Tonight will be the most sustainedly tense, thrilling
night of international football since Thierry Henry's sleight of hand gave
France the ultimate hollow victory against Ireland two years ago.

It is the final act of Euro 2012 qualifying, and across the
continent buttocks are being clenched in anticipation of a nerve-shredding,
agonising night.

Sure, England might be through, but there is ample
excitement to be had, not least in Scotland and the Republic of Ireland's efforts
to reach the play-offs.

In any case, England fans might consider the superb 2008 tournament
(and indeed the latter

When Andre Villas-Boas arrived in England he came with a
reputation as the archetypal modern coach, schooled in tactical detail and
forensically thorough scouting.

A man seeking to eke out every possible advantage through statistical
analysis - Moneyball in football manager form. Something of a nerd, in fact.

From what I'd seen of his Porto side in the Europa League,
he seemed a thoughtful and hugely talented manager.

Certainly passionate on the touchline, but always respectful,
always in control, and never prone to the histrionics of that other Portuguese
bloke who moved from Porto to

This week, defenders of English football have been
circling the wagons against a proposal that could destroy the game as we know
it.

Plans are afoot, we have been told, to eliminate promotion
and relegation from the Premier League.

Foreign owners supposedly want to create an exclusive group
of carefree money-makers, unburdened by worldly concerns like finishing in
the bottom three.

And it has created quite the furore.

It has echoes of the '39th game' controversy, when the
suggestion of playing an extra Premier League game abroad was met with outrage.

That time it was Richard Scudamore who

Do you feel sorry for Cristiano Ronaldo?

You don't?

Well, maybe you should.

This lavishly skilled, rich, famous, successful man might
just be the most underrated footballer in the world.

So firmly is he under the thumb of Lionel Messi, we are in
danger of forgetting just what a transcendent talent he is.

Messi and Barcelona's dominance over Ronaldo and Real Madrid
this season have cast the Portuguese as some kind of loser.

Worse than that, he is seen as a whinger. A man more
interested in his image that his football. Even an underachiever.

When Ronaldo was quoted today as saying he wanted to

One
of the summer's more left-field transfers went through on Tuesday when Robbie
Keane left Tottenham for LA Galaxy.

For
a player aged 31, who said a few months ago he had "four or five
years" left at the top, it seemed like a rum old move.

Why,
the critics asked, would he abandon all pretence at being a serious footballer
in favour of chasing some ridiculous Hollywood folly?

Why
wouldn't he knuckle down and join a proper Premier League club like Bolton,
Blackburn or Stoke?

There
is concern in Ireland that the poor standard of play might adversely affect
Keane's national team performances.

Arsenal appear set to lose their battle to keep both Cesc
Fabregas and Samir Nasri, but how much will the pair be missed?

Gunners captain Fabregas is on the brink of a long-awaited
move to Barcelona, while Nasri's refusal to sign a new contract means he may
soon be a Manchester City player.

How their departures affects the side depends on the players
brought in to replace them - Shakhtar Donetsk's Jadson is the latest to be linked,
while Juan Mata and Eden Hazard are long-standing targets.

But it is worth analysing Arsenal's performance last season
to see the respective impact of Fabregas and

While Gary Neville watched the Community Shield from a TV studio, Chris Smalling staked his claim to be the Manchester United legend's heir.

Neville's retirement in mid-season earlier this year was greeted with nothing like the fanfare accorded to Paul Scholes and even Edwin van der Sar.

In his latter years, Neville became a parody of himself. A Mancunian rabble-rouser deployed to wind up opposing players and fans, but not much use on the pitch.

But his hate-figure status must not overshadow what a fine player he was - earlier this summer, he was overwhelmingly voted the best right-back in

Welcome to the live Champions League and Europa League chat!

Join me from 11am UK time for live coverage and discussion of the play-off draws for both UEFA competitions.

Arsenal await their Champions League play-off opponents, while there is plenty of British and Irish interest in the Europa League, with Tottenham, Fulham, Birmingham, Stoke, Hearts, Rangers, Celtic and Shamrock Rovers all going into the hat.