My biggest heart stopper (for my age) has to be Spurs v Benfica 1962.The fans were on the track around the field singing "Glory,Glory........!" It was mind blowing. We did everything but get that 3rd goal. (The ref had beaten us in Portugal!).....we won the ECWC next season but it wasn't quite the same.....
Once again, . Jermain Defoe. I've said it a million times before and I will say it again, the guy is a legend. Keep fighting Bradley, your best mate is with you.
Aaaaannndd it's that time of week again. Jermain Defoe appreciation hour. http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/40524081 Give. The. Man. A. Fookin. Knighthood.
In lighter news, Sonny has been named honourary ambassador for his hometown Gangwon province Here's a photo from the ceremony please log in to view this image
There's similarly depressing, yet uplifting news from Athletic Bilbao. Their 22-year-old centre-half Yeray has been diagnosed with testicular cancer and is undergoing treatment. The rest of the squad all shaved their heads in a show of solidarity: Very nice gesture from the players, which I'm sure everyone will appreciate. Apart from any commentators.
Poor kid. Must be devastating for his family. I hope that his time in the spotlight will have raised money and awareness for his condition, neuroblastoma. His suffering might actually mean something, then. RIP.
Rest in peace little man. Same age as my eldest. Really opens the eyes and the heart to what is truly important in life. Bradley, you won the hearts of people across the world and united a nation with your smile. And to Jermain Defoe I say this: Thank you. Thank you for restoring a human face to a sport that I had long assumed dead in the cold grip of financial greed. Driving from Bournemouth to visit Bradley in Durham was above and beyond what almost anyone would do, let alone a member of a sub-section of society who are perceived to exist in their own little pampered bubbles, disconnected from reality. You made Bradley a hero, and he in turn made you one too. "Never believe that a few caring people cannot change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have".
Just had one of the most awful fortnights in my life, two weeks ago feels like yesterday, the last fourteen days seem to have merged into one. Friday night, the 23rd June, I was in the bar on the gold mine in the Congo when I received a phone call telling me my wife, who was on holiday with my daughter in Eritrea, her home country, was in intensive care and may not last the night. I spent the Saturday re arranging my ticket, left the mine on the Sunday, got attacked on the road, although it was only rocks thrown through the car windscreen but scary all the same, flew from Kamembe (Congo/Rwanda border) to Kigali, Kigali to Amsterdam, Amsterdam to London, London to Dubai then Dubai to Asmara (the capital of Eritrea). Yes I could have flown direct Kigali to Dubai but at short notice the cost was prohibitive. I arrived at about 07:00 on Wednesday 28th June to be told she had been stabilised and was out of danger but needed an operation which, if carried out in Eritrea, would put her life at risk as keyhole surgery was not available and they would have to open her whole chest up. After many questions it turned out that she had eaten some meat with a bone in it. It got stuck in her oesophagus and she coughed up some but no all. After 4 days there was internal swelling which restricted her breathing. She went to the hospital, they gave her a general and used an endoscope to push the remnant food into her stomach. Unfortunately, this action resulted in an 8 inch tear in the wall of the oesophagus so as soon as she drank anything her pleural cavity filled up and collapsed her lungs. When I first saw her they had cut holes on either side of her chest and inserted tubes to drain the cavities and had her breathing pure oxygen. Fortunately I have travel insurance with my bank account which covers my whole family. They agreed to send an air ambulance and take her to Nairobi for treatment, We (myself and Eritreans who were helping me) had to go to the Airport waving a letter from the local doctor to get clearance for the aircraft to land. She was taken to Nairobi at about 05:00 last Saturday morning. They asked me if I wanted to travel on the plane myself along with my daughter, and for some mad inexplicable reason I declined (note to self: you are a fcukwit). I already had a ticket to London for Tuesday 4th so I bought a ticket for my daughter and headed for the airport at 03:30 in the morning. I should have anticipated issues as the previous day we were already getting grief from the immigration department because my wife had left without an exit visa. We explained that as she was somewhere between a coma and heavily sedated and it would have been nigh on impossible for her to obtain one. They were mighty pissed off but appeared to accept our explanation. Back to the airport, as my daughter and I tried to leave we were stopped because my daughter didn't have a exit visa either. My wife had got her an Eritrean ID card and she entered using that rather than her UK passport. Many years ago I used to attend many parties at the British Embassy in Asmara and the Ambassador had warned me off the issues relating to dual nationality children, sometimes you could never get them out, so I was beginning to panic. I came close to losing it with a jobsworth immigration officer, but the sensible bit of my brain won the day, just, so I accepted we weren't going to leave and left the airport. With the help of very good Eritrean friends we obtained an Exit Visa for my daughter later that morning in record time, 1.5 hours (tell an Eritrean it is possible to obtain an Exit Visa in 1.5 hours and they will call you a screwball). Then it was a matter of buying new tickets, easier said than done in Asmara, it took until 20:00 Tuesday evening to get a pair for us, we had every travel agent in Asmara working on it, but 03:30 the Wednesday morning we were back at the Airport. This time we passed immigration controls with relative ease and boarded the plane. However, just before take-off immigration officers boarded the plane and made a b-line for me. Anyone ever had one of those heart-sinking moments? Fortunately they only wanted a phone number off me, they were trying to get a copy of my wife's passport to issue a retrospective exit visa to cover their own backsides I guess but until they spoke I didn't know that. I was sh!tting myself. We arrived back home in the early hours of Thursday morning, couldn't sleep comfortably, nightmares all night relating to the last fortnights experiences. Last night took four cans of beer and half a litre of whisky to sleep. I'm going to go cold turkey tonight. Wish me luck.
I spoke to her a couple of hours ago. Still very drowsy but was operated on yesterday and it appears to have gone well. I would fly to Nairobi but I'd have to take my daughter and I view Nairobi too dangerous for a child. For some reason the Kenyans have confiscated both of her passports (Eritrean & UK) so I will be on to the High Commission tomorrow and the Ambassador might have to do some work for a change. I'm told she will need a month to recover before she is well enough to travel so there is no hurry.
