Tag Archives: skipper

Rio regains skipper role

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Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand believes that regaining the captain’s armband for England (8/1 to win Euro 2012) will help him put aside the disappointment he felt during the World Cup.

The 31-year-old has been named as skipper for England’s Euro 2012 qualifier against Montenegro at Wembley on Tuesday night.

It’s the first time the former Leeds United defender has been in the England squad since he picked up an injury before the start of the World Cup in South Africa.

Ferdinand was injured during the first England training session in Rustenburg where he sustained knee ligament damage after a collision with team-mate Emile Heskey.

The central defender missed out on the tournament where the Three Lions failed to live up to expectations, going out to old rivals Germany in the knockout stages.

Ferdinand is delighted to have been named as England captain once again, though, after Liverpool’s Steven Gerrard took over the role in his absence.

He said: “It is a great honour to be named England captain.

“It is great to be back playing again.

“Obviously, I’ve been out for a while since the World Cup when I injured my knee.

“I have worked hard on my rehab, worked hard on the training ground at Manchester United, and the staff have been fantastic for me to get to this point,” he added.

Ferdinand has recently returned to action for United (16/5 to win the Premier League) as he looks to rebuild a strong partnership at the back with fellow central defender Nemanja Vidic.

The former West Ham United academy player is happy to be back playing after the disappointment of missing out on leading out his country at a major international tournament.

He said: “It has been well documented that the first 48 hours after I got injured at the World Cup were probably my worst moments in terms of over-analysing and really thinking about the consequences.

“To miss the World Cup was a real big disaster for me.

“But you have to wipe yourself down and get on with it.”

Ferdinand will be looking to earn England another three points against Montenegro as they hope to continue their strong start the Euro qualifiers.

The Three Lions skipper will then be aiming to help United close the gap on rivals Chelsea who currently sit five points above them at the top of the Premier League table.

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Scots skipper rates opponents

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Skipper Paul Caddis has warned Scotland’s Under-21s (5/2 in 90 Minutes Betting) that European Championship play-off opponents Iceland (10/11) will be no pushovers in Rejkjavik tonight.

Former Celtic defender Caddis wants to secure a place at next summer’s finals in the next few days when Scotland tackle Iceland home and away with the return leg at Easter Road on Monday.

Billy Stark’s side finished top of Group 10 thanks to a last-gasp winner from Chris Maguire which ensured victory over Austria at Pittodrie last month.

Caddis and his team-mates were relieved to miss Spain and England in the play-off draw, but he acknowledges that Iceland will be up for the match and likely to provide a stern test.

“I hope the nation doesn’t think that because we are playing against Iceland, that it’s an easy game and we are just going to go through,” he told the Daily Record.

“They deserve to be there as much as we do and if people have been following the under-21s they will see that Iceland drew 2-2 in Germany and then beat them 4-1.

“So they are no pushovers.

“I hear that Iceland are bringing a lot of players back from their senior team which shows a bit of respect for us.

“But no matter which 11 they put out, we know they are going to be a really good side and tough to break down.

“We need to, first and foremost, not concede.”

Iceland have called up seven players who would have otherwise been in the senior side but will instead feature for the Under-21s, including Coventry midfielder Aron Gunnarson, Hoffenheim star Gylfi Sigurdsson and Hearts defender Eggert Jonsson.

Scotland are without suspended midfielder Paul Coutts for the first leg while striker James Forrest and defender Steven Saunders are injured.

But Stark is confident Scotland can keep the tie alive for Monday’s return match in Edinburgh.

He said: “We’re not a team who are set out particularly to defend. We take risks trying to score goals and I don’t see that changing. The way Iceland play it would be very difficult to dominate anyway because they put you under pressure quickly.

“We couldn’t have a tougher match.”

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Bellamy named Bluebirds skipper

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Wales striker Craig Bellamy has been named Cardiff City captain ahead of their Championship match against Doncaster Rovers on Saturday (Cardiff 10/11, draw 23/10, Doncaster 3/1).

Bellamy joined his home club on a season-long loan from Premier League big spenders Manchester City after he was pushed out of Roberto Mancini’s plans for the season.

The 31-year-old striker hinted that he would not be in the Italian manager’s 25-man squad for the Premier League campaign and therefore decided that he would take a step down to the Championship.

Bellamy will take the captain’s armband from Mark Hudson who will remain as club captain for the rest of the season.

Bluebirds boss Dave Jones will be looking to use the experience of his new signing as Cardiff (9/1 to win the Championship) look to gain promotion this season.

He said: “Huds is still club captain and Craig will be team captain, it’ll be no different to any other football club, you normally have two and it was an easy decision that Mark made.

“We’ve been fortunate to acquire a top player from the Premiership. Last time I looked at him he still had one nose, two eyes and two ears so he’s no different to anybody else in the camp,” he added.

The loan deal which brought Bellamy to Cardiff has angered a number of clubs including SPL side Motherwell who claim they are owed money by the Welsh side.

Cardiff did fear that the Football League would not allow the striker to play until the club had explained how they could afford his services after their well publicised financial problems.

However, the former Newcastle United and Liverpool player has been given permission to play as Cardiff take on Doncaster this weekend.

Jones believes Bellamy will fit straight into the side as he takes on his captain’s role.

He said: “He knows the boys. He’s been around with the Welsh squad and he’s been training with us in the past many times when he’s been given permission.

“He knows his way around and that makes life a little bit easier.

“It’s not just all about Craig. We’ve got a lot of other players here and we are a team, we are a close-knit team and he will add to that,” he added.

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