The irony surrounding the eternal logistical problems of representing Australia is not lost on new Socceroos super-sub Josh Kennedy.

Kennedy, one of two uncapped call-ups for the BandarqqWorld Cup squad, came from the depths of second-tier German football to stamp his mark on Australia’s journey to the knockout phase with a handful of striking displays upfront.

However, now he’s reached the stage of nailing down a regular international place, the inevitable club versus country conundrum is ready to rear its ugly head.

Kennedy will receive plenty of sympathy from the likes of superstars Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell, players who between them have amassed just 60 Socceroo caps in part because of the constant headache of international travel.

But resolving the discrepancy of the striker’s twin goals is really no closer despite Australia moving into the Asian confederation earlier this year.

And representing your country hardly gets any easier when you become a high profile signing for a top-flight club preparing an assault on a UEFA Cup place this season.

That’s exactly the situation Kennedy finds himself in.

Having served his apprenticeship in Germany since age 17, the long-haired hitman penned a three-year contract with ambitious Bundesliga side Nuremberg before the World Cup.

It was an offer too good to resist after patiently building a solid reputation as a goalscorer in the satta king lower leagues with Stuttgart Kickers and latterly Dynamo Dresden after fruitless spells with VfL Wolfsburg and FC Cologne in the top division.

However, now six painstaking years of steady progress have paid off, how can the amiable Kennedy reward his new employer’s faith with continuous trips down under to represent his homeland?

“It’s definitely a touchy situation,” Kennedy admitted to Soccerphile during a two-week break in Australia after the World Cup. “We’ll definitely have to weigh up what’s the best thing at club level and at the same time keeping my Australian commitments without making either side angry.

“I’ll talk to the coach (Hans Meyer) when I get back to Nuremberg and no doubt will be in contact with Australia as well. Hopefully we can balance it pretty well.

“[But] the hardest thing to do is to balance both at the same time and keep everybody happy.

“I’ve made it clear to the Football Federation that I’d love to play every game. Obviously they know I can’t, so it’s just a matter of finding that right balance.”

But what is the right balance for Kennedy, Nuremberg and Australia’s governing body of football?

At club level, his importance to Nuremberg will rocket should Slovakian striker Robert Vittek, who had a fantastic finish to the 2005-06 season, move to pastures new.

While internationally, the expected retirements of Viduka, 31 in October, and 30-year-old John Aloisi add greater pressure.

Indeed, temporary first-team coach Graham Arnold believes up to 12 players from the World Cup squad could announce their retirements and that a whole new group of players will be involved in qualifying for next year’s Asian Cup.

Kennedy clearly isn’t part of the departures and at 23 represents the immediate future of the Socceroos forward line along with A-League based strikers Archie Thompson and Alex Brosque, Motherwell’s Scott McDonald and Brett Holman who plies his trade at Dutch club Excelsior Rotterdam.

But whether he will be involved in Australia’s August 16 clash with Kuwait in Sydney remains to be seen.

The Asian Cup qualifier is scheduled on a FIFA-sanctioned matchday but also clashes with a time Europe’s top-flight clubs will be reluctant to have their stars journeying long distance.

You have to think that Melbourne’s Thompson, who travelled to Germany but played no part, and Sydney FC’s Brosque are hot favourites to lead the line in the Socceroos’ next outing, but that doesn’t put Kennedy off his long-term aim of spearheading the Aussie attack.

“That’s definitely been my goal,” Kennedy says. “It is my goal to one day have that starting position.

“But as long as Mark Viduka is there, I can definitely learn a lot of things from him, so I’m in no rush for him to stop playing international football because it makes me a better player as well.

“But hopefully in the future I’ll be ready to take over that role.”

One man and his log Pkv PokerHannover

Off to see Mexico again. This time meeting my friend Manuel would be no problem. Or so I thought. Boarded the train at Berlin, checked the train number, the TV monitor onboard and the on train leaflet that shows the stops and all the connections. Heard different announcements on the train reeling off what I thought were the connections from the forthcoming stations throughout the journey.

