..::Football III::..

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Ronaldo not comfortable as a striker, claims Bento

Portugal boss Paulo Bento has claimed that Cristiano Ronaldo is not comfortable playing the centre-forward role on the back of a failed World Cup campaign.

The 29-year-old could not prevent Paulo Bento's men from getting dumped out at the group stage as Germany and USA progressed ahead of them from Group G.

There had been suggestions that Real Madrid star Ronaldo should have been deployed in the striker role, especially given injuries to Hugo Almeida and Helder Postiga, but Bento has doubts over whether he would have been suitable away from the flank.

"I never thought of Ronaldo as the spearhead, it was not on my mind to put Ronaldo as the only centre-forward since the beginning of the tournament," he told TV1.

"I think it's not the best for his goal tally and for the team. We talked about it, of course. He did not seem to feel comfortable in that position, but it was not necessary for him to tell me that."

The skipper was a major injury concern ahead of the World Cup and did not look at full fitness in all three games, but Bento insisted the Ballon d'Or holder would not have been risked had he not proven himself in training in Brazil.

"When he reached the training camp he was not at 100 per cent but then he was able to train and play," the Seleccao boss added.

"He played with great effort and sacrifice and he was medically fit - he would not have played otherwise. There was not any pressure to speed his recovery."

 

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Mertesacker: I don't care how Germany played

Germany defender Per Mertesacker insists performances do not matter after his side scraped through their World Cup last 16 clash against Algeria with a 2-1 win after extra-time on Monday.

Joachim Low’s side struggled during a goalless 90 minutes in Porto Alegre but reached the quarter-finals thanks to goals in extra-time from Andre Schurrle and Mesut Ozil.

Abdelmoumene Djabou grabbed a late consolation for the north Africans but Germany held on to book a last eight fixture against France on Friday at the Maracana.

Mertesacker responded angrily when asked about Germany’s unconvincing performance and praised the fighting spirit in the side.

"I don't care. We're in the last eight and that's what counts," the Arsenal defender told ZDF.

"What do you want from me? Do you believe there is a carnival team here in the round of last 16? We went over 120 minutes and we fought until the end and I think we won deservedly.

"What do you want? Shall we play beautiful again and then drop out? Seriously, I don't understand these questions."

Germany captain Philipp Lahm admitted his team found it hard against Algeria and lamented a number of missed chances in the second half of the game.

"We knew it was going to be a tough task," he insisted. "They wanted to give everything and that's what they did. And it is clear: If you don't convert your chances, you have to go in extra-time.

"They defended well, had many people around their penalty area and that made it difficult. We were not good on the counter. We were not placed well when we attacked and that led to the chances they had."

 

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Algeria should be proud of memorable World Cup run

For a time it seemed as if bonus rows, training boycotts, on-field underachievement and players sent home in disgrace would ensure that this World Cup would go down as a black mark on the history of African football.

But after all the extraordinary events of the past fortnight, it will be remembered rather differently in Algeria.

At the final whistle in Porto Alegre on Monday there was no triumphalism to be seen. German players walked, dazed and relieved, back to the tunnel while exhausted Algerians fell to the turf. Coach Vahid Halilhodzic unsuccessfully fought back tears as he embraced his players. Little satisfaction in victory, no consolation in defeat.

In truth, Algeria’s history had been made before that. The first African team to score four goals in a World Cup match with a 4-2 win over South Korea, the first Algeria team to ever make the second round of a World Cup after a hard-fought draw against Russia. The identity of their last 16 opponents should have been an irrelevance.

But back home there was talk of revenge. For Algeria, a clash with Germany was always going to be about more than enjoying a ride in uncharted waters. Halilhodzic’s men were tasked with healing wounds that had festered for over 30 years. They came so mightily close.

Back in the summer of 1982, nine days before what became known as ‘The Shame of Gijon’ sent them packing from the World Cup, Algeria had stunned the football world by beating West Germany 2-1. Lakhdar Belloumi, one of the scorers that day, insisted earlier this week that a rematch more than three decades in the making would inspire his countrymen, but few others expected this.

