Trapatoni to appear at University College Cork (UCC) this weekend:

Trap's heyday: 1983 European Cup semi-final with Michel Platini

Republic of Ireland football manager Giovani Trapatoni will appear at the UCC colours event in Cork this weekend. The Italian will participate at a Questions & Answers session at the annual Colours Lunch at De Vere Hall on Saturday.

The Colours fixture this year will be the MSL premier division tie between UCC and Blarney United at the Mardyke at 10:45a.m. on Saturday morning.

Trapatoni as the geriatric chancer he is now

While I personally think that 71 year-old Trapatoni is a geriatric chancer gratefully receiving his pension from the FAI (and Denis O'Brien), Trapatoni was certainly a great manager in the past. Il Trap has won a European Cup (1985), seven Italian league (Serie A) titles, three UEFA Cup titles as well as League titles in Germany, Portugal and Austria as a manager. He also won two Serie A and two European Cup (1963, '69) titles as a player.

Trap is helped to celebrate winning the 1993 UEFA Cup

This is a most stellar record by anyone's standard. However, Trapatoni's day has well and truly passed and football as well as sports science has long moved on from the days when Trapatoni was a top world manager (in the 1980's and early 1990's). After a lifetime spent in top-flight football though, the Milan native (who still lives permanently in Milan), will be most interesting to listen to. The Trapatoni lunch and Q & A session is scheduled for 1p.m. on campus on Saturday.

Michael Johnson:"The (2012) Olympic Stadium should inspire future Olympians, remain a multi-purpose/athletics stadium and NOT be knocked down after the 2012 Olympics:" with thanks to the "London Times"

The clock says it all: Michael Johnson's finest achievement:  200m in 19.32secs: 1996 Atlanta Olympics

The 1996 double Olympic champion says there is no room for debate in the row about whether the 2012 stadium should keep its track

Over the past several weeks I have watched the London Olympic Stadium issue, and the two bids from West Ham United and Tottenham Hotspur, with great interest. My position is really quite simple. The stadium should remain an Olympic stadium and it should include a track.

London's 2012 Olympic Stadium is very near completion

Obviously, a stadium constructed to host the entire world for the biggest sport spectacle in the world might need to be scaled back a bit after the Games to be more versatile and practical for multisport use.
The idea of tearing down a perfectly good and very expensive stadium to replace it with another stadium, with a single purpose and then to spend additional money to refurbish another stadium for the right to tear down the Olympic Stadium seems a total waste.
I’m sure the typical response to my position would be that I am only viewing the situation as a former track athlete with a predictable bias toward the West Ham bid that includes the track. Of course, I would love to see the Olympic Stadium remain and include the track.
The Atlanta Olympic Stadium, where I had my greatest moment, no longer exists and that is honestly very sad. It’s sad that I can’t take my son to Atlanta and let him run around the track and tell him about my experience there in 1996.

The 1996 Atlanta Olympic Stadium in its current guise

The 1996 Olympic Stadium has been converted to a baseball stadium, the home of the Atlanta Braves. From a business perspective, maybe it made sense.
There have been enough Olympic stadiums built that never saw much use after the Games were concluded, but Atlanta devised a plan to ensure that not only would that not happen, but their plan also served to offset some of the cost of the Games through the plan to sell the stadium to the Braves after the Games.
In the case of London, it was part of the London 2012 bid that the stadium would remain and the track would remain in the stadium. The bid was based on the promise of leaving a sporting legacy, and that means more than just leaving a track stadium on the other side of town from where the Olympics actually took place and with no real connection to the Olympics.

Sebastian Coe: Gold medalist at the 1980, '84 Olympics

The legacy that Sebastian Coe spoke of in Singapore in 2005 when bidding for these Games was a legacy that not only provided sporting facilities for young people to learn and play sports, but a legacy that also provided lasting inspiration to young people.
As sad as it is that my son can’t run around the 1996 Olympic Stadium and relive the moment of his father’s greatest moment, it is even more sad that kids living in Atlanta pass by the stadium that is home to the Atlanta Braves every day and they are not inspired by hundreds of people from all over the world having competed and watched some of the world’s greatest athletes perform there while taking part in the biggest sports spectacle in the world.

Those kids can only be inspired to possibly pick up a baseball bat and take up baseball, the most American of all sports. Because the Olympic Stadium is the venue for the opening and closing ceremonies and home to the Olympic flame during the entire 16 days of the Games, in addition to athletics, one of the premier sports of the Olympics, taking place in the stadium, the Olympic Stadium is the greatest icon of an Olympic Games.

