Thursday, June 10, 2010

PORTUGAL WC2010 SQUAD LIST











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FRANCE WC2010 SQUAD LIST











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NETHERLANDS WC2010 SQUAD LIST











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ITALY WC2010 SQUAD LIST











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GERMANY WC2010 SQUAD LIST











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ARGENTINA WC2010 SQUAD LIST











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BRAZIL WC2010 SQUAD LIST











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Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Inter confirm Benitez as new boss


Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has confirmed Rafael Benitez will be presented as the club's new coach on Wednesday.

Benitez has been in talks with the European champions since his six-year spell as Liverpool manager was ended by mutual consent last week.

"We have agreed the final details, which were not important things. On Wednesday we shall present Rafa Benitez," Moratti said in a statement on the Inter website, www.inter.it.

The Inter president went on to tell reporters that "all that is needed now is a countersignature".

Moratti added that negotiations with Benitez had not taken place in person but revealed the Spaniard would fly to Milan in time for Wednesday's presentation.

"I think Benitez is not in Italy and will arrive for the presentation," he said. "On Wednesday we will tell you when he will be presented."

Moratti revealed on Monday that a deal with the 50-year-old had been "more or less done" and had been confident the details would be finalised on Tuesday.

Reports in Italy had suggested Benitez would sign a three-year deal worth five million euros per season, but Moratti denied those claims as "off track" in terms of "duration and the amount".

Benitez may wish to take his Anfield assistant Mauricio Pellegrino, goalkeeping coach Xavi Valero and fitness coach Paco de Miguel with him to the San Siro, with Italian Amedeo Carboni - who played under Benitez as a midfielder at Valencia - also touted as a possible backroom addition.

Benitez still had four years to run on his Liverpool contract but left after the Reds could only manage seventh place in the Barclays Premier League last season.

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Sunday, June 6, 2010

Rio Ferdinand ruled out of the World Cup with knee injury


Rio Ferdinand

Rio Ferdinand, the England captain, leaves the Ferncrest Net Care hospital after a scan on his knee. Photograph: Peter Cziborra/Action Images

Rio Ferdinand has been ruled out of the World Cup after injuring his left knee in training.

The England captain broke down after a tackle in the final few minutes of his team's first training session since landing in South Africa, and was taken to hospital for a scan.

The scan revealed knee ligament damage and the 31-year-old will take no part in the World Cup.

"Rio has been ruled out for four to six weeks and will therefore unfortunately miss the World Cup," said the FA in a statement. "Tottenham Hotspur's Michael Dawson has been contacted today and will fly to South Africa on Friday evening."

Steven Gerrard will be promoted to the captaincy.

"It is obviously bad news and everyone with the squad is very disappointed and sorry for Rio," said the England manager Fabio Capello. "It was an accidental injury in training, but had nothing to do with the pitch."

Ferdinand had an injury-hit season at Manchester United, being laid low for considerable periods with back and groin problems.

But he was happy with his fitness at the end of the season and during England's two-week training camp in Austria before coming through the friendly internationals with Mexico and Japan unscathed.

Capello's alternatives in the current squad are West Ham's Matthew Upson and Tottenham's Ledley King.

Upson has started nine of the last 17 internationals while King has forced his way into Capello's thinking despite his long-term knee problem.

King has impressed for Tottenham this season although by his own admission he looked far from convincing in the recent friendly with Mexico at Wembley.

Dawson was named in Capello's initial party of 30 for the finals but was excluded from the final 23 after not playing against either Mexico at Wembley or Japan in Graz. He has had an outstanding season at Tottenham, often alongside King.

