The new Scarlet Spider is the new Spider-Man

Writing about Darkhawk the other day, I discussed how it seemed like in the 90’s comic companies—Marvel in particular—were always looking for “the new Spider-Man.” What I didn’t talk about was how there actually was a new Spider-Man for a bit in Ben Reilly.

I’ve done a post about Ben Reilly before and mentioned that I felt he had a lot of untapped potential that writers like J.M. DeMatteis in particular seemed to get. I thought Ben’s greatest attribute was allowing creators to explore different paths and venues for Spider-Man right there in the Marvel Universe without having to mess with Peter Parker directly. In Ben Reilly you had the core of Peter Parker’s personality (say that five times fast) but also a tortured soul and free spirit that played better as a man questing for life rather than being anchored by a city or friends and family.

Ultimately I think the worst thing for Ben Reilly was for him to become Spider-Man. He may have had a different costume and blond hair, but it was about trying to jam him into Peter Parker’s place and tell Peter Parker stories (specifically unmarried Peter Parker stories) with a guy who could have been something different.

You know the end of the story: the fans didn’t buy Ben as Spider-Man, he got dispatched, and Peter Parker returned.

However, absence did make the heart grow fonder and folks came to regard Ben Reilly with a loving nostalgia, as evidenced by the many requests we (meaning Marvel) would get at conventions to bring him back. When we teased at San Diego that the Scarlet Spider might be returning folks got excited as this was Ben’s pre-Spider-Man identity. Things went another direction and the other clone of Peter Parker, one-time villain Kaine, ended up as the new Scarlet Spider who recently got his own series by Chris Yost and Ryan Stegman.

And to bring my little tangent full circle, I think a decade and a half after the search began and with a character born out of that very era, in the new Scarlet Spider, we’ve finally got a new Spider-Man.

The obvious response to that statement is “yeah, obviously we kind of have a new Spider-Man in that a clone of Spider-Man is wearing one of his old costumes and webslinging around—duh, Ben.” First, that’s rude; second, you’re better than that; lastly, there’s more to it.

Chris Yost’s premise for the new Scarlet Spider is not just exploring a Spider-Man with a different costume or haircut, it’s an ambitious exploration of nature vs. nurture with Peter Parker as the test case and the results being how Spidey would have turned out different under alternative circumstances. It’s also a great deal of fun and the art by Ryan Stegman is fantastic (I have to mention his name at least twice as he’s a great guy but also terribly vain and sensitive), but I’m really enjoying the meatier character study here.

In Kaine as Yost writes him (and as Dan Slott set him up, to give credit where credit is due), we have the beginning of Ben Reilly’s unrealized potential and then some. Ben had all of Peter’s memories—including most crucially being raised by Ben and May Parker—to a point and then there was a divergence; Kaine has the core essence of Peter, but his “childhood” was being abused and cast out by his “father,” the murderous Jackal. He has spent his life to this point with gross physical deformities and living under the shadow of a life-threatening disease. He has killed many people and burned through every relationship he’s ever had. Whereas Ben was a slightly darker hue of Peter, Kaine is pitch black—and now he’s searching for redemption.

The question at the heart of the series—or one at least—is how ingrained what makes Peter Parker a good person and a hero is and how much of that came about because he had the right upbringing. Kaine has the building blocks of Peter Parker, but he never had an uncle to explain to him about power and responsibility. Even the real Spider-Man had to grow into being a decent guy at a horrible cost and didn’t have the easiest life, but Kaine is that plus a million.

It’s compelling stuff, but two issues in it has also created a really entertaining and alluring character. Free of his disease and feeling like he has redeemed his misdeeds enough, Kaine just wants to retreat from the world, but there’s something deep down that’s pulling him toward a heroic path. At the same time, he’s got to fight the urge to deal out that killing blow to the bad guy and has no problem tossing civilians out of the way or even using a gun. He’s his own Greek chorus in a way slightly more serious than Deadpool.

I also love the way Yost dialogues Kaine. He’s got glimmers of those Spider-Man wisecracks but buried beneath about a dozen layers of cynicism and bitterness; it’s a unique voice. He’s not the standup comic; he’s the drunk heckling him from the back of the room. Also, when Kaine talks tough it doesn’t feel like a put-on, another difference between him and Spider-Man.

