TOP 100 SOCCER SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Manchester City's new manager Roberto Mancini faces injury crisis ahead of first game in charge Roberto Mancini is facing a mounting injury crisis as he prepares for his first game in charge of Manchester City. telegraph.co.uk |
McLeish backs Hart for England's World Cup squad • In-form goalkeeper chasing England No1 position• 'I know Fabio Capello and his staff like him'Birmingham City's manager Alex McLeish claims his goalkeeper Joe Hart is firmly in the England manager Fabio Capello's thoughts for next summer's World Cup.Hart, on a season-long loan at St Andrew's from Manchester City, produced another exemplary display in Monday's 1-0 win at Stoke City that extended the club's unbeaten Premier League run to 11 matches. This came after his man-of-the-match performance in the Boxing Day draw at home to Chelsea.At a time when there is no stand-out candidate for the England No1 position, McLeish feels the 22-year-old Hart is in with a shout of claiming the coveted position."His form has been brilliant, and let's face it, he is looking a big, powerful bloke between those sticks right now," said McLeish. "He has improved since he came to us. He probably had it there anyway, but we have probably brought out the potential."Joe has as good a chance as anybody else to certainly be in the England squad. I know that Fabio Capello and his staff like him, so he already has an edge, and his recent performances have certainly shown he can be a candidate."EnglandBirmingham CityWorld Cup 2010guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Berbatov faces surgery, warns Ferguson • Manchester United striker may need exploratory operation• Ferguson criticises Clattenburg for Fletcher red cardThe Manchester United striker ÂDimitar Berbatov may need exploratory knee surgery.The Bulgarian was unable to play in United's 1-1 draw with Birmingham City at St Andrew's yesterday, a result which meant that they failed to move above Chelsea at the top of the Premier League. In Berbatov's absence, Sir Alex Ferguson gave a debut to a summer signing, Mame Biram Diouf."Dimitar wanted to play with it but we felt we should try to get it [the knee] sorted and get him fit again," said the United manager. "He may have to have an exploratory operation."Ferguson reiterated his anger over Darren Fletcher's red card from the referee Mark Clattenburg. Fletcher was shown a second yellow card for an innocuous trip on Cameron Jerome."You won't see a softer sending off. For a start, Darren's not that kind of player," Ferguson said. "It's a simple clip on the boy who actually stumbled. I think it was a terrible decision and it gave Birmingham some momentum. But I think we've got to be satisfied with a point particularly as we've ended the game with 10 men. Birmingham is a difficult place to go and they are playing very well. It is not a bad point."Birmingham have gone a club-record 12 league matches without defeat. United needed an own goal from Scott Dann after Jerome had given the home side a half-time lead."We were down to 10 men for the last part of the game but in the first half we played absolutely brilliantly and dominated the match," said Ferguson. "It was a travesty to go in at half-time 1-0 down after they scored with their first attack. It was a sickener but it's important not to let your head go down. We kept battling away and deserved a point. We spoke about remaining patient at half-time because 45 minutes is a long time."We've won so many games late on so we shouldn't worry about being 1-0 down. We've faced that situation many times."Sir Alex FergusonManchester UnitedPremier Leagueguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
AP Interview: Jozy Altidore Plans Trip to Haiti LONDON (AP) -- Jozy Altidore placed call after call to Haiti, desperate to locate his relatives. feeds.nytimes.com |
Manchester City bid for Real Madrid's Fernando Gago Manchester City have reportedly bid for Real Madrid's Argentina midfielder Fernando Gago, according to Spanish daily Marca. telegraph.co.uk |