Mad Brit Diary

Frank and Ronald de Boer are united again.

(Friday, January 30, 2004) -- The twins are together again. Defender Frank de Boer, 33, will join his twin brother Ronald, a midfielder, with Glasgow Rangers in Scotland.

Frank, who is a former captain of the Netherlands national team, is leaving the Turkish club Galatasaray. The duo also played 12 of their 16 years in the pro game together at Ajax (Netherlands) and Barcelona (Spain). Ronald joined Rangers in 2000 from Ajax rival Feyenoord. The boys grew up in the quaint Dutch town of Hoorn, about an hour's drive from Amsterdam. Their mom dragged them to watch games at Ajax and practice games twice a week while their dad, a former pro with AZ Alkmaar, taught them new tricks on the field.

When they were 12, Louis van Gaal scouted them and got them to join the Ajax's youth team where they played for the next six years. Ronald played at FC Twente for awhile until Van Gaal got him back for $1 million. Frank, who has 108 caps for the Netherlands, signed a short-term loan with Rangers and will use it to impress the Dutch coach to call him up for Euro 2004.

After the summer, Frank might move to Qatar and play in the oil-rich league with other former greats such as Gabriel Batistuta, Claudio Caniggia and Stefan Effenberg.

There have been some big games at the African Nations Cup in Tunisia recently. Tottenham Hotspur star Freddy Kanoute scored twice for Mali which beat Kenya 3-1 this week, while Morocco, on a Youssef Hadji goal, caused a major upset when it downed star-studded Nigeria 1-0. Algeria, playing with 10 men, stunned Egypt 2-1.

Finally some common sense. In a stunning move, the English Premier League will experiment with a 13-day winter break for the next two seasons. England is one of the few European countries not to have a winter break.

The Welsh are spitting in the wind on this one. Wales will protest to Europe's soccer bosses over the positive drugs test of Yegor Titov who helped Russia in a playoff victory over Wales, eliminating them from Euro 2004.

The Welsh believe it should be awarded a retroactive win over the Russians which would give them a spot in Euro 2004's Group A. Titov has been banned for 12 months.

"Following the disclosure last Friday that UEFA have banned Titov for 12 months following testing positive for the banned substance Bromantan in the Euro 2004 playoff match against Russia versus Wales in Moscow on January 15, the Football Association of Wales has lodged an official protest with UEFA," said the FAW on its official web site.

Premier League leading Arsenal has signed Spanish international winger Jose Antonio Reyes, 20, in a club-record transfer fee, reported at $36.2 million, from Sevilla.

Germany and Bayern Munich star Michael Ballack thinks Germany might struggle at Euro 2004. "We are just not at the stage where we can say we are going out on the pitch to become European or world champions," Ballack said. "In order to do this, we need to grow together more as a team and also have our top players back from injury."

Ballack led Germany to the World Cup final in 2002, but was suspended from the title match where Germany lost to Brazil.

The recent FA Cup draw has produced an all-London clash between Premier League giants Arsenal and Chelsea February 21 in the Round of 16. There's also a potential Manchester derby if Manchester City can overcome Tottenham in the replay and move on to face Manchester United.

Giant-killer Swansea City will face Tranmere Rovers. The only non-league team left in the competition, Telford United will play Burnley if it can get past Millwall in the replay. Birmingham City visits Sunderland, while Sheffield United is home against the victors of the Coventry City-Colchester United replay. Everton or Fulham play Division One side West Ham United.

Highly touted Canadian midfielder Atiba Hutchinson, 20, could be coming to Major League Soccer. His agent says that D.C. United, the Los Angeles Galaxy and the Dallas Burn have shown interest in the six-foot 153-pounder, now currently under contract to Osters of Sweden.

There is also interest in MLS for Canada's Olympic captain Chris Pozniak a defender\midfielder who also has a Polish passport. FIFA said last week MLS can obtain players from foreign teams only from January 1 until March 31, and from August 15 to September.

Mighty Brazil crashed out of the Olympic qualifying tournament in Chile. Midfielder Diego has been labeled the scapegoat of Brazil's failure and was accused of being too selfish with the ball.

Doug Devine says: "As a Yank, I readily admit some of the MLS team names could use some retooling (San Jose, I'm looking your way. What was so wrong with the Clash anyway?). And I'll even admit every soccer team for which I played was either United or FC because of me. But it seems cool team names aren't realized immediately. For instance, Leicester Fosse, Dial Square, Newton Heath, and Stanley are former names of Leicester City, Arsenal, Manchester United, and Newcastle United, respectively. MLS has only been around about a decade. Give it time. Besides, it's been over 100 years and you still have silly names like the Magpies, the Wanderers, and the Cottagers. (in England)."

Patrick Ward writes: "MB, sad to see Brian McBride go. He is a class act, good player and (best of all) a good person. I hope when his playing days have ended that he comes back to Columbus to live. I wonder if Fulham really appreciates what they've gotten? So now the big question becomes. . . who is the face of the Columbus Crew?"

Ray Coupland writes on Euro 2004 - "The frogs? You're insane! It's England's time (if they can give Tim Howard citizenship). If they can devolop a Paul Ince-like midfielder I think (Michael) Owen and (Wwayne) Rooney can steal the show. . . We will get the trophy!"

Heard a rumor, have a gripe or a tip? Feeling lonely? E-mail the Mad Brit at themadbrit3@aol.com.