Sport magazine 316

Issue 316 | August 2 2013

On e-m an s hOw Usain Bolt talks exclusively to Sport

Contents

18

Issue 316, August 2 2013 Radar 04 Into the Cosmos The return to footballing action of the New York Cosmos – but no place for either Pele or Beckenbauer

06 When sport and war collide Right now, in fact, in a new exhibition at the IWM North in Manchester

08 Top Trumps meets bikes Exactly what it says on the tin. Word of warning: do not try to beat the 1970s Clunker at ride-by kudos oFeatures this coming week

18

Usain Bolt The fastest man in history on doping scandals, breaking records and just who on earth is Pippa Middleton

27 The Football League Yes, it’s back already – and we have 72 things for you to keep an eye on in the coming season

34 Cricketing comebacks The greatest turnarounds in Test history – starting with an Ashes tale we all know and love

38 Lawrence Okoye

04

34

From rugby to athletics to the San Francisco 49ers: the incredible journey of a rare sporting talent

Cocer image: Tom Oldham. This page: Allsport UK /Allsport, Adrian Murrell/Allsport UK

42 James Davis

38

On the piste with our number-one fencer ahead of the World Champs

Extra Time 54 Gadgets We take a look at the snaptastic new Nokia Lumia 1020, and its incredible 41-megapixel camera

56 Entertainment Wednesday, bloody Wednesday... is when you can finally feast your eyes on Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

56

62 Kit The best boardshorts around – because, amazingly, it’s still sunny | August 2 2013 | 03

Radar

p06 – It’s war, plus the shooting at IWM North’s Sport and War exhibition

p08– Rate your ride by kudos with Battle of the Bikes trumps

New New York t’s something of a golden age for football in the Big Apple, with the New York Red Bulls an established MLS team, and New York City FC (backed by Manchester City and the Yankees) planning to join in 2015.

Joining the party are the reformed New York Cosmos: a spiritual rebirth of the team that featured Pele and Franz Beckenbauer (above) in the 1970s.

The new Cosmos play their first competitive game this weekend against Fort Lauderdale Strikers in the North American Soccer League – a tier below the MLS. The current group (including Carlos Mendes and former Spain international Marcos Senna, right) aren’t nearly as gifted as their predecessors. Then again, few are.

04 | August 2 2013 |

Tony Duffy/Allsport, Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

I

Radar

war games S

port is “war minus the shooting”, according to George Orwell, although evidently he forgot to tell this year’s Australian cricket team. There’s certainly a long tradition of sportsmen taking a no-prisoners approach on to the field of play (John Fashanu, Julian Dicks, Roy Keane; any Lions Test XV – we’re looking at you), although if Luis Suarez is indicative of his countrymen, we hope we never have reason for an international dispute with Uruguay.

The relationship extends the other way, too. Armies have long used sport as a way to entertain and motivate their troops – and lest we forget the famous Christmas truce during World War I, when British and German soldiers laid down their arms to play football against each other. Germany won on penalties, of course.

Anyway, it’s all explored in the new Sport and War exhibition at the Imperial War Museum North in Manchester. It showcases propaganda used by the British Army to encourage people to sign up, as well as photographic examples of when war and sport have collided.

In the Spotlight: Sport and War, IWM North, free

win a million!

W

ith the new Premier League season just days away, the talkSPORT Predictor game is about to get under way.

It’s free to enter, and you collect points for predicting results. You can compete with your mates in mini-leagues,as well as take on talkSPORT presenters.

New this year, you will also have the chance to walk away with £1m. All you have to do is exactly predict 10 or more Premier League scores in a week, and you’ll be a millionaire. Easy, right?

Players must be 18 or over, terms and conditions apply. Visit talksport.com/predictor for more and to make your predictions

06 | August 2 2013 |

Predictor Powered by IKTS

Radar

Wheel to Wheel

B

ased on the classic Top Trumps principle, illustrator David Sparshott has drawn and rated 30 bicycles – each with their own unique place in sporting history or day-to-day life – to create this Battle of the Bikes card game.

Each intricately detailed two-wheeled steed has its strengths and weaknesses. So the Brompton folding bike, for example, cannot be beaten for

day-to-day practicality (99, although it’s not rated for the level of annoyance it causes proper commuters – which is somewhere around the 85 mark), but is easily slapped down by the top speed of Graeme Obree’s Old Faithful (100), the ride-by kudos of the 1970s Clunker (98, obviously), or the price of Team GB’s Olympic Bicycle ($24,800). A far more social way to take your bike – and 29 others – on the train.

Battle of the Bikes, illustrated by David Sparshott, £8.95

G

reat, we thought, when we heard they were dumping 200 tons of sand on Covent Garden next weekend – they’re finally listening to our suggestion to deal with the crowds.

This is not, of course, an attempt to bury thousands of tourists. It is actually part of the set-up for the first ever London Beach Rugby event, as pictured in the artist’s

08 | August 2 2013 |

impression on the far right.

There will be club and corporate competitions of five-a-side touch rugby across the two days, as well as exhibition matches featuring the likes of Will Greenwood and Scott Quinnell. It’s free to watch, although hospitality packages are also available.

August 9-10, Covent Garden.

For more information, visit londonbeachrugby.com

Stephane Allaman/abacapress.com/Press Association Images

Sand off

Radar Opinion Mersey downbeat: Suarez hasn’t looked quite as happy to be a Liverpool player as he once did www.sport-magazine.co.uk @sportmaguk facebook.com/sportmagazine

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The long-term contract now pretty much guarantees anything but a long-term stay

A

Acting editor Tony Hodson @tonyhodson1

s summer drifts on and the new football season looms ever larger on the horizon, two transfer sagas continue to dominate the back pages.

It would be three if you counted Wayne Rooney’s uncertain future at Manchester United, but we’ve been here before and it’s beginning to get old. Thank heavens for the wantaway pair of Gareth Bale and Luis Suarez, then – both of whom seem intent on entertaining us through protracted disputes with their clubs over a desire to leave.

It’s actually a great shame for both the Premier League and the fans who love it that two of its brightest-shining stars should appear so eager to go – particularly as both signed new long-term deals at their respective clubs only last year. “The club is progressing and I want to be a part of that,” said Bale when ‘committing’ to Tottenham until 2016 last June. “I love the club and the fans.”

Two months later, Suarez was equally as effusive about signing on for even longer at Anfield. “I am so happy here at the club and in the city,” he said. “When you are a kid, everybody wants to play for Liverpool. It is a dream for me.”

It seems that even the most minimal of overtures from Real Madrid – or from Arsenal, in Suarez’s case – have been

enough to turn those dreams into nightmares, as Bale, Suarez and their representatives seek Champions League football (and higher wages, presumably) away from the clubs at which they have become global stars of the game.

But football is a business, not the love affair so many players seem to flippantly characterise it as when signing long-term deals they have very little intention of ever seeing out. The truth is that players sign such deals not for love or security, but simply because it makes them more money in the short term. And clubs offer them long-term contracts not because they genuinely believe that will keep their main assets tied down for that long, but to protect themselves against those players leaving on the cheap – or, heaven forbid, sitting tight and leaving on a free.

So, while neither Tottenham nor Liverpool should cry foul over their star men wanting to jump ship, nor can Bale or Suarez have any issues with their clubs holding firm in the face of offers they deem insufficient from bidders they know have more funds available. Whatever happens, both sagas look set to run for some time yet – but don’t be surprised if both end up signing yet another long-term deal at their current clubs. And then leaving next summer.

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10 | August 2 2013 |

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Football’s new deal

Flats on Friday

David Lyttleton

Radar Opinion

The cheats still haunt us

A

s a kid, I used to watch replays of Ben Johnson’s drug-fuelled Olympic victory over and over, in awe of a man moving so brutally on such an occasion. His gold chain seemed to be repelled by the muscles in his neck, chest and shoulders, so aggressively did it bounce from one peak to the next.

He was freakish, and freakish makes great viewing.

I almost worshipped him as a specimen. He just looked better than all the others, like his genes set him apart. So the announcement of his cheating was a horrid shock that left me a hugely disappointed kid and probably stopped me ever really being a proper athletics fan. I love athletics, but struggle – with sprinting in particular – to take it totally seriously. You may have seen that spreadsheet that was circulated on Twitter a few weeks ago, with the names and times of the 20 or so fastest men in history. For those of you who didn’t, it was a simple list of names in black ink with red lines struck through any who had, at some point, failed a drugs test.

It was shocking, as there just weren’t very many unstruck names near the quick end of the sheet.

Athletics is now like cycling, I think, in that so much damage has been done by so many looking to profit by false means that it is in grave danger of becoming the next bodybuilding: fun to watch in small doses, purely because the competitors are so bizarre to look at – and so unlike us. But we all

12 | August 2 2013 |

seem to assume and accept that the professionals are full of drugs. I know, this will doubtless see my Twitter account bombarded with aggressive messages from rightly frustrated, drug-free men and women with enormous forearms, but I’m not saying I’m right. It is an assumption with which I believe the vast majority of the public would agree – and that’s the problem. It has now been written off as a serious sport – and that’s a shame, because those guys must work unbelievably hard to present in that sort of shape.

Cycling is still a serious sport, but it isn’t far away from becoming ridiculous. We are now at the point where we pray that Chris Froome is indeed riding clean. For the record, I absolutely believe he is clean. If he isn’t and he gets caught, I honestly think the sport may never recover from its one figure of hope (until Sir Brad returns fully fit) falling down like so many figures of hope before him. Usain Bolt has every bit as much pressure on his broad shoulders, too. If it ever turned out that he was cheating, where would sprinting go?

Froome and Bolt don’t deserve to have this inescapable question mark hanging over their heads – but it remains there because of the actions of those like Johnson, who had the muscles of a lion but the heart of a mouse. I believe in them, and I regard them as idols. Please, please let them be real. @davidflatman

It’s like this…

Bill Borrows

I

was going to write about the excruciating piece on women’s sport on Newsnight – the usual thing: five minutes of gesture politics about how undervalued it is by the male-dominated media – and how they followed that with a tribute to Sir Mick Jagger on his 70th birthday with a blast of Brown Sugar. (Sample lyric: ‘Hear him whip the women just around midnight/Ah brown sugar, how come you taste so good/(A-ha) brown sugar, just like a young girl should/A-huh.’)

A-huh? Really? What should a young girl taste like?

I’d assume the Corporation might be concerned about that kind of thing in the current climate. Apparently not.

Anyway, that’s their perpetual funeral. I want to talk about Pepe Reina, and the entirely commendable trend of sportsmen breaking ranks with their handlers.

