Monthly Archives: July 2010

Balotelli pleased by Premier League interest

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Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli has revealed that he is flattered by the recent speculation which has linked him with Premier League rivals Manchester United (12/5 to win the Premier League) and City.

The 19-year-old has been out of favour at the San Siro despite club president Massimo Moratti stating that they would not want to lose the player.

City (5/1 to win the Premier League) look the most likely to sign the youngster as manager Roberto Mancini worked with the player when he coached at the Italian giants.

Balotelli has stated that he would only stay at Inter if he was guaranteed regular first-team football.

He said: “I expect an important year for my career. Now I’m on vacation, I am resting and recharging for a good start to the season. If you want to know more, ask my agent Mino Raiola.

“(President Massimo) Moratti? It is nice that the president considers me an important part of the club, but I need to play. I cannot be important and not play,” he added.

Balotelli has not had the easiest of times at Inter after having a turbulent relationship with former boss Jose Mourinho the player also has had mixed reactions from the club’s fans.

The Italian had positive things to say about both Manchester clubs and admitted that he is unsure where he will be playing football in the future.

He said: “Roberto Mancini? He’s a great coach, I debuted in Serie A with him because he is a great friend.

“If he and (Sir Alex) Ferguson want me, it means I’m not as bad as I thought.

“United is a great club. They have not seen the real Balotelli, for sure I need to learn and achieve more goals. I want to win the Golden Ball in 2011. As for the future, I always say I don’t know,” he added.

New Inter boss Rafa Benitez will be looking to continue the outstanding season the club had last season after winning the a domestic double and the coveted Champions League title.

The San Siro club are keen to keep hold of their key players with the likes of Wesley Sneijder being linked with a move away from the Serie A champions.

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Cesc pleas for final spot

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Arsenal captain Cesc Fabregas says he is desperate to play some part in the World Cup final against Holland but claims he will understand if he is left out of the Spain side (8/15 World Cup winners).

The 23-year-old has been a bit part player in Spain’s run to Sunday’s final having been hampered by injuries and having a long list of talented players ahead of him.

The likes of Xavi, Andres Iniesta and Xabi Alonso have all been given preference in the middle of the part over Fabregas and Vicente del Bosque is unlikely to change that for the final.

Spain (21/20 to beat Holland in 90 minutes) looked finally back to their best in Wednesday’s semi-final victory over Germany, passing Joachim Low’s side into submission in a superb display of possession football.

Del Bosque’s side had struggled at times on their route to the final, losing to Switzerland in their first group match while stumbling through the knock out rounds against Portugal and Paraguay.

However, they looked in top form in Durban in mid week and will carry a lot of confidence into Sunday’s match against the unbeaten Dutch.

Spain came into the tournament as favourites having won the European championship two years ago, beating Germany in the final.

While they haven’t quite lived up to their previous billing a Fabregas-less outfit look in good shape for the final.

With Spain finally clicking into gear without Fabregas it seems certain that he will start on the bench in Soccer City.

The Arsenal star was tipped to start the semi-final against Germany before leg and shoulder injuries saw him start amongst the substitutes, del Bosque reluctant to risk the midfielder considering his previous injury concerns.

Having played so well against Germany and with no fresh injuries it looks as though the Spain coach will stick with the starting eleven, meaning Pedro (5/2 anytime goalscorer) will start ahead of Fernando Torres (7/4) again.

Fabregas admits it is unlikely he will start on Sunday but says he is just desperate to play any part in a World Cup final.

“I’m so proud Spain is in the World Cup final, but it means nothing if we don’t win it,” Fabregas told The Sun.

“I am desperate to play at least some part in tomorrow’s game.

“What player on the planet wouldn’t be? It’s everything we dream of from the moment we start kicking a ball to the moment we learn all about the world’s greatest football tournament.

“If I’m lucky enough to get a start, I will give everything I have. But if I have to start on the bench, then so be it. All I can pray for is that I get a chance to play some part of this unbelievable game.”

Fabregas started the Euro 2008 final against Germany in place of the injured David Villa having made a telling impact in the quarters and semi-finals.

However, he looks destine to be a bit part player in Sunday’s final despite his previous performances in major tournaments.

