Football - Andorra Can Beat England
By Paul la Vella-757
With a 5-0 victory under their belts from their Euro 2008 qualifier in September, an England victory against Andorra in the return game should be a foregone conclusion.

The game has been moved from Andorra to the Olympic stadium in Barcelona, home ground for Spanish team Espanyol, and owned by Barcelona City Council. Barcelona is a two and a half hour drive from the Andorran capital, Andorra la Vella.

‘It comes as no surprise that the game has been moved from Andorra to Barcelona’, comment an Andorra travel guide, ‘Andorra’s national stadium has a capacity of 1,800 while the Olympic stadium holds 55,000. Wisdom has decreed that Andorra’s national stadium is not fit for international football. Many will regret that Andorra’s team cannot be judged in the same way.’

But the guide considers that there is a possibility that Andorra will secure one of the shocks of recent football history by winning on March 28 - if the circumstances are right.

‘Andorra have nothing to lose except three points when they play England in Barcelona - and they lose three points in virtually every game anyway, but for England it wouldn’t just be a national disgrace but quite possibly the end of their campaign to reach the Euro 2008 finals in Switzerland and Austria. It all depends upon whether England play politics or football.

Dropping David Beckham from the England side was perhaps more of a political decision taken by a new England regime intent on showing a break from the past rather than for sound footballing reasons.’ Say the guide, lamenting the loss of England’s former captain who has been playing in Spain for Real Madrid in recent years, and is now set for a move in the summer to California.

‘England have a game against Israel a few days before playing Andorra, and will be viewing the Andorra game as the easier of the two. The England manager could be tempted not to play his best possible team in Barcelona.’

In addition to playing an understrength team, the Andorra travel guide consider that the England manager could have one eye on the game, and another on the Premiership managers back home nervously hoping their star players won’t be picking up injuries.

‘Andorra sometimes try to make up their lack of talent by being physical. There could be pressure on the England manager Steve McClaren from Premiership managers such as Sir Alex Ferguson not to risk star players such as Wayne Rooney in what should essentially be an easy game. The Premiership will be entering a critical stage with just a handful of games left, plus European games and the FA Cup final stages coming up. We can’t imagine Manchester United, Liverpool, Chelsea and Germany’s Bayern Munich being happy at seeing Steven Gerrard, John Terry, Frank Lampard, Owen Hargreaves and Wayne Rooney picking up injuries at such a critical time. The temptation will be to play a second fiddle England team. Even then England should win comfortably. But if the players who get chosen decide to do just enough to secure the three points it could allow Andorra the chance of a shock draw or even victory, however unlikely that may seem’.

Andorra The Country

Andorra has a population of 70,000 and is best known for her ski resorts, relegating football to a minority sport, and as a European tax haven.

The country’s resident population enjoys a tax regime similar to Monaco,with a zero rated income tax.

Property in Andorra is around a quarter of Monaco’s prices, despite the similar tax structure, with wealthy individuals moving to the Principality to minimise their tax bills.

In the eighties Andorra ski holidays were cheap and cheerful, but investment in the infrastructure and ski fields has seen the country become increasingly popular with skiers and snowboarders.

Over ten million tourists visited Andorra in 2006, but a lack of snow for the first eight weeks of this year’s ski season has seen a fall in visitors of some fifteen per cent.

With Barcelona a two and a half hour drive away, YourAndorra hopes that some of the travelling England support might venture up for a few days skiing.

‘The end of March and beginning of April is an ideal time for a ski holiday in Andorra,’ they comment, ‘And if Andorra do produce a miracle in Barcelona and secure a draw or all three points they wouldn’t have to return to England for a few days.’

Andorra’s best known ski resorts are Soldeu, Pas de la Casa and Arinsal. Soldeu has some of the best new hotels in Andorra, and Arinsal the best night life.

And if the England players wives and girlfriends, often referred to as WAG’s in the English media, fancy a few days tax free shopping, the capital Andorra la Vella is full of department stores stocking luxury items at reduced prices compared to Barcelona and England.

‘Perhaps the best scenario for England would be to make David Beckham captain for the Andorra game’, conclude the guide, ‘Although he hasn’t played much for Real Madrid recently he is used to playing in Spain. Even a half match fit David Beckham committed to winning the game would be too much for Andorra, and it would be a good opportunity for England supporters to say farewell before he leaves for the US.’

YourAndorra is one of a series of travel guides for European tax havens including Andorra and Monaco.The Monaco guide at YourMonaco.com includes details of the Casino in Monte Carlo and hotels in Nice France

Ny Giants – Football Blog Passion
By Groshan Fabiola
Sports interests us as participants and as spectators. Our attention is placed with a special sport. Its popularity is at full potential and we bow beforeAmerica’s passion: Football. We will look inside the ongoing developments of a legendary football team, The New York Giants.

The city of New York began its football history with The Giants. It all happened in October 1925 at the debut game against the Frankford Yellow Jackets. Even if the debut was not to be celebrated with a victory, it was not later than the third season, in 1927, that The NY Giants won their first title. Football was in for good in the hearts of the New Yorkers. And the seasons that followed brought even more titles, to prove that The Giants were in to stay: 1934, 1938, 1956, 1986,and 1990.

In that period of time, football managed to keep the fans close thanks to the sports papers and the actions that the teams were organizing for the closest spectators. Today there is a new trend going on, one that brought the players as close as possible to the fans and organized the fan clubs in a better way, and all this thanks to the internet: the blog.

A blog is a website where you can post articles or pictures in chronological order. The display of the content is in reverse chronological order. The content of blogs can stretch from news to commentary on a particular subject such as food, politics, and local news or, in our case, sports. There are also more personal blog contents such as online diaries. A typical blog combines text, images, and links to other blogs or any Internet content related to its topic.

NY Giants blog features the latest news that will come to you via the Internet. As a football fan, you will need to stay in touch with your team. This is above waiting for sports news on TV, news that sometimes is not even close to the real thing. That is why you have the NY Giants blog, a blog where real football fans can post material on the Gmen. You can also comment on articles and other posts. You can post your thoughts on certain news and receive answers from the blog administrators.
Once you start a discussion on a blog you will be surprised to find that people agree with your idea. Or perhaps a heated discussion ensues. This is how you might get into the problem with other fans just like you, people that know their way around football.

The NY Giants blog keeps you up to date with the news around football Football is America’s passion and the Giants are your football team. Get online with The Giants on The NY Giants blog.

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