Euro 2012 Play-offs 1st leg


Estonia v Ireland Skysports HD1 7.45pm

The Republic of Ireland will have been delighted with the draw for the play-offs and now have an excellent chance of making their first major finals since 2002. Ireland’s defence has been solid throughout the qualifying group stages and they will be looking to come away with at least a draw from the first leg. The bookmakers have priced up the draw at odds of 11-5 and a 1-1 outcome looks attractive at odds of 11-2.

Bosnia-Herzegovina v Portugal 7.00pm ITV4

Bosnia came so close to gaining automatic qualification at the expense of France but a late goal means they must now overcome Portugal, themselves sent into the play-offs after a final match defeat at the hands of Denmark. What Bosnia may lack in big names they make up for in team spirit and they could be worth supporting at odds of 5-2 to pull off a shock victory. Most bookmakers offer a tempting 12-1 about Bosnia winning 2-1 with Manchester City striker Edin Dzeko priced at 6-1 to open the scoring.


Turkey v Croatia 7.00pm ESPN

Croatia are favourites to overcome Turkey for a place in the finals but will be sure of a hostile reception in this first leg and will be more than satisfied if they can come away with a draw. The draw is freely available at 11-5 whilst a 0-0 result pays 7-1.


Czech Republic v Montenegro 7.15pm


The Czech Republic will be strong favourites to overcome Montenegro and can make the most of home advantage in this first leg. Bet365 offer 3-1 against more than 3 goals being scored and that could be worth taking. You can also get 16-1 with Ladbrokes against a 3-1 win for the Czechs.

Friendly Internationals


Cyprus v Scotland 6.00pm BBC2

Scotland showed signs of a revival towards the end of their ill-fated Euro 2012 campaign and will be looking to continue on an upward curve. I can see them poaching a 1-0 win here which is freely available at 6-1.

November 12th:


Wales v Norway 3pm Skysports HD2

Wales have also shown significant improvement in recent games, winning three of their last four. Norway are tough opponents and a draw seems the most likely outcome at odds of 12-5. An entertaining game could be on the cards and it could be worth taking odds of 16-1 about a 2-2 draw. Gareth Bale did this column a favour when opening the scoring for Spurs at Fulham at the rewarding odds of 11-1. If he is on the team sheet for this friendly odds of 9-1 against him repeating the trick could be too tempting to pass over.

England v Spain 5.15pm ITV1

Spain go into this match a shade of odds-on to come away with a victory and that looks a fair assessment. The European and World Champions have been brushing the opposition aside with any team they put out and they have indicated a strong starting line up for Wembley on Saturday. Far from rallying his troops, Capello has voiced fears that his under-strength team will struggle to cope with the quality of the Spanish passing game and 10-11 about Spain looks as if it might be a good investment. David Silva tormented Scotland when ending their Euro 2012 hopes with two goals and he could be a good bet to open the scoring at 8-1. William Hill offer 5-1 against Spain winning by 2 goals and that looks worth a bet.

England’s mission in Montenegro on Oct 7th is to earn a win or a draw to make sure they finish on top of Group G in Euro 2012 qualifying. Montenegro has to win their last two games to take the group as England has a six point lead on them heading into the match.

England is king of the group at the moment with five victories and two draws for 17 points. Montenegro has a total of 11 points which they earned through three wins a loss and two draws. There are still several scenarios possible in this group as England could finish either in first or second while Montenegro could end up first, second or third.

The winner of the group automatically qualifies for Euro 2012 while the second-place finishers have to go through a two-legged playoff fixture. If Montenegro can beat England they’ll have the opportunity to win the group four days later when they take on Switzerland in an away game. However, if Montenegro fails to beat the Swiss then England still wins the group.

The other scenario would see Montenegro finishing in third place if they lose their last two games and Switzerland wins their last two, away against Wales and at home to Montenegro. Switzerland could also overtake them for second place if Montenegro draws England and Switzerland wins their two games and even if Montenegro beats England and the Swiss pull off two wins and edge out Montenegro by goal difference.

