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Kelly Smith says it would be a shame if the Great Britain women’s football team did not compete at the Rio Olympics.

The Football Association has said it is unlikely because qualification can only come from the Women’s World Cup in 2015, in which home nations take part separately.

“That’s a shame because you see the exposure we got at these Olympics,” Arsenal striker Smith told the BBC.

“I’m praying that in 2016 in Brazil there is a women’s team.”

The FA has already said that Great Britain will not send a men’s team to the 2016 Olympics because they would need to qualify via the European Under-21 Championship.

In the women’s case, Britain would have to be one of the top three European teams at the Women’s World Cup in 2015.

Both the men’s and women’s team qualified for London 2012 only because of their host status.

The desire within the FA, including manager Hope Powell and the players, is to compete in Rio, but unifying the homes nations for World Cup qualifying would signal the end for the chances of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland to compete individually.

Those political issues come after the British women’s team made a real impact at the London Olympics, despite being knocked out at the quarter-final stage by Canada.

A record British women’s football crowd of 70,584 saw the host nation beat Brazil 1-0 at Wembley in their last group game.

And Smith, who is England’s record goalscorer, wants women’s football to build on that success.

The 33-year-old added: “We got a tremendous amount of exposure. It was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. To play in [front of] record crowds, to get people to come out and support women’s football was fantastic.

“Hopefully now we can build on the momentum of that and see more crowds at women’s football. I’ve played in four European Championship and two World Cups, so to add this now to my playing career, it’s up there.

“I’ve played in America for a number of years and the Americans view that [the Olympic experience] as the ultimate, so why can’t we have a GB team?”

Smith will be aiming to help England qualify for the 2013 European Championship in Sweden when Powell’s side take on Croatia at Walsall next month.

Source: www.bbc.co.uk

There’s no guarantee that Rangers will still be in existance by August/September time when they are due to go head-to-head with Celtic again.

In fact, it’s very difficult to see Rangers participating in next season’s SPL no matter what happens given events this week.

It says something that Sunday’s Old Firm match at Parkhead is almost meaningless for those in blue. The most important thing for them is that their club survives.

For those in green it’s a chance to celebrate their title success in their first home match since securing the championship at Kilmarnock as well as an opportunity to deliver another blow to their rivals.

Rangers may have won the last derby clash at Ibrox against the odds, but they are 4/1 to take the three points again with Celtic odds-on across the board.

Celtic will want to gain revenge for their recent defeat at Ibrox and morale in the visiting camp must be at an all-time low, and not just because of financial matters.

Kyle Lafferty was suspended this week by Ally McCoist for a breach of discipline suggesting all is not well, although the Gers have showed admirable spirit since going into administration, particularly recently, picking up four successive wins.

But Celtic have won 14 of 16 at home in the SPL and have lost only six goals in the process.

And they will be looking to give their fans a lift after losing to Hearts in the Scottish Cup semi-finals two weeks ago, which ended their chances of winning a double.

Celtic are little value at a best of 4/5 unless you are a big hitter. Although they have already won the title, the fact they lost at Ibrox and the furore over Neil Lennon’s sending off that followed, I think Celtic will be well up for this and will want to put their rivals back in their place.

I reckon backing Celtic to win by three goals or more at 5/1 may pay dividends.

Elsewhere, I like the look of Joe Ledley to get on the scoresheet at anytime.

The midfielder has scored nine times this season, a tally which is more impressive given he has filled in at left back on a number of occasions.

One of his nine goals came against the Gers earlier in the season at Celtic Park and he was on target in the title-winning match at Kilmarnock.

Ledley is likely to be given license to get forward with Rangers almost certain to set up fairly defensively.

4/1 looks a reasonable price for the Welshman to get on target especially as he is 5/2 in places.

source: www.bettingzone.co.uk

Bayern Munich are favourites for the Champions League after setting up a final clash with Chelsea.

The Germans beat Real Madrid 3-1 on penalties following a 3-3 aggregate draw in their semi-final on Wednesday.

Bayern, available at 22/1 when the tournament began, are now a best of 1/2 with Coral, Betfred and bodog to lift the trophy on May 19 when the final takes place in their home stadium, the Allianz Arena.

Chelsea, who stunned Barcelona with a 3-2 aggregate win in the first semi-final, are out at 15/8 with Boylesports and bodog. 7/4 is more widely available.

The Blues hit 28/1 in the outright market after losing the first leg of their last-16 clash against Napoli 3-1 in February.

As for the 90-minute match betting, Bayern are odds-on at 10/11 with Hill’s.

Sky Bet fancy the Germans even more – they go 5/6 – but they are prepared to offer 13/5 about Chelsea, while they have the draw out at 5/2.

