Think about it a bit more carefully in future.
Robin van Persie should’ve been placed in the slot for January 2012 (or any time up to May), when he was still with the club :).
So, calendar makers, rule #1:
Never put a player who has made even a scintilla of noise about leaving for pastures new in a month for the year ahead when there is at least 10% chance he will no longer be there.
That’s a very scientific calculation. Obviously.
Best Tweet of the Euro2012 footie tournament by a mile. Well done @visitengland.
UPDATE: Within just 11 hours or so the message had been retweeted a mammoth 7,700 times.
The World Cup in 1994 marked a watershed in my obsession with footie.
Went from agonising over every match Arsenal played throughout my teens (we were, apart from in 1989, generally quite rubbish still at that point) to broadly enjoying the game for what it is.
Being a Gooner became less important (20-somethings generally find other things to worry about!) even though I still had a season ticket at Highbury for another two years.
But what the World Cup in the US in 1994 did in particular was illustrate to me the wider power of the game.
Central to this was the emergence of the African nations, personified perhaps by the Super Eagles, the nickname given to the skilful and passionate Nigerian national side at the time.
And thus when Rashidi Yekini scored the country’s first ever goal in a World Cup tournament, and his reaction to it, is still a wonderful moment.
Sad, therefore, to hear Yekini passed away this week at the still tender age of 48 following a long illness.
Hopefully Yekini later understood and was able to take comfort from knowing his goal against Bulgaria was a powerful and poignant moment in the history of the game and also in the minds of footie fans everywhere.
Life’s rich tapestry, and all that.
