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Friday Kickoff: Spurs close in on Villas-Boas, Beckham’s Olympic role and more

AVBRedknapp (Getty Images)

When Tottenham comes to the United States for their preseason tour next month, they could very well be led by Andre Villas-Boas.

According to reports from England, Villas-Boas could be named Spurs coach as soon as this weekend as the club finalizes plans to find Harry Redknapp's successor. Tottenham took another step in that direction Thursday by parting ways with Redknapp's assistants Joe Jordan and Kevin Bond, giving the incoming manager free reign to bring in his own staff.

Villas-Boas, 34, was ousted by Chelsea over the winter, halfway into his first season in the Premier League, but he has been a favorite for the Tottenham job ever since Redknapp was let go by the club. 

Here are a few more stories to get your Friday going:

ENGLAND WANTS BECKHAM FOR OLYMPIC ROLE

David Beckham may not have been named to Stuart Pearce's Team Great Britain Olympic roster, but that does not mean he is not wanted for the Olympic festivities.

Lord Sebastian Coe will reportedly offer Beckham a role in some capacity for the Olympic Games despite his exclusion from Pearce's team. Beckham was integral in helping London secure the Olympics and he has been a part of the festivities leading up to the Olympics, helping bring the torch from Greece to England, but was looked over for an overage spot on Pearce's roster, reportedly getting snubbed for Ryan Giggs, Micah Richards and Craig Bellamy.

"Team selections are up to the coaches and managers of each sport," Coe told UK media. "But David has been an extraordinary supporter, probably our No. 1 supporter, of the Games from the very beginning and is keen to continue his enthusiastic support right to the end. He really gets this. He is from East London and knows how important the Games and sport are to young people. He is a great role model and we are lucky to have such an advocate. I will be talking to him about a Games role."

Whether the Galaxy feel compelled or agree to release Beckham for the Olympics in light of his exclusion from the team is another case altogether.

KLOSE AIMS TO PLAY ON FOR GERMANY

Euro 2012 won't be the final big stage for Miroslav Klose.

After Germany's ouster at the hands of Italy on Thursday, the 34-year-old striker reportedly said that he plans to play for Germany through the 2014 FIFA World Cup. With 64 career international goals, Klose is second all-time on Germany's scoring list behind Gerd Muller. Klose, reduced mostly to a reserve role at Euro 2012, scored one goal during the tournament, doing so in Germany's 4-2 win over Greece in the quarterfinals.

PROENCA TO REF EURO FINAL

Pedro Proenca will pull off the referee double this year.

After refereeing the Chelsea-Bayern Munich UEFA Champions League final, the Portuguese referee will have the honor of officiating the Euro 2012 final between Spain and Italy.

Proenca has worked one game for each team during the tournament, ruling over Spain's group-stage victory over the Republic of Ireland and Italy's quarterfinal triumph over England.

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Do you think Villas-Boas is the right man for Tottenham? Should Beckham be allowed to take part in the Olympics even though he was not named to the Team GB roster? Do you see Klose playing a major role for Germany over the next couple of years? Have any issue with Proenca being given the Euro 2012 final?

Share your thoughts below. 

Comments

  1. I don’t know the venom in the Spain-Portugal rivalry, but if I were reffing Mexico in a major tournament final, it would be tough to keep my heart out of it.

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  2. I feared it would be Skomina with the same Slovenian crew. He did a good job from his positions, but his two assistant referees were atrocious.

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  3. mabye Tott is giving AVB a 2nd chance because they think The Chelsea owner put him in place to get rid of the old firm and when it backfired, he was ushered out the door and used as a scapegoat. He was very successful in portugal so we will see what happens..

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  4. AVB is a dream outcome for Spurs. It will be nice to have a manager who will understand simple things like the fact that Gareth Bale is a left sided player.

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  5. this is a Great Britain team. In the olympics England, Wales Scotland and Northern Ireland all compete for Great Brittan. That is why this is such a big occasion because they have not put a Great Brittan soccer team together before.

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  6. Beckham would be inthe squad of Richards got picked for the euros. How he didnt even make the standby list for England was beyond me. Pearce had no choice. Bellamy is up for debate though

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  7. Beckham should turn down any role that impacts playing with LA. He said he did not want to get picked to play on the team if it was just a “figure head” role, so he should turn down exactly that role without being on the team. “I appreciate the offer to help cheer on the team and promote the games. I gave everything I could to help get the games in London even during my pro-seasons and despite living and playing pro-ball in LA and not something closer like…oh Manchester I have been spending a great deal of time doing just that. However, I am still an active professional in the sport and despite the EPL guys being in the middle of their summer holidays, I am currently in the middle of a heated professional season and we are trying to repeat another title victory and fight in the Champions League. Maybe one of the other 3 guys they picked right now, since they are currently on holiday could shake some hands and take over the promotional work that I have been doing for the last 8 years or so….that would be great. Cheers.”

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  8. Proenca getting the final is actually a pretty big story. A team from your country (be in the national team or a club team) reaching the semis has effectively eliminated you as a ref from doing any more games. The idea being it would be unfair to do the other semi which decides who might potentially play a team from your country and eliminated you from the final because it might be seen as a conflict of interest to ref the final involving a team that just eliminated your team (especially the national team of which Proenca likely has strong emotions with).

    UEFA has completely broke precedent by giving him the final. I was sure it was going to Webb, Skomina, or Erikkson (long shot).

    Reply

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