1) The churlish may well say that Thierry Henry actually retired the day he signed up for Major League Soccer, but Bobby’s mate officially turned in his cards this week, so how about a celebration of his career? We shall start at the beginning, with this young colt bashing them in for Monaco all over the place. He then of course had a forgettable spell at Juventus, but footage survives of his year in Italy, soundtracked on this occasion with some fierce funk. How about the first goal for Arsenal, against Southampton in 1999? He scored a few more for the Gunners after that, of course. Someone, bless them, has also compiled all 106 of his assists for Arsenal, too. How about ripping Real Madrid a new one after joining Barcelona? Then there was this outrageous backheel for the New York Red Bulls after heading stateside. His international career perhaps wasn’t what it could have been, but he still scored more goals at the World Cup than you. Of course, not everything he did in a France shirt was quite so, erm, yes, well …
2) Another man departing the sporting stage (well, sort of) is Kumar Sangakkara, who played his last one-day international on home soil, as Sri Lanka handed England’s bottoms to them. Here’s his top Test score, a 319 against Bangladesh, top ODI score, 169 against South Africa and here he is guiding Sri Lanka home in the 2014 World Twenty20 final. And, if you’ve got a bit of time, we recommend his 2011 Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture. As handsome and erudite behind a lectern as he is with a bat.
3) Norwegian uber-child Martin Odegaard has been on a tour of European clubs as the likes of Liverpool, Arsenal and Bayern Munich try to woo him. See what all the fuss is about. Plus Graeme Souness offering out Jamie Redknapp with his eyes after Wednesday night’s Capital One Cup semi-final draw. And here’s one for the ‘failed football experiments’ file, with thanks to Football Clichés – kick-ins in the 1994-95 Diadora League.
4) Bubba Watson isn’t shy of a music video, and here’s his latest, festive offering – Bubba Claus. Seriously.
5) Where do you go for the finest overhead kick you’re likely to see this week? Why, the Latvian futsal league, of course. Here’s some more ‘acrobatics’ at the Dutch version of Sports Personality of the Year, as assorted celebs attempt ‘the Van Persie’. And finally, it was a little moist in the Cruz Azul v Western Sydney Wanderers Club World Cup game last weekend.
6) Here’s Nick Faldo being interviewed with Sean Connery by Terry Wogan in 1990.
Our favourites from last week’s blog
1) Step aside, Cristiano.
2) Usain Bolt races Jesse Owens. Well, sort of.
3) Hats off to BlackCaesar BTL, who last week guffawed: “Since it will be Boxing Day soon (nyu nyuk) let’s have a Manny Pacquiao love fest.” He then gave us a quite magnificent compendium of the great man’s career so far, starting with a 32-minute highlights package that covers his top 25 fights, moving on to his trio of epic bouts against Erik Morales – fight one and fight two and fight three. Then there’s his two-round destruction of Ricky Hatton, along with front, side and perhaps best/worst of all, back views of the crunching knockout punch. Strong work Mr/Mrs/Miss Caesar, strong work.
4) The Dutch headwind cycling championships. Sure.
5) Some more funnies, from BBC Grandstand in 1979.
6) And after laughing at Elton John last week, here’s the old boy being very nice and dedicating a song to Phillip Hughes at a concert recently.
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On 8 January, to be precise. Thanks for all your contributions through the year. Have a great Christmas.
