David Beckham is out of the World Cup after tearing his left Archilles tendon in AC Milan’s match against Chievo at the weekend.
The injury happened without any contact from another player, Beckham was seen limping off the field to get treatment. What a devastating blow for him as was his last chance to play in a World Cup. England’s manager Fabio Capello has phoned him to offer his support.
Milan’s coach said after the game that everyone felt terrible about Becks’ injury.
Lionel Messi - striker for Barcelona and Argentina - was yesterday named as the world’s top football player of the year by FIFA.
He takes the crown from Real Madrid’s Cristiano Ronaldo. Barcelona have won 6 trophies including the Champions League title and the Club World Cup trophy last week. Messi was of course instrumental to their successes. His goal against Manchester United in last season’s final was his ninth of the 2009 Champions League campaign and he was the competition’s top scorer.
He also scored Barcelona’s winning second goal in the Club World Cup final.
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David Beckham, ex football captain for England and midfielder for LA Galaxy, is passionately championing England’s campaign to host the 2018 World Cup, making good use of his celebrity status to boost the campaign which has encountered a few struggles recently.
He is in SA for the World Cup draw which takes place at 5pm in Cape Town today. He told reporters he is confident that England could stage a highly successful World Cup. England are the favourites to host the tournament in 2018, though a few divisions internally had marred their good work, Beckham is insisting they are back on track after a positive meeting with Warner on Wednesday. He acknowledged there is still a lot of hard work to be done saying, “Nothing in life is easy, you have to work for special things to be given to you.”
He added that the UK already has enough stadia and the right infrastructure to host the event and the country also has residents of many different nations living there already, and therefore many fans from numerous national teams. He said that England has one of the biggest league teams in the world, with the Premier League having a massive global following.
FIFA will decide on the 2018 hosts next year. England faces competition from Australia, Indonesia, Japan and Russia as well as from joint bids from Belgium and the Netherlands and Spain and Portugal.
The Australian Football Hall of Fame was established in 1996 to mark the centenary of the VFL/AFL. 136 names were introduced, including 100 players, 10 coaches, 10 umpires, 10 admins and six media reps.
The status of ‘Legend’ was given to 12 members of the Hall of Fame in 1996:
Ron Barassi; a former Australian rules football player and coach, his name is intrinsically linked with AFL, and he was the first player to make ‘Legend’ status. He started out playing for Melbourne from 1953 – 1964, then Carlton from 65-67. He then coached at Carlton, North Melbourne, Melbourne and finally Sydney. He has become a celebrity figure within the sport due to his experience, knowledge and passion for the game. Barassi now occupies himself with a wide variety of business, media and personal interests.
Haydn Bunton Senior; regarded by some historians and long-term observers of Australian rules as its greatest-ever player. During his first season he won a Brownlow, and is the only player to have received 3 Brownlows and 3 Sandovers. He was at the height of his career during the 30’s and 40’s and was considered by fans of the sport as a player of integrity, who did not get involved in unduly rough play. He was somewhat of a media personality of his time, with his own radio show on 3DB, plus he was a columnist for a Melbourne newspaper when he was at Fitzroy. He went on to host radio programs in Perth and Adelaide.
Roy Cazaly; was a player who was famous for his high marks and ruck work, He was of shorter stature than most players at 5’ 11’’ but was able to take incredible marks which was what inspired his teammate at South Melbourne, Fred “Skeeter” Fleiter, to shout “Up there, Cazaly”. This phrase went on to become synonymous with Australian Rules football. He could also kick a football over 65 metres. He made his debut playing for the VFL at St Kilda in 1911.He went on to play for South Melbourne, then was coach there followed by coaching at Hawthorn from 1942-43.