Group G Standings

It’s all quite confusing at the moment, but one thing’s for certain on Friday and that’s England winning the group on a win or draw. Even though England and Montenegro could end up with 17 points each, Montenegro would edge them out on the basis of head-to-head competition providing they win this game as their first matchup ended in a 0-0 draw at Wembley last year.

England finally looks to have some strength up front with Danny Welbeck, Wayne Rooney, Andy Carroll, Bobby Zamora, and Darren Bent up front. Jermaine Defoe, Peter Crouch, Michael Owen, and Daniel Sturridge are excellent strikers who didn’t make the team. It’d be ridiculous for manager Fabio Capello to go with just one striker considering his options.

Welbeck has five goals in his last six games and Rooney is off to a flying start and leads the EPL. Midfielder Frank Lampard is also hot with four goals in his last two games, including a hat trick against Bolton on the weekend. Capello had the sense to drop the vastly overrated Rio Ferdinand, who’s nothing but a liability in the back four. They will miss Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard who’s out with an injury though.

Predictions for Montenegro vs England

Montenegro will have defender Savo Pavicevic in the squad after he missed last month’s game against Wales due to a suspension. Milan Jovanovic, Miodrag Dzudovic, and Marko Basa are all back as well after missing the Welsh game because of injury.
Both teams control their own destiny, but Montenegro has the tougher task of having to win both of their games. England might not beat them here, but should do enough to get the draw they need to qualify for Euro 2012.

Sportsbook William Hill has the odds of a Montenegro win at 4/1 and an England win at 8/11 with a draw at 5/2

Full Squads:

Montenegro:


Goalkeepers: Mladen Božović (Videoton FC), Srđan Blažić (Panetolikos GFS)


Defenders: Marko Baša (LOSC Lille Métropole), Milan Jovanović (PFC Spartak Nalchik), Stefan Savić (Manchester City FC), Radoslav Batak (FK Mogren), Savo Pavičević (Maccabi Tel-Aviv FC), Miodrag Džudović (PFC Spartak Nalchik), Luka Pejović (Jagiellonia Białystok)


Midfielders/Forwards: Elsad Zverotić (BSC Young Boys), Milorad Peković (SpVgg Greuther Fürth), Mitar Novaković (FC Amkar Perm), Vladimir Božović (FC Rapid Bucureşti), Mladen Kašćelan (ŁKS Łódź), Nikola Drinčić (FC Krasnodar), Marko Ćetković (Jagiellonia Białystok), Petar Grbić (Olympiacos FC), Simon Vukčević (Blackburn Rovers FC)

England:


Goalkeepers: Scott Carson (Bursaspor), Joe Hart (Manchester City FC), David Stockdale (Ipswich Town FC)


Defenders: Leighton Baines (Everton FC), Gary Cahill (Bolton Wanderers FC), Ashley Cole (Chelsea FC), Phil Jagielka (Everton FC), Phil Jones (Manchester United FC), Micah Richards (Manchester City FC), John Terry (Chelsea FC), Kyle Walker (Tottenham Hotspur FC)


Midfielders: Gareth Barry (Manchester City FC), Stewart Downing (Liverpool FC), Adam Johnson (Manchester City FC), Frank Lampard (Chelsea FC), James Milner (Manchester City FC), Scott Parker (Tottenham Hotspur FC), Theo Walcott (Arsenal FC), Ashley Young (Manchester United FC)


Forwards: Darren Bent (Aston Villa FC), Andy Carroll (Liverpool FC), Wayne Rooney (Manchester United FC), Danny Welbeck (Manchester United FC), Bobby Zamora (Fulham FC).

