European Super Football

Back in July, News Ball UK spoke with a number of people about their favourite football matches. Finals, semi-finals and last day relegation battles are all mentioned here. Click here to read the original story. Manchester United 2 - 1 Bayern Munich. 1999 Champions League final On the 26th May 1999, Manchester United won the Champions League in rather dramatic circumstances. They sealed an historic Treble. Ryan Thomas said: "It was the greatest night of my life. Nothing has ever come close." More Manchester United news and stories can be found here>>> Wigan Athletic 1 - 0 Manchester City. 2013 FA Cup Final Dave Whelan's dreams had come true. Wigan Athletic have won the FA Cup. Marcus Thompson, a Wigan fan and occasional contributor, told this blog: "You grew up as a Wigan fan not expecting to ever do or win anything. Getting to the Premier League in 2005 was great but this was another level entirely." Oldham Athletic 4 - 3 Southampton. Oldham stay in th

Let's look at some of the best matches and moments of 2021. England v Italy - Euro 2020 final It was so close to coming home. England had a superb tournament but came unstuck in a penalty shootout in the final. The gradual return of crowds throughout the competition meant a special atmosphere.  Italy's triumph was perhaps unexpected despite their wonderful run of form throughout recent history, Southgate and England went one better than their semi-final spot in the 2018 World Cup. Can they finally win their first trophy since 1966 in Qatar 2022? Another notable mention from the tournament was France 3-3 Switzerland. The 2018 World Cup winners were knocked out after an enthralling match. Chelsea v Manchester City - Champions League final Another all English final. Manchester City were desperate to win their first Champions League title but it never really happened for them on the night. Back in May, Greater Manchester took a detailed look at some of the best reaction from th

 Stoke City 0 - 1 Brighton & Hove Albion Brighton's hopes of securing a first major trophy remain alive as Evan Ferguson's fifth goal of the season proved enough to secure a place in the next round of the FA Cup.  Evan's fifth goal of the season, put on a plate by Kaoru! 🍽️⚽️ @BrightonTools 📺 pic.twitter.com/Pbg6v8U7ld — Brighton & Hove Albion (@OfficialBHAFC) March 1, 2023 Ferguson's effort saw off a battling Stoke outfit. The home side came closest to equalising when on-loan Manchester United defender Axel Tuanzebe sent a far-post header across goal and only narrowly wide. Roberto de Zerbi's men failed to reach the heights that allowed them to beat Liverpool in the previous round. However, Brighton skipper Lewis Dunk turned in another impressive defensive display on his 400th appearance for the club. The away side always had a measure of control against their Championship opponents. Is history about to be made? This will only be Brighton's thir

Edward Paul Sheringham, known by most as Teddy Sheringham, is another football icon.  He played mostly as a second striker in a long and eventful professional career. Early career He began his career at Millwall, where he scored 111 goals between 1983 and 1991. The forward is the club's second all-time leading scorer. He eventually left to join First Division Nottingham Forest. A year later, Sheringham scored Forest's first-ever Premiership goal. Move to Tottenham  Not long after that goal for Forest, he was signed by Tottenham Hotspur.  Sheringham had a great start to his career at the club by being the Premiership's top goalscorer in its inaugural season, scoring 22 goals. His strike partners at White Hart Lane included Gordon Durie, Ronny Rosenthal, Jürgen Klinsmann and finally Chris Armstrong.  In 1993–94, he was the Spurs top scorer with 14 Premiership goals but only played in just 19 games due to injury. In that campaign, they finished 15th.  The following sea

It's time to have a look at another football icon.  This is a slightly altered version of an article first published here on Greater Manchester Football. (Gullit played for Sampdoria between 1993 and 1995) Ruud Gullit is a Dutch legend who played professionally in the 1980s and 1990s. Early career In 1978, Gullit signed professionally for HFC Haarlem. He made 91 league appearances for Haarlem and scored 32 goals. He made his debut for the club at just 16 years old, becoming at the time the youngest player in the history of the Eredivisie. In his first season at the club, they finished bottom of the Eredivisie, but bounced back the following season winning the Eerste Divisie. Gullit was named as the best player in the Eerste Divisie that season. Click here to read about more football icons In the 1981–82 season, Gullit was in fine form as Haarlem finished fourth and qualified for Europe for the only time in their history.  First two transfers The young Gullit was considered as a

