nando1000

Starting to heat up nicely, last weeks episode was quality

20 minute interview with Fowler http://www.liverpoolfc.com/video/latest-videos?#17496

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/mar/21/daniel-sturridge-liverpool-money-medals? Liverpool's Daniel Sturridge has scored 18 Premier League goals this season. Photograph Darren Staples/Reuters "He has said he wants to play football for a big club. The stage is set for him. There will be no excuses for him," Steven Gerrard January 2013 "If he wants to stay at the top level, this is probably his last chance."Brendan Rodgers January 2013 There was no triumphant fanfare to herald Daniel Sturridge's arrival atLiverpool. Doubts greeted him instead. Was money more important than his career? Did he demand to play as a central striker? Was 47 Premier League starts by the age of 23 a sign one of England's most promising talents had lost focus? Sturridge has answered the questions inside 14 months. Turns out he had lost his love for the game at Chelsea. Liverpool's gradual embrace has rekindled it. "When we were at Chelsea together Fernando Torres would always say Liverpool is amazing, always," the 24-year-old recalls. "Yossi Benayoun was the same. They both said it was the best club they had played for and that the fans will make you feel amazing. At the time I thought, 'I need a bit of that in my life because I am so low right now, I need to feel good about myself'. It was an easy decision to come here." Sturridge has earned Anfield's affection in this season of rediscovery for Liverpool. Only the world-class Luis Suarez can better his total of 18 Premier League goals in a campaign that has put Liverpool in sight of a first championship since 1990 and established Sturridge as a key figure for England ahead of the World Cup. Liverpool have corrected the career path of a lost player. In turn, Sturridge has been instrumental in correcting Liverpool's way towards a genuine title challenge. "It has definitely been a perfect fit," he admits. "Before I came I discussed the move with my dad and uncle, as a family, but mainly my dad and my uncle [the former Derby and Wolves striker Dean Sturridge]. My uncle said, 'It's the best place for you to go.' My dad and I shared the same opinion, that it was the perfect fit. "When the club came in I just wanted to get up the M6, sign on the dotted line and get to work. The appeal was in building something up and I was desperate to get here and show what I could do. I was hungry and I am still hungry. There is so much for us to achieve and we have not achieved anything yet. We have not achieved anywhere near what I want to achieve and I am sure the rest of the players feel the same. But we are going in the right direction and even though we have done so well this season, there is still a lot more to do." The speed of Liverpool's emergence as a title contender has surprised many, including the architect, Brendan Rodgers, who believes the club are 12 months ahead of schedule. Less so Sturridge. He was still mired in frustration at Chelsea during the first, problematic six months of the Liverpool manager's reign and has experienced only an upwards trajectory since his £12m transfer last January. Sturridge says: "I thought we could challenge because I have always had belief in the teams I have played for. When I came here it was a dream to be involved in winning titles, but it's important everyone realises it is an ongoing process. At the beginning of the season the aim was to get into the Champions League. Now we're getting towards the business end and we're up there, a lot of peoples' perception is that maybe we can win the league. "There are others in a better position than us, it's going to be very difficult, but we will see what happens. The way the boys are playing and the confidence we have, the camaraderie, is something I have not been part of for a long time." This season has altered the public perception of Sturridge's consistency and potency at the highest level. He is also keen