It is now time to switch to a new Money AM football blog as the world cup is now over and we all look to the future.....World cup 2010 is over, Bravo Espana, and Forlan, once again and bring on the new season !.....I never expected the last thread to be such a success...thanks all.... so this new one might go on for years without the need to edit the title...we shall see...

What you lot playing Friday night? make the most of it it'll be your only time -):

Good luck to Spain and Italy.....fabulous finalists !....

Bravo !..once again Espana.....super football.......that performance ranks of one of the greatest of all time !......only Ajax (69-73)(club) and Brazil 1970 (national) might surpass that.....(and Holland national 1974) ...really fantastic and it shows how good they are that I have to compare them with the mightest of them all.....quite incredible !......

7 out of the last 8 predictions correct (and thus at the right stage) - only one wrong for me was Holland

Made me laugh when Shearer said Spain were better than the Brazil team of 1970 ... he wasn't even born then was he so how the hell would he know ?

rf , as much as I loved the Dutch team of 74 (and 78) they were beatable , Brazil 70 and this Spanish lot looked/look untouchable.

Enjoyed the tournament one of the better Euro's in my opinion.

I watched quiet a few games as a child in 1970 and remember that England with a little more luck could have beaten them in the group stages...two shots just missed by a fraction !.....Brazil 1970 were a great side and their fourth goal against Italy in the final I think scored by Carlos Alberto if I remember correctly is one if not my favourite goal of all time : the build up leading to that goal was mindblowingly good !.....this Spanish side rank amongst the greats ....but to me the greatest footballing side of all time is Ajax Amsterdam (69-73)....that period of 5 years......they would beat anybody at their peak !....Holland in 1974 were unlucky to come up against Gerd Muller's lot in the final, but the progression of that dutch side during that summer was fantastic....it just shows how good Spain are that you have to compare them with those sides !.....time England start passing the ball a lot better instead of that stupid long ball kick stuff....

I can just about remember the group game v England in 70 and England probably put up the best display of the tournament against them although it was based on nullifying the threat rather than creating much themselves.

Ajax were serial under achievers (1 European Cup win v Panithanikos I think) a bit like the Dutch national team but both were probably the most entertaining club and national side I've had the pleasure of watching (Argies 78 were also special).

Them were the days :-)

argies 78 got through on a fiddle - negates one hell of a lot as a result

That was FIFA's fault over the timing of the games. Nothing has or can be proved regardless of who might say what but it still doesn't negate the other 6 (?) matches they played.

Ah, the Argies. What a fine man Antonio Rattin was....not!

Ajax first lost a final to Milan AC in 1969.....then in 1971 beat the Greek side followed by two other consecutive wins in 1972 against Inter Milan and Juventus in 1973.....culminating in a world club trophy win......they also thrashed Bayern Munich along the way 4-0/1-2.....playing some incredible flowing football......to me they are the best ever !....after that some of the stars moved on to Barcelona and other shores....by the way ?.....what's happened to the 30 yard strikes at goal ?......can't remember too many this time round...Walcott is all I can remember...

Euro 2012: The best goals of Euro 2012

I see they have adopted hawk eye and such.....I suppose that's good news......we have a tremendous system in tennis....but in football : it takes so long to adopt anything new............it's not going to change the game : it's going to improve it !......at 2-2 ; England would have adopted a new system against Germany......it is only when you twist Fifa's arms behind their back that you get anything....

Finally! Football transfer numbers and costs in global fall

International football transfer numbers and player buying fees have fallen sharply worldwide in the past six months, says governing body Fifa.

Completed player deals fell by 9% in the first six months of 2012, but their total financial value plunged by more than a third, falling by 34%.

Total income from 4,973 transfers around the globe was $576m (£371m).

John Terry cleared.....thank god that is over......back to football.....he was superb in defense for England.....shame about our midfield which was crap most of the time but once the ball was upfront I thought we did ok.....just the midfield that was hopeless......I see England are fourth in the rankings and it is possible to become third with a few more brownie points under the belt in the autumn....

Required field, 'thank god that's all over?'

You must be as mad as Fred1new, he called a fellow footballer a fucking black cunt and was cleared of racism.

Before posting such a stunningly dumb comment try and stop to think for a nanosecond.

This is far from over

Football is football and not endless political bickering.......I'm more interested in how our midfield is going to improve than the rowing going on behind the scenes about racism or not !...

Although hardly a term of endearment to call a fellow footballer a 'fucking black cunt', a touch of realism here has to be appreciated . What is the difference in being called a English, Irish, Scottish female apendage on the football pitch? None whatsoever in my opinion, sadly wrongly or rightly it is part of the game footballers are hardly the sharpest tools in the box and in the heat of a competitave match resort to such obscenities. If John Terry had been walking down the street or been anywhere other than on a football pitch would he have uttered those immortal words?

what absolute muppets - read the verdict

the idea that JT is/was racist shows how little research you've undertaken - try thinking for once - you may enjoy it

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4430026/Rio-race-slur-br-on-Ashley.html

perhaps some background as to who was likely to be one of the real drivers behind this case - a fine product of the inner london school system