So ultimately it wasn’t about instilling a kid with a similar personality to Peter Parker with different costumes and powers. It wasn’t about creating a spider character with a dark twist like Venom (Eddie Brock and Flash Thompson are both great in their own right, but they are their own men). Finding the new Spider-Man and doing so in the most rewarding way was just a matter of playing “what if?” on a serious level with the heart of Peter Parker and what makes him who he is and then running with it.

I’m loving Scarlet Spider so far and reveling in the chance to experience a new kind of Spider-Man from the ground floor. I’m really excited for him to get established and start becoming part of the Marvel Universe to see how others react to him. It truly does feel like being on the ground floor of something special not unlike folks felt when Amazing Fantasy #15 first came out, and I do believe that was the goal.

Also, did I mention Stegman’s art is great?

England News: AC Milan's Philippe Mexes

The Philippe Mexes has hailed Thierry Henry, labelling him an Arsenal 'idol', despite the striker's spell at the London club ending with the Gunners falling to their heaviest defeat in European football at the hands of AC Milan and the 34-year-old striker made a sensational return to Arsenal on loan in this years' January transfer window, scoring two goals in four appearances and to now returns to parent club New York Red Bulls after the Champions League defeat.

Philippe Mexes said that We have all paid the best compliments possible was the 1st to congratulate to he is an example for everyone. He is an idol for Arsenal and he had to have the courage to come back and make his contribution to Arsenal to he is a fabulous player.

International career for philippe mexes a he played for the Under-18 and Under-21 French national football teams, eventually winning a spot in the senior squad in August 2002 in Raymond Domenech's tenure as coach of the national team, he was rarely called up, and he failed to make the French squad for UEFA Euro 2004 and Mexès played the five first games of the Blanc era, partnering in centre back with Adil Rami On 25 March 2011, he scored his 1st goal for his country in a game against Luxembourg.

Barcelona Star Forward Lionel Messi Has Equaled The Record For Scoring Champions League Goals Scored

The Barcelona forward Lionel Messi has equaled the record for scoring the most goals away from home in one Champions League season following his strike in Barcelona's 3-1 Champions League round of 16 and the 1st-leg win against Bayer Leverkusen at the BayArena on Tuesday for a barcelona star Messi equals record for Champions League goals scored away from home in the Argentine attacker has once more added his name to the record books as he netted in the away game against Bayer Leverkusen in Europe's elite football competition.

The Argentina international followed in the footsteps of stars such as Jari Litmanen (1995-96), Hernan Crespo (2002-03) and Thierry Henry (2002-03) when he netted his 7th Champions League goal in an away game on Tuesday in the goal at the BayArena meant that Messi broke the competition record with his 19th strike in knockout games for the raul and Andriy Shevchenko netted 18 times in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Messi says the goal versus Leverkusen was his 98th Barcelona goal outside Camp Nou in 160 official appearances in the attacker has admitted that it will be difficult for Barcelona to retain their Liga title in barcelona have fallen 10 points behind their arch-rivals in the league table following last weekend's results.

alex morgan

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Paragraph Movie Reviews: Midnight in Paris

If you don't have plans to see this movie, you can check the spoilers here and then come back.

I'm not a guy who goes in for movies that are love letters to "insert city her," so I needed more from this one than pretty shots of Paris filling montages that go on a bit too long for my liking. I do like the particularity of Woody Allen's experienced-shooting style (which is still especially unique to me as I've only seen one other of his films), but again, not enough. The premise of a modern day romantic making his way back to 1920's Paris is a neat one, and novel because it brings about some excellent supporting performances in actors portraying real historical figures. Corey Stoll captures the screen with his intense Ernest Hemingway, Kathy Bates strikes a nice run-on sentence of a performance of Gertrude Stein, Adrien Brody has a fun cameo as Salvador Dali and I wanted to see more of Tom Hiddleston and Alison Pill's charming Fitzgeralds. The overall commentary Allen is making about everybody's romanticized past golden age being somebody else's dull present is one with mileage. Unfortunately all this stumbles for me with Owen Wilson's leading man performance, which starts awkward and only gets worse. I don't fault Wilson for playing out of his depth given that he's a man from the 21st century hobnobbing with his idols a century prior, but he goes too far with it and wrecks the flow of the piece for me. He has nice comedic bursts, his obvious strength, but a more meaningful dramatic performance is sacrificed and lacking. The most disappointing thing for me is how Wilson's googly-eyed rambling cuts so much of the cast's potential off because it kills the give and take. Rachel McAdams and Mimi Kennedy are brilliantly bitchy as the shallow fiancee and her loathsome mother, but Wilson fails to give his character, Gil, enough likability for me to really root against them. On the other side of the coin, Marion Cotillard is beguiling as the object of Gil's affection in the past, but the fact that she prefers this bumbler to the charismatic Hemingway when he displays no real affable qualities takes away from her credibility. It's rare that I like so much about a movie from its writing to its technical aspects to the general high quality of the performances and yet one actor can really spoil it for me, but Midnight in Paris is that unique exception.

