Monday 12 April 2010

Wolfsburg Grafite eye's World Cup with Brazil

Wolfsburg's Brazilian striker Grafite hopes his current run of form can secure him a place in Brazil's World Cup squad.

Grafite boosted his chances of a place in Brazil's World Cup squad by scoring the second goal as German champions VfL Wolfsburg won 2-0 at struggling Nuremberg on Sunday.

Edin Dzeko became the Bundesliga's top scorer with 19 goals after putting Wolfsburg ahead in the 66th minute. His strike put him one goal ahead of Schalke 04's Kevin Kuranyi and Bayer Leverkusen's Stefan Kiessling.

Europa League semi-finalists Hamburg SV sneaked a late 2-1 win at VfL Bochum to end a four-match winless league run in Sunday's other game.

Wolfsburg, eighth with 46 points from 30 games, went ahead when Zvjezdan Misimovic found Dzeko with a diagonal pass and the Bosnian scored from 15 metres.





Twelve minutes later, Makoto Hasebe was given too much space on the right and delivered a pinpoint pass for Grafite to head in at the far post for his 10th goal of the season.

Grafite was overlooked by Brazil last year, when he was the Bundesliga's topscorer with 28 goals, but was given a surprise call-up for last month's friendly against Ireland, when he made only his second international appearance.



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Thierry Henry World Cup spot not assured.

Thierry Henry is not assured of making the French World Cup squad despite single handely (pun intended) being responsible for France's last minute qualification in the infamous hand goal against Ireland.

Raymond Domenech has refused to give assurances over Thierry Henry's place in France's 23-man squad for this summer's World Cup finals in South Africa.

The 32-year-old Barcelona forward was in the squad for France's last game against Spain, but there are no guarantees he will make the final cut for the World Cup, despite having helped Les Bleus reach the finals in the play-off victory over the Republic of Ireland in controversial fashion.

Domenech told French television show Canal Football Club: "It is a question that would arise on May 11 (the date of the initial squad announcement).''





Henry was a member of the World Cup-winning squad in 1998 and the Euro 2000-winning team and has scored 51 times in 118 appearances for France.

But his place is in jeopardy due to his limited playing time at Barcelona coupled with the wide array of attacking options at Domenech's disposal.

"I have deep respect for great players. Thierry has been, is (a great player). He does not play, but he is at Barcelona and he plays in a big competition,'' added the coach. "But I cannot help 'Titi' in this way.''

Another potential striker for France is Nicolas Anelka of Chelsea. Anelka has been critical of Domenech's regime, but the coach insisted he accepts comments from senior squad members.



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Sunday 11 April 2010

Ghana's Serbian coach alleges Serbian intimidation

Ghana's Serbian coach has alleged that the demolition of his house by Serbian authorities is part of intimidation campaign by Serbia ahead of the World Cup clash between the two countries.

Rajevac, a Serbian, is due to lead Ghana out to the 2010 World Cup where their opening game will be against Serbia.

Media reports in Ghana say he has been receiving threatening phone calls to quit since the Black Stars reached the Final of the African Nations Cup in January and now Rajevac is linking the demolition of his mansion to his Ghana job.

The building, in the tourist town of Zlatibor was demolished because town authorities say he didn't have the proper permits to build the house.

The Ghana coach disagrees and is now vowing legal action. "This is a very suspicious move and it is clearly an attempt to stop me from leading the Black Stars to the World Cup," Rajevac reportedly told Ghana soccernet.

"This house has been here for many years and I have all the documents. It is curious that a few weeks to the World Cup they decide to destroy the house.

I have no option than to go to the courts, ask Fifa to look into the matter and also ask the Ghana government to intervene and seek protection for me at governmental levels."

Ghana line up Latvian friendly before World Cup.

Ghana will play a final warm up game against Latvia on June 5 before kicking off their 2010 World Cup campaign on June 13 in Pretoria against Serbia.

