Players meet Capello for crisis summit June 20, 2010 ENGLAND’S fraught squad held clear-the-air talks with manager Fabio Capello last night in a desperate bid to salvage a campaign that could be dead within 48 hours. The summit was prompted by England’s disastrous start to the tournament, which saw them follow their opening draw with USA with an even poorer stalemate against Algeria. Capello’s [...]
Don’t laugh, but we could still win it June 20, 2010 IT DOESN’T have to be bad news if England’s players feel they need to tell Fabio Capello that they are unhappy with certain aspects of his management. In fact I think it’s healthy for the boss to listen to their opinions. They care and it shows they are trying to find a solution to their [...]
‘Andy Murray is a better player than I ever was’ June 20, 2010 AS confidants go, Tim Henman is a pretty good asset when it comes to Wimbledon. Four-time semi-finalist and the most successful male British player since Fred Perry in the 1930s, there isn’t a blade of grass on the famous courts of SW19 that the former world No4 doesn’t know. So, who better for Andy Murray [...]
Kaka red card dampens Brazilian celebrations June 20, 2010 BRAZIL (3) vs IVORY COAST (1) BRAZIL coach Dunga vented his fury at the sending-off of Kaka after seeing his team guarantee their progression from Group G with a slick victory. Two goals from Luis Fabiano and one from Elano ensured the South Americans were already home and dry by the time Didier Drogba headed [...]
All Whites stun holders Italy June 20, 2010 ITALY (1) vs NEW ZEALAND (1) NEW ZEALAND boss Ricki Herbert hailed his country’s “most incredible result” ever after they held world champions Italy to a shock draw. For 18 minutes the All Whites even led the four-time winners, after striker Shane Smeltz headed them in front during the early exchanges. And although Italy equalised [...]
Johnson: I did not think of quitting June 20, 2010 ENGLAND manager Martin Johnson insists he has never entertained the thought of stepping down, after celebrating the finest win of his tenure. Saturday’s hard-fought 21-20 victory over Australia in Sydney was Johnson’s first against Tri-Nations opposition in his two years in charge. It came amid fresh criticism of the former England captain, following disappointing results [...]
Go hard at Australia, urges Colly June 20, 2010 ALL-ROUNDER Paul Collingwood has called on England to use the forthcoming one-day series against Australia to intimidate their old rivals ahead of this year’s Ashes series. England set the tone for their 2005 success with the aggressive and fearless way they took on the Aussies in the short contests that preceded the main event. And [...]
Player uprising worked for England’s rugby stars June 20, 2010 THE ROT set in with dreary warm-up matches, deteriorated during a dreadful group stage in which England failed to get out of first gear, and culminated in a player uprising. No, not the current football squad but their rugby counterparts at the 2007 World Cup in France – and they still made it to the [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF June 20, 2010 GB claim second place in Bergen ATHLETICS: Andy Turner won the 110m hurdles to help Great Britain clinch second place at the European Team Championships in Bergen. Turner was the only winner on day two but triple-jumper Phillips Idowu and 5,000m runner Jo Pavey came second. Gulbis pulls out of Wimbledon TENNIS: Latvian 27th seed Ernests Gulbis [...]
FOOTBALL TRADER June 20, 2010 THE biggest shock of World Cup 2010 so far has undoubtedly been tournament favourites Spain losing to Switzerland in their opening Group H game. Vicente del Bosque’s side didn’t play badly, but they didn’t show their normal cutting edge and it was a big surprise to see them fail to find the net. Honduras were [...]