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The Mad Mad World Of Football
Where Are They Now? John Connelly
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The Mad Mad World Of Football
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 Features 6 
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THE MAD MAD WORLD OF FOOTBALL
No. Football Really Is
A Funny Old Game
MONEY FOR OLD HOPE
The players at relegation-threatened Spanish club Merida are dipping into their own pockets in a bid to help themselves escape the drop.
Merida face a vital match on Friday at Celta Vigo and know that victory is vital to their chances of avoiding relegation altogether, or at least forcing their way into a play-off.
So the players and coaching staff have had a whip-round to raise the cash for six coaches, carrying 700 fans, to make the tortuous 750kms journey between two of Spain's most remote first division clubs. The trip will take at least 12 hours each way and cut across Portugal en route.
"The players are dreaming of escaping relegation and want support. We want everyone, without exception, to be at the game on Friday," Merida manager Jorge D'Alessandro said.
Hmmm, would have been interesting if Christian Gross had suggested the same thing at Spurs a few weeks back, eh?
JUDGE SPARKS SOCCER ARGY BARGY
Argentina's domestic football has been thrown into chaos after a judge suspended the national league in response to escalating violence at matches. And the judge, Victor Perrota, has vowed to enforce the unprecedented ruling until the public's safety is guaranteed.
Perrota has threatened to take this measure on several occasions, but his warnings have gone unheeded by both the AFA and the clubs. The case was initiated in February by the Fair Play Foundation, which has complained about rising violence and hooliganism at matches.
The latest incident came last weekend when two River Plate supporters were shot in the legs before a match against Independiente. Immediately after judge Perrota's decision, the Cronica mass market television channel immediately flashed "Football is stopped" in big bold red letters, but the clubs, whose pockets could be the hardest-hit, poured scorn on the decision.
"With this kind of criteria we should prohibit the sale of hamburgers because a kid was shot at McDonalds," said Daniel Lalin, president of Racing Club.
"This will not stop violence in football," said Oscar Gimenez, president of the Argentinos Juniors club. "Violence is a problem in all of society, we are all responsible for violence."
And with the big clubs taking that sort of responsible attitude, everything is bound to be alright soon!
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BRAZIL'S NINE LIVES
Brazil are so confident of retaining the World Cup they won in 1994 that they are currently training with just nine men! While most national managers are frantically working out how to trim their squad to 22, Brazil's Mario Zagallo is wondering where he's going to get 12 more players from.
The South American's preparations for the tournament began in bizarre style on Wednesday as a bout of flu, a spate of injuries and club commitments reduced the first training session to just nine players.
It quickly became clear that coach Zagallo, who had hoped to start preparing his team in earnest this week, will have to wait until the team arrives in France before getting down to any serious work.
And he will also have to do it without central defender Marcio Santos, who was dropped from the squad because of a pulled muscle which will rule him out of the tournament, while others were either getting over injuries, still at their clubs or sniffling in the gymnasium
Santos injured himself playing for Sao Paulo against Corinthians in Sunday's Paulista championship final, and although it's not a serious injury he won't be able to train properly for two to three weeks, which rules him out of the finals. Midfielder Flavio Conceicao, striker Romario and Cesar Sampaio are also on the injured list, although it's only Conceicao who's in danger of missing the World Cup.
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