West Ham United's Benni McCarthy has been left out of South Africa's World Cup squad.
South Africa's all-time leading scorer has been criticised for his lack of fitness in the build-up to the finals and coach Carlos Alberto Parreira has left the 32-year-old out of his final 23-man squad.
Parreira revealed his decision to snub McCarthy after leaving the 78-times capped striker out of the side that thrashed Guatemala 5-0 in a warm-up match on Monday.
Three other Premier League-based players in Aaron Mokoena, Kagisho Dikgacoi and Steven Pienaar have all made Parreira's final squad.
"There's nothing wrong with him (Benni), we know all the players we need by now," he said after the warm-up victory.
"It's a daily assessment and we're not going to judge a player on one match.
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"They all know that the decision is coming and I would say that everyone deserves to be in the squad but, unfortunately, that cannot happen."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Jamie Carragher has confirmed his return to international football for the World Cup was a "one-off".
The Liverpool defender came out of international retirement to join up with England in South Africa.
The 32-year-old made two appearances during England's dismal campaign which ended at the last 16 stage to Germany.
However, Carragher has no plans to continue playing for the Three Lions.
"This was a one-off thing," he said."The manager said he had a few injuries and I came into the squad and helped.
"I was delighted with the opportunity to play in a World Cup and work with (Fabio) Capello but I have always said the most important thing for me is Liverpool Football Club.
"We have a new boss now in Roy Hodgson and I want to do everything I can to help him and help the club get back up where we belong."
Meanwhile, Carragher has backed the Football Association's decision to retain their faith in Capello despite England's below-par performance in South Africa.
"He certainly deserves another crack at the England job," he told his club's official website.
"Obviously I wasn't involved in the qualifying stages, but that went great. The World Cup hasn't gone as well – so maybe I'm the problem, not Capello!
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"Bobby Robson went out on a high in 1990, but a few tournaments didn't go too well for him.
"That's part of the game and I am sure with the experience of this tournament, hopefully the lads will get to the next one and be a lot better for it.
"I don't think there are many managers out there with the record he has got."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
I had been planning on watching the World Cup’s third place play-off because I wanted to squeeze the last drops out of this World Cup, but also because I was unsure of what to expect from it. On one hand I could see an open, free-flowing, attacking game – the game in the World Cup with comparatively little to play for and thus less pressure but equally high levels of passion. But on the other hand I could see the factor of this being an ‘unimportant game’ equalling a drab, lifeless affair where the only decision both teams cared about was when the final whistle would blow.
Of course I hoped for the former.
The former is what I got. Even though both team’s achievements after the World Cup will be reaching the semi-finals as opposed to where they actually finish on Saturday night, they both wanted to win the game.
It was one last hurrah for two teams who have created two of the best stories from this World Cup – Germany’s demolition of Argentina and Uruguay’s thriller against Ghana. But it also served a purpose for individual players. Those who had an eye on the golden boot and those who would not play in another World Cup had a last chance to make an impact.
The first half sprung into life with Germany playing the no-fear, expansive, passing football which has brought them so many new fans and admirers over the last four weeks. They deservingly took the lead when Muller reacted quickest to a goalkeeping error and brought himself into the reckoning for the coveted Golden Boot. If anyone doubted the passion before the game, Schweinsteiger’s reaction to giving the ball away prior to Uruguay’s goal showed how much he wanted to win it.
To say that the second half started in the vein of that first half ended may be doing it an injustice. Forlan’s superbly controlled volley not only gave Uruguay a lead, but also shook up the race for the Golden Boot even further, bringing him level with Muller, Villa and Sneijder. If you’d made a cup of tea after that goal, you’d have missed Germany’s equaliser. The final 2-3 score line in favour of Germany seemed justified in regards both to the game itself and the tournament as a whole. Two consecutive 3rd place finishes is one hell of an achievement.
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Neither team wanted to lose, but equally neither team was scared to lose – attitudes unique in this World Cup. These things combined equalled an engrossing and enjoyable 90 minutes and answered any questions that I had before the game. The final whistle brought no trophy, just the pride of coming 3rd and the satisfaction of winning a fifth game at this year’s World Cup. What England would have given for that?
Bolton Wanderers have strengthened their squad ahead of the new Premier League season with the signing of Real Madrid defender Marcos Alonso.
The 19-year-old left-back joins fellow summer signings Robbie Blake and Martin Petrov at the Reebok Stadium and has penned a three-year deal at the Lancashire-based outfit, after the two clubs agreed an undisclosed transfer fee.
