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Ballack fuming over friendly farce
German midfielder Michael Ballack will not play in his farewell match for his country against Brazil, labelling the proposal "a farce".
National team coach, Joachim Low, announced on Thursday that Ballack would no longer be playing for his country under his tutelage after an impressive 98 appearances for the 2002 FIFA World Cup runners-up.
But Low did extend an olive branch to Ballack by saying he would be given the chance to turn out one last time against Brazil in a friendly in August.
The friendly had already been scheduled before it was turned into a possible "farewell" for Ballack, something which angered the combative midfielder.
"Turning a friendly match, which has been planned for so long, into my farewell is a farce", Ballack told Bild.
"I know I owe it to my fans to participate in that game, but I cannot accept this offer."
Ballack also voiced his displeasure at Low's lack of respect in breaking the news to the midfielder.
"The form and content of his message surprised and disappointed me because they reflect the way he has been treating me since I got injured last summer", he said.
Germany will face Brazil at the Neckarstadion in Stuttgart on 10 August.
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UEFA to hit yellow card cheats with 2-match ban
Footballers who deliberately set out to get a second yellow card in order to give them a clean slate for later in a competition will now receive a 2-match ban, UEFA secretary general Gianni Infantino said on Friday.
"Usually this type of behaviour is penalised by a fine but now there will be a match ban in addition to that given automatically for the accumulation of 2 yellow cards", said Infantino.
Andres Iniesta was accused of deliberately setting out to get a yellow card during the Spanish club's 5-1 Champions League quarter-finals first leg match against Shakhtar Donetsk at Camp Nou, meaning he missed the return leg but had a disciplinary clean slate for the 27 April semi-finals match against arch-rivals Real Madrid.
UEFA match officials had proposed suspending Iniesta for an extra match for allegedly incurring the yellow card deliberately, but dismissed the call for the extra match suspension or even a fine for the midfielder.
In similar cases UEFA fined Spanish club Villarreal €60.000 with striker Nilmar and midfielder Santiago Cazorla €20.000 for yellow cards incurred at the end of the Europa League quarter-finals away leg at FC Twente (5-1).
Suspended for the return leg they were then free to play in the semi-finals away leg at FC Porto on 28 April without risking a new yellow card.
Final returns to Wembley
Never before has a stadium been awarded Europe's premier club fixture twice in 3 years but hosting the 2013 UEFA Champions League Final is Wembley's reward for the spectacular success of last month's event. It also marks the 150th anniversary of the foundation of the Football Association (FA).
The decision was taken by the UEFA Executive Committee in Nyon and means the fixture returns to Wembley for a record 7th time, the second since the stadium was rebuilt.
"Given the exceptional nature of this historic moment in our beautiful game, and the fact that we will also celebrate 150 years of the Laws of the Game, we felt it was our duty at UEFA to help the FA celebrate in some special way", Michel Platini explained.
After the previous stadium was closed in 2001, the famous twin towers made way for an iconic arch over what is now one of the most breathtaking arenas in the world. Boasting a seated capacity of 90.000, the new Wembley opened its doors in 2007 and is once again home to the England national side, as well as host to the nation's premier domestic cup finals.
Located in north London, Wembley not only staged a record 6 European Champion Clubs' Cup deciders but also 2 UEFA Cup Winners' Cup Finals. Wembley was the venue for the 1966 FIFA World Cup and EURO 1996 Finals and having been the main stadium for the 1948 Olympic Games will welcome the football finals in 2012.
The original Wembley Stadium was known as the Empire Stadium, and was built as the centrepiece of a British Empire Exhibition at the end of the First World War. Though not officially opened by King George V until 23 April 1924, the stadium hosted its first FA Cup Final the previous year, when an estimated 200.000 people crammed in to watch Bolton Wanderers defeat West Ham 2-0. That match famously became known as the White Horse Final, as a mounted policeman took to the pitch to keep fans at bay.
The 2012 UEFA Champions League Final will be on 19 May at Fußball Arena Munchen.
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Messi & Tevez headline Copa America squad
Lionel Messi and Carlos Tevez have been named in the final 23-man squad for Argentina's Copa America campaign on home soil.
Argentina coach Sergio Batista dropped a trio of home-based players from his provisional squad for the tournament, which gets underway on Friday.
Boca Juniors defender Luciano Monzon, Lanus midfielder Diego Valeri and Estudiantes winger Enzo Perez are all omitted, making River Plate goalkeeper Juan Pablo Carrizo the only squad member to have played football in Argentina this season.