BATE Borisov will have a tough task ahead of them on September 28th 2011 when they take on reigning Spanish and European champions Barcelona at home in Minsk in a Group H Champions League game. Borisov have been beaten at home by their previous two Spanish opponents, Real Madrid and Villarreal.

All teams in the group are level on one point each after they all drew in their opening round matches. Barcelona drew 2-2 at home with Italian club AC Milan with while Borisov tied FC Viktoria Plzeň 1-1 on the road.

Borisov, the reigning champions from Belarus will be looking for their first ever home win in the Champions League group stages. They made the tournament in 2008/09, but only managed a draw in their three home matches. However, since the beginning of last season they’ve only lost at home once in European competitions, as reported to WCBetting.com.

FC Barcelona has never played a match in Belarus before, but they’ve won their last two Champions League road games dating back to last season when they had three wins, a loss and two draws away from home.

Borisov has four wins and a draw in their last five games dating back to February as their league hasn’t started yet. Barcelona has two wins and three draws in their last five outings including a 5-0 win over Atletico Madrid on the weekend when Lionel Messi scored a hat trick.

Barcelona, as we all know, could very well be the best football team on the planet at the moment. But even the best teams get beaten sometimes, especially if they’re not properly motivated for the game. It might be a bit hard for them to get up for this match in Minsk, but knowing what lies at the end of the rainbow in May should do the trick.

Borisov will be at a disadvantage since their only games recently have been in Europe. It doesn’t matter how often you train, it’s just not the same as game action. Barcelona has been pretty explosive this season with 5-0 and 8-0 wins in league play, but the atmosphere in Minsk should mean that this game will remain at a respectable score for the home side.

Betting Predictions for Bate vs Barcelona

Don’t expect Borisov to win the match or even draw it for that matter, but they shouldn’t lose by any more than two goals.

William Hill has the odds of a Borisov win at 14/1 and a Barcelona victory at 1/6. A draw is listed at 6/1.

This means the South African’s could face one of the continent’s top teams, such as Ghana, Nigeria, Egypt, or the Ivory Coast, in a two-legged playoff round with a home and away game for each team. Kirsten Nematandani, who is the president of the South African Football Association, stated the obvious when he said it isn’t good news for South Africa.

He said that south Africa had hoped to earn a spot among the top five nations in Africa so they would be seeded and wouldn’t have to play one of the continent’s other top teams. He added that anything can happen in an open draw and they’ll just have to play the best they can to beat whoever they’re drawn against in the playoff round.

South Africa were lucky enough to have received a bye in the first round of qualifying games for the 2014 World Cup, but will face Central African Republic, Botswana, and Somalia or Ethiopia in a round-robin format in the next round of qualifying. This qualifying stage will narrow the teams down to the final 10 teams who will then have to pair off against each other.

Fortunately for them, South Africa is the top-ranked nation in their qualifying group and is expected to make it to the final 10 teams. However, the other favourites in their groups are Ivory Coast, Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria, Senegal, Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Algeria, and Tunisia. This means the playoff rounds for the five 2014 World Cup spots in Brazil are going to be hard for all of the teams involved and a place in the Finals will be well earned.

The game, at Loftus Road, also has some interesting side plots, such as ex-Newcastle player Joey Barton facing his former teammates in his debut for QPR. The 29-year-old Barton was let go on a free transfer two weeks ago after the controversial player criticized Newcastle on several Twitter posts. He signed a four-year deal with the London club on Aug. 26th.

QPR also has a new owner since Tony Fernandes, a Malaysian businessman, took over a month ago. Along with Barton, the club also signed several other players such as Luke Young, Shaun Wright-Phillips, Armand Traore, Jason Puncheon, and Anton Ferdinand.

However, fullback Young, who came over from Aston Villa, will probably miss the game due to an injured knee. Defender Bradley Orr will likely sit out the game too with a groin problem. Kieron Dyer will be missing from QPR’s midfield with a foot injury and striker Heidar Helguson is likely to miss the game with a sore groin. However, Clint Hill returns from suspension and DJ Campbell has recovered from his virus.