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Three Englishmen end on a high

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English referee Howard WebbEngland may have had a disastrous World Cup, but for three Englishmen the tournament will end on a high (England 9/1 to win Euro 2012).

Rotherham-born Howard Webb has been chosen to referee Sunday’s World Cup final between Spain and Holland in Johannesburg (Holland 13/5, draw 12/5, Spain 21/20).

The 38-year-old will be joined by his English assistants, Michael Mullarkey and Darren Cann.

Webb is the first Englishman to referee the final since Jack Taylor took charge of the Holland v West Germany game in 1974.

He has refereed three World Cup matches in South Africa and has neither shown a red card nor awarded a penalty.

However, Webb has handed out an average of 5.67 bookings per game – the second highest tally in the tournament.

Webb made his World Cup finals debut in Spain’s shock 1-0 defeat by Switzerland.

He was also in charge for Slovakia’s 3-2 victory against Italy and was praised for his handling of a dramatic finale to the match.

Taylor said Webb had been “almost perfect” in the three games he has officiated so far.

“I’ve known Howard for a long time,” Taylor told the BBC. “I’ve seen him as a young referee and I’ve seen him come through, I’ve seen his ability.

“He’s had three games and he’s been almost perfect.

“He’s fit, he’s strong, he’s diplomatic, he reads the game terribly well, in my opinion they couldn’t pick a better man.”

Webb’s achievement comes off the back of a highly successful season for him and his assistants after they officiated the Champions League final in May when Inter Milan beat Bayern Munich 2-0 in Madrid.

Premier League referees chief Mike Riley says those experiences mean all three men will be more than prepared for such a high-profile match.

“As a team they will be prepared for the challenges and I’m sure they will be more than looking forward to the occasion,” he told the BBC.

Webb, a former police officer from Rotherham, started officiating in the Northern Counties League in the mid-1990s.

He has been a Premier League referee since 2003 and took charge of the 2007 Carling Cup final and the 2009 FA Cup final.

One of Webb’s assistants, Mullarkey, recently revealed how Fifa training sessions had included preparation for the noise of the vuvuzelas in South Africa.

Mullarkey said: “When we’re doing our training exercises Fifa is actually playing recorded sounds of vuvuzelas through the speakers.

“For three hours a day we’re exposed to that sound which helps preparation.”

Meanwhile, Italian Roberto Rosetti quit refereeing on Thursday but said his decision had nothing to do with allowing a clearly offside goal in the World Cup.

The 42-year-old, who took charge of the Euro 2008 final, has opted to retire and become the referee designator for Serie B less than two weeks after Carlos Tevez’s goal was allowed to stand in Argentina’s 3-1 win over Mexico in the last 16.

“The disappointment of the World Cup did not influence my decision,” Rosetti said.

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“Penalty goals” ruled out by Blatter

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Sepp BlatterFIFA president Sepp Blatter has rejected any possibility of “penalty goals” being brought in following Luis Suarez’s handball that denied Ghana a place in the World Cup semi-finals (Uruguay 19/5 to beat Germany in third-place playoff).

But Blatter did say that any law changes being considered as a result of the striker’s actions would be discussed at the International FA Board in October.

Blatter also clarified that the October meeting would see the first discussion of goal-line technology rather than, as initially suggested by FIFA, later this month.

Blatter said: “That meeting in October is when we will discuss the question of goal-line technology and take on such situations as we have witnessed in this competition with Suarez in the last minute of the match between Uruguay and Ghana.”

He continued: “You have seen in this competition and in others that it’s so difficult to say if a ball is in or out.

“But if it is not in then no referee can declare it is a goal, this is definite.”

Blatter back-tracked on goal-line technology following Frank Lampard’s disallowed goal against Germany.

“The international board will reopen the discussion on the goal-line technology but this is not just to satisfy problems that have come up during this competition,” he said.

“We have already received from different parties new approaches to how such technology could be installed and the easiest way [to do so].

“We will have a meeting on July 20 in Cardiff and this meeting will not deal with goal-line technology but will put it on the agenda for the normal business meeting in October.”

Meanwhile, some Germans are calling for a public roasting of the oracle octopus who correctly picked the winner of all six of their national soccer team’s World Cup matches – including a bitter defeat to Spain on Wednesday.

