Breaking 1992 down into the biggest political, sports and entertainment news; here’s what happened…

The queen had both an expensive and an embarrassing year; early on announcing that she would bow to public pressure and pay income tax (the first time a British monarch had done so for over 50 years) and, at the end of the year, having her Christmas speech leaked to and published in ‘The Sun’ ahead of the big day. It was also a bad year for Manchester after the IRA exploded two bombs in centre of the city; injuring 64 people and causing millions of pounds of damage.

Politically, the government, led by John Major, made themselves unpopular on two fronts, by firstly signing Britain up to the ‘Treaty on European Union’ (many saw this as a loss of Britain’s identity); then secondly announcing it’s plans to close a third of Britain’s deep coal mines, with the loss of 31,000 jobs.

In terms of sport, 1992 saw Barcelona hosting the Olympic Games; it being the first time in 20 years that every country had been present (with no boycotts or bans in places). Linford Christie was the star of the event by becoming the oldest ever Olympic 100m champion (at 32 years old!). The year also saw ‘The Football Association’ launch the new ‘Premier League’, no-one at the time quite realising the revolutionary effect that it would have on the game.

Entertainment wise, the quirky, fast paced breakfast TV programme ‘The Big Breakfast’ made its debut. There was plenty of chaos and disorder on the show; Chris Evans being the one to lead the fun, games and competitions. The BBC were far, far less successful with their attempt at entertaining the public with ‘Eldorado’. Focusing on a community of ex-pats living in a Spanish fishing village, it was slated for its wooden actors and uninspiring storylines (later to be axed after just one year).

The big movies of the year were ‘Wayne’s World’ and ‘Reservoir Dogs’. The first being about Wayne and Garth’s battling it out with a hot-shot TV producer to save their own low-budget TV show (and also win the heart of the lovely Cassandra!). The second being Quentin Tarantino’s story of a botched robbery and the hunting out of the ‘rat’ (was it Mr. White, Mr. Orange, Mr. Blonde, Mr. Pink, Mr. Brown or Mr. Blue?).

It is over one hundred years since FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association, was formed in Paris, France, in 1904. This was really the start of the organised international game, and they must have got it right, because the ever increasing interest, in world football, is truly amazing.

From humble beginnings, the game has increased in popularity, to become the sporting phenomenon it is today. If horse racing is the sport of kings, then football is the king of sports! Every four years a national team are crowned world champions to the delight of their loyal subjects.

Since its inception in 1930, the World Cup has been won, in almost equal measure, by European and South American countries. However, talented players are emerging from other continents, Australia, Africa, Asia, and even the United States, who hosted the major tournament in1994. Surely, it will not be long before a team from one of these other nations, comes out on top.

Football clubs, such as Manchester United, Real Madrid, AC Milan and many others, reflect their host cities and have become household names, far beyond their city confines. The most famous, of the many professional players, are instantly recognisable. The sport has attracted rich, and successful men as chairmen, and the best players and managers command earnings comparable with those of pop singers and movie stars.

Soccer’s popularity has developed, not just from fanatical supporters flooding through turnstiles into enormous arenas. Vast sums of money are paid for live television and other rights. As a result, important games are watched by millions of armchair fans, many of whom subscribe to satellite, and related media services. Air travel has become less expensive and more accessible, so that supporters can fly to support their teams, wherever they are playing. International football stars, frequently sign for clubs outside their home countries, and command massive transfer fees.

There is no doubt that international football is a mammoth business. From gate money to mass media rights, sponsorships to replica team clothing, a sporting colossus has arisen. Children, and grownups as well, want to wear the colours of their preferred players or clubs. They kick balls around in sports fields, parks, wasteland and quiet streets. Young people practice and aspire to develop that extra bit of expertise, that would catapult them into a life of fame and riches. Most will go on to achieve other things but occasionally, a boy wonder will appear, to dazzle and entertain, with the world at his feet!

As if going to a match at the Bernabéu Stadium to watch Real Madrid wasn’t a big enough attraction anyway, the club has now gone and smashed the world transfer record to bring Cristiano Ronaldo to La Liga.