to address allegations of self-interest, fuelled by a rapid succession of moves as a youngster – from Aston Villa to Coventry City to Manchester City as a schoolboy – and then the controversial decision to reject a £45,000-a-week contract offer from City to join Chelsea for an initial £3.5m 'development fee' in July 2009, becoming the highest-paid teenager in English football in the process. The open, engaging Sturridge charts his journey in minute detail and insists there is a common thread – to play football and to express himself while doing so. When discussing the influence of Rodgers he states how the Liverpool manager "wants us to express ourselves". Later, when explaining his career path, he begins: "My dad's view about coaching was that you have to express yourself. When I was young at academies, I wasn't allowed to do that. They wanted to play me central midfield when I was at Aston Villa so that's why we left. Things were going good at Coventry but then scouts from Manchester United and different clubs around England were watching me and I don't think Coventry liked that. They played me two years up when I was 11 and I'd be getting kicked by 13 year-olds, getting injured and crying because of the abuse I was getting from these older players. My dad just wanted me to go somewhere that I could improve but really just enjoy it. He also didn't want my natural ability coached out of me. "Maybe people think I chased the money because I have played for big clubs in City and Chelsea, but I always chased the opportunity to play. When you are a kid you dream of playing as much as you can until your mum calls you in and you can't play any longer. For me the key is to play football. It's not about the money and it's not about the medals [sturridge has a Premier League, Champions League and two FA Cup winners' medals from his time at Chelsea and says he earned them all]. It's about enjoying it and living my dream. "City were not billionaires when I was there. The money came in as I was leaving. People think I got loads of money at City and then left for Chelsea to chase more money. I didn't get that money. I moved to Chelsea because they made promises to me. They told me I would get opportunities, I would play and that they believed in me as a young player. "I wanted to learn from Didier Drogba and Nico Anelka. I thought when Didier moved on, I would be next in line but it wasn't the case. In the end I begged Ron Gourlay [Chelsea's chief executive] to let me join Bolton on loan. At Bolton, Owen Coyle changed my life completely. I was in the first team, playing centre-forward and had a chance to show the world how I could play. I will always be thankful to Owen and Bolton for what they did for me. "When I went back to Chelsea AVB was there and I played more – on the right wing mainly – and I was enjoying it. It wasn't about the position, it was about playing. But then AVB got fired, Di Matteo got the job and I was out of the team again. I felt I couldn't sit on the bench any longer as I had got used to playing. I was enjoying the feeling of putting my kit on and being on the pitch. I lost my love for the game at that point because I was back at square one." Sturridge started 31 Premier League games during his three and a half years at Stamford Bridge. He will equal that tally for Liverpool on Saturday at Cardiff City where, as the coach approaches the stadium, he will be preoccupied with his mobile phone. "I watch all my goals before every game on the coach," he explains. "My favourite was the header at Everton. I like scoring headers and every time I watch that Everton goal I get the same feeling. I watch the goals on my phone to get me in the mood and to give myself a vision of how I want the game to go. I have got more clips as the season has gone on but that's good. I will do the same routine against Cardiff. The clips last around 15-20 minutes now, which is normally the time of the coach ride to a stadium so it is perfect." It is beginning to feel that way for everyone at Liverpool.

