�WHAT'S THE STORY?

AT 3PM next Saturday, Association Football or 'soccer' comes to Croke Park, as Ireland take on Wales in a European Championship quali"er.

Although the GAA and the FAI have always been "erce rivals, after three decades playing at rugby headquarters Lansdowne Road, soccer is actually returning closer to its roots:

the north inner city has always been a soccer heartland.

WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?

VERY little. The notion of opening up Croke Park to soccer was always a bigger bone of contention for GAA diehards than rugby.

Soccer, for obvious reasons, was always seen as more of a threat to gaelic games than rugby.

However, there was so much controversy in the run-up to England's appearance at Croke Park in the Six Nations that the soccer team's appearance there has become almost run-ofthe-mill. Once 'God Save the Queen' was played at the famous stadium, nobody was going to worry about soccer being played there.

WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

THAT largely depends on the result. Win, lose or draw, the team and its supporters will be back the following Wednesday to take on Slovakia. But the big question surrounds manager Steve Staunton (LEFT). The feeling is that Staunton will not survive as manager if next week's games don't go at least moderately well. But a guaranteed hotbed atmosphere and the absence of worldbeating opposition should mean the Irish team is capable of garnering at least four points from the two games.

�WHAT'S THE STORY?

Fastest fingers first for new PlayStation GET ready to spend the next year in a darkened room and prepare your thumbs for serious tendonitis and RSI - the PlayStation 3 is launching this week. The European-wide launch will set the much-anticipated (and delayed) PS3 free among the masses. Or at least those who want to queue for it. And who have pre-ordered it.

And who are willing to pay �599 for a gaming machine.

WHAT ARE THEY SAYING?

"THIS is our strongest launch line-up in the history of PlayStation and is what PlayStation fans in Europe have been crying out for." - David Reeves, president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe. "PS3: Late, Expensive and Incompatible" - PCWorld. com who put the PS3 at number eight in the Top 21 Tech Screwups of 2006.

�WHAT'S THE STORY?

ANonslaught of queuing outside gaming shops, tearful parents heartbroken at the prospect of not being able to provide little Johnny with his dream gift due to sold out stock and those who are lucky enough to get their hands on them gloating and gaming until their hands fall off. But despite the recent launches of new X-Boxes and Wiis and other consoles, it's the PlayStation 2 that remains the biggest seller in the US. Well, if it ain't broke. . .