Barton, Joseph that is, was arguably at the forefront of this – using social media to communicate in a manner unadulterated by money men anxious to protect their percentage points. Loath as I am to give the scrote any positive publicity at all, the self-styled Morrissey of the round-ball game has a voice, and he uses it well. He has positioned himself as the anti-Michael Owen, and that’s always a good place to be.

Now Reina has penned an open letter to announce that, whereas he might have been prepared to join Barcelona, he was loaned to Napoli without so much as a thanks-for-being-here-for-a-while-now-sod-off.

Roberto Mancini did the same thing when he was sacked by Manchester City, placing a full-page ad in the Manchester Evening News to say ciao to the fans.

It was appreciated.

To those of us who have despaired at the Owenisation of sport – do the accent, you know you can, even if it is just in your head, as he turns up to open another sports centre or has an anaphylactic shock when positioned too close to any form of controversial opinion – this is all to be encouraged.

Are you seriously telling me you don’t want Wayne Rooney to ask Coleen to help him Facebook what he really thinks about moving to Chelsea? Or Bruce Webber to troll Sebastian Vettel at 3am? Or Alastair Cook to tweet Michael Clarke from the outfield? It is all very public, and for our delectation. This is it. The future’s here and it might not be orange, but it could be... or O2. Or Vodafone. @billborrows

Plank of the week David Moyes, again I’m not one for putting pressure on a man just trying to do his job. It’s hard to sell shirts on the subcontinent to people who actually think your club is from Manchester, but can I suggest you try and actually sign someone? No point keep asking Gary Neville to come out of retirement just because Uncle Alex thinks it might be a good idea. Tick tock.

Frozen in time

14 | August 2 2013 |

A packed Olympic Stadium at last weekend’s Anniversary Games proved London 2012 was more than just a six-week fling. Whether it was Mo Farah, Jess Ennis-Hill, Usain Bolt or pictured Slovenian triple-jumper Lookata Nicepinš [citation needed], Londoners gave raucous support to the athletes on show. After the recent drug-test failures the sport has endured, it’s a timely reminder that athletics can still capture and enthral public imagination.

| 15

Harry Engels/Getty Images

Lasting love affair

LAS T

Usain Bolt

M A N S TANDI NG The world’s fastest man talks to Sport about running out of competitors on the track, becoming a legend and those Swedish handball girls at London 2012

Tom Oldham

A

little over 24 hours before running his first competitive race in Britain since picking up three Olympic gold medals here last summer, Usain Bolt is ushered into the

beige surrounds of a conference room in an east London hotel. Around 100 journalists are waiting for the Jamaican, with dictaphones readied and pens poised to capture his every word.

He’s given a brief warm-up – three or four easy questions about how much he enjoys competing in London and even where he likes to holiday – before one journalist bites the bullet.

Ever since the news broke that Tyson Gay and Asafa Powell – two of the four fastest men in history – had failed drugs tests, one question could not be ignored: if they couldn’t do it legitimately, how can anyone be sure that Usain Bolt can?

“I’m pleased you asked me this,” he responds.

“Because I was planning to explain to people.

How long have you been following Usain Bolt?

Since 2007, 2008? Well, if you were following me since 2002, you’d know that I’ve been doing phenomenal things since I was 15. I was the youngest person to win the world juniors at 15; I ran the world junior record (for 200m) in 19.93s at 18; world youth record at 16. I’ve broken every record there is to break, so I’ve proven myself since I was 15. And, as my agent would say, I’m underperforming right now – so I need to step it up.

But I’ve shown throughout the years that I was always going to be great, so that’s all I have to say.”

It’s a monologue persuasive enough to satisfy the room, although the drugs-related questions persist in various other guises: do you trust the athletes you’re lining up against? How can you be sure you’re not taking anything that’s on the banned list, without knowing about it? Do you

use supplements? Bolt, however, stays cool, calm and collected – everything he’s always been.

Fast-forward to Friday night at 9.48pm, and 60,000 camera flashes illuminate the Olympic Stadium, as Bolt strolls to his lane for the final event of the Anniversary Games’ opening day – the 100m. Despite leaving his blocks with all the urgency of a final drop of congealed ketchup that’s reluctant to emerge from its glass bottle, he blitzes the final 50m to win in a season’s best time of 9.85s.

Did he purposely give the others a head start in order to test his speed ahead of the upcoming World Championships in Moscow? Bolt lets out a deep laugh before insisting: “It wasn’t planned...”

MIL LS AND BOLT

It’s now Sunday afternoon, the day after Bolt completes a double-weekend win by anchoring a Jamaican Racers Track Club team (the club where Bolt trains with coach Glen Mills), to victory in the 4x100m sprint relay. The record-breaking Olympian is in another east London hotel for media duties, this time accompanied by his agent Ricky Simms and Nugent ‘NJ’ Walker, his closest friend of 20 years – and a man who Bolt hired as his executive manager in 2010.

The most famous athlete on the planet introduces himself to Sport with a strong handshake and the following byline: “Usain Bolt, track and field.” Just in case, you know? Then it’s back to the start – that start.

“It was awful,” he grimaces. “I didn’t slip or anything – it was just a bad start. I had an okay reaction time (recorded as 0.175s), but the rest of the transition was really bad. As soon as I saw my coach afterwards, he explained – but he said the good thing was that my last 50m was spectacular, and he liked how I executed. So all we need to do now is work on the first 50m, I guess.”

Coach Mills will, Bolt says, look over the tapes of his races from last weekend and use them to decide how his training regime needs to be adapted between now and the first heat of the 100m in Moscow on August 10. Theirs is a partnership that began towards the end of 2004, months after Bolt’s Olympic debut in Athens – where, hampered by injury, he failed to make it past the first heat of the 200m.

“He’s like my second dad now,” Bolt says softly.

“He’s my mentor and my friend. He’s a coach, so yeah – he can be quite strict when he tries to explain to me to stay on the positive side of things, you know? Not to go out, not to drink – he’s like a parent. But he’s extremely awesome, and 90 per cent of the time I’m around him, I’m laughing.

If you weren’t a part of the media, it would be nice meeting him. But he doesn’t really like the media that much.”

Coach Mills was one of many people who felt the younger Bolt was better suited to the longer sprint distance than the marquee 100m event, >

“hOw LONG hAve yOu B eeN fOLLOw ING uSAI N BO LT ?

SINc e 2007, 200 8? w eLL, If yOu w ere fOLLOw IN G Me SINce 2002, yOu’D kNOw T hAT I’ ve BeeN D O IN G pheNOMe NAL ThINGS SINc e I wA S 15 yeArS O LD” | August 2 2013 | 19

Usain Bolt

TIMING I SN’T E VE RYTHING

Bolt and Coach Mills have had plenty of hard work to do in recent weeks, with the 2009 world champion determined to win back his crown in Moscow. Until his season’s best showing in Stratford, though, Bolt’s fastest 100m of 2013 – which he ran at his national trials in Kingston – clocked in at a relatively pedestrian 9.94s.

But times, says Bolt, aren’t everything. “We never worry about times,” he insists. “If I run slow, coach always says: ‘Stop worrying about the time; this is what we need to work on, this is what we need to get right.’ All we try to focus on is

technique because, the better you get at these things, the better the times will get. When the champs come, then you can try to run fast.”

Bolt might not even need to go much quicker to win gold in Moscow. After those aforementioned positive drugs tests, Tyson Gay – the fastest man in the world this year – and perennial finalist Asafa Powell are ruled out. Meanwhile Yohan Blake, Bolt’s training partner and the defending 100m world champion, misses out through injury. All of which could leave Bolt feeling rather flat about the whole thing.

“The fact they’re not there is motivating me even more to run fast, you know,” he fires back.

“Because the usual competition is not there, so you have to be more focused. There are youngsters coming up, and I don’t want to get beaten and have people saying: ‘There was nobody there and he lost.’ So I’m even more focused – I want to run even faster. I want to go out there and show that, even if they were there, I still could have won.”

He does admit, though, that without the likes of Gay and Blake pushing him towards the finish line, it could be harder to run the kind of recordbreaking times we once expected from him as a matter of routine. “Over the 100m, it can make a bit of a difference to have someone close to you,” he explains. “It helps to have that competition, because you push yourself that little bit extra.

But over 200m, it’s a bit different because you have a long way to go – you have a lot of things to do and a lot to focus on.”

“IN lIfE, Y Ou lEARN THAT ANYTHING IS POSSIblE . buT YOu dO HAV E TO bE V ERY CARE fu l AS AN ATHlETE b EC AuSE, RIGHT NOw, THERE A RE A lOT Of THINGS ON THE bANNEd lIST”

20 | August 2 2013 |

CHEATS NEVER P ROSPER?

We are, though, ignoring the presence of one man who will be in Moscow – Justin Gatlin. The American athlete (and former drugs cheat) won bronze at London 2012, and is arguably the man most capable of causing an upset. He’s already done it once this season, beating Bolt by one-hundredth of a second at the Golden Gala in Rome.

“Do I see him as a threat?” asks Bolt. “I see everybody beside me as a threat. I think if you make the finals you’re a threat, because in a race there are so many things that can go wrong and go right. You just have to be aware of everybody and take note of who makes the finals, because there might be a few new faces there that you’ve never seen. So you have to be careful and be focused.

We’ll see what happens.”

On the plight of his fellow sprinters, both of whom he has known and raced against since emerging on to the senior circuit, Bolt says his initial reaction to the news was one of shock.

“I couldn’t believe what I was hearing,” he reflects. “It took me a while to really understand what was going on, but I think there’s a lot of things that haven’t been said or done yet, so I’m just waiting to see what’s going on.

“In life, you learn that anything is possible.

But you do have to be very careful as an athlete, because right now there are a lot of things on the banned list that you might not know about. So you have to keep up to date all the time. It’s kind of hard, but that’s why you have to have a great team around you that you trust. They read the fine print, I don’t.”

Even so, if Powell’s claim that he has been caught out by a banned substance that was concealed in a new range of nutritional supplements is true, it must make Bolt think twice about everything that passes his lips? He offers a wry smile, saying: “It has made me paranoid a little bit, but you have to just trust your team and listen and be vigilant. You have to be careful of your surroundings and stuff. But, yes – a little bit paranoid.”

HERE TO M AKE HISTORY

The world’s fastest men are in a very different place compared with 12 months ago, when the pre-Olympic talk was all focused on whether Bolt’s young teammate would take his Olympic title to match the world title he won in Daegu in 2011.

When Sport spoke to him then, Bolt’s stated aim was simply this: “I want to be a legend. The real legends win again and again… I’m going back for my three gold medals.”

Those three gold medals (100m, 200m and 4x100m) that Bolt won so sensationally for the first time in Beijing were won all over again in London. So, did that secure his legend status?

“I think so,” he grins. “What do you think?”

Cue an awkward smile and fidget while we try to decide if this is a rhetorical question…

“That was my aim.”