Tonight Barcelona's Lionel Messi Needs Just One More Goal

A Ballon d'Or winner scored an incredible 53 in all competitions last term and has already added an astonishing 37 in 2010-12 for Barca, playing as always with plenty of heart in the Argentine, still only 24, is level with current record holders Raul and Andriy Shevchenko, but can surpass the two European greats with a solitary strike at Leverkusen tonight in champions league love story to the barcelona lionel messi needs just one more goal tonight to break competition record for strikes in the knockout stages.

This is a perhaps fitting that on Saint Valentine's Day for the much admired Argentine can create his own celebration of love by breaking yet another record to he looks to surpass the mark set for goals scored in the knockout stages of the Champions League.

Messi already has 43 goals in Europe's premier club competition and leaving him 6th on the tournament's all-time list of top goalscorers are given following:

Behind Raul (71), Ruud van Nistelrooy (56), Thierry Henry (55), Shevchenko (48) and Inzaghi (46) while Cristiano Ronaldo, incidentally, is in 10th place with 31. But almost half of his goals have come in the knockout stages and the which is a measure of Barca's success in the competition over the last few years.

Should Have Beens: Darkhawk

In the early 90’s the race was on in comics to find the “new Spider-Man.” The old Spider-Man had grown into an at-his-youngest 20-something married to a super model, so the void for relatable teenage was gaping. There was an influx of “legacy” characters at DC like Superboy, The Ray, Damage, the third Robin and so on, but they tapped more into the general idea that young people like reading about other young people. At Marvel, many new characters were created and existing characters tweaked to fill the spot of Peter Parker as the average kid who happened upon extraordinary powers and could be you.

I’ve heard at least Robert Kirkman describe Sleepwalker as “his Spider-Man,” I suppose because his alter ego Rick Sheridan was semi-directionless young guy most comic fans could theoretically see themselves in, but since the “hero” himself was a whole other personality, I’ve never really bought that. Nova got a big push to the forefront, but Rich Rider had been around long enough as an established character that his differences from Peter Parker pushed back and made him his own man. Same deal with Speedball, Night Thrasher, etc. The Phil Urich incarnation of The Green Goblin was interesting, but a bit too much of a concentrated inversion of Spidey to fill his shoes.

I think the closest we got to a Spider-Man to call our own in the 90’s was Darkhawk, and even if he wasn’t the new Peter Parker, he presented a cool enough concept I’m surprised he hasn’t had more staying power.

I wasn’t a regular Darkhawk reader when he had his ongoing series. I bought one issue because it was an Infinity Crusade tie-in and way later (like, recently) read his first few appearances when they were reprinted, but mostly my exposure to the character was via New Warriors and guest spots. When he resurfaced a few years back as part of Runaways then Loners and ultimately War of Kings, I gained more familiarity. The idea of Darkhawk seems like a hit for me, but maybe the execution wasn’t up to snuff; again though, I read those early issues and even through 20 years later eyes I found them pretty compelling.

Anyhow.

Chris Powell was the teenage son of a policeman from Queens, New York who witnessed his dad taking a bribe from a crime boss and stumbled on a weird amulet while trying to avoid being seen. Said amulet allowed Chris to transform into the armored warrior Darkhawk, whose abilities he used to combat organized crime and super villains alike.

I know the few times I checked in on Darkhawk as a kid, much was made of the fact that his dad had gone missing and that he was dating (or at least romantically involved with) the daughter of the crime lord from his first appearance. That actually held a lot of appeal for me, as Chris’ supporting cast was different from the normal set of classmates and would-be mentors you usually got with teen heroes, instead extending to his suddenly single mother, underworld figures whom he maybe could or couldn’t trust, and of course that crime lord’s daughter (no, I don’t remember her name, I read like three issues). The old Romeo & Juliet love story is fairly tried, but there’s a reason it’s also true (I think that’s how you use that expression).

