Posts Tagged ‘Match’

As the top clubs return from their European travels, managers, players and spread bettors start to turn their attention to the weekend’s action. There will be plenty for punters to get their teeth into on the spread markets, headed by a mouth-watering Old Trafford Manchester derby at the top of the bill. Since United’s humbling loss to Burnley last month they have come out fighting to stick one to sellers of their outright Championship index spread, currently at 38-41pts (60pts to champions, 40pts to runner-up, 20pts to third place etc). Despite big-spending City’s unbeaten start to the season, the red half of Manchester will be convinced their team can achieve a third successive league win over their local rivals and are favourite to do so according to the Sporting Index football traders.

Buyers of United’s win index spread will be hoping Sir Alex can lead his side to their fifth win of the season and will be pleased that the Red Devils’ home form has been near perfect – they’ve lost just one and drawn two of their last 20 matches at Old Trafford. United also won 13 of these 17 victories to nil, which will be a worry to sellers of the first Manchester City goal, but won’t trouble sellers of Manchester City’s goal minutes, despite a rampant win over Arsenal last weekend. Those looking to sell United’s match supremacy spread will remember back to the 2007/08 season when City did the double over United.

This particular derby has proved profitable for both buyers and sellers of the total bookings spreads in past seasons. While the last game at Old Trafford between these two saw a make-up of just 20 points, the previous encounter produced a hefty 85 points – buyers will remember Cristiano Ronaldo’s dismissal fondly. Spread bettors may elect to wait until after kick-off for an in-play spread bet, once they’ve seen how the officials will handle this potentially explosive derby.

Carlo Ancelotti has adapted to life in England extremely well and still has an impressive 100% record in the league. Those spread bettors to have bought Chelsea’s outright Championship index will have been encouraged by the Blues’ fast start. Their current spread is set at 45-48pts with Sporting Index.

Sunday sees Chelsea take on a Tottenham side who will be looking for a quick return to winning ways after their home defeat to Manchester United. Spread buyers of the supremacy market should note Chelsea’s formidable home record against the Lilywhites and bear in mind that Spurs haven’t won at Stamford Bridge since 1990, although sellers of the spread will remember that Tottenham managed a 1-1 draw last season. Those with an interest in the total goals spread may be aware that the two fixtures last year only produced three goals but jubilant spread buyers and shocked traders will have contrasting memories of the 4-4 classic in 2008. Sellers should also be aware that Tottenham have only managed to net on two occasions at the Bridge in the league during the last four years.

Several European teams are getting prepared for the next qualifying round which is going to be held this next weekend. Portugal and Sweden are going to play this Saturday October 11th and while Portugal recovers their all star player Cristiano Ronaldo, Sweden on the other hand, has lost almost half of their top players because of injuries.

The match is going to be held at the Rasunda Stadium, in Sweden, where the local team has only lost one game in 10 years.

Portugal, which is part of the UEFA Group 1, currently is at the 4th place of the group with three points after beating Malta 4-0. However, after that they were beaten at home by Denmark 3-2. The 3 teams in the group placed above Portugal are Denmark, Albania and Sweden, all of them with four points after two games.

“From here on in it’s going to be difficult and we can’t lose any more games like we did against Denmark,” said Ronaldo “I can assure you we’ll be looking for three points in Sweden,” he added. “I want us to play our usual game and make the Swedes defend and cause them headaches…”.

Ronaldo was a doubt since he underwent an ankle surgery after the Euro 2008. In Portugal lineup, there are some important players missing too. Deco, who plays with Chelsea, has a torn muscle and cannot play. Midfielder Maniche, winger Simao Sabrosa and central defender Ricardo Carvalho are also sidelined with injuries.

However, for Sweden the picture is even worse, Strikers Henrik Larsson and Markus Rosenberg, defender Olof Mellberg, and midfielders Christian Wilhelmsson, Tobias Linderoth and Anders Svensson are out of the team due to injuries as well.

On the other hand, for UEFA Group 5 in the qualifying round, there are a lot of concerns about injuries too for the games of this weekend. For the Spanish coach, Vicente del Bosque, the mayor concerns are Sergio Ramos and Andres Iniesta who had both leg injuries. Nevertheless, there are also some good news for the team, some of the players that were injured are now back, such as Carles Puyol, Carlos Marchena and Raul Albiol, and some others are expected to be back later.