Manchester City striker Tevez, whose participation in Copa America seemed unlikely following a spat with Batista late last year, will line-up in a fearsome partnership with FC Barcelona superstar Messi.
Tevez was the joint top scorer in English Premier League last season, while Messi scored 53 goals in all competitions on his way to a La Liga and Champions League double with the Catalan giants.
Batista's embarrassment of riches in the front third also includes Sergio Aguero of Atletico Madrid, Diego Milito of Inter Milano and Real Madrid's Gonzalo Higuain.
Argentina warmed up for the Copa America with a 4-0 thrashing of Albania last Monday, with Messi, Aguero, Tevez and Napoli striker Ezequiel Lavezzi all scoring at Monumental.
Argetina, favourites to secure their 15th Copa America title on home soil, kick-off the tournament against Group A rivals Bolivia in La Plata on Friday.
Argentina squad
Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Mariano Andujar (Catania), Juan Pablo Carrizo (River Plate)
Defenders: Javier Zanetti (Inter Milano), Pablo Zabaleta (Man City), Nicolas Burdisso (AS Roma), Nicolas Pareja, Marcos Rojo (both Spartak Moscow), Gabriel Milito (FC Barcelona), Ezequiel Garay (Real Madrid)
Midfielders: Javier Mascherano (FC Barcelona), Esteban Cambiasso (Inter Milano), Lucas Biglia (Anderlecht), Ever Banega (Valencia), Fernando Gago, Angel Di Maria (both Real Madrid), Javier Pastore (Palermo)
Forwards: Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Man City), Diego Milito (Inter Milano), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli)
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Last edited by beavis; 04-07-2011 at 17:28.
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Saudi Arabia appoint Rijkaard
Former FC Barcelona manager Frank Rijkaard has been appointed as the new manager of Saudi Arabia.
Rijkaard, 48-year-old, has signed a 3-year deal to manage the AFC nation and will immediately turn his attention to Saudi Arabia's hopes of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
"We have our goals", Rijkaard said.
"We hope this will be the kick-off of a very successful period. As every journey, you start with the first step."
"That's what we made today. From now on, we will be planning."
Former Holland, Ajax and AC Milan midfielder has not been involved in football since his contract at Super Lig outfit Galatasaray was mutually terminated in October.
He has previous experience at managing international football after a 2-year stint with Holland, guiding his country to the semi-finals of the 2000 European Championship.
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Italy's 2006 World Cup winning captain Fabio Cannavaro has retired due to a persistent knee injury.
Cannavaro announced his decision on Saturday, after a year playing in United Arab Emirates for Al Ahli.
The 37-year-old began his career at Napoli and went on to star for Parma, Inter Milano, Juventus - where he had two spells - and Real Madrid.
The crowning moment of his career came in Berlin on 9 July 2006 when Italy beat France in a penalty shoot-out following a 1-1 draw, to win the World Cup Final.
He won FIFA's World Player of the Year award later in the same year and became Italy's most capped player, making 136 appearances from 1997 to 2010.
"I am very sad, football means everything to me. Unfortunately, my knee can no longer hold up", Cannavaro said.
Speaking in Dubai, Cannavaro confirmed his plans to remain with Al Ahli.
He said: "I intend to stay here for the next 3 years, as a director".
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Last edited by beavis; 12-07-2011 at 21:48.
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"Don't compare us to Barca"
REZUMAT
Lionel Messi has said it is a mistake to compare Argentina with FC Barcelona as the Spanish club have been working as a unit for a lot longer.
Argentina have been pilloried by the media after drawing their opening 2 games before crushing Costa Rica 3-0 in their final group match, thanks largely to an inspired Messi performance.
While Messi has been largely spared the criticism, his commitment to the Argentine set-up has been questioned in the past. Some pundits have even suggested he might walk away from the national side and concentrate on club soccer at FC Barcelona.
"I've never been bothered by what they say in the press and I never will be", Messi said.
"I don't think anyone likes it when they're whistled and insulted. We're the first ones who want to do things well."
"It's a mistake to compare this team to Barca", he added.
"We've all been working together at Barca for a long time."
"In the national team we're trying to do something similar, keeping hold of the ball, dictating the rhythm of the game, but you can't compare the two teams, either as a group or in terms of individuals."
Last edited by beavis; 17-07-2011 at 10:47.
