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Walcott out of Three Lions squad

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England coach Fabio Capello has sprung a big surprise by leaving Theo Walcott out of his World Cup squad, but Shaun Wright-Phillips, Stephen Warnock and Joe Cole have got the nod.

Walcott made the headlines four years ago when then-boss Sven Goran Eriksson included him in his 23 for the World Cup in Germany, despite the fact he had hardly figured for Arsenal and never played for England.

The youngster did not make it on to the pitch back in 2006 and he will not be stepping out in South Africa either after Capello decided to leave him out.

The news does come as a surprise as Walcott played a key role in helping England qualify and he looked a certainty to be named in the squad when he scored a hat-trick as the Three Lions romped to a 4-1 victory in Croatia.

Since then the winger has struggled for fitness and form and he failed to convince Capello in the games against Mexico and Japan that he was worthy of a place on the plane.

Walcott’s final delivery came in for heavy criticism and it seems as though that could have been the deciding factor.

Capello has opted to go with Shaun Wright-Phillips, who hardly played for Manchester City in the second half of the season as he was kept out of the side at Eastlands by Adam Johnson, who has amazingly been left out of Capello’s 23.

Chelsea midfielder Joe Cole is another player to have survived the cull despite only just returning to full fitness, but it is easy to see why Capello has included him.

In the striking department, Sunderland forward Darren Bent, who banged in 24 goals for the Black Cats last season, has been left out of the squad, while Emile Heskey who managed just three goals for Aston Villa and was kept out of the side by John Carew, gets the nod.

It is argued that Heskey would complement Wayne Rooney, who is 10/1 to finish the tournament as the top goalscorer, more but that will not wash with Bent who will be left wondering what elese he could have done to get into the squad.

It also means that Capello will just be taking four strikers in the form of Rooney, Heskey, Jermain Defoe and Peter Crouch, when many believe you should take five.

Elsewhere, decisions had to be made at the back with Warnock getting the nod ahead of Leighton Baines, while Ledley King made it ahead of his Spurs team-mate Michael Dawson.

Capello has also confirmed that Gareth Barry will be fit enough to be included despite struggling with ankle ligament damage that could force him to miss the opening game against the USA.

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Xavi admits England fear

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Spain midfielder Xavi has admitted he sees England as strong contenders to emerge victorious at the World Cup in South Africa (England 6/1 to win the World Cup).

The Barcelona star was instrumental in Spain’s Euro 2008 success, a tournament England were absent from, but he feels the Three Lions could enjoy a very successful World Cup.

Spain remain the favourites ahead of the tournament, despite a less than convincing 3-2 win over Saudi Arabia yesterday, but Xavi feels England are just as strong as his own nation.

“People say that the strongest nation is Spain – but after us I really think it is England,” explained Xavi. “Perhaps their goalkeepers aren’t world class but apart from that you struggle to see a weakness.

“The World Cup isn’t won on paper but after us I think England have the second-best team. It’s not a surprise really when you consider so much of the England set-up is made of players from Manchester United and Chelsea.”

England boss Fabio Capello is yet to whittle down his 30 man squad to 23, but the Italian claims he knows 20 players who will be going and has just three places left to fill.  However, the likes of Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Ashley Cole and Frank Lampard will almost certainly be involved in South Africa and Xavi believes England’s strong contingent from Manchester United and Chelsea will help them progress in South Africa.

In the betting markets Spain remain favourites, with Brazil second and England third.  However, Xavi believes Argentina will be a threat in South Africa due to the talents Lionel Messi, Xavi’s Barca team-mate, possesses.

The 30-year-old believes Messi is the best player in the world but he also feels there is a “group of players” who are not far behind the Argentine superstar and he classes Rooney in that bracket (Wayne Rooney 14/1 to win the Golden Ball (player of the tournament)).

Many pundits feel the United striker could be instrumental England’s World Cup campaign after his impressive exploits for the Old Trafford side last season.  The former Everton man has always been a goal-threat but last season, following Cristiano Ronaldo’s move to Real Madrid, Rooney shouldered the burden of scoring the majority of United’s goals and the 24-year-old demonstrated he could also be an excellent positional player and find the net with his head as well as from range.