He made his debut for the La Liga giants last season after he replaced Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain in their 2-0 victory over Racing Santander and, although he may not make an instant impact, Trotters manager Owen Coyle believes he is certainly one for the future.
Speaking to the club's official website, Coyle said"He is an exciting young player who has undoubted quality and he will bring that into our mix. I think that we have a real talent on our hands.
"I have said before that when we are investing money in transfers that I want to do it with young, talented players.
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"He isn't the finished article yet – he's a young player making his way – but you don't get through at Real Madrid without having a bit about you."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill has give his biggest hint yet that James Milner is set to move to Manchester City.
Villa rejected a £20million bid from City for the England international at the end of last season, with the Midlands-based club insisting they would only listen to offers of £30million for the player.
However, speaking after his side's goalless pre-season friendly against Valencia on Friday, O'Neill said:"We didn't play him against Valencia as there could be something happening in terms of the transfer over the weekend or Monday or Tuesday.
"Until that possibly develops I thought it best to leave him out of the Valencia game.
"To my knowledge, no fee has been agreed but talks are taking place involving our chief executive and the chairman.
"I think for everyone's benefit it is probably time to try and get something done. Losing your best players at the club obviously causes you a headache and it is a problem.
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"It happened two years ago with Gareth Barry when it was not resolved. I'm sure that no-one wants to go down that route again.
"If and when the transfer takes place I will have to speak to the chairman about future transfer dealings."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
So England won on Friday night, let me remind you; England-one-Germany-four.
Is it just me or does a win over a third-rate side, on home soil, not even begin to detract from the utter humiliation received this summer. Having said that, last night’s display was a far cry from the shambles of South Africa, with the likes of Joe Hart, Adam Johnson, and Theo Walcott bringing a new lease of life to the England team – enthusiasm, energy and purpose that we didn’t see this summer.
It goes unsaid that he got in wrong in South Africa and we can reminisce about the lows of the 2010 World Cup for the next 50 years, but what’s the point. We need to look forward and perhaps, just maybe, after last night’s performance our national side is beginning to do just that.
In Capello we trust. He promised us a massive shake up of the team and it seems he has delivered. However, had it not been for injuries I have no doubt in my mind the likes of Phil Jagielka and Gary Cahill would have been replaced with John Terry and Rio Ferdinand. In hindsight, the injuries to Ferdinand, Terry and Lampard were a blessing in disguise.
For me it’s no coincidence that England appeared to play better without Terry and Lampard, Phil Jagielka and Matt Dawson looked solid at the back and Lampard went unmissed in an otherwise perfect midfield. It still defies logic why Capello persists with a 4-4-2 formation, when 4-3-3 would appear to suit England far better. Walcott, who I thought played well, was left to fend for himself in wider areas, he looked lost at times a far car from the player who tore apart Blackpool on the opening day of the season. Wayne Rooney was forced far too deep.
Despite scoring early England never really took hold of the game during the first half and I saw very little to suggest the team has moved on. That was until the pressure of the task was lifted by a second goal. With a slender cushion England got the ball down and an Arsenal-esque style of football rang round Wembley – free flowing possession play and counter attacking displays that would punish the World’s best.
Amidst the negatives of Capello’s previous selection nightmares Defoe looked sharp and his turn of foot upfront is what England have been lacking for years. Reversing his usual chances-to-goals ratio, and then some. At last he showed the form they sometimes see at Spurs. Joe Hart proved why he is the man for the number one jersey, two brilliant saves kept England in the game and allowed Capello some breathing space; he just seems to ooze composure. At the back we looked professional, obvious signs of communication between the back four, unlike before, and how reassuring it was to have one fast and one very fast central defender. As for Milner and Johnson are these the wingers we have been longing for? Pace, skill and an ability to pick a pass and not to mention net a goal or two. Last night was a good indication of the direction England can move in, it may just be unfortunate that the man pushing them is Mr Capello.
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Despite the poor opposition and the changes that were made through injuries as opposed to choice England looked relatively convincing. Whether or not Capello has restored his faith remains to be seen as it’s going to take much more than that for me to fully believe in our potential. I’m happy to sit on the fence on this debate, at least until Tuesday. I have this passion for England that doesn’t allow me to comprehend that our national side is doomed.
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For those people whose weekend revolves around the Premier League and whether it will bring adulation or dejection, a mistake from a referee doesn’t often hold the validity they seek for their disappointment. Question marks as to how he didn’t see it coupled with numerous expletives to describe the men in black are far more common than the acknowledgment he is only human and everyone makes mistakes.
