Rossi misses out on World Cup

1 June 2014 20:08

Italy have omitted Fiorentina forward Giuseppe Rossi from their final 23-man squad for the FIFA World Cup in Brazil.

Rossi damaged the anterior cruciate ligament in his right leg in January, but recovered to earn a place in Cesare Prandelli’s provisional party.

However, the striker has now suffered heartbreak for the second successive World Cup, having also been cut from an initial squad chosen by Marcello Lippi in 2010.

After choosing to overlook Rossi and Roma forward Mattia Destro, Prandelli has five attackers at his disposal.

Torino duo Ciro Immobile and Alessio Cerci have been retained, together with Milan’s Mario Balotelli, Lorenzo Insigne of Napoli and experienced Parma forward Antonio Cassano.

Milan midfielder Riccardo Montolivo had already been ruled out of the World Cup after suffering a fractured tibia in Saturday’s 0-0 draw with the Republic of Ireland.

The other players to have been purged from Italy’s provisional 30-man selection are Christian Maggio, Manuel Pasqual, Romulo and Andrea Ranocchia.

However, Inter defender Ranocchia is set to remain with the squad as injury cover.

Italy play Luxembourg on Wednesday before flying out to Brazil, where they will face England, Uruguay and Costa Rica in Group D.

Squad in full:

Goalkeepers: Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus), Mattia Perin (Genoa), Salvatore Sirigu (Paris Saint-Germain)

Defenders: Ignazio Abate (Milan), Andrea Barzagli (Juventus), Leonardo Bonucci (Juventus), Giorgio Chiellini (Juventus), Matteo Darmian (Torino), Mattia De Sciglio (Milan), Gabriel Paletta (Parma)

Midfielders: Alberto Aquilani (Fiorentina), Antonio Candreva (Lazio), Daniele De Rossi (Roma), Claudio Marchisio (Juventus), Marco Parolo (Parma), Andrea Pirlo (Juventus), Thiago Motta (Paris Saint-Germain), Marco Verratti (Paris Saint-Germain)

Forwards: Mario Balotelli (Milan), Antonio Cassano (Parma), Alessio Cerci (Torino), Ciro Immobile (Torino), Lorenzo Insigne (Napoli)

Reserve: Andrea Ranocchia (Inter)

Qatar bid committee deny corruption claims

1 June 2014 18:42

Organisers of Qatar’s successful bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup have offered a strong rebuttal against accusations of corruption.

Reports in the British media on Sunday claimed Mohamed Bin Hammam, former president of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC), paid up to $5million to football officials to drum up support for Qatar’s bid.

Bin Hammam had previously been a member of FIFA’s executive committee, but was banned for life from all football activity in December 2012 following allegations of bribery.

The latest allegations led to FIFA vice-president Jim Boyce stating that a switch in host should be considered if the claims are proved to be true.

However, the Qatar 2022 Bid Committee has released a statement, strongly denying the claims and stating that Bin Hammam had no role in the bidding process.

“The Qatar 2022 Bid Committee always upheld the highest standard of ethics and integrity in its successul bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” the statement read.

“In regard to the latest allegations from The Sunday Times, we say again that Mohamed Bin Hammam played no official or unofficial role in Qatar’s 2022 Bid Committee. As was the case with every other member of FIFA’s Executive Committee, our bid team had to convince Mr Bin Hammam of the merits of our bid.”

The committee also revealed it was co-operating with an on-going investigation, which is being led by former United States attorney Michael Garcia, who heads the investigatory chamber of FIFA’s ethics committee.

The statement added: “We are co-operating fully with Mr Garcia’s on-going investigation and remain totally confident that any objective enquiry (sic) will conclude we won the bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup fairly.

“Following today’s newspaper articles, we vehemently deny all allegations of wrong-doing. We will take whatever steps are necessary to defend the integrity of Qatar’s bid and our lawyers are looking into this matter.

“The right to host the tournament was won because it was the best bid and because it is time for the Middle East to host its first FIFA World Cup.”

Sunday’s statement contradicts previous comments from Qatar 2022 bid chairman Sheikh Mohammed bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani in 2010, which saw him label Bin Hammam as the bid’s “biggest asset”.

The allegations are the latest to blight Qatar’s bid, after accusations that ex-FIFA vice president Jack Warner had received $2million from a firm controlled by a former Qatari football official.

Qatar were awarded the World Cup in December 2010, beating off competition from the United States, South Korea, Japan and Australia.

That decision has courted much controversy, with concerns raised over the ability of players to perform in the height of the Qatari summer, leading to the likelihood the tournament will be moved to winter months between November and January.

Several FIFA figures, including president Sepp Blatter, have admitted fault in overlooking the climate in Qatar as a potential problem.

Thai Premier League Wrap: Samut Songkhram grab rare win, Muang Thong held

1 June 2014 17:17

Bottom side Samut Songkhram won in the Thai Premier League for just the second this season with a 2-1 triumph at TOT.

Paiboon Lertwimolrat’s men only had five points heading into Saturday’s encounter at the TOT Stadium Chiang Wattana, but the visitors ended a five-match losing league streak.

Sarif Sainui opened the scoring in the 37th minute and Songkhram held onto their advantage until the break.

Both sides were reduced to 10 men just after the hour when Lee Jun-Ki was dismissed for the hosts, while Adison Daeng-rueng saw red for the away team.

Sainui then doubled the lead with his second to calm Songkhram’s nerves and, though Mohamed Kone reduced the arrears in the 76th minute, the visitors hung on for victory.

At the other end of the table, league leaders Muang Thong United were held 0-0 at home by AFC Champions League hopefuls Army United.

