Good
It was good for David Beckham as he played his 100th game for England in the 0-1 defeat against France. Congratulations to another David, Northern Ireland’s David Healy after being presented with a trophy by UEFA president Michel Platini for scoring a record 13 goals in Northern Ireland’s Euro 2008 qualification campaign.
It was also good for Arsenal, Arsenal ladies team that is, as they close in on another Premier League title, maybe their male equivalents could learn something! Top teams in European leagues also did well as Lyon, Bayern Munich and Manchester United all stretch their leads at the top in their respective leagues while Barcelona and Roma cut Real Madrid and Inter’s lead to only four in the Spanish and Italian leagues. All to play for there!
Bad
Bad for Japan as they lose 0-1 away in Bahrain in the Asian World Cup qualifying section. Coach Okada is under pressure after a poor performance indeed. Other powerhouses in the region also suffered as Saudi Arabia were thrashed 0-3, South Korea could only manage a 0-0 draw with their northern counterparts and Iraq, the Asian champions lost again and still have no points.
Bad for Arsenals, the Argentinian side Arsenal continued their poor form in the Copa Libertadores with yet another 6 goal thrashing, this time away in Ecuador, while their Premier League counterparts stretched their winless streak to 5 matches after the defeat against Chelsea. Long may it continue!!
Ugly
The outburst over Javier Mascherano’s sending off against Manchester United was almost as bad as the fact that the Argentinian refused to leave the field after his second yellow card. More fan violence in Spain as Sevilla fans are caught on video badly beating up Atletico Madrid fans though not as ugly as the killing of two coaches from the Turkish third division side Bafraspor.