The Fan

Germany storm to opening win

Germany 4 - Costa Rica 2

Germany opened the tournament with a great 4-2 win over Costa Rica. The hosts looked lively going forward, but a bit shaky in defence.

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The Rooney-Eriksson-Ferguson dispute

United manager isolated in injury row

As more allegations on the Wayne Rooney metatarsal injury saga appear, it has become clear that the relationship between Manchester United manager Alex Ferguson and England coach Sven Goran Eriksson has deteriorated beyond repair. The fear for Rooney is, that so has his relationship with his club manager.

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After the euphoria of Rooney’s scan result, Steven Gerrard brought the nation back down with a bump on Thursday by announcing he was only 50-50 for England’s opener on Saturday. For England to be without their 2 ‘make something happen’ players would leave England counting on set-pieces as their greatest threat. However, better news emerged today from the BBC:

Steven Gerrard is expected to be fit for England’s World Cup opener against Paraguay.

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24 hours after German coach Jurgen Klinsmann ruled his captain out of the opening tie against Costa Rica, Michael Ballack has announced he is fit to play.

“I am fit, I want to play,” he told Bild today. “I am ready and without problems. Whether I will be playing or not is up to the national team coach.”

 

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United fail to stop Rooney’s World Cup chance

Man Utd's lawyers on standby

A powerless Manchester United were unable to stop Wayne Rooney rejoining the England camp in Germany last night as yesterday’s scan did not prove that the player was ‘definitely injured’.

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The BBC is reporting that it appears that Rooney has been given the green light to rejoin the England World Cup squad.

The decision was made by a group including United doctor Tony Gill and physio Rob Swire, England team doctor Leif Sward and other specialists.

It is also thought that an independent consultant from Fifa was on hand should there have been any conflict between Rooney’s club and the FA - and it was reported that United lawyers were in attendance.

 

Rooney flew back to Germany earlier tonight.

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Staff watching the World Cup on the internet at work could cost the British economy almost £4bn, it is claimed.

Law firm Brabners Chaffe Street calculates that during the tournament, if just half of British workers surf the net for an hour a day, it will cost the UK nearly £4bn in lost time.

From: Sky

 

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Wayne Rooney has undergone a scan on his broken metatarsal to determine whether he will be fit to play in the World Cup.

Club and country doctors are now assessing the results. If the 2 camps disagree on his ability to play an independant doctor may be called on.

A decision is expected today, but may be delayed until tomorrow morning. England have until 2pm Friday to make a decision on whether to replace Rooney with Jermain Defoe.

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‘It’s a difficult ball for goalkeepers, this one moves all over the place. We just have to live with it, but it’s not at all goalkeeper-friendly,’ said England goalkeeper Paul Robinson.

“There’s no stitching whatsoever. It’s two sections glued together and it’s a lot lighter than the Premiership ball. There’s a plastic coating around it and when it’s wet it’s even worse.”

The keeper was not officially supposed to get hold of one of the new balls until yesterday, but had the foresight to order half a dozen of his own at a cost of £420.
From: Guardian

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New rules set to launch red card spree

Refereeing standards to be in the spotlight

After the variable quality of refereeing performances in previous World Cups, it is important for the referees of the opening 2 games on Friday to set a sensible precedent for the rest of the tornament.

Fifa’s head of refereeing José-Maria Garcia Aranda does not seem to have calmed the situation by demanding that the officials ‘proactively’ referee games. The old cliche that a good referee is one you do not notice could not be truer, or it seems, further from Aranda’s mind.

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