Spurs reach holy grail and get ready for the big boys...

Tottenham Hotspur have finally reached the Champions League after years of trying, secured this evening with a 1-0 win away to fourth place rivals Manchester City. Spurs knew that if they could just secure victory against their rivals, a Champions League spot would be secured with one game to go, and they secured the most important moment in the club's recent history thanks to a Peter Crouch goal in the 82nd minute.

Having started marginally the better team, Manchester City would have fancied their chances of securing the victory that would take the battle for fourth place into the final day of the season, this coming Sunday.

But the main talking point of the first half ended up being a dissallowed goal for Tottenham. Ledley King was harshly judged to have fouled Gareth Barry in jumping to head home a corner, and the general consensus was that the goal should have stood.

Heurelho Gomes, the Tottenham goalkeeper, pulled off a string of top draw saves at the other end to keep the scores level, including an excellent diving effort to keep out a long range Adam Johnson shot, and a sprawl across goal to claw the ball away after a deflection from Gareth Bale, preventing what looked to be a certain own goal in the process.

After the break, both teams looked tired, and Tom Huddlestone seemed lucky to be only awarded a yellow card after what looked like a stamp on Manchester City midfielder Nigel De Jong.

Both sides had half chances throughout the half, but Crouch, who had already hit the post in the first half with a close range header, looked to have wasted a golden opportunity when his header from a wonderful Gareth Bale cross went straight at the legs of City goalkeeper Martin Fulop, who was able to save.

But, with eight minutes remaining, Crouch atoned for his earlier misses, and scored a priceless goal; reacting first after a deflected Younes Kaboul cross was pushed into his path by Fulop and heading into the top corner, though Craig Bellamy, marking Kaboul, could most certainly have done better to stop the cross coming in.

As Spurs held out for the victory, and dreamed of potentially meeting some of Europe's biggest clubs in the world's premiere club competition next season, they could be happy in the knowledge of a deserved win, secured with a performance superior to that of the much more expensively assembled City side, who will now have to make do with a Europa League spot next year.

For Spurs, though, they will certainly be thrilled by the fact that they have secured their place in the Champions League, and with it at least £30m of prize money.

City manager Roberto Mancini, brought to the club to secure them 4th spot, may well be worrying about his long term future though, as the Manchester City board certainly haven't been scared of making radical changes when they see fit.

Spurs manager Harry Redknapp, however, deserves a huge deal of credit for the way he has turned around the club, after joining early last season with Tottenham struggling in the relegation zone, and now, just 18 months on, ready for the big time.

Redknapp was understandably delighted with his team's success. He said: "It's fantastic. It's been a terrific season for us, we've played some great football along the way and we deserve it."

That is most certainly true. Spurs are about to start mixing it with the big boys. And in all honesty, they deseve nothing less.

The greatest (footballing) story never told...

When thinking of great goalscorers, people think of the likes of Pele, Gerd Muller, or Alan Shearer. Few, though, would mention the name Josef Bican.

This is a man who is largely unknown in the football world, being named in some quarters as being "criminally underrated".

Czech-Austrian forward Josef Bican is estimated to have scored around 800 goals in all competitive matches during his long and fabled career. This would make him the all-time most prolific scorer in the history of football.

The reason this story seems so surprising is that so little is spoken about Bican, and the fact that many people throughout the football world know little about him, if anything at all...

Born in Vienna in 1913, into a poor Czech family, Bican's earlierst footballing memories are those of a tough start, with his family so hard up he was unable to afford shoes, and so played barefoot, with a ball made of rags. This, he later said, in fact helped his ball control and other aspects of his game. This is where Bican's footballing odyssey began - playing noon til night on the streets.

At the age of 18, he was signed by Rapid Vienna, one of the country's biggest clubs. This is where Bican's story really begins...

Bican was known not only for his unprecendented footballing ability as a whole, but in particular for his pace (he was known to be able to run 100m in 10.8 secs), and his finishing.

Josef Bican's goalscoring ability though was quite incredible. As all footballing fans will know, scoring around one goal every two games is a highly impressive ratio. One in one is very rare, and absolutely magnificent also.

Mr Josef Bican, in total played 49 matches for Rapid Vienna. I'll let you guess the number of goals he scored... 50?... 60?...

No. Josef Bican scored 108 goals in just 49 appearances - over two goals a game. To put it in layman's terms, imagine a team where, with Bican playing, they could be nigh on guaranteed two goals, before the match had even kicked off. THAT, is why I so firmly believe Bican is so underrated.

But, wait, he didn't stop there. Having moved on from Rapid Vienna, Josef joined Slavia Prague, a Czech club. Bican scored an incomprehensible 395 goals in just 217 appearances for Slavia Prague.

You really just cannot understand why more has not been said about this wonderful footballer.

At the time, as Bican's exploits became more and more well known and heard about, he became a target for some of Europe's largest clubs. Juventus were close to securing his signature, but he turned them down and opted to stay in Prague as he was advised that communists would soon take over in Italy. Ironically, though, communists took over in Prague just a couple of years later. Bican refused to join them though, just as he had with the Nazi Party in Austria.