In the War of Kings: Ascension mini (I’ll get there in a sec), I didn’t see Chris’ dad around anywhere when they showed his home life, but I don’t know if he was found, if he died, etc. Regardless, mystery was another thing that I thought would make Darkhawk stand out. The question of his dad’s whereabouts was one thing, the true origin and nature of exactly where the Darkhawk armor came from was another. I remember there was a Marvel trading card set around 1993 or 1994 where a sub series was “Greatest Mysteries” and one was “The Face of Darkhawk,” because I guess one time he took the helmet off and what he saw in the mirror was hideous.

Eventually a lot of the Darkhawk mythology got unraveled, in Ascension (told you) and War of Kings, with the explanation of a sort of corps of cosmic bad asses linked to the Shi’ar (hence the bird motif) who kept armored bodies in a wormhole and pulled them out when needed; the amulet Chris found belonged to one of these guys, who turned out to be villains. I remember when editor Bill Rosemann was breaking this concept (I may have even contributed an idea or two, which I’m sure Rosemann will deny) and it sounded cool as heck to me; still does. It straddles the line between cosmic and corruption on a scale I feel the original Darkhawk series wanted to reach but never quite got to; certainly there’s untapped potential here (hence the post).

Chris Powell himself was a bit of a blank slate generic teen at first, which may be a reason he never quite took off, as everything around him from his family to his girlfriend to his origin was more interesting than him. However, again, I think in recent years guys like C.B. Cebulski, Brian K. Vaughan and Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning have infused Chris with more personality, playing up the fact that he’s a kid who had to grow up fast once his dad left and matured fast in some ways but remains over his head in others. He’s definitely somebody I can relate to; whose boneheaded mistakes I roll my eyes at because I’ve made them and whose little victories I smile for.

Another thing Darkhawk had and has going for him is armor, which is intrinsically cool. Mike Manley did a cool initial design (I love his little bird claw) and more recent artists like Wellinton Alves and Brandon Peterson have brought it closer to its full potential.

One thing Darkhawk has against him is that his name is Darkhawk; there are few codenames that sound more dated and 90’s. It does have its charm though (and he is in fact a dark hawk…sort of).

Darkhawk could have a unique place in the Marvel Universe as a hero with roots set as far apart as outer space and the streets of New York. There are a lot of questions still to be answered for older readers and a lot of ground to mine to get new fans on board. If I were the sort to end posts on bad puns, I’d say I hope to see Darkhawk take flight again soon.

Crap.

Italy Team News: AC Milan director Barbara Berlusconi

The Barbara Berlusconi urges AC Milan fans to support the team and the club director says that Massimiliano Allegri's side are entering a critical period of the season and the backing from the stands is required to help out the team.

AC Milan director Barbara Berlusconi has urged the club's supporters to back the team despite their poor run of form in they are italian champions have failed to win their last 3 games in all competitions are losing ground in the Scudetto race to Juventus and suffering a home defeat to the Turin club in the Coppa Italia semi-final.

She is the daughter of Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, has insisted that the terraces must keep the faith in Massimiliano Allegri's men in the team need to feel the support of our fans. This should not be a time of controversy and criticism. We are in an important stage of the season," Berlusconi said according to Ansa and the coming weeks will no doubt be decisive. We are still on course to achieve all our goals.

There is no lack of good news and the stephan el shaarawy is proving to be a promising footballer and some of our players are now reaching a good level of form in general a difficult period to go for a many of our players are still unavailable and we are playing every 3 days is difficult to recover for the AC Milan's difficult run continues with a trip to fellow title-challengers Udinese, before a Champions League clash at home to Arsenal on February 15.

The Former Argentina Coach Diego Maradona Demands

A former Argentina coach Diego Maradona demands Al Wasl offer him funds or he'll quit is angry with club management for affording him only a 'restricted budget' during January, while other clubs signed players like Luca Toni.

The Al Wasl coach Diego Maradona has called on club management to give him more transfer funds or else he will walk away from his contract in Dubai and the Argentine, whose side are currently 5th in the Pro-League, was vocal after Al Wasl only signed two players in January after he said he was promised 8 new additions.