Newcastle will have to play without the services of striker Shola Ameobi, who has a foot injury, as well as midfielder Hatem Ben Arfa and defender Mike Williamson. Look for new signing Davide Santon of Inter Milan to start on the bench. Keeper Steve Harper could be in the squad along with Danny Guthrie, but Haris Vuckic is out with a broken hand and Mehdi Abeid has an injured knee.

Newcastle opened the season with a 0-0 draw against Arsenal and then beat Sunderland 1-0 and Fulham 2-1. QPR were embarrassed 4-0 at home by Bolton in their first game and then beat Everton 1-0 away before losing 2-0 in another road game to Wigan.

Newcastle has gone home with all three points after their last two visits to Loftus Road. They don’t have the strongest lineup in the EPL at the moment, but are holding their own. They still need a top striker after losing Andy Carroll last season.

Predictions and betting for QPR vs Newcastle

QPR actually has several skilled players, with the likes of Wright-Phillips, Campbell, and Young, and should be able to pull out a draw at home here.

Online Sportsbook William Hill has the odds of a QPR win listed at 6/4 with a Newcastle victory at 19/10. The odds of a draw are 21/10.

Ireland and Slovakia share the top of the group with Russia with all three countries sitting on 13 points. They all have four wins, a draw, and a loss. However Ireland and Russia have a plus five goal difference with Slovakia at plus two. Russia faces Macedonia at home the same day, making this game all the more important for Ireland and Slovakia.

The last time they met in Euro 2012 qualifying in October the match ended 1-1 in Slovakia. Ireland beat them 2-0 at home and fought to a 2-2 draw in Slovakia in Euro 2008 qualifying as well. Ireland has four wins and a draw in their last five matches overall with Slovakia winning three and losing two in their last five.

Ireland will be counting on Robbie Keane to lead the attack like he usually does. Keane recently joined the Los Angeles Galaxy after leaving England’s Tottenham Hotspur. He’s Ireland’s all-time top scorer with 51 goals in 109 matches.

Irish manager Giovanni Trapattoni left Marc Wilson, Jon Walters, and James McCarthy out of the squad of 25 as punishment for not joining the team in May for the Carling Nations Cup. All three of them also pulled out of the squad earlier in August when Ireland was set to take on Croatia in an international friendly.

However, Trapattoni hasn’t closed the door on them completely and they could be recalled in the future. In addition, Wigan have said that McCarthy wasn’t able to join up with the squad earlier in august because he was suffering from an ankle injury at the time. But Trapattoni said that all players should report to the squad even if they’re injured so they can be checked out by the team’s own medical staff.

Predictions for Ireland vs Slovakia on Sep 2nd

Ireland are on a hot streak right now and with Russia likely to take three points against Macedonia they need this game badly. Slovakia is in the same boat so it should make for a dramatic match. They might not win the match, but Ireland won’t lose it. Look for a win or draw for the Irish. Find more Euro 2012 predictions here.

Sportsbook William Hill has the odds of an Irish win even at 1/1 at with a Slovakia victory at 16/5 and a draw at 21/10.


Republic of Ireland squad:


Goalkeepers: Shay Given (Aston Villa FC), Keiren Westwood (Sunderland AFC), David Forde (Millwall FC).


Defenders: John O’Shea (Sunderland AFC), Kevin Foley (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Stephen Kelly (Fulham FC), Stephen Ward (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Richard Dunne (Aston Villa FC), Kevin Kilbane (Derby County FC), Sean St Ledger (Leicester City FC), Darren O’Dea (Leeds United AFC).


Midfielders: Glenn Whelan (Stoke City FC), Darron Gibson (Manchester United FC), Keith Andrews (Ipswich Town FC), Andy Keogh (Leeds United AFC), Aiden McGeady (FC Spartak Moskva), Damien Duff (Fulham FC), Stephen Hunt (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Liam Lawrence (Portsmouth FC), Keith Treacy (Burnley FC).


