England v Poland: Holy Goalie Artur Boruc is no clown, says he former boss Gordon Strachan

Michael Regan

‘Holy goalie’ Artur Boruc is blessed with more talent than Jan Tomaszewski, his former Celtic manager has warned.

And Gordon Strachan said can follow his Polish predecessor and .

Forty years ago this month, to hold Sir Alf Ramsey’s side and see Poland qualify for the 1974 World Cup.

Before the game, ITV pundit Brian Clough infamously labelled the long-haired keeper “a circus clown in gloves”.

But this time, have been well warned about an in-form keeper who has not conceded a Premier League goal since August.

“He can do a Tomaszewski at Wembley – there is absolutely no doubt about that,” said the Scotland manager. “I remember Tomaszewski – he just had the game of his life. Boruc is technically far better.

“He helped me and our team to win championships and get to the last 16 of Europeans Cups.

“He has the ability to win games for you. He has an incredible presence in goal. When you see him in there when he is at his best, you think: ‘How do I beat this man?’

“He has incredible confidence and he has all the ability in the world. And he has a great big-match temperament. Nothing bothers him, nothing fazes him.”

During his five years at Celtic Park, Boruc showed as much talent for attracting headlines for his colourful behaviour as his brilliant goalkeeper. The Pole earned the nickname the Holy Goalie for blessing himself in front of Rangers fans – and he was cautioned for a breach of the peace for making gestures at Ibrox in 2006. Two years later, he wore a T-shirt with the worlds ‘God Bless The Pope’ with a picture of the late Pope John Paul II.

His former Celtic team-mate Scott McDonald, now with Millwall, said: “He is such a character – he is a great fellow. I think all goalkeepers are eccentric at best – you need to have a screw loose to be a goalie in the first place. He is certainly out there with the best of them in that sense.

“I remember he had some strange tattoos. And he certainly played up to the fans with the Celtic-Rangers rivalry. One day he wore the picture of the Pope on his T-shirt after an Old Firm game which got heavily scrutinised afterwards. One side of Glasgow absolutely adored him and the other side absolutely wanted to kill him! That was the kind of guy he was – he wears his heart on his sleeve and doesn’t care who he upsets in that sense.”

Even Tomaszewski labelled Boruc “a madman” after he had a tattoo of a monkey’s backside around his belly button – and then wrote “Rangers” written across it. Strachan once fined him a fortnight’s wages after Boruc broke a booze ban at the team hotel shortly after the keeper was thrown out of the Poland squad for breaking a curfew.

“I think it is part of the Polish psyche that you must enjoy yourself,” Strachan laughed. “And he enjoyed life in Glasgow.

“There was never a dull moment with Artur – you have not got enough space to write the stories I could tell! “And sometimes with a special player, you have to treat them a wee bit differently. As long as they are special. When they become ordinary, then they can be no use to you. But Artur was special and I put with, let’s say his idiosyncrasies, for a while and then he moved on after I left. But it looks like he has got himself together again and for a goalkeeper, he still has many years.”

After signing on free from Fiorentina in September last year, Boruc was reprimanded for throwing a water bottle towards his own fans on his home debut against Tottenham.

But this season, he has let in only two Premier League goals in seven matches to lift Southampton up to fourth. Stevie Gerrard and Daniel Sturridge have already failed to score past him in Liverpool colours.

“I always felt that if he concentrated everything on the football, he could easily have been one of the top five goalkeepers in the world and played for Barcelona, Real Madrid or Milan,” said Strachan. “He could easily have done that.”

McDonald added: “We played in some massive games – especially in the Champions League and Old Firm games – and he always stood tall and did well for us. On the night, he could be the difference.”

Arnold Schwarzenegger admires Cristiano Ronaldo's 'fantastic physique'

Arnold Schwarzenegger has spoken of his admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo – but he’s not talking about his ability on the pitch.

has now turned his attention to football and is a big fan of the 28-year-old Portuguese.

While on a promotional trip to Madrid this week, took time out to praise Ronaldo’s physical attributes rather than his technical ones.

"He has a fantastic physique and great abs. He’s in amazing shape," said the 66-year-old. "That’s why he’s such a great footballer.

"I don’t think he’s interested in competing in Mr Olympia. Ronaldo wants to be the best player in the world and what I wanted was to win the Mr Olympia title.

"They’re two very different sports," he added.

England v Poland: Roy Hodgson has "harsh" warning for his England team as he tells them not to get complacent

Michael Regan – The FA

Roy Hodgson has given his England players a stern World Cup warning after telling them: Don’t blow it now.

