Soccer Miscellany

As reported over at the brilliant World Cup Blog, some overzealous . . . eh, World Cup fans (okay, okay, some complete idiots) want to host their own sporting competition. Sort of. Just remember to eradicate from your mind any semblance of the beautiful game and replace good sportsmanship and the ball with plenty of lager, knives, swords, molotov cocktails (hopefully, since fire is always fun to play with, especially when drunk), and nunchucks (again, lots of fun to play with when blotto). You can read more about the hooligan shenanigans here.

Ludovic Giuly, the "magic imp" striker/midfielder who helped FC Barcelona triumph over AC Milan in the semi-finals of the Champions Cup, is also quite agile with the telephone. It seems that the diminutive gossip frequently talks with Arsenal striker and all-around cool dude Thierry Henry (who will be leading the Gunners against Barcelona in the Champions League finals on May 17th), and Giuly confirms that Henry may in fact leave Arsenal at the end of the season and join the Catalans (don't bet on it). Rumors have been circulating for months about Henry's possible move away from Highbury, but I'm not holding my breath. And anyway, if it is true, keep it on the down-low, Monsieur Imp. You can read more about Giuly's big mouth here.

Also in Barca news, it seems that the Dutch midfielder Mark van Bommel will be staying with the club after all. Good move, I think. Go here to read more.

Along with the tide of humanity that will be deluging the Fatherland with green during the World Cup, a lot of that money will inevitably be used for other leisure activities other than footie--namely prostitution. A 24hr helpline has been set up for women forced into the profession--mostly from Eastern European countries--and you can read a little more about it here.

And last but not least, Sunderland AFC was trounced yet again today--this time by Arsenal. Yet despite the nightmare year the Black Cats have had, the team can still boast of its loyal supporters. Steve Cram, from the Guardian, comments here about the club's possible future and the Mackems' undying devotion to their ailing team.