international break: ontd_football

News

San Marino call for apology from Germany forward Thomas Muller the BBC version of this story. The letter to Thomas Mueller is published in full below

RUMORS: Chelsea to make huge offer for Napoli's Diawara Hmmm

RUMORS: Sturridge set for Liverpool exit We will see

Gareth Southgate: Interim England manager wants future decided within a month So do we all! But to be fair to him, it's either he goes back to U21s, or gets the NT job. I am interested what the guy from Leipzig would have done (in terms of his plan that he set out), but we will see how this goes. Looking for tickets to Germany for the match next year, whatever happens

Joe Hart says he had to rein in England passion after Euro 2016 errors A bit of distance has done Hart a world of good, and helped his game in the process

Letter From San Marino's Press Officer to Thomas Mueller

Dear Thomas Müller, you are right. Football games like the friday night one are meaningless. To you. Again, dear Thomas, you don't need to come to San Marino almost for free in a weekend in which, without the Bundesliga, you could have sat with your wife on the couch of your luxury house, or maybe you could have gone to an event set up by the sponsors earning several thousands of euros. I trust you but I allow myself to give you 10 good reasons for which I think that the game San Marino - Germany was very heplful, and you can think about that and give me your opinion...
1) It was heplful to show to you that even against weak teams like ours you can't score, and don't say you weren't pissed off when Simoncini didn't let you be among the scorers...
2) It was helpful to your directors (let Rummenigge and Beckenbauer know too) that football is not your property, but it's of those who love it among which, like it or not, we are too.
3) It was heplful to show to hundreds of European journalists that there still are young people following their dreams and not your checks.
4) It was heplful to prove that you Germans will never change and that history did not teach you that presumption doesn't always mean "victory".
5) It was helpful to let 200 San Marino kids that followed the game for what reason their coaches ask them to work hard and at their best. Maybe one day all of their sacrifices will be rewarded with another match against the World Champion.
6) It was heplful to your Federation (and to ours too) to earn image rights money with which they, in addition to pay you for the trouble, can build structure for the kids in your country, football academies, safer stadiums,... Our Federation -I tell you a secret- will build a new field in an isolated little town called Acquaviva. You could have built it with 6 months of your salary, we will with the money of a 90 minutes match. Not bad, is it?
7) It was heplful to a country as big as a sector of your Allianz Arena to appear on newspaper for a good reason, because a football game is always a good reason.
8) It was heplful to your friend Gnabry to have a debut and score a hattrick. Now he can ask Werder for a new contract and double salary.
9) It was helpful to those San Marino people a bit sad for reminding them that we have an actual national team. It can happen to you -that are almost perfect- that when you lose someone will wake up and start bothering you, right?
10) It was heplful to me to let me understand that even if you have the best Adidas kit deep down you still are those who wear white socks and sandals. With love, Alan.

Pictures

Spain and England are playing a friendly tonight. A game that not many people are bothered about. But here's Mata!

Casar Azpilicueta, or as his Chelsea teammates call him, 'Dave'.

I do like Juan Mata, I'm just not keen on the teams he plays for. Yes, including Spain

My fondest wish for this friendly is for Southgate to experiment. Go with a back three! Throw the new guys on. Friendlies are work shops for you to see which formations work. Please don't do what Hodgson did

The England team trained at Tottenham Hotspur yesterday. Stones and Dier being one of them

Mandzukic at the Croatian press conference. How is he doing, btw? He fell off my radar when he went to Juventus. Is he still there?

Mueller, who can't be arsed to play smaller countries like San Marino, is out and about (to be honest, that's for a talk to be having with his NT manager, surely? I get being straight talking, and everyone lauding Mueller's stance against micro states but ehhh)