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from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Soccer Break Thursday
Gareth Bale. The dashing Welsh winger primed to scare the living daylights out of England on Saturday. Injured. Did anyone else hear that collective sigh of relief from England fans today?
But what about Tottenham Hotspur fans. Are you worried your star man’s recent struggles with injury could hamper your club’s Champions League quarter-final chances against Real Madrid?
There are of course plenty of qualifiers this weekend so read our preview for all the latest.
Anna on the Italian Soccer Serie A has picked what she reckons might be Italy’s team to play Slovenia in Friday’s Euro 2012 qualifier having spied on Cesare Prandelli’s training sessions. Read more here.
Our man Simon Evans in Miami has written a blog on a player familiar with Spurs, Real, and Euro qualifiers. Read on for the latest on David Beckham’s US adventure.
We’ve a bit of a US theme going today in fact. NFL player Chad Ochocinco (see last Thursday’s Soccer Break) has started his soccer experiment. Can he be successful?
Over in San Francisco, spare a thought for a referee on the receiving end of a player’s anger.
Why Italy won the Fed Cup
Italy was victorious in the Fed Cup final versus the USA this past weekend. It was not a surprise at all because the American side was missing Serena and Venus Williams. Had the Williams sisters been healthy it most likely would have been an American victory.
The Italian side is a very strong team with French Open champion Francesca Schiavone and world class player Flavia Pennetta playing at number 1 and 2 respectively. Day one was very routine for the Italians; Schiavone won easily against 18-year-old Coco Vandeweghe and Pennetta beat Mattek-Sands convincingly as well. Day two was much more interesting because Melanie Oudin of USA came in for the injured Mattek-Sands.
Oudin played a great match while Schiavone was not at her best. Oudin won 6-3 6-1 and The Americans were back in the tie. Personally I would have played Oudin on day one just because of her competitive nature and she really enjoys a big stage. For me, Coco Vandeweghe isn’t ready at a ranking of 114 in the world to compete at this level and proved so by losing to Pennetta in the next match 6-1 6-2. This gave Italy the Fed Cup title for the third time in four years.
The American team will be disappointed, having lost to Italy at home in San Diego, and will be hoping for Serena and Venus to be healthy for next year’s Fed Cup. Italian Team Captain Corrado Barazzutti said “My job is very easy, because I am lucky enough to captain a very strong team.” That is very true. One of the biggest secrets to success in the Fed Cup and Davis Cup is getting your top players involved and wanting to play every year. Barazzutti has done a great job. Well done to Team Italy.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Prandelli breaks the mould by naming his teams a day early
In rugby, teams are often named several days before matches -- a habit I've never really understood.
If there is any doubt about what lineup you will field, surely it makes sense to keep the opposition coach guessing until the final moment? The advantage may be slight, but it's there and it might make the other coach mess up his preparations if he guesses wrongly.
In soccer, teams are thus traditionally announced just one hour before kick off. It adds to the drama of matchday for those watching.
However, new Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has broken the mould and has been naming his teams a day before matches. He reads out the lineup and given he is such an honest guy, no one even thinks he is pulling a fast one. Indeed, the Italy teams he has named so far have always lined up the day after.
His opponent for Tuesday's Euro 2012 qualifier here in Genoa, the Serbia coach Vladimir Petrovic, was bemused by Prandelli's tactic.
"I can't tell you much about the formation, it's a fundamental game," he said.
Prandelli's reasons for such openness are his wish to bond with the press and the belief that if players know a day before that they are playing, they can prepare better mentally. There's no point just telling the players and no one else, the news will leak out. He also named three Sampdoria players and one Genoa defender, hoping to excite the Genoa crowd.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Euro 2012 qualifiers – live
We're following all tonight's Euro 2012 qualifiers live. Join us here for updates, comments and pix ... and details of all the goals as they go in.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Italy finally get to concentrate on World Cup
It's been a funny build-up to the World Cup for holders Italy.
The words "South Africa" have barely been mentioned in the last week despite the Azzurri being huddled up in an Alpine ski resort trying to get used to altitude conditions.
Hardly anyone has talked about the World Cup with the focus instead being on a new coach after the tournament and which clubs players will be at next season.
Cesare Prandelli will replace national coach Marcello Lippi in July, even if Lippi never announced he was leaving and no one told Prandelli's club Fiorentina that a deal had been done.
Fabio Cannavaro signed forAl Ahli of Dubai while Alberto Gilardino and Gianluigi Buffon talked mainly about their club futures.
Daniele De Rossi got into a bizarre spat with the Italian police after criticising their behaviour at club matches.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
France to host Euro 2016
Favourites France have been chosen to host Euro 2016 after beating Italy and Turkey.