Yes, good. Carry on.

“I went to London to prove to the world that I could do it. I was the first man to win the 100m and the 200m at two Olympics, and now I’m looking to the next Olympics.” >

Tom Oldham

meaning the 6ft 5ins sprinter almost ended up as a quarter-miler... much to his disgust.

“Running the 400m wasn’t fun at all,” Bolt explains. “It was always pain. But I was good at it, so I used to do it. However much I did it, though, I never liked it. So I stopped and went back to the 100m. You could say I’m happy it worked out.

“In the early season, though, everybody has to run at least two 400s, as part of our winter schedule. But honestly, I think the coach is just mean making us do that – I don’t think he has a reason for us to run the 400m. The over-distance runs are the hardest thing we do in training, because when you feel that lactic acid you can’t walk, you can’t sit down, you don’t know what to do – it takes a while to get it out of your system.”

Usain Bolt

Surely, though, once you become a legend, the temptation is there to think: ‘That’s it. Job done.’

Has Bolt ever felt like that?

“Initially, you think that,” he says. “But it’s simple – anybody can go for two, so I’m gonna try for three. I want to set the bar a bit higher than two Olympics – that’s my plan. So if someone else comes along, then they’ve got to work really hard – first to get to the bar, then try to raise it even higher.”

Although Bolt did what he set out to do in taking all three titles in London, he ‘only’ set one world record – in the 4x100m relay. Did that irk him just a little? “Coming into London, I wasn’t really worried about breaking world records because I lost at my trials and then I didn’t really compete before the Olympics,” Bolt explains. “So I was wondering where I was at. And all the talk was about Yohan and whether he would beat me – it made the Olympics even more interesting, so it was good for the sport. Everybody was thinking: ‘Is this young kid gonna get Usain Bolt?’ It was good to have that competition.

“In London, though, I saw that everything was starting to come together. And I remember running the race [the 100m final], and I looked across and saw I was gonna win. Then it snapped in me: ‘Oh, you could break the world record.’ But it was too late, because I was just focused on winning.”

DREAMING OF UNITE D

Still, having six Olympic gold medals meant Bolt was bigger news than he’d ever been – and everyone wanted a piece of him. Having heard 22 | August 2 2013 |

about Bolt’s legendary fast-bowling skills (he reportedly clean-bowled Chris Gayle in a charity match), Shane Warne took to Twitter to try and get him to play for Big Bash League team Melbourne Stars – something Bolt says was linked to the fact he was going to Australia on holiday.

“It is something I would try, but then it came at a bad time really,” he says.

It’s more likely that his path leads elsewhere.

“Football is on the cards for when I retire,

Bolt explains. “Hopefully I can get a few charity matches in before then.” He has already struck up a friendship with the now retired Sir Alex Ferguson (left) – but has he made contact with the new Manchester United boss David Moyes?

“No, I haven’t,” he smiles. “I’m waiting for Alex to put the meeting together, so he can let him know that Usain is pretty much part of the Manchester team, and he should just take good care of him when it’s time to go.”

There is one sport Bolt is sure he will never pursue: tennis, he says, is “harder than it looks”.

“I can serve pretty good, but after that it’s just rubbish,” he explains. “I have a neighbour who plays tennis. One day I was bored at home and he came round and said he was going to his tennis practice. I said, you know what, let me come along.

I went, and this 11-year-old had me running up and down the court like crazy. To get the ball over is not a problem, but to get it over aggressively, at the right angle, is just ridiculously hard. And golf?

Sucks. I’m not good. I won’t be one of those old guys playing golf when I’m retired.”

Before our time is up, there’s one other question that cannot go unasked: what really happened with those Swedish handball girls – the ones Bolt took a snap of in his room during the Olympics?

“I didn’t lie!” he laughs. “I just met them and they were fun people, so we sat and talked and I decided to take a picture. If there was really something to hide, do you think I’d have taken a picture?”

We’ll take his word for it. In fact, we’ll take his word for the lot.

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Tom Oldham, Matthew Peters/Manchester United via Getty Images

“ANybODy cAN GO FOR TwO, sO I’M GONNA TRy FOR ThREE. I wANT TO sET T hE bAR A bIT hIGhE R ThA N TwO O lyMpIcs – ThAT’s My plA N”

Usain Bolt

H ow B ri ti sH is B o lt ?

He spends every summer here, supports the champions of English football and aspires to be knighted: “I was hoping it was happening after the Olympics but… someone needs to put the call in, man.”

1. You’re standing in a queue and someone pushes in, a few places ahead of you. Do you confront them, or mutter something about manners costing nothing?

Tom Oldham

Ricky Simms: “Why would Usain be in a queue?”

Usain Bolt: “It depends, though…”

RS: “When was the last time you were in a queue?”

UB: “It depends. If it was a friend who pushed in, then maybe I would let it go. I don’t let a lot of things stress me. But then, if it was two or three people? No. Then I’m like: ‘Yo, hey!’”

3. Complete this sentence: ‘You wait all day for a bus and then…’

UB: “It doesn’t come?”

RS: “That’s in Jamaica! It’s two come at once.”

UB: “What kinda saying is that?”

Score: 0 4. Have you ever worn a cardigan?

UB: “Yeah. It’s stylish, and it gets slightly chilly in Jamaica in December.”

Score: ½ point

Score: 1

2. Do you know who Pippa Middleton is?

5. You’re on the Tube and an attractive woman is making eyes at you and smiling. How do you react?

UB: [Silence] “No. Who’s Pippa Middleton?

Ricky doesn’t even know.”

RS: “You know the woman who had a baby?

Prince Harry’s brother, who married Kate Middleton. Remember the wedding? When Prince William got married?”

UB: “Prince William…?”

RS: “Yeah, she had a sister who was a bit hotter than her.”

UB: “Oh.” Score: 0

UB: “I would introduce myself: ‘Hi, I’m Usain. How are you doing?’ So we’d get chatting and exchange numbers before she gets off. Is that British? No? Seriously? If a girl stared and smiled at you, you wouldn’t…? Gah!” Score: 0

7. How many cups of tea do you drink a day?

UB: “None. When I was young, I used to drink tea – but now? Never. Does hot chocolate count?”

Score: 0 8. Which would you rather: Manchester United win the Premier League title or Jamaica win the World Cup?

UB: “Jesus. [Turns to NJ]. Jamaica’s the right answer, NJ, isn’t it? But…” Nugent ‘NJ’ Walker: “United win the Champions League one time already.”

UB: “The truth is, I’m a big Manchester United fan and Jamaica has let me down a couple of times.

I don’t even watch Jamaican football that much, so… NJ won’t like this, but I’m gonna say Manchester United. I’m serious, I have to be truthful.”

NJ: “Just repeat that ‘NJ won’t like this’, so I can go home.”

Score: 1 9. What does Bolt wear on the beach? Board shorts or Speedos?

UB: “Shorts! They don’t have to be long, they can be above the knee. But Speedos? Hell no Speedos.”

Score: 1 10. On a night out, would you rather have a curry then go to the pub for a few pints, or barbecue then go dancing?

UB: “In the rain? No. [Laughs] That’s kind of crazy.”

UB: “Curry? I’ll do the barbecue. But staying in and drinking beer is more Irish than anything else, isn’t it? Except for the curry part…”

Score: 0

Score: 0

6. Would you ever barbecue in the rain?

Total: 3 ½ out of 10

UB: “My knighthood’s not coming, is it? At least I said Manchester United…”

Usain Bolt trains for gold in the Faas Running Collection, available at Sweatshop. www.sweatshop.co.uk

24 | August 2 2013 |

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72 reasons to watch the Football League

teams spiralling out of control

manager fighting to save his reputation

All pictures Getty Images

I

t’s been a tough couple of years for Harry Redknapp – from the verge of the England

job to relegation with a squad of overpaid mercenaries. The wheeler-dealer has been fairly quiet in the summer, though, as QPR try to slash their £56m wage bill. He’s brought in a new assistant coach in Steve McClaren (who has had a similar fall from grace since his own, more substantial, England fling) and, with such an experienced deputy, we wonder whether Redknapp is still up for the fight. Certainly his comments regarding his players as his side slipped pathetically out of the top tier suggested a man nearing the end of his tether. Waking up in Sandbanks facing a two-hour commute to coach second-division football, ‘Arry might be asking himself: is it worth it?

A

pparently, running a football club isn’t at all like distributing chicken.

Who knew? In either case, you definitely don’t want Henning Berg in charge, as Blackburn’s Indian owners found. Since Venky’s took over in 2010, they’ve made one bad decision after another.

The combined efforts of five managers saw Rovers to 17th in the Championship last season.

Under Sam Allardyce

P86 W30 D23 L33

Under Venky’s

P102 W32 D28 L52

W

olves beat Rovers on the opening day of the Premier League two years ago,

but they’re the only team that have fallen faster. They parted company with Mick McCarthy in February last year after one win in 13, with chief executive Jez Moxey justifying the move thusly: “If we continued this way, we were definitely going to be relegated.”

Under McCarthy’s assistant Terry Connor, they didn’t win another game for the rest of the season.

Ståle Solbakken and Dean Saunders fared little better in the Championship. It’s a long road back from League One – the first job for the man currently in the hot seat, former Millwall boss Kenny Jackett, is to stop the decline. >

| August 2 2013 | 27

Football League

teams recovering from broken hearts

U

we Rosler is as experienced as they come, but last season the

Brentford boss learned not to let an on-loan striker take a promotionsettling penalty. Marcello Trotta hit the bar, Doncaster raced up the other end to score and win League One, while the Bees settled for the playoffs. Which they lost. In the final.

challenging second seasons These managers stepped into new jobs to save the seasons of their respective clubs. Now their task is to maintain that momentum for a whole year

Leicester’s villain, meanwhile, was Anthony Knockaert. With the scores level at 2-2 on aggregate in the playoff semi against Watford, the Frenchman’s tame late penalty was saved by Manuel Almunia. The keeper scrambled away the rebound, and the Hornets swarmed forward for a dramatic last-second winner.

new managers Óscar Garcia’s appointment is a huge

gamble for Brighton, but his links in Spain could bring in some decent talent. After the way things ended with Gus Poyet, anyone is a breath of fresh air for the Albion faithful.

Owen Coyle’s previous knowledge of the Championship with Burnley (successful) and Bolton (less so) could prove vital in getting Wigan back to the Premier League,

Italians calling Watford home

T

he continental revolution at Vicarage Road continues, as owner Gino Pozzo keeps

farming his other two clubs, Udinese and Granada, for the players he hopes can propel Watford into the top flight. Six of Gianfranco Zola’s squad now hail from Italy, with new boys Diego Fabbrini, Gabriele Angella and Marco Faraoni joining right-back Marco Cassetti, cultured midfielder Cristian Battocchio and livewire forward Fernando Forestieri at the club. Critics of the multiple loan deals that overshadowed the team last term can rest easy – all the new signings are on permanent contracts.

