Its Big Phil vs super Sven. It’s the epic clash. The man who has masterminded England’s exit from the last two major tournaments; England’s arch nemesis; Luis Felipe Scolari meets them again as he aims to complete a “knockout England” hat-trick. In his way stands the under-fire Sven Goran Eriksson and a more than able English squad. Its going to be a classic——no two ways about it.

England News: The “Three Lions” have been criticized by Sepp Blatter for not playing an attractive brand of football. But their fans don’t care. They are completely behind the squad as England looks for its first World Cup trophy win since 1966. The line-up remains a major point of contention for the Englishmen. With the one striker experiment not really working,Peter Crouch may regain his place upfront.If he however does not play and England play Rooney as the lone player upfront,Michael Carrick will most probably retain his holding midfield spot . Gary Neville returns to his customary position at right-back after missing out on a few games due to injury.Frank Lampard will be desperate to get on the scoresheet,now that all of his midfield compatriots,Steven Gerrard ,David Beckham and Joe Cole have a goal each to their name.

Injuries/Suspensions: As said before Gary Neville has recovered and will play at right-back. Carragher, Robinson and Owen Hargreaves are on a yellow.

The Talisman: Wayne Rooney. He can run , dribble, turn , kick, shoot…………..and can score too!He hasn’t scored yet in this tournament but there is no doubting his credentials and the Portuguese defence will be wary of him.

Portugal defeated Holland 1-0 in their second round game thanks to a Maniche goal.The game was an illtempered game with cards flying all over the place. With so many yellow cards shown to players, it would be interesting so see their temper going into this game.I would also like to see how they handle pacy Tottenham starlet Lennon.

Team News: Deco and Costinha are suspended. Ronaldo may be fit. Figo has been cleared to play despite the headbutt. Miguel and Ricardo Carvalho have been outstanding in the tournament so far and the onus will be on them to keep the Englishmen at bay.

On a yellow: Maniche,Luis  Figo, Nuno Valente, Petit, Ricardo.

I see: Revenge on the cards. Fired-up England to sneak past a  Portugal without Deco. It will be a very open game. A early goal will do a lot of good.Portugal  however have Luis Felipe Scolari on their side. Even without  Deco and Costinha ,the Portuguese have enough quality to beat England.

I see England winning this. It will be tight and even a scrappy 1-0 will do for England.

The light-hearted have gone home. The heavy-weights will fight it out for one shot at glory. Only one goal: To win the Fifa World Cup 2006. The hosts kick off the final phase of the Cup when the play the impeccable Argentinian side in the first quarter final of the Cup.

German Squad: The Germans have had no worries in the Cup, all what Jurgen Klinsmann has touched has turned to gold. Klose and Podolski have linked up beautifully and Michael Ballack has been perhaps the best player in the tournament not to have scored a goal. Friedrich, Mertasacker, Metzelder , Lahm have formed a formidable back-four. There is terrific team-unity within the Squad. Even Oliver Kahn has been quoted saying, “Jens’s performances have been flawless, calm and balanced. Three clean sheets speaks for itself”. All in all the team are on a high, and it will take a monumental effort from Argentina to topple them. Only Torsten Frings is on  a yellow card; hence he needs to be a little careful.

The Talis-men: Klose & Podolski. The tall and short of it. I need not explain why they are dangerous, do I? Their performances have given enough food for thought.

The Argentinians have looked the most-impressive in this tournament . A 6-0 thrashing of Serbia shot them into instant limelight and made them clear favorites to win the Cup in Germany. But their defence has never been tested so far, and Germany will be all set to check for the chinks in the Argentine armour.

Argentina news: Argentina coash Jose Pekerman is spoilt for choice as he sits down to choose his final 11 on the eve of the biggest match of the World Cup so far. Crespo and Saviola will make the eleven ahead of the prodigal Messi.  The right-back will again be a spot of great contention with Burdisso , Scaloni and Collocini all with a chance to fill in.

The Talisman: Leo Messi. The Barca starlet has had a very quiet WC and he would be looking to set the record straight against Germany.

I see: A German victory. Buoyed by the crowd support, the Germans to sneak a 2-1 win.

In about one month, NFL training camps will begin opening up around the league. Typically the rookies report one to three days before the veterans. Some clubs have both come in on the same day. Following is a team by team listing of training camp opening dates.

Training camps opening 7/20/2006
- Philadelphia Eagles

Training camps opening 7/23/2006
- Cleveland Browns

Training camps opening 7/24/2006
- Oakland Raiders
- San Diego Chargers

Training camps opening 7/26/2006
- Chicago Bears
- St. Louis Rams

Training camps opening 7/27/2006
- Denver Broncos
- Houston Texans
- Kansas City Chiefs
- Atlanta Falcons
- Detroit Lions
- Minnesota Vikings
- New Orleans Saints
- New York Giants
- San Francisco 49ers
- Seattle Seahawks
- Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Training camps opening 7/28/2006
- Jacksonville Jaguars
- Miami Dolphins
- New England Patriots
- New York Jets
- Pittsburgh Steelers
- Tennessee Titans
- Green Bay Packers
- Carolina Panthers
- Dallas Cowboys

Training camps opening 7/29/2006
- Cincinnati Bengals

Training camps opening 7/30/2006
- Baltimore Ravens
- Indianapolis Colts
- Arizona Cardinals
- Washington Redskins

The Buffalo Bills have not decided yet. I will bring you more information as these camps begin to open. Now is the time to start formulating ideas for futures wagers. There are some interesting deals out there. Keep an eye on any key changes to teams, including coaches, players and philosophy.