The Black Stars, who will prepare for the tournament in South Africa by pitching camp in Europe will meet the Latvians a week after another friendly in England.





The match will take place at the Plus Stadium of English League side MK Dons in Milton Keynes which has a massive Ghanaian population.

While the Latvians may not be a top draw international side, Milovan Rajevac will be hoping the game will boost the confidence of his side and set them up nicely for the tournament in South Africa in the same manner that warm up games in London against South Korea and Jamaica boosted Stars’ confidence before their fine showing in Germany 2006.

The Latvia game will round up an intense two weeks for the Black Stars who will set up a training base in Paris between May 24-29, play Holland in Amsterdam on June 1 and play the Latvians before flying over to Pretoria for their World Cup campaign.

Serbia wallop Japan 3-0

Japan preparations for the 2010 World cup took a blow in Osaka this week.

Serbia defeated host Japan 3-0 in a friendly football international in which neither team fielded all top players they are set to have at the World Cup in June.

Forward Dragan Mrda got an early double in the third and 22nd minute before Nemanja Tomic wrapped up matters with a free-kick on the hour in Osaka.

Neither Japan nor Serbia fielded their stars who player in foreign leagues. Serbia play Germany, Australia and Ghana at the World Cup in South Africa, Japan are in a group with the Netherlands, Denmark and Cameroon.





Tuesday 6 April 2010

Korea lines up four frendlies ahead of World Cup

South Korea have lined up four high-profile friendlies to prepare for the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa this summer.

Huh Jung-moo’s charges will assemble on May 9 and face Ecuador on May 16 in Seoul before taking on fellow qualifiers Japan five days later in Saitama, Japan.

The team then travels to Austria for a training camp before locking horns with Belarus on May 30.

Belarus finished fourth behind England, Ukraine and Croatia in the FIFA World Cup European qualifiers and this will be the first time they will face Korea .

European champions Spain, who are top-ranked in the latest FIFA world rankings, will be the Koreans’ final opponents on June 3 before they head to South Africa.






Belarus finished fourth behind England, Ukraine and Croatia in the FIFA World Cup European qualifiers and this will be the first time they will face Korea .

European champions Spain, who are top-ranked in the latest FIFA world rankings, will be the Koreans’ final opponents on June 3 before they head to South Africa.

Camerooon lines up Slovakia, Serbia friendlies

Cameroon has lined up friendlies with Slovakia and Serbia in preparation for the 2010 World Cup.

The Indomitable Lions have already lined-up a World Cup warm-up against Slovakia in Klagenfurt on 29 May.

They will also play Portugal in a friendly in Lisbon on 1 June.

"These countries were chosen as sparring partners because their style of play is similar to that of our World Cup group opponents," the Cameroon FA said on its website.

The Indomitable Lions have been drawn in Group E alongside Netherlands, Denmark and Japan for the 2010 World Cup.





The tournament starts in South Africa on 11 June.



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Japan names squad for Serbian friendly

Japan's coach Takeshi Okada has named his 20 man squad for the match against Serbia on Wednesday.

Japan squad:

Goalkeepers: Seigo Narazaki (Nagoya Grampus), Eiji Kawashima (Kawasaki Frontale).

Defenders: Yuji Nakazawa (Yokohama F Marinos), Yuichi Komano (Jubilo Iwata),
Yasuyuki Konno (FC Tokyo), Yuzo Kurihara (Yokohama F Marinos), Yuhei Tokunaga (FC Tokyo) Yuto Nagatomo (FC Tokyo), Atsuto Uchida (Kashima Antlers).

Midfielders: Shunsuke Nakamura (Yokohama F Marinos), Junichi Inamoto (Kawasaki Frontale), Yasuhito Endo (Gamba Osaka), Naohiro Ishikawa (FC Tokyo),
Yuki Abe (Urawa Reds), Koji Yamase (Yokohama F Marinos).