http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-26515082 Joe Gaetjens - the footballer who disappeared By Alison GeeBBC World Service One of the biggest shocks in World Cup history happened in 1950, when the US beat England, thanks to a goal scored by Haitian Joe Gaetjens. Years later, after Gaetjens returned to Haiti, he was killed - possibly by the president himself. Joe Gaetjens made his name on 29 June 1950. "Out of nowhere apparently, my father came and went head first and hit the ball hard enough to change its direction - so the goalie from the England team was going one way and the ball went the other way," says his eldest son Lesly. The 15,000 football fans in Brazil's Belo Horizonte stadium went wild - moments earlier they thought the US didn't have even the slightest chance of beating England. Even the US coach had described his side as sheep ready to be slaughtered. While the England players were professionals, the Americans were part-timers - one was a teacher, another drove a hearse for a living and Gaetjens was an accountancy student. He was born in the Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, in 1924 to a relatively well-off family. He loved football and by the age of 14 was signed up to the Etoile Haitienne team where he became known for his goal-scoring headers. But his parents felt he couldn't rely on a football career to make a living, so in 1947 they sent him to New York's Columbia University. While he was there, he took a job washing dishes in a restaurant - partly for the money but mostly because the owner also owned the Brookhattan soccer team. Gaetjens was their star striker and he soon came to the attention of the US national coaches. "During those days, as long as you were willing to sign a paper saying that you will become a citizen of the United States then you will be included on the team," says Lesly. Gaetjens was included in the World Cup line-up and was sent to Brazil where the US team faced England. When one of his team-mates took a shot at the goal, Gaetjens was ready to finish it off. There's no footage of the winning goal - most of the cameras were at the other end of the pitch where they expected the action to take place. Back home, his family didn't even know he was in the team until they heard he had scored on the radio. The glory didn't last though - the US lost their next game and were eliminated. In the end, Gaetjens decided not to take US citizenship and pursued his football career in France where he spent two relatively unsuccessful seasons. By 1954 he had returned home to Haiti. Joe Gaetjens (centre) with friends in New York "In Haiti everybody was happy and partying - apparently all the players from all the teams gathered at the airport to receive him - it was like a national holiday kind of thing," says Lesly. Injury soon brought Gaetjens' playing career to an end but he became a successful coach, helped young people get involved in soccer and also ran a chain of dry-cleaners. He married Liliane Defay and the couple had three children. Continue reading the main story Haiti: key facts Gained independence from France in 1804 The poorest nation in the Americas Voodoo recognised as a religion on a par with other faiths in 2003 Presidents unseated by coups in 1988 and 1991 2010 earthquake was Haiti's worst in 200 years An outbreak of cholera later that year killed more than 8,000 people triggering violent protests Haiti country profile "The thing that I really think a lot about is the fact that he never had money in his pocket because he gave it all away to people that were in need... he loved his family and he really wanted to help Haiti," says Lesly. "I remember seeing him play and I remember kicking a soccer ball with him before the games... I remember planting trees - he loved planting all kinds of fruit trees at the house." But these were politically troubled times. In 1957, Francois "Papa Doc" Duvalier was elected president. He set about consolidating power by force, establishing his own personal militia to target rivals - the Tontons Macoutes took their name from the Haitian slang for bogeymen. It's estimated that around 30,000 people were killed during Duvalier's 14-year rule as he brutally stamped out opposition. In 1964, against a backdrop of fear and paranoia, Duvalier declared himself president for life. Gaetjens was not politically active but others in his family were agitating for change. Two of his brothers, Jean and Freddie had gone to neighbouring Dominican Republic where they were involved in a scheme to overthrow Duvalier. Francois Duvalier, 1969 Their plans were never realised but the Gaetjens name was brought to Duvalier's attention. "In those days, Duvalier would go after the whole family and is known to have killed entire families of people that went against him," says Lesly. Gaetjens didn't realise the danger he was in until it was too late. On 8 July 1964, when Lesly was seven, "they sent two Tontons Macoutes to one of my father's dry cleaning [shops]… when he approached, the Tontons Macoutes got [him] in the back of the car and put a gun to his head. Then he disappeared." His wife, Liliane did everything she could to find him but people were too scared to help or ask questions. All she managed to find out was that he had been taken to Fort Dimanche, a prison notorious for torture. Continue reading the main story The Duvaliers in power Francois Duvalier survived at least six assassination attempts in his 14-year rule He practised voodoo and in later years only left the presidential palace on 22nd of the month when he believed he was protected by spirits His successor and son, Jean-Claude (above), returned to Haiti in 2011 and now faces charges over human rights abuses while in office She and the children stayed in Haiti, living in fear, until 1966. In January that year, they boarded a plane to Puerto Rico pretending they were going on holiday - in fact they were going into exile to start a new life. For years they lived in hope that Gaetjens was alive, only receiving official confirmation of his death in 1972 - the year after Duvalier died. It's not known exactly how or when he was killed but over time the family managed to piece together fragments of information. "The version that I hear the most is that Duvalier himself went that night to Fort Dimanche… and he himself killed my dad," says Lesly. He adds that he has a CIA document confirming that both men were at the prison that night. After Duvalier's death in 1971, his son Jean-Claude, known as Baby Doc, took over the presidency and ruled until 1986 when he fled the country amid popular discontent. Since then Haiti has faced coups, corruption and natural disasters - the 2010 earthquake killed more than 250,000 people. One hundred and fifty thousand are still living in temporary accommodation. Lesly lives in the US but has visited Haiti and written a book about his father. "I sometimes think that they could even make a movie," he says. "Not so much about the goal because that was one moment but a movie about all the things that happened before and after... it's still the poorest country in the western hemisphere and people are still in misery."