Del Bosque is considering on making some other changes in the midfield since two of the players are sidelined. But after all, they are very confident with the work that the team has been doing since they consider that they cannot be playing better than right now and that they are targeting the most important title. Spain is facing Estonia this coming Saturday and they are planning to do their best at this game.

Xavi Hernandez also expressed that he is pleased with the team, “Without a doubt, we all feel more appreciated, more important across the world. We just needed to win something,” Xavi said. “Myself, personally, I feel better prepared, stronger.” Some other teams are getting prepared as well, since most of the second round qualification matches are going to be held during the weekend. Certainly this will be a very exciting weekend and we will be anxious to see the results.

 Thus Portugal classified

During the qualification phase Portugal entered Group A only losing one game and managing the second place after a very exciting match against Finland. The Finns needed a triumph in Oporto while for the Portuguese a draw was sufficient.  At the end, the scoreboard remained 0-0 and the team coach by Filipe Scolari moved forward to the next round.

On the other hand, Poland dominated the group achieving the supreme position being the only team that won over Portugal from the group. There is also the worth seeing clash between Portugal and Serbia in the city of Lisbon…a mix of action, aggression and Coach Scolari’s 3-game suspension after an intent of aggression to Dragutinovic

During the Portuguese’s last game they obtained their best qualification throughout the team’s history; despite having lost the final against Greece. To this match Portugal came in with surprises especially as they had played a stronger rivals only a few weeks before; Spain, Holland and England were defeated against a host team that seemed to have all in favor.

Luis Felipe Scolari – The Coach

Scolari can be defined as the best Portuguese football coach during the entire history of Portugal.

The Brazilian coach has helped Portugal enjoy the glory arriving at the EURO 2004 final and to the semifinals of the past FIFA World Football Championship, matching the best record of the Portuguese national team in this competition something they had not experienced since 1966.

During the World Championship Portugal won over teams such: Holland and England in quarterfinals and semifinals respectively, but lost to the French in the semifinals 1-0. After Scolari’s exceptional performance with the Portuguese team he was offered the position to coach England but he decided to remain with Portugal for two more years.

The Team

The side-midfields are Portugal’s strong potential as well as their main problem. The situation is strange in the Portuguese team as it has big side-midfielders in the attack as in the lateral defense…all are outstanding players and with clear preferences for the right side. Cristiano Ronaldo, Quaresma and Simao are three incredible players who play in the right side; Bosingwa and Miguel are excellent laterals who offer good performances with their local as well as national teams. 

The only situation with Scolari has been his difficulty to close the left side gap and this has been seen in several occasions basically the 4-2-3-1 that he employs regularly instead of a new 3-4-3 game strategy with a very defensive player.

It is well known that Portugal has the new era young football Winner of the Golden Boot, Cristiano Ronaldo who is currently playing for the Manchester United. Ronaldo has it all…speed, strength, agility…but his weakness continues to be the lack solidarity in the game, although is also an error that is being worked on for him to become the “perfect player”. 

Also, there is Anderson Luiz de Souza ‘Deco’ who currently plays for the FC Barcelona where he enjoys great creativity and initiative in the game attacks, excellent game vision and strong shots. Without a doubt, Deco is one of the ’souls’ of the team spreading his winning character to all of his teammates.

Busy lifestyles have made it increasingly difficult for people to visit a ticket agent to book a ticket, go to the financial advisor’s office to discuss buying and selling of shares or even stand in a line to buy movie or concert tickets.

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Football was a rather late entrant into the online game arena. But it soon made up for the lost ground and became one of the most sought after games in the cyber world. There are a number of types of online football games. Some football gaming software applications simulate the exact match conditions and player characteristics and allow the users to represent a whole team. Some other game software packages and websites allow the user to play specific instances of football matches like taking free kicks and penalty shootouts. Some websites offer the fantasy game of virtual manager for major football tournaments and premier football leagues.Types Of Online Football GamesThe games that simulate actual match conditions are the most popular type of online football games. In this type of games, the user must be familiar with the keyboard controls of the software. There are specific keys assigned for throwing, dribbling, shooting, and running. Once you become fairly comfortable with the keyboard for playing the game, you can log on to the internet for playing with other users. There are several websites that act as a platform for users to play football games online. There are some variations of actual football in the online version. There are online football games specifically for taking free kicks and penalty shootouts. The main advantage of these games is the simplicity. You need to know only the keys for positioning the ball and scoring goals. Several websites offer the fantasy game of virtual football. It does not actually involve playing the game. It is more like playing a football manager’s role. Its main activity is selecting a particular team from the current crop of players. Each international player is assigned a specific monetary value. The user has to select a team within a stipulated budget. The user will get points based on the performance of the selected players in actual games.

