Goalkeeper Iker Casillas kept Real Madrid’s seven-point lead over Barcelona intact with a match-winning performance against Real Zaragoza. Casillas made a string of saves in a match dominated by mid-table Zaragoza. The champions won the match 2-0 with goals from Ruud van Nistelrooy and Robinho.

The Inconvenient Truth for Becks fans is that their hero is supposedly the least green person on the planet. As The Daily Star reported recently, ‘LA Galaxy star Becks, 32, not only owns a fleet of 15 gas-guzzling supercars [including a Porsche, Hummer and Lincoln Navigator], he has clocked up more than 250,000 miles in the air in the last year – more than the distance to the far side of the Moon.

1 Craig Hinton of Bristol Rovers rises above the Fulham defence to score his team’s second goal at Craven Cottage. Bristol held the Premier League side to a 2-2 draw.
Photo Phil Cole/Getty Images

… Yes, it means that after the Brazilian daddy scored for Real Madrid in their 2-0 win against Real Zaragoza, he celebrated in time-honoured fashion: Robinho’s post-goal celebration was one of the finest ‘I’m going to let the world know that I’ve had a baby!’ moments in football history. Not only did Robbie break out [...]

Would you trust your best mate to be around your naked wife/girlfriend/partner and act like a gentleman? David Beckham would. Speaking at a do for the Football Writers’ Association, Becks said that he’d trust best bud Gary Neville with his wife Victoria – even if she was naked.
‘They are the three [mates] that I would trust with my wife naked,’ said the LA Galaxy star. ‘That’s how good they are as friends.’ (We don’t know who the other two are.)

On the twelfth day of Christmas, Pies sends to you 12 Robinho’s drumming…

Young Motherwell fans gather to pay tribute to Phil O’Donnell at St Mary’s Church in Hamilton, Scotland. Hundreds of fans and leading sporting figures attended the funeral of the 35-year-old Motherwell captain, who collapsed during a match against Dundee United. Photo Jeff J Mitchell/Getty Images

The French football festive programme is much less packed than the English one. Ligue 1 footballers clocked off the weekend before Christmas and will not kick a ball again until January 12. The final round of fixtures before the winter break did throw up one particularly interesting tie though as the top two went head-to-head.

1 Alan Hutton, Rangers’ highly rated right-back (pictured), is weighing up a move to Spurs. The 23-year-old Scot looked great for his country in their Euro 2008 qualifying campaign, and reports suggest that Tottenham have dangled an £8m carrot in front of Rangers’ noses. Alex Ferguson is also known to be a big admirer of Hutton, so don’t rule out a rival bid from Man Yoo. Via BBC Sport

This sketch from Scottish football comedy show Only An Excuse? shows the lengths Celtic manager Gordon Strachan has to go to in order to avoid picking out-of-sorts Derek Riordan.

July 1994 Roberto Baggio of Italy celebrates scoring the winning goal during the World Cup ’94 second-round match against Nigeria, played at the Foxboro Stadium, in Boston, Massachusetts. Italy won the match 2-1 after extra-time. Photo Rick Stewart/Allsport

On the tenth day of Christmas, Pies send to you 10 frauds a-leaping…

Zidane ? Power of cup noodleUploaded by Milder Yeah, cause Zizou needed the cash from a Japanese TV ad, didn’t he? Via The Offside

September 2000 Ronaldinho of Brazil flashes a trademark smile during a training session for the Olympic Games at the Gabba in Brisbane, Australia. Photo Darren England/ALLSPORT

HEROES
Martin O’Neill Villa fans are now starting to see the fruits of O’Neill’s labour. Two wins and two draws (including that incredible 4-4 draw against Chelsea) was a fine Xmas return for Villa, who are now up to sixth in the table. Nigel Reo-Coker, Ashley Young, Gabriel Agbonlahor, Martin Laursen and John Carew are all thriving under O’Neill.

Iain Fyfe of Sydney FC takes a free-kick during the Round 18 A-League match between Adelaide United and Sydney, held at Adelaide’s Hindmarsh Stadium on December 28, 2007.

After a lovely, relaxing holiday, dominated by the DVD box-set of Heroes, Season One (ooh, that Sylar is a naughty boy!), and several boxes of Ferrero Rocher, Who Ate All the Pies is back in full effect. And I must say, it’s very good to be back.

As you may have noticed from the lack of posts in the last couple of days, Pies is on its Christmas break. We’ll be back in full force, a couple of pounds heavier no doubt, from January 2nd 2008 (my God, the future is here!). Thanks for all your support in 2007 – to Chringle, Clayton, [...]

Champions Lyon followed last week’s defeat at Caen with a disappointing 0-0 draw at home to Nice. They maintained their four-point lead at the top of Ligue 1 though as second-placed Nancy also drew 0-0 at Strasbourg.

See if you can tell from this video whether Sampdoria’s sulky striker Antonio Cassono was:
a) not really bothered that getting booked meant he would be suspended for the match against former club Roma
b) distraught at the thought of his impending suspension and felt the need to bawl and stomp his feet like a toddler.

Table-topping Inter Milan extended their lead in Serie A to seven points with a 0-2 win at Cagliari. Julio Cruz and David Suazo were on target for Inter. Second-placed Roma only managed a 0-0 draw against Torino.

Luca Toni risked incurring the wrath of animal rights protestors by brazenly wearing fur before Bayern Munich’s Uefa Cup win over Aris Salonika last night.

Ajax and PSV stayed first and second respectively despite their match being called off on the advice of the police. The match clashed with a police strike on Saturday and was called off because the safety of supporters could not be guaranteed.

A fascinating little video that reminds us how much professional football has changed in the last 28 years. Hooliganism was a real problem in the late 70s, and few English derbies scared the police more than the Owls vs Blades Sheffield showdown – even when both teams were in the old Third Division, as was the [...]

Zico of Brazil and Claudio Gentile of Italy get to know each other better during the World Cup ’82 second round match at the Sarria Stadium in Barcelona, Spain. Gentile was the most fearsome defenders of his era (and one of Pies’ Top 50 Scariest Footballers), and he rarely let Zico get further away from [...]