I like green tea best

Big fucking surprise --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Qatar's World Cup organising committee has defended its bid to host the 2022 tournament following newspaper claims casting doubt on the process. Former Fifa vice-president Jack Warner and his family were paid more than £1m by a company owned by an ex-football official from Qatar, a Daily Telegraph report claims. But Qatar's World Cup organising committee said its bid adhered to Fifa rules and it was "unaware of any allegations surrounding business dealings between private individuals". “The 2022 bid committee strictly adhered to Fifa's bidding regulations in compliance with their code of ethics” Qatar's 2022 World Cup organising committee The newspaper claims Warner and his sons appear to have been paid £1.2m by a company owned by Mohamed Bin Hammam. Some of the payments were allegedly made shortly after Qatar won the right to host the 2022 World Cup. Mr Bin Hammam was a powerful figure within Fifa for many years but was given a life banin 2012 by the governing body following allegations of "conflicts of interest" during his time as the head of Asian football. The new documents, which the Telegraph claims to have seen, may now attract the attention of Fifa's chief ethics investigator, Michael Garcia, who is looking into how both the 2018 and 2022 tournaments were awarded. In a statement, Qatar's World Cup organisers said: "The 2022 bid committee strictly adhered to Fifa's bidding regulations in compliance with their code of ethics. "The supreme committee for delivery and legacy and the individuals involved in the 2022 bid committee are unaware of any allegations surrounding business dealings between private individuals." Both Warner and Bin Hammam declined to comment

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing United he was worth £300000 a week

Nice dive from the fat basters yesterday

Wonder how that shitty plastic singing section went for the mancs today

Henderson Allen Gerrard

Inspiring man

Tiananmen Tank Man: Faced Down the Chinese Army We've all seen the powerful image of a man standing directly in front of a tank near Tiananmen Square in China, but he was never identified. The photo was taken on June 6, 1989, the day after China's bloody crackdown on student protesters. Despite his anonymity, Tank Man has become an internationally recognized symbol of resistance to government oppression.

The new season started last night, good first episode

For that particular model, such as 809XLTBN. http://www.ebay.com/sch/Watches-/14324/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=skagen&_dcat=31387&Gender=Men%2527s&rt=nc

What model code is it?

