Pete Sixsmith packs his authoritative knowledge of football with a great recall of detail of the sort that used to earn old Leslie Welch a decent living as the Memory Man. Let’s start Pete’s series of recollections from the past 11 World Cups in the obvious place …

This is the first tournament that I can really remember. 1958 in Sweden didn’t have much impact on a seven-year-old wrapped up in the world of Lewis Jones and Jeff Stephenson at Leeds RLFC, while 1962 in Chile was a long way away and the TV pictures had to be flown over to appear a day late.

I have vague memories of the Battle of Santiago ( Italy and Chile kicked lumps out of each other, while the English referee Ken Aston looked on in amazement) and I do remember the stanchions on the goalposts in Santiago being curved rather than straight. And I wanted Czechoslovakia to win as I was a fledgling Communist.
(more…)

There will be a lot of random jottings here during the World Cup, given our declared support for Paraguay – not to the exclusion of a probably Bentless England, but in honour of Cristian Riveros, Paulo da Silva and those red and white stripes – and the haphazard nature of the Salut! Sunderland team of scribblers.

First thing first. In the long queue for the Uffizi museum in Florence, the faces of two Mexican students lit up when talk turned to football, and specifically to Sunderland.

(more…)

Did anyone in the England camp actually want Darren Bent to go to South Africa? Do Rooney and Lampard have as much say as Fabio? Did Darren miss a sitter or just a half chance in a token appearance in which it was pre-ordained that he’d barely see the ball? Pete Sixsmith wonders …

I watched the first half of the England game today. I was hoping to see a sparkling performance from Darren which would ensure that he would be joining Lampard, Gerard, Cole and Terry on that flight to South Africa.
(more…)

Our boys, Paraguay, had an off night in their friendly with Ireland, beaten 2-0 with Sunderland’s signing Cristian Riveros showing few encouraging signs but lots of misplaced passes according to Salut! Sunderland scouts. It can only get better. But in the meantime, maybe you will need cheering up …

Nike is behind Write the Future, a film – click here if there is a problem with the clip above – assembling some of the world’s top players “on a journey that dramatically captures that one moment when headlines are written – from a single pass or one strike that brings a nation eternal happiness, while bringing others to their knees”.

The Hollywood director and producer Alejandro G Iñarritu’s short film features Cristiano Ronaldo, Darren Williams, Didier Drogba, Wayne Rooney, Fabio Cannavaro, Franck Ribery, Andres Iniesta, Cesc Fabregas, Theo Walcott, Patrice Evra, Gerard Pique, Ronaldinho, Landon Donovan, Tim Howard and Thiago Silva. Late news: Darren couldn’t make it after all.

I am posting it unseen while on the road near the French-Italian border, because I’ve heard good reports about it from other sources. Let me know if they were right.

Colin Randall

Luke Harvey, our budding sports journalist, offers some thoughts on the England World Cup warm-up and says Darren Bent’s fate, though important, won’t affect his summer viewing plans …

England’s first warm-up match in the approach to the 2010 World Cup, a 3-1 victory over Mexican opponents, seemed on paper a solid and comfortable win. In reality it was anything but.

On display for 90 minutes were two teams incapable of defending set pieces, and England looked nervous and edgy as they lined up in a curious formation without any of the FA Cup finalists in the team, some fresh faces appearing, and crucially for Sunderland fans – no Darren Bent.
(more…)

So if some reports from the England camp are to be believed, Darren Bent may be one missed game away from being left behind when England head for South Africa.
(more…)

It was a weekend for champions: the Champions’ League final, the Championship playoff final, a fitting finale for southern-based Sunderland supporters who won their own league – and even some reflected glory for Salut! Sunderland …

Chelsea’s Florent Malouda popped up on the French TV news yesterday, beaming as he rejoined Raymond Domenech’s Wolrd Cup squad at their training camp in the Alps – are we expecting snow in South Africa? – after a quick return to London for the birth of his fourth child.
(more…)

Almost a blank Saturday? Pete Sixsmith found no football to tempt him to a ground yesterday, but was so taken with what he heard and saw from Wembley and the Santiago Bernabeu that he became quite confused. Was that Ormerod or Milito who scored Blackpool’s playoff winner? See if you spotted the same similarities between yesterday’s triumphant sides …

Well that was my first blank Saturday for a while. I resisted the temptation of Newcastle University v Shankhouse in the Northern Alliance and spent a non football ground-attending day doing other things.
(more…)

Must be something to do with watching Diego Milito’s sublime finishing for Inter Milan last night and wondering whether he’s had time to consider a move to Sunderland, where he and Darren Bent could strike up a useful partnership – and challenge for places in our parade of best-ever strikers …

There are things that happened last week that I barely remember. The memory of Brian Clough’s ultimately career-ending injury, colliding with Bury’s goalkeeper Chris Harker in the light snow of Roker Park, is so clear that it might have happened earlier today, rather than Boxing Day 1962.
(more…)

Just a quick acknowledgement that the result we wanted, a Blackpool victory in the Championship playoff final, came to pass.

As the goals flew in during the first half of a game the BBC called “at times breathtaking”, one Salut! Sunderland regular, watching in Canada, urged all his mates on the Blackcats e-mail loop to drop all else to tune in.
(more…)