SWEDEN lost 1-2 to SPAIN. DAVID VILLA got onto a long defensive ball to control & score his 4th of the Championship & the winner for Spain, which puts them into the Q/Finals. Spain started well with the control of the ball & the match. So much so, that in the 14th minute FERNANDO TORRES put Spain ahead from a Silva pass. From here onward Sweden was forced to attack & IBRAHIMOVIC began to get into the game. With Spanish defender Carles Puyol  injured & taken off, Ibrahimovic found new freedom to move & gave Sweden movement & pace upfront. Then in the 35th min the Inter Milan forward scored the equalizer. He was the dangerman & Spain looked rattle, but the forward was injured & didn’t come back on in the 2ºnd half & Sweden felt it & missed him dearly during the rest of the game. The 2nd half saw Spain dominate & Sweden hold back to counter-attack. Spain was being frustrated as Sweden stopped all of their attacks. Spanish coach put on Fabregas & Cazorla (off Iniesta & Xavi) to find new solutions. As the game went on & as Sweden defended valiantly, it looked like it would finish in a drawn result. Then in the 91st min a desperately cleared ball by the Spanish
defence found DAVID VILLA who grabbed it, passed the Swedish defender to score the 2nd for Spain & the winner. Amazing! Spain gets into the Q/Finals.

However, caution, lots of reflection needed by the Spanish side. We saw serious lapses, nerves, mistakes & defensive errors. These are worrying signs that need to be solved before Spain meets teams of the calibre of Holland or Portugal would will "kill them"
at the minimum mistake. Conclusion, good for Spain, the side takes another step, but caution. They need to concentrate more, remain humble & take each game as
a final, if not, its home at the Q/Finals.

FIFA WILL NOT ACT AGAINST REAL MADRID IN THE "CRISTIANO RONALDO AFFAIR"  

The World Football governing body FIFA has announced that it will not take any action against REAL MADRID after English Club MANCHESTER UNITED complained of "wrong doing" by the Spanish Club in its attempts to lure its contracted player CRISTIANO RONALDO. However, FIFA has warned Real Madrid that they will
keep an eye out & that they should stay within the limits of the accepted laws. SFS likes that, "acceptable laws". So what’s up with Ronaldo? What’s the latest? Well plenty, here is a brief summary below:

1. Local papers & English press claim the Portugues star signed a pre-contract with Real Madrid in April & that he assured that he would leave.
2. Real Madrid will offer 50M€ plus Brazilian player Robinho.
3. Real Madrid Football Director, Pedja Mijatovic is rumoured in "Marca" & Englsh press ("Daily Express") that he will travel to Manchester this week to begin negotiations with Man Utd owners Glazer. The strategy is to side step Ferguson & David Gill
4. There must be some truth to the 3rd point as Sir Alex Ferguson has threatened that he will leave Man Utd. if the Club sells Cristiano Ronaldo against his will.

Conclusion, its RUMOURED Cristiano Ronaldo has an agreement with Real Madrid, that the offer is 90M€ & that it could go beyond 100M€, plus Real Madrid player Robinho, that the salary of Ronaldo at Madrid will be 18M€/season, that Real Madrid will begin negotiations soon with Man Utd owners & that Ferguson has threatened to leave if they sell Ronaldo. Great press selling & news stuff to keep us on edge all summer, stay tuned! Is it all true?

FC BARCELONA NEWS 2008: LOOKING FOR A Nº9, CONTINUES PARTII...

As mentioned on previous occasions FC BARCELONA may have a hole upfront: their centre-forward, the traditional Number 9. It´s more than likely that their current Nº9 SAMUEL ETO´O will leave, & the forward has numerous offers ranging from
Tottenham, Manchester City, Chelsea FC, Inter & the most serious to date, AC MILAN. The Italian giant has offered, according to "Sport", a 4 year contract with 9M€/season. The only obstacle is that Barça wants 40M€ & Milan only wantes to pay 25M€
Without a true Nº9 for the new season FC BARCELONA is in the market looking at various options (eg Berbatov - Tottenham, Mario Gomez - Stuttgart), but the name of Frenchman DAVID TREZEGUET is appearing more as new coach Guardiola looks favourably at his incorporation. According to "Mundo Deportivo" a Barça representative could fly this week to Turin to advance with talks.