All of a sudden we stopped at a station that wasn’t on the schedule! We were at Wolfsburg, and we were meant to be slightly further north at Braunschweig. I quickly found a map and realised that the connections I needed to make were in jeopardy. Indiansatta I approached a conductor about my predicament, he was sympathetic at first, but when I told him where I wanted to go he offered a simple shrug of the shoulders. Decided I would get off at the next station and work things out from there. Arriving at what to me was the middle of Pkv Pokernowhere, it seemed like a ghost station, and that the conductor had been right. The train I had just departed showed as running 30 minutes late, but after a frantic few minutes working out exactly where I was and finding a train timetable, all was well, I would arrive a mere four minutes later.

Once again there were thousands of Mexicans all over the city and as before a large number did not have tickets. News had now got out about the number of Mexicans and the chance to make some money. The going rate 30 minutes before kick off – €800!

Saturday 17th June Elze. Mannheim. Frankfurt. Kaiserslautern. Mannheim

This World Cup has seen a number of entrepreneurs join in the proceedings. The usual people offering bed and breakfast have been seen at the train stations, and around the stadium, locals are selling cold drinks. Added to this FIFA have now joined in, offering resale tickets at 15% above their face value and offering to change the name on tickets for €10.

In the Stadium Ticketing Centres, there has been a constant stream of people paying to have their name put on the ticket in order that they can enter the stadium. I felt like joining in the spirit of making money by charging them €5 to tell them not to bother.

However today, in Frankfurt a friend had his ID checked and of course it did not match the name on his ticket. They explained that he had to have the name changed on the ticket and he was forced to go through this administrative process. They did not charge him for this! I wondered what they would do if he already had the maximum number of tickets (seven) allocated in his name.

Later that evening, as I approached the stadium at Kaiserslautern an announcement was made stating that everyone should have their tickets and I.D. ready for presentation at the turnstile. If they did enforce this regulation, Indiansatta this would make the sale of different Football Associations’ tickets even more attractive to touts and buyers, a worrying thought as already large numbers find there way on to the black market. I had bought my ticket that evening from an American so I just had to be observant and avoid any turnstiles where they appeared to be checking I.D. No checks were carried out as I entered the stadium.

Despite having to put up with being surrounded by Americans, I enjoyed the game. Of course the comments made around me did put me off. For one of the sendings off I heard that the player “put his spikes up, and deserved to go”. And then talking to an American about Kasey Keller’s goal kicks which were going to his opposite number, I suggested that he would be better trying to put the ball out for a throw in. “Wow, can he do that, is that allowed, putting the ball out of play deliberately?” was the response I got. How long have they been playing football!

In-demand Kennedy ready for BandarqqSocceroos starting berth

The irony surrounding the eternal logistical problems of representing Australia is not lost on new Socceroos super-sub Josh Kennedy.Indian Matka

Kennedy, one of two uncapped call-ups for the BandarqqWorld Cup squad, came from the depths of second-tier German football to stamp his mark on Australia’s journey to the knockout phase with a handful of striking displays upfront.

However, now he’s reached the stage of nailing down a regular international place, the inevitable club versus country conundrum is ready to rear its ugly head.

Kennedy will receive plenty of sympathy from the likes of superstars Mark Viduka and Harry Kewell, players who between them have amassed just 60 Socceroo caps in part because of the constant headache of international travel.

But resolving the discrepancy of the striker’s twin goals is really no closer despite Australia moving into the Asian confederation earlier this year.

And representing your country hardly gets any easier when you become a high profile signing for a top-flight club preparing an assault on a UEFA Cup place this season.

That’s exactly the situation Kennedy finds himself in.

Having served his apprenticeship in Germany since age 17, the long-haired hitman penned a three-year contract with ambitious Bundesliga side Nuremberg before the World Cup.

It was an offer too good to resist after patiently building a solid reputation as a goalscorer in the lower leagues with Stuttgart Kickers and latterly Dynamo Dresden after fruitless spells with VfL Wolfsburg and FC Cologne in the top division.

However, now six painstaking years of steady progress have paid off, how can the amiable Kennedy reward his new employer’s faith with continuous trips down under to represent his homeland?

“It’s definitely a touchy situation,” Kennedy admitted to Soccerphile during a two-week break in Australia after the World Cup. “We’ll definitely have to weigh up what’s the best thing at club level and at the same time keeping my Australian commitments without making either side angry.