The Greatest Show on Earth: Olympic Games Opening Ceremony

London has a real chance of hosting other track and field events such as World Championships and European Championships, and junior athletics events as well. These events would provide additional uses of the stadium, as well as the economic and all the benefits that come with the hosting of events of that magnitude.
Additionally, those events could inspire not only those athletes who would have the opportunity to compete in the Olympic Stadium, but also those young people who would have the opportunity to be a spectator in the Olympic Stadium, watching athletes compete.
This is all about legacy and a promise that was made that should not be broken.

International Olympic Committee President:  Jacques Rogge

This stadium has the ability to take a sport and create numerous opportunities in the sport of athletics and to create new British champion athletes for years to come. It takes more than just a stadium to do that. The Olympic Games are special. The history and scale of the Games make them special. The monument to the Games and the icon of the Games, the Olympic Stadium, should stand as a tribute to those Games. The IOC should actually mandate that any bid must include a plan to maintain the Olympic Stadium along with a mandate that there be a plan to utilise the stadium in the future.
Some of my first races when I started my international sprinting career were in Olympic stadiums. It was a very special feeling just to walk into the Olympic stadiums in Berlin, Munich and Stockholm.
Those stadiums are monuments and the IOC should take care to ensure that those monuments are retained.

Six Nations Preview: Ageing IRELAND may provide last hurrah:

In form Seán O'Brien: an old school back row; started out a builder

Ireland's recent form has been patchy. Only two wins in the past seven outings but back at their rebuilt home: the Aviva Stadium for the Six Nations, we should once again see the best of a Declan Kidney side that could well break up after the World Cup. They have lost only two Six Nations games in two years and who can forget the 2009 grand slam?
PROSPECTS This year have been flying below the radar, which is the way Ireland like it. Badly hit by injuries — not least to Stephen Ferris and Jamie Heaslip — but Paul O’Connell is back for the first time in a year. Fixtures fall in Ireland's favour and a championship decider against England in the final game beckons. 2003 all over again?

Quietly confident:  Legend BRIAN O'DRISCOLL

PLAYER TO WATCH Seán O’Brien Ireland may struggle in the front row but there is a back-row talent factory somewhere outside Dublin and Leinster’s O’Brien is the latest product. A rampaging old-school operator who started life as a builder.
EXPERT VERDICT Brian O’Driscoll: “We’re quietly confident that if we get our game together, we’ll be in the hunt in some capacity. We’re just plodding along like we always do, working hard.”
KILLER STAT The number of caps in the starting XV of Ireland’s last championship game totalled an astonishing 649. Ireland have three centurions still playing — Brian O’Driscoll (107), John Hayes (104) and Ronan O’Gara (103).

MY PREDICTION FOR IRELAND'S FINAL POSITION IN THE 2011 RBS SIX NATIONS: 2nd

Ireland's spectaculor new AVIVA Stadium

TEAM TO PLAY ITALY L Fitzgerald; F McFadden, B O’Driscoll (capt), G D’Arcy, K Earls; J Sexton, T O’Leary; C Healy, R Best, M Ross, D O’Callaghan, P O’Connell, D Leamy, D Wallace, S O’Brien. Replacements: S Cronin, T Court, L Cullen, S Jennings, E Reddan, R O’Gara, P Wallace.

Air-conditioned World Cup stadia? In the desert? It’s madness

Sport's Finest Prize: The World Cup Trophy

Anyone asking sceptical questions about the Qatar 2022 World Cup is dismissed as a scaremonger and reminded that there are 11 years until kick-off. But FIFA’s decision to award the event to a tiny emirate has thrown up enough controversies and logistical challenges to last the decade. “Vote now, worry about the detail afterwards”, appears to have been the rationale of the FIFA members who ignored the inspectors’ “high-risk” warning about Qatar’s bid.
The spiralling cost may be the least of those concerns: US$50 billion? US$100 billion? US$200 billion?
The emirate will not be found wanting for funds, given its vast resources of natural gas. Qatar can well afford to dwarf the estimated $40 billion spent by China for the 2008 Olympic Games, which paid for, among other things, a new airport terminal and subway lines as well as the sports venues.
The lasting issues are not about money, but common sense and logistics.
Why would anyone want to take football to a desert in the height of summer, prompting concerns that the tournament may have to be moved to December?

Qatar 2022: 'For the Good of the Game'? Or 'For the Good of Bank Accounts'?

Does it make sense to spend billions of dollars building nine stadiums, only to dismantle most of them straight after the event for export?
And can Qatar possibly hope to build sustainable business and tourism on the back of a World Cup, particularly given the downturn in neighbouring Dubai?
To add to those worries now is the fear that Qatar may have bitten off more than it can chew in terms of the scale of construction.
FIFA’s members were warned — but, for reasons still to be established, went ahead with it anyway.

