Sunday, 6 July 2014

El World Cup Diario, Day 24: Starring Luiz Felipe Scolari as Captain Benjamin Franklin Hawkeye Pierce

El World Cup Diario, Day 24: Starring Luiz Felipe Scolari as Captain Benjamin Franklin Hawkeye Pierce

El World Cup Diario, Day 24: Starring Luiz Felipe Scolari as Captain Benjamin Franklin Hawkeye Pierce

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 04:30 PM PDT

El Diario can certainly empathise with poor old Neymar, having suffered from the occasional bout of back pain down the years. Sure, the Brazilian boy-wonder's spinal knack wasn't caused by a shoddy mattress or falling asleep on a bench in some nondescript French coastal town, but still... We learned in the early hours of Saturday that Brazil's No.10 will miss the remainder of the tournament. The injury was a massively cruel blow to the hosts, who finally looked to have found their swagger against Colombia - for 45 minutes, at least. This World Cup being utterly bonkers, even the Barcelona forward's departure from the stadium was box office. Our stricken hero was bundled into a waiting helicopter on a gurney like something from a tear-jerking M*A*S*H season finale. Sadly, there didn't seem to be footage of Phil 'Hawkeye' Scolari spitting some witty barbs about the futility of this darn war... sorry, World Cup. But Neymar may not be the only South American superstar who's tournament is over. Argentina's Angel di Maria suffered a thigh injury in Saturday's 1-0 win over Belgium, and is now reported to be a doubt for not only the Albiceleste's semi-final against [SPOILER ALERT] the Netherlands, but also the final or third place play-off next weekend. Despite the narrow score-line, Argentina were generally comfortable once they'd taken an earlyish lead through Gonzalo Higuain, and largely kept Belgium at arm's length - bar the token late onslaught. In truth, the Netherlands were probably even more dominant in their quarter-final against the perennially-patronised Costa Rica. The game was goalless after 120 minutes, despite Van Persie, Sneijder, Robben and friends all taking pot-shots at Keylor Navas' goal. The Levante stopper played another blinder, although he was unable to save any of the four Dutch penalties in the ensuing shootout. How to lose friends and save penalties Navas would've done well to mimic Tim Krul's act-like-a-berk-for-as-long-as-possible technique, which seemed to gnaw into the minds of Costa Rica's spot-kick takers. The Newcastle keeper was thrown on by Louis van Gaal in the 120th minute, with Manchester United's manager-in-waiting presumably believing the permanently terrified-looking Jasper Cillessen wouldn't have been much cop in a pressure situation. Krul responded by fronting up to the opposition, pointing at his face for no good reason, and just generally being unnecessarily abrasive. It seemed to work, though, so maybe he's on to something. The Dutch keeper's heroics did, however, deny us the chance of seeing Ron Vlaar take a spot-kick. The Aston Villa defender was seemingly next in line to take the long walk, and would almost certainly have done something hilarious. It's just not (a) cricket El Diario is concerned that the ungodly beast which landed on Colombia's Hamez Rodreegez during Friday's match with Brazil is still seemingly at large. We are willing to pay a handsome reward to anyone who finds and kills the acclaimed arthropod using a rolled-up copy of the Daily Mail (OK, maybe not kill, but at least put in a Tupperware box with a few air-holes punched in the lid).

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Watson excited by Southampton prospects

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 08:54 AM PDT

The optimism derived from a top-eightPremier League finish has waned as captain Adam Lallana, striker Rickie Lambert and talented full-back Luke Shaw have all since departed St Mary's. Mauricio Pochettino has also left for pastures new, with Ronald Koeman taking on the manager's role in what is a period of transition for a club who, just four years ago, were in League One. But,while Southampton may have lost some of their star players - and others, such as Dejan Lovren and MorganSchneiderlin, couldsoon also be on their way - they have received a substantial financial boost from the transfer fees. And Watson, whohad a two-year spell at Southampton between 1995 and 1997,believes the club could yet turn the situation to their advantage - providing they invest the money wisely. "I think it'sa really exciting time," Watson told Perform."I think they've got top dollar for top players. If they want to go to the next level they have to bring in players. "They've brought in a top-class manager who hasplayed at the very top, that's going to inspire players. I think it's really exciting. "They're going to be raising the best part of £60 million.Who is to say that hewon't bring in better players than Adam Lallana and Rickie Lambert? And theywill be a lot cheaper. I think it's really exciting." Watson conceded that the financial clout ofLiverpool, who Lambert and Lallana joined, and Manchester United, who swooped for Shaw, was always going to prove too strong for and Southamptonto resist. "The amount of money that is being offered for players you've got to take it," he added."Adip in form or anything else like that and you're stuck. "You're always going to second guess yourself but if you get offered £25 million [you have to take it]becausea year later you might only get offered, say, £15 million. "If you can get £25 million for a player and that player wants to go then he has to go.It's as simple as that. Adam Lallana said he wanted to go, Rickieis adifferent matter because he's 32 and he was going home to his boyhood club. "Luke Shaw is probably the best left-back in the country, (but)if you're going to get £30 million for an 18-year-old again you've got to take it. You might be able to go and get three players worth £7 million or £8 million and still have £6 million left over."

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No offers for Carvalho, says Sporting president

Posted: 05 Jul 2014 05:29 AM PDT

Reports have suggested that Premier League side Manchester United had representativesin Lisbon to discuss the possibility of a £37 million deal for the Portugal international. However, the club's presidentBruno De Carvalho has refuted those claims and stated that no negotiations havetaken place with any team. "We haven't received any formal or informal proposals for any of our players," he toldA Bola. Chelsea and Monaco have also been linked with the defensivemidfielder. Sporting director of football Augusto Inacio stated last week that the club were unconcerned by William Carvalho's expected departure because his buyout clause would represent "excellent business". And Bruno De Carvalho admitted that his departure is a possibility, adding: "Is a sale possible? Nothing is impossible in football."

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