Dougie Freedman Bolton Wanderers

David Flitcroft Barnsley

Mick McCarthy Ipswich Town

Led Bolton to within a whisker of the playoffs after taking over in October, after leaving high-flying Crystal Palace. With a full season in charge, his side could well be promotion contenders.

Stepping up from assistant into his first managerial role, he led Barnsley to safety after taking over in December. With new signings added, his side should be a solid mid-table outfit.

Ipswich shot upwards faster than his eyebrows when McCarthy took over.

An impressive brow won’t cut it in season two, though – the fans will want him to work his promotion magic.

while a promotion battle might reinvigorate a fanbase bored of survival scraps.

Paul Dickov at Doncaster likes to give youth a chance, but his relative inexperience – coupled with the influence former boss Brian Flynn still has as director of football – could prove a problem if things start badly.

David Weir is the latest man charged with getting Sheffield United back into the Championship. The Scot was an outside bet to take over from David Moyes at Everton,

team swimming against the tide

N

ewly promoted Yeovil were in the Conference just eight years ago,

and are hopelessly outmuscled financially in the Championship. It’s their first season at this level and, barring a miracle, they’ll struggle to remain.

Yeovil average attendance:

Championship average attendance:

team Ifind out this season. They slipped– asoutBurnley are set to of the top flight in with no 2009-10, which means that their parachute payments given to relegated teams to help ease the parachute (money transition) will come to an end after this season.

soaring southern spender

T

he most telling thing about Cristiano Ronaldo breaking a young Bournemouth fan’s wrist with a wayward free-kick is that a few

weeks ago the stand the kid was sitting in didn’t even exist. Long plagued by financial problems, the Cherries have had a renaissance under Eddie Howe, backed by Russian millionaire Maxim Demin – who has funded new signings and the construction of a long-awaited fourth stand. The well-publicised friendly with Real Madrid is a sign of how far the club has risen – they now start a season in the Championship for only the second time.

t’s a tough life, outside the Premier League’s warm, moneyed embrace

Will they give it one last roll of the dice? > 28 | August 2 2013 |

but this seems a more appropriate level at which to start his managerial career.

Steve Lomas is yet another Celt taking the reins at a league club – in his case Millwall, after leading St Johnstone to European qualification in two straight seasons.

Also in new jobs are Brian McDermott (Leeds); Alan Knill (Torquay); Colin Cooper (Hartlepool); James Beattie (Accrington Stanley); Kenny Jackett (Wolves) and whoever Swindon get round to appointing.

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

£8m £8 m £15m £17m

Football League

potential Championship stars

Adam le Fondre

Tom Ince

Grant Holt

Matt Ritchie

Jordan Rhodes

Couldn’t quite cut it in the Premier League, except as a supersub, but ALF can be a clinical finisher at this level for Reading.

If he stays, last year’s Young Player of the Year will continue to be a real force for Blackpool, providing assists from the left.

Not the kind of striker usually associated with Wigan, but the ex-Norwich man has the right number of elbows for this level.

Promotion justified his mid-season move from Swindon to Bournemouth. Now he needs to rediscover his goalscoring form.

Scored 27 goals last season in a struggling Blackburn side, and will need to be in similar form if they’re to stay up.

teams in trouble

promotion candidates

Reading have an experienced hand at the helm in Nigel Adkins, and are in good financial shape having spent frugally in their season in the Premier League.

Watford have lost last year’s top scorer Matěj Vydra, but another influx of new Italians from Udinese mean the Hornets will be a force to be reckoned with again.

Leicester and Nigel

Millwall are

Pearson need to improve on last year’s sixth position, but they have the squad and the financial backing to push for automatic promotion.

adjusting to life without Kenny Jackett.

New man Steve Lomas did well at St Johnstone, but the Championship is a different proposition.

man stepping out of his father’s shadow

125th anniversary fixtures

S

heffield United’s Bramall Lane is the oldest major stadium in the world. Tonight, it hosts the opening fixture of the Football League’s 125th

season. The visitors are Notts County – the oldest professional club in the world.

The game is part of six specially selected games to mark the league’s big year.

Championship

League One

League Two

Burnley v Bolton Founder members of the Football League, the first game between these sides was held in September 1888: a 4-3 away win for Burnley.

PReston v Wolves Preston went unbeaten in that first season 125 years ago.

A lot has changed since then – but they’re still playing at Deepdale, which has hosted more Football League games than any other ground.

Rochdale v Hartlepool The Monkey Hangers take on Rochdale for the 137th time – the most played fixture of teams currently in the Football League.

Derby v Blackburn These founder members have won five top-flight titles between them – they’ll play at Pride Park.

30 | August 2 2013 |

Blackburn could continue to freefall – their fate rests on whether the manager and squad are allowed to get on with their jobs without more owner interference.

Newport v Accrington The Football League’s newest members welcome Accrington Stanley. Who are they?

T

here’s a Ferguson-shaped hole in the top flight, but for how long? Sir Alex’s only

footballing son, Darren, hasn’t quite matched the success of his old man – his Peterborough side dropped into League One on the final day of last season, albeit with the highest points total (54) of any relegated team in Championship history.

Don’t expect them to stay there long, though.

Ferguson junior has already got them promoted three times – twice as runners-up in a first spell as manager, and then again through the playoffs in 2011.

It’s fair to say he still has a bit of ground to make up on his old man, though. >

Yeovil will struggle to compete in a league full of fallen giants, having climbed higher than at any time in their history. Don’t expect a fairytale ending here.

The Ashes

Heading for a turnaround England are 2-0 up in the Ashes, but as these stunning Test series comebacks involving Ian Botham, Rahul Dravid, Don Bradman and, well, Matt Horne show, Australia still have a sniff of hope – no matter how they’ve started at Old Trafford Botham’s fairy tale

Adrian Murrell/Allsport UK, Central Press/Getty Images

England 3-1 Australia (1981) Come and sit on Uncle Beefy’s knee, and he’ll tell you a tale. In the 1981 Ashes, England were 1-0 down after two Tests and a flailing Ian Botham (left) gave up the captaincy. In the third Test at Headingley, Australia declared on 409 runs, Dennis Lillee and co bowled England out for 174 and the follow-on was enforced. After day three, Ladbrokes offered odds of 500/1 for England to win the Test.

The bookmakers had reckoned without the Beef.

Coming in with England struggling at 105-5, Botham bludgeoned 149 not out – mostly with the tail (and we don’t mean his mullet) – to give England a 129-run lead and a fighting chance. Botham took the first Aussie wicket, but it was Bob Willis’ eight wickets for just 43 runs that won England the game by 18 runs to stunningly level the series.

Further Botham heroics – including a bowling spell of five wickets for one run in the fourth Test, plus a 118 century (which included six 6s) in the fifth Test – helped England to a 3-1 Ashes triumph. The man now known as Sir Loin was, unsurprisingly, named man of the series.

Friday CriCket | england v australia: third ashes test day 2 Old traffOrd, manChester sky spOrts ashes hd 11am

34 | August 2 2013 |

Matt Cricket Prior

Don reverses fortunes

Australia 3-2 England (1936-37) Australia were 2-0 down in this best-of-five series, with captain Don Bradman (above) in wretched nick and under fierce scrutiny from home press, fans and even his own teammates. So what do you think cricket’s greatest batsman produced on day one of the third Test? He made 13 as Australia fell to 181-6. Oh. However, rain turned the wicket into what Bradman called “the worst I ever saw in my life”.

Play started late on day two, Australia made it to 200 all out – then England found conditions impossible.

The surface was so treacherous that captain Gubby Allen declared while still more than 100 runs behind in the match, just to give England 45 minutes to bowl at Australia at the end of the day. Here, the Don unveiled a masterstroke: he reversed Australia’s line-up to protect his batsmen, forcing his bowlers to act as a series of nightwatchmen. It worked a treat.

Bradman himself eventually came in at number seven on day three, going on to make 270 runs.

Australia won the match by 365 runs, then went on to claim Tests four and five. They remain the only side to win a Test series from 2-0 behind. Stirring stuff, but does current captain Michael Clarke have the stones to repeat history by batting himself at seven, while forcing Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle to open the batting, in the second innings at Old Trafford? Frankly, it can’t do too much harm.

Ill behaviour

West Indies 2-2 England (1954) It was billed as the match-up to decide the best Test nation in cricket – but it was beset by so many rows, controversies, umpiring issues and bad blood that the cricket was all but overshadowed. Which is a shame, because it was a ding-dong series, England hauling themselves from 2-0 behind after two Tests to draw 2-2 against a fine West Indies team boasting the three Ws of Frank Worrell (pictured), Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott.

England skipper Len Hutton imposed a dour style of cricket upon his touring team, while socialising with the opposition was also discouraged. This upset and offended many of the Windies players. For their turn, England were dismayed by the standard of the local umpires (”I would never accuse them of cheating,“ England’s player/manager Charles Palmer later said, possibly in a seriously flawed attempt to sound conciliatory. ”... they were just incompetent.”), while serious crowd trouble also flared up at two of the Tests.

In the final match, Hutton batted for nine hours in searing heat to complete a double century that helped England win the game and draw the series.

Overall, he made 677 runs at an average of 96.71, but reckoned the stresses and strains of the tour shortened his cricket career by two years. >

| 35

Cricket 2012-13 //

Laurence Griffiths/Allsport, Pal Pillai/AFP/Getty Images, Hamish Blair/Allsport

1999 //

2000-01 //

England’s nadir

Pride of India

Chef’s special

England 1-2 New Zealand (1999) A home series that ended with England rock bottom of the Test rankings, slipping below New Zealand and Zimbabwe, actually began with a comfortable, seven-wicket English win most memorable for nightwatchman Alex Tudor’s 99 not-out.

From that victory, however, England were outplayed for the remaining three Tests and could count themselves lucky that rain meant the series ended with a 2-1 rather than a 3-1 defeat. The lows were plentiful: thrashed by nine wickets at Lord’s (Matt Horne scoring a century), Chris Read being bowled after ducking a Chris Cairns slower ball (which landed at his feet) and being booed by their own fans at The Oval as they lost the final Test.

Hardly an ideal start to Nasser Hussain’s captaincy, but from rotten acorns mighty oaks can grow. Duncan Fletcher began his work as coach later that year, central contracts were introduced for England players, and the seeds were sown for England’s Ashes triumph in 2005.