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Thursday, June 3, 2010

Rafa Benitez is out- Spaniard to quit Liverpool with a 4m pay-off


Rafael Benitez will leave Liverpool today after the club's board made it clear he was no longer wanted as manager. The Anfield hierarchy has blinked first in the Mexican stand-off by offering their 50-year-old manager a compromise compensation deal to quit the club. He's off: Benitez's relationship with the Anfield hierarchy has grown increasingly uncomfortable The offer was made in a conference call to Benitez, who is in Sardinia. It is believed Sammy Lee has been put in temporary charge of team matters. The Spaniard believed for some time he had the whip hand in his dealings with the board, but the negotiations about his future became a vicious circle - although he did not realise just how vicious it was to become. In a vote of no confidence, the Liverpool board approved a proposal which would see Benitez depart with a lucrative pay-off worth in the region of £4million. Liverpool, ultimately, have decided it is time to move on and progress. The Dallas-style soap opera that has blighted the famous club's name over recent months had to stop and Benitez will be the cast member to depart. Centre of attention: Roy Hodgson has impressed at Fulham That was inevitable after a disastrous season in which Liverpool finished seventh in the Barclays Premier League and Benitez blamed a dwindling transfer budget for his squad's inane performance. That did not sit well with owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett, who, despite declaring their intention to sell the club, knew action had to be taken swiftly for the Anfield outfit to move forward or risk implosion. With every penny counting, doing nothing was too big a risk to take. RAFA'S HIGHS AND LOWS HIGHS 1. May 2005 - Leads club to a miraculous Champions League final triumph in his first season. One of the all-time comebacks. 2. May 2006 - Another comeback, this time in the FA Cup final against West Ham. 3. July 2007 - Signs Fernando Torres for a fee of around £21m from Atletico Madrid. 4. March 2009 - Signs new five-year contract. 5. May 2009 - Finishes second in the league. LOWS1. January 2005 - In his first FA Cup match, his side lose to Burnley. 2. November 2007 - Very public fall-out with new owners. 3. January 2009 - Faces public ridicule after his 'facts' press conference. 4. July 2009 - Replaces Xabi Alonso with £17m midfielder Alberto Aquilani. 5.December 2009 - Humiliated as his side are knocked out of the Champions League in the group stages. Benitez has spent more than £220m on more than 70 players in his colourful six years at Anfield. Yet, as Sportsmail revealed last week, his budget was severely restricted and he wanted written assurances from the club's board that money from every player sold could be re-directed into the coffers enabling him the funds to bring in new ones. Confidence in his ability to wheel and deal, particularly on the back of last season's £17million acquisition of Alberto Aquilani, was evidently not there. Instead Benitez was allowed to grow increasingly frustrated. Despiteoffers for his players he did not want to sell for fear of his squad being further weakened. Had Benitez received the guarantees he had been looking for during talks with chairman Martin Broughton then the current situation would not have arisen but with both parties unable to envisage a way of working together a parting of the ways was and is inevitable. When Juventus came knocking, Liverpool believed an easy exit was apparent for the Spaniard but he did not have enough faith in the Juventus project and harboured hopes that Liverpool's fortunes would change with new ownership. However, with annual losses of £55m, debts totalling £351m and the club out of the Champions League, Liverpool is not an easy or, more importantly quick, sell. Benitez was always going to find it difficult after winning the Champions League famously in his first season as that dramatic Istanbul victory over AC Milan raised the roof on expectation. He and his wife Montse have fallen in love with the area and embraced the history of the club. Doubts: Owners George Gillett Jr. left, and Tom Hicks were forced to act after Liverpool's seventh-place finish When the Kop sang You'll Never Walk Alone to him they meant it and he reciprocated. He danced with them and drank with them establishing himself as a man of the people but, ultimately, the team's demise has even weakened that bond. While he enjoys the majority of support, some fans have brought his credentials into question this season. Transfers, team selection and substitutions have all raised eyebrows - even among the stars of his team. The Americans will always take the brunt of the blame but now Benitez will be forced to walk away and into the arms of Inter Milan. Following in the footsteps of his great adversary Jose Mourinho will not be easy but already the Inter fans are calling for the man 'who stole the Champions League away from Milan'. That one night in Istanbul could yet serve Benitez well.
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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Mourinho pens four-year Real deal


Jose Mourinho has said that he has always wanted to coach Real Madrid after signing a four-year contract with the Spanish giants. The former FC Porto and Chelsea coach left Internazionale last week after guiding the Italian club to a famous treble of Serie A, Champions League and Coppa Italia titles. Mourinho, who is Real's ninth coach in six years, replaces the former Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini who spent one season in charge at the Bernabeu. Real have paid Inter a reported eight million euros in compensation for the 47-year-old, who said: "I don't know if I was born to coach Real Madrid but I was born to be a football coach. I love important challenges. "I am Jose Mourinho and I don't change. I arrive with all my qualities and my defects. "My attraction to Real Madrid is due to its history, its frustrations in recent years and its expectations to win. It's a unique club and I believe that not to coach Real leaves a void in a coach's career. "Luckily, I've had a beautiful career and it makes me proud to have come here. I am very enthusiastic. I want my players to think that way. The beauty is not so much to train or play at Real, but to win at Real Madrid. "I think four years of contract is enough to win, to build a strong team for the present and the future. "The sacking of Pellegrini doesn't make me happy. I am never happy when a coach is sacked but football is like that. "I have a lot of confidence in my players, I have the hope that my new players have confidence in me."
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