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Inter target Benitez

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Inter Milan president Massimo Moratti has revealed that the Italian giants are looking at Rafa Benitez (Liverpool 10/1 to win the Premier League) to be their next manager.

Moratti is currently scouting for a replacement for Jose Mourinho and the former Liverpool boss is being heavily linked with the job at the San Siro.

Benitez left the manager’s position at Anfield on Thursday and was reportedly given a £6m compensation package after his side were unable to qualify for the Champions League.

According to Moratti, talks with the former Valencia manager could happen as soon as next week.

He said:  “I can only speak highly of him, because he is very talented.

“It’s true, we are leaning towards Benitez and in the next few days we’ll decide.”

Inter did the treble last season after winning the domestic cup, Serie A and the Champions League, beating Bayern Munich in the final.

Moratti will be looking for a manager who can continue the success that the club experienced under Mourinho, who has taken the job at Spanish giants Real Madrid.

He said: “I know Benitez has a good record against Jose Mourinho, I think he’s beaten him five times.

“That’s a sign he does his research, works well and above all does not get the big games wrong.

“It is also important that he has already made his mark in Europe. We want to achieve more in this area,” he added.

Meanwhile Liverpool are looking to fill the role left by Benitez, with a number of big names being linked with the job at Anfield.

Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson has declared his interest in the job after revealing he has been a lifelong fan of the club. Eriksson is 11/1 to be the next Permanent Liverpool manager.

Tottenham gaffer Harry Redknapp (9/1) has also been linked with the Merseyside club but is unlikely to leave the London club after helping the side reach Champions League qualification ahead of Liverpool.

Roy Hodgson (9/4f) is a likely candidate for the job, having helped Fulham reach the Europa League final. He has been linked with a move to a bigger club since the end of the domestic season.

Whoever takes over at Anfield will need to try and keep hold of the club’s top players as captain Steven Gerrard and prolific goalscorer Fernando Torres (14/1 to be top goalscorer at the World Cup) have been linked with moves to other clubs.

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Chelsea ready to fight for star

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Chelsea midfielder Joe ColeChelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins says the Blues (13/8 2010/2011 Premier League champions) are desperate to try and keep Joe Cole at Stamford Bridge.

The 28-year-old is set to see his contract expire with the west London outfit at the end of June and there are plenty of clubs interested in securing his services should he fail to negotiate a new deal with Chelsea.

The likes of Manchester United, West Ham, Tottenham and Arsenal have all been linked with a move for the England (13/2 to win the World Cup) international, who is stalling over signing a new contract due to money issues.

Cole allegedly wants to see his weekly pay rise from £80,000 to £100,000, a sum Chelsea are unwilling to match.

It seems unlikely that any of the other clubs believed to be interested in Cole would be prepared to match his wage demands and as such he may have to settle for what the Blues are offering.

However, having been used sparingly by manager Carlo Ancelotti last season, Cole might see his future lying elsewhere.

Manchester United (2/1 2010/11 Premier League champions) have long been credited with an interest in the former West Ham (1500/1) youngster, although it could cost them a bit to persuade him to move out of London.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp has said he thought the club couldn’t afford Cole’s wage demands, and West Ham would appear to be in a similar boat with their financial troubles.

Arsenal looks the most likely destination for Cole and Gunners boss Arsene Wenger has previously admitted the proposition of signing Cole was “interesting”.

The north London club are desperate to strengthen their side ahead of the new season having failed to claim any silverware since their 2005 FA Cup success.

With captain Cesc Fabregas reportedly on the verge of leaving, Wenger could be handed a big transfer budget to try and replace the Spaniard, with Cole a possible candidate to try and fill the void left by Fabergas.

However, any ideas Arsenal have about signing the playmaker could be stopped in their tracks following Wilkins’ comments.

He says the Blues are still fighting to keep Cole and would be very happy to see him stay at Stamford Bridge.

“We’ve obviously been in dialogue with Joe for months now and it’s pretty evident that Carlo and myself would love Joe to stay but it’s down now to the club to see what we can do,” said Wilkins.