I like to think of myself as a chilled individual. Admittedly, I’m not as laid back as the wife, but that’s a result of her lifestyle.

Being cool, calm and occasionally collected, I’ve been stunned by the overreaction to the minor disagreement during the Carling Cup final. The term ‘handbags’ is an outrageous exaggeration; the wife throws more punches on a Sunday afternoon when I try to dislodge her from the mattress.

The sending off of Adebayor was particularly perplexing. Emmanuel appeared innocent, yet was punished severely; which coincidentally was the plot of the DVD i watched after the match. I’m getting stuck into the 8/15 for an Arsenal win over Reading.

I’m beginning to worry about the wife’s sister. Her infatuation with me is almost certainly a result of deeply rooted psychological problems brought on by low self-esteem. Sweet. I’m not passing up the chance to get on Wigan at 3/1 to beat Manchester City.

The Beatles may have told the world that ‘money can’t but you love’; but Wayne Rooney found the flaw in that romantic fallacy. The word on the street is that Wayne is set to marry Coleen, and the street people are certainly in the loop. I’m romantically involved with the 7/4 about Liverpool denting Manchester United’s title charge.

We all have our little quirks, except for Birds of a Feather. The wife’s sister has a foot fetish; I originally thought she was just pulling my leg. I’m dipping my toes into the 9/4 for a draw between Fulham and Aston Villa.

Unlike the wife’s sister, Middlesbrough have only tasted defeat on one occasion this year. You must back the Boro at 11/4 to win at Newcastle; i’m putting my foot down.

Andy Johnson is never far from a ‘diving’ controversy. The miniature hitman had the finger pointed at him again last week, which was more than enough for him to tumble to the ground. Sheffield United can take a point off the Toffeemen at an unsteady 9/4.

Frank Lampard should feel ashamed of himself for squaring up to little Cesc Fabregas. Lamps could have picked on someone his own size; but in all fairness, Pauline Quirke was rehearsing for a musical. Chelsea can turn over Pompey at a mammoth 3/5.

The last five matches between Bolton and Blackburn have either been goalless or settled by a single strike; this is a genuine clash of the tight-uns. I’m jumping on the 17/2 for ‘no goalscorer’ like it was a Russian tennis player. Preferably not Davydenko.

There’s an air of impending doom surrounding Alan Curbishley and West Ham. They say it’s never over until the lady of a fuller figure breaks into song; ‘Birds of a Feather, the musical’ opens on Sunday evening. Spurs can hammer another nail into the Curb’s coffin at 13/10.

The wife’s mother has asked to proofread my weekly betting preview to ensure that I’m not making any cheap digs at her expense. No matter how much she pleads; she’s not getting her hands on my column. Charlton can keep their survival dreams alive with a win at the Vicarage at 9/5.

Frank Lampard is not happy with this week’s accumulator. Apparently, it’s so mouthwatering; he’s struggling to concentrate on the upcoming ruck with Pauline Quirke. Last week’s accer obliged at 25/1; Arsenal, Charlton, Chelsea and Tottenham will follow suit at a beefy 15/1.

10. Luis Figo, a world famous football star, who played for FC Barcelona from 1995 till 2000. He was arguably the fans’ most favorite player in FC Barcelona, until 2000. That’s when “it” happened, Barcelona’s biggest rivals, Real Madrid, decided to splash the cash and break the transfer list fees record by getting Luis to Real Madrid.

The move caused outrage among Barcelona fans, Madrid got him for a world record fee of 38 Million Pounds. And that’s when the fun begins, during the match between FC Barcelona and Real Madrid, when Luis Figo stepped up to take the corner kick, a pig’s head was thrown at him from Barcelona’s side. Another incident took place during the 2004 EURO Cup Final between Greece and Portugal. A Portuguese fan ran out on the field, managed to outrun the police, and heading towards Luis threw a Barcelona jersey at him, as the whole world was watching.

