EXCLUSIVE: Alex Ferguson's phone is hacked....

The Man United manager's phone was hacked earlier this summer and the following text conversation was found........

Disclaimer: The above is all rubbish, Alex Ferguson's phone wasn't hacked as far as we know. He may not even have a phone. If you believed it then shame on you, dear reader, shame on you.

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EXCLUSIVE: Kenny Dalglish's phone is hacked....

The Liverpool manager's phone was hacked earlier this summer and the following conversation was recorded........

Disclaimer: The above is all rubbish, Kenny Dalglish's phone wasn't hacked as far as we know. He may not even have a phone. If you believed it then shame on you, dear reader, shame on you.

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Who I want to work for......

By Fesc Cabregas

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2011 South Pacific Games Football - Papua New Guinea

National Flag of Papua New Guinea

Papua New Guinea have made appearances in all bar one (2007) of the previous football tournaments at the South Pacific Games. Although they have never managed to come away with the Gold medal they have had a reasonable amount of success; placing in the top four on five occasions.

They have also entered the 1998 and 2006 World Cups but failed to qualify. In 1998 they advanced to the second round of qualification but were drawn in a difficult group against New Zealand and Fiji and were subsequently knocked out at this stage. As a result of not entering the 2007 South Pacific Games which doubled up as a preliminary qualifying round for Oceania they were disqualified from the further 2010 World Cup qualifiers.

Along with a few other entrants in this year’s South Pacific Games, Papua New Guinea are at the bottom of the FIFA World rankings. This ranking is mainly due to Papua New Guinea having not played a match since the summer of 2007. If they do not play a match within the next month then they risk being removed from the FIFA World rankings.

The team is currently managed by former Australia striker Frank Farina. Farina had a very brief loan spell in England in 1992 with Notts County although he only played 3 games and didn’t score.

Since 1987, Papua New Guinea have failed to progress further than the first round in the Games. Unless they get a very easy draw in the group stages this year, it is unlikely that they will reach the knockout stages due solely to the fact they haven't played a competitive fixture for 4 years.

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2011 South Pacific Games Football - Kiribati

The island nation of Kiribati is one of two nations (alongside Tuvalu) in the South Pacific Games football tournament which are not members of FIFA. They do not therefore have an official FIFA world ranking.

As the national football team has only ever played in 7 competitive matches it is almost impossible to analyse their chances in the forthcoming games. If their last appearance at the Games (in 2003) are anything to go by then they could be in for a rough ride later this summer.

They started the 2003 Games with a narrow 3-2 defeat to Tuvalu and unfortunately for the I-Kiribati (the name given to Kiribati natives) things went quickly downhill from there. They followed up the defeat to Tuvalu with a 7-0 loss to the Solomon Islands, a 12-0 loss to Fiji and finally succumbed to an 18-0 defeat at the hands of Vanuatu.

34 year old midfielder Lawrence Nemeia is Kiribati’s most capped player having earned 5 caps. He is also the top goal scorer thanks to his brace against Tuvalu in the 2003 South Pacific Games. The 2003 Games were in fact the only time Kiribati national team have appeared at the tournament because in 1979 they were represented by one of the islands clubs.

The I-Kiribati will be hoping for a smoother ride in the group stages this year. They are unlikely to have their hopes set on qualifying for the knockout rounds but picking up a win would give the island nation a lot to cheer about. They will be hoping to have a certain amount of luck in the draw for the group stages if they are to pick up their first ever win. Their best hope of 3 points would be against Tuvalu who have a similar footballing history as a nation.

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Video of the Week

New video of the week: The world realises Messi is human after all.

Click the Video of the Week button in the menu bar above to see it.

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2011 South Pacific Games Football - Cook Islands

The Cook Islands are one of the smallest FIFA member in terms of population and are currently ranked 190^th in the world alongside Tonga and one place above Djibouti. 

If the example of everyone from American Samoa being able to fit inside Old Trafford with a lot of room to spare came as a surprise to you then your jaw will hit the floor with this fact; the entire population (according to the 2006 census) of the Cook Islands can fit inside Plymouth Argyle’s Home Park. 

If you had to pick a side to compete in such international competition as World Cup qualifying from the crowd at an average Plymouth Argyle home match it is highly unlikely that it would make the World Cup finals. 

So spare a thought for the Cook Islands who have never qualified for a World Cup and only qualified for the group stages of the Oceania Nations Cup twice. 

The Cook Islands first venture into international competition came in 1971 when they played Tahiti. Unfortunately this historic first game ended in a 30-0 defeat and it remains their biggest defeat. 

They have featured in the group stages of the South Pacific Games on three occasions but have never made it past the group stages. Their last appearance at the Games in 2007 saw them finish 4^th in their group of 5 although they did manage to pick up 3 points against Tuvalu in a 4-1 win which is their record biggest win. They were drawn in what was perhaps the toughest group, as the two teams which progressed from it ended up as the two finalists (New Caledonia and Fiji). 

The Cook Islands national stadium

Due to Rugby Union and Rugby League being so popular in the Cook Islands, it has been difficult for football to gain much popularity throughout the country. It is perhaps a case of waiting for the sport to be played by more Cook Islanders before the national team can expect any success in international tournaments, even in smaller tournaments such as the South Pacific Games.

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