`Scalping' exposed at Villa Park

The news agency Associated Press can always be relied upon to provide a peculiarly American perspective on what we call "football" and they call "soccer" - its reports on matches played in the States can often read like descriptions of a totally different sport.

An AP writer at Scotland's draw with the Netherlands at Villa Park on Monday seemed impressed by the fans' conduct. "After all-night partying, only 10 fans had been arrested for minor offenses [sic] such as public drunkenness and scalping," he wrote, conjuring images of marauding Scottish Braveheart impersonators removing orange-dyed hair by force. The truth, though, is less exotic: "scalping" means ticket touting Stateside...