Forwards: Robbie Keane (LA Galaxy), Kevin Doyle (Wolverhampton Wanderers FC), Shane Long (West Bromwich Albion FC), Simon Cox (West Bromwich Albion FC).


Slovakia Squad:



Goalkeepers: Ján Mucha (Everton FC), Marián Kello (Heart of Midlothian FC).


Defenders: Peter Pekarík (VfL Wolfsburg), Martin Škrtel (Liverpool FC), Ľubomír Michalík (Carlisle United FC), Ján Ďurica (FC Lokomotiv Moskva), Kornel Saláta (FC Rostov), Tomáš Hubočan (FC Zenit St Petersburg), Marek Čech (West Bromwich Albion FC).


Midfielders: Karim Guédé, Igor Žofčák (both ŠK Slovan Bratislava), Juraj Kucka (Genoa CFC), Vladimír Weiss Jr (Manchester City FC), Miroslav Stoch (Fenerbahçe SK), Miroslav Karhan (FC Spartak Trnava), Róbert Jež (KSP Polonia Warsaw), Marek Hamšík (SSC Napoli).


Forwards: Filip Hološko (Beşiktaş JK), Filip Šebo (ŠK Slovan Bratislava), Erik Jendrišek (SC Freiburg), Róbert Vittek (MKE Ankaragücü), Stanislav Šesták (MKE Ankaragücü).

England sits on top of the group with 11 points from three wins and two draws while Bulgaria is in fourth place with five points from a win, two draws, and two losses. However, England is sharing top spot with Montenegro, who has the same record, but an inferior goal difference.

There will be a new look to England as manager Fabio Capello has called up three youngsters from Manchester United in Phil Jones, Tom Cleverly, and Chris Smalling. United’s Danny Welbeck may also have made the team if he hadn’t suffered an injury against Arsenal on Aug. 28th.

England has Wayne Rooney, Andy Carroll, Darren Bent, Theo Walcott, and Jermain Defoe up front. Peter Crouch, who hasn’t played yet this season for Spurs, was left out of the side. Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard is out with an injury as is Arsenal’s Jack Wilshire and as usual so is Rio Ferdinand of Manchester United.

Bulgarian manager Lothar Matthaus has called up two uncapped players by naming striker Georgi Bozhilov and midfielder Tsvetomir Tsonkov to the squad. Both play in their country’s domestic league. However, defender Apostol Popov is out with an injury as is midfielder Chavdar Yankov. Martin Petrov is questionable for the match.

Striker Valeri Bojinov, who plays in Portugal for Sporting Lisbon was left out of the squad as he’s not fully recovered from an injury. Martin Petrov and Stilian Petrov, who both play in the English Premier League, have been recalled after missing their team’s 1-0 loss to Belarus on Aug. 10th. Goalkeeper Nikolay Mihaylov is also back in the team. Alexander Tunchev will be playing his first match for Bulgaria since 2009 and defender Valentin Iliev will be playing in just his second game in the past two years.

England will likely need to leave Sofia with all three points since Montenegro is playing in Wales the same night and will probably beat the bottom placed team giving them 14 points. Bulgaria is a dark horse to win the group, but a win over England would give them eight points, just three behind the English. However, they’d need to depend on a lot of other results falling their way to top the group.

England was supposed to play on Aug. 10th against Holland, but the game was called off after riots broke out in the country so haven’t played since June. Capello has made six changes to the squad that was named for that game though. England beat Bulgaria 4-0 at home in their qualifier last year and has three wins and two draws in their past five contests. Bulgaria is as cold as ice with no wins in their past five, made up of three draws and two losses.

Bet on England v Bulgaria

The England team looks good on paper, but it often does and then doesn’t live up to its potential. They should still have enough skill here to win by a couple of goals though.
Sportsbook William Hill has the odds of an England win listed at 4/7 with a Bulgarian win at 4/1 and a draw at 5/2.