A staggering £80 million has gone to Manchester United to acquire the World Player of the Year – a sum that the Madrid club consider to be great value for money, considering the skill that the player possesses on the pitch. And, of course, the moneymaking potential he brings off it.

Footballers, of course, always polarise opinion. Fans of one club are notoriously reluctant to praise players from a bitter rival; preferring to promote their own team members. I remember last season, Marca, Real Madrid’s mouthpiece, for several weeks proclaiming that Arjen Robben could statistically be shown to be a far better player than Lionel Messi, for example.

Few polarise opinions quite so much as Cristiano Ronaldo, though. Whilst many are prepared to acknowledge that he is currently the world’s best player, fewer people are willing to say equally positive things about the man himself. This despite Sir Alex Ferguson publicly stating that he’d love the player to return to Old Trafford one day and for univseral appreciation that he has spent hours on the training pitches honing his skills. Why is it that so many football supporters want to criticise Ronaldo for ‘diving’ and histrionics? Let’s face it, he’s hardly the first footballer to try to get penalties when slightly nudged in the box or to throw a tantrum when substitued, is he?

Famously born in 1985 on the beautiful island of Madeira, in Funchal, the capital city, Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro is the youngest of four children. It says much about his parents that Ronaldo gained his name because of the fact that Ronald Reagan was his father’s favourite actor, apparently! Readers are invited to insert their own chimpanzee jokes at this stage. Playing amateur football from the age of eight, he then went across to mainland Portugal after signing for Sporting Lisbon. It was in the friendly against Manchester United that marked the refurbishment of the team’s stadium in preparation for Euro 2004, that Ronaldo first impressed the manager of Sporting’s opponents that day, Sir Alex Ferguson – who then went on to sign the player for over £12 million when he was just 18 years old.

This was a big gamble on such an inexperienced youngster, but one which repaid Ferguson’s faith in the player’s undoubted talents. Ronaldo, initially criticised as being something of a ‘show pony’ by many observers, developed into an impressive goal scoring and goal-making phenomenon. During his time at Manchester he helped United win the Premier League title for three consecutive years and also the European Champions’ League. He was transformed from being a slightly frail looking teenager into a strong, athletic player who, despite the attention he receives from defenders, misses few games through injury.

His seemingly inflammatory behaviour towards Wayne Rooney must have made life difficult for him at Old Trafford for a time – as did his pleadings to leave during and after the 2008 European Championships. But not once did his enormous self-belief waver and he soon won back the support of fans and team-mates alike. And as for the opposing fans booing him – well, like many great players, Ronaldo seems to be inspired by it rather than intimidated.

Cristiano Ronaldo has nothing left to prove on the football pitch. He’s won everything as an individual – World Player of the Year, Ballon d’Or, PFA Player of the Year, etc, etc. And, although the Portuguese national team that he now captains is going through a comparatively sticky patch, his impact on the teams he represents is always second to none.

All that remains for him is to play for the club he supported as a child and for whom his mother Dolores clearly wanted him to sign. Real Madrid and Cristiano Ronaldo are obviously made for each other – he looks very much at home in the all white strip and the full stadium that greeted his public unveiling showed how much the Madrid public yearned for his signing. Now we have to find out whether he can have the same impact on Madrid’s fortunes as he did on Manchester United’s. It might be a bit more difficult – but it’s going to be fun watching.

Augustine Azuka ( Jay-Jay ) Okocha who was born August 14 ,1973 in Enugu ( same day as my mom difference year though is a Nigerian footballer who currently plays for Hull city in the lower league in England a move which was completed in 2007. Nicknamed Jay-Jay for his entertaining and Flamboyant style of play.

Okocha was playing football at the age of just 16 for his first club, Rangers international of Enugu, before a chance encounter whilst on holiday in Germany launched his international career. Okocha tried out for fourth division club Borussia Neunkirchen and they snapped him up.

Via Saarbrucken, he went on to join Eintracht Frankfurt in December 1991 – still before his 18th birthday – where he was to explode on to the Bundesliga scene.

