Tag Archives: boost

Spain receive Fabregas boost

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Arsenal and Spain's Cesc FabregasSpain (4/1f for the World Cup) have received a pre-World Cup boost with midfielder Cesc Fabregas declaring himself confident of making the start of the tournament in South Africa.

The 22-year-old Arsenal star has been out of action since he suffered a cracked bone in his fibula against Barcelona in the March 31 Champions League quarter-final, and ended the Premier League season in the stands.

Fabregas has been recuperating in Spain, and believes he is well on track to be fit for the World Cup opener against Switzerland in Durban on June 16 (Spain 1/3, draw 10/3, Switzerland 9/1).

He said: “I am pleased to say that my recovery from a cracked fibula is on schedule.

“I have started jogging for the first time, and it looks as if I will begin running again properly tomorrow.

“I am happy with how things are going and now I just have to be patient, making sure I come back as strongly as I can.”

He added: “On May 24, I will join up with the Spanish national team and should be able to join in a bit when we play Saudi Arabia five days later.

“The timing is looking good for the World Cup, but I am sad not to have played a part in the end of Arsenal’s season.”

Fabregas has been a vital part of Arsenal’s campaign, which ended with them finishing in third place in the Premier League.

The former Barcelona trainee, who joined Arsenal in 2003 at the age of 16, began his international career with Spain when he played at the FIFA U-17 World Championship in Finland in 2003, and was called up to the senior squad ahead of the 2006 World Cup.

He helped Spain win Euro 2008, and has now scored five times in 47 appearances for the national team.

He has already battled back from one serious injury, just in time to make the Confederations Cup last June, which was also staged in South Africa.

He scored what was his second international goal in the 5-0 win against New Zealand in the group stages, and was part of the team that was shocked 2-0 by the USA in the semi-finals.

Fabregas was last on target for the national side in November, when scoring in the 5-1 win in Vienna which Spain won 5-1.

The star will be hoping that off-field distractions are kept to a minimum ahead of the tournament, as there have been rumours of him leaving the Emirates Stadium to join Barcelona.

Barca’s Yaya Toure has apparently suggested that he could move to Arsenal as part of a deal taking Fabregas the other way, with suggestions that a further £25 million could be paid to Arsenal.

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Bolton ace’s World Cup boost

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Boss Owen Coyle is adamant star Bolton defender Gary Cahill is good enough to make the England World Cup squad (England 5/2 – Top European Team) – and he hopes the 24-year-old is still a Trotter if he makes it to South Africa this summer.

Three Lions coach Fabio Capello is set to name his preliminary squad imminently, with the Italian set to make big decisions over the likes of Spurs duo Ledley King and Michael Dawson while speculation suggests Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher could be tempted out of international retirement.

But Coyle reckons Cahill, who the Trotters snapped up from Aston Villa in January 2008, should definitely in the reckoning for South Africa 2010.

He said: “People will say I am biased but I look around and he is good enough to be in the England squad.

“For such a young age, and him being the top-scoring English centre-back in the country with pace and power, I don’t want to lose him.”

Coyle lives in the real world after cutting his managerial teeth with St Johnstone and Burnley before being chosen to succeed Gary Megson at the Reebok in January.

And while he wants to keep Cahill on board for next season’s Premier League campaign, he also knows a big-money offer would be impossible for Wanderers to turn down.

“I want Gary to help build on where we are. But I accept if someone comes in with an unbelievable £30million offer then we couldn’t stand in his way,” said the Scot.

“It would be the right thing for the club and the right thing for Gary.

“But my plan is to keep Gary here along with the rest of the ones I want at a football club and try to build a team.”

Cahill and Bolton (11/10 to win) complete their season with a home game against Birmingham (12/5) on Sunday afternoon and no doubt Capello will want a report – and not just over Cahill’s performance.

Bolton’s side could feature midfielder Stuart Holden, the USA international, who is in contention after a broken leg picked up in March.

The 24-year-old, who has won 12 caps for his country since his debut, will be desperate to prove his fitness in order to stand a chance of facing England on June 12.

Birmingham keeper Joe Hart also has hopes of making it into the England squad after winning rave reviews during his season-long loan spell at St Andrew’s from Manchester City.

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Hodgson prays for Zamora boost

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Roy Hodgson is hopeful Bobby Zamora can shake off an Achilles problem in time for Fulham’s Europa League semi-final second leg against Hamburg (Fulham 6/5, Hamburg 11/5, draw 12/5, 90 Minutes) at Craven Cottage on Thursday.

The Cottagers boss has been keeping a close eye on his 29-year-old 19-goal top scorer after he aggravated the Achilles during last wek’s 0-0 first leg draw in Germany.

Zamora missed Sunday’s 2-1 defeat at Everton, but is now waiting to see if he will be fit enough to face Hamburg in Thursday’s crunch second leg which could see Fulham progress to their first ever European final (Fulham 5/6 To Qualify) and a real chance of silverware (Fulham 3/1 Europa League Outright).

“Bobby is much improved and has done some work today with the physios, but we chose for him not to take part in the light training session we had,” said Hodgson.

“We just have to wait until tomorrow to have a 100% decision on whether or not he can play.

“Obviously we are concerned about the situation, because if he was fully fit, he would have been training for the last couple of days.”

Hodgson added: “When Bobby plays we know what we are doing, and when he does not play, we have people who come in and know what we are doing, so we can leave it late in that respect.

“He will have treatment again tomorrow, then go in front of our medical people, and I think by lunchtime I should know whether or not he has a chance of playing.

“It will be about their assessment, Bobby’s own assessment, how he feels, how he thinks it will go – because knowing him as well as I do, he will not want to let the team down.

“He wants to play, but he wants to play as a fit player rather than play and in any way hamper our chances of doing well.”

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