Suphanburi moved up to third ahead of Army United, Alexandre Polking’s men triumphing 2-0 at home over Chainat, Napat Thamrongsupakorn scoring in each half.

Also on Saturday, reigning champions Buriram United were comfortable 3-0 victors over strugglers Bangkok United, while Air Force United defeated 10-man Sisaket 2-0.

On Sunday, BEC Tero Sasana moved level with Muang Thong at the top of the table thanks to a comfortable 3-1 home win over Singhtarua.

Honduran striker Georgie Welcome and Narubodin Weerawatnodom handed the hosts a two-goal cushion by half-time, while Rangsan Viwatchaichok made the game comfortable in the 66th minute.

Kim Geun-Chul grabbed a 77th-minute consolation, but it mattered little as BEC remained unbeaten in the league this term.

In a battle between two strugglers, PTT Rayong routed Songkhla United 4-0 in what was just their second win of the season.

Amadou Ouattara was the standout performer with in hat-trick as all four goals came in the second half.

Chonburi and Chiangrai boosted their hopes of qualifying for continental competition, the former defeating Osotspa 2-1, while the latter overcame Police United 2-0.

Rounding off the action, Heberty took home the match ball as his hat-trick helped Ratchaburi to a 4-2 success at Bangkok Glass.

International Friendly Preview: Mexico v Bosnia-Herzegovina

1 June 2014 17:11

Bosnia-Herzegovina contest their final friendly ahead of the FIFA World Cup against Mexico in Chicago on Tuesday.

Coach Safet Susic has seen his preparations for the competition in Brazil hampered by off-field issues, including sagas involving Boris Pandza and Ervin Zukanovic during recent weeks.

While Edin Dzeko gave Susic reason to be positive, scoring a brace in Friday’s 2-1 win over fellow World Cup qualifiers Ivory Coast, disputes between the country’s football authority, the N/FSBiH, and certain players have served as unwanted distractions.

Pandza faces punishment for apparently suggesting his omission from the squad was due to non-sporting issues, while Zukanovic will miss the tournament after visa problems.

After failing to secure a visa ahead of his country’s training camp in America, Gent defender Zukanovic was quoted as blaming the situation on the N/FSBiH, who responded with a statement that confirmed the player would no longer be needed in Brazil.

Add in Susic’s now-resolved disagreement with Dzeko over the Manchester City striker’s playing time in a friendly earlier this year, and it is safe to say Bosnia will be eager to focus on football matters.

After an impressive win over Ivory Coast, Susic stated his pleasure at the performance as his side continue to build up to their Group F opener against Argentina.

“I am pleased, victory will come in handy for our confidence,” he told Dnevni avaz.

“The players are certainly in a good mood, but this triumph will further help the atmosphere within the team.”

Susic could be able to call on Sead Kolasinac, Emir Spahic and Ognjen Vranjes, after stating that knocks picked up by the trio against Ivory Coast were not serious.

Mexico, who booked their place at the World Cup with a play-off victory over New Zealand last November, are likely to provide a stern test for Bosnia.

Miguel Herrera’s men defeated Israel and Ecuador in friendlies earlier this week, although the latter triumph came at a cost as Luis Montes and Rafael Marquez suffered injuries.

Montes will play no part in Brazil after suffering a broken leg, while skipper Marquez is waiting to discover the seriousness of a foot problem.

“It’s a difficult situation, we will try to recover the group mentally as soon as possible,” coach Herrera said on Saturday.

“Right now we are not thinking about the games that follow, we will think about having a good talk with the guys.”

International Friendly Preview: Greece v Nigeria

1 June 2014 17:00

Greece can breathe a sigh of relief ahead of the Nigeria friendly, with Sokratis Papastathopoulos thought to have escaped serious injury.

The Borussia Dortmund centre-back pulled up shortly before half-time in Greece’s uninspiring 0-0 draw with Portugal in Oeiras on Saturday with what appeared to be a hamstring problem.

Initially there were fears that Papastathopoulos’ participation in the upcoming FIFA World Cup could be in doubt, but reports in the Greek media suggest that the damage is not as bad as first feared.

While Tuesday’s fixture against Nigeria in Pennsylvania is likely to come too soon, coach Fernando Santos could welcome Papastathopoulos back into the squad for the final warm-up game versus Bolivia at the Red Bull Arena on Friday.

Santos’ attention may turn to the other end of the pitch, where Greece showed a notable lack of goal threat against Paulo Bento’s men.

Kostas Mitroglou started in that fixture alongside Georgios Samaras, the former getting the nod despite struggling since moving to Fulham in January.

But, with neither forward making a strong case, Santos may give opportunities to the likes of PAOK’s Dimitris Salpingidis and the experienced Theofanis Gekas of Konyaspor, the duo no doubt keen for action before their World Cup opener with Colombia on June 14.

For Nigeria, the match may represent an opportunity to give the more tried and tested players an outing after a team consisting largely of World Cup hopefuls could only muster a 2-2 draw with Scotland last Wednesday.

Coach Stephen Keshi left the likes of goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama and midfielder John Obi Mikel out of squad, as Uche Nwofor’s 90th-minute goal rescued a draw at Craven Cottage.

Peter Odemwingie came off the bench in that game, and the Stoke City forward is desperate for success with the national team after missing out on the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations victory.

Speaking to The Guardian, he said: “In the past few years my only regret is that, as I’ve become a better player, I probably would have got more goals for myself and the country but I missed out a bit.

“I’ve missed a year and a half, missed out on the cup they won, unfortunately. I wish I was part of that squad because I’ve played in four Africa Nations and got three bronze medals, never a gold.

“But I can’t look back. This is another opportunity for me.”