Left field
The Reuters global sports blog
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Could you just talk us through the goal, Bob….
After little more than four hours' sleep, plenty of driving and the inevitable drop in adrenalin following a big game such as Saturday's U.S. v England match, there were a few weary souls among the reporters following the United States when we headed to team HQ at Irene Farm on Sunday morning for a press conference with coach Bob Bradley and defender Steve Cherundolo.
There was no sign of jadedness from Bradley, though, who when touching upon Steven Gerrard's fourth minute opener for England, described it in the following terms:
“When the ball came into Lampard, Michael stepped up to close him down, Rooney came into the hole, now Gooch has to decide how tight he is going to go. Michael put enough pressure on that the initial pass that Lampard made was intended for Rooney but it skipped by him and went to Heskey, so in that moment, that space, with Gooch out of there, between Jay and Carlos and now Ricardo is caught in a tough spot because he has to decide if he can recover and track Gerrard. So all it takes in these kind of games is a couple of seconds where the reactions aren’t as good as they need to be and you’ve left a hole and you pay. This is what happens when the games are up there at the highest level."
A bit more than "the boy done well" or "lapse in concentration", that, isn't it?
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Drogba, Ferdinand…who next for the World Cup curse?
A top player seems to get injured on the eve of every major tournament and this year it looks like Didier Drogba and Rio Ferdinand have suffered the World Cup curse.
Ivory Coast captain Drogba is seriously doubtful for the extravaganza after injuring his elbow in a friendly against Japan on Friday.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Nothing ‘meaningless’ about U.S. defeat
USA 2 Czech Republic 4 was hardly a morale boosting result for American fans as their team prepares for the World Cup finals, which begin for the U.S against England on June 12.
Of course, as the ESPN commentators were at pains to point out, perhaps worried about viewers turning off from the team before the tournament has even begun, the squad on the field last night was missing key starters such as Landon Donovan, Carlos Bocanegra (who instead was spotted chomping chicken wings in the stands) and Clint Dempsey. And as the ESPN crew also repeatedly reminded us, the result of games like these are “meaningless”.
England v Australia, Twenty20 final — live
We’re blogging from the final of the World Twenty-20 cricket in the West Indies, with the clash between England and Australia building towards a climax.
England are doing surprisingly well, but who would write off Australia after their semi-final comeback against Pakistan? Stay tuned … and remember, comments are extremely welcome…
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
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.
Don’t blame the maths for T20 farces
Paul Collingwood’s call for change to the Duckworth-Lewis system used to determine a target in rain-hit games was understandable, coming as it did after his England team lost a match despite scoring three times as many runs as their opponent.
It is not the calculation system that needs revisiting, however, but the broader set-up of Twenty20 tournaments.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Beckham poised to miss World Cup – your views
David Beckham's dreams of playing in a fourth World Cup look to be in tatters after the England midfielder ruptured his Achilles tendon in AC Milan's 1-0 win over Chievo on Sunday.
Club doctors have said he is all but ruled out of June's tournament in South Africa and will fly to Finland for an operation on Monday.
The ultimate grudge match: When the Scots confounded England at Murrayfield
A slow and depressing decline after the glory of the 1980 grand slam was magically reversed during the winter of 1989-90 when England played rugby of skill, spirit and boundless optimism.
Nobody could match the English in Europe and their standards touched those attained by New Zealand and Australia, the pace setters in world rugby at the time.
UPDATE: England need solid backs not flashes of brilliance
Relief rather than elation greeted England’s decision to select Mathew Tait, Riki Flutey and Delon Armitage in the backline for Saturday’s Six Nations opener against Wales.
(*Flutey has since had to pull out with injury)
One try in three tests told its own story in the November internationals and the selectors had no real option other than to restore Flutey and Armitage and recall Tait.
What are the odds on getting the Six Nations winner right?
![RTR29J26[1]SIXNATIONS](http://blogs.reuters.com/sport/files/2010/02/RTR29J261SIXNATIONS.jpg "RTR29J26[1]SIXNATIONS")
Picking the winner of the Six Nations championship is always a tricky task as the vagaries of form and the fixture list ensure that no two seasons are the same.
France, who finished third last season, are rated 6/4 favourites by Ladbrokes while grand slam champions Ireland are only second-best at 9/4.
