By Ian Grant
PLAYERS
Thierry Henry put his World Cup winning shirt up for auction for the Kanu Heart Foundation and it was sold for oe7,500 (about N1.3m). While on stage a woman offered him oe3000 for a date. Kanu’s Foundation has already treated 35 children but there are 2000 on the waiting list.
Another strange quote from Thierry Henry: “the only thing to compare with scoring an FA Cup Final winner would be to father a child.”
Sol Campbell (at time of writing) has targeted the FA Cup Final for a return to action after being stretchered off with a pulled hamstring in the win over Middlesbrough.
After missing the league game against Charlton Athletic, Campbell has played in every Arsenal game outside the League Cup – a total of 33 matches on the trot.
Wenger said of Vieira: “”I don’t think he has ever played there [central defence] before – except in training maybe – but he was very good.”
Robert Pires, Thierry Henry and Patrick Vieira made it to the PFA team of the year. Overall winner van Nistelroy voted for Pires.
Pires won the Football Writers Player of the year Award.
Fredrik Ljungberg is set to play only half of Sweden’s friendly international against Norway on in an effort to avoid aggravating a back problem.”It hurts after the games, I’ve received treatment,” he said.
Henry and Bergkamp top the Independent’s Premiership Index in the strikers section.
Lauren said: “Obviously I enjoy more the game in the middle, or on the right side. I don’t mind playing on either side. Play in the back, in the middle, nothing changes so much. You can go forward; it’s no problem.”
“It was hard for me when I first arrived at Arsenal last year because of the language and switching positions, but this year I feel good. I spoke with Lee Dixon a lot, even though I have now taken his place, and he helped me to understand the movement and positions you need to take up when you play at right-back.
According to the Mirror, Arsenal are set to offer Lauren a new contract. Arsene Wenger said: “Lauren has done well and proved many people wrong. He has a big future at Arsenal.”
Wenger says of Edu: “This is much more like the Edu I saw in Brazil. He is getting better and better with every game and if he keeps improving he will be more and more influential.”
Two birthdays this week: Freddie Ljungberg is 25, Matthew Upson is 23.
TEAM
The FA Cup final will be a London derby for the first time since Tottenham Hotspur beat Queens Park Rangers after a replay in 1982.
Arsenal go into the final 6-4 ON favourites. In the last 17 games with Chelsea, they have won nine times, lost only twice with honours shared six times. William Hill make Arsenal 8-13 favourites with Chelsea at 6-5.
Wenger said of Middlesbrough: “They never let us get into our fluent game … we were a little bit lucky but I thought we showed a great deal of character and commitment to come through it.”
Boro boss Steve McClaren said: “Each and every one of the players was magnificent. They are dead on their feet – they have stitches in, pulled hamstrings, kicks and bruises.”
Arsenal’s defeat of Middlesbrough and Chelsea’s triumph over Fulham guaranteed a place in Europe for Chelsea, Newcastle and Leeds.
Arsenal have slipped to tenth in the average attendance league at Arsenal at 38,043.
Leicester (at time of writing) have overtaken Arsenal in the yellow card league with 68 to 66.
Wenger said on last year’s final defeat “I watched the video recently and I must say it was a mircle that Liverpool won it. It still hurts. It was one of the most disappointing moments of my career. Now we must beat Middlesbrough because I want that memory ripped away.”
Arsenal have not conceded a goal in open play for nearly nine hours.
TRANSFER TALK
According to the Express, Patrick Vieira has been offered £160,000 a week to join Real Madrid this summer. The paper claims they are planning a swap – Vieira for French striker David Trezeguet in a £70m deal with Juventus. The NoW says Vieira is asking Arsenal for a five year deal worth £9.6m.
The Express reckons Arsenal are set to reject a £17m offer from Lazio for Ljungberg. Arsenal bought Freddie for £3m.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, Australian midfielder Brett Emerton is at the centre of a tug of war between Premier League clubs Leeds United and Liverpool. It says Arsenal and Newcastle have dropped out.
OLD BOYS
Harry Redknapp will give West Ham defender Nigel Winterburn the chance to revive his career at Portsmouth when he is released at the end of the season.
FINANCE
Arsenal signed a shirt sponsorship deal with the mobile phone operator mm02, said to be worth £10m. Its rival, Vodafone, sponsors Manchester United. Spurs fans are getting shirty over the new sponsors’ Thomson’s logo which is red.
MISCELLANEOUS
Italian manager Claudio Ranieri is looking for a treble of domestic cups having taken both Fiorentina and Valencia to victory.
Liverpool are asking the Premier League to ensure there is no foul play in the race for the title by agreeing to re-arrange their clash with Blackburn on the same night that Arsenal play Man U, 8 May.
Newcastle Under-17s will go to Arsenal in the quarter final of the National play-offs next Saturday after they clinched their qualifications with a 2-0 home win over Nottingham Forest on Saturday.
This week in 1995, Arsenal won a penalty shoot-out against Sampdoria after a 5-5 aggregate draw in the European Cup-Winners’ Cup semi-final. In 1930 at Filbert Street, Leicester City drew 6-6 with Arsenal.
A writer in the New Sunday Times (Malaysia) said Arsenal, on the other hand, I’ve always had a sneaking regard for – although I remember once from those days when you could actually stand on the packed terraces at Highbury – returning home with one side of my trousers suspiciously wet, which had absolutely nothing to do with me.
A gambler who seemingly only bets on London soccer teams is 70,000 pounds richer after staking 50,000 pounds on Arsenal and Chelsea winning their FA Cup semifinals on Sunday.
Fulham’s Al Fayed has hosted a series of lunches at Harrods to canvas support for proposals such as pooled merchadising revenue, video aid for referees, and changed kick off times. David Dein and several other chairmen and vice chairmen have attended.