Both sides will be missing key men for the showdown.

David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and Luiz Gustavo all picked up yellow cards against Real which will rule them out of the final.

Chelsea will be missing John Terry, Branislav Ivanovic, Ramires and Raul Meireles due to suspension.

Chelsea, however, have yet to conquer Europe. The closest they have come was in 2008 when they lost the final on penalties to Manchester United.

source: www.bettingzone.co.uk

Side with the South Americans

Valencia were soundly beaten by Atletico Madrid in last week’s Europa League semi-final first leg but a late goal in the capital gave them some hope ahead of Thursday’s return fixture.

Madrid will now only take a two-goal lead to the Mestalla after Ricardo Costa made it 4-2 with his injury-time strike.

While Madrid remain firm favourites to reach next month’s final in Bucharest, the tie is far from over, particularly with two away goals in the bank. They will also go into this one knowing they have not lost any of their last 21 home games in this competition.

Valencia will have little choice but to go for it but the way they were picked apart in the first leg suggests they have a big task keeping their visitors out.

The good news for Valencia is they have managed to do so twice in the Spanish league this season, while going forward they have been scoring plenty of late.

In each of their last three home games they’ve banged in four goals, while they also scored three here against Bayer Leverkusen and seven against Genk in the Champions League earlier in the season, not to mention four against PSV in this competition.

In short, we’re expecting goals but with the layers once again thinking along the same lines and keeping prices low in their over 2.5 and 3.5 goal markets, we’re going to head to the anytime scorer markets in search of profit.

For Valencia, Jonas is the man we’re happy to side with a what appears to be a decent price of 5/2.

He’s netted 16 times in 49 apperances this season, while his recent form is good as he’s netted four times in the last four games, a run which includes one in last week’s first leg and another at the weekend against Real Betis.

The Brazilian looks a decent alternative to his better-known colleague Roberto Soldado, who is odds-on in places.

We’re not going to stop there though.

With Atletico looking more than capable of punishing Valencia at the back, we can’t resist backing Falcao to score for them.

The Colombian has a wonderful record in the Europa League, finishing as its top scorer last season with 17, while this term he’s bagged 10 making him the joint leader in the scoring charts. During the two-year period, he averages exactly a goal a game.

Throw in the fact that he’s found the target 22 times in 30 league games and you begin to wonder why he’s available at 2/1 to net here.

Like Jonas, Falcao has four in his last four outings and scored twice in the first leg.

With his side in good form having won six of their last eight in all competitions, the price looks too big to us.

The other semi-final looks more evenly poised – Sporting Lisbon taking a 2-1 advantage into the second leg away to Athletic Bilbao.

Bilbao, who famously knocked Manchester United out in the last 16, are a best of 8/11 to qualify, which looks about right.

Sporting’s recent away record in Europe is not great but of course they don’t have to win the match to reach the final.

Athletic have impressed in this competition but such has been their stuttering domestic form – they are only sixth in the Primera Division – you can’t help but fear they will throw in one of their shockers in Europe eventually.

We’ll swerve this one and keep our fingers crossed for a goal feast on the east coast where a goal for either Jonas or Falcao will ensure a profit.

source: www.bettingzone.co.uk

Wayne Rooney was the only significant absentee from the open portion of training ahead of Manchester United’s Europa League last-32 decider against Ajax at Old Trafford tomorrow.

There has been no suggestion of an injury to Rooney, although with an important Barclays Premier League trip to Norwich looming on Sunday, manager Sir Alex Ferguson will not want to take any chances with his star man.

The remainder of United’s first-team squad were present, including midfielder Anderson, who has been missing recently.

On a windy day during which temporary fences erected to shield building work at United’s Carrington training complex blew down, long-time absentee Michael Owen was spotted doing some jogging on his own as he tries to battle back from injury.

Owen has not featured for United since suffering a thigh muscle problem in a Champions League group phase match against Otelul Galati in November.

United would appear to be in little danger of early elimination following their 2-0 first-leg win in Amsterdam last week. Victory would secure a last-16 meeting with either Lokomotiv Moscow or Athletic Bilbao next month.

Source sportinglife.com

Andre Villas-Boas admitted speculation over his future would only intensify after Chelsea lurched to yet another defeat that left them in danger of Champions League elimination.

Villas-Boas watched his Blues produce their latest defensive horror show to lose their last-16 first leg 3-1 and pile the pressure on their beleaguered boss.

And he acknowledged afterwards his side had shot themselves in the foot yet again as they extended their winless run to five matches.