http://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/feb/27/jean-pierre-adams-footballer-coma The footballer trapped in 'The House of the Beautiful Sleeping Athlete'In 1982 the French international Jean-Pierre Adams went to hospital and was given anaesthetic that should have knocked him out for a few hours. 32 years later, he has yet to awake On 17 March 1982, the former France international footballer Jean-Pierre Adams, at the age of 34, was admitted to a Lyon hospital to undergo a routine knee operation. He was given anaesthetic that should have knocked him out for a few hours but, more than 30 years later, he has yet to awake. Adams is a figure who drifts in and out of the consciousness of the French public but who is largely forgotten outside his homeland, despite being a highly-regarded figure as a pioneer for French-African footballers. With 22 caps to his credit, he turned out more regularly for Les Bleus than David Ginola, Ludovic Giuly and even Just Fontaine, carrying himself with a humble spirit and a ceaseless smile. His story begins in Dakar, Senegal, where he was born on 10 March 1948, the oldest child of a large family. Although football was in young Jean-Pierre's blood – his uncle Alexandre Diadhiou played for the celebrated Jeanne d'Arc club – education was made the priority in his life by his devoutly Catholic family and he was not allowed to play the sport he loved unless his grades in school were of a sufficient standard. With this in mind, Adams was sent alone to continue his schooling in France, where he was ultimately fostered by the Jourdain family in Loiret, a department a little south of Paris. Football proved to be a vital release for the adolescent Adams. It also provided him with an environment in which to socialise in what was still a white-dominated society as he swiftly gained respect for his physical prowess and his endearing personality. He would very quickly become popular at Collège Saint-Louis, where he was affectionately known as the "White Wolf". Away from the pitch, Adams completed his initial schooling but elected to drop out of a course studying shorthand as it did not interest him. Instead, he worked in a factory as his game progressed to Montagris. However, there was a hint of problems to come as he suffered a serious knee injury that could have ended his dreams of becoming a professional footballer. Even after moving to l'Entente Bagneaux-Fontainebleau-Nemours (EBFN) misfortune continued to follow him. Adams was involved in a serious car crash, and though he escaped with only cuts, his close friend Guy Beaudot was killed. To have been touched by such troubles at the age of 19, it was little surprise that Adams' appetite for the game was briefly diminished. Military service, however, proved to be a turning point. Adams had always been a physically imposing specimen but his time in the army meant his talents started to become recognised in a broader sphere. He was selected to play for the military squad, from which he would be recommended to Nîmes. Adams's desire to become a professional had been further fired by his marriage to Bernadette. Even this had been no straightforward pathway, though, as his blonde bride's mother had initially refused to give her daughter's hand to the young African. At this point, Adams took a path similar to that of Lilian Thuram, who rose through the amateur ranks to become one of the game's most celebrated players. Thuram also turned out for the latter-day version of EBFN, yet it was during the era of Adams that the club became prominent in the nation's amateur game. Jean-Pierre Adams, left, and Marius Tresor while representing France. Photograph: Universal/ Universal/TempSport/CorbisIn three successive years, with Adams their driving force, they would lose the Championnat de France Amateurs final, before earning the right to play in an expanded Division 2 in 1970. Although EBFN were coming up short as a team on the big occasion, Adams's career was taking off. The strides he made during his military service persuaded the Nîmes trainer Kader Firoud to offer Adams a trial match in Rouen. Bernadette drove Jean-Pierre north for the friendly in which her 22-year-old husband impressed sufficiently to earn his first professional contract. Firoud would be one of the key influences on Adams' career. He was a terrific motivator, although his training methods were unorthodox. However unconventional the coach, his methods were highly effective. Only the Auxerre legend Guy Roux has overseen more top division matches than Firoud's 782, and in 1971 he was named France Football's Coach of the Year. Crucially for Adams, he was particularly effective at bringing through unknown quantities from the youth ranks. After making his debut in a new No4 role against Reims in September 1970, Adams would become a permanent fixture in the team. It was no mean achievement to become established so readily. Nîmes's side at the time was one of the best in the club's history and Adams was a fulcrum as Les Crocodiles qualified for Europe for the first time. He was decisive in the club's first Uefa Cup win, though Nîmes lost the tie on away goals to Vitória Setúbal of Portugal. Such a narrow defeat was the prelude to a frustrating second season in which the club finished as runners-up to Olympique Marseille. Nîmes paid for a poor spring run that saw them win one of seven league matches and rendered futile their eight wins from nine at the campaign's conclusion. On a collective level, Adams's third and final season at the club was disappointing as Les Crocos finished