“We sincerely hope Joe stays with us – he’s a smashing guy and he’s a wonderful footballer so we’ll keep our fingers crossed.”

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Lampard proud of role

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Frank Lampard (5/1 to be top England goalscorer) has spoken of his disappointment for teammate and captain Rio Ferdinand, as well as his delight in being promoted to vice-captain.

The Chelsea midfielder has profited from Ferdinand’s enforced absence through a knee ligament injury, earning Fabio Capello’s nod to be vice-captain once Steven Gerrard was named as Ferdinand’s replacement (13/8 for any England game to go to penalties).

Lampard said: “I was told by the manager and (assistant) Franco Baldini yesterday and I am very proud of that.

“Obviously I am very disappointed for Rio. He is a mate.

“But what can I do? I shall just try to give my input as a vice-captain.”

Lampard has always been close to Ferdinand and offered words of consolation to him.

“I am very disappointed for him to say the least,” said Lampard.

“I spoke to him last night and he is obviously very down.

“He is such a good mate and for this to happen in the build-up to the biggest tournament made me feel sick in my stomach.”

Lampard described the incident when Ferdinand fell as “a freak”. But he admitted he was immediately concerned about the impact it would have.

“I was fearful for him because you could see the pain of the fall but also there was an element of fear,” he said.

“We all understand that. We’ve all had moments during our club careers as well where there’s big games coming up and you feel you might have done something to put you out of that game.

“I understood straight away that it was potentially a bad one and then it was fingers crossed for the scan and obviously it turned out to be bad.”

USA coach Bob Bradley was taking no satisfaction from Ferdinand’s withdrawal, despite it giving his side something of a tonic ahead of their fixture next Saturday.

“Whenever you get close to a World Cup and see players pick up late injuries and miss out, then I think all players, all coaches, everyone in the game, feels bad when that happens,” said Bradley.

When a player like Rio Ferdinand goes down injured, when there is a question mark against Didier Drogba etc, these are things you don’t want to see.”

Meanwhile, Gareth Barry was able to train on his own on Saturday as Capello gives the Manchester City man every opportunity to prove himself fit following an ankle injury.

Capello hopes the 29-year-old will be able to train properly immediately after the United States encounter and be available for the second game against Algeria in Cape Town on June 18.

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Villa hails Spain consistency

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Spain striker David VillaStriker David Villa insists it is a case of evolution and not revolution as Spain look to add World Cup glory to their Euro 2008 title (Villa 11/8 – Top Spain Goalscorer).

After years of under-achievement, Spain finally cast off their reputation to win the European Championships two years ago, with Villa ending up as top scorer with four goals to his name although he missed the final with a thigh problem.

Spain have been drawn in Group H alongside Switzerland, Honduras and Chile, with Villa, who joined Barcelona from Valencia earlier in the summer, admitting it is somewhat of a voyage into the unknown (Spain 2/9 to win their group).

The 28-year-old told FIFA’s website: “We could have been drawn against theoretically tougher opponents, but they’re still going make life difficult for us.

“We don’t know much about Honduras, but they’re a solid unit and deserved to reach the World Cup.

“Switzerland are young, dynamic and play a more European style. In my view, Chile are the most dangerous group rivals given their great performance in South American Zone qualifying.

“They’re a very compact team, very competitive and also very dangerous going forward.”

Spain’s Euro 2008-winning squad featured the likes of Iker Casillas, Xavi, Andres Iniesta, Carles Puyol, David Silva and Fernando Torres, and the vast majority of Luis Aragones’ squad are on board again under Vicente del Bosque.

The new faces are Victor Valdes, Gerard Pique, Juan Mata, Javi Martinez, Jesus Navas, Pedro Rodriguez and Fernando Llorente – and Villa claims the squad is a settled place to be ahead of the World Cup.

He added: “A few things have been tweaked, but the structure of the team remains intact.