9. 1996 – African Challenge.

1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, The most surprising gold medals went to the hands of Nigerian football stars after they overcame Brazil in thrilling semi-finals, with a 4-3 score. The finals was between Argentina and Nigeria, well over 2 billion people were watching it, of course most of them thought that Argentina will have no problems getting the gold medal, but most of them were wrong. Argentina was in the driver’s seat after leading 1-0. The goal came on a 3rd minute, scored by Claudio Lopez, on the 28th minute Nigeria managed to equalize, as Babayaro scored a perfect finisher. So it was 1-1 on half-time. In the early second half Hernan Crespo gave Argentina the lead again and Argentina was on the way to get the gold medals, but “not so fast” said Amokachi as he scored the equalizing goal and again gave Nigeria hope. Match was almost over and everybody thought it was going to be decided by the penalty shoot out. 90th minute and Amunike gave the lead to Nigeria, it was a shock for Argentina, time was almost over, Argentina had no chance, so it ended with a final score 3-2. Nigeria won the gold medal, for the first time in Olympic Games history.

8. 1960, First ever UEFA European Football Championship (EURO) held in France. It was won by the USSR, beating Yugoslavia 2-1 in a tense final in Paris. It is however quite interesting to note that earlier in the competition Spain had withdrawn from its quarterfinal match against the USSR due to political reasons. As an interesting fact, USSR also scored the first goal in the EURO history, during the qualification games.

7. 1998/1999 English Premier League season, Manchester United got all trophies possible that season. They became the first ever team in football history to do so in one season. First they got the Premier League title, finishing first in the league table, then they took the F.A. Cup title by beating Newcastle United 2-0, and of course the most famous UEFA Champions League final, when United managed to come back from a 1-0 defeat, and score not one but two goals in an injury time beating Bayern Munich 2-1; it was considered to be one of the greatest comebacks ever witnessed.

6. 2002 World Cup, Korea/Japan. Korean fans will never forget that historic moment, when Guus Hiddink took them all the way to the Semi-Finals of 2002 World Cup. Korean national football team became the first ever Asian national football team to reach semi-finals of World Cup. Nobody expected the underdogs to go that far, as they beat Portugal 1-0 in a group stages, then a famous 2-1 win over Italy, drawing with Spain in a quarter-finals and then beating them 5-3 on penalties. In the end however they couldn’t take on Germany in semi-finals, and they lost 1-0. In the game for the third place Korean team met Turkey, but again they lost. Eventually the Republic of Korea finished 4th in the 2002 World Cup, which was still a great success for the country’s football team.

5. June 2003, Chelsea FC was bought by the Russian Billionaire Roman Abramovich for a record fee of 140 million pounds. Back then it was the biggest sale of an English Football club. Straight away Roman wanted to make Chelsea the best and strongest club in the world. He began buying players for a record braking transfer fees. First season with a new owner Chelsea FC finished as a runner-up. But next year, the 2004/2005 English premier league season, Chelsea became champions of England, for the first time since 1954/1955 season. 2005/2006 Season they took the premier league trophy again as they were crowned the champions of England for the second time in a row. These 2 seasons were the most successful 2 years in the club’s history.

4. January 11th 2007. It was confirmed that David Beckham will be leaving Real Madrid to play for the United States “soccer” club, Los Angeles Galaxy. Beckham’s decision was a shock to many, as one of the world’s best football players moves to United States of America, where “soccer” is not that popular. He was the first big player to enter Major League Soccer.

3. 6th February 1958, the Munich air disaster. It was the darkest day in Manchester United Football Club history. On the board of the plane was Manchester United football team along with the club supporters and journalists. 23 of the 44 passengers on board died. Captain James Thain, the pilot tried to take off twice, but both attempts were aborted due to engine surging. When a third take off was attempted, the plane failed to gain adequate height and crashed into the fence surrounding the airport and then into a house. Now every year on this day Manchester United holds a memorial to the people who lost their lives in the Munich air disaster.

2. 2006 World Cup Final produced one of the most famous moments in football history, when Zidane’s head-butted on Italian defender Marco Materazzi. It was Zidane’s last international appearance for the French national team and 3 billion people around the world were watching it. The next day newspapers all over the world were not writing about how Italy won their 4th World Cup title, but they were writing about how Zidane pulled the “stunt” on Marco. Definitely that was one of the biggest moments in the history of football.

