Wednesday 1 England beat Uruguay 2‑1 at Anfield in their final friendly before the World Cup squad is picked. Darren Bent makes his debut, Peter Crouch and Joe Cole score. Scotland lose 3‑1 to Switzerland, extending their ten‑year run without a friendly win at Hampden. Northern Ireland beat Estonia 1‑0, Ivan Sproule scoring after 78 seconds. England’s World Cup group opponents Sweden lose 3‑0 to Ireland, while Paraguay draw 0-0 with Wales, Derby’s 17-year-old Lewin Nyatanga becoming the youngest ever Welsh international. Former Chelsea and England striker Peter Osgood dies aged 59.
As we reach the end of the season is the Premier League the most unpredictable league?
Looking at the tables as the end of the season approaches, it might occur to you that, with very few exceptions, no one really knows anything. Passages of play in matches have been described as little more than a series of random events, their final outcome decided by whoever is able to impose a distinct pattern, which more often than not neither side manages to do. This season, the same sense of galumphing randomness has applied to the football predictions business. Never before have the forecasts for how the season will pan out come so badly unstuck – the confident assertions made in tabloid and broadsheet columns and TV discussions may as well be seen in same light as contributions to the astrology page.
This may have been Real Sociedad's first title but, as Phil Ball reports, their victory reflected a change in the country as a whole
The long-term significance
This was the first of only two league titles won by Real Sociedad in their 96-year history. More generally, their last-gasp victory signalled a radical shift in Spanish football that mirrored the changes that had taken place in the country since Franco’s death in 1975. Between the arrival of the enormously influential Alfredo Di Stéfano at Real Madrid in 1953 and Sociedad’s first title, there had been a three-pronged hegemony. During those 28 seasons, Real Madrid won the title on 18 occasions, Atlético Madrid on five, with Barcelona on a mere four. The only other team to have a say were Valencia in 1971. Real Madrid’s imperious strut in this era brought about an upturn not only in their own fortunes but of the country as a whole, thus reviving and consolidating a weakening military dictatorship. Subsequently accused of being the “regime team”, Madrid’s ceding of the title to a Basque side was seen as evidence that a new democratic period was opening up in the footballing arena as well as the political one. Sociedad’s win began a period of four consecutive Basque titles between 1981 and 1984, shared out evenly with Athletic Bilbao. It seemed like a new dawn.
Dear WSC
I was on the Kop for the Liverpool v Manchester United FA Cup game and inadvertently found myself slap in the middle of a News of the World headline. As reported by that paper on the following Sunday, SICK and DISGUSTING fans brought SHAME on Liverpool FC by singing a celebratory lyric regarding John Arne Riise breaking Alan Smith’s leg to the tune of a recent popular record (I can’t remember its name, but it has Ooh-Ahh in the middle and the 11 to 16 age range love it). I would like to make three things clear to the News of the World journalist who reported this incident. First, it was a loud but small minority of fans who belted out the offending song; most ignored it, while others were shaking their heads sadly in disagreement with the sentiment expressed. Of course, shaking your head sadly, even by a group of people, can’t be heard across a football stadium. Second, there was no mention of Smith being applauded off by the Liverpool fans. This was a bit of an oversight, which I would put down to the tabloid practice of not letting detail or nuance interfere with damning judgment. Thirdly, I was only reading News of the World because I was hungover and couldn’t face the small writing in the broadsheets. As a postscript, the bloke who started the song off originally was only one seat to my right, one row behind me. I may already be being hunted down as an agent of SICKNESS and DISGUSTINGNESS by police who have trawled through CCTV footage of the crowd. And I didn’t even boo Gary Neville.
Rob Lawrence, via email
No need to abandon hope just yet if you missed out in the World Cup ticket lottery, as long as you’re rich enough or gullible enough to buy your passport to Germany online. Ian Plenderleith reports
While millions of fans have faced disappointment in their applications to FIFA for World Cup tickets, there are some organisations that seem to be swimming in excess. If you’ve money to light cigars with, you might just make it to Germany after all.