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România îşi află astăzi adversarele din preliminariile CM 2014
România află care-i vor fi adversarele din preliminariile Mondialului brazilian, în cadrul ceremoniei de la Rio de Janeiro, azi la ora 21:00, unde nu vor lipsi Pele, Ronaldo şi Neymar.
România începe diseară cursa către Mondiale. În tentativa de a reuşi o calificare la care visăm din 1998, tricolorii află cu cine se bat ca să ajungă la turneul final găzduit de Brazilia, între 12 iunie şi 13 iulie 2014. Tragerea la sorţi de la Rio de Janeiro va stabili numele celor 5 ori doar 4 adversare ale selecţionatei lui Victor Piţurcă, potrivit celor 6 urne valorice stabilite de FIFA.
Brazilienii, care organizează al doilea CM după cel din 1950, promit un spectacol de excepţie. Condusă de vicepreşedintele FIFA Jerome Valcke, ceremonia va dura 100 de minute şi se va derula în auditoriumul special construit la "Marina da Gloria", nu departe de munţii Sugar Loaf. Era singura clădire din Rio capabilă să primească mai mult de 1.000 de oaspeţi de lux.
"De un an de zile lucrăm la acest eveniment şi ne-au trebuit 2 luni să repetăm. Sperăm că Brazilia va fi mândră de show şi va demonstra că suntem pregătiţi să găzduim Mondialul", s-a lăudat Joana Havelange, director al comitetului local de organizare şi nepoata ex-preşedintelui FIFA.
Pe scenă vor fi 10 actuali şi foşti mari internaţionali brazilieni, între care Ronaldo, Neymar, Ganso şi Pele, ultimul fiind invitatul de onoare al preşedintelui statului, Dilam Rouseff.
8 grupe de 6 şi una de 5
La startul preliminariilor zonei europene se vor alinia 53 de echipe naţionale. Conform tragerii la sorţi, acestea vor fi împărţite în 8 grupe de câte 6 şi una de 5. Se califică direct câştigătoarele celor 9 serii, iar cele mai bune 8 de pe locurile secunde vor susţine baraj, tur-retur, pentru celelalte 4 bilete la CM 2014. Singura restricţie, pe criterii politice: Rusia şi Georgia, respectiv Azerbaidjan şi Armenia să nu pice în aceeaşi grupă.
824 de meciuri se vor disputa în total în preliminariile la care participă 203 ţări. Doar 31 dintre acestea ajung în Brazilia.
$30 de milioane s-au investit în ceremonia de diseară
38 de selecţioneri şi-au confirmat participarea, printre care nu se află însă Victor Piţurcă
12 oraşe, dintr-un total de 17 alese iniţial, vor găzdui cele 64 de meciuri de la turneul final
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Last edited by beavis; 30-07-2011 at 23:34.
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Welbeck gets England nod
Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck leapt above Jermain Defoe and Darren Bent in the England pecking order when he was named in Fabio Capello's squad for Wednesday's friendly with Holland.
The 20-year-old made his debut in the March friendly with Ghana and has long been tipped for a big future by Sir Alex Ferguson.
Nevertheless, it is a surprise Welbeck should be in a 4-man strikeforce, but not Defoe or Bent, who both featured in weekend friendlies for Tottenham Hotspur and Aston Villa respectively.
Indeed, as Welbeck's Red Devils team-mate Wayne Rooney is back after suspension and Andy Carroll has recovered from the thigh injury that kept him out of the most recent EURO 2012 qualifier against Switzerland in June, Capello retains just one of his 4 front-men, with Fulham's Bobby Zamora also left out.
Capello was forced into a last-minute reshuffle due to the hamstring injury that forced Glen Johnson to hobble out of Liverpool's 2-0 win over Valencia on Saturday afternoon after only 7 minutes.
Phil Jagielka has filled the right-back role on the last 2 occasions Johnson has been missing.
On this occasion though, Capello has taken the step of including both Kyle Walker - now back at Spurs after a successful loan spell at Aston Villa - and Micah Richards.
A regular under Steve McClaren, the Manchester City full-back only won his first cap under Capello last November and a fortnight ago he said he might have to wait for the Italian to move on before he can resume his international career. Clearly, Capello has not been vexed by those comments.
Squad
Goalkeepers: Robert Green, Joe Hart, David Stockdale
Defenders: Leighton Baines, Gary Cahill, Ashley Cole, Rio Ferdinand, Phil Jagielka, Joleon Lescott, Micah Richards, John Terry, Kyle Walker
Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Stewart Downing, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, James Milner, Scott Parker, Jack Wilshere, Ashley Young
Forwards: Andy Carroll, Peter Crouch, Wayne Rooney, Danny Welbeck
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United kids land England call
Phil Jones, Chris Smalling and Tom Cleverley have been called up to the England squad for the EURO 2012 qualifiers with Bulgaria and Wales.