Hodgson revealed he was “harsh” with his players after Friday night’s win over Montenegro to make sure they did not celebrate with only half the job done.

has now warned his players against complacency before at Wembley with qualification for Brazil on the line.

Hodgson said: “The one thing that anyone would want to guard against, and I’ll be saying it now until I’m blue in the face, is complacency.

“But I don’t imagine it will be there, I don’t imagine there will be any complacency. Certainly after the things I said to them, I think they’ve got a pretty clear idea where I stand on that subject.”

England need a win over the Poles, whose own hopes of , and Hodgson added: “I told them to use their ‘day off’ wisely and then to come back on Sunday raring to go,which gave us two days of good preparation before Tuesday.

“I think they knew they’d done the job as they thought they should do it and that’s a great start but they also recognised it was only half the job.

“So it was a mood of quiet satisfaction but I was very keen to point out one or two things to them, so it wasn’t anything of a celebratory mood. I was probably quite harsh.

“Sometimes it’s easier to be harsh when people have done well and harder to be harsh when they haven’t done well.”

Hodgson will be forced into one change with Kyle Walker suspended, leaving Phil Jones and Chris Smalling vying for the slot.

England v Poland: There will be no repeat of 1973 tonight – Andy Dawson

Bob Thomas/Getty Images

Now is the time. The hour approacheth. In the slurred words of Michael Jackson, this is it.

England have a golden ticket in their sights and it’s a ticket to the sun, sand, samba and all the other clichés that are associated with World Cup Carnival Brazil 2014. 

Only the giants of Poland stand in their way – but there’s another set of clichés that need to be explored and treated as a .

Yes, we stand on the , and the probability of tumbling out in the second round as we wilt in next summer’s South American heat, but we’ve been here before.

We’re just a few days away from the 40th anniversary one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of the .

A match that signaled the end of what was arguably England’s last genuinely golden era.

The 1-1 draw with Poland at Wembley. The match that saw England’s World Cup qualification bid come to an end.

Popperfoto/Getty Images 

That night, as now, England were managed by a strange, distant, personality-free old man – the great Sir Alf Ramsey.

That night, as in 1966, we were captained by Bobby Moore – but the skipper’s best days had been and gone.

He was starting to look slightly doughy, and the mutton-chop sideburns he was sporting didn’t enhance his look either.

Was Moore the footballing equivalent of Elvis Presley in 1973? It’s an argument that still rages to this day. Or so I expect.

There shouldn’t have been any problems. A 2-0 defeat in Katowice should have been the wake up call that was needed.

A win was a necessity – but this was mighty England, and the opponents were the minnows of Poland. What could go wrong?

In the TV studio, Brian Clough crowed at the Polish goalkeeper, the towering figure of Jan Tomaszewski.

According to Clough, Tomaszewski was a clown, and we could all expect to see more of the Pole’s backside than his face as he picked the ball out of his own net countless times.

Popperfoto/Getty Images 

England would batter Poland, progression to the 1974 finals would be confirmed and there’d be nothing to worry about ever again.

He got it part right – England DID batter their opponents, with 36 shots to Poland’s two, 26 corners, a couple of shots hitting the woodwork twice and four efforts cleared off the line.

It was a massacre. A 1-1 massacre. Disastrous.

There would be no World Cup for England or for Moore, the man who had lifted the trophy a mere eight years beforehand.

The Ramsey era was at an end – the heroics of Tomaszewski hammering the final nail into Sir Alf’s footballing coffin.

There can be no repeat of 1973 tonight. Failure to win is unthinkable.

Clowns need to be restricted to Northampton where they can wander the streets and scare random children.

If we balls it up tonight, we could face the lottery of the play-offs and no one wants that.

England expects. 40 years of hurt. Love’s got the world in motion. And all that.

This time… we’ll get it right.

England v Poland: Raheem Sterling is Roy Hodgson's 'get out of jail' card for crucial Poland clash

Getty

Raheem Sterling has been earmarked for an England World Cup ­international rescue mission tomorrow.

The teenage flier after Roy Hodgson lost Tom Cleverley and the suspended Kyle Walker.

Now Sterling is set to go from an Under-21 start in San Marino on Friday night to being Hodgson’s ‘get out of jail’ card if things are not working against Poland at .

England must with Ukraine certain to take three points off San Marino.

And while Hodgson will stick with Tottenham winger Andros Townsend on the right after his terrific , the England boss revealed Sterling was not brought in merely to make up the numbers.