“I’ll talk to the coach (Hans Meyer) when I get back to Nuremberg and no doubt will be in contact with Australia as well. Hopefully we can balance it pretty well.

“[But] the hardest thing to do is to balance both at the same time and keep everybody happy.

“I’ve made it clear to the Football Federation that I’d love to play every game. Obviously they know I can’t, so it’s just a matter of finding that right balance.”

But what is the right balance for Kennedy, Nuremberg and Australia’s governing body of football?

At club level, his importance to Nuremberg will rocket should Slovakian striker Robert Vittek, who had a fantastic finish to the 2005-06 season, move to pastures new.

While internationally, the expected retirements of Viduka, 31 in October, and 30-year-old John Aloisi add greater pressure.

Indeed, temporary first-team coach Graham Arnold believes up to 12 players from the World Cup squad could announce their retirements and that a whole new group of players will be involved in qualifying for next year’s Asian Cup.

Kennedy clearly isn’t part of the departures and at 23 represents the immediate future of the Socceroos forward line along with A-League based strikers Archie Thompson and Alex Brosque, Motherwell’s Scott McDonald and Brett Holman who plies his trade at Dutch club Excelsior Rotterdam.

But whether he will be involved in Australia’s August 16 clash with Kuwait in Sydney remains to be seen.

The Asian Cup qualifier is scheduled on a FIFA-sanctioned matchday but also clashes with a time Europe’s top-flight clubs will be reluctant to have their stars journeying long distance.

You have to think that Melbourne’s Thompson, who travelled to Germany but played no part, and Sydney FC’s Brosque are hot favourites to lead the line in the Socceroos’ next outing, but that doesn’t put Kennedy off his long-term aim of spearheading the Aussie attack.

“That’s definitely been my goal,” Kennedy says. “It is my goal to one day have that starting position.

“But as long as Mark Viduka is there, I can definitely learn a lot of things from him, so I’m in no rush for him to stop playing international football because it makes me a better player as well.

“But hopefully in the future I’ll be ready to take over that role.”

Football falls victim to London riots

The violence which has traumatised London for the past four days has led to the cancellation of several games, including the England v Netherlands international friendly.

With Britain in a daze from Madhur matka the unexpected rioting and looting which has now spread to several cities, the Football Association had no choice but to cancel Wednesday’s Wembley match, with all available police urgently needed to regain control of the streets.

The Dutch squad, due to fly out from Amsterdam on Tuesday, were informed the police could not guarantee their or their fans’ safety. The KNVB may seek compensation.

A friendly between Ghana and Nigeria in Watford was also axed, along with League Cup ties at Bristol City, Charlton, Crystal Palace and West Ham. Tottenham Hotspur saw its ticket office put out of action following the first outbreak of trouble on Saturday night following the fatal shooting of a man in the neighbourhood by the Metropolitan Police.

Fulham, QPR, Tottenham, Crystal Palace, Millwall, Watford, Leyton Orient, Dagenham & Redbridge and Barnet are all due to play at home in the London area this weekend but those games must be in doubt if the violence flares up again.

With 16,000 police on the streets, the capital city was quiet tonight but there was serious trouble in Birmingham, Leicester, Nottingham and above all in Manchester and Salford.

Update Thurs 11th Sep – Tottenham v Everton on Saturday has been postponed as Tottenham High Road is still a crime scene and the police cannot spare resources to cover the match.

“We are devastated,” bid leader Orhan Gorbon said. “This was our third bid so it is not much consolation to know that we lost by a small margin.”

The thirteen members of the Executive Board were asked to consider a number of factors, but as with the Olympics and the World Cup, decisions of this stature are often coloured by internal and external politics, deals, personal relationships and inner prejudices.

Political pressure surrounding the sensitivity of the European Union’s eastern frontier with Russia’s hinterland Indian Matka has ensured Ukraine has been kept on board for 2012 despite its manifest shortcomings, so in the same way it had been thought Turkey might benefit from the political moves to grant Turkey full EU membership, an angle hinted at by Turkish President Abdullah Gul in his pleas for a “historic decision.”