We all should know that the quarterback position is key to a team’s success. Look at last year’s Super Bowl. You had two upper level quarterbacks in Ben Roethlisberger and Matt Hassleback going at it. Let’s look at a couple bottom teams from last season. The San Francisco 49ers, NY Jets, New Orleans Saints and Houston Texas all have two things in common. First, they were very poor teams last year. Four wins was the tops in this group. Second, they all had quarterback issues ranging from having a poor starting quarterback to having an injured quarterback, which forced a poor quarterback to play.

Next, let’s take a peak at some of the top teams from last season. The Seahawks, Patriots, Broncos, Giants, Steelers, Bengals and Colts have two things in common. First, they were all winning teams that went into the playoffs. Second, each one of them has an quarterback performing at the upper level of the field. In fact, all of these teams, except the Steelers, won their division. The Steelers were a wild card, but they went all the way to the Super Bowl and won.

Knowing how vital the position is to winning, what are a few teams that should having winnings seasons in 2006? The first three that come to mind are the Seattle Seahawks, New England Patriots and Indianapolis Colts. The Seahawks are a solid all around team that made further improvements this off-season. The Colts lost their star running back, James, but they should still do fairly well. The Patriots keep proving that they can win behind Brady no matter who’s on the field. While I expect them to have a tough time of it, they should be able to post a 9-6 record or better.

NFL quarterbacks have been called field generals and for a reason. The quarterback position in the NFL is perhaps the most difficult to play in all of sports. NFL quarterbacks must be able to make split second decisions, which means they must have a good brain to be successful. They must also have a sixth sense and be able to feel where opposing defenders are coming from. They must also posses a certain degree of arm strength to throw the ball and finesse to guide the pass into the arms of the receiver.

Typically, the quarterback must also be a leader. There is much more to being a successful quarterback in the NFL as well. As you can see, there’s a lot more to the position that performing one major task. The 2006 NFL season is coming up fast. We are just about a month away from exhibition and a couple of months away from the real deal. When trying to predict what teams will rise to the top and what teams will fall, looking at the quarterback position can tell a lot.

Solid teams that win Super Bowls always have a quarterback that is at least good in the no mistakes department. Most have outstanding quarterbacks. There are 22 players on the field at any one time, but the value of a quarterback goes well beyond 1/22. He is a major part of the offense and he alone can kill games. In our next installment of NFL quarterbacks, we will run down some of the best and worst in the league. It’s almost go time in the NFL and it’s time to think about betting some futures.

They weren’t supposed to meet so early. Yet fate brought them together. Perennial arch-rivals Spain and France will go head-to-head in the round of 16 ; a match which will see one of the two biggies eliminated from the tournament. Things between the two countries are not very rosy.  Spain boss Luis Aragones made racist remarks against Henry in order to “spur Reyes to do better.” Certainly, his words have not gone down well with the Les Blues and revenge is on the cards.

Spain News: Spain have been in supreme form in their group games, thrashing everybody in sight. But with France, it will be a completely different ball-game. The French possess serious pace up-front and the  Spanish defence will have their work cut out keeping the French at bay. Torres, Villa, , Puyol, Casillas are all expected to be back in the eleven. Joaquin who impressed greatly, in the win against the Arabs, might replace Luis Garcia on the right flank.

The Talisman: Raul. The captain has been bruised and battered in the recent past. But great players choose big occasions to prove their worth, don’t they?

France have been very unlucky in my opinion. Its not that they haven’t played flowing football; its just that their finishing has let them down at crucial junctures. With Henry scoring in two consecutive games now,France will be hoping that he slots home any chances against the Spanish.
France team: Zinedine Zidane will be back in the midfield for this crucial encounter after missing the game against Togo . Perhaps Ribery or even Trezeguet could make way for him. Florent Malouda looks strong in midfield and is a potent attacking threat. Eric Abidal will  reclaim his spot in defence replacing Mikael Silvestre.
The Talisman: Thierry Henry. He has been accused of not playing as well for his country as he does for Arsenal.But the ex Juve player can be lethal with his finishing on his given day and is always a potential match winner.Spain will be wary of him.
I see: A different result; a result that not many can think of. France to win this. Spain are favourites given recent form  but France will not want to see Zinedine Zidane bow out in tears. And what will be better than the mercurial genius inspiring Raymond Domenech’s side into the quarters.But the French will have to pull up their socks,otherwise it will be Au Revoir to Zidane and his team.