Five years on, he moved to Turkey to play for Fenerbahce where he gained Champions League experience (notably in a shock win against Manchester United at Old Trafford) and hero worship in Istanbul.

In 1998, Jay-Jay became the most expensive African player ever with his £14million move to Paris St Germain.

After seeing out his contract with the French giants Okocha was available on a free transfer – hence the rumoured £3.3million-a-year wages he was rumoured to be demanding. It is testament to Allardyce’s negotiation skills that he was able to convince the midfielder to drop his high demands and join the Barclaycard Premiership outfit.

He has played at the 1994 ,1998 ( where he was named in the tournament best XI ) , and 2002 Fifa world cup and many African Nations cup Tournaments with Nigeria. He won the olympic gold medal with Nigeria in 1996 beating Brazil in the semi finals before seeing off Argentina in the final.

Proudly a member of Fifa 100 , a list of 125 greatest living footballers selected by lengendary Brazilian Pele in conjunction with FIFA’S centenary celebrations.In the 2004/2005 season he won the BBC’s African Player of the Year award (for the second successive year).

After seeing out his contract with the French giants Okocha was available on a free transfer – hence the rumoured £3.3million-a-year wages he was rumoured to be demanding. It is testament to Allardyce’s negotiation skills that he was able to convince the midfielder to drop his high demands and join the Barclaycard Premiership outfit.

In the 2004/05 season – his third for the Trotters – he made 33 appearances and scored 7 goals, including two in the first game of the season – a 4-1 victory against Charlton.

He was relief of his captainship band with Bolton in early 2005/06. This is Much attributed to his public admittance that he is interested in a move away to Quatar. He finally left the team after the final game of the season when Bolton announced they will not be renewing his contract , manager sam allardyce shaking Okocha’s hand before he came on the field in his last game.

After a lucrative year playing for Qatar Sports Club, Jay-Jay returned to England to take up a new challenge at the KC Stadium.

In 2004 he released a DVD called «superskills with Okocha » where he teaches children at a football school the most difficult football tricks.

He is happily married to Nkechi , a native of his country, Nigeria. Blessed with a son who he Named «A-J Okocha.

As you may have read in my earlier article, Cricket is being played in three formats – Tests, One-Day and T20s. In order to decide the champion of the game, the world cup is being played, in the One-Day format. I’ve covered a few vital information about its upcoming world cup, which begins at the end of this month.

General

2019 cricket world cup, starting from 30th May 2019, is the 12th edition of the men’s cricket world cup. The showpiece event is the most coveted award in the sport, going to be played between 10 teams. The world cup is always played in the One-Day format. The event is being held in the ODI format. England & Wales will play the host, for the 5th time overall, and the first time since 1999.

Qualification

As a qualification criterion, eight teams automatically qualified based on their international One Day rankings. The last two spots were fought by six teams in the qualifier played in 2018. That was an intensely fought contest in Zimbabwe. Six teams were divided into two groups, where each team played two matches in the group. Top two teams from each group played the semi-finals, and winners of semi-finals played the final.

Teams

India, Australia, England, New Zealand, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Sri Lanka were the teams automatically qualified based on the rankings. West Indies and Afghanistan were the ones to enter through the qualification route. Looking at its rich cricketing history, West Indie being forced to enter through qualification was a tough pill to swallow for many cricket lovers.

Based on the recent form and match winning record, hosts England and India are labeled as favorites to win the competition. Australia – the defending champions – are the dark horses, who may surprise few teams to win the world cup. South Africa has been a force to reckon since their inception in world cricket, never to go beyond semifinals. Their fans are hoping that South Africa will break this jinx to wind a world cup this time.

Schedule Summary

The event will start on 30th May 2019, and go on for 46 days. The hosts England will play against South Africa in the opening match. Two semi-finals will be played on 9th July and 11th July respectively, with final to be hosted on 14th July, Sunday.

Venues

11 grounds over 10 different cities across England & Wales will host the world cup matches.