Eintracht Frankfurt 1 - 1 Rangers (Eintracht Frankfurt win 5-4 on penalties) Rangers suffered a penalty shootout defeat in their fifth European final as Eintracht Frankfurt triumphed. Rafael Borre put home the decisive spot-kick after Aaron Ramsey was denied just moments earlier in front of the Rangers fans at the Ramon Sanchez Pizjuan Stadium. Those same people had been euphoric when last season's Scottish champions took the lead through Joe Aribo's ice-cool second-half finish in Seville However, Borre then created some incredible scenes in a jam-packed Eintracht end 12 minutes later as he steered in a soft equaliser to send this energy-sapping contest all the way. Immediate reaction The Rangers players crumpled to their feet as the 11th-placed side in the Bundesliga prevailed in the shootout, executing five composed penalties to claim their second European trophy and a place in next season's Champions League group stages. With the Scottish Cup final in just three days

 It's time for another season review. This time, we're going down to the South Coast. The 23/24 campaign was Bournemouth's seventh season in the top flight and their second since their most recent promotion.  They finished 12th in the Premier League, performing arguably above expectations. The club reached the fifth round of the FA Cup and the fourth round of the  Star player of the campaign Dominic Solanke impressed everyone. He scored 21 goals in all competitions with rumours now starting that some of the Premier League's biggest clubs are interested in signing him.  A closer look at their match reports and stories from the season. In September, they drew 0-0 against Chelsea. Despite conceding a lot of chances, Bournemouth defended well and displayed the tenacity that would serve them well throughout the season. In November, Solanke scored twice against Newcastle United to give his side a deserved win. You can watch the highlights of this match in the video below.

 It's time to explore another football icon. This time, it will be our first female player with Alex Scott. Alexandra Scott MBE is an English sports presenter, pundit, and former professional footballer. Known mainly as 'Alex Scott', she mostly played as a right-back for Arsenal. Scott made 140 appearances for the England national team and represented Great Britain at the 2012 Summer Olympics. More Women's Football news can be found here Becoming an Arsenal legend At club level, Scott has had three separate spells with Arsenal, punctuated with a season at Birmingham City in 2004–05 and three years in the American Women's Professional Soccer with Boston Breakers.  Scott was a key figure in Arsenal's historic "Quadruple" season in which they won every trophy they were involved in. In fact, they are the only team in the history of English football, across the men's and women's game, to win four major competitions in the same season. This list

 Kilmarnock 1 - 4 Celtic Celtic are now only seven points away from retaining the Scottish Premiership after a ruthless first-half performance saw them easily win against Kilmarnock. The away raced into a stunning four-goal lead inside 27 minutes against hapless the hapless home side. Some calamitous defending compounded the home side's woe, gifting the league leaders an excess of chances, which were gobbled up by Kyogo Furuhashi, Daizen Maeda and Matt O'Riley during a rampant first period. Fraser Murray's back pass was pounced on by Kyogo to open the scoring. Maeda troubled the visitors' advantage with a well-timed header five minutes later. With Kilmarnock in disarray, the killer blow was dealt when O'Riley profited from Joe Wright's mistake, tucking a neat strike inside the post, before being found by a pinpoint Greg Taylor pass and rifling into the far corner. Kyogo also missed a great chance to add to his mounting goal tally when hitting the post from t