Algeria frightened and frustrated their opponents for 95 minutes, with Rais M’Bolhi pulling off a string of increasingly impressive saves while, at the other end, the likes of Sofiane Feghouli and Islam Slimani forced Manuel Neuer into the most active sweeper-keeper performance in recent memory.

The north Africans ruthlessly and repeatedly exposed the lack of pace in a high German backline with a potent combination of incisive aerial balls and direct running from deep, creating numerical advantages in the final third which, but for an agonising lack of composure - and, on one occasion, the assistant referee's flag - might have yielded a famous win.

At the other end Lady Luck undoubtedly played her part; it is hard to recall Germany being this profligate in a crucial tournament match. Thomas Muller is targeting the World Cup goal record jointly held by Ronaldo and Miroslav Klose – who rather mysteriously remained on the bench – but will never reach it with finishing like this.

There had been speculation that the onset of Ramadan might affect the North Africans, but no lack of energy was apparent. Algeria worked tirelessly to break up the German passing rhythm early and often, eventually forcing Joachim Low to replace the twinkle-toed Mario Gotze with the less subtle but more direct Andre Schurrle.

It proved a decisive change but, even once behind, Halilhodzic’s men did not allow their illustrious opponents to relax. Feghouli and substitute Yacine Brahimi prodded and probed from deep as Slimani drove on undeterred.

Mesut Ozil settled matters on 119 minutes but Abdelmoumene Djabou’s late strike provided a final scare, as well as a scoreline which better reflected the intensity of the battle that had raged.

Defeat always carries a bitter taste. But when the dust has settled and Algerians take stock – of the righteous indignation of 1982, the humiliation and joylessness of 2010, and the apparent poor health of the rest of African football – disappointment will surely give way to burning pride.

 

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Schurrle: My goal was lucky

Germany goalscorer Andre Schurrle has conceded that his fancy flick to help his team to a 2-1 extra-time win over Algeria involved a large slice of luck.

Joachim Low's men were held to a goalless stalemate after 90 minutes by the spirited African side, who went close to scoring on a number of occasions only to be denied by an effective performance from Manuel Neuer.

However, substitute Schurrle struck early in extra-time to give the Germans the lead before Mesut Ozil added a second, meaning that Abdelmoumene Djabou's late goal for the Algerians was a mere consolation.

The Chelsea man believes that his team-mates' profligacy nearly cost them and, though he insists his backwards flick goal was no fluke, accepts that he had a large slice of fortune.

"Obviously we wanted to win the match earlier," he told ZDF. "But Algeria did well, they pressured us from the beginning. I scored almost the exact same goal in Mainz three weeks ago. So I am capable of it, but of course I had a little luck.

"We had many chances in the last 10 minutes of the 90, but we missed them. Now we are at the quarter-finals. We need to relax, and then play France."

Germany will face France in the quarter-final on Friday, with the winner facing either Brazil or Colombia in the lst four.

 

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Trapattoni set for Cote d'Ivoire job

Giovanni Trapattoni has announced that he is set to take the reins as the new coach of Cote d’Ivoire, nine months after his departure from Republic of Ireland.

The Elephants endured a disappointing World Cup, losing a dramatic game to Greece to crash out of the group stages, which prompted previous coach Sabri Lamouchi to resign from his position.

The highly-decorated Italian coach has since revealed that he turned down Morocco to take over the Cote d'Ivoire post and sang the praises of leading scorer Didier Drogba.

"I'm going to become the new Ivory Coast coach, everything will be official in a couple of weeks," Trapattoni told Rai Radio 2.

"Morocco offered me a job too, but I took 48 hours for myself and eventually chose Ivory Coast. Drogba? He's a great player."

Trapattoni also ruled himself out of assuming the presidency of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC), claiming that he was not prepared to merit such a high-profile role.

"I don't think [it] would be a good idea, it's a very important job and I didn't study enough to deserve it," he said.

Trapattoni, who has served as boss of AC Milan, Juventus, Inter and Bayern Munich in a stellar career, is one of only four coaches to win league titles in four different countries.

 

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Vermaelen out and Kompany doubtful for Belgium's clash with USA

Thomas Vermaelen will miss Belgium's World Cup clash with United States and Vincent Kompany's participation remains in the balance.

