Post by Taxigirl on Nov 13, 2003 9:42:08 GMT
Leeds United, the Rugby World Cup and England's friendly against Denmark continue to dominate the headlines in the sports pages of the British newspapers on Thursday.
Anticipation of Sunday's World Cup semi-final between England and France is reaching fever pitch as the papers cover every conceivable angle.
England captain Martin Johnson calls in the Daily Mirror and others for an end to all the navel-gazing about England's poor form.
"We are in a World Cup semi-final, for God's sake," Johnson points out. "Let's be upbeat about it."
Meanwhile, the man perceived to be doing more of that navel-gazing than anyone - England fly-half Jonny Wilkinson - may be learning to keep things in perspective at last (a subject that has been preoccupying the papers this week).
"No day is perfect, I have to come to terms with that," he says in a news conference that the Mirror's chief sports writer Oliver Holt describes as "baring his soul to the media for half an hour".
Several papers focus on the man who could be Wilkinson's nemesis in Sydney - France's Serge Betsen.
"A girl taught him to tackle... now Betsen's power can rock England," according to the Daily Mail.
In football, David O'Leary could make a shock return to Leeds as manager because in the words of the Mirror, his relationship with Villa chairman Doug Ellis is "close to breaking down" after just six months.
But that is just one of a number of football lines covered.
England's preparations for Euro 2004 are picked over in minute detail as the days tick off towards the weekend's friendly against Denmark.
Coach Sven-Goran Eriksson, for one, is confident of a strong showing in Portugal next summer.
"Why shouldn't we be one of the favourites?" Eriksson is quoted in the lead story on the back of the Daily Star. "We have shown that we can cope against any country. We lost against Brazil in the World Cup quarter-finals, but they aren't in the tournament."
The Sun, meanwhile, relishes the opportunity provided by Dennis Bergkamp to stir the simmering rivalry between Manchester United and Arsenal.
The London side's Dutch forward has criticised compatriot and United striker Ruud van Nistelrooy, saying he deserved to be dropped from Holland team for row with coach Dick Advocaat.
Only two papers deviate from the agreed line.
The Independent chooses to focus on Andrew Flintoff's "awesome" performances in Bangladesh.
And the Guardian comes from left-field for an in-depth look at London's bid for the 2012 Olympics, which was unveiled on Tuesday.
Vivek Chaudhary has headed off to Stratford to guauge local reaction and the organisers will not like what they read.
"The Olympic roadshow rolled off the drawing board and headed into Stratford yesterday, but if organisers were expecting a warm-east-end welcome for the bid to stage the 2012 Games, they were in for a rude shock," says the writer.
Local resident Yah Patel adds: "I'm totally against the Olympic Games taking pace in east London.
"This is a poor area and the money should be spent on other things like new housing, creating jobs and fighting crime. It's also not fair that Londoners should pay more council tax for the Games."