Here is the list of grounds & cities:

England:

1. Kennington Oval – London

2. Lord’s – London

3. Trent Bridge – Nottingham

4. Country Ground – Bristol

5. Old Trafford – Manchester

6. The Cooper Association Country Ground – Taunton

7. The Rose Bowl – Southampton

8. Headingley – Leeds

9. Edgbaston – Birmingham

10. Riverside Ground – Chester-le-Street

Wales:

11. Sophia Gardens – Cardiff

Do visit the ground and be the part of the historical event if you are in a particular city on a day.

Breaking 1996 down into the biggest news, sports and entertainment events; here’s what happened…

Two tragedies hit the hearts of Britons in 1996, the nation’s sympathies going out to the people of Dunblane and Manchester. In Dunblane, a crazed gunman went on a shooting spree in at a local infant school, killing an entire class and their teacher. Later in the year, as a direct response to those ill-fated events, the Government announced that it would be outlawing almost all handguns in the UK.

In Manchester, a huge bomb devastated its busy central shopping area just as it was filling up with eager Saturday shoppers. Police managed to start an evacuation before it blew up but scores of people were still killed or injured in the blast. Such was the damage caused, that the episode led to a total regeneration of Manchester city centre.

Also hitting the news in ’96 was the introduction of the first genetically modified (or GM) food to go on sale in British supermarkets. Modified tomato puree was the cause of all the fuss with some critics dubbing it a «Frankenstein food».

The world of sport was dominated by England’s hosting of the European football championships (Euro ’96). The England v Scotland group stage match drew much attention with Gazza’s wonder goal eventually stealing the win for the home team. Cheered on by home support, the ‘Three Lions’ made it all the way to the semi-finals, the nation going football crazy as it looked as if England were really going to win a major tournament for the first time since ’66, then, as really should have been expected, they lost on penalties to Germany.

Entertainment wise, carrot topped Chris Evans re-invented the chat show format with his hit show ‘TFI Friday’.Presenting celebrity gossip, the hippest bands and lad friendly guests, this unscripted, chaotic program briefly made Evans the most sought after man on TV. Over on the BBC, a group of thirty-something lawyers were gaining huge ratings; ‘This Life’ being a bit like the American ‘Friends’ but with much more ‘bad’ behaviour and saucy goings on.

The big screen was blessed with one of the jewels of the British film-making crown, ‘Trainspotting’. Despite featuring heroin, needles, vomit and disgusting toilet bowls, this was the coolest thing of the year and took Ewan McGregor from nowhere to ‘Star Wars’. The more family friendly film of 1996 was ‘Toy Story’; it being the first feature length movie ever to be animated entirely by computer. The results were quite stunning and people flocked to see ‘Woody’ (a pull-string cowboy) and ‘Buzz Lightyear’ (a high-tech space ranger) battle it out to become little Andy’s favourite toy.

The draw for the world cup has been made and it’s looking good for England. They’ve been drawn in what’s considered an easy group so hopefully it will be an easy route through to the knockout stages. England may have an easy group, but the 5 time world cup winners Brazil don’t have such an easy ride. Brazil are drawn in group G with Portugal, Ivory Coast and North Korea.

Ivory Coast, they have only qualified for the World Cup once before in 2006 so though they are relative new boys to the competition they aren’t to be underestimated. The team has a number of Premier Leagues stars, including Kolo Toure, Emmanuel Eboue, Salomon Kalou and the brilliant Chelsea striker Didier Drogba. They are known as being a tough team to beat and Brazil won’t be underestimating them.

Portugal who only qualified through the plays offs so were un-seeded. However they are still considered one of the strongest teams in Europe and have a host of top class players including Cristiano Ronaldo, the 2008 World Player of the year and the most expensive player ever bought when Real Madrid paid £80million for him in the summer of 2009. The Portugal team still include players from the 2006 team which made it to the World Cup semi finals, with Brazilian Manager Luiz Felipe Scolari.

North Korea will be considered the easiest team to beat as they have less stars than the others, with pretty much their whole team plying their trade in Korea. It’s only the second time North Korea have qualified for the world cup with the first time being the world cup in England in 1966. They did cause an upset in the tournament by beating Italy 1-0.