Coach Marc Wilmots confirmed on the eve of the last-16 encounter that while Vermaelen is recovering well from a hamstring strain, the game in Salvador has come too soon for the versatile defender.

"The situation with Thomas is that he will not be able to play but there's a high chance he'll be back for the last eight, if we make it," the former Schalke attacking midfielder told reporters at Arena Fonte Nova.

"He's already running and training fully with the rest of the squad, but he'll have to wait for us to reach the last eight."

Wilmots, though, was unable to speak with as much certainty when it came to evaluating the fitness of captain Kompany, who is still struggling with a groin problem.

"We don't know if he'll be ready for USA," the 45-year-old coach confessed. "He'll be training with us for an hour and a half [on Monday evening] at the stadium and we'll see how he is after that.

"But then we'll wait until the morning before taking a decision."

Meanwhile, Wilmots insisted that Eden Hazard, who assisted two of Belgium's three game-winning goals in the group stage, has not been affected by the criticism he has received for allegedly sub-par showings in Brazil.

"We are always talking about Eden," he lamented. "You are asking about someone who has already given a lot to us.

"We have evolved with four attackers so it's up to me to pick the proper strategy, to pick the right players. But Eden, he's the only one who doesn't suffer from pressure.

"It's true. He's very quiet. He enjoys the game. I could never manage to get cross with him because he's such a nice guy.

"He's someone who has very great ambition. But I don't want him to be on the only one with pressure on him. Individuals only shine when the team is good."

Wilmots also insisted that he and his players have not been perturbed by the fact that they have been criticised by their national press for their performances in Brazil so far - despite being one of only four teams to have emerged from the group stage with a 100 per cent record.

"This is the first time in our lives that we got nine out of nine [points], creating five or six opportunities per match," he argued.

"Perhaps we can still go up another notch but we are on schedule. I know that if we play one good match, everyone will be praising us.

"But I see things differently anyway: we've been working for two years now and we now have a good core.

"There's always praise for our opponents but we are doing well. We know our system, we know what we want to do and we know what we're going to do.

"We allow people to complain. As long as this team does everything it can to win, we will never regret anything.

"Everyone is free to have an opinion but we know what we're doing and where we're going."

 

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Messi will claim the Golden Boot - Di Maria

Lionel Messi can do what nobody else in the world can do and will emerge as the top scorer at the World Cup, according to Argentina team-mate Angel Di Maria.

Messi started slowly in the Albiceleste's opener versus Bosnia-Herzegovina before bursting into life by scoring the eventual match-winner, and he did the same again when they defeated Iran 1-0 in their second game.

An impressive double in the final group game saw him rocket to the top of the Golden Boot tally - though he has since been overlapped by Colombia's James Rodriguez - but Di Maria is confident his captain will emerge on top.

"Messi is the best in the world," he told Marca. "What he does nobody else can do and luckily he's ours.

"He is going to be the World Cup's big goalscorer. He's at a tremendous moment and that's very good but we all catch it off him."

Argentina managed narrow victories in each of their group games but, ahead of Tuesday's clash with Switzerland, Di Maria claimed that team spirit is high and he expects them to be in the final come July 13 should they up their game in the knockouts.

"We're going from a lower level to a higher one. We haven't reached our best level yet, but I still believe we can win the World Cup," the 26-year-old said.

"The emotional bond that we have here is fundamental. There is zero friction and during these days living together, we are more united than ever. We feel very strong.

"We knew that our rivals were going to fall back and that we would get the space to play our game."

Argentina, should they beat Switzerland, will face Belgium or USA in the last eight of the tournament.

 

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Messi ge meh series 1ke form 1ka patta​

 

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Hazard has everything – Alderweireld

Eden Hazard "has everything" as a footballer, according to his Belgium team-mate Toby Alderweireld.

The Red Devils take on USA in the last 16 of the World Cup on Tuesday, and the Atletico Madrid defender is sure that Hazard can help to fire his team into the quarter-finals thanks to his unique skillset.

"I don't think Eden feels the pressure. He has always played like this and he just enjoys playing football. He wants to be the best player and he can make the difference for us," Alderweireld told reporters at Belgium's Mogi das Cruzes training base.