Nor can Michel Platini’s nationality and the saga of delays surrounding Ukraine’s Euro 2012 hosting be discounted as irrelevant, or the proximity of the vote for the 2018 World Cup, and the concomitant possibility of mutual back-scratching among the Europeans. Perhaps some delegates held uncomfortable memories of the cauldrons created by Galatasaray and other Turkish ultras, a more fiery and uncomfortable atmosphere than Western Europe can whip up.

“I am also against any comparison of Turkey with Ukraine,” added Gorbon. “There is no reason for this decision. Perhaps it is simply that people feel closer to France.”

Turkey’s advantages were also its disadvantages – a large developing market for UEFA whose developing needs were a cause of uncertainty. After Ukraine has missed deadline after deadline for improvements for 2012, the Turkish government assurances of a billion Euros for six new stadia and support for the estimated 27 billion needed for infrastructure projects may have seemed too big a risk.

While Turkey has a good supply of hotels and tourist infrastructure along its coasts, its single high-speed rail line and network of intercity coaches compares unfavourably with France’s TGV trains. As well as being larger than France, Turkey shares borders with Iraq and Syria amongst others and is muslim, which might have swayed some votes.

Following FIFA’s lead, UEFA spread its wings with the 2012 vote but has retreated to a familiar face for 2016. Sooner or later Russia and Turkey, with their large populations and potential markets, will host the European Championships. But the expansion to 24 teams for 2016 has shut out the smaller nations, with a minimum of nine stadia and three reserve required, so former joint bids such as those of Croatia & Hungary and Ireland & Scotland would need serious construction projects to win in future.

Seongnam were much more impressive in the Champions League earlier this season and is still going well in the league with six wins from its last ten matches. Coach Shin Tae-yong is looking to become the first man to win the Asian Champions League as both coach and player after lifting the trophy with the same club back in 1996.

“Suwon has a strong forward and midfield line-up …and the team condition of Suwon looks very good and it is also playing well. But we don’t need to worry about this. We will play bazaar prepare well and win.” said Shin to the official homepage of the Asian Football Confederation.

“Every K-League club has a keen desire to play in the Champions League. They want to win the prize money and they want to play in the FIFA Club World Cup. So they prepare a lot for the competition. I think this is the main reason why four K-League clubs could reach the last eight this year.”

Pohang Steelers won the competition last year for a record third time and despite the team’s poor form at home; they have made it into the last eight once again. The first leg is a long trek to the home of Iran’s league leaders Zob Ahan. It is the first time that the hosts have made it this far but after the Iranian national team won 1-0 in Seoul last week in an international friendly, Pohang will be taking nothing for granted.

The third Korean match sees Al Shabab of Saudi Arabia travel to Jeonju to face Jeonbuk Motors. It is the first West Asian opposition for the Greens since the final of the 2006 tournament in which they defeated Al Karama of Syria. Jeonbuk will be favorites to progress to the last four despite a poor showing last Friday as they lost 3-1 at home to Gangwon FC. Last, and for Koreans, least, is the all West Asian clash between Saudi Arabian powerhouse AL Hilal and Qatar’s Al Gharafa.

It was the Hillsborough Disaster of 1989 and the subsequent Taylor Report which delivered the coup de grace to Thatcher’s foray into football. The axing of a dud idea was welcome, but it should not have taken 96 deaths for it to have happened. CCTV had already turned the tide against stadium violence, and by the early 1990s, football fighting was just no longer a cool thing to do. Cards would have made no difference.

The Iron Lady resigned in 1990 and Moynihan scuttled away into the shadows after losing his seat at the 1992 General Election, only briefly reappearing in court in 1996 to claim the title ‘Baron Moynihan’ after the death of his brothel-keeping half-brother. Football Delhi Bazaar Satta King fans were glad to see the back of him.

Perhaps the Celtic associations do have nothing to fear from the passing novelty of a UK team, but being clearly petrified of the unthinkable, they have every right to refuse to participate.

What Moynihan the BOA man fails to understand is that Olympic football has so little prestige compared to the real prizes in the game that the three smaller British associations cannot allow a minor competition they never enter anyway to risk ending their existences.

a man with apparently no knowledge of the sport really should back off. Football decisions should be down to football people, and Moynihan is not one of us. If no association apart from the FA wishes to participate in the UK eleven then we can all live with that.

