THE AMERICAN WAY?

Frank Yallop. The name brings a nervous twitch to the faces of Ipswich Town fans even now, eleven years after LA Galaxy’s head coach played at Portman Road.

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EURO JOKING, REF!

Aside from the penalty David Beckham put into orbit, the enduring image of England’s Euro 2004 campaign is Sulzeer (Sol) Campbell’s disallowed goal at a crucial juncture of the quarter-final against the hosts.

The only dispute from neutrals, however, was whether Campbell or Chelsea’s next manager John Terry actually fouled keeper Ricardo. And there were early cracks in the ‘we woz robbed’ story concocted by the pundits, when “I’ve seen them given” crossed the lips of an ill-informed ex-player.

There were relative howls of outrage after Alan Shearer’s similar non-goal in 1998. That could have been a combination of Argentinean opponents and ITV’s tabloid presentational style. But the clincher was that the Queen thought Shearer’s goal legitimate but said nothing in defence of Campbell. And she’s not biased. She’s German…

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TOSH ‘N’ BECKS

David Beckham is back in the England squad because his form is good enough, having been dropped because it wasn’t. Meanwhile, buried under so much newsprint that it’s nearly turned to coal, is news that Aaron Lennon is out of the same squad because he was in the ‘B’ team and got injured. Only one of these is a big deal. And it’s not David Beckham…

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