Xabi Alonso and Alvaro Arbeloa have found themselves centre of a controversial fall-out between a set of Spanish international players. Despite Spain being the reigning World champions, they were eliminated by Chile in the group stages on Wednesday night and a diagnosis of their lacklustre performances following the exit by former Liverpool man Xabi Alonso has not gone down very well with his fellow international team-mates. Alonso made comments following the 2-0 defeat to Chile that he and his team-mates were not in the right frame of mind and had not fully prepared for the tournament. The likes of Andres…
Author: Staff Writer
Peter Swallow (@ccfooty) takes a look at England’s defeat to Uruguay on Thursday night that all-but sees them eliminated from the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. As the full time whistle blew in São Paulo, two of Liverpool’s most inspirational players embraced each other. One as the euphoric victor, the other the disconsolate loser, yet the story of how these two came to be is not so simple. That winner was one Luis Suarez, the stubborn thorn in England’s side, while the loser was England captain Steven Gerrard, the man whose flicked header allowed Suarez to deliver the fatal blow…
Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo have reported that Barcelona are close to agreeing a deal to sign Liverpool striker Luis Suarez. Fresh off the back for a two goal performance against England in the World Cup for his country – Uruguay, Suarez has once again attracted the interest of Barcelona and Real Madrid, who have been long linked with the former Ajax man. And, it is now understood that a deal between Barca and Liverpool is ready to be agreed, with the Catalan side prepared to pay the £50m clause in Suarez’ contract which allows either Barca or Madrid to pay…
Paris Saint Germain boss Laurent Blanc has discussed interest received from a number of clubs for Brazilian defender Marquinhos but insisted the youngster would not be leaving this summer. The Brazilian centre-back has been strongly linked with a move away from the Parisien club after the arrival for David Luiz, who completed his £50m move earlier this summer. Manchester United have been credited with interest, whilst many reports had stated that Barcelona had agreed personal terms with the former Roma defender. Marquinhos, who has not gone to the World Cup with his country looks likely to play behind Luiz and…
Real Sociedad are edging closer to keeping the services of Carlos Vela, ending Arsenal’s hopes of bringing the Mexican back to the Emirates. Vela was in superb form last season, helping Sociedad to a Europa League place with his 21 goals and 13 assists, prompting former club Arsenal to consider activating their buy-back clause. Whilst a move for the Gunners looked likely, the Basque side have taken extreme measures to ensure that Vela will not leave the club and it is now understood that a new deal will see Arsenal’s clause become invalid. Catalan daily Mundo Deportivo report that a…
Gazzetta dello Sport have reported that Barcelona have submitted a £43m bid for Napoli striker Gonzalo Higuain. Argentine striker Higuain left Madrid last summer to join Italian side Napoli and has kept up his impressive performance in the Serie A, scoring 24 goals in 44 games under the guidance of former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez. Spanish daily Marca reported last week that Higuain was close to agreeing personal terms with Barca, citing that new boss Luis Enrique was keen to partner the striker with international team-mate Lionel Messi in a new look side next season. However, those claims have since…
Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has revealed his desire to sign Arturo Vidal from Juventus and admits he tried when he took over at the Spanish giants last summer. The Italian boss took over Madrid last summer and has since guided them to a Champions League and Copa del Rey triumph, but his plans for next season are well underway, being linked with a number to top transfer targets. One of those is said to be Arturo Vidal, who has been impressing for both Italian side Juventus and with the Chilean national team, who recently beat Spain in the 2014…
Japan were held by ten-men Greeece on Thursday night, leaving both sides unlikely to qualify for the next round of the World Cup. It was the European side who started better as Pangiotis Kone came close with a long range effort, which Eiji Kawashima was more than equal to. But that first chance for Greece, prompted Japan to start playing well and Keisuke Honda began to control the game, supplying Yuya Osako with a through ball which the midfielder could only send his resulting effort over the crossbar. Honda would then test the Greek keeper himself, before Yuto Nagatomo would…
England are on the brink of elimination after two Luis Suarez goals saw them lose to Uruguay 2-1 on Thursday night. Liverpool’s Luis Suarez returned from injury just in time to face England and he almost opened the scoring after five minutes but keeper Joe Hart was equal to his effort and palmed the ball away to safety. Shortly after, Wayne Rooney came close for England with a superb curling effort and again moments later when he tested out the keeper with a headed effort following a corner from Steven Gerrard. Cristian Rodriguez almost scored, but he was surprised about…
Colombia overcame a late comeback from Ivory Coast to win 2-1 and all-but seal their place in the knock-out stages of the World Cup. James Rodriguez and Juan Quintero scored the goals for Colombia, whilst Gervinho scored a goal of the tournament contender with a superb solo run. The South American side started well and tested Boubacar Barry’s goal early on but Teo Gutierrez saw his effort go wide of the post. Cheik Tiote came close for the African side but it would be another glorious chance for Gutierrez that would prove the best of the half, a chance that…