“We’ve got plenty of football still in us, a lot of seasons still to play together and we’ve already won trophies. This team is a continuation of the previous one.”

Villa (8/1f) looks set to partner Liverpool’s Torres (14/1) up front and the Barcelona man claims it’s a marriage made in heaven.

Villa revealed: “We’ve been playing together for a long time now. The fact that we get on well together makes a difference out on the field.

“That’s not vital because at the end of the day you only really need to click on the pitch, but because we’re friends it makes everything very positive.

“The way he plays really brings the best out of me and vice-versa. We’ve got a good partnership and have been proving that for some time.”

Only Germany in 1974 have followed up a European Championships win with a World Cup victory.

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Practice not perfect for James

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England goalkeeper David JamesDavid James believes practicing penalties for too long can be counter-productive despite England’s poor record in tournament shoot-outs (England 13/2 to win World Cup).

England last reached the semi-finals of the World Cup under the late great Sir Bobby Robson back in 1990 but fell foul of a penalty shoot-out, with Chris Waddle infamously blazing high over the bar from 12 yards to send West Germany into the final.

Six years later at Euro 96, Terry Venables’ vintage managed to beat Spain in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out but again Germany were too good from the spot in the last four, with Gareth Southgate this time the culprit.

The 1998 World Cup was another tale of woe as Paul Ince and David Batty both missed to hand Argentina a passage to the last four, while Portugal advanced to the semi-finals of Euro 2004 after Darius Vassell failed to convert when the shoot-out had reached sudden death.

It was the same story at the 2006 World Cup as Cristiano Ronaldo netted to send England crashing out once again via the lottery of the spot kick.

Following the disappointment of every defeat by penalties the press question whether the players actually practice the art of scoring from the spot.

James, who may well have the job of trying to save penalties at some stage in South Africa, admitted that the current squad has been ordered to practice from 12 yards but he feels that it should not be overdone, for fear of affecting a player’s mindset when it comes to the real thing.

“People were always asking why England did not practice penalties more and, under Mr Capello, we have done,” he told The Sun. “If there’s the potential for penalty shoot-outs I’m 100 per cent confident everyone will be well versed.

“But it’s not always as simple as just spending hours practicing – that can complicate matters. If a penalty taker practices with the same keeper, the keeper starts reading and saving them.

“Then you’ve got your penalty taker developing a complex because he is not scoring them and your keeper is completely thrown when someone new takes a shot at him.”

There are a number of betting opportunities involving penalties for the World Cup, and England to exit the tournament on penalties can be backed at 3/1, while England to lose to Germany on penalties trades at 25/1.

England to lose the final on penalties is available at 33/1.

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Messi dreaming of World Cup win

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Argentina and Barcelona's Lionel MessiLionel Messi has admitted he still has one dream left to fulfil as he aims to help Argentina (13/8 top South American team) win their first world title since 1986.

The 22-year-old world player of the year will be one of the stars on show at this year’s tournament in South Africa having enjoyed a remarkable four years since Germany 2006.

Since then, Messi has become a super star, helping Barcelona to countless domestic and European prizes as he firmly established himself amongst the world’s elite.

Despite having won the Champions League, the Copa del Rey and La Liga, Messi says he is still as hungry as ever for success, especially when it comes to the World Cup.

The diminutive forward, nicknamed the flea in Spain, is likely to be leading the line for Argentina (13/2 World Cup winners) when the tournament kicks off.

La Albiceleste’s coach Diego Maradona is likely to start with three up front, with Messi to be paired with two of Diego Milito, Carlos Tevez, Gonzalo Higuain or Sergio Aguero.

While Messi is expected to start, there had been points in qualifying where Argentinean’s were calling for Messi to be dropped from the side after he failed to replicate his club form at international level.

While Messi has failed to shed any light on why he hasn’t been able to sparkle on the world stage for Argentina, there are those who believe the forward has fallen out with Maradona, which has affected his form for the South American nation.

Despite the problems in qualifying Messi had to endure, he is still full of confidence that he will be able to steer Argentina to world glory.

