Spain beat France 2-0!!! What a great victory, and a great performance! Spain played really well, and were in control the whole of the game. I was not nervous at all after the first 5 minutes, Spain had complete control of the game from start to finish.

David Villa scored the first goal, in 20 minutes, a beautiful pass from Iniesta which was meant for Silva but went through to Villa, who had the composure to score. Spain added a 2nd with Sergio Ramos, a great passing move, it always looked like it was going to end up as a goal and would of been a disgrace if it hadnt.

The 2nd half seen some changes throughout the game, Jesus Navas came on…He should be renamed rocket, as he was sooo quick! If Spain need to attack in the future they should play with him and David Silva, i think that would scare teams to death!

France hit the post, but that was about as close as they came, they were 2nd rate but Spain still played well.

I am happy with the game, we beat a good team comfortably, and started without a few players who may start at the world cup.

Team

Casillas
Sergio Ramos
Puyol
Pique
Arbeloa
Sergio Busquets
Xabi Alonso
Cesc
David Silva
Iniesta
David Villa
–Subs used–
Guiza
Torres
Xavi
Senna
Albiol
Jesus Navas

From my guess in the earlier post, i got 7/11 correct! not bad

Tonight Spain take on France in the Stade De France, a MASSIVE game! I hate it when Spain play France, too many bad memories….Euro 2000 the Raúl penalty miss and 2006 the game where we had no defence and lost 3-1.

But since then we are a new Spain, and have beat France the last time we played in a friendly, and have beaten good teams in big competitions (Euro 2008).

I cant wait to see it! That is IF i can…It is supposed to be on TVEi, but there record for showing games isnt the best. Other channels it is on is Sport Italia (Italy) and TF1 (France).

Spain will be wearing their new away top (blue) i wrote about yesterday; Or so i hear.

The Spain Squad:

Goalkeepers: Iker Casillas (Real Madrid), Pepe Reina (Liverpool), Diego Lopez (Villarreal).

Defenders: Sergio Ramos (Real Madrid), Alvaro Arbeloa (Real Madrid), Joan Capdevila (Villarreal), Carlos Marchena (Valencia), Raul Albiol (Real Madrid), Gerard Pique (Barcelona), Carles Puyol (Barcelona).

Midfielders: Xabi Alonso (Real Madrid), Sergio Busquets (Barcelona), Cesc Fabregas (Arsenal), Andres Iniesta (Barcelona), Xavi (Barcelona), Marcos Senna (Villarreal), Jesus Navas (Sevilla), Juan Mata (Valencia), David Silva (Valencia).

Forwards: Fernando Torres (Liverpool), Daniel Guiza (Fenerbahce), Alvaro Negredo (Sevilla), David Villa (Valencia).

It would be good to see Jesus Nevas get some time, he only has 2 caps; Looking at that squad and knowing some other players, Spain has a very bright future ahead, sooo much better than England!

My starting 11 from that squad:

Casillas
Sergio Ramos
Puyol
Pique
Capdevila
Senna
Iniesta
Xavi
David Silva
Torres
Villa

What do you think of the game tonight? What is your starting 11?

The new Spain away shirt has been unvailed! It is navy blue, no real shock there, they are always navy or white. Looks really nice, similar to the 3rd top they had a few years back which i have. A nice simple smart shirt. It is a climacool version, i am not sure (yet) if they are doing a techfit version.

You dont need to ask if i will get it, because i will

Here is David Villa wearing it.

Spain play against France tomorrow night. Vamos España!!!

What do you think of the qualifying draw for Euro 2012? It was made today, and has thrown up some tough groups. Group A looks quite tricky, i would not fancy playing away in Azerbaijan or Kazakhstan, or Turkey for that matter, not easy places to go to.

The Spain group is not that easy but it could have been worse, and they should qualify. The England group looks very tough, they got the best of the lowest seeded teams, Montenegro, and a derby with Wales will add more pressure.

Top teams from each group go through, with the best second placed team. The remaining 2nd placed teams go into a playoff.

Lets pray he doesnt make a huge mistake! But Vicente Del Bosque, has signed a extension on his Spain contract which now runs until the end of 2012 (i.e. after euro 2012).

He does have an impressive record so far, 22 games, 21 wins. The loss came to USA in the Confederations Cup in summer 2009.

The thing i am slightly worried about is Spain havent really been tested since Euro 2008 where we won In the Confederations Cup we started great then each game we got worse. He needs to keep Spain consistant, and most of all keep the key players fit.

Another (expected) defeat for Newcastle, 3-0 away to Liverpool, and relegation is now our destiny. There is very little hope for Newcastle United, its far too little, far too late. Even with a home win against the ‘Boro will leave us with work to do….And this is a team that hasnt recorded a win since….Actually i cant remember! We cant score goals, we cant pass, and we certainly cannot defend.