only seventh, yet the midfielder remained "in international form". "In the rugged defence of Nîmes, there is a pillar, a kind of force of nature, a colossus of uncommon athletic power: Jean-Pierre Adams," said the former Argentina captain Ángel Marcos, who played for Nantes. "I always dreaded the two annual confrontations [with Adams]." When Adams moved to Nice in the summer of 1973, Marcos didn't have life any easier. By then a France international, Adams was at the peak of his powers. Nice at the time were ready to spend. An ambitious bid to sign Jairzinho failed narrowly as they attempted to re-establish themselves as a major force after dropping out of the elite in 1969. Despite their spending, their return was marked with a disappointing 14th-place finish but, by the time Adams arrived, Nice were rueing a failure to win the title the previous season, having thrown away a five-point lead to allow Nantes to overhaul them. Life for Adams on the Côte d'Azur started with some promise as two goals from Marc Molitor and another from Dick van Dijk helped Nice secure a 3-2 win over Barcelona in the Uefa Cup. By the time their European run was emphatically ended with a 4-1 aggregate defeat to Köln – a tie played without Adams, who had been suspended after a red card against Fenerbahce in the previous round – the head coach Jean Snella found his position becoming increasingly uneasy. League results were not good and after a fifth-place finish he was dismissed. His replacement was Vlatko Markovic, an ill-fated appointment. Markovic was never popular among the Nice fans. "If spectators want a spectacle, they should go to Marineland," he said following criticism of his dour playing style. Despite the coaching sideshow, Adams remained a consistently strong performer and was named in France Football's team of the season. "Adams remains without a rival in his role, where his extraordinary athletic qualities can match the best," the magazine gushed. In the subsequent campaign, Nice finished second behind Saint-Etienne, a series of injuries to their best players probably robbing them of the title. Adams was one of the men who suffered most and those issues would mark the end of his personal peak after dropping out of the national team. Adams' introduction to Les Bleus had come five years earlier during the Taça Independência, a competition played in Brazil to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the nation's independence from Portugal. Fittingly, his debut came against an Africa select team, as he arrived off the bench to replace Marius Trésor, the man with whom he would form the fabledGarde Noire in years to come. Five days later he was handed his first start against Colombia. It began inauspiciously as Adams conceded a penalty from which the South Americans took the lead but he showed his resilience thereafter. The coach Georges Boulogne was sufficiently impressed to pair Adams with Trésor in defence for a decisive encounter with Argentina that would decide which country progressed to the second round. A scoreless draw meant disappointment for France, who were eliminated on goal difference. They were compensated with the birth of La Garde Noire. Like all good double acts, Trésor and Adams complemented each other. The former was regarded as the technical defender while Adams was noted for his athleticism. While Trésor was born in Guadeloupe, Adams's sub-Saharan roots were something of a novelty in the France team of the time. Of course, France had seen other such "foreigners" turn out for its national team previously; the great ball juggler Larbi Ben Barek hailed from Morocco but won 17 caps, while Xercès Louis (12 caps in the mid-50s) and Daniel Charles-Alfred (four caps in the mid-60s) were both born in Martinique. And of course there were Just Fontaine, Rachid Mekhloufi and Mustapha Zitouni, who came from North Africa. Adams was laying a pathway from west Africa to France for the likes of Marcel Desailly and Patrick Vieira to follow. France may have been welcomed back from Brazil warmly but it was not until they met the USSR in a World Cup qualifying match that their new central defensive pairing really came of age. The Parisian venue had been something of a bête noire for Adams in the past. He had lost two previous CFA finals at the ground, leading the press to dub it his Stade du Désespoir – Stadium of Despair. A free-kick from Georges Bereta proved decisive for France but it was the performance from the centre-backs that was truly match winning. Franz Beckenbauer held the duo in particularly high regard, remarking to Onze: "Adams and Trésor have formed one of the best centre-back pairings in all of Europe." Once again, however, injuries had a telling impact on Adams. His persistent troubles saw his partnership with Trésor broken up in 1975 and Adams never again turned out in France's blue. Adams soon moved back north to the familiar surrounds of the Paris region. The ambitious PSG president Daniel Hechter had been seduced by him amid the club's first period of big spending. Hechter was a very astute businessman and played a key role in the early development of the club, lifting them from the amateur ranks to overtake Paris FC as the capital's primary power. As the 29-year-old's experience at Nice had shown, big spending did not necessarily equate to big rewards and Adams' time in Paris was subdued, with two mid-table finishes before he was released from his contract, ending his time at the top level. A brief and unsuccessful stay at Mulhouse followed before Adams took the decision to step into