"He's very difficult to keep quiet because he has everything. He has skills, is very fast, is very clever, and in one action he can change a game so that’s obviously a strong point."

Marc Wilmots' side have been hit by a string of recent injuries in defence, with Thomas Vermaelen facing a race against time to be fit to face USA, Vincent Kompany a major doubt, and Anthony Vanden Borre having been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament with a cracked fibula.

But Alderweireld insists they have the resources at the back to cope with the triple setback."We have confidence in a lot of players. We have a good group, a very good bench, and against South Korea you saw that the players that hadn't already played did very well, so we have no problem.

"Daniel van Buyten has a lot of experience and has been very good the last few games. He gives a lot of confidence to the team and we are happy with him."Belgium are many people's favourites to progress from Tuesday's clash at Arena Fonte Nova, which kicks off at 22:00CET.

 

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FIFA World Cup 2014 Round of 16 Fixtures 2014.07.01

FIFA World Cup 2014 Round of 16 Fixtures 2014.07.01

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Argentina Vs Switzerland

Belgium Vs USA

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Argentina & Belgium​

 

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Suarez Barcelona join wei wage
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Germany 2-1 Algeria (AET): Schurrle and Ozil ensure Low's side scrape through

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Messi will claim the Golden Boot - Di Maria

 

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Yesterday Germany Vs Algeria match 1ke 87th minute Germany free kick take 1ka Muller athin unu mistake 1kakda nathnam trick 1kakda?

Welawakata hithenawa 1ka mistake 1kak wenna baha kiyala

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Chelsea confirm karala A.Cole Chelsea walin yanawa kiyalaReal Madrid & Monaco Favourites la A.Cole wa sign karaganna

 

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[1118lakmalkumara]

Club gahanawa ewa therenne nae ne ban . balanna dapallako vithara tikak

 

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Club gahanawa ewa therenne nae ne ban . balanna dapallako vithara tikak

Wisthara kiwwe machan?

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Adam Lallana signs for Liverpool

Liverpool have completed the signing of Adam Lallana from Southampton in a deal believed to be worth up to 25 million pounds.Lallana, 26, was Liverpool's top transfer target at the start of the summer, as manager Brendan Rodgers set about strengthening his squad ahead of their return to the Champions League after a four-year absence.

But the Reds have had to be persistent to push the deal through, having had two initial bids rejected, with the player undergoing a medical over the weekend."I'm so excited for the next chapter of my career, coming to a special club like Liverpool," Lallana told the club's official website. "I'm quite humbled and I just can't wait to get started.

"Hopefully I can settle in quickly, and I will give it my best throughout the whole time I'm here."I hope I can add something to the team and hopefully we can win trophies while I'm here, because that's why I'm here -- for success."

Lallana -- who featured in all three matches of England's doomed campaign at the World Cup in Brazil -- becomes Liverpool's third signing of the summer, following the arrivals of striker Rickie Lambert, also brought in from Southampton, and Bayer Leverkusen midfielder Emre Can.He was shortlisted for the PFA Players' Player of the Year award earlier this year but lost out to his new teammate, Luis Suarez.The move ends Lallana's 14-year association with Southampton, who he joined from Bournemouth in 2000 at the age of 12.

"What is apparent about Adam is that his character is on a par with his talent," Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers added on Liverpool's website."He is an exceptional young man and someone who has a love for the game - and, most importantly, a desire to progress and improve.

"Adam is motivated by being the best he can be and being part of something special. We believe he fits right in with what we are trying to do at Liverpool."
Lallana had made it clear that he wanted to join Liverpool at the end of last season, sources told ESPN FC, with the South Coast club happy to grant him his wish so long as they received the transfer fee they believed to be fitting for one of the rising stars of the English game.

The stumbling block in negotiations came over the sell-on fee Lallana's former club Bournemouth are entitled to, with Southampton holding out for a 22 million pound fee for their England midfielder and encouraging Liverpool to settle on a fee with the Championship side.According to sources, those negotiations held up Lallana's move in the last few days, but they have been resolved.

Having sold defender Luke Shaw to Manchester United last Friday, new Southampton boss Ronald Koeman is set to embark on a rebuilding programme having been promised in excess of 50 million pounds to spend this summer on targets.