Xavi believes England have a strong spine, he highlights defender John Terry and midfielder Frank Lampard as the other players who he feels can lead England to glory.  Spain and England cannot meet until at least the semi-final stage, with England drawn in Group C and Spain Group H, with Xavi wary of the threat Capello’s side could pose.

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Eto’o threatens to withdraw from World Cup

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Inter Milan striker Samuel Eto’o has threatened to withdraw from Cameroon’s World Cup squad (Cameroon 9/2 to be top African team at the World Cup).

Eto’o was responding to criticism of his performances for his national team, from the former Cameroon striker Roger Milla.

The former Barcelona striker revealed that he is considering whether he should participate in the tournament: “Is it worth me going to the World Cup?”

“I still have a few days to think about it but I will see if my participation is important because I don’t need this in my career.”

“What has Milla done? He did not win the World Cup. They played in a quarter-final and with what a team.

“And you wonder, ‘are they my people?’. Are they really my people?”

The Cameroon skipper has scored 44 goals in 94 appearances for the Indomitable Lions and is hugely important to their World Cup campaign (Eto’o 33/1 to be the World Cup top scorer).

Eto’o is the record goalscorer in the African Nations Cup and comes into the World Cup off the back of a successful debut season for Inter Milan, in which they won the Champions League, Serie A and the Italian Cup.

Such achievements have not impressed Milla, who criticised Eto’o’s contribution for Cameroon: “For me, for the moment, Samuel still hasn’t brought anything to our national team.

“The people of Cameroon expect a lot of him at this World Cup, that he show his true face as he did at Barcelona or as he just did at Inter Milan.”

Milla scored 28 goals for Cameroon in his 102 appearances, between 1978 and 1994. He is best remembered for his exploits in the 1990 World Cup, where as a 38-year old he scored four goals, as Cameroon reached the quarter-finals of the competition.

The former Saint-Etienne and Montpellier star, defended his criticism of Eto’o: “I have a right to criticise things that aren’t going well in the country, in my national team, because I fought for this team to be where it is today.

“If I can’t criticise it then I don’t know who can. Now that he is captain, Samuel has to give a good example.”

Cameroon have been drawn in Group E of the World Cup, alongside Holland, Denmark and Japan.

Since the success of 1990, Cameroon have failed to progress from the group stages in 1994, 1998 and 2002, and did not qualify in 2006.

They are rated as contenders to emerge from Group E, but would surely struggle if they were to be without the services of the talismanic Eto’o.


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Jose ready for Real challenge

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Jose Mourinho has signed a four-year contract to become the new manager of Real Madrid – and described his challenge of returning the club to the top in Spain and in Europe as “a big one” (check out ante-post football markets on totesport.com).

The 47-year-old was on Monday unveiled as the successor to Manuel Pellegrini and becomes the 11th coach in the past seven years of Spain’s big-spending capital club.

Mourinho terminated his contract with Internazionale last week after two seasons at the club and Real have paid Inter a reported eight million euros (£6.8m) in compensation.

“I like to give myself a challenge and this is a big one,” said Mourinho. “I have a lot of confidence in myself and my ability as a coach.”

Sporting director Jorge Valdano said: “It’s an honour to have one of the most prestigious coaches in the world.”

The Portuguese coach arrives in Madrid off the backing of guiding Inter to a historic treble of Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League titles.

The former Porto and Chelsea boss is charged with the task of arresting a three-year trophyless title run in La Liga.
Real have also failed to make it past the first knockout phase of Europe’s elite club competition in six seasons.

Valdano added: “We are delighted to have him here with us. The best thing for our club right now is to have Mourinho with us.”

Real suffered another season of disappointment on the home front when they lost out to great rivals Barcelona in the race for the Spanish title.

However, Mourinho said he would not be rushing into making changes to personnel until he had time to settle in.
He said: “It’s too early to speak about changes.

“I believe it’s time to analyse the situation, to get to know my club, ask lots of questions and get answers.”