In order to try and improve his attention among the communists, Bican joined FC Hradec Kralove, a communist side. Eventually though, Bican was forced to leave the club and the city by the Communist Party, and so went back to Slavia Prague, or Dynamo Prague, as they were then known.

Bican saw out the rest of his playing career there, eventually retiring at the age of 42, before starting a managerial career.

Bican's magnificent career only recently began to be recognised, after the communist regime in his home country was crushed in 1989.

Josef Bican died in 2001 at the age of 88. He is believed to have died happy, knowing that his place in the game was finally in some ways recognised.

Below is a profile of Josef Bican from football podcast "The Football Ramble"

Forget Rooney, ignore Gerrard, take your dancing shoes off Crouchy, here's the man who could really win England the World Cup...

Recognise that man? No, I thought not (well, maybe the few ardent West Ham fans amongst you might...). This man is Tony Carr, the current Director of Youth Development at West Ham United Football Club, and the man credited with producing talent that has earned West Ham up to £80m in transfer fees over the last 10 years, and a group of players forming the backbone of the England squad for this year's World Cup in South Africa.

You may hear more about Carr in the coming days, as he has been rewarded for his services to the East London club with a testimonial, featuring the players he has helped to nurture and turn into some of the biggest names in English football.

Think Tony Carr, and these are some of the names you should be thinking... Frank Lampard, current England captain Rio Ferdinand, his predecessor John Terry, Jermaine Defoe... and others.

The other most well-known players of the list -Joe Cole, Michael Carrick and Glen Johnson, along with the others already mentioned, have 345 international caps between them, and are all expected to be in Fabio Capello's squad for this summer.

Carr's philosophy is not one as complicated and intricate as you may think, commenting: "The ethos of the football club has always been to produce the best local young talent that they can attract. Although it's getting tougher, we are still trying to maintain that ethos." The 61 year old Carr is known for his values of hard work, discipline and fun, and these are surely all things that have helped and aided the career of so many top class footballers.

Having joined the West Ham academy in 1966 as a young and upcoming striker, cleaning the boots of 1966 legends Bobby Moore, Geoff Hurst and Martin Peters, his career was unfortunately ended due to a bad injury. His personal loss, though, was West Ham's gain, as he joined the club's staff as a youth coach in 1973.

One thing is for sure though. If England finally break their 44 year hoodoo this summer, Tony Carr could certainly play a big part.

Title race to go to the wire, as Higgins finds himself in hot water...

On a day of shocking accusations in the snooker world, the Premier League title race kept up pace, while Chelsea and Manchester United will have to wait until the final weekend to discover their fates.

The world of snooker has been thrown into controversy, with Sunday newspaper News of the World claiming that current world number one John Higgins has reportedly agreed to take a £261,000 bribe to throw matches later on this year.

Scotsman Higgins has been immediately suspended by World Snooker chairman Barry Hearn, who has launched an investigation, whilst saying he was "absolutely mortified", and calling the story a "huge shock".

The story was released after a group of undercover journalists pulled off a 'sting' in the Ukraine on April 30.

John Higgins has, though, already released a statement. He has denied the bribe allegations, and argued that he just went along with what was being said to try and "get out".

For a full video of Higgins statement, and the controversy surrounding it, click here.


In other major sports news, the race for the Premier League title

took another big turn today, as Chelsea pulled off a 2-0 win away

to Liverpool to leave themselves in the driving seat over Manchester United. Despite this, the current champions' still held on for a 1-0 win against Sunderland.

Having started the match cautiously, but towards the end of the first half, Chelsea were gifted a goal, as a sloppy Steven Gerrard back-pass allowed Didier Drogba to nip in and steal Chelsea's opener,

after rounding Liverpool keeper Pepe Reina.

And ten minutes after the break, Frank Lampard added a second, sweeping home a finish after a fine team move.

Manchester United's 1-0 win over Sunderland came thanks to a first-half Nani goal, though their performance, as with Chelsea's, seemed to be full of nerves.

The title will now be decided on the final day of the season, next Sunday, as Chelsea host Wigan Athletic, and Manchester United welcome Stoke City to Old Trafford.

It promises to be a blockbuster.


See the whole shocking John Higgins sting video below.

ICC World 2020 starts with a bang in the West Indies

The annual ICC World 2020 has kicked off in the West Indies, and the cricket is already engrossing and exciting for diehard fans and new spectators alike. The 2020 Cricket World Cup is perhaps the most popular tournament in cricket, and the opening game was a thriller straight away.

With perhaps two of the strongest teams in the tournament - New Zealand and Sri Lanka - kicking off the competition, fans would have been hoping for a fun-filled start, and they weren't dissapointed.

With Sri Lanka having posted 135-6 from their allotted 20 overs, mainly thanks to a brilliant 81 from 51 balls by Mahela Jayawardene, the match was balanced on a tight rope going towards the end of the final over, with the New Zealanders still needing 10 runs to win.

Nathan McCullum, though, turned out to be the hero for them, hitting 16 off 6 balls, including a six off the penultimate ball of the match to secure his side the victory.

