The next generation of trainers

This month adidas have taken an Avatar-esque step into the unknown by launching trainers that come with their own explorable 3D world. A select range of adidas originals trainers will come with augmented reality coding on the tongue which, when used in conjunction with the adidas website, creates a full on virtual space.

Usage wise they are very simple - turn on your webcam, go to the website, and use your trainer as the remote.

In the coming months three further environments will be released for the shoes, check out the below link for two videos that explain all!

England - good, but not great

England vs Egypt - not exactly an automatic headline creator.

This would be what anyone who has been hibernating for the past three months would say. But actually the lead up to this game couldn't be more intriguing;

- a new vice Captain (Steven Gerrard) takes the reins from the new Captain (Rio Ferdinand) who displaced the incumbent (John Terry)
- JTs Chelsea are locked with Rio's Man Utd in the closest Premier League battle in years where anyone seems to be able to beat anyone
- Staying on JT theme, the England squad does not contain an internationally experienced left back and the defence looks more dodgy than it has in a long time
- A wide selection of inconsistent wingers is giving Capello a headache over who to play and where to play them
- No solid front two seems to be able to have a run of games, whether that be through injury or form. Rooney is the first name on the team sheet but who plays with him?

Add these into the fact it is a World Cup Year and actually the second last friendly before football's ultimate showpiece is actually a really important match up. Overall the game was good to watch but it didn't actually answer any questions. England triumphed but it was laboured and they probably posed more questions than they answered.

Terry and Upson were generally poor with JT obviously exposed by pace and the West Ham defender Upson looking very nervous. Leighton Baines is very underated and looked quite assured at left back but just doesn't have the experience to go up against the best teams in the World. Wes Brown, although competant, is no Glen Johnson going forward and isn't spectacular in his own penalty area so was there due to other players being injured. Lampard, Gerrard, Barry and Carrick all played a part in the England midfield during the game with Carrick probably standing out the most due to his superb ball distribution. Up front, Rooney and Defoe started and generally looked quite blunt. Crouch came on and showed why he should definitely be on the plane, but I'm pretty sure Capello knew this already. Carlton Cole had around five minutes so didn't really have a chance to do anything. So from this group, aside from Baines, Capello didn't really see anything new.

What the game did do was raise England's problem on the flanks. By my reckoning there are 8 wingers who could go to South Africa, all with their own positives and negatives. The image below shows them all and the next two months will be key for thiese player in particular to secure their spots in Fabio's final 23.

Terry stripped of England captaincy - Capello keeps his promise

On Friday 5th of February 2010 John Terry lost the ultimate honour to be bestowed upon an international footballer - he was sacked as captain of the England Football Team. Since last week Terry's name has been dragged through the press and people across the world have been waiting with baited breath to see whether the footballer's alleged indiscretions would lead to him paying the ultimate price.

The decision was reportedly confirmed after a 10-minute meeting with Terry where presumably he was challenged by Fabio Capello to prove why he should keep the armband. England's manager gave Terry a final appeal to explain himself and the inability to convince Capello will surely open the floodgates on the whole scandal. Various tabloids are seemingly prepping themselves to truely destroy Terry and by stripping him of his captaincy Capello and the FA have taken away his last layer of protection.

Is it a good decision? On the one hand England are a mere five months away from a World Cup where, after a very impressive qualifying campaign (under the leadership of John Terry), the team is positioned as one of the favourites for the tournament. The squad has a plethora of talent but also has balance giving England a real shot at World Cup glory. Taking the captaincy away from Terry and giving it to the experienced Rio Ferdinand will not have a great deal of impact on the performance of the side. However, what could have an impact will be the relationship between Terry and his teammates. He remains one of the best defenders in the country and he will surely keep his place within the side which will mean all within the squad will have to get past the news that has dominated UK press for the last two weeks. Some will be sympathetic to Terry, others will not be and Capello may have an even harder decision to make dependent on whether he sees Terry's presence within the squad as unsettling. The England squad will meet up in late February ahead of the Egypt friendly at Wembley on March 3rd and Capello will need to quickly rebuild what is very possibly a split team. If the revelations continue and other players, especially if they are other England players, are involved then the hugely sucessful Italien could have a real problem on his hands - only time will tell.

With regards to the decision on captaincy, Capello made the right decision. If the allegations are true then Terry in no way deserves the honour of leading the England football team. He is not just a leader on the pitch, he is supposed to be an ambassador for England. Capello has also always acted in way that makes it very clear that he won't accept any messing around - anything that puts team performance or morale in jeopardy will be not be stood for and his sacking Terry has not only sent an important message the player but also to the wider squad. He will not allow anything to get in the way of him successfully doing his job which is exactly the sort of manager England have needed for many, many years.