Live Football

FIFA are set to approve a Great Britain football team for the 2012 Olympics despite opposition from Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Original post by WP-AutoBlog Import

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/72221?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Scots+wary+of+co-hosting+Eurosch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Football%2CSportc5=Not+commercially+usefulc6=Ewan+Murrayc7=2008_12_04c8=1128443c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=c13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2F” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpThe Scottish Football Association has urged caution over suggestions that it will bid to host the 2016 European Championship. The SFA and its counterpart from Wales will hold talks in February over whether to progress with a formal proposal at an International Football Association Board meeting. /ppCrucial to those discussions, though, will be confirmation from Uefa in the coming weeks about its criteria for hosting major tournaments./ppAs it stands, only four grounds between the two countries - the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, Glasgow’s Hampden Park, Celtic Park and Ibrox - have a 30,000-plus capacity, the figure stipulated for previous championships. Either that has to be lowered by European football’s governing body or other grounds in Scotland and Wales - Cardiff City’s new stadium, the Liberty Stadium in Swansea plus Tynecastle and Easter Road in Edinburgh - would have to undergo redevelopment./ppA further complication could be raised by the Euros’ proposed expansion to 24 teams. That would require 10, rather than the present eight, venues to host matches./pp”As we’ve always said, we would love to host the European Championship in Scotland,” the SFA said in a statement. “However, we realise it’s a huge undertaking and, as far as 2016 goes, we simply couldn’t host it by ourselves. If there was a feeling that a bid was a possibility, we would then commission a feasibility study.”/ppThere is almost no possibility, as had been suggested, of Northern Ireland joining the bidding process. If Scotland and Wales decide to progress after February, they will have as little as four months to fully prepare the bid./ppThe fortunes of Poland and Ukraine, much-criticised joint hosts of Euro 2012, will affect Uefa’s attitude to subsequent shared bids. France is expected to tender for the 2016 tournament while Spain, /ppSweden and Norway have also expressed an early interest./pa href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a
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Original post by Ewan Murray

European Championship expansion to 24 teams prompts discussions with near neighbours
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A disappointing night for Northern Ireland ended in a 2-0 defeat at the hands of Hungary, Sandor Torghelle and Zoltan Gera the scorers

Original post by Ken Gaunt at Windsor Park

David Healy is hoping to use Northern Ireland’s match with Hungary to prove he is worth a place in the Sunderland side

Original post by Ken Gaunt

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/73401?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Toshack+puts+his+faith+in+youthch=Footballc3=The+Guardianc4=Wales+football+team%2CFootball%2CSportc5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+usefulc6=Sachin+Nakranic7=2008_11_18c8=1119569c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Walesc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FWales” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpa href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/wales”Wales/a will be relying heavily on raw talent in tomorrow’s friendly in Denmark. John Toshack, the manager, flew to Copenhagen yesterday with the youngest squad in the country’s history, which included seven teenagers and 12 players still eligible for the Under-21s./ppToshack’s hand has partly been forced after injury ruled out five senior players, but the Wales assistant manager, Dean Saunders, still believes that by selecting a squad with an average age of 21 the manager has shown his willingness to give his prospective stars a chance to shine./pp”John has done brilliantly for all of them,” said Saunders. “It has taken a bit of time but there is some extremely good young talent around which bodes well for the future and our chance of qualifying for a major tournament finals in five or six years.”/ppWhat has particularly pleased Saunders is that, having been given their debuts by Toshack, some of Wales’ young players such as Aaron Ramsey and Chris Gunter have gone on to secure moves to Premier League clubs. /pp”It was not so long ago that we had just two or three players in the Premier League,” said Saunders. ” But now we have got a lot more playing against the best players in the world and that can only be a good thing.”/ppWhile Wales are drooling over their crop of future stars, Northern Ireland have stepped up the process of finding their own. The manager, Nigel Worthington, has asked to be kept informed on a regular basis about the country’s Under-21, -19 and -17 teams and has promised to watch them in action much more often. The senior side face Hungary in a friendly in Belfast tomorrow night./pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/wales”Wales/a/li/ul/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Sachin Nakrani

