Spitting image
Francesco Totti has everything a footballer could possibly want: heaps of talent, model looks to help him find suitable company for all those down hours a professional footballer has to fill and even an Italian birth certificate that ensures he plays for a perennial contender. But it seems this is not enough as Totti reaches new heights of petulance with each passing year. This week’s display saw him commit the ugliest foul of the Championship thus far and it earned the Italian poster boy a yellow card. But that is not all as television cameras also captured Totti spitting at Christian Poulsen, the Danish midfield player. In the end it was the saliva and not the foul that landed Totti in his current predicament: a three-match ban for gross unsporting conduct.
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Tough questions
As ever a production the size of Euro 2004 throws up more questions than answers though admittedly in time a lot of these are answered. Some, however, remain an enigma to all but a select band of insiders sworn to secrecy. “Could the laminated passes issued by way of accreditation to the managers be any bigger? What effect on play is the new ball having? Why does it appear to be held together with gaffer tape? And has Sir Bobby Charlton ever actually tried to buy a cupcake with a credit card?” asks Giles Smith in The Times today.
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Healthy mix
If you are wondering about your office’s productivity today after around about 4.55pm, then fear not: there is conclusive proof that business and sport can mix. While Sven might have struggled to deliver a victory for England over France, Times Online was at least doing its bit. At the weekend, in an annual English Media v French Media rugby match, Hamish White, a member of Times Online’s commercial sales team, managed to run in the deciding try three minutes from the end of a thrilling (it says here) 17-15 victory. Apparently, the entente was tres cordiale that evening.
- Steven Downes, Times Online Business Editor
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Bargain hunting
For most spectators Euro 2004 is a showcase of top European footballers competing for one of the sport’s biggest prizes - second only to the World Cup. And while most will be watching the Francesco Tottis and Wayne Rooneys attempt to lead their teams to European glory, others will be more attracted to the lesser lights with a view to spotting some very cheap talent. There are few more practiced at this than Harry Redknapp, the Portsmouth manager, whose (admittedly large) squad of second raters managed to stave off relegation last season.For Redknapp, forget England v France and bring on Latvia v the Czech Republic. “Latvia did well against the Czech Republic and I’m sure some of their players would be available if the price was right,” writes Rednapp in The Times today with a view to adding to his varied squad ahead of next season.
Click here read Harry Redkapp’s column in full