One man who knew how to deal with Moynihan was Brian Clough. Cloughie referred to him as ‘The Miniature for Sport’ and brought a puppet of him onto television to ridicule. When Moynihan charged onto the field to congratulate Britain’s gold medal-winning hockey team at the 1988 Olympics, Clough judiciously pointed out how Moynihan could never again lecture football fans about pitch invasions.

When Lord Justice Taylor killed the ID cards off once and for all, Cloughie concluded,

“I would like to thank Mr Moynihan, and anyone who is above him…which is most of us.”

It had first been mooted in Judge Popplewell’s verdict on 1985’s Bradford fire, but the driving force behind it was the late and unlamented MP David Evans, a former chairman of Luton Town. Evans, who belonged to what was colloquially known as ‘The Broadmoor Wing’ of the Conservative Party, took the unprecedented decision in 1985 to ban all away fans from Luton’s Kenilworth Road ground satta king following a famous riot by Millwall supporters. Meanwhile, Luton’s own supporters had to register and gain an identity card which was swiped at the turnstiles.

Moynihan, crassly, sported a Charlton Athletic tie for his TV appearances – he was MP for nearby Lewisham East at the time, but wore his soccer knowledge lightly as he told us again and again the only way to stop hooliganism was for all fans to carry cards. The then government was football-unfriendly, with the exception of Nottingham Forest-supporting Ken Clarke, and made no effort to tap into the sport’s popularity like every subsequent government has.

Thatcher’s provincial market town upbringing and education at Oxford had kept her far from professional football and the industrial regions it sprang from. Her reign coincided with the darkest years of English hooliganism but she adamantly refused to accept that it was social, rather than footballing problems, that she was dealing with.

The opposition to ID cards was near-universal amongst football folk and the whole sorry episode was instrumental in giving birth to a national supporters’ association in response to a suddenly politicised environment.

“To date, the only Socceroos players who have come home have been just one step from retirement. With Jason you are looking at a player in his prime.

“Even at a big club like PSV, he still looks outstanding every time I see him. He would provide the gloss and class I am looking for.”

Culina aside, United, bankrolled by mining magnate Clive Palmer’s billions, are causing shockwaves around the league some seven months before they officially join the competition play bazaar for the 2009/10 campaign.

Melbourne Victory and fringe Socceroos defender Michael Thwaite has been the latest big name addition to the Coast’s inaugural line-up, a group of players looking increasingly likely to deliver on the outspoken Palmer’s promise of winning the A-League title in their maiden season.

Thwaite is another local player who’s elected to remain in Australia rather than return to Europe. The 25-year-old was loaned to Melbourne by Norwegian champions SK Brann and was expected to return to Scandinavia at the end of the current A-League campaign before joining the Gold Coast.

Livewire Queensland Roar striker Tahj Minniecon has also had his head turned by the Coast’s offer of becoming their inaugural under-23 marquee player. He will double his yearly salary by moving to the Roar’s nearest neighbours, but the switch does intensify the hostilities between the pair.

Earlier this season, Bleiberg was branded a clown and a liar by Queensland skipper Craig Moore after the colourful manager claimed he hadn’t tapped up a single member of Frank Farina’s current Roar squad.

Messi shows off his latest hat-trick in Togel Madrid

Lionel Messi once again showed off his credentials as the most exciting talent on the world stage with a superb hat-trick for Barcelona in a 3-1 win on Tuesday night.

The diminutive Argentine terrorised the Atletico Madrid defence all night before receiving a standing ovation from the Vicente Calderon Togelcrowd when he was replaced 10 minutes before full-time.

The result leaves Barcelona well placed to reach the quarter-finals of the Copa del Rey when the teams meet again Madhur matka v at the Camp Nou next Wednesday.

The 21-year-old sensation set about his task early in the match with great combination play with Daniel Alves, another of the few Barca regulars to feature in a ‘weakened’ first eleven.

With 11 minutes on the clock Alves fed Messi with a well worked one-two which left the striker clean through on Gregory Coupet’s goal. A cool finish into the near post gave Barcelona an early lead.

The teams continued sparring for the remainder of the first half with Maniche going close for Atletico and Seydou Keita wasteful in front of goal for the visitors.

Messi had to wait until the second half for his next decisive moment of the match.