Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone. And may all your festive sport be magical.

Fashion Files - Light and Shade

Its that time of year again. Figure skating is back and the Grand Prix series is upon us. It may be the early stages of the season but already the fashion stakes have been raised. There have been some big, bold costuming statements made this season so let's jump right in fashion fans.

Fashion Files - World Athletics Championships

As you all know we love bringing you a bit of sartorial silliness with our fashion files series and after being inspired by the World Athletics Championships, we decided that we simply had to expand the range of fashion files. So hold on to your (celebration) hats everyone and join us trackside.

he ain't heavy he's (not) my brother

Inspired by Allyson Felix's brother Wes Jimmy Vicaut tries to assist Christophe LeMaitre after his injury in Moscow. Christophe is not so sure....

Early Impressions of Moscow 2013

So the World Athletics Championships kicked off in Moscow today. There were plenty of brilliant early moments; Italy's silver medal in the women's marathon, Mo Farah winning 10,000 m gold and a brilliant beginning to the decathlon competition but I want to focus on the 100 m.

The Continuing musical adventures of Neymar

A little while ago, in our Olympics hotlist, we told you about Neymar and his fondness for singing. Well it turns out that we were only scratching the surface. So without further ado we present to you Neymar's musical adventures.

Olympic Spirit

I'm sure you're all aware that there's something big going on down in London and I'm sure you're also aware that I LOVE the Olympics. And its been brilliant so far.

A Grand Finale

So Spain were once again crowned Champions of Europe on Sunday after a 4-0 win over victory in the Euro 2012 final. I had predicted Germany would win the whole thing but they were overcome by a storming performance by a valiant Italian side. I had thought before the kick off that Italy might be able to edge Spain but that also was not to be. I had not counted on the Spain's effortless switch into a higher gear for the final when previously they had looked to be struggling and short of the fluidity and attacking edge we've all come to know so well. Unfortunately for Italy, it also seemed to be just a game too far for them with first Giorgio Chiellini and then- disastrously after all three subs had been used- Thiago Motta succumbing to injury problems. I thought Italy fought valiantly and at times during the match it looked like they might be capable of pulling something back and they looked brighter once Federico Balzaretti and Antonio di Natale came on but there was only so much they could do against Spain's suffocating endless posession, especially after they went a man down. Its not all doom and gloom for Italy though, I think there's real potential in that squad and they've really restored pride in their national side. Spain were way better than they had been at any point during the rest of the tournament and looked almost back to their 2008-2010 best. Its hard to pick out individual performances when the whole team was excellent but Sergio Ramos looked very strong and seems to have grown a lot as a player, Gerard Pique was also excllent at the back. Jordi Alba looks a hell of a prospect and his run down the wing was just electrifying. The Spanish celebrations were lovely to watch too. It was really sweet seeing them all bring their kids onto the pitch to join in the celebrations, especially watching Fernando Torres unleash his inner princess by joyfully frolicking in the glitter confetti with his daughter. Also a lovely touch were the t-shirts worn by Sergio Ramos and Cesc Fabregas commemorating Miki Roque, Antonio Puerta, Dani Jarque and Manolo Preciado. It was a simple but very touching gesture that along with the strong family presence made the celebrations that bit more meaningful and allowed it to transcend the barriers of football with a lovely personal touch. All in all its been a really good tournament full of both exceptional footbball and wonderful moments, stay tuned for the traditional awards type post...you know players, teams, goals of the tournament, that sort of stuff.

Paying the Penalty

So we're at the semi final stage of Euro 2012 and the drama has been ratcheted up. The last quarter final (England v Italy)  and the first semi final both went to dramatic penalty shoot outs. Similarly dramatic as I've said but vastly differing in a few ways.

Euro 2012 - progress report

I've been a little remiss on my posting lately as HQ is currently slightly chaotic with some DIY happening. But I can assure you i have not been remiss in watchinng the Euros. So the early excitement of the group stages has now given way to the intensity and drama of the knockout stages. So I'm feeling the need to collect my thoughts so far.

Euro 2012 - Impressions so far

The Euros are officially here! Weeks of glorious, dramatic, unpredictable football. And so far its been pretty decent.

(late) feliz cumpleaños dani

I've been very remiss readers. I forgot Dani's birthday. Considering the ridiculous amount of time I spend thinking about varying aspects of Dani's life and career, so much I could act as some sort of semi-official sponsor of his, its frankly outrageous that I've forgotten his special day. So Sports Wall would like to send massive belated birthday wishes (and mental hugs) to the tiny little boy that holds a big place in my heart. Happy Birthday. And to mark the special event here's the early draft version of Dani and Valentino.