Fowards: Keiji Tamada (Nagoya Grampus), Kisho Yano (Albirex Niigata), Shinji Okazaki (Shimizu S-Pulse), Shinzo Koroki (Kashima Antlers), Kensuke Nagai
(Fukuoka University).





Monday 5 April 2010

Serbia is to feature a largely domestic team in Japan friendly.

As Serbia prepare for the World Cup players from the Serbian domestic League are being given a chance to fight for a place in the squad.

Serbia's national football team featuring only players who appear for domestic clubs travelled yesterday to Osaka, Japan, where they take on the host national team on Wednesday.

The coach of the team, Javor boss Radovan Curcic, has called up 18 players for the friendly event, as many as eight of whom will have their debut in the Serbia shirt.

One of the more experienced players in the squad is Red Star right-back Pavle Ninkov, who believes Serbia will be able to be on par with the home nation.

- “This game will serve the purpose of enabling an opportunity for these players to stake their claim and try to impress Serbia boss Radomir Antic and I hope we take our chance. I am glad to be back on the national team, there are some fine players here and I am confident we will be able to take the game to the Japanese,” says Ninkov.





Nikola Beljic, OFK Beograd midfielder, will wait for his chance to make his debut in the red Serbia shirt.

- “Playing for the national team is both an honour and an obligation. I am sure the Serbian Superliga players will show their qualities and maybe impose our case in national team coach Antic’s World Cup squad plans. I will be up to us to prepare as best we can and justify our selection and live up to the recent success of the senior team,” said Beljic.

Red Star defender Milan Vilotic shares his teammate’s views, who is also to make his debut for the national team in the game against Japan.

- “I expect to give a fine performance in my debut match for the national team. I hope we all fit in well together and take on a Japan side who are in the midst of their pre-World Cup preparations. This team is the future of the Serbian national team and our job will be to show Antic he can count on us,” said Vilotic.

Darren Bent in search of World Cup spot

Darren Bent is cautious about winning a spot on England's World Cup squad despite his red hot form for Sunderland. Bent's 22 goals put him behind only Didiier Drogba (25) and Wayne Rooney (26) in the English Premier League scorers chart.

Sunderland striker Darren Bent scored twice against Tottenham Hotspur to take his goal tally to 23 this season but he has no illusions about his chances of winning an England place for the World Cup finals.

Bent missed out on a place in the squad for the 2006 World Cup finals but his good form will have been noted by England coach Fabio Capello.

Bent had an afternoon to remember against his former club on Saturday as Sunderland ended Spurs's five-match winning Premier League run with a 3-1 victory.

He opened the scoring with the season's fastest Premier League goal after 36 seconds, made it 2-0 from the penalty spot 20 minutes later then saw his former team-mate Heurelho Gomes save his next two penalties.





Only Wayne Rooney of Manchester United (26 goals) and Didier Drogba (25) have scored more times in the league than Bent this season.

Although he has scored more than England's other World Cup striker hopefuls -- Jermain Defoe, Peter Crouch, Emile Heskey and Carlton Cole -- the 24-year-old Bent is keeping an open mind about his chances of being selected when Capello names his 23-man squad at the beginning of June.



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Saturday 3 April 2010

Nigel De Jong will not rein in tough tackles

Netherlands defender Nigel De Jong has defended his bone crunching tackling style despite a warning from Netherlands national coach that he would be a walking Red Card at the World Cup if he continues with this style.

Nigel de Jong insists he will not curb his combative approach to the game, despite recent criticism.

The Manchester City midfielder has established a reputation for taking no prisoners, with the Dutchman prepared to put his body on the line every time he takes to the field.

However, the Netherlands international can, at times, overstep the mark, with a crunching challenge on USA international Stuart Holden in a recent friendly leaving the Bolton man with a broken leg.

Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk has called on De Jong to tone down his all-action displays, for fear of losing him to suspension during this summer's World Cup.

De Jong has no plans to heed that warning, though, with the 25-year-old adamant that he will not be changing his ways.





"It's difficult because I always give 100 per cent," he said.

