Avoiding the Drop

What you missed while your chair was eating mice and flies for fuel…

• Manager Stuart Pearce is taking the novel step of actually practicing penalty kicks for England’s U-21 semi-final against Sweden.
• Bayer Leverkeusen midfielder Bernd Schneider is retiring due to a chronic spinal issue; the 37-year old made 265 appearances and scored 35 goals for the German club.
• Sepp Blatter will push to add more African teams to the World Cup if they perform well next year.
• If the Premier League had a salary cap, Liverpool could’ve been owned by Robert Kraft instead of Hicks and Gillett.