Paul, a two-year-old octopus in a German aquarium, turned into a global celebrity for his ability to predict the winner of all Germany’s games.

“Nothing beats grilled octopus,” said Dolores Lusch, a Germany fan who works on a Berlin fish stall. “Cut him up in thin slices and grill him on all sides with a dash of lemon juice, olive oil and garlic on it. Delicious!”

The country was shocked and distraught when he picked Spain to win after tipping German wins over Argentina, England, Ghana and Australia.

German newspapers and websites were filled with suggestions of what to do with Paul.

“Throw him in the frying pan,” wrote the Berliner Kurier newspaper in a popular sentiment echoed by Die Welt, Sueddeutsche Zeitung, the Hamburger Abendblatt and other newspapers.

The octopus, considered by some to be the most intelligent of all invertebrates, gets the choice of picking food from two different transparent containers lowered into his tank – one with a German flag on it and one with the opponent’s flag.

The container Paul opens first is regarded as his pick.

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Spain can rock Holland – Torres

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Spain striker Fernando Torres has revealed La Roja have been inspired all the way to the World Cup final in South Africa by Leicester rockers Kasabian (Spain 8/15f – World Cup Outright).

Torres and his Euro 2008-winning team-mates have been gearing themselves up before their matches by listening to Kasabian’s debut album which blares out in the dressing room right up until the players emerge for the national anthems.

And Liverpool star Torres is hoping to catch the band in action after the World Cup, hopefully with a winner’s medal in his pocket following Sunday’s final clash against Holland at Soccer City, Johannesburg.

He told The Sun: “Club Foot has got us to the final, so I would like to give a big thanks to Kasabian.

“Of course we will be playing it before the final against Holland on Sunday.

“So if the band are sitting watching the game then they will know that at about 7.20pm we will be getting pumped up to their most classic track.

“If we win the World Cup I would like to present them with a Spain shirt signed by all of us lads because their music has been a big inspiration to us in the dressing room.

“We will all come to watch them.”

Torres is sweating on his place in Spain’s XI for the game against the Dutch after finding himself on the bench for the semi-final win over Germany on Wednesday night.

Spain boss Vicente del Bosque had claimed Torres would start in midweek but he sprang a surprise and is now keeping his cards close to his chest over Sunday’s selection (Torres 7/1 – Fifa Man of the Match).

The wily 59-year-old, who scored one goal for Spain during 18 appearances between 1975 and 1980, said: “I don’t know if he [Torres] will be in the line-up.”

Del Bosque added: “It was a difficult choice. Torres has been helping us all along. His work is important even if it is not noticed. He is good at occupying the centre-backs.

“I didn’t talk to him before I announced the line-up (against Germany). But he is a very important part of the team. He is one of the key members of the squad and a lovely guy.”

Key Spain defender Carles Puyol, 32, who scored the winner against Germany in the semi-finals, says he will decide on his international future after the final.

Spain have won all of their knockout games 1-0 at the World Cup – against Portugal, Paraguay and Germany – and they can be backed at 9/2 to beat Holland by the same scoreline.

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Hargreaves blow for United

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Owen Hargreaves will miss the start of Manchester United’s bid to wrestle the Premier League title (United 12/5 – Premier League Outright) back from Chelsea next season after suffering an injury setback.

The 29-year-old midfielder, who United signed from Bayern Munich for £17million in 2007, only returned from an 18-month knee injury absence at the end of last season when he featured in several reserve-team matches and made a three-minute substitute appearance in the 1-0 Premier League win at Sunderland.

However, while Hargreaves’ return was too late for him to be considered for Fabio Capello’s England squad for the ill-fated World Cup campaign in South Africa, it was hoped that he would be fit to start the new league season when newly-promoted Newcastle visit Old Trafford (United 1/5, Newcastle 10/1, draw 9/2 – 90 Minutes) in mid-August. But United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has now revealed that Hargreaves picked up a fresh problem in training and will miss the club’s upcoming pre-season tour of America in order to see a specialist in the States.

“He will not be ready for the start of the season,” Ferguson told MUTV. “I do not know when he will be back.”

