France will be looking to continue their post-World Cup revival when they meet Luxembourg in Euro 2012 qualifying on Friday.France, who currently occupy top spot in Group D, have undergone a regeneration under new coach Laurent Blanc, unbeaten in their last five matches including victories over England and Brazil in recent friendlies.
Under the guidance of Blanc, there has been a telling air of optimism generated on and off the field, and none off the squabbling and drama which plagued the side during the tenure of previous manager Raymond Domenech.
They will be banking on prolific marksman Karim Benzema extending his good run of form in front of goal for club and country when they travel to the Stade Josy Barthel in Luxembourg on Friday.
The Real Madrid striker is beginning to live up to his 35-million-euro price tag, bagging 22 goals in all competitions for Real, in addition his recent tally with the national setup.
The 23-year-old also scored in the corresponding game against Luxembourg in France in October.
The other major talking point during the week has been the return of Patrice Evra and Franck Ribery to the national team setup, after serving suspensions for their role in player strike in South Africa.
Luxembourg, while not expected to mount a sizeable challenge against the French, enter the game in good spirits after surprising Slovakia in a friendly last month, courtesy of a Daniel da Mota double.
However, they are rooted to the bottom of the group, having recorded only a solitary point in qualifying so far and failing to score in their four Group D games.
The less-fancied Luxembourg are widely expected to deploy a defensive tactic against their opponents, with Laurent Blanc saying during the week he expects to confront a team with “one up front and practically nine at the back ? 10 including the goalkeeper.”
Schalke led 2-0 away to St Pauli when Friday’s Bundesliga match was abandoned due to an object striking the assistant referee.Playing in their first match under new coach Ralf Rangnick, veteran Spanish striker Raul put visitors Schalke 1-0 up after 26 minutes at the Millerntor-Stadion.
St Pauli had a goal disallowed for offside in the second half and Schalke doubled their lead seconds later, with a strike from substitute Julian Draxler.
Defender Jan-Philipp Kalla was sent off for a second bookable offence and St Pauli were down to nine men when Fin Bartels was shown a straight red in the 79th minute.
Officials abandoned the match just minutes before the final whistle when assistant referee Thorsten Schiffner – the man who disallowed St Pauli’s goal – was hit by a missile thrown from the stands, believed to be a full plastic beer cup.
“We had to call off the game. There was no other choice,” referee Deniz Aytekin said.
“Even in the first half the assistants had been hit by lighters and coins.”
The game was immediately halted and the players taken off the pitch, with the officials forced to shelter under the umbrellas of security staff as more projectiles were hurled in their direction.
It is yet to be announced if the points will be awarded to Schalke or if the match will be replayed.
St Pauli, third from bottom and in the relegation play-off places, face the possibility of a heavy fine, stadium ban and a points deduction.
“Such scenes are unacceptable,” St Pauli coach Holger Stanislawski said.
“These things should not happen in stadiums. I can only apologise to the assistant in the name of St Pauli.”
Coverage of football on our television screens is constantly changing – so over the years programmes and pundits have come and gone. The obvious example being the coverage that ITV have had on the odd occasion when the BBC temporarily lost the Premier League highlight’s package.
There have been other examples though with sackings of pundits, the best recent example being the well reported case involving Richard Keys and Andy Gray. However, Rodney Marsh, Ron Atkinson and Robbie Earle have all faced the sack. So here is my countdown of pundits and football programmes we miss the most.
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Birmingham City manager Alex McLeish has urged his side not to feel daunted when they travel to Liverpool on Saturday.McLeish’s men have only won twice on the road in the league this season and he wants that to change.
“Challenges like the one at Liverpool are absolutely wonderful,” he said.
“And, make no mistake about it, we are going to go up there and try and get a result.”
“Kenny has stamped his authority on their team and they have done very well under him.”
“He is a legend and a pal but we have got to try and get one over on him.”
“We’ve told the players not to be fazed or daunted by the challenge. It’s only one lap around the track.”
“We said that ahead of our trip to Chelsea and the same applies to Liverpool.”
“It’s all about rolling our sleeves up and making sure we keep our concentration and sharpness.”
McLeish is well aware of the threat posed by Liverpool’s 35 million pound striker Andy Carroll.
“Carroll is a tremendous player and if he plays we will certainly have to try and keep him quiet,” he said.
“I tried to get him to play for Scotland when I was in the job because he has Scottish connections, but he said no.”
Defender Martin Jiranek could feature after recovering from a groin injury.
West Bromwich Albion manager Roy Hodgson paid tribute to the club’s supporters after beating Everton in the last home match of the season.Youssouf Mulumbu’s 10th-minute strike proved to be the winner in the English Premier League clash on Saturday, but 1-0 was an unlikely final scoreline at the Hawthorns.
