Nail your colours to the mast – Premier League prediction game
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- Written by Phil Hatchard
Two weeks ago today, I was watching this game:
Masigira Ladies were playing Mpandangindo in finals of the Hoja League, down in the furthest south west corner of Tanzania. With evening looming, and of course no floodlights, Mpandangindo turned up an hour late with only seven players. Masigira were therefore awarded a 1-0 lead before the match even started.
Without the money to hire a bus, and only one public bus a day in the wrong direction, arriving at the pitch full strength was always going to be difficult for Mpandangindo. But transport problems would not be allowed to stop the match entirely.
A news story that caught my eye this week was that of die-hard fan 
There's been plenty of football on offer in the last couple of weeks for those of you who are impatient for the summer transition to the new season. It started with the Eredivisie and then last weekend saw the kick-off to the English Football Leagues, as well as the new Bundesliga and Ligue 1 campaigns (more of which next week).
President of FIFA and perennial xenophobe Sepp Blatter is often the subject of derision and criticism.
Tonight England will take on the Netherlands in an international friendly at Ajax's Amsterdam Arena, the fixture has been widely criticised and re-opened the club versus country debate. While I sympathise with the Premier League managers who have taken issue with such a match being scheduled only three days before the start of the new season, I still feel that tonight's game is of some value.