Jones, the 19-year-old defender who starred in Sunday's 8-2 annihilation of Arsenal at Old Trafford, was part of Fabio Capello's provisional squad for the friendly with Holland that was postponed earlier this month, but did not make the final cut.
However, along with fellow Red Devils youngsters Smalling and Cleverley, Jones has made it this time, helped by the absence of Rio Ferdinand, who has not played since injuring his hamstring at West Bromwich a fortnight ago.
Jones is part of a 5-strong United presence, which would almost certainly have been bigger still had Danny Welbeck not been ruled out by a hamstring injury he suffered after opening the scoring in this afternoon's game.
The teenager has caught the eye since moving to Old Trafford from Blackburn Rovers, where old boss Sam Allardyce once described him as the best young player he had ever worked with.
Yet Smalling, who was a non-playing member of Capello's squad for the November friendly defeat by France and Cleverley, who was called up for the Holland game following the withdrawal of Jack Wilshere and Michael Carrick through injury, have been only marginally less impressive.
Club-mates Wayne Rooney and Ashley Young were always likely to be selected.
Indeed, Manchester's growing position as the powerbase of English football is emphasised by the addition of 6 members of the Manchester City squad that crushed Tottenham Hotspur in equally emphatic style at White Hart Lane.
In total, there are 6 changes from the Holland game, with Darren Bent and Jermain Defoe recalled, plus Arsenal's Theo Walcott, who was critical of Capello's management style in his recently published autobiography.
Amongst those who miss out are Peter Crouch, who is set to join Stoke City this week, and Kyle Walker, who has been overtaken by Smalling for the right-back role.
Squad
Hart, Green, Stockdale
Ashley Cole, Cahill, Terry, Baines. Jagielka, Smalling, Jones, Richards, Lescott
Downing, Barry, Johnson, Milner, Lampard, Cleverley, Ashley Young, Parker, Walcott
Bent, Carroll, Wayne Rooney, Defoe
Gomez pulls out of EURO 2012 qualifier
Mario Gomez pulled out of Germany's squad with a thigh injury, one day after scoring a hat-trick in Bayern Munchen's win at FC Kaiserslautern.
The German football federation said in a statement that Brazilian-born Cacau would take Gomez's place in the squad for Friday's EURO 2012 qualifier at home to Austria and the friendly away to Poland 4 days later.
Germany have a maximum 21 points in Group A and need just 2 points from their final 3 games to be sure of a place in Poland and Ukraine next year. They have won their last 6 meetings against Austria.
Gomez, who has scored 19 goals in 47 appearances for Germany, also grabbed Bayern's winner against FC Zurich to guarantee them a place in the Champions League group stages.
The 26-year-old was Bundesliga top scorer last season when he also notched 7 goals for his country, including both in the 2-1 win away to Austria in June.
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Rooney eyes EURO goals
Wayne Rooney is hopeful he can carry his scoring touch from Premier League into England's upcoming EURO 2012 qualifiers.
Rooney scored a hat-trick in Manchester United's 8-2 trouncing of Arsenal on Sunday and the 25-year-old striker is looking to re-produce that form for his country.
England play Bulgaria in Sofia on Friday before hosting Wales at Wembley next week.
"It's always great to be in good form and to be scoring goals and hopefully that form can continue in the next 2 games", Rooney said.
"I'm looking forward to getting back playing for England and hoping to do well and hoping to help get us the points we need."
Rooney also said he was not dwelling on the Arsenal result, believing it's important for both he and Gunners winger Theo Walcott to focus fully on national team duties.
"Obviously it was a great result for us and obviously disappointing for Arsenal but we're here to concentrate on England and we want Theo at his best so we don't really want him to remember that result", Rooney said.
With riots in London causing the cancellation of a scheduled friendly with Holland earlier this month, Friday's clash with Bulgaria will be the first time England have played since a draw with Switzerland in June.
And Rooney is expecting a stern test from the upcoming encounters.
"I think it will be a really tough game Bulgaria away", he said.
"I'm sure it will be a good atmosphere and a good game to come away with 3 points but that's got to be our aim to try and get the 3 points there."
"Wales are a good team but you'd like to think we've got enough to beat them at home. Hopefully we can come out of these 2 games with 6 points."
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