1. Edison Arantes do Nascimento, aka Pele, the world’s most famous name in football. Football is probably the most famous sport in the world, and Pele is the man who made it what it is today. Pele made 669 appearances in club football, scoring 626 goals. He also made 92 appearances for Brazilian National football side and scored 77 goals. He made his first club appearance when he was just 15 years of age. He made his first international appearance for Brazil when he was 16, and won his first World Cup when he was just 17. Pele is hailed in Brazil as a national hero. The number one moment in football history is when Pele managed to score his first international goal for Brazil, just three month before his 17th birthday.

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For all you football fans who love to watch live football but are unable to do so because you do not have cable or satellite connection, do not be discouraged. Live football on PC is here. If you are stuck at work without a TV or if you are travelling, you can still be up to date with all the latest news, watch live football and get to see all your favourite matches. You will never have to miss a single live football match with live football on PC.  Getting Started With Live Football On PCMany people believe that advanced systems are required for watching live football games on a PC. This is totally wrong! Watching a football game or for that matter, any other show online is not at all difficult. There are many software programs available that can be used to generate video streams from TV broadcasts. These video streams can be accessed easily by anyone. Watching live football on PC therefore can be done very easily. All you need to do is to install one or more P2P (peer2peer) video software programs. Once this is installed, you can watch your favourite games online. Although the quality of the broadcast largely depends on your Internet connection, in most cases, the results obtained are quite satisfactory.P2P programs were till recently used mainly by the Chinese. But as technology advanced, these programs became very popular among users worldwide. Now, there are many people all over the world who use this software to watch their favourite games online. To sum up, all you need to do to watch live football on PC is download a P2P video software program and then search for your favourite sports channel to enjoy a football game.

Trying to obtain a seat in the ‘Knockouts’, the Spanish fraction from Villarreal will measure its strength against the Manchester United. On this match the Yellow Submarine Spaniards will search relentlessly the victory to raise their advantage above the Red Devils and become leader of Group E. Without a doubt this won’t be an easy chore for Villarreal, since the Manchester has done a good work in the Champions, leading its group, although it owns 8 points as well as Villarreal, with the benefit of 2pts in the goal difference. Therefore United shows very positive about this encounter, although they might not count with their star Cristiano Ronaldo, due to a leg injury.

After not a very favorable season, Aalborg, that now celebrates their triumphs under by the command of the trainer Allan Kuhn, has imposed and now will look for a spot on the next round by confronting Celtic. The Celts hasn’t been able to stand out even though they are the present Scottish Premier League champions, currently they are in an unfavorable position at UEFA, due to the fact they have only achieved to score once in the 4 games that have passed on this phase, which makes them lose concentration and motivation. The Celtic players know very well this is their last chance in the competition, so they most try to take it, taking in consideration that football can be very unpredictable.

On the top of the next group (F) is the defending German Bundesliga champion of the 2007/08 season, Bayern Munich, will be able to qualify with just one point, but since they want to keep the lead, they will do all there’s possible to defeat Steaua Bucaresti at home. The Romanian club doesn’t come along with many winning possibilities, not just in the UEFA League but in the Romanian Liga I, where their weaknesses have started to become visible. Meanwhile to this encounter Bayern arrive as the favorite, thanks to their high level and of course the news around the return of the tremendous midfielder Franck Ribéry, who satisfactorily recovered from a injure suffered during their previous match against the Bucharest club.

Lyon, that even with a draw will qualify, it’s going to meet club Fiorentina at the Italians home, who contrarily to their rival needs above anything a victory to continue in this UEFA challenge. However, the ‘Violas’ appear quite motivated for the match, following an excellent score on their favor at the Calcio Italiano, while Lyon looks a little disappointed for losing to Paris Saint-Germain and the absence of Anthony Reveillere who’s injured and therefore out.

In spite of not having the most solid defense, Arsenal, the English leader of Group G, keeps its positivism to go ahead and fight Dynamo Kyiv, which will wrestle to not lose its opportunity to advance. Although Arsenal’s performance has been quite bad in their last Barclays Premier League games and has caused them a tumble down to fifth place on the table, for their pending clash with the Swedish rely on their new great player Cesc Fábregas, leaving them in an encouraging situation for the UEFA contest. Meanwhile Dynamo is going to try to repeat the story from 1999/2000 season to obtain the required points to reach the next phase.