 It's time to explore the life of another football icon. This time it's Paolo Cesare Maldini Paolo Maldini is an Italian former professional footballer who played primarily as a left-back and centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time.  As the Milan and Italy captain for many years, he was nicknamed "Il Capitano" ("The Captain"). Maldini held the record for most appearances in Serie A, with 647, until 2020, when he was overtaken by Gianluigi Buffon. He is currently serving as technical director for Milan, as well as being co-owner of USL Championship club Miami FC. A true one-club man... Maldini spent all 25 seasons of his playing career in the Serie A with Milan, before retiring at the age of 41 in 2009. He won 26 trophies with Milan: the European Cup/UEFA Champions League five times, seven Serie A titles, one Coppa Italia, five Supercoppa Italiana titles, five European/UEFA Super Cu

The shortlist for Ballon d'Or 2022  has been announced, and there have been some interesting developments. Let's take a look at some of the talking points. No Messi and Neymar! Lionel Messi and Neymar have not been included on the 30-man shortlist for the 2022 Ballon d'Or. The Argentina international has won the most Ballons d'Or in history with seven, but he did not make the list despite scoring 11 goals in 34 matches for Paris Saint-Germain last season. His team-mate Neymar is also not on the list. He played just 28 times for PSG last season in an injury-hit campaign. Kylian Mbappe does make the list. Recognition for the Lionesses  England's Euro 2022 success has been recognised. Millie Bright, Beth Mead and Lucy Bronze have been nominated for the women's Ballon d'Or, awarded to the best female footballer of 2022. Women's Euro 2022: England win after dramatic final (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) Who could win it? Real Madrid's Karim Benzema,

Ahead of Euro 2024, we will start looking back at some iconic moments from previous competitions.  First up is a recap of the final of the last tournament.  You can watch the highlights of the match in the video below. What were your memories of that memorable night?  HIGHLIGHTS | More penalty pain for England as Italy win Euro 2020 (youtube.com) England's hopes of ending a 55-year wait for a major trophy were crushed heartbreakingly as they lost 3-2 on penalties to Italy in the final of Euro 2020 at Wembley.  On a night of incredible tension played in a feverish atmosphere, England looked on course for their most joyous day since the 1966 World Cup final when Luke Shaw gave them the dream start after only two minutes. Italy eventually edged their way back into the game and were level in the 67th minute when Leonardo Bonucci pounced after England goalkeeper Jordan Pickford turned Marco Verratti's header onto the post. More news from across Italy England look ahead to Euro

 It's time to explore another football icon. This time it's Denis Law Denis Law had a fantastic career and many older fans of Manchester United still refer to him as The King of the Stretford End. Early Life of Denis Law He grew up in an Aberdeen Council Flat and was the youngest of six siblings. His dad George Law was a fisherman, and this fact would later feature in a chant created by Manchester United fans.  He supported Aberdeen and watched them on the terraces when he had the money to do so. He got his first pair of football boots as a teenager after receiving them as a present. The obsession with football led to Law turning down a place at the local grammar school as their sport of choice was Rugby.   The start of a glorious football career After being scouted by Huddersfield Town, he was eventually signed by the Yorkshire side in April 1955. Not long after, he had an operation to remove his quint. This greatly improved his self-confidence. Following Huddersfield’s r

West Ham United held Manchester City to a 0-0 draw in normal time before winning 5-3 on penalties to book a quarter-final spot in the Carabao Cup. After the match,West Ham coach Stuart Pearce singled out club captain Mark Noble. He is 34 and in his farewell season put in a tireless 90 minutes. Pearce said to the media: "He's been a wonderful captain of this club, and a great role model," said Pearce. "He inspires from within the dressing room. Credit to him, he's not had a lot of games this year but when he was asked to come in and lead the team tonight he was incredible." What are people saying about West Ham? One YouTube, one West Ham said: "The Manchester City dominance on this competition has been shattered, Congrats Hammers!" Another told us: "This is the best West Ham side in my lifetime and I'm 58. We play with a lot more composure than previous years and this team has the potential to be massive. I am so happy!" Even this Ch

