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No matter how you feel about Manchester United, it's hard not to like Park Ji-Sung (or at least hate him less than his teammates) and the relentless way he plays the game. In 2009, he became the first Asian to play in a UEFA Champions League final and he will be the only one again this year if he plays on Saturday. By the Associated Press' streamlined logic, this supposedly means that he will have the support of the entire continent behind him.

Regardless of whether this is true or not (note: Barcelona are pretty popular in Asia, too), his fans sound pretty fantastic. But apparently not fantastic enough to make him enjoy being famous. From the AP:

Little wonder then that the Old Trafford mail room is so full of parcels for him, even rivaling star striker Wayne Rooney's haul of fan-mail.

"They send me everything from food, clothes, sweets," Park said. "I have been sent money before because the notes in South Korea changed and they sent me the new ones so that I could see them

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Spurs manager Harry Redknapp will never be confused with Mark Twain, but that didn't stop The Sun from giving him a regular column and for that, we should be thankful. The latest example of his hilarious brand of nonsense comes in the form of a timely and ridiculous comparison between Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney.

This is what old Harry has to say about Messi:

A mate of mine said to me the other day, after watching Messi destroy a team on his own, that the Argentine looks like the sort of bloke you'd find sitting in a bookies in the afternoon, smoking a fag and betting on horses.

He's a skinny runt who looks nothing like a modern-day footballer really.

He has funny little legs that move awkwardly when he runs and if he turned up at your club as a 16-year-old, you'd send him away with a pat on the head and tell him he'd no chance of making it.

Don't get him wrong, though. Even though he describes Lionel as some sort of goofy gnome who looks like he spends his days smoking

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Well this is just sad. Scotland played Wales in a Nations Cup match on Wednesday at the Aviva Stadium in Dublin and it looks like about 18 people showed up. Scotland won 3-1, but when you have so few people in a 51,700-seat stadium, it's kind of amazing they even bothered to finish the match.

Was this match supposed to be a surprise? Did they go with the Eric Cartman "you can't come" marketing technique? I know a midweek game between Wales and Scotland as part of a relatively new tournament isn't the biggest draw in the world, but come on -- you'd think they would be able to fill at least one full section of seats.

Here's the most depressing picture of a goal celebration you'll see today...

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Wales' Robert Earnshaw goes to the trouble of doing his trademark acrobatics for a ball boy and a guy who isn't even watching as he claps. Wales then gave up three goals in the second half to lose the game.

Photos: Getty

Tuesday was not a good day for Helsingborg goalkeeper Par Hansson. When his side scored first against Malmo, the home fans did not appreciate it and threw a firecracker that landed near him. With a ringing in his ears, Hansson received treatment on the pitch and while that happened, a Malmo fan marched up from behind him and gave him a shove before being taken down by a delayed swarm of police and Helsingborg players.

The referee ordered all the players off the pitch after that and the match was abandoned 20 minutes later. A series of incidents involving fireworks at Swedish matches has prompted the SvFF to ban them from stadiums and referees are required to stop play if they see them in the stands.

Anyway, hopefully Hansson just went home and took a nap after all this.

Davey Becks skipped an L.A. Galaxy league match to play in best friend Gary Neville's testimonial against Juventus at Old Trafford on Tuesday. The mere fact that he was back at his former home and wearing a Manchester United shirt for the first time since 2003 was, of course, more than enough to gobble up the spotlight that was supposed to be on the retiring Neville (but was actually going to be on scandal subject Ryan Giggs). And as if putting in a fine performance and playing the full 90 minutes while prompting giddy chants of "Fergie sign him up" wasn't enough, Davey even played the part of security enforcer by catching a young pitch invader late in the second half.

Becks was preparing to take a corner kick when a couple of kids attempted their invasion. One was caught right away while the other fulfilled his desire to waste everyone's time by scampering around the pitch and evading a trio of stewards. Beckham, meanwhile, just stood with his hands on his hips, waiting for his

All the stuff being covered outside the unfriendly confines of the award-winning Dirty Tackle...

Tennis player a Liverpool fan Caroline Wozniacki is in Paris for the French Open and between matches, she's apparently spending her time doing keepy-uppys. [YouTube]

Nike reveals Manchester United's 2011/12 home kit. [The Beautiful Gear]

Premier League managers name their best players of the decade. [The Offside]

Ryan Giggs chooses an unfortunate place to sit. [Kickette]

The Guatemalan Manchester City. [IBWM]

The importance of not believing everything you read about superinjunctions. [Twisted Blood]

Respect The Adu! American Pele! He used to date JoJo! [The Shinguardian]

Serie A team of the season. [Unprofessional Foul]

The thought process of the amateur footballer. [Surreal Football]

Slighted Aston Villa players invade the stands after nonplussed fans fail to come onto pitch. [The Gaffer]

Davey Becks' new underpants line. [Studs Up]

And finally, thank you so, so much to everyone who

610x-1237Not pictured: Mario Balotelli.

It seems so much was made of the possibility that Carlos Tevez would opt to travel back to Argentina to see his family rather than attend Man City's FA Cup parade on Monday that no one bothered to make sure Mario Balotelli would show up. So, while Tevez hoisted the trophy from an open-topped bus surrounded by thousands of fans, Balotelli was in Milan doing whatever it is he does.