But perhaps what is most frustrating for fans is the absence of an apology in the wake of injustice. After all, players who cost their team the game with an individual error or mangers that choose the wrong team or tactics are sometimes forced into a frank admission of their wrong-doings, so why should it be any different for referees?
Everton manager David Moyes recently expressed his wish for referees to become more accountable for mistakes after he was fined £8,000 as a direct result of his bad-tempered reaction to Martin Atkinson’s strangely time full time whistle. He said:
“I was wrong. I shouldn’t have run on the pitch. One of the things the referees have asked for is respect. They all wear a logo on their sleeves, the clubs do as well.
“But if they want that from the managers they have to earn it. You have to get that respect by picking up the phone and apologising at the right moments and if you do that then you start to gain respect.”
He certainly has a point. If referees were made to explain certain decisions in games then it would offer a brief reprieve from the immediate disappointment of seeing a game turned on its head due to poor officiating or wondering what might have been if their side had been awarded a cast iron penalty.
Perhaps referees should hold their own press conferences after matches like managers and certain players do after games instead of hiding behind the Football Association’s fines for anyone who dares to speak out against the officials. For this is simply a naïve denial of the call to apply common sense.
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Moyes’ frustration should not have been aired in the manner it was last week at Goodison, something which he himself has admitted since, but he did so with good reason. Everton had scored twice in injury time, so two extra 30 seconds should have been added to the three minutes signalled. Instead Atkinson blew during an incisive Everton break-away which could easily have resulted in a goal.
Unfortunately, his calls are likely to fall on deaf ears over protection of referees by the Football Association through their “Respect” campaign will continue when instead they should be addressing the fact referees are not answerable enough to their errors in arguably the world’s best league.
1. Just when you think you’re out..They pull you back in. – Driving reflectively away from Wembley (if you can drive reflectively) listening to Alan Green masterfully squeeze in another shot at David Beckham whilst debating a completely unrelated point about Montenegrin weather cycles, the overwhelming feeling of “here we go again” stuck prominently in our collective minds. Oh England. England England England. What are we going to do with you ey? What had seemed like a semi-exciting semi-revival a few months ago – with impressive victories against Bulgaria and most notably Spanish conquerors Switzerland – transpired to be merely a blip in the otherwise steady dribble of mediocrity that is the England national football team.
2. The Vanishing – It had all started fairly ominously for team England, with little or no traffic hold ups anywhere up the A406. And as sure as night follows day, thunder follows lightening and Danielle Lloyd follows the Tottenham team bus, the third successive low Wembley attendance followed this North Circular exodus. A healthy sounding Old Trafford like 73,000 witnessed this moribund spectacle and whilst that doesn’t sound too bad out of context, the fact that the most heavily supported country in world football, a country who can muster forces up to 100,000 to travel mostly ticketless to other parts of the globe biennially, and who have sold out their national stadium’s 90,000 capacity allocation for games against such titans as Andorra and Macedonia, can leave over 16,000 seats empty for three consecutive games, only two of which surpassed the attendance for the Johnstone’s Paint Trophy Final, and even then only barely, is a sad one. Stock in England is down, way down after South Africa, and nights like this aren’t doing much to help.
3. Embarrassing Bodies – After entering the fray to what sounded like the theme from Big Brother, the teams lined up for the national anthems with Montenegro facing away from the Royal box, cameras et all and towards their own fans. This was presumably some stirringly patriotic gesture but could just as easily have been seen as a deep embarrassment at being seen standing anywhere near the England team. And who would blame them really?
4. Back, and to the left. Back, and to the left – Once Steven Gerrard had done playing quarter back for 10 minutes and realized he probably would have to do some running in this one, England settled in to a hypnotically repetitive rhythm which consisted mostly of Gareth Barry losing the ball, Gerrard winning it back again before hitting a hopeful long ball out to Johnson and/or Young, who were then expected to do practically everything penetrative on their own whilst Wayne Rooney complained about something somewhere on the pitch 20 yards behind where he should’ve been. Peter Crouch missed his customary easy header because he’s rubbish at heading the ball despite being the size of a tree, and the half ended to the now mandatory chorus of boos and crocodile shoe steps as the Club Wembley brigade hurried back inside to see if their complimentary cheese platters had arrived yet.
5. Always look on the…. – In the second half things perked up a bit and were it not for the alarmingly continuous poor form of Wayne Rooney combined with the impressive panther like reflexes of the Montenegrin keeper, England could have been relatively comfortable by the end. For all the miserableness, we did at least create chances, unlike say, against Algeria, where we were so inept a bird could sit quite happily on the opposition netting without so much as a hint of disturbance. And hey, we held the group leaders. Result!