He added: “If we work as a group, it’s not difficult to get results.

“I want this group to have an identity, to win everything.

“The strength of my team is always the team and not the individuals.”

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Gerrard shrugs off injury fears

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Liverpool midfielder Steven Gerrard has moved to assure nervous supporters he will be fit for England’s World Cup Group C opener against USA in Rustenburg on June 12 (8/1 Gerrard – Top England Goalscorer).

The Kop icon picked up a knee injury in the unconvincing 2-1 international friendly win over Japan on Sunday but stressed it was not serious.

Gerrard – who has scored 16 goals in 80 appearances for the Three Lions – sparked fears about his fitness last week when he twice withdrew from training because a calf injury.

However, the 30-year-old insisted he would be ready for his country’s opener against America in Rustenburg (4/9 England 3/1 draw 6/1 USA – match betting).

“It’s OK, it’ll be all right,” he said. “It won’t be a problem.”

England coach Fabio Capello is sweating on no more injury headaches before he announces his 23-man cut on June 1.

Gareth Barry remains his biggest concern but it would appear the Italian is prepared to relax his own rules to allow the Manchester City midfielder to make the squad.

The former Aston Villa man is struggling to recover from strained ankle ligaments and reports suggest he is almost certainly ruled out of that Group C encounter against the States.

“We will decide on Gareth Barry after we have had the final check to see how long it will be before he can train with us,” said Capello.

Capello will also make personal checks on Chelsea defender John Terry, who fell awkwardly in the second half against Japan and pulled up in pain, while star striker Wayne Rooney suffered from a spate of minor injuries towards the end of the domestic season.

The writing does appear to be on the wall for Tom Huddlestone of Tottenham and Darren Bent of Sunderland.

Both were given a last chance to impress in Austria on Sunday but failed to sparkle and could now miss out.

Stephen Warnock of Aston Villa has also failed to dislodge Leighton Baines of Everton as the preferred back-up to Ashley Cole at left-back.

Joe Cole’s likely inclusion could also mean World Cup heartache for the Manchester City duo Adam Johnson and Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Michael Dawson and Scott Parker have not been given a chance by Capello and are also now in grave danger of missing out.

“I know the 22 players who are in mind,” said Capello.

“They are the same 22 that I decided last week. Nothing has changed.”

England wrap up their group campaign against Algeria in Cape Town on June 18 and Slovenia on June 23 in Port Elizabeth.

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Capello clear in his mind

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Fabio Capello has admitted England’s two warm-up matches against Mexico and Japan have had no bearing on selection for his 23-man World Cup squad (England 6/1 to win World Cup).

England followed up their 3-1 victory over Mexico with an unconvincing 2-1 win over Japan in Graz, Austria on Sunday, courtesy of two own goals from the Japanese.

Capello currently has a 30-man squad, with plenty of grey areas in terms of who the press feel may get the chop when the final squad is announced on Tuesday.

But the Italian tactician has confessed that his mind was made up before the two friendlies, with only doubts about the fitness of Gareth Barry giving him any cause to change his final squad.

“I know the 22 players who are in mind. They are the same 22 that I decided last week. Nothing has changed,” he said.

“We have to wait for Gareth Barry. We will decide on him after we have had the final check to see how long it will be before he can train with us.

“We have to know everything about this situation but I am not disappointed my mind is still the same.”

England kick-off their World Cup Group C campaign with a potentially tricky match against the USA on Saturday June 12 in Rustenburg (England 1/14 to qualify) before taking on Algeria in Cape Town on Friday June 18 and Slovenia in Port Elizabeth on Wednesday June 23.

Capello will want to keep his squad as fresh and fit as possible throughout the group games and may well include players who are versatile enough to fill in when injuries occur.

He is known to be a fan of Chelsea’s Joe Cole and his comments that Cole “played very well in the second half” against Japan may have been more than a hint that the former West Ham star might get the nod for South Africa.

Only Spain (4/1 Outright) and Brazil (9/2) are ahead of England in the market, with Diego Maradona’s Argentina 7/1 to win the prestigious for the first time since 1986.

