On Monday I wrote about why I felt Walcott should go to the World Cup but only in an impact substitute role. Today the England team for the second and final World Cup warm-up match against Japan was announced: David James, Glen Johnson, Rio Ferdinand (C), John Terry, Ashley Cole, Theo Walcott, Tom Huddlestone, Frank Lampard, Aaron Lennon, Wayne Rooney and Darren Bent.
Head coach of Denmark, Morten Olsen, has named his final 23 man squad for the World Cup. He has included the promising Palermo centre back Simon Kjaer despite picking up what looked like a potentially serious injury against Senegal yesterday. Kjaer will still undergo some scans so the extent of his injury can be assessed and monitored but the early expectations are that he will be able to play a part at the World Cup.
Mexico’s Javier “Chicharito” Hernandez has today had a work permit granted enabling him to join Manchester United on the 1st July when the transfer window opens.
Three times World Cup winners Germany prepared for the World Cup by beating a selection local players aged under 20 from Eppan in South Tirol by 24 goals to nil. The Germans, who beat Hungary in the 1954 final, Holland in the 1974 final and Argentina in the 1990 final – have thumped a few sides in their time, however the biggest World Cup victory remains the 8-0 win over Saudi Arabia in 2002.
I am inherently biased. I should point out that I wouldn’t have selected Theo Walcott for the England provisional squad in the first place. However, he was selected, so I will try to provide an argument for and against his selection in the final squad.
If you tuned into ITV on Sunday and Monday evening you would have witnessed a bunch of no-hopers embarrassing themselves in an audition process – though with the very real prospect of crying into our beers this summer, it was hard to laugh at that on show last night. It may be a little harsh – England won, after all, with a degree of comfort once the third goal went in – but anyone wading through the morning after press will inevitably have read about how awful Michael Carrick was.
On the eve of England’s first warm-up match for the World Cup another member of the England set-up has expressed his disappointment at Paul Scholes’s decision to not make himself available for selection – England captain, Rio Ferdinand.
World Cup finalist in 2006 Franck Ribery has signed a new five year contract with Bayern Munich, which ends any speculations of the winger joining Real Madrid. The France international has been continuously linked with the nine times European Champions over the past two season however by penning a new deal which commits him to the Bundesliga champions until 30 June, 2015 has ended any possibility of a move. France will look to Ribery as the tailisman of the side – much like the weight placed on the shoulders of legendary playmaker Zinedine Zidane.
In his first season with a ‘big’ club, Diego Milito has excelled. After yesterdays Champions League final he has now brought his tally to 30 goals for the season; a very healthy return bettered only in the current Argentine squad by Lionel Messi. Yet, it is feasible that Milito may not feature at all in Diego Maradona’s plans.
Real Madrid and France defensive midfield Lassana Diarra has been ruled out of the World Cup finals with an intestinal problem. The news will come as a massive blow for Les Blues as Diarra was penciled in as a major player in an uncertain French side. Diarra played in ten World Cup qualifying games and 23 games for Real Madrid this term.
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