By Early Doors (original post from Yahoo! Eurosport can be found here)

Real Madrid is a complicated club at the best of times.

Much like Bayern Munich, a long-standing culture exists where the players - particularly those from the local area - are little princes and even kings, a culture that can be seen to develop beyond their careers on the pitch and into the fabric of the club.

Sporting directors, special advisors, members of the technical staff... ex-players form the structure of the club, its history.

As a result coaches, no matter how impressive their CVs and reputations, come and go, rarely lasting more than two or three seasons and often barely completing a full campaign.

When he took the presidency of Real in 2000, Florentino Perez said he wanted to build a team of "Zidanes and Pavones", a mish-mash of the world's greatest players on the world's biggest wages, complemented by local lads with the club in their veins, willing to graft and carry the water for their illustrious

By The Pugilist (original post from Yahoo! Eurosport can be found here)

Take a long, hard look at the images above.

Then, although I know how tempting it is to skip straight to the comments section, please try to bear with me and read the full story before passing judgement, judgement which I will be particularly eager to check out later.

When penning these opinion pieces on the sweet science, I always make a note of skimming the aforementioned feedback section.

Though most reader rebuttals are painfully negative with zero interest in debating the issues in a constructive manner, I have always made sure as a writer to keep tabs on what you guys think.

No matter how much of it is narrow-minded, fickle or just plain stupid, there are always comments to be found which offer decent food for thought ahead of the next blog and help the author to gauge his/her audience.

I’ll be the first to admit that one type of comment I always skip over automatically is the whole ‘boxing is barbaric, it should

By World of Sport (Original post by Europort can be found here.)

The new England kit was revealed by Jack Wilshere on Twitter - but just moments after it appeared online it was being compared by fans to Germany's.

Most likened it to the classic 1966 kit that West Germany wore when they infamously lost 4-2 to England in the World Cup final.

Arsenal midfielder Wilshere had been the first to tweet an image (above) to the newest England kit, made by Nike for the first time and emblazoned with a logo to celebrate 150 years of the Football Association.

"Like this kid," Wilshere wrote, "my England dream began here, so he was first in #theshirt."

The switch to black lining on the neck from the more traditional blue is what has sparked the debate. You can take a look at West Germany's 1966 kit here for comparison:

Users soon took to Twitter to debate the shirt, however.

"Why does England's new kit look like it was made for Germany?" asked Lewis Taylor.

"So we are going in fancy dress as

By World of Sport (Original post by Eurosport can be found here.)

Sunderland defender Phil Bardsley has been dropped from the final match of the season after being photographed in a casino lying down – apparently passed out – while covered in £50 notes.

After Sunderland secured their Premier League status ahead of the finale against Tottenham, the defender was on a midweek gambling session with team-mate Matt Kilgallon, and seemed to be doing rather well for himself:

Bardsley appeared to enjoy his winnings a touch too enthusiastically though, and was pictured lying down before friends covered him in banknotes:

The former Manchester United trainee claimed that alcohol was not a factor, although it seems his club is not convinced.

Even if he was just a bit tired – it was in the small hours, after all – Di Canio will be furious with the player, as he has issued strict instructions on discipline and behaviour since taking charge at the Stadium of Light.

"'If I discovered one of my

By The Rundown (original post from Yahoo! Eurosport can be found here)

Okay, so the Premier League has been regarded as greedy and profit-driven since its inception, and the national side has been choking on a regular basis for almost as long since a memorable campaign on home soil at Euro 1996.

But despite being institutionally jeered and hissed at by a large pocket of outsiders for many moons now, football has nonetheless prospered on these shores: domestic league and cup matches are followed globally, success in Europe had become mandatory and some of the game's finest players are lured to our miserably-rainy climates by the cash which comes with such a high profile.

Yet after nine of the most underwhelming nine months of top level English football that we can remember, our resident doom-mongers have reason to believe that the end is nigh.

Here are 12 reasons why it's been the worst season ever, and why England may well have begun a fall from grace in the footballing world:

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1) What's

By Early Doors (original post from Yahoo! Eurosport can be found here)

David Beckham will bring down the curtain on his 21-year career as a professional footballer when the French champions Paris Saint-Germain visit Lorient in their final Ligue 1 match of the season on May 26.

Still only 38, somehow we can't see Becks fishing, playing golf or meandering down the local bowling club when he hangs up his boots. Not with his obvious good looks and charm. So what will Becks, worth an estimated £165 million smackers, do with the next chapter of his career? An emotional Early Doors is in mourning this morning, but has picked itself up off the floor to come up with a few ideas for 'Goldenballs'.

Become a Hollywood film star

Why not? He is mates with Tom Cruise and Will Smith, who can surely land him a few auditions. You don't need to be able to act to become a movie star. Ask Keanu Reeves or Vinnie Jones. He is so very handsome and smells nice. And would be an instant winner with the ladies. First

By World of Sport (Original post from Yahoo! Eurosport can be found here.)

An 11-year-old boy from Liverpool has earned unlikely global fame after sneaking out of the crowd and in among the Chelsea players as they collected their Europa League winners' medals on Wednesday night.

Louis Kearns had been at the match in Amsterdam with his Dad, and on its conclusion decided he would try and sneak down onto the pitch to try and get a photo or an autograph with Fernando Torres ior Rafa Benitez.

The cheeky lad, who is a Liverpool fan, apparently idolises both men - and his chutzpah was rewarded handsomely as he ended up standing right behind Torres as Michel Platini handed the Spanish striker his medal.

UEFA and Chelsea officials appear to have assumed that the youngster was one of the players' children. Either way, he was allowed free reign.

He even ended up getting a picture of himself with Platini after the ceremony... not to mention John Terry, Guus Hiddink, Eden Hazard and - probably

International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Jacques Rogge (left) and IOC vice-president Ng Ser Miang attend a press conference in Singapore, on March 24, 2010. Ng has officially announced his candidacy for the IOC presidency

Singaporean Ng Ser Miang announced on Thursday that he will be running for the presidency of the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

The 64-year-old first vice-president of the IOC revealed the news at the Sorbonne in Paris, making him the first Asean candidate for the top job.

In his announcement of his candidacy, he emphasised on the importance of using the power of the Olympics to benefit youths.

Ng will be up against German Olympic chief Thomas Bach for the post, which will be decided in a September 10 election in Buenos Aires.

According to Agence France Presse, other possible competitors could include former IOC executive board member Richard Carrion, former pole vault champion Sergei Bubka and Taiwanese C.K Wu.

If Ng wins the presidency, he would become the first Asian and also the first non-European holder of the post, greatly boosting both Asia and Singapore sport.

In a press release, Chief Executive Officer of the Singapore Sports Council Lim Teck Yin threw his support behind Ng,