A Maradona told reporters he was disappointed with Al Wasl's “restricted budget” and wanted to be able to acquire players like Al Nasr's new signing Luca Toni in we had a list of players we wanted to sign but weren't able to because of the restricted budgets we were forced to work have to try and work with what we have and perform well until the end of the season," he said according to Sport360.

Swansea Boss Brendan Rodgers Won The Manager Of The Month Award For January.

The Swansea City manager Brendan Rodgers has won the Manager of the Month award for January to the Swans taking seven points from 4 matches, including a 1-1 draw with Chelsea, the 39-year-old has been rewarded for his side’s impressive recent displays.

A Swans have been flying in the maiden season in the Premier League in january a particularly impressive month for the Welsh side as they recorded a victory over Arsenal and only a last-minute own goal saw them draw 1-1 with Chelsea in addition to claiming all three points away against Aston Villa at the turn to year in February began in similar style by overturning a one-goal deficit to defeat West Brom 2-1 at the Hawthorns to leave them in 10th place in the table.

The awarding of the prize serves as a testament to the stylish football Rodgers inexperienced team have played since embarking upon their 1st top-flight season since 1982 in the decision was made by the Barclays Awards Panel to includes representatives from football’s governing bodies in the media and fans is the Ulsterman’s first Manager of the Month Award.

AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic Has Taken Full Responsibility for Red Card

AC Milan's Zlatan Ibrahimovic accepts responsibility for red card and the Rossoneri have already stated that they will contest the suspension to the Sweden international believes that he needs to start learning from his mistakes for a dismissal in Sunday's 0-0 draw with Napoli and admitted that he deserved to see red.

A Sweden international was sent off 19 minutes into the second half of the game at San Siro for slapping Salvatore Aronica in the face as he was dragging team mate Antonio Nocerino away from the Partenopei centre-half and he has been hit with a 3 match ban for his rush of blood to head but Milan now intend to fight the suspension.

A 30-year-old forward has no complaints about his dismissal."I did a stupid thing,” Ibrahimovic admitted during an interview with ‘Striscia la Notizia’ on Canale five on Monday night to milan fail to overturn Ibrahimovic’s suspension or at least have it reduced to player will miss the Rossoneri’s upcoming Serie A clashes with Udinese and Juventus as well as their trip to Cesena in between.

What I Want from Battleship

Like a lot of people, I didn't really know what to think when it was announced that the classic board game Battleship was getting somehow made into a big time action movie. So many questions flooded my consciousness...

Would there be white and red pegs? Would they be played by major actors or rendered through the magic of CGI?

What role would the submarine and cruiser play? Would they save the aircraft carrier for the sequel?

How would the movie replicate the electronic talking enhancements? Is that what 3-D is for?

None of these questions have been answered completely (no white or red pegs in the trailer, but maybe those are R-rated elements that are being saved for the feature), but after seeing the initial spot during the Super Bowl last night, I have compiled a list of things I need to see from this movie...

Somebody needs to say "You sunk my battleship"

Again, wasn't in the trailer, but you don't buy the cow if you can get the milk for free. This needs to be the climactic money moment of the plot. Maybe in the early going a disposable human character says it in passing, but if the aliens also have a battleship--and I have to assume they do--then the big bad guy needs to say it as he's watching his dreams of world conquest go up in smoke. To do this full justice, they're really going to have to spring for a huge name voice actor like James Earl Jones or a digitally recreated Orson Welles.

I want to see white and red explosions

Ok, I understand that the FX pegs would be too costly and Chace Crawford doesn't quite have the range, but let's at least see some ivory geysers when a shot misses. And yeah, the fireworks when that battleship gets sunk better be crimson, baby!

Taylor Kitsch needs to run for a touchdown

Peter Berg is directing this sucker (which, by the way, is the reason despite all the jokes I'm making I still have faith this could actually be pretty darn good), so at some point I'm hoping the fate of the planet gets decided on the gridiron and Timmy Riggins gets to go for six. They should actually bring in Scott Porter for just that one scene to make the hand off. In fact, the entire Dillon Panthers starting lineup should be flying a fleet of fighter jets at the alien armada with Coach Taylor on headset calling the strategy. Clear eyes, full hearts, die alien scum!