UEFA President Michel Platini, a proud Frenchman, whipped round the card in Geneva to reveal France's name.
They will host a major soccer championship for the first time since holding the 1998 World Cup.
Italy, who missed out on Euro 2012, will again wonder where it all went wrong amid problems with new stadiums and soccer violence.
Turkey were an outside bet given UEFA took a gamble by giving Euro 2012 to Ukraine and Poland.
Especially with Euro 2016 being expanded to 24 teams, European soccer's governing body have opted for a safe pair of hands in France.
France edging out Turkey by a vote! Considering how the French national team has been under Raymond Domenech especially after the 2006 World Cup…have to be a shot in the arm, no?
I was half-expecting Turkey though, but maybe with how Poland and Ukraine have been going along for Euro 2012, time for a safer choice.
I will have also like to see Italy get it, so that they will be able to improve the infrastructure. Second time unlucky for them after the last time round when Poland and Ukraine got it.
from Reuters Soccer Blog:
Should Totti be allowed to make World Cup comeback?
Italy coach Marcello Lippi says we won't know until next week whether Francesco Totti will come out of international retirement at the World Cup.
It's unclear if the wait is because Totti has not decided yet, Lippi has not made up his mind or they are just building the tension ready for the announcement of the 30-man preliminary squad on May 11.
The AS Roma striker, 33, quit the Azzurri after their 2006 World Cup triumph but has recently hinted he would be interested in going to South Africa in June if he was fully fit.
Injuries have dogged him for the past few years but he is looking sharper now than he has for a while in a title-chasing Roma side. Totti never excelled for Italy but he offers a creativity the squad is now sorely lacking.
The big question in Italy though is whether Lippi should allow him to waltz back into the team or the squad having not contributed to qualification and given renewed controversy over his on-field behaviour.
If Totti is called up, the striker that misses out on selection will be feel very hard done by. Giampaolo Pazzini and Fabio Quagliarella helped during qualifying and even though World Cup hopeful Luca Toni has not featured for Italy of late, he endured a tortuous Euro 2008 for the Azzurri colours while Totti was sunning himself on a beach.
Italy must be wary of my old school chum McLaughlin
Italy’s marauding pack should tread carefully if they think they can pick on Ireland’s debut flanker Kevin McLaughlin in Saturday’s Six Nations opener.
Why? Because this writer has been there, done that and has the mental schoolboy scars to prove it.
Ireland’s new number six and I were in the same school – Dublin’s Gonzaga College – and being a year older, my brief and markedly different rugby career met his over a decade ago.
Traditionally, the best of the school’s youngest year played the also-rans of the year ahead in an end of season grudge match. School corridor tussles were made legal for 70 minutes.
While they may have been better, we were bigger and possessing a pair of thighs twice the size of anyone else’s, it was my job to try and bulldoze through all comers.
Tap penalties were taken on in the spirit of Jonah Lomu circa 1995 with chests out and heads up, hoping to trample on a scrumhalf here or catch a brave flanker with a painful knee there.
What are the odds on getting the Six Nations winner right?
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.
Wales, who had their own clean sweep in 2008, are considered a pretty long shot at 5-1 while England, who they have beaten three times in a row, are above them at 9/4.
Scotland, yet to finish even second since the expansion to six teams 10 years ago, are unlikely to tempt punters to mortgage the house at 20/1 while even the 250/1 available on Italy is not exactly generous for a team who have only once won more than one match in a tournament.
Every coach says it every year but the beauty of the Six Nations is that just about every team is capable of beating every other on a one-off.
Largely the same England side that laboured past Italy and lost to Wales and Ireland last year suddenly looked world beaters when they thrashed France 34-10 at Twickenham.
Italy fight haka with their very own rugby tenor
How about this for a job swap. Former Italy rugby international Denis Dallan will sing the national anthem before the Azzurri’s test with New Zealand at Milan’s San Siro on Saturday.
Dallan, who picked up 42 caps between 1999 and 2007, fancies himself as a tenor and will boom out what has to be one of the world’s most upbeat national anthems to 80,000 people.
It’s the biggest rugby crowd ever in Italy and the beefy 31-year-old is up against the angelic Elizabeth Marvelly singing the New Zealand song before the All Blacks do their haka.
Don’t get nervous Denis. Next stop, La Scala.
PHOTO: Italy’s left wing Denis Dallan (L) is tackled by Geordan Murphy of Ireland during their Six Nations match at the Flaminio Stadium in Rome February 22, 2003. REUTERS/Giampiero Sposito
I wouldn’t be so sure Redcoat. The bizarre turn of events regarding the England captaincy and the fact England haven’t played well recently mean that Wales could certainly spring a surprise on Saturday. It’ll be interesting viewing.