Tottenham were given a slight edge when Emmanuel Adebayor announced that he will not continue to play internationally for Togo due to a pay dispute that was not promptly resolved. As a result, the Spurs striker will no longer take part at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations.

In his statement, the Sparrow Hawks player declared that despite the fact that he was the former captain of the team he will not continue to for Togo and last week he condemned the fact that he had not been paid after the stunning Morocco win that he led the team through.

In addition to issuing a statement, Adebayor also asked that the Togolese football federation place aside a sum of money that was paid to the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. He explained that if the fees are not straightened out then he is not going to play internationally or for his country any longer. He said that within the FA the only thing that anyone ever worries about is money, and there are plenty of players that have only received half of their money or none of it.

Adebayor also expressed concern that players turn to him to ask about when they will be paid and it is a shame. He said he asked the Moroccan Federation who told him that the Togolese FA has been paid and that means that the President has the money but has not yet distributed it to any of the actual players choosing to keep it for himself.

Walter Smith, former manager of Rangers, declared that he supports the new owners of the club and the job they are doing at Ibrox. He is confident that they are working in the right direction and the club will restore its previous glory and condition. Smith was recently assigned as a non-executive director at Rangers, just five months after he tried to buy out the Sevco Scotland consortium owned by Charles Green.

Green declined Smith’s bid for the £5.5million consortium and persuaded Smith to become a part of his group. It seems like Green did a job as Smith joined the Rangers Board a few days ago. Green announced his plans to sell £20million worth of shares to investors and the supporters of the club.

Smith released an official statement as the new non-executive director of Rangers: “ I’m glad to once again be an official part of this legendary club. I want to assure all our supporters that the people in charge of the team are doing their best to reconstruct it and restore its previous condition. I’m confident that the club will soon forget this difficult period of its history.”

He added: “ I’m not just a former manager of Rangers. I’ve loved this club since a young child and I am just one of the thousands of supporters which the club has. As a fan, I assure you that I’ll everything in my power to help Rangers rise.”

It is no secret that Green isn’t the only person responsible for Smith’s decision to join the board. Rangers’ manager, Ally McCoist, has contacted Smith several times, convincing him to join the board and become a part of the club. McCoist stated: “Smith’s experience is welcome to the club. He has proven to be one of the greatest Rangers’ supporters and I believe that his presence at the club will help everyone.”

 

David Beckham takes to the skies as the face of Breitling

David Beckham takes to the skies as the face of Breitling

David Beckham has been chosen by Breitling to be the face of the Transocean Unitime world timer watch.

This latest campaign sees the establishment of a long term partnership between a historic and innovative brand and one of most celebrated, and in demand, icons in the world.

It is apt, when you consider the long established ties Breitling has with aviation, that the sky is the limit for both of them, and throughout their history hey have created a number of great travel watches, including the iconic Unitime watch which anyone who was anyone wore in the 1950’s and 1960’s.

In the spring of 2012, Breitling added the Transocean Chronograph Unitime to the Transocean range. Equipped with the new Manufacture Breitling Caliber B05 featuring a patented mechanism, this worldtimer chronograph has asserted itself as the ultimate travel watch thanks to its double disk, which enables permanent readings of the time in all 24 timezones, and its ultra-user-friendly crown-operated correction system.

One of the world’s most successful sportsmen and style icons, David Beckham stars in the Breitling advertisement featuring a highly evocative visual shot by renowned American photographer Anthony Mandler. On the runway of the Mojave Air & Space Port in California, this striking image shows Beckham standing in front of a private jet wearing his Transocean Chronograph Unitime.

“I’ve always been a long-time admirer of Breitling,” said David Beckham. “As a company they create not only the highest-performance watches but also timeless designs that have inspired generations. It was a natural choice for me to partner with this fantastic brand.”

Chelsea manager, Roberto Di Matteo, keeps denying that there is an injury crisis at his club. The latest addition to the list of injured players is team captain, John Terry, who was injured in Sunday’s game against Liverpool. Terry had to leave the stadium with a brace on his right knee and a pair of crutches, but the medical staff at Stamford Bridge denied that the injury is serious. Terry was injured after a collision with Suarez, minutes before the half-time whistle.

Terry was treated on the field for almost five minutes, before being carried off the field. The fact that Terry, a footballer known for his strength and aggressiveness, held his head with his hands, shows that he was indeed in a lot of pain. Currently, the other injured players at Chelsea are David Luiz who has tonsillitis and Ashley Cole who is suffering from a hamstring problem.

Di Matteo spoke for the media: “Terry’s injury is a problem for us, but we have good cover for the centre-back position, so I’m confident that the team will be ok.” Di Matteo added that he believes that Luiz and Cole will be ready for Saturday’s game against West Brom. However, Frank Lampard won’t be able to take part in this game, because of his calf problem.

The match against Liverpool was the first match for Terry after he was handed a four-match suspension due to racism. There is still no official information regarding Terry’s injury, but considering that it affected his right knee which was operated in February then it won’t be a surprise if Terry stays injured for several weeks or even months.

Di Matteo continued: “Hearing one of your players scream like that is concerning. Everyone at the club hopes that John’s injury isn’t as serious as it seems, but we’ll find out this in a couple of days.”

 

European football is made up of all the national football teams across various countries that are all governed over by the Union of European Football Associations.

The culmination of European football comes once every four years during the UEFA European Football Championship. The major competition has been held since 1960 with the German football league holding the most titles overall and the Spanish football league currently holding the title.

Two of the strongest football nations in the union are the Spanish football teams and the German football teams. Both the Spanish football league and the German football league have major games within their own countries that are watched throughout the world.

As mentioned, Spanish football is leading the news these days due to their dominance of the Football Championship. However, it is ironic that while Spain is known for their league players, the world has not yet seen a Spanish World Cup victory.

On the other hand, German football teams have been able to not only win the European Championship title multiple times but have also succeeded in taking home a world cup showing that the German football league is well deserving of a note in the history books of European football.