The Destroyer saves the day

No, not the armor from Thor, I'm talking about the little two peg boat that can coming in for a last minute rescue. And Randy Quaid should be at the helm.

This scene needs to be recreated

Except the men should be aliens and the women are only pretending to wash dishes before delivering a beat down.

England Manager Fabio Capello May Have Breached His Contract.

Former FA boss claims Fabio Capello may have breached his contract by criticising decision to strip John Terry of captaincy and the Italian coach stated his disagreement with the FA over the decision to remove the armband from the defender has now been suggested he may have overstepped the mark.

A Former FA chief executive David Davies has suggested that England manager Fabio Capello may have breached his contract after he publicly disagreed with the decision to strip the captaincy from John Terry in the centre-back is awaiting trial for allegedly racially abusing Anton Ferdinand in Chelsea’s clash with QPR in October and the incident had the prompted reports of unrest within the England camp.

The Terry denies the charge but FA chairman David Bernstein acted to remove his captaincy on Friday after his trial was scheduled for 9 July, meaning that the allegations would potentially overshadow preparations for Euro 2012, which begins on 8 June and the Davies responded on Monday, telling BBC television: "It is being taken very seriously by the FA to that Fabio Capello has breached his contract.

Paragraph Movie Reviews: The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo

If you don't have plans to see this movie, you can check the spoilers here and then come back.

I was in a different (though I'm sure hardly unique) position with this film, having read the book pretty recently and having the story fresh in my mind. Had that not been the case, I question how easily I would have been able to follow the dense mythology, as my wife had to ask me questions throughout and I was shocked at how quickly they glossed over some points that seemed so key to the novel. To be fair to David Fincher, Steven Zaillian and company, 700 pages of incredibly dense story is a lot to cram into even a two and a half hour frame, so obviously the cuts were both necessary and no doubt challenging. To their credit, I believe they do a great job maintaining the central mystery, which is at the heart of everything, and it plays out every bit as suspenseful and thrilling on screen as in the book, despite some judiciously subtracted elements. Where I do think the translation suffers is in building the characters, Mikael more so than Lisbeth, as so much of his background established in the early parts of the book is jettisoned (again, understandably to a degree) for time here and he becomes more of a pivot to get events moving rather than a fully realized player. Despite that, Daniel Craig does an excellent job bringing James Bond charm to the role, but also knowing when to pull back and make the character more human and vulnerable. Christopher Plummer is also standout as Henrik Vanger and anchors the slow-going first half hour or so with his tortured whimsy. Likewise Stellan Skarsgard is perfectly cast in a part that required tremendous duality. Rooney Mara is, however, the breakout star as advertised, earning that Academy Award nomination with her intense and complete transformation into Lisbeth Salander, keeping that intense rage under an eerie veneer of calm until just the right moments and exploding with unforgettable bursts. The chemistry between Craig and Mara is also remarkably entertaining. It's a Fincher film, so it's beautifully shot, and Trent Reznor handles the music wonderfully. With all the changes made already, I perhaps would have altered the way the ending unfolds, as it remains anticlimactic here as it did in the book. My primary criticism beyond the overall struggle to maintain the clarity of the plot and flesh out the characters would be that the first and last half hours don't match up to the quality of the middle portion, but again, this mirrors the book as well. Great performances, well-filmed, well-scored, but also a case where the filmmakers' eyes may have been a bit bigger than their stomachs.

Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola Says Lionel Messi is a Quality Player

When he is not as his best, he is still superior to other players and thy are 41-year-old coach is unconcerned about the Argentine star's state of mind, while stressing he is not thinking about the result of Real Madrid's game.

The Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola has guaranteed that Lionel Messi is not affected by his missed penalty against Valencia in midweek and the diminutive attacker failed to convert from the spot as Barca were held to a 1-1 draw at Mestalla in the first-leg of the Copa del Rey semi finals in a leo is always fine, he is very competitive," Guardiola told reporters at a press conference. "He has experienced many things and he always plays well, you already know my opinion.

They are without being at his best, he is superior to the other players. He sometimes takes responsibilities without having to it comes to penalties, he is amazing. I hope that when he retires, he will keep up his good record in what happens is that he spoils are all here to help him, while knowing he needs little help. We all are more comfortable when Messi is on the pitch in guardiola then rejected the notion his side are in crisis despite failing to win any of their last three matches.

