Gareth Bale at 70%.

The Lead

Ah the Olympic spirit. It’s the dream of every athlete to play for their country at the Olympic games, a paean to the glory of sport, and of course official sponsors Coca-Cola and McDonalds. And so it must have been with deep regret and heartache that Gareth Bale pulled out of the Great Britain Olympic football team with a recurring back problem.

So stricken was the Welsh winger that he managed to play a mere 65 minutes for Tottenham in a friendly against the Los Angeles Galaxy, and score only one goal. Of course, the very idea he may not want have been a part Stuart Pearce’s sinking ship team is totally, utterly preposterous.

Explains Andre Villas-Boas, who clearly learned during his time at Chelsea the requisite moral nihilsm required to be a Premier League manager: “Gareth is extremely young [23] and physically a beast, so he was able to put on the effort, and we extended [his time] because we want him to complete a certain amount of minutes before we start the season.”

Of course. It’s all science. The apologists, who apparently all dabble in physiology, will point out that a pre-season friendly is not the same as an Olympic tournament and so the rigours are different and therefore pay no attention to that feeling in the pit of your stomach, but one wonders at the severity of the injury if Andre Villas-Boas calculated the risk of making American Spurs fans happy by putting his star winger at risk. But, as ever in football, there’s an good explanation for everything. Smile!

FIFA unfortunately don’t see it that way, and the Welsh winger could face a Spurs ban for the duration of the Olympics if complaints go through channels and what-not. I would tell you more but OH MY BACK.

Canada

Canadian women share unbreakable bond. I think this may have the kind of thing Duane was talking about. Ben Massey’s team preview is here.

Waking the Red previews Canada’s opponents in Japan.

Montreal Impact ‘lose on penalties’ in a meaningless friendly against Olympic Mayonnaise that shouldn’t have bothered with penalties.

England

This Lucas Moura to Man United story is turning into a thing.

Oh, this is wonderful. Apparently PSG may pip Real Madrid to signing Tottenham’s Luka Modric.

The FA gets their hands into Rio Ferdinand’s Twitter account. John Terry meanwhile awaits word whether the FA will follow through on their own punishment.

Harry Redknapp, possibly out of guilt, vows to help Portsmouth stave off liquidation by talking to wage-demanding players.

I randomly chose one of the non-news stories floating around Robin van Persie. Here it is.

Italy

Max Allegri is struggling to form a “new Milan” after several crippling high-profile player departures.

Perhaps Kaka is a part of those plans?

Meanwhile Milan manage to beat Schalke in a pre-season friendly.

Spain

Messi’s absence against Hamburg in a pre-season friendly cost the club nearly half a million euros. In other news, perhaps Barcelona should bail out Spain?

Bits and bobs

The Liverpool documentary looks pretty interesting, says KCKRS.

Dirty Tackle on the Premier League’s Twitter policy.

Fenway Park looks half decent as a football ground.

And that, give or take, is the story so far…