The full squads for this Euro 2012 qualifier game are:


Bulgaria:


Nikolay Mihaylov (Twente Enschede), Vladislav Stoyanov (Sherif Tiraspol), Ivan Bandalovski (CSKA Sofia), Ivan Ivanov (Partizan Belgrade), Valentin Iliev (Steaua Bucharest), Nikolay Bodurov (Litex Lovech), Petar Zanev (Litex Lovech), Zhivko Milanov (Vaslui), Alexander Tunchev (Crystal Palace), Kostadin Stoyanov (CSKA Sofia), Stilian Petrov (Aston Villa), Stanislav Manolev (PSV Eindhoven), Blagoy Georgiev (Terek Grozny), Tsvetomir Tsonkov (Chernomorets Burgas), Marquinhos (Anorthosis Famagusta), Ivelin Popov (Gaziantepspor), Georgi Sarmov (Kasimpasa), Spas Delev (CSKA Sofia), Martin Petrov (Bolton Wanderers), Tsvetan Genkov (Wisla Krakow), and Georgi Bozhilov (Cherno More Varna)

England:


Goalkeepers: Joe Hart (Man City), Robert Green (West Ham), and David Stockdale (Ipswich)

Defenders: Ashley Cole (Chelsea), Gary Cahill (Bolton), John Terry (Chelsea), Leighton Baines (Everton), Phil Jagielka (Everton), Chris Smalling (Man Utd), Phil Jones (Man Utd), Micah Richards (Man City), and Joleon Lescott (Man City).


Midfielders: Stewart Downing (Liverpool), Gareth Barry (Man City), Adam Johnson (Man City), James Milner (Man City), Frank Lampard (Chelsea), Tom Cleverley (Man Utd), Ashley Young (Man Utd), and Scott Parker (West Ham).


Forwards: Theo Walcott (Arsenal), Darren Bent (Aston Villa), Andy Carroll (Liverpool), Wayne Rooney (Man Utd), Jermain Defoe (Tottenham)

Both Hungary and Sweden have a shot at taking first place in the group, but it’s unlikely as Holland would need to collapse during their last four games to blow top spot. However, Hungary and Sweden still have quite a bit to play for as whoever finishes in second place in this group could qualify for Euro 2012 as one of the best second-place teams. Sweden has a pretty good position right now and will strengthen it with a win in Hungary. However, a loss would see the two times level with 15 points each.

In their last three games against each other Sweden has won all of them, by scores of 2-1 away, 2-1 at home, and 2-0 at home. The last meeting, which was 2-0, was played almost a year ago to the day, on Sept. 3rd last year and was a Euro 2012 qualifier. The other two games were 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Hungary has won three and lost two of their last five games in total. Their last match, on Aug. 10th, was a 4-0 home win against Iceland. They won away 3-0 at San Marino in a Euro qualifier in June and beat Luxembourg away 1-0 in a friendly, also in June. Their previous two games were both losses to Holland in Euro qualifiers, 5-3 in Holland and 4-0 at home.

Sweden has won all of their last five games. These were a 1-0 win away to Ukraine on Aug. 10th as well as three Euro qualifying wins, which were 5-0 at home over Finland, 4-1 in Moldova, 2-1 at home against Moldova, and a 2-0 away win against Cyprus in a friendly.

Betting on Hungary vs Sweden

This is an enormous game for both teams and while Sweden is on a hot streak, don’t be surprised to see Hungary win this game or at least get a draw.

The WilliamHill sportsbook has the odds of Hungary winning at 4.50 and the odds of a Sweden victory at 1.77. A draw is listed at 3.40.

Rioting started in London on Saturday the 6th of August in the Tottenham area (home of Tottenham Hotspur FC) and continued for the rest of the week, first spreading to other areas of London and then to other cities including Manchester, Liverpool, Birmingham, Wolverhampton and Bristol.

