Odds and ends

I'm trying not to dwell on England's performance in the friendly against Holland, which was ineffective to the extreme. Good to see that McClaren still hasn't managed to sort out the problems in the midfield. Or up front. Or how to defend against set pieces. It gives you a real sense of confidence.

Meanwhile, wins for Croatia and Russia mean that England are currently third in their qualifying group for Euro 2008, which is either a major crisis or no big deal, depending on who you listen to.

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I also watched the finals of the MLS Cup on this week (because apparently I didn't get my fill of mediocre football from Man City vs. Newcastle). The game itself wasn't that bad, really -- well, ok, it was 115 minutes of boredom, two minutes of excitement and then penalty kicks.

But it was good in comparison to the coverage on ESPN, which involved cheerleaders, an inane halftime show, and cramming a gajillion people in the commentary box so they could take turns speculating when Clint Dempsey was going to come on (answer: who cares). Also, I'd like to find out who decided to add Bruce Arena to the mix, so that I can hunt them down and beat them about the head repeatedly.

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Closer to home, Toronto FC made their draft picks today, picking up a bunch of guys I'd never heard of despite my making the supreme sacrifice of watching one whole MLS game this year. But there's a pretty good run-down of the players over at Canadakicks.com.

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Also in Toronto, the annual Cavalcade of Lights on Corso Italia has a special theme this year:

"This year's display will include vivid images of Italy's 2006 World Cup victory with stylized icons of soccer players, the FIFA World Cup, and other images that capture the culture and vitality of the Corso Italia community."

Because nothing says Merry Christmas like a good headbutt.

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And the winner for Bizarre News Story of the Week: Shieffield United goalkeeper Paddy Kenny had his eyebrow bitten off in a brawl.

No word on whether Jermain Defoe was involved.