Club World Cups, festive swimming and King George VI greats

1) It’s the Club World Cup this week, a competition that a Premier League side has won only once since its inauguration in its current form in 2000. That came in 2008, when Manchester United beat LDU Quito 1-0 thanks to a Wayne Rooney goal. The competition’s uncertain standing in England might have something to do with that first campaign in 2000, when Manchester United sat out the FA Cup in order to take part, and a certain amount of schadenfraude ensued when they were well beaten by Vasco da Gama and didn’t even make it out of their group. The only other English teams to reach the final were Liverpool in 2005, when they were beaten by São Paulo, and Chelsea in 2012, losing to Corinthians. Going further back, Flamengo fans have been keen to remind Liverpool of this, in the tournament’s predecessor, in 1981.

2) Over before it began: the South African boxer Ruann Visser hits the deck before a punch had been thrown, ruling himself out of his bout with Tian Fick.

3) A few weeks back, we had some fun with free-kick routines gone wrong, or weird; here’s one from the training ground that hit the target. Learning from the pros? Possibly; here’s some of the best set piece routines.

4) Time to get festive, kick back, take some time off, relax – and go for a swim. Here’s some Christmas swimmers braving the elements in Porthcawl, at Sandycove in Dublin and in Weymouth.

5) A more orthodox Christmas ritual is, of course, the King George VI Chase at Kempton on Boxing Day, a race rich in tradition and excellence, such as Arkle’s spectacular romp in 1965. Desert Orchid was an ever-popular winner in 1990, taking the race for a fourth time having first triumphed in the King George four years earlier. Dessie’s tally of Boxing Day wins at Kempton was surpassed by the great Kauto Star in 2011. And relive last year’s race, when Clan Des Obeaux won in style for Paul Nicholls.

6) The thrill of the chase: a dog enters the fray at the Druivencross cyclocross race and starts haring after the elite riders.

1) Sunday football thrills and spills: not always the beautiful game.

2) Get yourself a packet of biscuits, sit back and watch every World Cup final goal since 1970.

3) Some vintage rural road bowling from 1957 – in glorious technicolour.

4) Some of the best NBA dunks of the year from Danny Green, Kawhi Leonard, who was welcomed back to Toronto in style, and Jaxson Hayes.

5) NFL: Shaquem Griffen forces a fumble and recovers it, while lovers of puerile humour might have enjoyed this.

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