REAL SPORTING DE GIJON BACK IN THE SPANISH 1ST DIVISION AFTER 10 YEARS

One of Spain´s breeding grounds of Football (Quini, Abelardo, Maceda, Luis Enrique, David Villa...), the city of Gijon, has it´s team back in the Spanish 1st Division after REAL SPORTING DE GIJON defeated Eibar 2-1 in the last round of the 2^nd Division.
Fabulous joy for SFS as Sporting is it´s second team & finally sees them in "La Liga" after a 10 year absence. The goals from BILIC & LUIS MORAN secured the promotion,
for Sporting along with the other two clubs Malaga & Numancia. The city of Gijon has come to standstill as celebrations take place. Great stuff, great to have them back!

IMAGINE A TORRES - VILLA FORWARD LINE?

Imagine this duo up front at your favourite Football Club? That´s the idea of LIVERPOOL FC manager, Rafa Benitez. According to English sources "Mail on Sunday" & the "BBC Web" Benitez is attempting to persuade DAVID VILLA to consider seriously the possibility of moving over to Liverpool. With Peter Crouch likely to leave, a vacancy appears that Villa could nicely fill & join fellow Spaniards Torres, Alonso, Reina...etc. However, as wonderful as it sounds there are other clubs also
tempting the Spanish International like FC Barcelona, Real Madrid & Chelsea FC. Plus there is another obstacle, his estimated 40M€ price tag that will sort out the "men from the boys". Stay tuned!

FC BARCELONA: ZAMBROTTA TO AC MILAN

It has been talked about for months, now it´s a reality as the announcement comes officially from FC BARCELONA. Its Italian International defender ZAMBROTTA has been transferred to Italian giant AC MILAN for 9M€ , + 2M€ in form of "incentives".
Some may claim that his 2 year stay at Barça has been disappointing, that the top defender has not lived up to expectations, which is a respectable opinion that must be allowed to stand. However, it´s difficult to say this if the actual player has his family in Italy while he earns a living in Spain. Zambrotta did not fully adapt himself to
Barcelona as home-sickness & being far from the family affected his sporting equilibrium. Having said this, SFS has enjoyed his football & believes that he
served Barça well & has proven to be a top professional. With this note SFS wishes the player the best, hopes he finds his happy note & thanks him for sharing his Football skills with all the Spanish fans. He is & will always be part of FC Barcelona history & that is certainly something to proudly tell your grandchildren.

NEW CHELSEA FC COACH SCOLARI ASKS FOR ROBINHO

News from Spanish daily "AS" informs that new CHELSEA FC coach Felipe Scolari has specifically solicited the English Club the services of Brazilian International & REAL MADRID forward ROBINHO. Real Madrid has on numerous occasion announced that Robinho is not for sale & that the Club counts on the Brazilian for next season. However, according to "AS", Real Madrid directives are getting a bit tired of the continuous flirting with English Clubs by Robinho, & a possible cash inflow can certainly help ease the huge
investment for Cristiano Ronaldo if that does take place. Real Madrid will not listen to anything less than 45M€ for their young forward & if Robinho does enter in any transfer operation at all, it is more than likely to be with Manchester Utd than with Chelsea.
However, anything is possible in this crazy world of Football. Stay Tuned!

ATLETICO DE MADRID & ASSUNÇAO HAVE A DEAL?

According to "AS" the announcement cannot be made official until July 1st, but apparently OPORTO midfield star PAULO ASSUNÇAO has an agreement with ATLETICO DE MADRID for next season. Little is known of the economic conditions & the terms, but that´s not really important, what is of note is that - if the story is true -

the Spanish Club strengthens its midfield & that is always good news.

FC BARCELONA TRANSFER NEWS BRIEFS 2008

Here are some short news flashes on the transfer front with FC BARCELONA which are always of interest in the World of Football. Nothing like AC MILAN to come to your adopted city - Barcelona- & publicly announce that you’re no longer wanted. That´s what
happened yesterday when AC Milan said that they had changed their signing priority: RONALDINHO is no longer wanted, but instead the Nº1 chosen player is now SAMUEL ETO´O, even if the Italian club feels his price is too high at this moment. A real fall from grace for the Brazilian star who is seeing how his reputation is beginning to effect his future. Now the player´s only real option for next season is MANCHESTER CITY - with all due respect to this big club - not exactly the team a player of this level should end up, with 28 years of age & in his "prime". Perhaps being "cocky", an individualist, a night owl & a do it my way fella has cost Ronaldinho his career ..."Another one bites the
dust". 