Like a fine wine

Once again we've forgotten a special day. Two days ago was the birthday of a legend. Not just a legend, a man who is pretty much a hero to me. But this man is a very under appreciated legend. We here at Sport's Wall would like to rectify that situation, so here is his own personal trubute. Happy (belated) 38th Birthday Filippo Inzaghi. I've pretty much grown up watching Super Pippo poaching goals and straying offside. I think I may have elucidated on my affection for him before but since it was his special day I think its a subject that deserves a revisit. Plus I want to appreciate him as much as I can while he's still playing. I absolutely dread the day he retires because I honestly can't even contemplate how devastated I'll be when it happens. He's been such a big part of my football life, he was one of the first footballers that I remember loving regardless of who they played for. I loved him when he played for Juve, all cute and boyish with his floppy fringe. I've loved him at Milan for years , loved his hilarious persistence in getting caught offside and his hilariously geniune bafflement when he's caught for it. And I still love him now, with the most beautifully eloquent expression of displeasure I've ever seen. To my eyes he still looks as good as he ever did and I for one can't wait for him to return triumphantly from his knee injury. So a very very happy birthday to you Pippo. Sports Wall loves you and we always will.

A Special Birthday

Today is a special day. Its special because its a very special boy's birthday. Today is Robin van Persie's birthday. As you know we're pretty massive fans of RvP here at Sports Wall. We love his free kick taking skills. We love his floppy hands and how he flails when he runs. We love his feisty side, when he gets all fighty. We love his accent. We just plain love the man. Also we love that we've sat in his seat in the Emirates dressing room. We love that 'dutch arms' have become part of our life because of him. We also love that along with the stellar assistance of my dad we've developed a special sing-song sort of dutch accent way of saying his name just to make matches more fun. So nothing gives us more pleasure than creating a little birthday tribute for our favourite Dutch master.
We sincerely hope the rest of the boys are throwing him some sort of party while they're away in Portugal and we really really hope that  their birthday gift for him is a win today. Plus cake. You can't have a birthday without cake.

A Fond Farewell for Fabio

Sad neews reaches us at HQ. Five years to the day since he heroically led Italy to world cup glory, Fabio Cannavaro has announced he is retiring due to a serious knee injury. Sigh, there goes another one of our favourite veterans. He's a player I've grown up watching and I sincerely hope he will go into management as he still has so much he can offer to the game. His towering performances at the 2006 world cup were one of my highlights of the entire tournament and seeing him on the verge of tears after Italy's elimination at last year's World Cup was absolutley shattering but also a testament to how much he cares and what a true captain he is. So Sports Wall would like to say a massive thank you to Fabio for all the wonderful years of wonderful football. We'll miss you Fabio!

The long awaited return

It's been a long wait but finally this weekend Dani returned to the Moto GP paddock. And of course there was a rather tall Italian waiting to greet him on his return. Unfortunatley it wasn't Valentino Rossi but Marco Simoncelli the cause of his absence. Poor Marco attempted to do the decent thing and shake Dani's hand in an attempt to put all the animosty behind them but Dani was having none of it. I was a little disappointed in Dani and his refusal of the handshake. I just didn't think he was that kind of person, he always seemed more mature than that to me. Don't get me wrong I understand why he would feel angry at Marco but I don't think continuing to blame him helps anyone. Maybe Valentino can have a word with him and help the situation since he's apparently friends with both of them. Having said that, I did enjoy Dani's deadpan declaration that "there's nothing in his [Marco's] head but hair." The race itself was pretty good with some exciting battles the whole way through the field. Dani foughtt his way from fourteenth up to seventh, which on his return from injury is pretty damn good. Jorge Lorenzo and Andrea Dovizioso put in sterling performances pipping Casey at the end of the race and throwing the chammpionship right back open. Also little baby Marc (Marquez) won again! Yay. We're quite fond of little baby Marc at HQ largely because he looks like the love child of Bojan Krkic and Justin Bieber.