Directed by the Spaniard Luis Aragonés, Fenerbahce arrives to their penultimate match day of the Group Stage confronting some difficulties in their players’ panel, from which the majority or at least the main ones are hurt or with cards accumulation, negative fact that affects the team’s integrity and puts it in the last position of their group. On this occasion see on the field the FC Porto that also presents some players troubles. By this point the Turkish have a low advantage, for the only thing they can reach with a victory on the encounter is a third place that would allowed them to continue playing but in the UEFA Cup.

For Zenit St. Petersburg will be a decisive clash too, but against Juventus. To stay in the tournament Zenit must defeat La Vecchia Signora that is practically in the Knockouts already and although right now has several players injured, they are high playing level team. The Russians at least have a weight less from their backs, since the Russian Premier League season is over and lets them focus more on the European tour.

The last encounter from the 25th game series, a very important one for the Real Madrid, will take part at Belarus against BATE Borisov; a problem for the ‘Merengues’, is that they won’t have, like some of the mentioned teams, some of their principal players due to injuries, even yet when BATE isn’t considered a real threat.

The concept of the football pools dates back to Liverpool, 1923 when the late Sir John Moores printed off and distributed football coupons by hand after football matches. Fixed-odds betting on football matches had actually been in existence since the 1880s when newspapers in England began to present fixed prices on football matches. However, the concept of a football pool was radically different to that presented by the newspaper and has stayed relatively unchanged since.

Essentially, whereas the newspaper carried odds on teams to win or a match to end in a draw, the football pools allowed players to predict the results of multiple matches, with their entry ’stake’ being pooled together. Winners would then be given a share of the ‘pool’ depending on the amount of money in the pool and the number of winners.

The basic premise of the coupon was to amass 24 points from the list of games played on a Saturday. In order to do this, players selected matches that they thought would end in a ‘draw’ and mark their coupon with an ‘X’. The number of selections a player could make depended on the ‘perm’ (permutation) they wanted to play, as well as the cost of the bet. For example, an 8-from-10 perm allowed players to select 10 matches in the hope 8 of them would result in a draw. Players would hand their completed coupons and stakes to a collector or agent, who would send them on to the operator’s office for checking.

Once all the matches had been played, the pools operator would check each coupon and allocate a score to each selection, depending on result of the match. Commonly, draws were awarded 3 points, with away-team wins being awarded a point-and-a-half and home-team wins being awarded 1 point. Coupon scores would be calculated on the highest scoring combination, depending on the perm played and a dividend announced based on the total amount of the pool and the number of winning players – the more players who scored 24 points, the lower the winning payout was likely to be. Meanwhile, pools players would huddle around the TV or radio – coupon in hand – and await the football results being announced.

Football pools co-existed with high-street bookmakers, who provided much more specific betting opportunities on football matches and horse-racing. While the growth of the football pools had no adverse effect on bookmaker turnover, the easier access to gambling provided by bookmakers did not affect the football pools business either. In fact, many gamblers combined the two elements, contributing to the success and growth of both industries.

However, with the introduction of the National Lottery in 1994, the numbers of people who played football pools began to decline and threatened the pools operators’ long-term future. In fact, immediately prior to the launch of the National Lottery, there was an estimated 10 million football pools players but the introduction of the National Lottery has seen the loss of around 90 percent of football pools customers – lured away by the potential huge lottery jackpot. This is despite football pools still holding a potential payout in excess of £1 million!

In order to survive, football pools operators were forced to consolidate and regroup, which saw some of the major operators amalgamate into a single, larger entity. Furthermore, with the introduction of the internet and online gambling, football pools operators also cast their nets wider in an attempt to entice a greater range of customer.

Nowadays, the websites of football pools operators are about more than predicting the results of football matches. These sites now offer players the chance to play a range of worldwide lotteries as well the opportunity to play online bingo with other players around the country, or even test their knowledge across a range of quizzes as well as the possibility of an instant win ’scratchcard’. This is all in addition to the game that made the football pools operators a household name to begin with, and was the source of much excitement on Saturday afternoons gone by!