"Walk of Dreams" launched by John Giles:

"Walk of Dreams": launched today at the Aviva Stadium

The John Giles Foundation in association with 3 today (Tuesday, February 1) launched the ‘Walk of Dreams', which will take place on Sunday, 27th March at 3pm in 14 locations nationwide.

The ‘Walk of Dreams' will bring together people who love football from all over Ireland to raise funds for the beautiful game and the John Giles Foundation to continue the growth of football. The walks will take place in Letterkenny, Sligo, Castlebar, Galway City, Ennis, Limerick City, Tralee, Cork City, Athlone, Thurles, Waterford City, Enniscorthy, Dublin City (from Aviva stadium) and Dundalk.

The John Giles Foundation was founded to use football as a vehicle for social change, to build community cohesion, increase participation and to improve health and education by providing funding to help football in clubs, schools and community groups in Ireland.

Half of funds raised will be retained by participating football clubs while the other half will go to the Foundation for community football projects in clubs, schools and community groups throughout Ireland.

The John Giles Foundation is supported by 3 and the Football Association of Ireland.

John Giles said: "I wanted to help harness the great energy of the football family and use it to come together on the 27th March to demonstrate that football forms a large and very important part of Irish community life offering many thousands of people an outlet to enjoy themselves. I would urge anybody who is involved in football to come out and walk for a great cause. Half of the money raised will go back to participating clubs while the other half is used by the Foundation to fund football projects where they are needed most."

Former international soccer star:  John Giles

Speaking on why 3 decided to become official partners of ‘Walk of Dreams', Elaine Carey Sales & Marketing Director 3, underlined 3's commitment to the grassroots of Irish football in saying: "Since coming on board as primary sponsor of the Irish National Football team, we have looked to introduce initiatives aimed at providing real support to all levels of football throughout Ireland. Supporting the John Giles Foundation was a natural step in strengthening this commitment and builds on our announcement last week of a €10m fund for Irish football clubs, offering cash rewards to clubs whose members switch to 3. We at 3 are delighted to partner with John for this walk and look forward to walking alongside him and the Irish football community on March 27th."

For further information:
Log onto www.johngilesfoundation.com or contact: info@johngilesfoundation.com This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

For more details and to sign up to the affinity deal please contact:
Dublin: Andy Shortall 0833398929
Leinster: John Jackson 0833698741
Munster: Niall Riordan 0833812883
Ulster / Connaught: Philip Ryan 0833655489

Egyptian political instability: United States' officials cancel Egyptian football friendly:

Heavily armed and braced for combat: U.S. Marine Corps arriving in Cairo

The United States' national

USA beat Egypt in 2009 Confed. Cup but lost final

soccer team has pulled out of a planned friendly match in Cairo this month due to the political instability in Egypt.

Coach Bob Bradley's side was scheduled to play the six-time African champions on February 9, but will now be without a fixture on that date.

"We were excited about the opportunity to play against Egypt, but due to the current situation all parties agreed it was best to cancel the match," U.S. Soccer president Sunil Gulati told his federation's website on Monday.

"We appreciate the efforts of the Egyptian Football Association and the U.S. State

Cairo protests against Egypt's President

Department as we worked through this situation."

The match was to be one of a series of friendlies in preparation for the CONCACAF Gold Cup

to be held in the U.S. in June, which features 12 nations from North America, Central America and the Caribbean.

Anti-government protesters have been demonstrating for the past week against Egypt’s President Hosni Mubarak, who has ruled for

Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak addresses the nation

three decades without an election.

The U.S. has sent a team of heavily-armed Marine Corps security personnel to the American
Embassy in Cairo so as to provide additional security for the facility. 

Six Nations Preview: Johnson warns: "England won't face worse anti-English sentiment than in Wales" - Ireland would argue with that though!

FIRED UP: Martin Johnson

           Martin Johnson has warned his England side that they can expect a most hostile reception in Cardiff ahead of Friday night's showdown with Wales at the Millenium Stadium. 
           England have not won in Cardiff since Johnson was captain in 2003, and he has warned his squad that they will not experience a more fervent anti-English sentiment anywhere else in the Championship.
           Potentially a third of England's starting team will be playing a Test at the Millenium Stadium for the first time. Johnson urged England to feed off the Cardiff animosity and use it to kick-start their bid for a first Six Nations Title since 2003.  "The Millenium Stadium is a great place to play - the most hostile in the Six Nations for an Englishman,"  - says Johnson.

Ashton:  excited

           Northampton wing Chris Ashton, who will play his first Cardiff Test on Friday, is relishing the prospect of stepping into the Dragon's lair.  Ashton says:   "It was the prospect of nights like these that persuaded me to switch from rugby league to union. These sort of matches don't happen in rugby league. It's massively exciting and I can't wait for it."