Though Brazil have been given a tough draw it’s still a group they should easily qualify, being the number 1 seeded country in the world. This Brazil team may not have the flair that you expect from a Brazilian team but they still enough world class stars to rival any team. The player Brazil really will be relying on to produce the class is former world player of the year, Kaka. From his midfield position Kaka can boss the whole game and produces moments of genius every time he plays. He’s not the only star of the team though, adding some flair to the team is Robinho of Manchester City, Dani Alves, the attacking full back from Barcelona and Ronaldinho who on the top of his game is unbeatable. The difference with this Brazilian team is as well as the flamboyant players they have a core of solid reliable players and this has made the 2009 team the strongest Brazilian team defensively for some time.

I confess that I have a liking for Arsenal. In fact, of all the so-called ‘Big Four’ they are probably the one team that I wouldn’t mind having to watch every week. They play a lovely, silky game of football and, when they are in full flight, they are probably the nearest thing we have in this country to a team that can match Barcelona.

Unfortunately, they can’t match Barcelona in terms of finishing ability. Or probably defending, for that matter. In fact, in those two departments they themselves can be matched by quite a few of the ‘lesser’ teams in English football.

It’s such a shame, really, for the neutral, that a team that has the passing ability in it that this Arsenal team has somehow seems to come up short time and time again. Players with the ability of Fabregas, Arshavin, Van Persie, and Walcott should surely have won something in the past few seasons.

So where has it gone wrong? Or, as some Arsenal fans are sure to argue, has it not gone wrong at all; it’s simply a matter of time. Or economics. Or something else.

Three things strike me. Again, I stress; as a neutral. My wife supports Tottenham but I don’t let that colour my perspective at all.

Anyway, the first is that when I remember that truly great Arsenal team of a few years ago, it’s not just their quality of passing I remember. Yes, Pires, Henry, Bergkamp, Ljungberg, etc could pass the ball – but the whole team had a solidity and physicality about it that just doesn’t seem to be there in the present one. When you remember Patrick Vieira, you remember his hardness as much as his undoubted skill. So often now when you see the two teams lining up for the girly handshakes – sorry, pre-match civilities – the Arsenal team looks like a junior side compared to the team they’re playing against. That so-important spine running through the team doesn’t seem to be quite right.

And when you remember Ian Wright, Thierry Henry and Dennis Bergkamp you remember their ruthless precision in making almost every chance count; something today’s strikers are a long way from achieving.

Finally, and here Arsenal fans will be able to shed light on this – the lack of trophies seems to me to have coincided with the move to the Emirates Stadium. It’s a wonderful place to watch football, and everyone should go there – but Arsenal left Highbury in May, 2006 and haven’t won anything since. I don’t believe in curses or stuff like that. I do wonder, though, if the financial impact of the stadium, especially in what we have to call ‘the current economic climate’, has had a dramatic impact on the manager’s transfer budget.

I fully applaud the way that Arsene Wenger can take players of whom we know very little and make them into superstars. But I wonder if this policy has rather been forced on him because most of the money is tied up elsewhere.

Whatever the reason, I genuinely fear for Arsenal this year. A team with the financial clout of Manchester City might start to make real progress. Everton are only a couple of players away from having a really good squad – and no-one could accuse them of lacking physicality. My wife tells me to write that Tottenham are going to be up there this season as well; she might be right.

I hope, somehow, that Arsenal can, in 2009/2010, stop being ‘promising’ and ‘young’ and really play like they did a few years ago. I hated the way Manchester United brushed them aside in the Champions’ League semi-final; it was brutal.

I want to see an Arsenal team that plays fast, fluent, passing football but also has got some steel at the back and a ruthlessness in attack.

If they have another season like last year, I fear that the ‘Big Four’ might not include them.

A towering personality Edwin van der Sar is probably the best goalkeeper to have played for Netherlands. Born on the October 29, 1970, he began his football career by playing for his local city team FC Foreholte in Voorhout.

His athleticism and sharp reflexes under the bar brought him to the notice of major clubs. He first moved to VV Noordwijk, and from there to Ajax. He was apart of the Ajax team that won the UEFA Champions League in 1995.

