I liked the commitment shown by Suarez by deliberately handling the ball which subsequently paved the way for Uruguay to reach Semi Final of the World Cup... but this commitment has proved more like an ego problem instead of a commitment towards the team.

Fast forward to the time when Evra presented his hand to Suarez and he has proved that he is the ultimate racist football player of the era.

Dalglish:

Fabio Capello has reacted strongly after FA stripped Terry off captaincy as proceedings against him continue for racially abusing Anton Ferdinand.

The Football Association, in my opinion was within its rights and principally correct to remove the controversial captain as grave allegations overshadowed him. But on the other hand, Capello's reaction is also apprendible as a man of such authority was apparently not consulted when such a critical decision was being made about his team.

The January transfer window has now closed for English Premier League. At the start of the year everyone expected a few changes to the clubs but we've had a quiet month which isn't bad for the league as Football Pundits would say 'the league has stabilized. With no ''big'' names changing places Chelsea was the only top club to bring in a few players. Top five transfers:

Papiss Demba Cisse -- (£10m) -- from Frieburg to Newcastle United 
Kevin De Bruyne -- (£7m) -- from Genk to Chelsea
Gary Cahill -- (£7m) -- from Bolton to Chelsea
Nikica Jelavic -- (£5.5m)  -- from rangers to Everton
Lucas Piazon -- (£5m) -- from Sau Paulo to Chelsea

FC Barcelona clinched the first leg of Copa Del Rey encounter with the help of some superb game from Messi and the rest of side, especially Messi’s marvelous goal assist to Eric Abidal who scored the second goal for Barcelona before the equalizer by Puyol who headed a superb volley past Casillas to equalize Ronaldo’s 11^th minute strike which had put Barcelona on the back foot early in the Match.

Barceloa was back in the match as soon as second half started as captain Puyol struck an header down to Real Madrid goal for the equalizer and a superb pass of Messi was well followed by an awesome finish from Eric Abidal to make it 2-1 for Barcelona and go to the next leg in their home ground with a 1 goal lead in aggregate.

The Barclay’s Premier league , the most watched , thrilling and exciting football league in the whole world will be at its very best this coming weekend . With mouth watering encounters set up and teams looking to find lost momentum or perhaps build on it , this will be nothing short of the EL Classico if not better . Teams will be facing each other for the second time this season so it is very much a chance for most  to set the record straight, thus Redemption time . But cometh the hour it is yet to be seen who takes the three precious points or will the spoils be shared ?

Argentinian star Lionel Messi was awarded his third straight Ballon d' Or title in a prestigious ceremony in Zurich on Monday. The 24-year-old Barcelona heart throb finished ahead of Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo and his fellow Barcelona teammate Xavi Hernandez. The hat trick for the striker will mean that he has matched Michel Platini as only the second player to win three successive awards. "It's a great personal pleasure for me," said Messi. "It's the third time I've won it. It's just an amazing honour. I want to thank everyone that's been involved with me - my team-mates, trainers, physios, the coach (Pep Guardiola) and everyone at Barcelona. "I'd also like to thank the Argentina national team as well."

The infamous FA Cup Manchester Derby was more of an issue of bragging rights than anything else and arguably turned out to be the best of the Round three match ups .United were on the verge of losing three in a row for the first time ever since 2001. City settled down early playing free flowing football but had the shock of a top notch goal delivered by the head of United’s very own Wayne Rooney. Then, as  contentious as they come in the 12^th minute, City captain Vincent Kompany was bluntly sent off for an apparent scissors on Luis Nani .

With City shattered Danny Welbeck with lovely technique volleyed one home to double the deficit . Unired went three up after a  moment of complete carelessness by Alexander Kolarov bringing down Welbeck in the box. Step up Rooney, forcing a brilliant save from the City’s second favoured goalkeeper Pantilimon but all in vain heads back the rebound. With the three goal advantage it was fair to say it was all but over. But no one would have placed their bets on the score line that followed.

Barcelona and Real Madrid on way of eight possible meetings in 2011-2012, which would make another El-Clasico crazy season for the fans. Both teams have won the first leg of their Copa Del Rey Pre-Quarter-Finals and are likely to meet in the Quarter Finals if they beat their opponents in the second leg or even if they took the match to a draw then their would surely be a Clasico Quarter-Final.

Fans said last season was crazy because of non-stop El-Clasico encounters in which Real and Barca met four times in 18 days of end of April and few days of May, total 6 times in last season and a total of 7 times in Calendar of 2011.

But if that was crazy, then you are surely going to get crazier as more El-Clasico action coming up this season.

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Liverpool will not appeal Luis Suarez’s eight-match ban for repeatedly racially abusing an opponent during a match, even though the striker again defended his actions and the club renewed its criticism of the English Football Association’s disciplinary panel on Tuesday.

By accepting the punishment despite not accepting culpability, Suarez is not scheduled to be eligible again until the Feb. 11 match against Manchester United, whose defender, Patrice Evra, was the target of the striker’s insults.

“I will comply with the sanction, but with the acquiescence of someone who has not done anything and who feels extremely upset about what has transpired,” Suarez said on his Twitter account.

The Uruguay international will also have to pay a 40,000 pound ($62,600)-fine for calling Evra “negro” or “negros” seven times in October during a 1-1 draw at Anfield.

“I’ve never, ever had a single racial problem with any teammate, player, or person with a skin color or race different from my own. Never,” Suarez said. “As a result, I am very upset about what has been said about me in recent weeks, all of which has been very far from the truth.”

Despite public outcry, Liverpool continues to back the player who was signed from Ajax a year ago for around $35 million.

“The [Football Association] panel has damaged the reputation of one of the Premier League’s best players, deciding he should be punished and banned for perhaps a quarter of a season,” Liverpool said in a statement.

The 18-time English champions rebuked the independent FA panel, which was headed by a lawyer, for branding Suarez’s evidence unreliable.

Suarez’s claim that the racial slur used in the match was lost in translation was rejected by the FA in its 115-page report that was released on Saturday.