Gazza: An English Lion.

It's never been easy been to be an England fan, but there's nothing you can do about it and there's little we would change about it. Despite the lack of trophies in the cupboard, we have had some absolutely brilliant players through-out the years - Lineker, Charlton, Keegan, Shearer, Owen, Beckham, Scholes - all world-class legends. But one player that England fans probably love more than most is Paul Gascoigne. Gazza. Not only a world class talent, but an incredible man. He loved nothing more than playing for his country, he had no problems showing it. He brought new meanings to phrases like "he wore his heart on his sleeve" or "played like it was his last game".



In time for Euro 2012 Umbro interviewed Gazza on some of the best and proudest moments of his career (and all the myths, which unlike Balotelli - are all true). After years of hardship (money, drugs and drink abuse) it is great to see Gazza looking so well and to see, still, how immensely proud he is to be English and have played for his country. Gazza is a man who is difficult to define and put into a box, but the following words and phrases seem to do a bit of justice. Hero. Legend. English Lion.

And you never need an excuse to watch this:

Nike: My Time Is Now.

It's been a little while since I've posted an advert on here, but a Nike ad almost always requires some attention. Their latest spectacle, My Time Is Now, arrives just in time for the Euro football tournament this summer. It appears to be the pinnacle for the My Time Is Now campaign, as Nike are taking it upon themselves to bleed the new talent into the world of football. This ad features some of European football's greats, Ribéry, Sneijder, Ronaldo up against the new kids on the block Neymar, M'Vila, Götze, and a few more hundred hopefuls.



This ad was inevitably going to be compared to Write The Future, Nike's last big ad for the 2010 World Cup. Does it stack up? For me, not quite. It is shot in a very similar style, which perhaps lacks a bit of imagination, it's not as funny as WTF and is completely focused on the pitch and the stadium surroundings. WTF featured Rooney (who doesn't feature at all, nor does any England player apart from a split second of Wilshere and supposedly Welbeck) in a caravan, Homer Simpson and Youtube. MTIS only features Lebron James, who feels a little out of place. Plus Neymar - the star of the ad - isn't European, didn't that occur to anyone? This is all not to say I didn't like the ad, I just expected better I think, it just feels like a Write The Future - Lite.