Service with a smile

There was a big big reason to celebrate here at HQ yesterday. Wimbledon, third round, Centre Court....picture it. Feliciano Lopez steps out onto court against Andy Rodick, a player he's lost to seven times,, including reecently at Queen's. Then...BOOM...Ace. A pattern begins. But not just a pattern of big serves, a pattern of some beautiful volleying and exquisite passing shots. Flic is ON his game today. Then sudddenly he's making the eighth seed look very ordinary in the first set tiebreak. Then it happens again in the second tiebreak. In the third set the damn breaks and so does Flic. It's glorious, fist-pumping, vamos-ing, hair shaking glorious. I could not be prouder. I've been supporting Flic for a long time, since number 90 in the world to be precise, but his ranking has never mattered to me, its his game in  all its flowing aesthetic glory. In full flow he's a beautiful sight to behold, he has awonderful languid grace to all his movements and i could honestly write reams about how gorgeous his tennis strokes are. Another highlight of Flic's match was the commentary of the man, the legend Boris Becker. He's fast becoming a favourite a HQ with his left-field remarks. The other day, one of his fellow commentators pointed out Noel Fielding in the crowd, to which Boris promptly responded "the guy in the middle? That's not a woman?!" Then during Flic's match he began musing to himself about the state of Andy Roddick's nails, reasoning that biting them that far down must hurt. The piece de resistance came when he spotted Roddick's wife (a swim wear model, who's been in Sports Illustrated.) His thoughts? "Anyone seen the swimsuit issue? (pause) I HAVE!" Genius.

Boy Watch - Internationals and Testing

Lets cast our eyes around to catch up with some of our favourite boys. Firstly there's been some Moto GP testing going on at Sepang (in Malaysia.) We're extremely pleased to report that Dani Pedrosa came top of the pile for two out of the three days and Andrea Dovizioso was also consistently good reaching third. Marco Simoncelli managed to finish top on the last day which meant that all in all it was a very useful test for Honda. Valentino Rossi hovered around twelfth but to be fair he's recovering from a shoulder injury. I'm often pretty sceptical about these pre-season things and I think that you can't read too much into as the riders have been on an lengthy break and they're not using the full package and settings on the bike. Having said that I'm still happy that Dani's leading the field.
In the world of football, there's been plenty of international matches going on this week. Pretty much all of them have been friendlies but plenty of major football nations have been in action. The Arsenal boys were out in force with a  whole bunch of them representing France (including Laurent Koscielny fo the first time.) Theo and Jackie Wilshere were representing England against Nicklas Bendtner and his Danish mates (including blog favorite Simon Kjaer.) Our hero Tomas Rosicky captained the Czech republic and also scored a goal! Finally. However he also 'collected' a groin injury. Sigh. Cesc and Robin weren't allowed to go out and play and had to stay at home on the flimsy premise of flu.

Moto GP - Dispatches from the frat house

We're very pleased to bring you some very exclusive post-awards gossip from the end of season FIM party. Courtesy of our top secret mole within the Moto GP frat house *cough*Randy*cough.* It was hangovers a go go around the dorm after what we hear was a very fun evening.
We hear the last man standing was our favourite poker playing, furry Italian who woke up the rest of the house with a very predictable tumble down the stairs.
Rumours of a hard-core karaoke contest are unconfirmed but very persistent. Our French friend apparently has a penchant for 'Je t'aime.' A certain Texan is a very big Springsteen fan and most definitely 'born in the USA.' Our resident Italian sweetheart is very keen to 'get physical' on the dancefloor. A certain excitable former champion was keen to demonstrate that 'nobody does it better.' And a certain other recent champion has '99 problems' but a bitch ain't one. yo.
Someone *coughaustraliancough* got thrown in the pool for being a party pooper by the kentucky frat boy .
We have sketchy reports of two nameless people sneaking off into a corner like teenage sweethearts, the only details we got from our inebriated source being that one was very short and one was very tall.
From what we saw, the living room are was also trashed after a student-esque after party. And lots of people suddenly acquired sunglasses the next day.

International Watch

I watched the France- England game the other night. Of course you did, you might say, you live in england. But i'll have you know i was more interested in seeing who was in the french squad. Its unusual for me to watch england matches especially as they seem to win when I watch them (i still shudder at the thought of that Croatia match.) But i will make an exception in the case of a good opponent. Hence the other night.
It was a good match really. France were very slick and have clearly made massive steps forward since the debacle in the summer. Samir Nasri was absolutley amazing all night and man of the hour Bacary Sagna also put in a cracking performance. England were by and large inactive. A bright spot was Andy Carroll who did work very hard and if ITV's commentary team are to be believed can also walk on water and heal the sick.
A side note- Maroune Chamakh scored for Morocco,  RvP played 45 mins for Holland and came through unscathed and new Sports Wall favourite Morten Gamst Pedersen scored one and set one up for Norway.