Both teams enjoyed numerous chances throughout the next 80 minutes, but a combination of near misses and goalkeeping heroics somehow prevented another goal in the match.
“I’m rather surprised we kept a clean sheet because there was a lot of activity in front of our goal,” Hodgson told Sky Sports.
“By contrast, there was also a lot of activity at their end. I lost count of the number of balls cleared off the line.”
“So, it was a bit of a strange 1-0, but we’re very pleased about it of course as it’s another victory in this league in front of our own crowd.”
“The crowd have been magnificent all season, certainly since I’ve been at the club. Almost all of them stayed right to the end to wave us goodbye for the season.”
“I think both teams took the game very seriously, we both wanted to win it, but playing at home and needing the points more than Everton, maybe worked in our favour.”
In danger of relegation when Hodgson took over in February, the 63-year-old has orchestrated an impressive revival during his four months at the club.
And West Brom now have an opportunity to finish in the top half of the table if they win away to fellow promoted side Newcastle United on the last day of the season.
“We’ll go for it,” Hodgson said, referring to the trip to St James’ Park.
“It’s a difficult game next week and Newcastle won’t be lying down, they’ll want the same reception we got from our fans for their last home game of the season.”
“But we won’t go up there as makeweights, we’ll go to try and get some points from the game.”
Everton manager David Moyes declined to speak to media after the match.
The Scotsman was reportedly angered by some decisions made by referee Anthony Taylor, who sent off Everton substitute Diniyar Bilyaletdinov in the 76th minute.
Reading earned their spot in the Championship playoff final with a 3-0 thrashing of Cardiff City on Tuesday.Brian McDermott’s men will meet Swansea City at Wembley on May 2 for the chance to play in the English Premier League next term, after Shane Long struck a brace and Jobi McAnuff scored an impressive third goal in their second-leg semi-final so seal a 3-0 aggregate victory.
Cardiff made a bright and frenetic start at Cardiff City Stadium, putting the visitors on the back foot in the opening 20 minutes.
They came close twice in a matter of minutes midway through the first half.
Attacker Jay Bothroyd had a strike from 20 yards take a deflection off Reading defender Zurab Khizanishvili and inches wide of goalkeeper Adam Federici’s post.
From the resulting corner, City defender Dekel Keinan struck a free header straight at Federici from inside six yards, and should have done much better.
But it was a horror piece of defending that allowed Reading to take the lead through Long in the 28th minute.
After a defensive mix-up, Cardiff goalkeeper Stephen Bywater came off his line to clear a loose ball, but only managed to strike Long, who hit a looping shot just under the crossbar and into the open net from 25 yards.
Long doubled their advantage on the stroke of half time when he completed his brace from the penalty spot.
Keinan dragged the arm of Reading captain Matt Mills as he attacked a corner and referee Howard Webb had no hesitation in pointing to the spot.
Long stepped up and coolly completed his double to make it 2-0.
Cardiff were expected to come out swinging in the second half as they fought to keep their sason alive, but instead it was Reading who made most of the running.
And after chances at either end throughout the second half, McAnuff ensured Reading’s progress to the play-off final with a divine solo effort in the 84th minute, which ended with the Jamaican smashing the ball home to send the visiting fans into frenzy.
Arsenal have had a pretty good recent track record with left backs, with Ashley Cole going on to become arguably the best left back in the world at the moment and Gael Clichy (perhaps excluding this season) has been one of the best Premier League players in his position over recent seasons. Throughout this period, Arsenal fans have been promised an up-and-coming England starlet who will go on to make the Arsenal left back position his own, for years to come, just like Nigel Winterburn; as of yet the Gunners faithful are still waiting for Kieran Gibbs to really make that permanent break through into the starting eleven though, but why?
Gibbs has suffered more injuries than most for someone so young; in the 2009-10 season he broke his metatarsal against Standard Liege, sidelining him for the season. The injury couldn’t have been timed worst for the young Gunner, just as Clichy was out for a several weeks and Gibbs had begun to make the left back spot his own.
The young Englishman has made forty starting appearances for Arsenal since 2007 and has shown throughout this period that he has the pace, intelligence, anticipation and technique to become a great footballer; surely now, with injuries behind him and Clichy’s form and commitment being criticised on a regular basis, it is time for Wenger to do what he does so well, and give the ‘Young Guns’ a chance. Which begs the question as to why Le Professeur hasn’t used the Englishman frequently, as of yet?