“The qualifiers are behind us now,” he says. “For one reason or another we found it tough and we had to put a lot of hard work in. This is totally different, though. Argentina are always going to be one of the favourites.

“We’ve got some fantastic players and we are a great national team that’s always right in there competing for trophies.”

Argentinean supporters will expect their nation to cruise through their group having been drawn alongside Nigeria, South Korea and Greece.

Despite being the heavy favourites to top the group, Messi (10/1 to be World Cup top goalscorer) is taking nothing for granted and believes it will be tough going.

“There are no pushovers in the World Cup. I saw Nigeria at the African Cup of Nations and they are a typical African team with good and physically strong players. We played Côte d’Ivoire in Germany and they [Nigeria] will be a similar proposition,” he added.

“I haven’t seen much of Korea Republic and Greece but to win games, you have to go out and play them. We have confidence in our ability, though, and we feel we can get through the group comfortably enough.”

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Gerrard prepared for penalties

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Newly-appointed England captain Steven Gerrard feels that his side are fated to be involved in a penalty shootout at some point in the World Cup and he hopes he will handle the pressure (7/1 to win the World Cup).

The Liverpool midfielder was named as captain after Rio Ferdinand was ruled out of the tournament when he picked up a knee ligament injury in the first training session since the team landed in South Africa.

Gerrard believes that penalties are inevitable if the side make it past the group stages of the competition.

He said: “I’ve got a feeling we might have to go to penalties at some point and as a player going into a World Cup,  you’ve got to be prepared for a shoot-out, it’s as simple as that.

“The games when you get further into a tournament are so tight. Hopefully we get a bit more luck this time – and I take a better penalty.”

Gerrard missed a penalty in the defeat against Portugal in the quarter-finals of the competition which was just one of many spot-kick heartbreaks for the Three Lions in major tournaments.

Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard is England’s regular spot-kick taker but he has not been able to convert his last two penalties – the first was against Portsmouth in the FA Cup final at Wembley with the second in the pre-tournament friendly with Japan.

Gerrard believes that is impossible to replicate the pressure that is placed on a player during a penalty shootout.

He said: “When you practise penalties in training you pick a ball up and shoot within a few seconds.

“But in the World Cup… what is it, a 30-second walk from the half-way line when you’ve got millions and millions of viewers back home wanting you to score? You can’t prepare for that.

“What you can do is be ready and not shy away from it and have the bottle to step up there for another go – especially when you’ve missed one before. I’ll be ready.”

England are currently preparing for their opening match of the World Cup against USA on June 12 (England 4/9 draw 3/1 USA 6/1 – match betting).

Gareth Barry has taken part in his second day of training since coming back from the ankle injury he picked playing for Manchester City against Tottenham.

The Three Lions will be hoping for no more injury worries ahead of that first game against USA before they take on Algeria and Slovenia in Group C.

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Drogba injury rocks Ivory Coast

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Ivory Coast (33/1 to win the World Cup) have been rocked by the news that star striker Didier Drogba will miss this summer’s World Cup tournament in South Africa after suffering a broken right arm in a pre-tournament friendly against Japan.

The striker was helped off the pitch having collided with Marcus Tulio Tanaka and according to Manchester City defender Kolo Toure the player’s “World Cup is finished.”

It was originally believed that the player had fractured his right elbow but later reports showed that their was a break in the right arm.

Drogba had scored the Ivoirian’s first goal in the match after his free-kick was deflected past the keeper before he went in for a challenge with Tanaka.

After the match former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson was very concerned with his star player’s condition he said: “It’s an elbow injury. How bad it is, I don’t know. He had a lot of pain.

“Of course I’m worried. He’s captain and one of the world’s best players,” he added.

Although Eriksson was devastated by the news of the injury, he did not believe that it was a bad challenge by the Japanese player.

He said: “It was unlucky. It wasn’t bad or stupid. He didn’t want to hurt anyone. Football is a game of contact,” added Eriksson.