The Portuguese has repeatedly insisted he has the full backing of billionaire owner Roman Abramovich but this performance would have done nothing to convince the Russian to deliver the vote of confidence his manager now needs more than ever.

“Speculation will continue as the results don’t happen,” Villas-Boas said.

Having thrown away leads with alarming regularity both at home and abroad this season, Chelsea duly did so again as captain John Terry’s injury absence continued to tell.

Juan Mata gave them the dream start but all three of Napoli’s subsequent goals were the result of poor defending, even if Edinson Cavani’s second carried suspicions of handball.

Villas-Boas said: “We have to solve these mistakes at the back.

“We need this concentration right and this efficiency right, for sure.

“At the moment, without John, a very important player for the team, we have suffered a lot of goals recently.

“We had improved a lot at the beginning of January, so we have missed John.

“But we have full belief in these players and we have to continue to work with them to get it right.”

David Luiz’s latest mistake was the most costly, gifting Napoli the third goal that made them firm favourites to win the tie.

“It’s obvious that that player has become a target,” said Villas-Boas.

“He’s a fantastic young player with a big future ahead of him, and he has to work to try and be a bit better.

“We suffered three goals. If he’s linked to one, he might not be linked to the other two.”

As well as taking flak for standing by Luiz, Villas-Boas is bound to face criticism for his decision not to start either Frank Lampard or Michael Essien.

Much has been made of the Chelsea boss’ relationship with Lampard in particular, but he insisted his team selection was purely tactical, while Ashley Cole did not start after only just recovering from injury.

“You can have your opinion but it was based on what was the best team in my thoughts,” Villas-Boas said.

“Whatever explanation I give you, in the end it would be a fantastic explanation if we’d won the game.

“Any explanation is now useless given the result of the game, so there’s no point.”

Villas-Boas, who admitted one of the formations he had been toying with but did not end up using had been written on a piece of paper left at the team hotel, added: “I had a conversation with Ashley and Frank.

“Through the players that they are and the players with the experience they have, they felt they could have helped the team.

“That’s perfectly understandable.”

Only three teams have overturned a two-goal first-leg deficit in Champions League history but a defiant Villas-Boas said: “I want us to be the fourth.”

He added: “It’s a negative result, of course, but a result we are sure we can turn around at the Bridge due to the amount of chances we had.”

source: sportinglife.com

It is understood that interim England coach Stuart Pearce will name an inexperienced squad for a friendly date with Holland.

Pearce, who has been handed the national reins in the wake of Fabio Capello’s resignation, is set to announce his squad on Thursday.

It is expected that he will take the opportunity to experiment, with a number of senior stars set to be overlooked.

A meeting with Holland at Wembley on 29th February will see England step up their preparations for Euro 2012.

They need to start piecing together plans for that tournament, but are keen to take a look at as many players as possible before a decision has to be made regarding their final 23-man squad.

As manager of the U21 side, Pearce is fully aware of what the next generation of English talent could bring to the fold.

He is expected to call on a number of those he has worked with during his time with the Young Lions, offering them an opportunity to impress on the biggest stage.

source: sportinglife.com

John Terri is set to be out for up to two months after aggravating his knee injury, Press Association Sport understands.

Terry is due to undergo what is understood to be a small procedure on the right knee that has been troubling him ever since he collided with a post in last month’s FA Cup clash with Portsmouth.

Blues boss Andre Villas-Boas had been hoping the 31-year-old would recover in time for Tuesday night’s Champions League clash at Napoli.

But, despite taking part in training last night, the England centre-back woke up in considerable pain at Chelsea’s team hotel this morning and will now miss Tuesday night’s game and next week’s international friendly against Holland.

The news is huge blow to the club, who have not won a match or kept a clean sheet since Terry was first ruled out three weeks ago.

A two-month absence would see him miss potential Champions League and FA Cup quarter-finals as well as a host of crucial Barclays Premier League games as Chelsea struggle to secure a place in the top four.

Terry had played through the pain of what was bruising on the bone for three weeks and the club were hoping a period of rest would see him make a full recovery.

But he is now set to undergo a small procedure in the next 24 hours after the Blues fly home from Tuesday night’s Champions League last 16 first leg.

England caretaker manager Stuart Pearce is scheduled to name his squad for next Wednesday’s friendly with Holland on Thursday morning.

Terry’s absence relieves Pearce of the problem of having to decide whether to pick both the deposed captain and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand.

Terry lost the armband while he awaits trial for allegedly using a racist slur against Ferdinand’s brother, QPR’s Anton Ferdinand.

Terry denies any wrongdoing and the Football Association’s decision to strip him of the captaincy led to Fabio Capello quitting as England boss almost two weeks ago.

Source sportinglife.com