India 2-1 Australia (2000-01) The strength of the opposition – and the nigh-on impossible situation they found themselves in during the second Test – make this the most astonishing comeback seen in a three-Test series. In the opening match, India were trounced by 10 wickets by an Australia team featuring Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Matt Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, plus the Waugh brothers Steve and Mark.

In the second Test in Kolkata, Australia made 445 runs in the first innings, bowled India out for 171, then forced the home side to follow on. The openers and Sachin Tendulkar all departed for scores of less than 40, but VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid (above, right) displayed steely nerves and liquid batting to make 281 and 180 respectively.

India eventually declared on 657-7, Australia were bowled out for 212 and lost the match by 171 runs.

Harbhajan Singh then took 15 wickets as he spun India to victory in the decider, and Steve Waugh and his boys – creators of so many sleepless nights for other cricketers – had endured a nightmare scenario all of their own.

India 1-2 England (2012-13) This wasn’t so much a comeback from one Test down, as a comeback against all of England’s subcontinent woes. The previous winter, England had played five away Tests against Pakistan (in the UAE) and Sri Lanka. They lost four of them and had looked all at sea batting against spin. So when they lost the opening match here by nine wickets (scoring just 191 in the first innings in response to India’s 521), a direct Indian revenge for the previous summer’s 4-0 defeat in England looked a distinct possibility.

However, in his quiet way, England’s steely new captain Alastair Cook showed the way in the first Test, with a 176 knock in the second innings, giving his team a first-hand demonstration of how to bat on a slow, dusty, subcontinent wicket. For the second Test, England introduced Monty Panesar and there was another revelation: it turned out that England had better spinners than India. On a ’bunsen burner’ in Mumbai, Panesar and Graeme Swann took 19 wickets between them, while Kevin Pietersen made a spectacular 186. England coasted to a 10-wicket triumph, won the the third Test by seven wickets, then comfortably drew the final Test on a tedious, turgid mess of a pitch.

It may never catch the British public’s imagination like an Ashes series down under, but it was an impressive, unexpected away triumph as remarkable as any England have had.

Alex Reid @otheralexreid

36 | August 2 2013 |

Big man Lawrence Okoye

on campus

Michael Steele/Getty Images

imagine this: manchester united sign up a 21-year-Old whO has the physique Of a supreme athlete, But zerO knOwledge Of the game. nOt Once has this lad kicked a fOOtBall, let alOne participated in a game alOngside 10 teammates and under the clOse eye Of devOted fans scrutinising his every mOve. it sOunds impOssiBle. Or, at the very least, utterly imprOBaBle. Swap Manchester United for American football team the San Francisco 49ers, however, and the improbable becomes a reality – at least it does for Lawrence Okoye, the British former Olympic discus thrower.

“It just started as an idea,” he says, rubbing his head as if he’s still coming to terms with what the past year has held for him. “Then the idea got to the next level and I started training. Then I got to the NFL Regional Combine, and it went up another level.

Then I had scouts calling me, and it was up another level again. It was like an avalanche effect from the start to where I’m at now.”

So, where is he at now? Sport catches up with Okoye in the headmaster’s office of Whitgift School in Croydon, where Okoye’s mind developed into one smart enough to have been offered a place to study law at Oxford University (which they are holding open for him), and where his body became just as much of an asset on the rugby field.

With impressive speed (Okoye has clocked sub-11 seconds for the 100m) packed into a

38 | August 2 2013 |

6ft 6ins frame, he was utilised as a winger by his school, and went on to play for the academy teams of London Irish and Wasps.

But by the summer of 2010, athletics had taken over from rugby as Okoye’s passion. The discus was where his strength, speed and explosive power yielded the biggest rewards. And, having made his international debut at the 2010 World Junior Athletics Championships – where he finished sixth – it was just two years later that he found himself lining up in the Olympic final as the British record holder.

Olympic turnarOund

“I have good and bad memories of the Games,” he says in his typically measured way. “Qualifying for the final with my last effort was a big moment for me, but the final didn’t go according to plan.” Having been mooted as a possible medal contender

before the Games, Okoye was disappointed to finish 12th, and immediately expressed doubts over whether he would remain in the sport. A year later, and with a new career on the horizon, he’s philosophical about the experience. “It could have gone better, but that’s life and that’s sport,” he says. “I’m moving on, and playing American football is something I’ve always wanted to do. So I’m happy to be where I’m at.

“I had a lot of options after the Olympics, and continuing with discus was one of them.

It was just the start of my career, and it was tough to leave a sport that I had a bright future in. But I figured, if I wanted to give this a shot, it was a now-or-never sort of thing.”

Okoye had watched American football on television as a youngster: “I always thought that, with my physical makeup, I could do it – but it did mean starting from scratch again, just like when I started throwing discus”.

That physical make-up, then: the aforementioned 6ft 6ins frame, upon which Okoye carries some 304lbs (21 and a half stone) of weight. It’s not hard to see why he caught the eye of the 49ers’ selectors.

“That’s the biggest reason why they bought into me,” he explains. “Physically, I put up some big numbers – and that comes from my time working in the weight room and at the track improving my speed, power and strength.”

The big numbers are the ones Okoye posted at a trial (or Regional Combine, >

Lawrence Okoye as they are known) for NFL hopefuls held in Atlanta earlier this year, including a 4.78s 40-yard dash, 4.38s 20-yard shuttle run, 10ft 5ins broad jump and 35ins vertical jump.

“That’s what got me through the door,” he says. “There’s no one my size who can do what I can do physically. It’s a starting point, but really that’s all it is. I’ve forgotten about those numbers now – they don’t mean anything to me any more. Once you’re in there, it’s about who can fight, who can work hard and who can play the game. Now it’s about how I progress as a player.”

Brains and Brawn

Physical prowess aside, Okoye also had to prove he had the mental aptitude necessary for a career in the NFL, by sitting a Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test. “It’s similar to an IQ test, but it’s only out of 50, so you get 12 minutes to answer 50 multiple-choice questions,” he explains. “I don’t actually know what I scored, but I think I did pretty well.”

Being sharp of mind is important for NFL players (and you can see if you too could qualify with our short sample Wonderlic Test below), who all receive a team-specific playbook filled with scribbles and sketches detailing the different plays, formations and calls to be used during games. Okoye has brought his back to the UK so that, on his brief break between training camps, he can make sure he’s fully prepared for his return to the States.

“I want to make sure I know my calls,” he says. “You don’t want to get on the field and

Giving it a whirl: despite being the British record holder for discus, Okoye says his NFL shot is “a now-or-never thing”

“it’s gonna Be Fun. and it’s gonna Be tough. But hits aren’t something i’m scared oF – i deFiniteLy intend to hit other peopLe too”

We’ve done a lot of technical work and a lot of classroom work, so this is what I’ve been looking forward to.”

He’s taken some big hits before, of course, in his days on the rugby field. But Okoye insists this is a very different ball game: “I played rugby when I was 18. Now I’m gonna have someone like Mike Iupati [guard for the 49ers], who weighs about 350 pounds, trying to run me over. It’s gonna be fun, you know?

And it’s gonna be tough. But hits are not something I’m scared of – I definitely intend to hit other people too.”

The final 53-man first-team roster is decided at the end of August. If Okoye’s name is on it, he could make a return to London in October, when the 49ers play Jacksonville Jaguars at Wembley. He insists that “it’s too hard a sport for this to be anything other than a long-term project – it’s not going to happen overnight”. But, for now, the long-term project is a short-term reality.

make yourself look like an idiot going one way when you should be going the other.

Learning the playbook isn’t a big deal, though, especially in my position [Okoye has been pinpointed as a defensive end]. If you’re a quarterback, you have to learn everything; if you’re a safety, you have to memorise lots of different calls. But as a D-lineman, you just listen for the call and make sure you’re set.

When you’re six inches in front of another person, you can’t be thinking about calls – you just have to think about hitting someone.”

On the day we speak, the rookie is days away from returning to the 49ers’ training base in San Jose. A final training camp lies ahead before pre-season begins with a game against Denver Broncos next Thursday. While he admits that it’s “crazy” to think that his first game of American football will be in the NFL, he can’t hide his excitement at finally being able to unleash his full power.

“I haven’t taken any big hits yet, but they’ll coming at training camp,” he says. “That’s when people are going to be trying to take your head off. It’s going to be a time to fight.

Follow Lawrence on Twitter @Okoye

2

4

Sarah Shephard @sarahsportmag

The Wonderlic Cognitive Ability Test is given to prospective NFL players as part of the league’s scouting combine, with an average player usually scoring around 20 points out of a possible 50. Only Pat McInally – a punter and wide receiver for the Cincinnati Bengals from 1976 to 1985 – has scored a perfect 50.

He took the test again in 2007 and got one wrong, saying: “Not a bad score after six concussions.”

Test yourself with the five sample questions here. Remember: NFL players have just 12 minutes to answer 50 questions (answers right).

40 | August 2 2013 |

1

Assume the first two statements are true. Is the final one?

1. True 2. False 3. Not certain The boy plays baseball.

All baseball players wear hats.

Paper sells for 21 cents per pad.

What will four pads cost?

3

How many of the five pairs of items listed below are exact duplicates?

Nieman, K.M. Neiman, K.M. Thomas, G.K. Thomas, C.K. Hoff, J.P. Hoff, J.P. Pino, L.R. Pina, L.R. Warner, T.S. Wanner, T.S.

PRESERVE RESERVE

Do these words...

1. Have similar meanings

5

A train travels 20 feet in 1/5 second. At this speed, how far will it travel in three seconds?

2. Have contradictory meanings 3. Mean neither the same nor opposite

The boy wears a hat.

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Answers: 1. True; 2. 84 cents; 3. 1; 4. 1; 5. 300 feet. Image: Michael Steele/Getty Images

are you nFL smart?

Missy Malone, Burlesque Performer, Edinburgh.

L AMB SN AV Y R U M. C O M

et c ar ah Chsiti r Be u#TrueBritishCharacter # r TrueBritishCharacter

Duel control Ahead of next week’s World Fencing Championships in Budapest, Britain’s top-ranked swordsman James Davis looks back on a stellar year and explains why his sport is like a combination of chess and boxing

How do you reflect on the team’s displays in London?

“There was pressure on us to perform as the home team, but then we were an amateur team going up against professional fencers. Look at France – this is one of their most successful sports and they

have the infrastructure, so we’re always playing catch-up. I lost to a four-time world champion in Peter Joppich, so it wasn’t a tournament I was ever likely to win – but what I’ve gone on to achieve since proves it must have been a great experience for me.

In the team event, nobody gave us a chance against Italy in the quarter finals. They’re world number one and they dominate the sport, but we ran them close and are really starting to shine this year – as we showed with bronze at the Europeans.”

Do you feel much has changed for the better within British fencing since then?