The disappointing news on Hargreaves follows on from the news that central defender Rio Ferdinand will also miss the Newcastle match on Monday August 16 due to the knee injury he picked up in training ahead of England’s first World Cup group stage match with the United States in June.

Ferguson added: “Rio will probably not make the start of the season. It will be close. It depends on his progress over the next few weeks.”

There is some good news for United fans as Antonio Valencia, Nani and Michael Owen should all be fit for the new campaign after recovering from respective hamstring, shoulder and hamstring problems, while Anderson is making good progress in recovering from the cruciate knee injury he suffered last September.

United depart for their training camp in Chicago on Monday.

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Mancini wants trophies at City

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Roberto Mancini is expecting his Manchester City (5/1 to win Premier League title) side to be a real success and win trophies this season after his summer spending spree.

Twelve months ago, his predecessor Mark Hughes had spent huge sums of money bringing the likes of Gareth Barry, Emmanuel Adebayor and Joleon Lescott to the club.

City were expected to battle for the title but a few months on Hughes was sacked, Mancini brought in and the club ended the season outside the Premier League top four.

After a long battle they were pipped to fourth spot and Champions League qualification by Spurs (33/1 to win the Premier League) though the club’s fans can take solace in the fact they lost the same amount of games as their rivals Manchester United throughout the season and it was too many draws which led to their downfall.

This summer, Mancini has already spent around £60 million bringing in Jerome Boateng, Yaya Toure and David Silva and claims all three are “good players” and a real “investment for the club”.

The Italian manager knows his side will battle both domestically and in the Europa League next season and he has issued a rallying cry by declaring he wants his players to bring silverware back to Eastlands next season.

“I think it will be a good season for us. I think we have a squad for success, and our supporters deserve this,” said Mancini.

“Up to now we have got Boateng, Yaya Toure and David Silva, all three of them good players. And Yaya has fantastic experience with Barcelona, where he won a lot of trophies.

“We need to have the players if we want to reduce the gap with the other teams. We need to bring in players with good quality. Now it is time that some trophies came to this club.”

Mancini has been linked with a number of players this summer and it looks like his spending may not end anytime soon.

One of his reported targets is Lazio defender Aleksandar Kolarov, also a player known to be admired by Jose Mourinho at Real Madrid, however the Italian club’s president has said he wants £18.7 million for the Serbia international.

Another player strongly linked with City is Inter Milan striker Mario Balotelli, who Mancini managed during his time at the San Siro.

City and also neighbours Manchester United (12/5 to win Premier League title) are interested in the 19-year-old, but if it came to a bidding war between the two rivals it is likely that Mancini would win the day.

Whatever happens, it seems City are prepared to spend big to go for the Premier League title, which could see a lot of their rivals nervously looking at Eastlands come the start of the season.

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Holloway admits Blackpool transfer fears

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Blackpool manager Ian Holloway says he is looking to add nine players to his squad (6/4 to win their opening match against Wigan) before the start of the season, but admits it is going to prove very difficult.

Following last season’s play-off success, the Tangerines boss has spent all summer trying to add new faces to his squad.

But without a massive transfer kitty and with one eye on the future, Blackpool have found it hard to sign new players as they prepare for their first Premier League campaign.

So far, the Premier League new-boys have not be able to make any signings, with just five weeks to go until the start of the new campaign.

Holloway admits that Blackpool did not plan to go up last season and that is another reason why they have struggled to make an impact in the summer transfer window.

The former QPR boss told the Blackpool Gazette: “I have to try to get myself six to nine extra players because I’ve only got 16 at the moment and we need a squad of 25.

“We might not get to 25 and I hope we don’t have any injuries or suspensions before January because that could kill us.”

Holloway has conceded that Blackpool only have one scout, which has made it difficult for the Tangerines to check out players in Europe and further afield.

The manager has already indicated that he will look to bring in younger players and try and build for the future, with big-money signings out of the question.

Holloway added: “We’ve never watched a player who is worth a million quid. So how on earth can we now try and get a player – in fact nine of them – to keep us in the Premier League?

“That’s the reality of it. Until you get to the top flight you haven’t got the money to put these structures in place. So it’s a vicious circle.”

Blackpool kick-off the new season with a home clash against Lancashire rivals Wigan (9/1 to win 2-0 at Bloomfield Road) on Saturday August 14, before an away trip to Arsenal on August 21.

