Everyone from the police officers to the young people are football-mad, so nobody needs any urging to get involved.

But for Iraq's football-mad masses, at least there's the possibility of seeing some top-quality international games on home turf.

There are 3.3 million tickets available for the World Cup, but Brazil's football-mad population of 200 million is first in line.

Typical of hundreds of Scottish villages, Renton has been football-mad for generations," he wrote. "

Roberto (Martinez) was football-mad.

None of the participants play in the Americas: Latin America is football-mad too—but is also a big exporter of footballers.

During the early leadership of Tony Blair, whose blokeish New Labour courtiers were football-mad, his views were often sought.

Gaza's football-mad population may have to savour Al Shate's victorious cup campaign for a while yet as no one knows when, or even if, the next competition will take place.

It is not the sort of form the nation's football-mad fans expect ahead of the Confederations Cup warm-up tournament later this month, where Brazil will defend its title on home soil.

It remains to be seen whether Lazio will be among the honors this season, but it certainly looks like the balance of power amongst Rome's football-mad supporters has shifted their way once again.

Petrovic, from Serbia, took a beating in China's football-mad press Sunday for benching Manchester City midfielder Sun Jihai, experienced striker Han Peng and midfielder Du Zhenyu.

Voters have yet to warm to either, but both, in private, are laddishly garrulous and boast extensive hinterlands (Mr Balls is football-mad; Mr Osborne’s rock-music collection reputedly stunned even Eric Clapton).

Jonathan Segat and Portia Bradley are delightful as the couple's football-mad son and bubbly 7-year-old daughter, and Day lends an understated charm to his role as the besieged everyman doing his best under trying circumstances.

Saadi Gaddafi, who was football-mad but after later playing a handful of games in Italy was once described as the worst player ever to have graced a Serie A pitch, is shown running up to the ball and missing it.

The prospect of missing out and having to skulk around the fringes of the continental game in the Europa League, successor of the UEFA Cup, is unthinkable to Atletico, given their need to glean some bragging rights in Spain's football-mad capital.