“Personally, I think not. The sport is trying to develop the grassroots – things like Go/Fence, a variation aimed at getting kids involved from a young age – but it’s just too expensive and not accessible enough.

I started fencing at Saturday club when I was only four, and I owe a lot to my first club for letting me

start at such a young age, but that makes me one of the lucky few. Fencing is still a private-school sport, unfortunately. Until we can conquer that, the idea of legacy will fall behind where it is in bigger sports.”

At 6ft 4ins, you’re very tall – such a long reach must be an advantage, right?

"Well, the current Olympic champion is 6ft 5ins, but Joppich is only 5ft 8ins. Our sport is a physical game of chess, a mental game. You don’t have to be the guy who can lift 150 kilos in the gym; you need the mental ability to outthink your opponent on the piste.

My height can be an asset, in that I want to keep my opponent at a distance – but if you’re a small guy, you can get in close and get those body shots away, just as you would in boxing. You use the assets you have to do your best on the piste, and that’s what I love about our sport – at the end of the day, it’s a duel.

You can fight anybody... you just have to be better.”

You’re only just 22, but after your individual foil bronze at the Europeans you are now ranked fifth in the world. Have you been surprised by your progress?

“I always believed in myself, but I’m also in a very supportive set-up – we have great financial support and I’ve been working with the same coach, Ziemek Wojciechowski, for 10 years. Richard Kruse, who has just turned 30, has been our trailblazer – the guy who came through the amateur set-up, and has been produced from virtually nothing. I remember in 2004, going into Athens, he was training with me – I was a 13-year-old lad, but he was going to the Olympics and had no one else to train with! I’m lucky that we now have a better set-up and I still have the likes of Richard to train with, which he didn’t have.

I don’t even think I’ll be at my peak for Rio in 2016, though... I’ve still got to qualify, of course, but I want to do that and go there aiming for gold.”

Before that, though, the World Championships.

How well can you do in Budapest?

“I go to every tournament wanting to win, and that won’t change because it’s the worlds. I’ve got to keep focused, though, because you can all too easily run away with that idea. We find out the day before the tournament who I’ve got, so I’ll spend that night focusing on that match. Then I can hopefully go on from there... and if I win every match, I win the tournament. Then I’ll be happy.”

Tony Hodson @tonyhodson1

British Fencing is proudly supported by specialist insurer Beazley and UK Sport

Matthew Lewis/Getty Images Credit

In the past year you’ve competed at London 2012, won the St Petersburg Grand Prix and claimed two European Championship bronzes. Which means most?

“It’s hard to say, because they all work on different levels. Competing at the Olympics is the pinnacle of our career in fencing, and that’s the one I’d have loved to have won. But realistically, I wasn’t ready to even medal. At 22, I’m still young for a fencer, so I can look back on London 2012 and know that I learned a lot from the experience. St Petersburg was my first ever win, beating some of the sport’s top names along the way, so that obviously means a lot too.”

Back with a Bang Advertising Feature

Last season’s Capital One Cup provided thrills, spills and no end of drama from beginning to end. With the first round of this year’s competition taking place next week, fans should be bracing themselves for another rollercoaster ride

supporting the supporters Ahead of next week’s Capital One Cup first round, we pick out the fans most likely to experience the emotional extremes associated with supporting their teams

44 | August 2 2013 |

going the extra mile

Birmingham v Plymouth, Tuesday 7.45pm League Two Plymouth will start as definite underdogs for their clash with Birmingham City of the Championship – a team they haven’t beaten since 1993 – on Tuesday.

However, that won’t stop a hardcore of the Pilgrims’ faithful from making the 402-mile round trip to the Midlands to cheer on their side. Those who do travel will be making the longest journey of any visiting fans in the first round – there’s dedication for you right there.

Back in the Big time

Brighton v Newport County, Tuesday 7.45pm It’s been a long old journey for fans of Newport County just to be here. Relegated from the Football League in 1988 and out of business within a year, the Exiles have returned from the dead and this season make their comeback after 25 years in the footballing wilderness. As such, a glamour tie away against Championship big dogs Brighton should serve as a very special reminder to their fans that Newport are very much back in business.

Magic moments: Chelsea and Man Utd met in a fourth-round classic last year, while Bradford

Capital one Cup: First round in Full

shocked the nation by

(Kick-offs 7.45pm unless stated)

in the quarter finals

Monday august 5

Preston v Blackpool, Sky Sports 1

W

tuesday august 6

clash at Stamford Bridge eventually ended with Chelsea conquering Manchester United 5-4 after extra time.

But it was Arsenal’s subsequent defeat to League Two Bradford, and the Bantams’ miraculous journey all the way to Wembley, that undoubtedly provided the biggest story of last season’s Capital One Cup. Can the same be repeated this season? Will the big boys come back firing stronger? Or can one of the league’s less-heralded teams emulate Swansea and take their fans to their own personal version of sporting nirvana?

Time will tell, but it all kicks off again on Monday evening, when local rivals Preston and Blackpool meet at Deepdale. From there, only one thing is certain: the fans are in for another season of rapidly changing emotion.

loCal pride

suFFering long and strong

Exeter v QPR, Tuesday 7.45pm Things didn’t go well for QPR last season, and you wouldn’t think an away trip to Exeter on a Tuesday night is one the fans will overly relish so early in the season.

They will go, though, because that’s what football fans do – but heaven help ‘Arry Redknapp if his richly paid squad suffers an August setback in deepest Devon.

Port Vale v Walsall (7.30pm) Barnsley v Scunthorpe Birmingham v Plymouth Bournemouth v Portsmouth Brentford v Dagenham & Redbridge Brighton v Newport Bristol Rovers v Watford Bury v Crewe Charlton v Oxford Cheltenham v Crawley Colchester v Peterborough Doncaster v Rochdale Exeter v QPR Gillingham v Bristol City Huddersfield v Bradford Leyton Orient v Coventry Middlesbrough v Accrington Millwall v Wimbledon Morecambe v Wolves, Sky Sports 1 Northampton v MK Dons Nottm Forest v Hartlepool Oldham v Derby Rotherham v Sheff Wed Sheff Utd v Burton Shrewsbury v Bolton Southend v Yeovil Stevenage v Ipswich Swindon v Torquay Tranmere v Mansfield Wycombe v Leicester York v Burnley

Wednesday august 7

All pictures Getty Images

hen Ashley Williams and Garry Monk lifted the Capital One Cup in February, it represented the culmination of so many dreams.

For the players, glory on the hallowed turf of Wembley. For their club, Swansea City, a first major domestic trophy. And for the fans, a day to savour for the rest of their lives – one that came only nine years after their beloved Swans languished in the lowest tier of the Football League.

Swansea’s 5-0 demolition of a heroic Bradford City in the final was also the climax to a sensational season in the Capital One Cup. From the first round, when Scunthorpe edged Derby County on penalties after a 5-5 draw in front of a disbelieving Pride Park, fans were treated to a deluge of goals from a seemingly unending well of entertainment.

Who could forget Paolo Di Canio taking over the Britannia Stadium when his Swindon side shocked Stoke 4-3 in the second round?

And that was just a taster for what was to come in the fourth round, when on consecutive October evenings football fans around the country witnessed two of the greatest cup matches we have ever seen. First, Arsenal pulled off a memorable Houdini act away at Reading, somehow turning a 4-0 deficit into a 7-5 win. Then, just 24 hours later, a seesaw

Huddersfield v Bradford, Tuesday 7.45pm Last year’s beaten finalists face a tough task in this year’s first round, particularly with so much Yorkshire grit likely to be on show in this clash with big rivals Huddersfield.

It’s not the only local derby of the round, either: Bournemouth v Portsmouth features two south-coast teams going in opposite directions, Preston host Blackpool in a battle of the northwest and Millwall put their London pride on the line at home to AFC Wimbledon.

putting Arsenal out

Carlisle v Blackburn Leeds v Chesterfield Notts County v Fleetwood

Capital One, Official Credit Card of the Football League.

For further details, see facebook.com/CapitalOneUK

| 45

7 Days OUR PICK OF THE ACTION FROM THE SPORTING WEEK AHEAD

AUG 2-AUG 8 HIGHLIGHTS » Football: Emirates Cup – Arsenal v Napoli » p48 » Tennis: Montreal Masters » p48 » Horse Racing: Nassau Stakes » p48 » Cycling: Tour of Poland » p50 » World Superbikes Round 9: Silverstone » p52

THURSDAY > GOLF | US PGA CHAMPIONSHIP | OAK HILL COUNTRy CLUb, ROCHESTER, NEW yORK | SKy SPORTS 1 6PM

Don Emmert/AFP/GettyImages

History against Rory

miracle if he's to quieten it. His game has nosedived

So, where to look for a winner this time? The PGA

through 2013, culminating in a disastrous Open,

has a history of giving players a breakthrough Major,

where he missed the cut and admitted to playing

with winners this century including David Toms, Rich

“brain dead” golf on his way to 12-over through

Beem, Micheel, YE Yang, Martin Kaymer and Keegan

two rounds.

Bradley. Step forward Bill Haas, the most consistent

At Oak Hill, he also has history against him.

player on tour this year (aside from Tiger Woods) –

Only Tiger Woods has successfully defended the

with top-10 finishes in eight out of 18 starts. He's a

PGA title since World War II – twice, in 2000 and

typical Oak Hill player, being a very tidy iron player

again in 2007. And, while it's the least-regarded

(he has hit 69 per cent of greens in regulation this

Twelve months ago, there were plenty saying Rory

of the four Majors, it traditionally boasts the

season), which will be the key at tree-lined Oak Hill.

McIlroy had taken his eye off the ball. He shut them

strongest field of the year. Last, year 99 of the

up emphatically, however, at the US PGA – winning by

world's top 100 players competed).

a thumping eight shots and becoming the youngest player to win two Majors since Seve Ballesteros.

This year, the dissenting whispers have turned into a cacophony, and McIlroy will need to pull off a 46 | August 2 2013 |

Not only that, but Oak Hill's East Course likes

Elsewhere, the Women's British Open got under way at St Andrews yesterday, with Korea's Inbee Park bidding for an unprecedented grand slam

American champions. It has staged five Majors going

after bagging the first three Majors of the season

back to 1956, and all were won by Americans – the

(BBC Two, 1pm). The home of golf would be an

most recent being Shaun Micheel at the 2003 PGA.

appropriate venue at which to make history.

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

iPad edition on Newsstand now

7 Days Saturday Football | arsenal v napoli | eMirates stadiuM | bt sport 4.20pM

MONday > tennis | Montreal Masters | unipriX stadiuM, Montreal | skY sports 3 5pM

What you could have won By the time you read this, Arsenal could be the proud owners of their very own buck-toothed Uruguayan goal-getter.