Holloway is keen to keep the team spirit at the same level as last season and that means looking to bring in a certain type of player.

The manager concluded: “What I want to do is get the characters right because I don’t want to lose what we’ve got here, I think it’s really special.

“They’ll have to come for the right reason, which isn’t their wage packet – it’ll be wanting to play in the Premiership for Blackpool.”

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The best team won…

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German goalkeeper Manuel Neuer admitted the best team won on the night as his team were beaten 1-0 by Spain in the World Cup semi-final (Germany 7/10 to beat Uruguay in third place play-off).

Neuer was powerless to stop Carles Puyol’s 73rd minute bullet header on a night the Germans were clearly below par.

“It’s a big disappointment for us. We could have won but we didn’t, but this is football,” Neuer told the press after the game.

“Now we are in the third place play-off, but we would have preferred to be in the final.”

Neuer said his side just didn’t do enough to win the game.

“We had little courage and little chances, we attacked more in other games, but we have to look forward now,” he added.

“Spain left us little spaces, and had lots of chances, they deservedly beat us. I wish them the best for the final.”

Germany captain Philipp Lahm, who was captaining the side in Michael Ballack’s absence, admitted after the full-time whistle Spain deserved to progress.

“It was very difficult tonight,” said the Bayern Munich defender.

“We knew Spain were a favourite to win the tournament. Spain is a very strong team.

“We didn’t play courageously enough in the first half. We had a chance in the second but weren’t able to use it.

“It’s a huge disappointment. We wanted to do a lot and didn’t succeed.”

Meanwhile, the German press went into mourning after the game as their side lost out on the chance to win their first title since 1990.

“It’s finished. It’s over. We’re out,” cried Germany’s most-read paper, Bild.

“The whole of Germany is now upset and tears are flowing up and down the country,” the paper said, adding, with unusual fairness: “No matter how tough it may be to accept, the defeat was deserved.”

“Our guys tried everything. But unfortunately, we just didn’t get the right chances. These Spanish, we have to admit, were simply too good for us.”

“1-0. Germany weeps” wrote the Hamburger Abendblatt.

“The fairy-tale is over” said weekly Die Zeit on its website.

Frankfurter Allgemeine said that Germany’s “dream journey” had ended and Spiegel magazine said on its website “Spain destroys Germany’s dreams of reaching a final.”

Spiegel online judged that the team were “anxious, nervous and played as if hindered.”

The Sueddeutsche Zeitung was also critical of Joachim Loew’s players.

“The German team showed too much respect for the Spanish and weren’t able to push their opponents back enough.”

Berlin’s “BZ” chose to look more optimistically towards the future, with hopes high for Germany’s young team that probably exceeded expectations in this World Cup.

“Shame, boys. But you’ll be back,” it said on its website.

“It was still a great World Cup.”

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Kuyt’s World Cup dream

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Dirk Kuyt is confident Holland are finally about to reach the end of their long journey to World Cup glory (5/4 to win the tournament outright).

Beaten finalists in 1974 and 1978, the Dutch get their third shot at football’s greatest prize at Soccer City on Sunday when they will tackle either Germany or Spain following Tuesday night’s 3-2 defeat of Uruguay.

And Kuyt is determined to ensure it is third time lucky for the ‘Oranje’.

“After a long journey we are in the final,” said the Liverpool star.

“We are so close to writing history. This is the third time we have reached the final. Now we have to win it.”

Kuyt admitted it was difficult to put his emotions into words at the final whistle.

Holland had gone in front thanks to a blistering strike from captain Giovanni van Bronckhorst, only to be pegged back by Diego Forlan just before half-time.

For a decent period in the second half, the South Americans looked the more likely winners.

However, just as it appeared there was no way through for the Dutch, Wesley Sneijder’s incredible year took another twist when he threaded a shot through a crowd of bodies and into the Uruguay net.

Three minutes later, Kuyt crossed for Arjen Robben, whose precise header also went in off the post, and Holland were through.

“What has happened is unbelievable. It is a bit unreal,” said Kuyt.

“We felt before the tournament we had the quality in the team to win it but now it is an incredible feeling.”

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