Manchester United 4 - 1 Chelsea Manchester United confirmed their place in the top four of the Premier League after cruising past Chelsea with a 4-1 win at Old Trafford. There was a great atmosphere at Old Trafford Casemiro gave his side the perfect start with a towering header from a Christian Eriksen set-piece after just six minutes, and while the visitors provided a threat in the first half, particularly as the break drew closer. United scored a second goal at a crucial time as Anthony Martial doubled the Red Devils lead deep into stoppage time. Erik ten Hag’s side came out strongly again after the interval, dominating the play but for David De Gea being called into a couple of saves. The Theatre of Dreams turned jubilant as their side steamed ahead with two more goals later in the half. More Premier League news:  Premier League news (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) Bruno Fernandes was brought down by Wesley Fofana in the box, and the Portuguese converted the resulting penalty.

 Fiorentina 1 - 2 West Ham It has been 43 long years since West Ham United last lifted major silverware. That wait has now come to the most sensational of endings. Every single final has its hero. After Saïd Benrahma’s penalty on 62 minutes had been cancelled out by Giacomo Bonaventura’s well-taken finish just five minutes later. It would be Jarrod Bowen who would write his name into Hammers history forever. Bowen made no mistake when it mattered most, latching onto Paquetá's clever pass through the ACF Fiorentina defence and smartly scoring. The manner of victory was rather sweet for West Ham and all their fans. The celebrations of the Premier League team were something to behold. Click here for more West Ham news and stories. The victory ends a wait of more than forty years for major silverware. It also means they have won a European trophy for the second time in their history following the club's UEFA Cup Winners' Cup triumph in 1965. The victory also guarantees the

 Middlesborough 0 - 1 Aston Villa Aston Villa secured their first FA Cup victory since 2016, as Matty Cash delivered a late winning goal against Middlesbrough.  Highlights below from  The Emirates FA Cup - YouTube   The Championship club Boro was on the verge of forcing a replay when Cash's shot from outside the box took an unexpected deflection, ultimately beating goalkeeper Tom Glover. The Australian keeper had earlier displayed an impressive performance at the lively Riverside Stadium, frustrating the Premier League visitors with saves against young Colombia forward Jhon Duran (twice) and captain John McGinn. Villa' s frustration grew as Ezri Konsa's header hit the post before Poland full-back Cash scored his fourth goal of the season in three different competitions. Magic of the FA Cup: 2023/2024 (eurosuperfootball.blogspot.com) More Aston Villa news and stories This victory marked a significant milestone for Villa, a seven-time FA Cup-winning team that had not tas

 England 2 - 1 Germany (After Extra Time) This was the day when football came home. Let's look back at a dramatic day in London. Match report England created history by winning their first major women's tournament in a dramatic Euro 2022 final against old rivals and eight-time champions Germany at Wembley. Substitute Chloe Kelly got what proved to be the winner after she poked home a loose ball from a corner to send the record crowd of 87,192 wild with ten minutes of extra time remaining. There was a short wait before a VAR check confirmed the goal. She then off her shirt and waved it around her head while being lifted by her teammates in a moment of pure elation. Sarina Wiegman's side showed they were equal to anything a physical German team threw at them. Earlier on the day, Toone had come off the bench to score the opener in normal time before Germany's Lina Magull set up a nervous ending when she equalised. There were scenes of jubilation in the stands. There wa

United are expected to make many personnel changes this summer. The manager won't be one of them.   Manchester United have activated a one-year extension in Erik ten Hag's contract, ensuring he remains with the club until 2026. The Dutch manager's original contract, signed upon his appointment in 2022, was set to expire in 2025. Since joining from Ajax, Ten Hag has secured two trophies in his two years at Old Trafford. In Ten Hag's first season at the club, United finished third in the Premier League and ended a six-year trophy drought by defeating Newcastle in the Carabao Cup final. However, his second season was more challenging, with United finishing eighth in the Premier League and exiting the Champions League at the group stage. A crucial 2-1 victory over Manchester City in the FA Cup final in May was key to Ten Hag retaining his position. Following Sir Jim Ratcliffe's investment last December, the club, led by the co-owner, conducted a review of the season