Drogba is a key player for the African side who have been seen as the strongest team from the continent ahead of the tournament.

The 32-year-old has been a major player for the national side and for his club Chelsea.

The Blues won the Premier League title from rivals Manchester United and were victorious in the final of the FA Cup against Portsmouth.

This was the first domestic double in the club’s 105 year history, a season in which Drogba scored 29 Premier League goals, winning the golden boot award.

Ivory Coast are in Group G also known as the ‘group of death’ as they face Portugal (Ivory Coast 9/4, draw, 23/10, Portugal 11/10 in the match betting), North Korea and Brazil.

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Dawson admits to crazy day

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Michael Dawson has been forced to make a hasty change of plans for the summer after being called up to the England (7/1 in the outright winner market) squad for the World Cup, after Rio Ferdinand was ruled out of the tournament with a knee injury.

The Tottenham centre-back had been preparing his holiday plans after getting the chop from Fabio Capello’s 30-man preliminary squad, when the final 23 was announced on Tuesday.

However during England’s first training session in South Africa, captain Ferdinand suffered an injury to his left knee ligaments following a tackle from Emile Heskey, and after a trip to the hospital, the Manchester United star’s World Cup dream is now over.

Dawson had been asked if he was available while Ferdinand was undergoing scans, and has now been called over to South Africa following confirmation of the bad news.

“It’s a crazy game and things can change in a split second,” Dawson told Tottenham’s official website.

“One minute I’m trying to arrange my holiday, then I get a call asking if I was on holiday because Rio had pulled out of training.

“I said ‘no’ and then I was just waiting by the phone before getting a call saying I would be picked up in an hour. It’s been a crazy day.”

Ferdinand had been about to take part in his fourth World Cup, with the added honour this time around of actually skippering the side, and Dawson knows that there will be no words to make the devastation of missing the sport’s biggest tournament go away.

“For Rio to get injured, there would be no worse feeling for him as a player. To miss the biggest tournament in the world as the captain, I feel for him,” said Dawson.

“I missed the Carling Cup final in 2008, and there was nothing anyone could have said to me that could have made me feel any better. For Rio, the feeling will be the same.”

Liverpool playmaker Steven Gerrard, who wore the armband in Capello’s first game in charge of England, has now been confirmed as captain for the upcoming showpiece.

Dawson will be vying with Ledley King, Jamie Carragher and Matthew Upson for the central defensive position alongside former skipper John Terry for England’s opening game against USA next Saturday.

The Three Lions are 4/9 favourites in the match betting to kick off their campaign with a win, with the Americans on offer at 6/1 and the draw at 3/1.

Capello’s men are 2/7 favourites to win Group C, ahead of USA at 4/1, while Slovenia are available at 11/1 and Algeria the outsiders at 18/1.

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Ferdinand shocker for England

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England skipper Rio Ferdinand has been sensationally ruled out of the World Cup (England 7/1 to win the competition) after he suffered a serious knee injury in the Three Lions’ first training session out in South Africa.

Ferdinand was sent for a scan on the injury and, after limping away from the hospital on crutches, it appeared the Manchester United defender had picked up a serious problem.

It was then subsequently confirmed that he would miss England’s campaign – which gets underway against USA a week on Saturday – in what is a major blow to coach Fabio Capello’s plans (England to win 2-1 – 7/1).

Ferdinand was expected to partner John Terry at the heart of the England defence but now the Italian will have to find his replacement with Ledley King, Jamie Carragher and the now called-up Michael Dawson in contention for a starting berth.

The injury will come as a shock to the England camp just a day into their preparations for the tournament but gives Dawson, who narrowly missed out on Capello’s final 23-man squad, the chance to earn his first cap later this month.

Ferdinand has struggled with several injury problems of late and a combination of back and calf problems meant he missed large chunks of the season with Manchester United in the season that has just finished.

He was set to figure in his fourth World Cup but now faces up to the prospect of cheering his team-mates on from the sidelines with Liverpool star Steven Gerrard ready to be promoted to skipper for the campaign.

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