A World Cup miscellany compiled by Mary Hannigan
Facsimile: Man United make like club on hard times
WESLEY SNEIJDER’S World Cup form has, inevitably, made him the subject of many a transfer rumour, the latest linking him with Manchester United.
Leaked on to the internet yesterday was a fax sent by United chief executive David Gill to Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti:
“Further to our discussions today . . . we formally make the following offer in respect of Wesley Sneijder: 14 sacks of coal, 87 Eccles cakes, 14,876 Manchester United executive seats and one John O’Shea.
“We trust that you will find this offer representative of value in today’s market conditions.”
D’you know, considering United’s financial plight, you couldn’t rule out the possibility of this fax being authentic.
Funny game: 11 years is a long time in football
BACK IN 1999 Pablo Counago made a name for himself when he was top scorer at the World Youth Cup in Nigeria, scoring twice in the final against Japan to help Spain win the title. He came third, behind Mali's Seydou Keita (now at Barcelona) and Nigeria's Pius Ikedia (without a club after being released by a Dutch second division side), in the Golden Ball ratings, the award for the tournament's top player.
Among his team-mates in Nigeria were Xavi and Iker Casillas.
That pair, presumably, spent Tuesday focusing their thoughts on the World Cup semi-final to come. At the same time Counago was coming on as a second-half substitute for Ipswich away to Newmarket Town in a pre-season friendly watched by a crowd of 1,000.
Counago, now 30, scored a hat-trick in 10 minutes, but whether that feat will be quite enough to persuade Roy Keane to take him off the transfer list, well, we'll see.
Whatever happens, Counago would be forgiven for having a few "what might have been" thoughts.
Dutch take: The future is orange
THOSE OF you who haven't missed a game from the start might be offended by the headline in Dutch evening newspaper NRC Handelsblad: "Finally, icons for our couch potato generation!"
That, of course, was a tribute to the Boys in Orange after they saw off Uruguay in the semi-finals. "FINAL! Orange Smells World Gold" as De Telegraaf put it, complete with a lion showing off its teeth.
AD's front page was, quite literally, a sea of orange, while Trouw opted for a photo of a celebrating Bert van Marwijk and Arjen Robben under the headline "Oranje through to dream final".
Naturally enough, there was a more sombre mood in the Uruguayan press, El Pais saluting a team that "went down fighting", but declaring the "Sky blue odyssey" to be over. El Espectador described Uruguay as "Champions of Courage", while Observa reported the emergence of several Facebook campaigns to persuade Oscar Tabarez to stay on as coach.
Back in Germany, Bild was congratulating the Dutch, modestly announcing: "We'll see you on Sunday!"