divimg alt=”" src=”http://hits.guardian.co.uk/b/ss/guardiangu-feeds/1/H.15.1/91478?ns=guardianpageName=Football%3A+Scotland+maintain+Olympic+team+suspicions+despite+Fifa+pledgech=Footballc3=guardian.co.ukc4=Scotland+football+team%2COlympic+games+2012+%28News%29%2CFootball%2CSport%2CNews+Story+%28Football%29c5=Football+World+Cup%2CNot+commercially+useful%2COlympic+Gamesc6=Tom+Daviesc7=2008_11_12c8=1116577c9=articlec10=GUc11=Footballc12=Scotlandc13=c14=h2=GU%2FFootball%2FScotland” width=”1″ height=”1″ //divpPlans for a British Olympic football team remain unsupported by the Scottish Football Association, despite pledges from Fifa that such a side would not threaten the home nations’ independence./ppGovernment minister Jim Murphy today received “reassurances” from Fifa that the participation of a joint UK team at a href=”http://www.guprod.gnl/uk/olympics2012″ title=”"London’s 2012 Games/a would not threaten a href=”http://www.guprod.gnl/football/scotland” title=”"Scotland/a’s footballing independence. A British team has the backing of prime minister Gordon Brown and Tory leader David Cameron, but the SFA maintains such a precedent could be damaging, because Fifa’s members are not bound by any statement from the governing body’s executive./ppSFA officials worry that there are nations who would be keen to challenge the separate status of Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland. “While we would welcome any statement from Fifa, we have to be clear that Fifa is an organisation made up of its members - and it is their views [as a collective] on the precedent that a Team GB would set that are so important in this issue,” and SFA spokesman said./pp”We await with interest the outcome of Fifa’s deliberations next month but we must be clear on this. We will not do anything that we feel would jeopardise our status as a footballing nation in our own right. At this stage, we feel that a Team GB does just that.”/ppSFA chief executive Gordon Smith has previously spoken out against the prospect, adding that an under-23 tournament goes against the ethos of the Olympics as the pinnacle of any sport. His predecessor, David Taylor, now general secretary of Uefa, also warned the “gentleman’s agreement” that allows Scotland to compete separately could be challenged at any time - regardless of any pledge by Fifa officials. The Uruguayan FA challenged the special privilege in 1972, but the motion was thrown out./ppMurphy, the secretary of state for Scotland, had earlier reported that Fifa general secretary Jerome Valcke assured him a joint UK team would have no impact on the home nations. The Labour MP told BBC Radio Scotland: “Scottish teenagers of today can be the Olympians of 2012 and can do so safe in the knowledge that the Scottish national team is safe.”/ppThe prime minister has already called for a British football team for the London Games but Scottish first minister Alex Salmond has dismissed the idea, saying it would jeopardise Scotland’s future as an independent football side. The leader of the Conservatives Cameron said on Sunday that there was “merit” in the idea and suggested staging a home tournament, the winner of which would go forward as the UK team. Murphy admitted today that was an option that could be considered./pp”Another option would be Alex Ferguson picking the top 22 young men from throughout the UK,” he said. “I am absolutely confident there are 16 and 17-year-old Scots, both men and women, who have a great future in football ahead of them, who could get in that UK football team safe in the knowledge it doesn’t affect the Scottish national team./pp”That’s a new reassurance and commitment from Fifa, and I look forward to them honouring it.”/pdiv style=”float: left; margin-right: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px;”ullia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/scotland”Scotland/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/olympics2012″Olympic games 2012/a/lilia href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/football/newsstory”News/a/li/ul/diva href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk”guardian.co.uk/a copy; Guardian News Media Limited 2008 | Use of this content is subject to our a href=”http://users.guardian.co.uk/help/article/0,,933909,00.html”Terms Conditions/a | a href=”http://www.guardian.co.uk/webfeeds/1,,1309488,00.html”More Feeds/a

Original post by Tom Davies

Northern Ireland recorded a confidence-boosting 4-0 win against San Marino after David Healy broke the deadlock in the 30th minute

Original post by Ken Gaunt at Windsor Park

Nigel Worthington has urged Northern Ireland fans to be patient and not to expect a landslide victory against San Marino

Original post by Ken Gaunt, Press Association in Belfast

With one point from three matches, Kyle Lafferty knows that Northern Ireland need a victory against San Marino

Original post by Ken Gaunt