With the World Cup just weeks away, the lingerie version of the tournament took place on Saturday.

A host of scantliy-clad beauties represented their countries at the competition and the lucky referee was former Holland international Andy van der Meyde.

The ex-Everton wideman officiated the games in his home nation and appeared to enjoy the role as he laughed and joked with the players.

Women from Brazil, Germany, Spain, Italy, South Korea, Algeria and Russia took part in the 4-a-side competition last weekend as hosts Holland claimed victory.

Former Villa star Stan Collymore has been branded "disrespectful" and "ignorant" in a Twitter row over the Falklands.

The £7 million striker found himself in his second Twitter row in 48 hours after claiming Britain "thieved" ownership of the South Atlantic outpost.

He added: "What glory, what triumph.

"A f****** island with sheep. Rule Britannia."

Collymore was accused of "offending thousands" with the tweet, which also sparked anger among comrades of soldiers killed in the 1982 war.

The @falklands_urd Twitter account called his comment "disrespectful, ignorant and sad".

And the official Twitter feed of the Falkland Islands Government added: "Very disappointed to hear Mr Collymore’s views on the #Falklands, factually incorrect and hurtful."

The former England forward, now a Talksport radio pundit, insisted he not been disrespectful to Britain’s war dead.

Defending himself, he tweeted: "Not one mention of 1982, not one mention of our soldiers, navy or airmen, not one mention of Argentina.

"No mention of the 20th century!!"

A deaf football team ended a catastrophic season on minus six points - because they could not hear the referee’s whistle.

Perry Barr-based Birmingham Deaf FC’s sequence of shocking results were among the worst in the Birmingham AFA Saturday League’s history.

They lost all but one of their 26 fixtures, shipped 164 goals and ended bottom of division five.

The squad couldn’t hear the referee’s commands - and claimed their pleas for flags to be used instead fell on deaf ears.

Club secretary Guy Whieldon, who is deaf, said: "Most lads feel officials are not geared-up for a deaf team due to communication breakdowns, which cause difficulty.

"The referees are supposed to wave flags while, at the same time, blowing a whistle.

"Most referees forget to wave or simply don’t want to use a flag."

A player from Sutton United, who beat BDFC 10-0 home and away, told the Mail that difficulties were apparent from the first whistle.

"The ref would blow for a stoppage and they would continue to play," he said.

BDFC, based at Birmingham City University’s Moor Lane pitches in Perry Barr, were deducted nine points for failing to turn up for three games.

And their showing during the season was so poor, they look set to be relegated TWO tiers to the league’s basement, division seven.

The weekly drubbings included a 15-0 defeat to Walsall All Stars.

1. Costel Pantilimon (Manchester City), age 27

2. John Heitinga (Fulham), age 30

3. Ashley Cole (Chelsea), age 33

4. Joleon Lescott (Manchester City), age 31

5. Rio Ferdinand (Manchester United), age 35

6. Gareth Barry (Manchester City), age 33

7. Steve Sidwell (Fulham), age 31

8. Frank Lampard (Chelsea), age 35

9. Joe Cole (West Ham), age 32

10. Marc Albrighton (Aston Villa), age 24

11. Samuel Eto’o (Chelsea), age 33ish

Paul Lambert - Borussia Dortmund 3-1 Juventus (1997)

Steve McManaman - Real Madrid 3-0 Valencia (2000)

Owen Hargreaves - Bayern Munich 1-1 Valencia (5-4 pens) (2001)

Steve Archibald - Barcelona 0-0 Steaua Bucharest (0-2 pens) (1986)

Laurie Cunningham - Real Madrid 0-1 Liverpool (1981)

Chris Waddle - Marseille 0-0 Red Star Belgrade (3-5 pens) (1991)

Kevin Keegan - Hamburg 0-1 Nottingham Forest (1980)

Real Madrid are bringing along heroes from their previous nine European Cup wins to Lisbon for Saturday's Champions League final against Atletico Madrid, while the scramble for tickets for the decider continues.

Madrid's squad take the short flight to the Portuguese capital on Thursday evening, having requested the same plane and crew which flew them to Munich last month for the 4-0 semifinal second leg victory which secured a first final place in 12 seasons and a chance to clinch the long-awaited "La Decima" -- their 10th European Cup.

Also on board the plane, says Marca, will be representatives of the club's past successes -- including five-time winner Paco Gento [1956-1960], "Sexto" winner Amancio [1966], goalscoring hero of the "Septima" Predrag Mijatovic [1998], Raul Gonzalez, who netted to secure the "Octova" [2000], and captain of the "Novena" team Fernando Hierro [2002].

Europe's top leagues have stated their clearest opposition yet to changing the 2022 World Cup dates in Qatar.

The European Professional Football Leagues group says 'all scenarios on the rescheduling of the World Cup in Qatar are damaging the domestic competitions and leagues' business interests.'

Top-tier leagues face taking an eight-week mid-season break if the World Cup kicks off in November, as has been suggested by FIFA President Sepp Blatter.

Blatter has set next March as the deadline to decide the tournament dates.

European leagues and clubs have long been expected to oppose a November-December World Cup.

Gazza was back at St James’ Park on Sunday as he donned the Toon kit to take part in the club’s annual staff match.

The 46-year-old remains close pals with former team-mate Peter Beardsley and it was the reserve-team boss who brought the England legend along for the game.