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The Football Association will take UEFA to court in Brussels if the plans for broadcasting rights to England games are sold collectively.

The plans would see FA revenue slashed as European football’s governing body would be in charge of selling the rights.

The FA are holding talks with Uefa who want to centralise the awarding of rights for European Championship and World Cup qualifiers.

Reports suggest this could cost The FA, who are insisting on compensation, up to £100million.

“The FA will not sign or agree to any deal that results in a reduction in broadcast revenue,” a spokesperson said.

The TV rights to England games, currently sold along with the FA Cup, are worth £425million domestically, and a further £150million in overseas contracts.

If they the broadcast rights to competitive England matches were surrendered, the FA could only market less attractive friendly matches.

The value of FA Cup games might also plummet if meaningful internationals are not included as part of any deal.

The football associations of Italy, Spain, Germany, France and Holland are also reportedly seeking assurances about compensation for any shortfall they might suffer.

UEFA want all 53 member federations to sign over their broadcast rights in time for the annual congress in Paris next month.

Any such deal would mirror the way in which TV rights are awarded for Champions League and Europa League matches.

UEFA confirmed if their proposal get the go-ahead, they would undertake a four-year trial, which would include an opt-out at the end of the cycle.

They may also require legal clearance from the European Commission, which has been opposed in principle to the collective selling of rights.

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We opened the campaign against our favorite frienemies, the Brits. Sure our countries are playmates when it comes to politics and wars, but our World Cup (not to mention that whole littttle disagreement back in the 1700s) history is spiky. Sloppy defending let Stevie G slide one past Tim Howard in the opening minutes.  We were then running uphill trying to find the equalizer. Clint Dempsey, who scored his share of circus goals from distance this season for Fulham, decided to try his luck after a few unintentional stopovers. West Ham’s Robert Green then chose to make it up to us Americans for that whole Benedict Arnold thing by fumbling the ball into his own net. Was it pretty? No. Was the American Revolution pretty? No. But both got the job done. 1 point? Check please.

Our next test was Slovenia. Just as we were beginning to thrive on the role of underdog, baby Slovenia pranced into our group and asked us to partake in a friendly wittle game of football. Baby Slovenia then decided to hit puberty and morph in to a full on rebellious teenager, scoring two goals in the first half.  Being the come-from-behind junkies that we are, we came out in the second half a new team. That balding dreamboat Landon Donovan then took the game in to his own hands by scoring a gorgeous goal from a tight angle. We pushed and pushed, until eventually Michael Bradley stole a second in the 82^nd minute. EXCITING.

Michael Bradley after scoring the equalizer.

Two draws from two games left us with a must win game against Algeria if we wanted to progress from our group. A loss meant we were out of the cup and a draw meant… well it was one of those situations where goal differential, England’s result, lottery numbers, and star alignments needed to work together in perfect harmony for us to progress. Forget the draw though; we just needed all three points.

The Algerians were quite the intimidating opponents. At first, it seemed that the large African nation had fielded a troop of Bruno impersonators to play mind games with the U.S. squad.  Once the American’s shook off the initial shock of having to face 11 blonde-tipped boy band members, they found themselves in a tight match up. The game was a nervy stalemate with both teams having their fair share of solid chances. We didn’t concede early, which was a fantastic change from our previous two games and a huge relief for my beaten heart. Tim Howard released Landon Donovan down the wide-open right flank with a superb throw in the 91^st minute. The break eventually saw Clint Dempsey’s close range effort stopped by the keeper only to be put away by the onrushing Donovan. That sent us top of the group (for the first time in United States history), clear of the underachieving Red Coats.

The Algerian captain.

I was in a packed pub in Orlando, FL, USA for that game. When Donovan scored, the place erupted in cheers and screams and hugs and crying. It was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen. The noise never let up for a solid ten minutes. As I watched the post game interviews, I found myself with an arm around a big sweaty stranger and my drink spilled across the table. It didn’t matter. We were proud. We then went on to lead the pub in a rendition of this fantastically horrible gem: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-9_fDEsv-Q

Watch this next video to get an idea of America’s reaction to Donovan’s last minute winner (it gives me chills every time): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbn3rOPmR9w&feature=youtube

Our incredibly exciting run in the 2010 World Cup came to an end at the hands of the last remaining African nation, Ghana. The game needed extra time to decide a winner, with Ghana scoring in the 93^rd minute to kill us off.  I might or might not have cried a little on the way out of the pub.

The end was bitter but it couldn’t overshadow all the great moments that made up the United State’s journey in South Africa. We’re all incredibly proud of our boys and the way they never gave up. I’ve seen passion for the game spread like wildfire across the nation over the past few weeks. Only time will tell whether that passion will endure or fade now that the United State’s journey is over. Either way, U.S. soccer is on the way up. It might take two or three more World Cup’s before we’re real contenders, but we can wait. It’ll be worth it. I’ll leave you with a real heart grenade of a tweet from the United States all time leading scorer, the balding dreamboat himself, LanDo:

“I’m really proud of our team, really proud of our fans, and really proud of our country. Thank you for all the support we’ve felt over the last 3 weeks, what an incredible ride. Thanks especially to all those that travelled so far to watch us play. Goodnight and thank you.” – Landon Donovan

Fabio Capello still faces a struggle to repair his relationship with Liverpool over his insistence that Steven Gerrard be assessed by England’s medical staff.