The match between the two European heavyweights was due to take place in London on Wednesday the 10th. On Tuesday the 9th, the FA announced that they felt there was no choice to call off the game, offering a refund to the 70,000 people who had bought tickets to see the spectacle. As it was a friendly, the match does not have to be rescheduled elsewhere in the football calendar, and unfortunately for the fans, will simply go unplayed.

It seems that the decision to cancel the game was a prudent one, given that rioting continued on the 10th and an overstretched Metropolitan Police would have been in no way able to take on the duties they normally undertake for football matches held in the capital, and the influx of 70,000 people on the city may have exacerbated problems with transport – most importantly, visiting fans could have been put at risk.

This is not the only disruption the UK riots caused to the football world. In just the second week of the football season (and ahead of the first weekend of the Premiership), matches at some London grounds were cancelled because of the riots. Tottenham were due to be playing at home, and as Tottenham had been so central to the riots this game was postponed. Elsewhere in the English League, the Carling Cup matches West Ham v Aldershot, Crystal Palace v Crawley Town and Charlton v Reading were cancelled in London, and in Bristol, the tie between Bristol City and Swindon also failed to take place.

Some of England’s top players have spoken out against the rioters on social media site Twitter, with Manchester United and England stars Wayne Rooney and Rio Ferdinand among those who have condemned the rioters in their tweets. Some UK media outlets were accusing social media sites of making it easier for rioters to coordinate their attacks, but the number of celebrities (including those in the sport world) appealing for the riots to stop on their Twitter accounts shows that essentially, social media was being used on both sides of the argument.

The riots seem to have died down at this point, and hopefully this means that the English Football League, and indeed the rest of the country, can return to normal, though the ticket holders and all of the fans who were planning to watch on TV throughout Europe will not get to see England play Holland in 2011.

This is because Real Madrid thought it would be a good idea to sign the youngster to a year-long contract before cross-town rivals Atletico Madrid got their hands on him. Coira is signed and sealed and is scheduled to be delivered to one of Real’s youth academies on Sept. 6th.

Coira won’t receive any money while playing with the Spanish league runners up from last year, but his father is going to be paid travel expenses. Messi is Coira’s hero and he said he’d like to be just like him. But Coira’s got a pretty good head start since Messi was almost twice his age, 13, when he joined Barcelona. He then debuted with the senior squad after he turned 16.

Atletico Madrid also Interested

It was reported that a Real Madrid scout saw the seven-year-old play and thought he was pretty good. But once word got out that Atletico was also looking at him and interested, then Real made sure they locked up his services, at least for a year. If things work out well after a year and both the club and player are happy, then the deal can be extended for another year, and so on until he reaches 16.

Coira lives in Madrid with his family and has an older brother playing in the Spanish second division, so the team didn’t have to travel half way around the world to Argentina to find him. But signing a child at seven years old isn’t exactly new for Real, as a spokesman said they’ve signed younger kids in the past, but declined to name who and how old they were. It seems that cradle robbing seems to be a favourite pastime of the franchise.

So while other seven-year-olds are playing with their friends and learning how to tie their shoes, Coira will have the weight of the world on his shoulders as he’ll now feel pressured to produce or be deemed a failure. Who knows, maybe the kid will end up being the greatest player in the world, but if he doesn’t meet expectations it can stunt his growth mentally.

Many football players stand out above their teammates at a young age for many different reasons and it doesn’t mean a thing. However, if they can dominate games when they’re about 13 or 14 years old, then there could be some realistic potential there. It’s way too early to tell at seven years old how good a player could be.

It’d be interesting to know if Real would have signed the youngster if Atletico Madrid didn’t show any interest in him. Anyway, we’ll see if he’s re-signed next year. In the meantime Coira will also spend the next 12 months learning how to write his name… just in case.