John Coleman; played for Essendon from 1949-54, then was coach there between 1961 - 1967. He ranks in the top 6 greatest Australian footballers of all time. He was known for his incredible ability as a high-leaping forward, he clocked up the second highest goal average in the history of VFL/AFL football - over 98 matches a total of 537 career goals: one time he managed to kick 14 goals in one match, 13 goals twice, 12 goals once, 11 goals twice, 10 goals six times, 9 goals 3 times, and 8 goals five times.
Jack Dyer; was a tremendous character who was an outstanding player and coach of Richmond Football Club in the VFL between 1931 and 1952. He went on to a career in broadcasting which spanned more than 40 years, and was well known for his comical slip-ups on air, affectionately known as ‘Dyerisms’. He is regarded as the greatest player of his day, using his aptitude on the field and a bullish approach to winning the ball, he let no man stand in his way.
Graham ‘Polly’ Farmer; a player and coach, he joined the East Perth Football Club as a ruckman in 1953. He won a number of awards there and helped his team win the premierships 3 times. He went on to play in the VFL league in 1962 for the Geelong Football Club, playing 101 games and was captain of the team for 3 seasons. He went on to become captain & coach of the West Perth Football Club in 1968, then coached Geelong, East Perth and Western Australia’s first state of origin team. The Graham Farmer Freeway in his hometown of Perth is named in his honour. The nickname ‘Polly’ came about when he was 6 years old, when he apparently chattered like a parrot.
Leigh Matthews; played for Hawthorn in the VFL Victorian Football League from 1969 to 1985, coached Collingwood from 1986-1995, and coached the Brisbane Lions from 1999 to 2008. He was voted the “Best player of the 20th century”, is on the Hawthorn and AFL Teams of the Centuries, tallied the highest number of Brownlow votes without winning a Brownlow and is one of the most successful AFL coaches of all time.
John Nicholls; played for Carlton Football Club in the 1960s and 1970s. His ability to both tap-out and handpass with either hand, made him one of the greatest ruckmen ever to play Australian football. He scored 307 goals in his career. He was a man of great physical stature on the field, with tree trunk-like legs, which gave way to the nickname “Big Nick” and so the opposition found him most intimidating. He was coach for Carlton, Glenelg and finally the Coburg Tigers in 1981.
Bob Pratt; played for South Melbourne Football Club in the VFL from 1930-1939 and again in 1946. Known as one of the best full-forwards ever to play the game with his fantastic diving and highflying marks, he topped the club’s goalkicking for the first time in 1932 with 71 goals and for the next three seasons passed 100 goals. His total of 150 goals in 1934 was a VFL/AFL record, and was only matched in 2008.
Dick Reynolds; player and coach who played for, captained and coached the Essendon Bombers in the VFL/AFL competition for almost 30 years. He played from 1933 until 1951, captain coaching the side from 1939 until 1950, and coaching after his retirement from 1951 until 1960. He was often referred to as “King Richard” by Essendon supporters, they loved him so much!
Bob Skilton; played as a rover for South Melbourne and Victoria between 1956 and 1971 and was one of just 4 players to have won the Brownlow Medal three times. He had an unusual & incredible ability to kick the ball with both feet, his left foot being the most accurate, the right giving greater distance! He went on to coach South Melbourne form 1965-66, then Melbourne from 74-77.
Ted Whitten; played an impressive 321 VFL games for Footscray between 1951 and 1970. He was an outstanding all-rounder, and could kick the ball just as well with his left foot as his right, he was one of a few football players who could play any position on the field. And so his nickname ‘Mr Football’ came about! He was a vigorous promoter of the game – especially the State of Origin competition, he was representative & captain of “The Big V” numerous times After he retired, he became chairman of selectors for the state team.
Ten members have been promoted to the status of “Legend” since 1996: Ian Stewart (1997), Gordon Coventry (1998), Peter Hudson (1999), Kevin Bartlett (2000), Barrie Robran (2001), Bill Hutchison (2003), Jock McHale (2005), Darrel Baldock (2006), Norm Smith (2007) and Alex Jesaulenko (2008).
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