I believe that by training hard, as a team, as a family, we will achieve what everybody wants.”

The 56 year-old, who won the Egyptian title with Zamalek, aims to do the same for FC Seoul.

“My challenge, the challenge of the team, the challenge I want to bring to the players, is to make first (place),” he said. “It’s a new year, a new time, so when we start our training, we will have my new ideas and the support of the staff. I want to see FC Seoul on the list of winners of the K-League. I am here for this challenge.”

Jeju United parted company with Brazil’s Artur Bernandes after a fairly unspectacular two seasons and the club has decided not to follow the example set by Seoul and Pohang. A Korean has been appointed in the shape of former national team Under-17 and Under-23 Park Kyung-Hoon.There is less pressure on Park. Pohang and Seoul are expected to battle for the title. For Jeju, a mid-table ranking will suffice.

For the new boys, now is the time for some pre-season training in warmer climes, not there are many of those around at the moment, but the real heat comes with the kick-off of the 2010 K-League season.

Fresh from signing the Kyoto Protocol, warding off Japanese whalers in the Southern Ocean, saying sorry to the stolen generations and doing just about everything his predecessor, John Howard, failed to do in four terms in office, Australian prime minister Kevin Rudd has lent his bookish gravitas to an official bid for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

World Cup trophy at FIFA HQ, Zurich, Switzerland

Rudd has been assiduously building his “sportsman” credentials of late, notably being pictured throwing the arm over in an impromptu cricket match at Parliament House in Canberra and then appearing alongside Football Federation Australia chairman Frank Lowy at last Sunday’s A-League grand final. Getting behind a World Cup bid is by far and away Rudd’s biggest play in sport so far, yet speculation is rife that privately the FFA knows it has no chance of nabbing The Big One in 2018 and is instead using the bid to make a Satta result solid impression for a tilt at 2022.

The fact of the matter is Australia, despite being talked up in some quarters as a possible stand-in host for South Africa 2010 should the Africans fail to get their act together, has a long way to go before it can hope to host an event of such magnitude.

There are very few suitable football stadia currently built and operational, training facilities are thin on the ground (even now for the Socceroos) and, as anyone will tell you who has had the misfortune of braving its CityRail network, public transport in Australia’s biggest metropolis, Sydney, is appallingly bad. Any World Cup bid is going to require a massive injection of capital and a hell of a lot of groundwork. But with Labor governments installed in all Australian states, the prospects for cooperation are good.

Even the AFL, Australia’s biggest sport, has given the World Cup bid its support.

“We’re not sure of what it might mean for us yet, nobody’s spoken to us about that, so we’ll just wait and see if there are any proposed implications for us,” said AFL operations manager Adrian Anderson. Well, Adrian, Indian Matka can start by saying the AFL won’t know what hit it when the World Cup comes to town.

The biggest mitigating factor against a 2018 World Cup in Australia, of course, is the fact Europe will have not played host for 12 years, an eternity in football politics and about as realistic a prospect as Harold Holt emerging from his 41-year dip in the waters off Portsea.

The locals’ knowledge of the event needs some improving, though. In announcing the news, a Sydney radio station declared Melbourne would even “share” the event with its northern cousin, oblivious to the fact that a World Cup is a multi-city event. This is not the Olympics, folks.

The frontrunner at the present time appears to be England, with Portugal/Spain a close second. Sydney 2000 might have been the most successful Olympics ever, but when it comes to truly big football events the FIFA Congress in May and a likely Asian Cup in 2015 will have to suffice till 2022 rolls around.

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