West Bromwich Albion goalkeeper Ben Foster says he is happy to be back in the England fold again now that he has more time on his hands following babysitting duties.
Foster has not been involved since turning his back on England two years ago, saying at the time he wanted to spend more time with his young family rather than be England’s second or third-choice goalkeeper under former coach Fabio Capello.
However, he is now keen to add to his five caps after making himself available again.
“[The kids] spend every day at school now, so by the time they get home it’s half-past-four, you give them their dinner and a bath and then it is bedtime, so I don’t really get to see them as much as I did,” Foster told the club’s Web site.
“With age comes the feeling that you don’t want to regret things. My kids are a huge part of my life and it would be lovely to show them a few DVDs and caps when they’re older — and the World Cup next year is a huge thing,” he said.
The 29-year-old has never played for England at a major tournament and although he is unlikely to usurp No. 1 Joe Hart, the Manchester City goalkeeper has not been at his best.
“I’m not expecting to play to be honest. I’ve said many times he [Hart] could be England’s No. 1 for the next 10 or 15 years. I just want to be there to help out,” the former Manchester United player said.
“I’m buzzing. It’s been two years since I was last involved so it’s nice, and to come straight back in with qualifiers will make it a little bit more special,” he said.
Foster will face competition from Celtic’s Fraser Forster for second choice.
England are away at minnows San Marino on Friday before they travel to Group H leaders Montenegro on March 26.
Revelations of positive doping tests for nearly two dozen Chinese swimmers that went unpunished sparked an intense flurry of accusations and legal threats between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the head of the US drug-fighting organization, who has long been one of WADA’s fiercest critics. WADA on Saturday said it was turning to legal counsel to address a statement released by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) CEO Travis Tygart, who said WADA and anti-doping authorities in China swept positive tests “under the carpet by failing to fairly and evenly follow the global rules that apply to everyone else in the world.” The
Taiwanese judoka Yang Yung-wei on Saturday won silver in the men’s under-60kg category at the Asian Judo Championships in Hong Kong. Nicknamed the “judo heartthrob” in Taiwan, the Olympic silver-medalist missed out on his first Asian Championships gold when he lost to Japanese judoka Taiki Nakamura in the finals. Yang defeated three opponents on Saturday to reach the final after receiving a bye through the round of 32. He first topped Laotian Soukphaxay Sithisane in the round of 16 with two seoi nage (over-the-shoulder throws), then ousted Indian Vijay Kumar Yadav in the quarter-finals with his signature ude hishigi sankaku gatame (triangular armlock). He
Rafael Nadal on Wednesday said the upcoming French Open would be the moment to “give everything and die” on the court after his comeback from injury in Barcelona was curtailed by Alex de Minaur. The 22-time Grand Slam title winner, back playing this week after three months on the sidelines, battled well, but eventually crumbled 7-5, 6-1 against the world No. 11 from Australia in the second round. Nadal, 37, who missed virtually all of last season, is hoping to compete at the French Open next month where he is the record 14-time champion. The Spaniard said the clash with De Minaur was
RALLY: It was only the second time the Taiwanese has partnered with Kudermetova, and the match seemed tight until they won seven points in a row to take the last set 10-2 Taiwan’s Chan Hao-ching and Russia’s Veronika Kudermetova on Sunday won the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix women’s doubles final in Stuttgart, Germany. The pair defeated Norway’s Ulrikke Eikeri and Estonia’s Ingrid Neel 4-6, 6-3, 10-2 in a tightly contested match at the WTA 500 tournament. Chan and Kudermetova fell 4-6 in the first set after having their serve broken three times, although they played increasingly well. They fought back in the second set and managed to break their opponents’ serve in the eighth game to triumph 6-3. In the tiebreaker, Chan and Kudermetova took a 3-0 lead before their opponents clawed back two points, but