Us cricket fans can just hope the tournament will continue to provide us with excitement like this throughout. Keep posted on here for regular updates from the tournament.

Europa League: Semi Final Round Up

Fulham's Europa League fairy-tale is still going, as they come back from a

goal down to knock-out Hamburg and reach the final.

Liverpool, though, will be licking their wounds this morning, having been beaten on away goals by Spaniards Atletico Madrid, with ex-Manchester United striker Diego Forlan striking the decisive blow.

Having taken a 0-0 draw from their away leg in Germany, Fulham knew they were going to have to give everything to overcome German giants Hamburg.

And their challenge became even greater, when Croatian striker Mladen Petric scored a wonderful 30-yard free kick after just over 20 minutes. With the goal having come against the run of play, Fulham would have been fair to feel hard done by. And the game looked like it was petering away for them, Fulham knew they would need something special to turn the tide.

Cue Simon Davies, the welsh winger popping up to score a magnificent solo goal, turning away from the Hamburg defence before finishing. With 20 minutes to go, it was game on.

And then, seven minutes later, came a moment that will live with all Fulham fans at the ground for a long, long time. As Davies swung in the corner, the ball fell for Zoltan Gera, who turned and fired it into the net. Craven Cottage went into party time.

As the Londoners held on, and the final whistle blew, wild celebrations shook the ground, and Fulham manager Roy Hodgson, the man who has masterminded their success calling the result "a major piece of history in a very special atmosphere."

With celebrations sweeping south-west London, Merseyside was in a very different mood, with a poor season now being confounded with a semi-final exit.

Having been 1-0 down from the first leg in Spain, Liverpool knew they needed to pull perhaps their best performance of a disappointing season to reach the final. And it seemed to be going well for them when Alberto Aquilani, their star summer signing who has failed to fire so far this season, scoring the opener to put his side ahead.

And as the tie went into extra time, Liverpool scored the second goal they thought would be enough to take them to the final, Yossi Benayoun firing in the second.

But Atletico Madrid weren't finished just yet, Diego Forlan popping up to volley home the winner and take Atletico to the final.

As Liverpool's mediocre season already seems to be over, Fulham are still on the journey of a lifetime.

See you at the final then, in Hamburg, on the 12 May. Will Fulham's magical journey continue, or are Atletico Madrid ready to break another English team's heart?

Jose's Inter hold on against mighty Barcelona to reach Champions League Final

Inter Milan managed to hold off Lionel Messi and his Barcelona teammates to cling on for a 3-2 aggregate victory and book a place at the Santiago Bernabau Stadium for the Champions League Final.

Jose Mourinho's Inter Milan team put in a sterling effort to reach the final at the expense of last years' winners. The Italian team provided a defensive masterclass, and played the majority of the match with just 10 men, having had influential midfielder, and former Barcelona player himself, Thiago Motta, sent off with over an hour left.

Having shocked the holders with a magnificent performance to win 3-1 in the first leg at the San Siro, Inter Milan would have expected to be kept under the cosh from the word go.

So it turned out, though for much of the match, Barcelona's performance seemed to be uncharacteristically sluggish and slow.

With 30 minutes on the clock, came one of the main talking points of the entire match. Thiago Motta, already on a yellow card, seemed to hand-off Barcelona midfielder Sergio Busquets in the face, and the Spaniard's over-reaction certainly seemed to fool the referee, as the Inter man was given a straight red card. The incensed Motta then went back over to Busquets, fuming, and grabbed him again, only to be escorted off the pitch by the other players. An angry Jose Mourinho on the touchline applauded the Barcelona fans, seeming to say that they were the ones who had had his man sent off.

Even a man up though, Barcelona never seemed to reach the highest gears they are known to be so capable of. Lionel Messi was one again outplayed by the magnificent Inter Milan defence, and Zlatlan Ibrahimovic again failed to fire against his old team, adding fuel to the fire of those who say he is unable to perform on the biggest stage.

As the second half wore on, Inter looked set to see out the draw to put them through. The drama though, was far from over.

Young substitute striker Bojan had a golden chance to put Barca ahead, only to miss his header from yards away.

With six minutes remaining however, Gerard Pique, a centre-back playing as an extra striker to help find a goal cleverly slotted into the bottom corner to put the home side 1-0 up on the night, though still behind on aggregate.

Cue mayhem from the already vociferous Nou Camp crowd of 98,000, who went into frenzy mode as their team surged forwards in search of the winner.

And in injury time, with seconds left to play, Barcelona thought they'd won it, when Bojan again popping up, this time slamming a shot into the roof of the net. Barcelona thought they had stolen the victory, but the referee had other ideas, ruling the goal out for a handball earlier in the move. This was one of a number of strange decisions from the officials on a night when neither manager would have been particularly pleased with their performance.

Jose Mourinho leapt onto the pitch as the final whistle blew, hands aloft, celebrating what he later called the "greatest win of his career".

Inter Milan will now go on to the final on 22 May in Madrid to play German giants Bayern Munich, who dispatched of Lyon 3-0 on Tuesday night thanks to an Ivica Olic hat-trick, sealing a 4-0 victory on aggregate.