coaching. Adams had elected to take the first stage of his coaching degree in Dijon, which meant going on a week-long course in the Bourguignon town during the spring. On the third day, however, he suffered a knee problem and the following morning quit the course for a hospital in Lyon. An initial scan showed damage to a tendon at the back of the knee but a chance meeting with a surgeon en route to the exit proved critical. After a discussion, it was decided that the best course of action would be to operate. Adams agreed to an operation a matter of days later on 17 March. "It's all fine, I'm in great shape," were his parting words to Bernadette as he left on the morning of the operation. His wife was worried and only more so when it took three calls to the hospital before she was passed on to a doctor. "Come here now," she was told gravely. Adams had slipped into a coma. Bernadette remained by his bedside for five days and five nights hoping for a change in his condition while the couple's two young boys, Laurent and Frédéric, were at home with their grandparents. There had been a problem with Adams' supply of anaesthetic, which was exacerbated by the fact the anaesthetist was overseeing eight operations at once, including one particularly delicate procedure involving a child that got much of his attention. To complicate matters further, Adams was not on the correct type of bed, the drug used was known to be problematic and the operation was overseen by a trainee. Adams has never woken. It would be November before he was moved north to Chalon, where Bernadette was by his side on a daily basis. That did not prevent Adams from being neglected by the staff at his new institution. After finding an infected bed sore, Bernadette exploded with rage and, after her husband had undergone another operation as the infection had reached his bones, she sat with him continuously, still holding out hope he one day might wake. When the hospital said they could no longer look after Adams, he was moved home. For Bernadette this was a great undertaking. She would sleep in the same room as her husband and get up in the middle of the night to turn him. Bernadette Adams, the wife of Jean-Pierre Adams, in 2005, left, and Jean-Pierre, Bernadette and their son Laurent in January 1972. Photos: Offside/L'Equipe.Bernadette had a house custom-built, which she named Mas du bel athléte dormant — the House of the Beautiful Sleeping Athlete. It had been a struggle to get a loan in place, however, as she had fallen into difficult financial circumstances. Various bodies came forward to help, with Nîmes and PSG both offering 15,000 francs, while the French football federation gave her F6,000 per week after an initial contribution of F25,000 in December 1982. In addition, Adams's former clubs played charity matches. The Variétés Club de France, a charitable organisation still running today and backed by Platini, Zinedine Zidane and Jean-Pierre Papin, played a fixture in the comatose player's honour against a group of his footballing friends. The media, meanwhile, kept his memory alive with glowing testimonies. "[Adams] was the prototype of a modern-day midfielder," wrote the journalist Victor Sinet. "He was always available, omnipresent and just as effective going forward as he was defending." Meanwhile, the courts deliberated upon the case in a sluggish manner. Pierre Huth, Adams's former doctor at PSG, led the case, which went on for seven years before the Seventh Chamber of Correctional Tribunal in Lyon found the doctors guilty of involuntary injury. It was only at that point that the family's dues could be calculated, yet four years later a definitive decision had still to be made. Life, such as it is, continues for Bernadette and Jean-Pierre. Hospitals cannot commit staff to looking after Adams for long periods of time, which prevents his wife from taking holidays. Each day Jean-Pierre is washed and dressed by Bernadette, who maintains that her husband still has some cognitive function. "Jean-Pierre feels, smells, hears, jumps when a dog barks. But he cannot see," his wife said in 2007. Even after all these years she remains relentless in her support and love for her husband. "I have the feeling that time stopped on 17 March 1982," Bernadette explained in a discussion with Midi Libre in 2012. "There are no changes, either good or bad. While he does not need respiratory assistance, he remains in a vegetative state. "Last year, we met a neurologist specialising in brain injury from Carémeau [the hospital in Nîmes] through an acquaintance. He ran his tests and examinations at the hospital, which confirmed very significant damage. There was a lot of damage in the brain. But he does not age, but for a few white hairs." Despite confirming that her daily routine is "killing her", euthanasia is not an option she would consider. "It's unthinkable!" she said. "He cannot speak. And it's not for me to decide for him." Jean-Pierre, whose son Laurent briefly followed in his footsteps by signing for Nîmes in 1996, is now a grandfather and has been introduced to all of his grandchildren. The rest of the world has moved on, but Adams lives on as a pioneer, whose unlikely journey to prosperity has been replicated by so many since he was sent from Senegal to France as a young boy.

We scored 4 and I didn't even enjoy it, can't remember that happening before. Crazy game

Head for that corner flag and stay there

fcuking get in

This is not even enjoyable viewing. Fucking sloppy all over

fucking hell

Coutinho has been fucking sloppy

fuck yes

fucking dog shit