It’s more likely that negotiations – such as they are – with Liverpool will drag on for some time yet, in which case there will be some Gooners in the crowd at this Emirates Cup fixture gazing wistfully at former transfer target and Napoli new boy Gonzalo Higuain (below). The now-traditional north London pre-season tournament sees Galatasaray take on Porto at 2pm on Saturday, before Arsenal come up against Rafa Benitez's Napoli, a team remodelled around the former Real Madrid striker after the sale of Edinson Cavani to Paris Saint-Germain.

Higuain hit the bullseye 107 times in 190 La Liga games for Madrid, but failed to beat Pepe Reina – another new Napoli signing – in two Champions League outings against Liverpool, and Reina could well be the man charged with keeping a clean sheet again here. Arsenal's incoming transfers at time of press are restricted to forward Yaya Sanogo (he's 20, French and – apparently – no stranger to the treatment room: a classic Wenger signing, then), which at least means Theo Walcott Paolo Bruno/Getty Images, Julian Finney/Getty Images, Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images for Ascot Racecourse, Mark Runnacles/Getty Images, Bjorn Larsson Rosvall/AFP/Getty Images

may get a run-out in his favoured forward role.

Sunday's fixtures see Napoli play Porto at 2pm, followed by Arsenal taking on Galatasaray at 4.20pm. That game could include the return of Didier Drogba for the Turkish champs.

So, it’s a nice easy pre-season run-out for Arsenal's central defenders in that one, too.

Saturday Horse racing | Markel insurance nassau stakes | goodwood | cHannel 4 3.15pM

Girl fight

Seven years on, there is nothing to match the quality of those two warriors in the

Glorious Goodwood draws to a close on

field for 2013 – but there is still an intriguing

Saturday, with the female of the species

race in prospect, featuring many major

taking centre stage in the big race of the

players from the Classic generation.

day: the Nassau Stakes.

The 10-furlong contest has been won

48 | August 2 2013 |

Goodwood home straight back in 2006.

Heading that list is 1000 Guineas and Royal Ascot heroine Sky Lantern (below),

by some outstanding fillies and mares in

but keep an eye out for the lightly raced

its long history, not least when the great

but unbeaten Integral from the in-form

Ouija Board got the better of Alexander

yard of Michael Stoute. She’s improving

Goldrun in a thrilling duel down the

fast, and could be your winner.

SAturDAY FOOTBALL | SPL: CELTIC v ROSS COUNTy | CELTIC PARk | Sky SPORTS 1 5.15PM

Tough at the top

Going Dutch The opening round of the SPL has thrown up an enticing prospect for Ross County.

Celtic tend to have European football at the forefront of their minds at this stage of the season (they won only two of their opening five league fixtures last year), and this tie is lodged between two legs of their Champions League qualifier against Swedes Elfsborg.

Celtic are without Victor Wanyama after his £12.5m move to Southampton, while Gary Cooper has signed for Norwich. Incoming players include Dutch under-21 central defender Virgil 'Thunderbird 2' van Dijk and Portuguese forward Amido Baldé (below).

What better way for Andy Murray to ease back into competition

County – who have themselves signed four Dutchmen over the summer – are

after his momentous Wimbledon victory than at a tournament

hindered by suspensions to Ivan Sproule and captain Richard Brittain, both thanks to

where he has twice tasted victory? In 2009, Murray defeated

pre-season red cards. Elsewhere, Partick Thistle play Dundee United in Friday's SPL

Juan Martin Del Potro to win his fourth career Masters 1000 title,

opener (BT Sport, 7.45pm), while Hearts begin away at St Johnstone on Saturday.

and he followed that up one year later by beating Roger Federer for number five.

All three men will be in Montreal for next week's tournament, along with Rafael Nadal and world number one Novak Djokovic.

The Serb has lifted the trophy for the past two years, beating Mardy Fish in 2011 and Richard Gasquet last summer. Given the depth of the line-up, then, ‘easing back in’ might not be quite the phrase to describe Murray's return.

The Canada Masters – which alternates between Toronto and Montreal – acts as a precursor to the Cincinnati Masters, which begins on August 10. Together, those two tournaments are an important tune-up for players ahead of the US Open – and what will be the first Grand Slam defence of Murray’s career.

The Scot will need to forget it is just a few short weeks since he fulfilled a childhood ambition in SW19, because – despite his position of number two in the world – he is now the player all around him will relish taking a shot at the most. He is favourite – at 13/8 – to win the US Open, with Djokovic at 7/4 and both Nadal and Federer significantly longer. How times have changed.

MONDAY > TENNIS | ROGERS CUP | REXALL CENTRE, TORONTO | BRITISH EUROSPORT 2 4PM

Williams' Swedish ego massage Serena Williams responded to being

mind after a shock defeat, especially ahead

turfed out of Wimbledon in the fourth

of the Rogers Cup – where she could be in

round by doing something she'd never

for a rematch with Sabine Lisicki, her

done before: she went to Sweden.

Wimbledon conqueror.

And from there it gets even stranger.

With the world number two Maria

Williams signed up to play in a clay-court

Sharapova pulling out of the line-up with a

tournament in Bastad, at a time when most

left hip injury, Victoria Azarenka becomes

players were turning their minds towards

the second seed, having recovered from

preparing for the US hard-court swing.

the knee injury that forced her to withdraw

She won it, obviously, thus securing her

from Wimbledon. Another late entry to

51st match win of the year and seventh

the field is Wimbledon champion Marion

WTA Tour title of 2013. Such a rapid return

Bartoli, which should ensure that John

to winning ways can only be good for the

Inverdale steers well clear of Canada.

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand | 49

7 Days SATURDAY RUGBY UNION | JP MORGAN ASSET MANAGEMENT PREMIERSHIP RUGBY 7S, POOL C | ALLIANZ PARK | BT SPORT 7PM

Sevens heaven

The night's action sees the quartet do battle in a round-robin format, with the top two proceeding to the final. And the squads, announced earlier this week, are certainly not lacking in quality.

Tom Varndell, Marland Yarde, Chris Ashton (pictured), Ross Chisholm, Ollie Lindsay-

SATURDAY CYCLING | TOUR OF POLAND | STAGE 7: WIELICZKA TO KRAKOW | BRITISH EUROSPORT 4PM

Timely trial for Wiggins

Hague and the tournament's record It won't please the grunting, cauliflower-

try-scorer James Short are among the star

The final stage of Bradley Wiggins' comeback race is a 37km

eared folk drinking real ale at the bar, but

names in action in the capital, while the

time trial to Krakow, after which the Brit will have a better idea

sevens is starting to make a real impact

likes of Michael Tagicakibau, Tom Fowlie

of his form after two months away from racing.

in the rugby world, and the Premiership

and Jack Clifford will be looking to catch

curtain-raiser (of sorts) is back to let those

their coaches' eyes ahead of the serious

and 13 seconds adrift of stage winner Diego Ulissi. Wiggins

light-footed folk strut their stuff.

business in a month's time.

crossed the finish line in 58th place, after which he put paid to

With the West Country sides going

London Irish kick off proceedings

Last Saturday's opening stage saw him finish nine minutes

any suggestions he would be racing in the Tour of Spain later this

against Saracens at 7.15pm, while

month, instead pointing to September's World Championships as

northern chaps (the four sides north of the

Harlequins and the home side close out

his main target for 2013. In Poland, Sir Mod has been part of a

Watford Gap) on Friday, it's London's turn

the action with their game at 9.30pm.

strong Team Sky unit, and has been playing his part – helping

on Saturday – when London Irish, Wasps,

It's going to be fast, it's guaranteed to be

teammate Sergio Henao to second place overall on day two,

Saracens and Harlequins head to the

furious, and it will certainly be no laughing

when he shepherded the Colombian to the foot of the final climb.

plastic pitch paradise of Allianz Park in

matter. With an Olympic bow at Rio 2016

Tomorrow’s time trial plays to Wiggins strengths. But, given

Hendon, looking to book their place in

on the horizon, sevens is no longer the fun

his slow start, it's a day that's unlikely to bring him anything more

next week's final.

runabout it once was.

than the possibility of a stage victory.

Warren Little/Getty Images, Bryn Lennon/Getty Images

head to head on Thursday night, and the

50 | August 2 2013 |

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

Neither should anyone’s son.

Or Grandad. No cousins or nephews. Not the boys from the rugby club or the lads from the pub. No boyfriends or husbands or father-in-laws. Not the chap from the chip shop or the noisy lads at the back of the bus. Not your best mate. Not a single stranger.

No one whatsoever.

No one should face cancer alone.

With your support, no one will.

Text DAD to 70550 and donate £5 today.

Texts cost £5 plus your network charge. We receive 94p of every £1 donated in this way. Obtain bill payer’s permission first.

Macmillan Cancer Support, registered charity in England and Wales (261017), Scotland (SC039907) and the Isle of Man (604). MAC14175_07_13

7 Days SUNDAY motorsport | WorLD sUpErBIKEs roUND 9 | sILVErstoNE | BrItIsH EUrosport 2 12pm

Home straight The five British riders in World Superbikes

(pictured) as the leading Brit. He's in second

will be heading home with mixed feelings as the

place in the championship, only four points

championship heads to Silverstone in the wake

behind Frenchman Sylvain Guintoli, but Sykes

of a tragedy. The last of two races scheduled in

has won four of the past seven races (with

Russia a fortnight ago was cancelled after the

doubles at both Donington and Imola) and is

death of Supersport racer Andrea Antonelli in

undoubtedly the form rider.

one of the support races. Antonelli came off his

Welshman Chaz Davies has scored two

bike in torrential rain, and with visibility low

victories of his own in his sophomore World

because of the spray, was hit by another rider.

Superbikes season, meanwhile. Despite being 65

This weekend's two races – one of the biggest rounds on the calendar – will see Tom Sykes

points adrift of top spot, he could be in with an outside shot at the title with seven rounds to go.

SATURDAY FootBALL | FA WsL: LIVErpooL v ArsENAL | HALtoN stADIUm | Bt sport 7pm

Round two After a mid-season break

The exclusion of Natasha

so that players could head

Dowie won't have pleased him,

to Sweden for the Women's

either. Liverpool's (and the

European Championships,

league's) leading striker has

the FA WSL restarts this

scored 10 goals in 12 games for

weekend, with league leaders

the Reds this season, but was

Liverpool taking on reigning

overlooked in favour of

champions Arsenal.

Arsenal's Ellen White Sweden. White didn't score any

2013, with just one draw to

of England's three goals, and is

show from their three games

on four goals for the campaign

against Spain, France and

so far – with none of those

Russia – a run that had

coming in the league.

