Reuters Soccer Blog

Soccer Break Monday

Real Madrid 1 Barcelona 1. Pictures of the teams suggest they were both pleased with the result but you would imagine Barcelona came away the happier side. Though Real were down to ten men for almost the entire second half so must be relieved not to have lost.

Who gained the upper hand then from the first of four clasicos between last Saturday and May 3? Wednesday will be an interesting affair in the King’s Cup final, a one off match as opposed to the two-legged Champions League semi-final.

Another fierce rivalry that was played out over the weekend was the Manchester derby, where the blue half of the city emerged victorious to ease the pressure on Roberto Mancini who must surely fancy his chances of beating Stoke City in the FA Cup final to hand City their first piece of silverware since 1976.

Ugly scenes marred the end of the match in which Rio Ferdinand and Mario Balotelli clashed but the United captain was quick to play down the spat. Balotelli in the news again though, will he stay at City?

At Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium a quite extraordinary end to the match provided two penalties and a managerial dispute after the final whistle following Liverpool’s 102nd-minute penalty to snatch a 1-1 draw with the Londoners, whose chances of the title are diminishing rapidly.

Thankfully Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher, who suffered a sickening but accidental blow to the head in the second half and was stretchered off holding up play for eight minutes, is well.

In Europe several teams moved closer to winning their respective leagues, and back in England Tottenham Hotspur’s Gareth Bale was given the player of the year award. If the price on his head wasn’t already big enough, surely now he will be a major target for European clubs this summer. Will he stay or will he go?

World Cup squad news: Capello calls on Carragher, Ronaldinho left out

Fabio Capello has announced his provisional 30-man squad for the World Cup and the big news is that Jamie Carragher is back, while there is no place for Bobby Zamora or Owen Hargreaves.

Meanwhile Brazil have omitted Ronaldinho as expected and Italy coach Marcello Lippi has decided to leave Francesco Totti at home. Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas are in Spain’s squad despite injuries.

But it is England’s squad which probably has the most surprises so here it is:

Goalkeepers: Joe Hart, David James, Robert Green

Defenders: Leighton Baines, Jamie Carragher, Ashley Cole, Michael Dawson, Rio Ferdinand, Glen Johnson, Ledley King, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Stephen Warnock

Midfielders: Gareth Barry, Michael Carrick, Joe Cole, Steven Gerrard, Tom Huddlestone, Adam Johnson, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, James Milner, Scott Parker, Theo Walcott, Shaun Wright-Phillips

Forwards: Darren Bent, Peter Crouch, Jermain Defoe, Emile Heskey, Wayne Rooney

Should Capello bring Carragher out of England retirement?

Is Fabio Capello so short of defenders that he has to beg Jamie “I’d rather miss a penalty for England than Liverpool” Carragher to come out of retirement and represent his country at the World Cup?

Carragher walked out on England three years ago because he was unhappy at being in so many squads but so few teams, and when he was in he did not like being played at full-back when he wanted to play centre-back.

Capello names his provisional 30-man squad on Tuesday and the latest round of media speculation is that the 32-year old will be in it.

For those who feel playing for their country should be the ultimate honour, it will be tough to take. Carragher loves playing for Liverpool and wears his heart on his long red sleeve but he said himself via his autobiography that the passion dries up when he dons the white of England. After missing a penalty in the 2006 World Cup quarter-final against Portugal he said he did not share the emptiness of his team mates. “I confess, defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club…I simply didn’t put England’s fortunes at the top of my priority list. You can’t make yourself feel more passionate if the feelings aren’t there.”

Hardly the words to pin on the dressing room wall as England prepare for their latest tournament tilt.

Recalling Carragher seems a slightly bizarre move for pure footballing reasons as well, given that most people seem to agree his form has been below his usually high standards of late. He wants to play centre-back but Capello has plenty of choice there with Rio Ferdinand, John Terry, Matthew Upson, Joleon Lescott, Ledley King, Phil Jagielka and Michael Dawson in contention as well as the Liverpool man.

King played his fourth successive match for Tottenham on Sunday seemingly in a bid to prove to Capello that his knees are up to the rigours of a tournament, but will that be enough to convince a manager who is on record as saying he will not take anyone who is not fit?

Losing for your country should hurt more, shouldn’t it?

Kev Fylan blogged about England’s fear factor being the root cause of their continual failures but Jamie Carragher’s autobiography reveals another possible explanation when he admits that he just didn’t care enough about playing for the national team.

The Liverpool defender, who retired from international football principally because he got fed up with playing out of position, said:

“Representing your country is the ultimate honour, especially in the World Cup. Not to me. Whenever I returned home from disappointing England experiences one unshakeable, overriding thought pushed itself to the forefront of my mind, no matter how much the rest of the nation mourned: ‘At least it wasn’t Liverpool.’

“I confess: defeats wearing an England shirt never hurt me in the same way as losing with my club. I wasn’t uncaring or indifferent, I simply didn’t put England’s fortunes at the top of my priority list. Losing felt like a disappointment rather than a calamity.”

For most England fans such an outlook may be hard to understand but for backers of Croatia, who England face on Wednesday, it will be beyond comprehension.

As a young nation, Croatian fans and players are among the loudest and proudest in the game. They don’t need to kiss the badge to show what it means to them.

As with the All Blacks in rugby, merely wearing the shirt says it all.

There are many in the England set-up who hold the opposite view to Carragher — just look at David Beckham’s continued involvement.