27 PENALTIES TAKEN
   
20 PENALTIES SCORED
   
7 PENALTIES MISSED
   
74% CONVERSION RATE

Real Madrid's Jose Mourinho Good Coach for Barcelona Says Former Barcelona Goalkeeper Vitor Baia

A former Camp Nou goalkeeper has stated the belief that his Portuguese compatriot would have done a good job had the current Champions League holders employed to former Barcelona goalkeeper Vitor Baia has taken the time to praise Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho, and feels that the Portuguese trainer would have been a good option for the Blaugranas.

The Santiago Bernabeu tactician worked at the Camp Nou from 1996 until 2000 under head coaches Bobby Robson and Louis van Gaal to his countryman is confident that Mourinho would have done a good job if he'd ever taken charge of the current European champions in he is the best coach in the world in my opinion and he is a very special person," Baia said to Esports COPE.

Mourinho would have been a good coach for Barcelona. He has the ability to adapt to every culture in a mourinho we saw at Chelsea was a completely different coach than the one at Porto to the one at Inter was again another type of coach in mourinho to now seeing at Madrid is once more another type of the 42-year-old raved for the number of recent reports suggested that Mourinho could be on his way out of Madrid at the end of the season in controversial coach has so far denied that he's preparing his exit from the Spanish capital.

Voetbal is oorlog. Zeker 74 personen om het leven gekomen tijdens ongeregeldheden na een voetbalwedstrijd in Egypte. Veel mensen zijn omgekomen door verstikking en zware breuken

In de Egyptische havenstad Port Said zijn zeker 74 personen om het leven gekomen tijdens ongeregeldheden na een voetbalwedstrijd. Dat meldden artsen. Honderden anderen raakten gewond.

Supporters van het thuisteam, al-Masri, bestormden het veld na een 3-1 zege op Al-Ahly, een topteam uit Caïro. Ze vielen spelers en fans van al-Ahly aan. Daarbij werden onder meer stenen, flessen en vuurwerk gegooid.

De vijandelijkheden zetten zich ook buiten het stadion voort. Honderden mensen raakten gewond en er werd brand gesticht in het stadion. Onder de doden zouden zich ook veiligheidsmensen bevinden.

Zware breuken
"Veel mensen zijn omgekomen door verstikking en zware breuken", zegt dokter Hassan al-Isnawi, directeur van het ziekenhuis in Port Said. De spelers van al-Ahly werden naar verluidt samen met supporters opgesloten in hun kleedkamer.

Al-Masri en al-Ahly staan bekend als aartsrivalen. De afgelopen jaren kwam het vaker tot bloederige confrontaties tussen de supporters van beide ploegen.

Bijna tegelijkertijd werd de voetbalwedstrijd tussen Zamalek en Ismaili in Cairo stilgelegd, nadat er brand uit was gebroken in het stadion. Het vuur ontstond even nadat het nieuws over de doden in Port Said bekend raakte. Het is onduidelijk of de brand in het stadion in Caïro iets met de zware rellen in Port Said te maken heeft.

England Boss Fabio Capello

A Tuesday it was announced the 31-year-old will not face trial until July 9, eight days after the final in Poland and the Ukraine to the announcement that England captain John Terry's trial for allegedy racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand will not take place until July 9 in the Chelsea defender will now be available to feature at Euro 2012.

The tournament kick's off in Warsaw on June 8 before reaching its climax in Kiev on July 1, meaning the outcome of the 31-year-old's race trial will not be after Poland and Ukraine in a no doubt as the competition nears and the debate over who Fabio Capello should include his squad heats up in the plenty of attention will fall on Terry's shoulders.

Hester Winkel is een heel mooie vrouw die de Nieuwjaarsduik een stuk heter heeft gemaakt. Bekijk hier hoe lekker Hester is!

Hester Winkel

Hester Winkel

Hester Winkel is een heel mooie vrouw die de Nieuwjaarsduik een stuk heter heeft gemaakt. Bekijk hier hoe lekker Hester is!

Hester Winkel is de beachbabe die op de voorpagina van De Telegraaf uit het koude Noordzeewater opdook. Hester is bekend van fotoshoots uit o.a. FHM en de Playboy. Daarin stond ze volledig naakt.

Ze werd in Zandvoort op de foto gezet toen ze met duizenden anderen meedeed aan de traditionele Nieuwjaarsduik.