Hardly has the dust settled on Spain’s conquest of Europe than the cream of the international game turn their sights to the two-year qualifying trek leading to the first ever World Cup finals in Africa.
Under Fabio Capello, England have played out five underwhelming friendlies which culminated in a fortuitous draw last month against the Czech Republic at Wembley.
Today, they should swat aside Andorra in Barcelona but the traditional injury scare which accompanies England on such occasions brought news that defender Rio Ferdinand will travel despite missing training as he bids to shrug off a sore back.
England are already without Steven Gerrard, Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick but Capello has responded by handing a first call-up to Fulham’s combative Jimmy Bullard.
Croatia, who impressed at the Euro 2008 finals, start their qualifiers at home to Kazakhstan, who have already seen off Andorra.
Germany will continue their push back to prominence after Joachim Loew’s side managed to reach the Euro final without looking convincing.
Even in the absence of injured veterans Torsten Frings and Michael Ballack the three-times world champions will surely knock over Liechtenstein before a midweek trip to Finland taxes them rather more.
World champions Italy start off their campaign away to Cyprus today before hosting Georgia.
The Azzurri are once again under stewardship of Marcello Lippi, back at the helm two years on from supervising the World Cup win over France having replaced Roberto Donadoni.
With a trip to Austria today, France’s Samir Nasri says the French are banishing all memories of their poor Euro 2008 performance.
“We’re in the mood for revenge and want to do well to show another side [to our game], one with more quality than you saw at the Euros,” the Arsenal star said.
Vicente del Bosque, meanwhile, will be out for a home win over Bosnia as he opens the post-Luis Aragones era with Spain having already seen off Denmark 3-0 in a friendly.
The nine European group winners qualify directly for the finals along with the four winners of four playoffs between the eight best second-placed teams, giving Europe 13 of 32 finals places.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
The Minnesota Timberwolves, with so many promising performances spoiled by late mistakes fresh in their memory bank, sure timed this strong finish well. Jaden McDaniels scored a career playoff-high 30 points and spearheaded Minnesota’s stifling defense on an ailing Luka Doncic, and the Timberwolves beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-104 to take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference first-round series in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on Friday night. “Jaden never looks tired. He looks like he could play 48 minutes,” said teammate Anthony Edwards, who had 29 points, eight rebounds and eight assists. Julius Randle added 22 points for the Wolves, who outscored
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
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