Hodgson said: “You can’t use 22 players and we all know that. But with Tom Cleverley going down, so that we were one short on the players we could’ve used against Montenegro, and with Kyle Walker now being booked, if there’s any area in our squad of 23 where perhaps an extra type of player could be useful then I think it’s the wide areas.

“We have Danny Welbeck and Townsend but Cleverley, who could’ve played there, is gone. I think Raheem Sterling is the type of player who can, if we need him, do what Andros did on Friday.”

It was a clear and unequivocal vote of support for Sterling, whose only Premier League start this season was in the recent 3-1 win over Crystal Palace.

Hodgson demonstrated his faith in Sterling’s potential 13 months ago when he was added to the squad ahead of the home game with Ukraine, although he stayed on the bench.

Two months later, Sterling, now 18, started in the 4-2 defeat by Sweden in Stockholm, making a positive contribution as he kept coming back for more despite taking more than a few whacks and having a hand in both England goals.

PA

 

Hodgson said afterwards: “I half hoped to see some of the things we saw from him. He had a difficult start and I was a bit concerned how he’d react to that.

“But I thought his reaction was very good and he had a golden spell towards the end of the first half and the beginning of the second and that bodes very well for the future.”

Sterling had to be content with a return to the junior ranks for the rest of last season, winning in all six appearances for the Under-21s.

Although until he plays a competitive senior game, he could still be nabbed by Jamaica – he was born in Kingston and lived on the island to the age of five – making his potential ­appearance tomorrow a decisive day for the teenager.

Hodgson will hope that the call to Sterling can be made from a position of strength rather than weakness.

But the England boss ­genuinely believes the Liverpool winger can have a part to play in Brazil. And that he might, if required, be able to ensure the Three Lions get there too.

Former Senegal coach Bruno Metsu dies of cancer aged 59

GETTY

Former Senegal coach Bruno Metsu has died after an 18-month fight with colon cancer.

Metsu, who coached Senegal during their run to the quarter-finals in 2002, passed away in his home town of Coudekerque Village in northern France.

The Frenchman shot to fame in the summer of 2002 during the opening game of the Japanese tournament when his unfancied Senegal side beat the then reigning World Champions France 1-0.

They were eventually eliminated at the quarter-final stage by Turkey in extra time, after winning over many neutrals with their carefree approach.

Metsu also enjoyed success in the Gulf, lifting the 2007 Gulf Cup with the United Arab Emirates, as well as winning the Asian Champions League with Abu Dhabi outfit Al Ain in 2003.

During a managerial career that stretched from 1988-2012, he coached 14 different teams ranging from Lille and Nice in France, to African sides Guinea and Sedan, and Middle East outfits such as Qatar, Al-Gharafa and most recently Al Wasl, replacing at the helm.

Metsu also played for over half-a-dozen teams including Lille, Nice and Anderlecht, during a career that spanned 24 years.

Maik Taylor says Michael O'Neill deserves to stay on as Northern Ireland manager

Joe Giddens/PA Wire.

Northern Ireland goalkeeping coach Maik Taylor wants the Irish FA to give Michael O’Neill a new deal despite their run of poor results.

insists that O’Neill needs to stay on as manager when his contract expires at the end of the year.

He said: "I believe the way forward is with Michael at the helm and leading us into the Euros.

"I really feel if he carries on then everyone will be better for that continuity.

"It’s going to take time, no question.

"Some of the young lads coming into the national side are not even playing club football, but we have a small pool of players and it’s not as though we can go out and sign someone, so you do the best you can.

“Michael is very, very passionate.

"He’s hurting as much, if not more, than anyone else.

"If you take the blip in Luxembourg out of it, the performances in all the other games – irrespective of the results – have been strong.

"It is a period of transition at the moment."

He added: "It’s a young squad and although the results haven’t always come the lads have set a standard of performance – getting the win against Russia, going very close to a result against Portugal.

"The lads will learn from this campaign."

Inter Milan taken over by Indonesian businessman Erick Thohir in multi-million Euro deal

GETTY

Inter Milan have been taken over by Indonesian businessman Erick Thohir.

The wealthy 43-year-old has a 70 per cent stake in the Nerazzurri’s shares after agreeing a deal to become just the second foreign owner of a Serie A side.

The stake is reportedly worth around €350m (£295m), and was agreed with current president .

Thohir, who is also part owner of basketball side Philadelphia 76ers and MLS outfit DC United, has left the task of the presidency up to Moratti himself.