See you in two weeks

Striker

RAFAEL NADAL WINS QUEENS 2008

No better way to set up for Wimbledon and your grass game than with a win over Novak Djokovic 7-6, 7-5 and lift the Queens Tennis tournament. That’s what Spaniard and World Nº2 Rafael Nadal has done winning his first green court trophy. Nadal has improved his serve greatly and managed to crack a tough nut like Djokovic. This win should boost confidence for the Spaniard in his quest to prove that his talent is equally applicable to grass and finally win this coveted Tennis prize. Good luck for Wimbeldon Rafa!

CALZAGHE HINTS AT JONES RETIREMENT BOUT

Joe Calzaghe has revealed that his autumn super-fight with American legend Roy Jones will probably be his last. Super-middleweight and light-heavyweight king Calzaghe confirmed that his last fight would be in the United States for "business reasons". The Welshman said: "What a perfect way to finish, fighting one of the greats of this generation. "I'd love my last fight to be in Cardiff but it comes down to business and what the TV companies want."

WOODS TO BIRKDALE OPEN

Tiger Woods may miss the Open Championship as he struggles to recover from knee surgery. The US Open champion Tiger made a stunning return from two months rest by winning the US Open but struggled physically. Woods, 14 time major winner, is now said to be considering his position and has not ruled out the possibility that he will not play at the Royal Birkdale on 17 July. "I pushed it pretty hard this week. We're going to re-evaluate after this event and see what happens," he said. The 32 year old had arthroscopic surgery on his left knee in April.

PICKERING TO MISS EUROPEAN CUP

Craig Pickering has been forced to pull out of the European cup because of a minor hamstring stain. For the 21 year old sprinter this is a major set back in his Olympic preparations. Pickering pulled out of the 4x100m relay in France as a precaution after an injury-disrupted season. Britain’s relay team will defend their Olympic crown in Beijing in August and the absence of Pickering could be a hard blow. Pickering will now focus on the Olympic trials on 12-13 July.

SCRUM-HALF DIES AFTER NECK INJURY

A rugby player has died after suffering a neck injury during a match played on April 20^th.

Neath player, Gareth Jones was injured during a Premier Division match with Cardiff.

The 28 year old from Pontypridd leaves a wife and two children. A club statement said

"It is with deep regret that Neath Rugby have to announce that scrum-half Gareth Jones passed away peacefully this afternoon." said a club statement issued on June 16^th. Jones had been in intensive care at the University Hospital of Wales since the incident on April 20^th.

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Despite being a Friday the 13th the day was free of dramas and everybody turned-up at La Sella on time for our usual early start. The course played long and was, bar a few rough tees, in good condition with the greens rather tricky and becoming faster as the dew dried the grass. Once the sun rose higher in the sky and it became warmer, idyllic golfing conditions emerged. Not everybody took advantage of such conditions; ‘Boom Boom’ Reynolds had a mare, especially on the first nine, with balls flying in every direction except straight down the fairway!

Notwithstanding the tough conditions there were some excellent scores. In Division 1 Billy the Gorilla Underdown (quote ‘nice to play a real man’s course’!) was the winner with 35 points closely followed by the usual suspects Bob Edwards (34) and Dave Wright (33).  Mike Ayrton had a cracker of a game and won Division 2 with an outstanding 41 points followed by Neville Allen (38) and Angela Hove (34). Alfie Fagg ran off with the cash for the only ‘2’ of the day and Frank Carroll was extremely fortunate to get Nearest the Pin.

As a result of proceedings, Mike Ayrton has been slashed three strokes to 26.6 and Neville Allen is reduced by 1.2 to 23.3. Current standings in the Player of the Year reveal Martin Gates leading with 40 points closely followed by Billy the Gorilla with 39 points. In 3rd place is Bob Edwards (30); 4th Peter Hunt (28) whilst Mike Ayrton and Clive Wright share 5th place with 26 points.

Our next meeting will be at Oliva Nova on Friday 27 June 2008 when the quarterfinal of the President’s Cup will be played. For those of us who where most unfortunate in the earlier rounds of this competition, we will be involved in a less formal competition. Please be at Oliva Nova for breakfast and check-in at 9.45 am for a first tee time of 10.32 am. Names to Martin on 966482522 if not already done so and please advise him should you require lunch after the game.