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Perhaps it is because, on a couple of occasions over the seasons, Kieran Gibbs has lacked certain elements of an experienced professional. I’m referring to Gibbs’ costly slip-up against Manchester United in the Champions League in 2009; admittedly errors are still part of even the most experienced pro’s game, but it is their ability to not let such things affect their whole game which separates them from the rest. Yet a clearly distraught Gibbs was substituted at half time, showing an inability to cope which may cross Wenger’s mind whenever playing Gibbs, however, surely it is playing the Englishman that boosts confidence and allows for the player’s development in such scenarios? A man of Wenger’s experience would know this, so there must be another issue.
It could be argued that perhaps Gibbs is getting ahead of himself, having already received an England call up; a fate that previous footballers have fallen victim to. Francis Jeffers springs to mind, the former Everton man made his England debut against Australia and scored, but this was to be his only cap and the former Arsenal man now plays for Motherwell, another player with unfulfilled potential. I’m not for one minute suggesting Gibbs will end up playing for Newcastle United Jets at the age of 28 but its certainly food for thought for the youngster, so perhaps Wenger is just biding his time with the youngster and easing the left back into the first team setup?
At the age of 21, Gibbs will soon be approaching his prime as a footballer, and with the continual transfer circus surrounding the last Invincible, Clichy, Gibbs will no doubt be thrust into the limelight should his team mate move onto pastures new, this time I’m sure he will swim.
Is Gibbs the next Ashley Cole? Let me know on Twitter
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Leeds have confirmed 16-year old winger Elliot Kebbie is set to leave the club, according to the Daily Mail.
The youngster has spent 8 years at the academy but has turned down the offer of a scholarship with the club in order to join the youth ranks of Barcelona.
Kebbie had a trial at Manchester United last year and it was believed the two clubs had agreed a £1 million compensation package. However, the Halifax-born winger looks set to snub United for the European Champions and has already reportedly moved to Catalonia with his mother.
Leeds will be due compensation for the player who becomes the latest product of the club’s academy to leave for a bigger club at a young age. Tottenham duo Danny Rose and Aaron Lennon left at a similar age whilst Chelsea paid a reported £5 million in compensation for Tom Taiwo and Michael Woods.
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The move represents a change in policy for a club who normally criticise the poaching of players at such a young age. Barcelona lost both Cesc Fabregas and Gerard Pique to England at a similar age and will see Kebbie’s as an exciting prospect for the future.
Nigel Reo-Coker has stated that his release from Aston Villa came as a shock, and that he will now consider a move to the continent.
The former West Ham player ended 2010/11 as the club’s captain, and he has stated that Gerard Houllier had promised him negotiations over a new deal before becoming ill. Despite this, the Birmingham club released the 27-year-old whilst he was on holiday.
“Before Gerard Houllier was taken ill and left the club, he said he wanted to sit me down this summer and negotiate a new deal. When the season ended, there was no contact from Villa to renegotiate my contract,” the robust midfielder told The Daily Mail.
“We never sat down together, which I was told would happen. While on holiday, I was getting texts from friends and reading tweets I’d been released. I was disappointed. It should’ve been handled better and with more respect.”
The Croydon born man has enforced his agent to look for a new club, with options in Europe being considered.
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“It’s a new chapter. I want to go to a club where I can challenge for things either in the Premier League or abroad. There are options in Europe – and I’m seriously considering them,” he finished.
Goalkeeper Renny Vega’s unlikely assist helped Venezuela steal a 3-3 draw against Paraguay in Group B of the Copa America on Wednesday.With Venezuela’s quarter-final spot already assured, Paraguay had seemed destined for their first win of the tournament after leading 3-1 as the game ticked over into extra-time in the second half.
But that changed when substitute striker Miku poked home to pull one back in the 90th minute, with Venezuela desperately pushing forward and winning a corner as the seconds dwindled away.
Vega charged forward to contest the corner and succeeded in nodding the ball on for defender Grenddy Perozo to score a dramatic equaliser, in the last piece action of the game.
It sparked wild scenes of celebrations for Venezuela and Vega, while Paraguay’s players looked about in disbelief.
Paraguay had cancelled out Mikel Rondon’s well-hit opener through Antolin Alcaraz’s 33rd-minute goal, after Lucas Barrios’ header had created confusion in the penalty area.
Paraguay took the lead shortly after the hour mark when Barrios scored from point-blank range after a shot from strike partner Nelson Haedo Valdez – a substitute after Roque Santa Cruz went off injured – had been well blocked by Vega.
They seemingly put the game to bed when Cristian Riveros nodded in a corner at the near post on 86 minutes, but Venezuela forged a tremendous finale to the match by refusing to lie down.
The point was enough to send Paraguay into the last eight, but the injury to Santa Cruz and the manner in which they threw away the win will come as some concern to manager Gerardo Martino.
Martino will at least be back on the touchline for the quarter-final, having served a one-match ban for manhandling the referee’s assistant in Paraguay’s second group game against Brazil.