England have only been to the semi-finals once since their win in 1966 but now have one of the most respected managers in the game in charge going into the pressure cooker atmosphere of the World Cup.

Managing the likes of Wayne Rooney (6/4 to be England’s top goalscorer) will be vital as England can ill afford to lose a player of his quality to a red card.

Four years ago in Germany the Manchester United striker was sent off for a stamp on Ricardo Carvalho.

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Lippi confident of repeat win

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It is 48 years since a country successfully defended a World Cup – when Brazil sealed back-to-back triumphs – but Marcello Lippi believes Italy (12/1 to win the tournament) can repeat that feat.

Lippi acknowledges that his current squad is not the most talented bunch of players he has ever worked with.

But he talked up Italy’s previous glories against the odds, including their wins in 1982 and four years ago in Germany.

“We’re going there with great confidence, with a status [as champions] to consolidate while also knowing the strengths of our opponents,” said Lippi.

“Many times the national team has started off not being favorites but have achieved exceptional results. We’ll give our all.”

The former Juventus boss has been stressing the importance of togetherness.

“I’ve never been as motivated as I am now. I can’t wait to begin my second World Cup,” he said.

“I think that if we want to close the gap to those teams that are better than us, the only way to do so is to be united.

“Our strength will once again be the group. That’s been my secret since I first started coaching in Serie C.

“And the proof in the pudding is that [Lionel] Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo only scraped through with Argentina and Portugal.”

Italy (11/1  - World Cup 2010 Alternative Outright (4 Places)) reached the World Cup with a game to spare in their qualifying campaign, but they travel to South Africa with many sceptics worrying about their chances – many of them at home.

Defender Giorgio Chiellini , however, has been quick to defend the squad.
“We are working really well. Perhaps other teams have something more in defence, but it’s not about individuals, but about team work,” Chiellini told the press at Italy’s Sestriere training camp.

“The defence works well only if the rest of the team works well too. I don’t think games depend on the two, three or four defenders that play.

“I am convinced that Italy will do well at the World Cup. Even with a normal effort we can achieve satisfaction in South Africa.”

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Slovakia dealt Karhan blow

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Slovakia (150/1 to win the tournament) midfielder Miroslav Karhan has been ruled out of the World Cup because of a recurring Achilles tendon injury.

“There’s a little tear which means I can’t take part in the tournament,” the 33-year-old said.

“I have a three week break ahead of me and the World Cup begins in two weeks. So my withdrawal is final,” added Karhan, who plays for Bundesliga club Mainz 05.

The former Wolfsburg and Besiktas player has 96 caps for Slovakia, scoring 13 goals.

The announcement came as Slovakia were pegged back by Cameroon as the two sides drew 1-1 in a pre-World Cup friendly.

Enoh Eyong’s goal seven minutes from time saw Cameroon escape with a draw after the Slovakians, who in a previous entity as Czechoslovakia reached the last eight in 1990, had taken the lead through Kamil Kopunek in the sixth minute.

Kopunek scored with a great strike from 18 metres out after being set up by Chelsea midfielder Miroslav Stoch, giving no chance to Cameroon goalkeeper Hamidou Souleymanou.

The Slovaks dominated the first-half against a Cameroon side still without their superstar striker Samuel Eto’o, who has been given time off since winning last Saturday’s Champions League title. The European team repelled Cameroon for most of the match, marshalled by Liverpool defender Martin Skrtel.

Slovakia (13/2 to win Group), who are in Group F at the finals in South Africa along with defending champions Italy, New Zealand and Paragua, could have taken a 2-0 lead but Stanislav Sestak’s shot rattled back off the crossbar.

Cameroon – who are in Group E for the June 11-July 11 tournament along with Denmark, Japan and the Netherlands – came back into the match after that and finally were rewarded when Ajax midfielder Eyong struck.

For Cameroon (80/1 to win the World Cup), the draw comes on the back of a 0-0 draw with non-qualifiers Georgia earlier in the week and they will be looking for a vastly-improved performance in their June 1 friendly with 2006 World Cup semi-finalists and fellow finalists Portugal in Covilha, Portugal.