Van der Sar hit big time when he moved to Juventus. In 2001, he joined Fulham, and started playing in the English Premier League. His biggest change came in 2005, when he moved to Manchester United for a rumored 2 million pounds. The green uniform of Manchester United also won him a nickname: Jolly Green Giant.

Van der Sar wore the national jersey for the first time in 1995 when he played for Netherlands against Belarus. Since then he has played more than a 100 matches for his country, and is likely to emerge as the most capped Dutch player.

His crowning moment was when he won the penalty shootout against Sweden in the Euro 2004 quarter final. This was the first time that the Dutch had won a penalty shoot-out. Van der Sar is admired for his grit and determination, and his ability to analyze the moves of the opposition forwards.

Some of the trophies that have come his way are Champions League, European Super Cup, and Intercontinental Cup.

Those who live in the Miami area may – worried that they will be shunned from restaurants and country clubs – claim to be Dolphins fans, growing fins and living underwater in their spare time. But Miami, like any other city in a state with multiple football teams, likely has its fair share of Tampa Bay fans. Perhaps these folks once lived in Tampa Bay and moved to Miami. Perhaps they grew up watching Tampa Bay or know someone who played for them. Perhaps, they (gasp!) would just rather be a Buccaneer than a Dolphin. For you Tampa Bay fans lingering in the city of Miami, this article is one you’ll likely want to pirate.

Every NFL team has its fair share of history and trivia. But, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers possess some of the most interesting trivia around. Those who disagree will have to walk the plank.

Kings of the South: Tampa Bay is the only team in the NFC South to prevail as Super Bowl Champions. Though Atlanta and Carolina have reached the Super Bowl, they have yet to be victorious. New Orleans, on the other end of the spectrum, is one of a handful of teams to have never made it to the championship.

The Rich Get Richer: The owner of the Buccaneers, Malcolm Glazer, also owns the Manchester United, an England soccer team. The Manchester United is considered the richest sports organization in the entire world.

Oops: The 1976 Buccaneers are the only team in modern day NFL history to lose every single game in a season. Since the NFL went to a sixteen game season, in 1978, several teams have gone 1-15, but no one has gone 0-16. During the 1982 season, which was shortened by a strike, the Baltimore Colts had no victories, but they had one tie to accompany their eight losses.

He could go all the way…but he won’t: The Buccaneers are the only NFL team that has never scored a touchdown on a kickoff return during a regular season game, a feat that has, up till the start of the 2006 season, been done over 1700 times by other teams. The Bucs have, however, scored five touchdowns on kickoff returns during preseason games.

A Pirate’s Curse: No team that has lost a regular season game to Tampa Bay has ever won the Super Bowl. This, because of its years in existence, is known as The Tampa Bay Curse and haunts anyone who falls to the Bucs before season’s end.

The Warm Weather Factor: Until the final regular season game of 2002, in which Tampa Bay defeated the Chicago Bears in Chicago, the Buccaneers had never won a game where the temperature at kickoff was less than 40 degrees Fahrenheit. Before beating the Bears, the Bucs had lost the twenty previous games played in cold weather.

Keeping it Real: Not only did the Bucs not do well in cold weather, but they also didn’t do well playing on artificial grass. They once lost 27 games in a row played on artificial turf in outdoor stadiums. This losing streak spanned 15 years, from the 1980 season to the 1995 season.

Coach Potatoes: Tony Dungy, who recently led the Indianapolis Colts to a Super Bowl victory and served previously as head of the Buccaneers, has seen four people from his Tampa Bay coaching staff make it as head coaches. Herman Edwards, an assistant under Dungy, coaches the Kansas City Chiefs; Rod Marinelli, a defensive coach under Dungy, coaches the Detroit Lions; Mike Tomlin, a defensive coach under Dungy, coaches the Pittsburgh Steelers; and Lovie Smith, a linebackers coach under Dungy, coaches the Chicago Bears. The former Buccaneers coaches met most recently in the 2007 Super Bowl.

Tampa Bay might not be a team full of Super Bowl rings or hall of fame names, but it’s an interesting team nonetheless, and one that some Miami fans can’t help but cheer for…even if done quietly.