Continued on Page TWO
6. Degrees of Kevin’s Bacon – After 20 minutes of realizing the tactic of having someone tall up front wasn’t working, Fabio decided to switch things up by replacing him with a bruising if ineffectual center forward to foul people then complain about it but offer little else, presumably forgetting – as everyone else had – that Wayne Rooney was already on the pitch.
7. In out, in out shake it all about – I’m not entirely sure what Shaun Wright Phillips keeps doing to earn his caps, but his introduction did at least inspire a brief injection of urgency, and the opportunity for the Montenegrin right back to add some variety to his game by fouling someone else for a while. Why he needed to come on on the left however, whilst the left footed Adam Johnson was busying himself fervently on the right, unpredictably cutting inside as often as he could, I’ve no idea. But then I’ve no idea how Barry stayed on the pitch either. Or how we got to this point in the first place. Can someone wake me up when it’s over please?
8. Hooof, there it is! – And so as the game petered out uninspiringly, England resorted to that good old tried and tested method of kicking it long up to the big man, forgetting of course that the big man had already been taken off. It was depressing. More so than the rather sad and predictable booing that now accompanies any sub standard performance or unlikable Chelsea player (or Chelsea player, as they’re more commonly known) these days. This is all we have isn’t it? This is us? Despite all the money, all the fame, all the world wide adulation and million pound contracts this is still all we have in our locker when confronted with stubborn opposition. Whack it up field innit John. Hooof! Just like Spain did when confronted with line of upon line of heavy-handed Dutch opposition for 115 minutes. Oh wait no, that’s not what happened is it?
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9. Who are ya?. – Credit must of course go to Montenegro. They came with a game plan and carried it out. They’re not top of the group for nothing. They were a bit cynical at times but then they have 56 million fewer people than us. Bettering us would’ve been shatteringly embarrassing. They held their shape and almost nicked it at the end with a terrifying dipping volley. Their fans also did their very best to rival our own Geordies in shirtless shouting, and made an impressive amount of noise for their numbers. Especially since most of them probably had to get back pretty early to make sure all the shops were open.
10. On Englands green and pleasant pitch – On a final, rather wistful and unrelated note, I think it’s about time we replaced our national anthem. Unbeknownst to many in fact, it isn’t even our national anthem. It’s the anthem of Britain, and one Scotland, Ireland and Wales can (but obviously choose not to) sing. Instead they have their own individual separate nation anthems to add to this unneeded Great British one. We are the only ones who don’t. And since we’ve started singing Jerusalem in this months Commonwealth games (a far superior song in both words and melody, if equally packed with bizarre religious rhetoric) it’s about time we stop this cringe worthy paean to monarchy, empire and slavery and adopt something a little more resonant and relevant in modern England. May I suggest It’s Chico Time perhaps?
You can follow Oscar on Twitter here; http://twitter.com/oscarpyejeary Where you can help him debate the relative qualities of Jaffa Cakes, Eggs and Crack. Which is better?
On-loan Stoke City winger Jermaine Pennant is refusing to give up hope of being capped by England.
Pennant, 27, joined the Potters from Spanish side Real Zaragoza on a loan deal last month and has made three appearances so far.
The former Arsenal, Birmingham City and Liverpool moved to Spain after seeing his career stall in England.
Pennant was a regular at under-21 level for England but has failed to kick on and win a full cap.
However, he still believes he could have a future with the national team should he shine during his time at the Britannia Stadium.
"Every player would love to play for their country and if that ever came it would be a great achievement, but first of all I have to do it for my club," he said.
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"I have been in and out of teams and been abroad but now I am back in the Premier League and hopefully will be here for a bit longer.
"If I can do well every week and stay injury free, then hopefully my name will get thrown about a bit."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Wolves winger Matt Jarvis has laughed off suggestions that he is playing well enough to earn an England call-up.
Fabio Capello will name his squad for this month’s friendly against France in the next week, and there have been calls for former Gillingham star Jarvis to be given his chance.
However, the 24-year-old has played down his achievements, saying:“If Sir Alex (Ferguson) was impressed by what he saw, that’s fantastic coming from a manager of such standing in the game.
“But I’ve got to stay focused and keep doing well for Wolves and making sure my performances don’t drop.
“I’m playing well and everything seems to be going well at the moment. I’m enjoying playing against these players (in the Premier League). I love taking them on and seeing how I fare against them.
“It’s hard for me to talk about England. If it happens it would be fantastic for me. It’s one of the things I’ve always wanted to do. But I’m not assuming anything yet.”
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