They have a final friendly after that against fellow qualifiers Serbia on June 5 in Belgrade.

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Modric signs deal to stay at Spurs

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Luka Modric has ended speculation regarding his possible transfer from Tottenham Hotspur, by signing a new six-year contract with the club (Spurs 50/1 to win the 2010-11 Premier League).

Manchester United and Chelsea had been linked with a move for the playmaker, who arrived at White Hart Lane from Dinamo Zagreb in 2008.

Modric was instrumental as Spurs qualified for the Champions League last season and he revealed that he feels that they can continue to progress: “Tottenham Hotspur gave me my chance in the Premier League and I want to go on to achieve great success here with them.

“Yes, there have been enquiries from other big clubs, but I have no interest in going anywhere.

“Last season’s Top 4 finish was an indication of where we are as a club and I feel I can continue to improve and go on to achieve everything I want to at Spurs.”

The news is a major boost for Spurs’ ambitions next season. Modric was only two years into a five-year contract, but his performances ensured that the Croatian international secured a major pay increase (Croatia are 10/11 to win Euro 2012 qualifying Group F).

Earlier this week, the Tottenham boss Harry Redknapp had spoken out about his reluctance to sell Modric: “There’s no chance of it happening at all. Luka’s key to everything that’s happening at this place.

“Everybody knows what I think of him. And if you want to move on to higher levels you don’t start flogging off your best players – to anyone.

“I have an excellent squad and I stress, Luka Modric is going to remain a part of it.”

In his two seasons at Spurs, Modric has made 77 appearances and scored eight goals. He has played mainly on the left side of Redknapp’s midfield, but featured in a more central role during Tottenham’s crucial Premier League run-in as they secured fourth place.

Modric has been described by Redknapp as, “Tottenham’s one world class player.”

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Australia and Argentina prepare for finals

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Australia star Harry KewellAustralia’s Jason Culina is banking on the squad’s experienced to be a factor in their favour in South Africa (Australia 8/1 to win Group D).

The Socceroos have come in for plenty of criticism in the build-up to the tournament, with the media quick to label them as too old to do well in the World cup.

The criticism certainly didn’t diminish after a lucky 2-1 win over New Zealand in Melbourne on Monday.

But speaking from the Socceroos’ pre-World Cup training camp at altitude in Johannesburg, Culina was keen to use the age of the squad as a positive.

“We’ve all got the four years behind us and three-quarters of the squad have been at a World Cup before so we know what to expect,” Culina said.

“Last World Cup was hard because we didn’t know what to expect.

“We’re not going in there blind this time. It should count for a lot.

“The whole team has really been strengthened in the last few years, we moved up the rankings, and that’s why we’ve got the results we have.

“This squad’s been together for quite a while now and that’s really important to us.”

Culina played well against New Zealand, despite not having played a match since early March when his A-League side Gold Coast exited the finals.

The midfielder has spent the past two months training with his old Dutch side PSV Eindhoven, attempting to keep fit and at the forefront of coach Pim Verbeek’s plans for the World Cup opener against Germany on June 13.

“Unfortunately I haven’t played any games but I’m raring to go. I’m feeling fit and healthy and I can’t ask for more,” Culina said.

Meanwhile, Argentina (4/9 to win Group B) arrived in South Africa for the World Cup looking jet-lagged as they were greeted by media at the Johannesburg airport.

Coach Diego Maradona said: “Hola, South Africa. I love South Africa.” He did not stop to take questions before leaving for his team’s base at the High Performance Centre in the capital Pretoria.

Lionel Messi was also subdued on his first appearance in South Africa. Wearing a white baseball cap, the Barcelona forward did not react to requests from the assembled media for a smile or a wave.

Maradona, who has already named his final 23-man World Cup squad, led the players off the plane on the short walk to the newly built special arrival facility for World Cup teams.

Argentina face Nigeria, South Korea and Greece in the group stages in South Africa. The two-time World Cup winner will play Nigeria at Johannesburg’s Ellis Park on June 12.

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