Blow for Slovakia as Miroslav Karkhan is ruled out from finals

Slovakia midfielder Miroslav Karhan will miss the World Cup due to an Achilles tendon injury.

Karhan, who first played for Slovakia in 1995, has 13 goals in 96 appearances for his country. He currently plays for German club Mainz.

"There's a little tear which means I can't take part in the tournament," said Karhan, according to a report on FIFA's website. "I have a three-week break ahead of me and the World Cup begins in two weeks. So my withdrawal is final."

---

---

Slovakia plays New Zealand on June 15 in its World Cup opener, and also plays Italy and Paraguay in Group F.

Chile beat Isreal 3-0 in World Cup warm up

Chile maintained their winning rhythm as they prepare for the World Cup finals after securing a 2-0 win over Israel, thanks a first half strike from Humberto Suazo and second half goals from Alexis Sanchez and Rodrigo Tello.

Following their 1-0 win over Northern Ireland in Chillan earlier on Sunday, Marcelo Bielsa's side made the journey west to Concepcion for their second friendly of the day as Bielsa fielded a far stronger lineup for the test from Luis Fernandez's side.
The hosts were always in control on a misty night at the Estadio Municipal de Concepcion and could have gone in front minutes before Suazo found the net.

The Zaragoza front man got through one on one with Dudu Aouate but the veteran goalkeeper did enough to claim the ball at Suazo's feet when a goal seemed certain.
Suazo did score two minutes later as Jorge Valdivia carved open the Israeli defence, placing an excellent ball into the path of the excellent Carlos Carmona down the right. Both Carmona and Suazo looked suspiciously offside but the Reggina man squared it to Suazo who made no mistake smashing it home from eight yards as Aouate tried in vain to block.

In a first half of few chances Jean Beausejour had a great opportunity to extend Chile's lead but opted to take a touch when it called for a first time shot as la Roja's players seemed to be queuing up to strike inside the Israeli penalty box.

---

---

---

At the other end, Claudio Bravo was merely a spectator as Israel failed to threaten. Auoate was called into action once again just before the interval making a smart one-handed save low to his right from Valdivia's well struck 25-yard free kick.

After the break the South Americans continued to probe with some promising build up play and their endeavours were rewarded five minutes in when Alexis Sanchez added to the brace he hit against Zambia by netting a fine solo effort.

Racing through the middle the Udinese striker was afforded too much time and space and made the Israeli's pay unleashing a low drive which sailed past the outstretched Aouate from 20 yards.

Both coaches made changes in the second half and while Chile continued to dominate Aouate was never really stretched until the final minute when Tello struck Chile's third, pouncing on a poor headed clearance to volley home from 22 yards to seal a convincing win.

The South Americans now have just one remaining warm-up game against New Zealand before taking on Honduras in their opening group game on June 16.

Read more about ...

Serbian fans riot after New Zealand loss

Serbia lost 1-0 to New Zealand in a friendly played in Austria. The result would be of the concern to Serbian fans and a big boost to New Zealand's.

Serbia's stand-in captain Nemanja Vidic had to appeal for calm over the microphone as his country's fans rioted during the second-half of a 1-0 World Cup warm-up defeat by New Zealand yesterday. Around 10,000 Serbia fans, mostly expatriates living in Austria, attended the match and trouble erupted in the second half when they threw burning flares, bottles and missiles on to the pitch.

---

---

Several invaded the pitch and had to be dragged away by security before Manchester United's Vidic stepped in to urge calm as the match officials and New Zealand's players were getting ready to walk off. The match was held up for several minutes before restarting.

The ugly scenes compounded a miserable afternoon for Serbia with New Zealand's Shane Smeltz scoring the only goal in the 22nd minute.

Fabio Cannavaro to quit International football after World Cup.

Fabio Cannavaro captain of the Italian side is hoping for a glorious end to his international career at the World Cup in June.

Cannavaro has announced he will retire from international football after captaining Italy at the World Cup. The 36-year-old, who lifted the trophy in 2006, has been capped a record 132 times for Italy.

"They already say I'm too old, so I can only imagine what they would say in August," Cannavaro said.

The Juventus veteran defender took over the captaincy after Paolo Maldini left the national team in 2002. Cannavaro missed Euro 2008 because of injury but is returning to the side for this summer's tournament in South Africa. He has played for the national team for 13 years, with his greatest moment coming four years ago in Germany when leading Italy to the title.

---

---

Even better for Cannavaro was that he was voted the Fifa World Player of the Year.

"We're hoping to bring home the cup again, this time to keep it," said Cannavaro, who has been involved alongside 28 Serie A players in a three-day training camp held by the Italy coach, Marcello Lippi, in Rome.

Italy will face Paraguay, New Zealand and Slovakia in Group F in South Africa this summer.

---

Read more about Fabio Cannavaro to quit International football after World Cup...

Ryan Nielsen: Don't write New Zealand off

New Zealand's captain talks tough as his team head for their toughest competitive outing in 18 years.

New Zealand captain Ryan Nelsen believes his side are ready to announce themselves on the world stage, and have no plans to be World Cup whipping boys in South Africa this summer.

---

---

The All Whites qualified for their first finals since 1982 after beating Bahrain in a play-off in November, but they are the third-worst ranked team at the finals, with their FIFA world ranking of 79 higher only than hosts South Africa and North Korea.

However, Nelsen reckons that New Zealand have what it takes to defy their 'minnows' status, though he admits a bit of luck may be needed.

"When you look at someone like North Korea, we are obviously quite happy with our group, though France South Africa and Paraguay are all good teams,'' he said. "But we are competitive now, I think in New Zealand teams in the past haven't had many goalscorers or too much experience but I think we've got quite a bit of that that now.

---

Read more about Ryan Nielsen don't write New Zealand off ...

New Zealand qualification proves cash bonanza for

New Zealand' shock qualification for the World Cup has proved a money spinnner for the country's football Assocaition.

The All-Whites as the Kiwi football team is known booked their place with victory over Bahrain in their qualifying play-off second leg.

And they are set to net about NZ$10m ($7.43m; £4.45m) for qualifying for next year's finals in South Africa.

Talks with potential sponsors should also now kick on after they qualified for the first time since 1982.

The nation booked their place after Rory Fallon's header gave them a 1-0 victory over Bahrain in their Asia-Oceania playoff in Wellington on Saturday.

"We were cautious about having a big windfall and going crazy [because] you've got a lot of money and you can create a lot of short-term activity and then the money runs out," NZF chief executive Michael Glading told Reuters.

"We're very much thinking about long term."

Although the exact amount of cash the football association will get from world football governing body Fifa has not been determined at present, the country is budgeting for a NZ$10m windfall.