"I spoke with the coach but he knows how I am as a player.

"But I also have to know that with international referees you can't do certain things, as you can in England. Over here, they will play on for things that get stopped in international games.

"I just have to focus on my game and be smart in certain situations on the pitch."

De Jong added: "English competition suits me better than German or Dutch at the moment, so I am happy to be here and willing to give 100 per cent again this weekend.

Thursday 1 April 2010

South Africa rally to draw with Paraguay

South Africa put in a credible performance in AsunciĆ³n as they held Paraguay to a 1-1 draw and had coach hailing the Bafana Bafana as "Lion Kings"

Carlos Alberto Parreira has called Bafana Bafana the “Lion Kings” after they came back to earn a credible 1-1 draw with Paraguay in Asuncion on Wednesday.South Africa were awful in the opening half hour or so, and deservedly went behind to a Marcelo Estigarribia header.

Bafana, however, were much improved after the break, as both coaches rang the changes, and Siphiwe Tshabalala thrashed home a wonderful left-footed drive to level the scores.“Paraguay were much better in the first half, we didn’t control the game as we would like,” said Parreira afterwards.





“In the second half we created more opportunities than them - we made good counter attacks and I believe the result is fair for what Paraguay have done in the first half, and for what we have done in the second half.”Lion Kings“We are the Lion Kings, we never give up. We were the better team in the second half and could have won.” Bafana captain Teko Modise, meanwhile, concurred with Parreira.

Paraguay were the better team in the first half, and made things difficult for us,” said Modise.“They started pressurising us and we couldn’t play. In the second half we became better and started having confidence. If we can show character like this away from home, imagine what we can do at home,” added the midfielder, in a clear reference to the 2010 World Cup.

Bafana will return to Sao Paulo on Thursday, and will play Brazilian club side Santos on Saturday in the final game of their month-long tour of South America. Bafana have also now decided to leave Brazil on Sunday, returning to Johannesburg on Monday, two days earlier than expected.On April 9, Parreira will then announce a squad for his next training camp in Germany, from April 13-28.


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Le Guen weighs up local players

Cameroon's coach Paul Le Guen is looking to local players to complement his squad ahead of the World Cup.

Paul Le Guen is broadening his net ahead of the World Cup and has called up 24 locally-based players to a training camp in Yaounde later this month. The five-day exercise, which is aimed at identifying possible new talent, will also have striker Francis Ambane, based at Algerian champions Entente Setif, and Alfred Mfongang, who plays for AS Vita Club in the Democratic Republic of Congo.







The Indomitable Lions team has long been dominated by players in Europe, but Le Guen had promised to pay more attention to the home-based talent that many of his predecessors were accused of neglecting.

Cameroon's squad at January's African Nations Cup finals was made up only of overseas-based players. They were eliminated in the quarter-finals.

At this year's World Cup in South Africa, Cameroon have been drawn in Group E with Denmark, Japan and Netherlands.

Rooney Injury scare is a sprain.

England and Manchester United breathed as sigh of relief as scans show Wayne Rooney's injury is not as bad as feared.

The nation had held its breath for 19 agonising hours.

But last night England's prayers seemed to have been answered.

And all the signs are that super-striker Wayne Rooney will be OK for the World Cup, despite a painful ankle injury.

Experts believe he has nothing more than a bad sprain - and could even be back in action within two to four weeks The Man United ace, 24, had looked worried and drawn after flying back from Germany after twisting his right ankle in Tuesday's 2-1 Champions League defeat by Bayern Munich.

It was feared he could join David Beckham and Ashley Cole on England's World Cup injury list.

But as he emerged after a scan at Bridgewater hospital in Whalley Range, Manchester, just before 5pm yesterday his relieved smile appeared to confirm that all was well.





United and England team medics were still waiting last night for the official results of the s c a n. B u t insiders say they are confident the injury will not keep him out of the game for long.

It is the second time Rooney has kept England fans on tenterhooks.


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