Lunchtime Links January 30th: Nothing but Goldenballs

Beckham all the way…

The Guardian: “Look, Fabio: he really, really wants his 100th cap. And here’s a video of him holding an African baby with HIV. How can you not play him against Switzerland?”
Fabio Capello (in Italian): “But his match fitness…”
The Guardian: “Look at the baby? He must be some sort of saint, because he doesn’t seem the least bit worried that it has HIV!”
Fabio Capello (in Italian): “But he hasn’t played a game since November…”
The Guardian: “Coochie-coochie-cooo!”

I’ve just saved you the trouble of reading Simon Hattenstone’s piece on Guardian Unlimited. Actually, despite my taking the piss and not really agreeing with it, it’s a pretty good read.

The Times has a brief interview with David Beckham, basically intended to serve as a sort of “Come and get me Fabio! Nobody else wants it as much as I do!” plea from a man who knows, deep down, that moving to America ended his international career. The Independent has a slight variation on an identical theme. So does the Guardian.

There’s also a (mildly amusing) slightly tongue-in-cheek editorial on Beckham in the Times.

The Independent thinks that Gabriel Agbonlahor and (gasp) Jermain Jenas will be in Fabio Capello’s first starting lineup. I never thought I’d see the day that I’d agree with selecting Jermain bloody Jenas for England, but he is in top form at the moment.

And, because selection woes and David Beckham’s obsessive pursuit of 100 caps is getting a little bit tedious, here’s the only must-read article today: the always brilliant Martin Samuel on the way in which the Premier League and it’s fixtures computer (you may know it by it’s more popular name: “Sky”) shafts the English national team with disturbing regularity.