Liverpool boss Matt Beard

Both strikers will have their

claiming that England manager

points to prove on Saturday,

Hope Powell got her team

then. But with Arsenal

selection wrong.

languishing in fifth place (partly

“It was a massive risk taking

52 | August 2 2013 |

(pictured) for the trip to

bottom of their group at Euro

because they have played

so many injured players,” he

fewer games than any of the

said of Powell's decision to take

teams above them), the

five women returning from

Gunners are the team under

injury. “There were also players

most pressure to start the

picked who haven't been

second half of the season

playing particularly well.”

with a win.

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Mirco Lazzari gp/Getty Images, Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

England's women finished

2 0 1 3

THURSDAY 19TH SEPTEMBER 2013, LONDON Register your team today in the ultimate relay race around the heart of the financial district in a bid to be crowned champions of the Square Mile. To find out more, please visit – www.squaremilesport.com

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Extra timE Making the most of your time and money

P56 alan Partridge goes to Big School in Colossal Velocity Alpha Papa

Gadgets

Picture perfect

When Sport is king of the world, we’re going to employ squads of people to track down anyone using their iPad to take a photo and slap it out of their hands.

Phones are acceptable, however, and the new Nokia Lumia 1020 is one of the best for taking photos. It boasts a quite ridiculous 41-megapixel camera – obliterating the eight megapixels offered by the iPhone 5, and the Samsung Galaxy S4’s modest 13. The Lumia 1020 includes some clever software to help you make the most of all those pixels – Pro Camera mode gives you full control over shutter speed and so on, while Smart Camera lets you combine several photos to create the perfect shot. £TBC | o2.co.uk

54 | August 2 2013 |

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

ET

Entertainment

ChAP OF STEEl

Alan Partridge gets his siege face on, while James Wan shows you the face of fear is a child’s doll, apparently

Film

Film

The Conjuring

Partridge addicts can mutter a relieved “Jurassic Park”: the Chatosaurus Rex’s movie debut is more hit than miss. Rather than the standard sitcom-to-cinema route of bigger, crazier and abroad, the creators have faith in their wit, keeping the concept simple and the laughs big. After a radio station takeover, Alan campaigns that only colleague DJ Pat Farrell should lose his job. However, when Pat flips and holds station employees hostage, Partridge is called in as mediator. Alpha Papa is aided by the fact that Steve Coogan is now a skilled big-screen performer, yet

Blu-ray

Welcome to the Punch

Mark Strong and James McAvoy are among an ace British cast for this glitzy London crime caper.

McAvoy is the simmering copper determined to take down Strong’s master-thief, who slipped through his fingers three years earlier.

However, as the twisting plot unfolds via a series of blistering action set-pieces, it becomes clear that all is not as it seems.

Out now 56 | August 2 2013 |

inhabits Partridge’s flaky skin with practised perfection.

There’s also numerous quotable moments (debating who is the worst ‘monger’ – “fish, iron, rumour or war”) to add to the long list. It may feel less blockbuster and more extended TV special, but does that even matter when you’re chuckling so frequently?

Out Wednesday

DVD

Boardwalk Empire Season Three

Finally building to the bloodbath that devotees craved, this is an eventful third outing for HBO’s prohibition-era drama. While Steve Buscemi (above) as Nucky Thompson is a consistently classy presence, this series belonged to volcanic-tempered rival Gyp Rosetti, who added some muchneeded mayhem to proceedings.

Out Monday

Film

Music

The Civil Wars The Civil Wars

Only God Forgives

An aptly eponymous album title from the indie-folk duo whose 2011 debut pilfered vast acclaim, but whose follow-up looks set to be their last after a split. A shame, because while they can be insipid at their worst, the tension that burns on opener The One That Got Away shows how engaging the pair are when they get it right.

Out Monday

Director Nicholas Winding Refn and Ryan Gosling reprise their Drive team-up for this neonfiltered tale of violence, drugs and revenge in Bangkok. Add Kristin Scott Thomas as an icy matriarch and you have sublime ingredients, but the film has split opinion: praised for its originality and visual flair, but also criticised for being rather slow and vacant.

Out today

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Michael Tackett/2013 Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa

James Wan – director of Insidious and the first Saw – unveils his latest slice of terror.

The Conjuring, set in the 1970s, tells the (ahem) true story of two paranormal investigators, Ed and Lorraine Warren, called in to help a family who are experiencing increasingly spooky goings on in their farmhouse home. Wan builds the tension expertly, using creaking floorboards, chilling child’s toys and sudden cutshots rather than lashings of gore. It’s a tad formulaic in the telling, but when the paranormal scares arrive, there are several that will cause a gleeful shudder to pass through the cinema.

A superior haunted house horror.

Out today

Great

The nationʼs beers are dropping into London

British

Beer Festival

London Olympia

13-17th August A fantastic fun packed festival atmosphere with over 800 quality beers & ciders, variety of food, live music, entertainment, games and activities to enjoy.

Book Today

0844 412 4640

www.gbbf.org.uk/tickets GreatBritishBeerFestival

Tickets available on the door

JAMES McAVOY

MARK STRONG

GBBF

ANDREA RISEBOROUGH

“THRILLING...STUNNING...

A KNOCK-OUT ACTION MOVIE” EMPIRE

Sky Store

ALSO AVAILABLE ON DVD & BLU-RAY NOW TM

Program Content: © RED DIESEL LTD / THE BRITISH FILM INSTITUTE 2012. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. Packaging: © Entertainment One UK Ltd 2013. All Rights Reserved.

WATCH ON DEMAND & ONLINE NOW

ET

Grooming

THE BEaSTS WiTHiN

Get the face of a duck, cleanliness of a moose and smell like a horse. Groom your way to being a current-day BraveStarr

The duck

Mazorin

The name of this new range literally means ‘mallard’ in Friulano, a language spoken in the Friuli region of northeast Italy – where the brand bases its production. Mazorin explains: “A mallard by nature never really rests (workaholic); doesn’t fear long migration (traveller); coexists with nature and urban environments (urbanised), and the male mallard with his green head has a very dandy look (groomed).”

From left to right, then: the Working Late Eye Serum (£26, 10ml) and Pre-Meeting Face Revamp tonic gel (£19, 48ml) are designed to provide instant revitalisation and reduce signs of fatigue, with caffeine, hyaluronic acid and detoxifying agents among their ingredients; and the Optimal Skin Nourishment food supplement (£29, 60 tablets) and Optimal Face Maintenance cream (£35, 50ml) are intended for daily skin maintenance, including as they do anti-oxidants, peptides, vitamins and omega 3 and 6. Quacking. mazorin.com

The moose Moosehead Dirty Boy Hair & Body Wash

A fresh and gentle “new and improved formula”, this, with tea tree and menthol, enabling you to spruce yourself with a moose that actively dissolves dirt and excess oils while helping to maintain your skin’s natural moisture. Currently the number one men’s range in Australia, they claim – and “the best thing to come out of Oz since barbecues, Fosters and Kylie”. You should be so lucky. £2.49 for 250ml | theclubhaus.co.uk 58 | August 2 2013 |

The horse Polo Red by Ralph Lauren

“For the man with drive,” says ol’ Uncle Ralph. “Polo Red captures speed, seduction and adrenaline in a powerful scent.” The new fragrance, which launches today, is a fiery mix that “ignites the thrill-seeker in every man”.

With top notes of red grapefruit, Italian cedrat and red cranberry; mid notes of red saffron, lavandin and red sage; and base notes of red wood, amber and coffee berry. The mane event, if you will. £55 for 125ml | boots.com Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

SALE NOW ON

SAVE UP TO

HALF PRICE

SUMMER OUTDOOR CLOTHING, FOOTWEAR & ACCESSORIES IN-STORE & ONLINE

PARTICIPATIONG STORES: BRIGHTON | CHERTSEY | CROYDON | ROMFORD | PORTSMOUTH COVENT GARDEN | KENSINGTON | MONUMENT

SEE ONLINE FOR FULL LIST OF STORES

WWW.SNOWANDROCK.COM

A

hard life, it can be, on the ocean waves.

Take pro surfer turned model turned surfing instructor Corinne Evans, who has spent her summer surfing and ‘glamping’ in the squalid surroundings of Bordeaux, France – and all in the name of teaching others how to ride a wave.

The Cornwall native has been slaving away for those cruel taskmasters at feralsurftours.com, who define their own f-word as “one that has escaped from domestication and returned partly or wholly to a wild state”. Things are not, however, as savage for Evans as they might appear.

“My life isn’t about being the best; it’s about having fun,” she says in her Twitter biography, below which one of her latest updates reads: “Sun-kissed, surfed out and full of good food and wine! I may not come home…” It’s a tough life, eh?

Corinne Evans is a team rider and model for Animal and an ambassador for women’s and girls’ surfing.

Visit corinneevans.com

Wild thing

Extra time Corinne Evans

60 | August 2 2013 | Julia McIntosh

| 61

ET

Kit

BOardiNg ScHOOl

Whether surfing in Newquay or paddling in Hyde Park, this brood of boardshorts will keep you cool in the summer sun

O’Neill Escape Epicfreak Boardshorts

We can’t help you look as cool as O’Neill surfer Nick Riley here – the man has spent a lifetime surfing in order to achieve this look, for goodness sake – but we can help provide you with the same shorts.

Part of the O’riginals line (see what they’ve done there?), they’re available in green, white or red, all with grey contrast stripes, and offer a seriously comfortable wear thanks to their four-way stretch design. £50 | oneill.com

You can’t go far wrong when it comes to Quiksilver’s summer wear, and the Siesta 19s help keep up their good name.

A straight fit keeps them classy, while a flexible leg opening means increased mobility and an all-round comfy day at the beach. Until that flippin’ sand gets everywhere, that is. £55 | surfdome.com 62 | August 2 2013 |

Weird Fish Mighty

It’s not something that would jump off the Yo! Sushi menu, the old Weird Fish option, but their shorts are a fine choice. And this panelled pair, with touch-andclose fly fastening, elasticated waistband and side flap pocket, are the catch of the day. You even get a free pair of flip-flops when you buy a pair. Result. £50 | highandmighty.com

Patagonia Stretch Houdini

Super-lightweight and quickdrying stretchy polyester means convenience and comfort are married neatly in Patagonia’s Houdinis, also available in black with a green flash. Just don’t go performing any escape acts of your own from these bad boys – that kind of thing is frowned upon on public beaches. £80 | patagonia.com

alpinestars Minor

The loudest pair in our humble collection – they’re available in red too, if blue isn’t your bag – comes from those motorbike moguls over at Alpinestars.

They come with a handy little pocket and a ripseam opening, sure, but it’s the geo fade print that will keep you looking ultra-swag on the sand. #yolo. £45 | alpinestars.com

Download the free Sport iPad app from the Apple Newsstand

oneill.com

Quiksilver Siesta 19