Wednesday, 18 June 2014

Manchester City face Newcastle on opening day

Manchester City face Newcastle on opening day

Manchester City face Newcastle on opening day

Posted: 18 Jun 2014 01:01 AM PDT

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Fellaini: Belgium deserved to beat Algeria

Posted: 17 Jun 2014 06:14 PM PDT

Fellaini and fellow substitute Dries Mertens came on to score as Belgium became the sixth team to claim a come-from-behind win at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The Manchester United midfielder praised the character of Marc Wilmots' side and said they deserved the three points in Group H. "I'm just glad that one went in though because we were beginning to run out of time, and it was important we took one of our chances," Fellaini told FIFA.com. "In the end, I think we got what we deserved. We started very nervously and played badly in the first half. "But I think you saw the character of this team in the second half. We just needed to stay calm, make the right decisions, and doing that got us this fantastic result." Fellaini endured a disappointing campaign with United, but said he never stopped believing he could produce. "I always believe and I thought that, yes, if the coach gives me the call, I can help us win this match," he said. "One thing I know is that if my team-mates put crosses in the box for me, I can score goals. And you saw it today. "Three times the ball came in for me and every time I won the header. I could have had a hat-trick."

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Lampard urges end to Rooney agenda

Posted: 17 Jun 2014 10:21 AM PDT

The Manchester United forward has struggled to impose himself at international tournaments since exploding onto the world stage at Euro 2004. His performance in England's opening Group D defeat to Italy, in which he produced a patchy display in an unfamiliar left-sided role, last Saturday has come under the microscope in recent days. Rooney on Tuesday hit out at media speculation over the reasons for him undertaking extra sessions at England's training base, and Lampard proceeded to add his name to the raft of players from Roy Hodgson's camp to back the 28-year-old. "Unfortunately we do have a fixation with one player during every World Cup, pretty much - the ones that I've been involved in," said Lampard. "It's a bit frustrating when you're in a team group and that happens because we're there trying to play together. "People are not selfish in this squad. We're trying to get results and then a fixation with one player can become, rather than a debate, a bit of an agenda. "So I think we do need to drop the agenda and look at the team, whoever plays. "The manager will pick the best team that he sees fit and, whoever plays, we want to win the game." The form of Liverpool youngster Raheem Sterling, who excelled in the "number 10" role against Italy, complicates the equation for Hodgson amid calls for Rooney to be utilised centrally when England face Uruguay in Sao Paulo on Thursday. But the 19-year-old told a Tuesday press conference that he would be happy to revert to the flanks in a bid to spark a winning combination with Rooney. "It's up to the manager to decide, at the end of the day, but that's my normal position out on the wing," Sterling said. "So his vision and his passing ability and my running abilities (together) could be a really good thing." Sterling also paid warm tribute to Rooney's influence on his fledgling career over recent weeks. He added: "Some of the stuff he does with the ball, you try to take little clips out of his play and really learn from that. "He's a world-class player. I've watched him growing up and it's someone I look up to, so to train with him now in this training camp over the last couple of weeks has been a real honour. "He works really hard and he's always improving as well. Someone like that, for me to look up to, I'm really glad to have him in the team."

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Rooney hits out at press claims over fitness

Posted: 17 Jun 2014 07:43 AM PDT

The Manchester United striker came in for criticism for an underwhelming performance in England's 2-1 FIFA World Cup defeat to Italy in Manaus on Saturday. While the rest of the starting XI from that match were put through a lighter session on Monday, Rooney trained separately with the remainder of the squad as speculation mounts over whether he will retain his place for the crucial Group D clash with Uruguay on Thursday. However, the 28-year-old - who has yet to score in a World Cup match - insists that the extra training was at his own request. "(I) sometimes wonder what the press are getting at," Rooney wrote on official Facebook page. "I said from the start I want to do everything I can to make sure I'm ready for these World Cup games and as part of that I was doing extra training a week before the squad joined up. "That's exactly what I did (on Monday), my own extra training because that's what I wanted to do." The Football Association have also clarified the situation, stating that Rooney asked to be allowed to take part in full training. "Contrary to reports, Wayne Rooney requested additional training and worked with a wider group of players on Monday," the FA posted on their official Twitter account. "Following a recovery session on Sunday a number of players continued two-day post-match recovery on Monday. Rooney was not in that group." Former England international Gary Neville, who is a member of head coach Roy Hodgson's backroom team, defended his ex-United team-mate as well by claiming it is impossible to make Rooney do a light session. "I played with him for six or seven years - you couldn't get him to do a light day, that's his character," Neville told the FA's official website. "He's a street footballer in the sense that he just wants to play every second of every day. "The players all have individual programmes that they follow, but he has an enthusiasm for football that is incredible. He's been like that since the moment I first played against him when he was a young Everton kid."

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Kagawa expecting Greece to attack Japan

Posted: 17 Jun 2014 07:30 AM PDT

Alberto Zaccheroni's men were beaten by the Ivory Coast in their opening fixture, as they surrendered a lead to lose 2-1. With Greece also suffering defeat in their first fixture in Brazil, via a 3-0 loss against Colombia, Kagawa feels that both teams will need to go for broke in Natal later this week. The Manchester United man lamented Japan's inability to take anything from their opening game and says there is no room for caution in their remaining fixtures. "We were never really in control of the game (against Ivory Coast)," he told AFP. "Greece will attack us because they lost too. We have no option but to attack." Japan have made it out of the group stage in two of their last four World Cup appearances - reaching the last 16 in both 2002 and 2010.

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