Gerrard, along with Frank Lampard, returned to his club yesterday after doctors confirmed Liverpool’s initial diagnosis that the midfielder is suffering from a small tear to a groin muscle, an injury that is likely to sideline him for up to 10 days. The Merseysiders, while unable to prevent Capello flexing his muscles, have privately bemoaned what they consider to have been a “pointless exercise” with Gerrard having been asked to make a 400-mile, eight-hour round trip to England’s Hertfordshire base. (The Guardian)

This is clearly a situation that will never go away. Gerrard is one of many players that have been forced in recent years to show up at the national team training facility to prove (or disprove) fitness to the staff. Whilst it might be seen as an inconvenience to Rafa, Capello and his staff do have the right to ask him to make-good on his honour to play for his country. Let the debate rage on!

What do you make of the situation? Was it crazy of Capello to ask Gerrard to make the trip to the Hertfordshire base for a fitness test?

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Southgate had a whine and a moan about Capello, implying that the Italian brought Wheater along as a luxury – but that it could have a much bigger effect on poor old Middlesbrough.

Southgate’s rant went something like this: “David went in case anyone was ill.”

“The flight immediately after the Under-21 game was cancelled and he flew at 7am the next morning.

“We got an email about if from the FA on Monday. For us it’s a bigger issue than it is for them. It’s not something we can do anything about though. We have expressed that we are not happy and now we must look to Saturday.

“I don’t want to harm David’s chances with England so I don’t want to make too much of a fuss about it. The principle of him travelling with the team is brilliant. We just feel it should be one squad or the other, either the full squad or the Under 21s. That’s where I am coming from.

“I have been advised to say as little as possible but I’m not overly impressed by it. I have spoken to Stuart (Pearce, the England Under-21 coach) and to people who are close to the first-team but they have their jobs to do. Stuart has a job to do, Fabio has a job to do and I have a job to do, so the three of us are going to have disagreements about it.

“I think once David had played for the Under-21s our game against Chelsea should have taken precedence, that should have been it with England. I can’t understand why you would fly to Belarus on the day of a game and sit in the stand.” (Guardian)

With Middlesbrough facing Chelsea at the weekend this is surely the last thing that Southgate wanted, but by coming public with his gripe hasn’t the Boro boss just given Wheater a free pass to play badly at the weekend?

Anyone in a Krakatoan funk of molten fury over this article? Why not discuss it on the COS Forum?!….

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…Wigan & England’s Emile Heskey could be boomeranging his bulky frame alll the way back to Anfield!

“Striker Heskey, 30, is out of contract after this season. But Kop boss Rafa Benitez may even bid around £3m to get him in January.

The player is not cup-tied for Europe. And after spearheading England’s 3-1 win in Belarus, Heskey admitted his ambition was to play for one of the big four”

…The S*n’s journos mused.

As for the man himself, Emile muttered:

“I hope there will be a few managers taking notice of me. Everyone wants to be playing on the big stages — for their country and for their club in the Champions League.

“But I’m still a Wigan player and want to do my best for them.”

Liverpool fans, fancy a bit of Heskey at Anfield once more? Wigan fans, will it be a tearful farewell?

Anyone in a Krakatoan funk of molten fury over this article? Why not discuss it on the COS Forum?!….

Michael Owen’s chances of an England squad recall for next month’s World Cup qualifiers against Andorra and Croatia will come down to a 90-minute trial in front of Fabio Capello on Saturday.

The Italian, who finalises his squad that night for his first competitive matches in charge of the England team, has switched his plans and will travel to Arsenal on Saturday to watch Owen play for Newcastle. (Daily Mail)

Fabio Capello is believed to want to name a provisional 30-man squad and then trim in to 24 over the weekend. As a result, little Mickey will have to be sporting his bestest scoring boots on Saturday.

‘That was one of the worst performances I have seen from an England team. What positives can you take from that?
‘The second half was diabolical. They didn’t look like the same players who perform week in, week out in the Premier League. What are we doing to them?

‘We have one of the finest midfielders in Steven Gerrard, he plays for Liverpool and he is like Roy of the Rovers. He shoots, he scores, he tackles. He is not a left midfielder.

‘It is unbelievable. He has to be in the centre. We are killing Gerrard.

‘I came to Wembley full of optimism. We keep chopping and changing managers and we don’t improve.

‘I’ve not seen Fabio Capello teams play worse than that. The players did not perform.

‘If Steve McClaren had been in charge of that team there would have been uproar.’ (Daily Mail)

So where to go for Fab, the real games are approaching soon and England look limp and utterly dire. Can Fab pull their socks up before the press hordes savage England even more?

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