However, the Italian is unsure if he will retain the position he has held since 1995.

Speaking to the club’s official website, Moratti said: "Everything’s been signed, I believe there will be a press statement in a few hours."

Asked if he was going to remain as the club’s president, he added: "I do not know that. Yes I believe [it will be my decision]. Let’s see. Every president leaves his mark, there’s no doubt about that."

Despite being 18-time winners of , the blue-and-black half of Milan have struggled to regain their former glories in recent years.

Andrea Stramaccioni was sacked as coach in May, after just 14 months at the helm after taking them to a ninth-place finish in Serie A.

Arsenal's Olivier Giroud set to start up front for France against Finland

Getty

Olivier Giroud is set to lead France’s attack in their crucial World Cup qualifier against Finland tomorrow.

, who netted twice in Friday’s 6-0 friendly win against Australia, is expected to start ahead of Real Madrid’s Karim Benzema for the third consecutive game.

France lie second in Group I, three points behind World and European champions Spain, and look likely to face a two-legged play-off to book a place at Brazil 2014.

Giroud, 27, told The Sun: "Against Australia, we showed enthusiasm, the will to do well, and that’s what will count in the next games.

"We have to love victory more and more — and to hate defeat.

"What we’ve done against Australia gives us hope for the future.

"I have trust in this team."

France had not scored for five games before Giroud, who has won most of his 23 caps as a sub, replaced Benzema in the team.

"I’ve played for France for two years," Giroud said.

"When I got the chance to start, it always went well.

"I’ve always been patient and I’m proud of that."

When is the Fifa World Cup in Brazil? Plus info on tickets and draw

REUTERS

has almost finished, with a number of countries having booked their place at next year’s tournament.

World champions Spain have qualified, and are among the favourites to win the tournament, as well as host country Brazil and their .

When is the Fifa World Cup in Brazil?

The first fixtures will take place on June 12, though we won’t know who is playing until the draw takes place.

When is the draw?

You don’t have to wait too long to find out who your country will face in the group stages. The draw will take place in Costa do Sauipe in the Brazilian state of Bahia on December 6.

The 32-team draw will determine what teams line-up against each other, and will ultimately tell fans where their teams will be playing and on what dates their team will play.

Main contenders

Reigning world champions Spain are likely to enter the tournament as favourites, and a resurgent Germany will be another European candidate.

Hosts Brazil can also never be overlooked and with the competition held in their backyard, will have added incentive and even more pressure to deliver the trophy back to where many Brazilians feel is the rightful home.

Meanwhile, Brazil’s bitter rivals Argentina cruised through qualifying, topping the group as coach Alejandro Sabella has been working on the best way to get Lionel Messi to replicate his club form on the international stage.

Tickets

Some 6,164,682 ticket requests have been made for the 2014 FIFA World Cup from 203 countries. Tickets are available via Fifa.com

The stars

The World Cup is nothing withouts its leading men, and there are plenty of international superstars already booked on a flight to Brazil next summer. Manchester United’s Robin van Persie will be there with his compatriots Arjen Robben and Rafael van der Vaart.

Germany will have their dazzling array of talented youngsters on display with the likes of Mesut Ozil, Mario Gotze and Toni Kroos all likely to be named in the squad.

The hosts of course are never short of an exciting player or three, and players such as Hulk and Oscar can probably count themselves as a ‘given’ alongside the current darling of Brazil; Barcelona star Neymar.

Argentina will have Lionel Messi in their ranks, and is likely to be joined alongside Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain and Sergio Aguero – how they would love to win the World Cup in their fierce-rivals home.

Stuart Franklin – FIFA            

Schedule and the final

The draw for the World Cup has not yet been made but the culmination of the month-long tournament ends at the Maracana Stadium, in Rio de Janeiro on July 13.

 

Will protests affect the tournament?

During the Confederations Cup last summer, the competition was marred somewhat by a consistent group of protesters who staunchly opposed the amount of money the country had spent on hosting the World Cup.

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However, the competition continued, so there should be no reason to suggest it will harm the world’s biggest football tournament too much.

"There is no plan B and I haven’t had any offers from other countries to host the World Cup next year," FIFA general secretary Jerome Valcke told reporters.

Where to watch?

If you aren’t one of the lucky ones who are able to make it to Brazil, then terrestrial television holds the key. Despite the dominance of Sky Sports and more recently BT Sport to Premier League and Football League rights, the World Cup will be free to view for all.