Some people are STILL in denial that Newcastle can and will survive…I cant believe it. I lost the hope after the last defeat against Tottenham; Looks like we’ll have to wait until the big ‘R’ is next to our name before people will believe it, and some probably still wont.

Joey Barton got himself sent off today for violent conduct meaning a 3 match ban. This means he’s played the last game of the season, and maybe his Newcastle career.

The whole team, i mean squad is a joke. We have a strikeforce who dont strike! A Midfield who cannot see or put a pass together, and a defence who dont know how to defend and look comical at best. The defence has always been a joke. Watching them making mistake after mistake is like watching them compete for worst defender of the year award. No real forwards who are fit….All are so unfit its ridiculous! Martins seems like he can barely manage a full game at times, and the rest are always injured. So Andy Carroll has come into the frame, but he is far too inexperienced and is not premiership quality, but having said that, the rest of the team arent either.

Players coming and going

Newcastle have sold Given, Milner and N’Zogbia, and who have we got in?
Coloccini – Terrible! Its like bramble with long hair.
Gutierrez/Guthrie – started off not bad, but been injured and/or played really poor
Xisco – Not him that sings the thong song, but hes probably started more games than our Xisco – Waste of 10M give or take.
Lovenkrands/Taylor/Nolan – Not great players. Not whats going to get us out of the relegation zone. They are simply not good enough.

Its comes to something when N’Zogbia want to leave to go to a better club to further his career and he goes to Wigan. As a Newcastle fan that is an unbelievable thing to hear, but the league table doesnt lie. Shay Given has also gone which you cant blame him for…But dont worry we have Steve Harper who is “just as good” as Shay Given at least that used to be the noise coming out of Newcastle….Now we have seen he is clearly not as good, nowhere near.

Newcastle have been terrible for a good while…The only thing which has made us escape relegation in the past was not that we were too good, but that other teams were that bit worse. It looks like that will not be the case this time round.

Hull play Villa tomorrow, and if they can get something from the game it just adds another nail to the coffin which reads RIP NUFC.

Next game is the Boro at home…This could send us clear of Boro but we are now relying on other teams to get us out of trouble i.e. Hull or the Mackums.

No, its not an April fools, well apparently not anyway. Alan Shearer is the new manager of Newcastle United, for the time being at least.

For some reason, someone has decided that King Al is the man to lead Newcstle in their attempt to get out of the mess they find themselves in, which is a relegation fight. Whoever thought that a man with no managerial experience would be a good choice is anyones guess, but in Shearer we have someone who does love the club. He has said in the past he was not ready to manage Newcastle basically because of the situation which NUFC is in both on and off the pitch.

If he really has been appointed then it makes him the 4th person in charge this season alone, after Keegan, Hughton and Kinnear. The Sources are BBC Sport, Sky Sports News and NUFC.com

Update 1: Iain Dowie is apparently going to be Shearer’s number 2, which Shearer picked himself. If there’s one thing Iain Dowie knows its how to get relegated.

AC Milan have announced that they are “considering the bid” Manchester City have made for Kaká. The bid is supposedly in the region of £100 Million, which will see Kaká getting £500k/week in his back pocket.

Will he go? Will he have a choice is more of the question. If Milan get £100 Million they surely have to sell, he doesnt have to leave, but maybe even Milan will try to persuade him to go to City as much as City will.

Shay Given has spoken the words of all Newcastle fans. We’re shit and we know we are. Shay has finally come out and spoke through his lawyer this he is unhappy with life at the club with the on and off field fiascos, and the 5-1 home defeat at the hands of Liverpool seems like the last staw. Joe Kinnear has informed the press that the lawyer did not consult Shay about the statement and has done this off his own back.

The statement read:

“Shay is very despondent following the very poor performance of the team against Liverpool last weekend. It was the lowest point of his football career and a performance that he would not wish to be repeated.”

It went on to say:

“Having served the club loyally for over eleven years, Shay feels compelled to consider his position in the light of the interest being expressed in him by Manchester City, Arsenal and Tottenham.”

Shay Given has been one of the best and most consistant players for Newcastle in my lifetime. He would be a huge loss, and at this time is probably the only genuine world class players at the club. If he was to leave i dont think any real Newcastle fan would begrudge him going to a club with actual ambition and a good defence in front of him.

Good Luck to Shay, i hope he finds a club in the Champions League where the best players in the world belong.

Michael Owen has announced he will be going nowhere in January…Good news? Not if you want him to stay, as he hasnt agreed to sign a new contract. He has decided to wait until the end of the season to decide his future…Which means, i have 6 months to find a better team to play for, if no-one will have me, i will sign a big fat deal with the Toon.