Di solito qui celebriamo il calcio inglese ma questa volta il modo di festeggiare il goal contro l'Ungheria di Crouch in stile Robocop e' davvero raccapricciante..

Questa volta sono gli inglesi a copiarci...

Ben Lindley is in the breezy East Stand of Old Trafford. In one hand he holds a bunch of red and white plastic rectangles.

He's draping them over the back of seats while his partner on the job, Anne-Marie Mockridge, has an armful of elastic bands at the ready.

They're here nine hours before kick-off for Raise the Flag, an initiative by England fans, before their team face Hungary in a World Cup warm-up friendly.

They're spending the day with up to 50 other fans, putting 17,500 of the plastic pieces at each end of the ground.

When the two teams stand on the pitch at 8pm to sing their national anthems, 35,000 England fans will hold the pieces aloft to form a giant St George's flag.

"When you see the flag held up it gives you pride," says Ben thumping his chest. "I'm England through and through and I'm proud of it."

Anne-Marie agrees and admits she'd rather be here than at the pre-match build up in the pub.

"It's gobsmacking when you stand and watch it being lifted up. You get such a lump in your throat."

The irony about this exercise, which is being held on the day that those serving banning orders against travelling to the World Cup are handing in their passports, is not lost on organisers.

Englandfans spokesman Mark Perryman had the idea under sourer circumstances, as coins rained down on him from Italian fans at an England away game in Rome in 1997.

'Positive sign'

Italian Ultra supporters - not the usual role models - were holding their flag formation aloft when he thought it could be a way to demonstrate the positive side of England supporters

source:  football365.com

SVEN GOES REAL
The Sun also says that Sven-Goran Eriksson has told senior England players that he is being chased by Real Madrid.

In a desperate bid to add some legs to the story, the paper announces: 'And his close contact with England stars will raise fears he could try to convince several of them during the World Cup to follow him to Spain.'

SVEN TO SOUTH AFRICA?
Sven-Goran Eriksson will be offered a four-year contract to lead South Africa into World Cup 2010 on their home soil, says The Times. The Swede has his sights on the Real Madrid job but has not ruled out the possibility of taking a lucrative contract with South Africa, who are also ambitiously chasing Luiz Felipe Scolari and Carlos Alberto Parreira.

ASH COLE STILL GOING
He says he's '100% committed' to Arsenal, but does anybody really believe him? The Daily Mail certainly doesn't, saying he fully intends to leave the north London club after the World Cup as he's still not forgiven vice-chairman David Dein for pushing for punishment after the Chelsea tapping-up affair. And as he intends to pull no punches in his autobiography - to be published in August - he needs to move in July. He will cost around £16m but that should be no problem to Chelsea, Real Madrid or Barcelona.

Meanwhile; it does seem that Robert Pires is finally heading out of Arsenal and will join Villarreal in a two-year deal. It seems unlikely that Arsene Wenger will lose too much sleep, with Tomas Rosicky primed to take his place.

WOODY ON WAY BACK HOME?
Jonathan Woodgate has been offered to his hometown club of Middlesbrough by Real Madrid, say The Northern Echo. It certainly seems that Woodgate is on his way back to the Premiership, but will anyone take a chance on a player seemingly made of glass? The Boro decision might be Martin O'Neill's, who looks set to take the job after Terry Venables turned them down.

THE CHELSKI SALES ARE ON
Carlton Cole will complete a £2million move to Tottenham this week, says The Sun. The striker barely featured for Chelski last season, and has suffered unhappy loan spells at Charlton and Aston Villa, but Martin Jol is keen to add to his ever-growing strikeforce.

Well, not necessarily ever-growing, since The Sun also says that the arrival of Cole - who will be paid £18,000 a week - 'signals the end for Jermain Defoe at Tottenham'.

Meanwhile, continuing the Stamford Bridge exodus, the Daily Mail reports that Shaun Wright-Phillips is considering a move to Newcastle. The former Citeh winger was devastated to miss out on the World Cup, and is now keen to move to a club where he gets to spend some time on the pitch.

The Sun also reports that Eidur Gudjohnsen is an £8m target for Barcelona - a move that would put paid to rumours of a part-exchange deal for ManYoo striker Ruud van Nistelrooy.

AND THE REST
Tottenham are set to increase their offer for Stewart Downing to £7.5m after deciding against a move for Blackburn's Morten Gamst Pedersen...They are also being linked with Brazilian Denilson...And West Ham defender Paul Konchesky...Blackburn are ready to pay £3.5m for Birmingham's Emile Heskey...Reading's Steve Sidwell is in talks with Charlton...Portsmouth could pay £1.5m for Liverpool keeper Jerzy Dudek...Portsmouth, Sheffield Utd and Watford are all interested in Villa's Lee Hendrie.