Tom Cleverley, Manchester United

Euro 2012 – Man United’s Tom Cleverley Is Eager to Play For England

Tom Cleverley has been on the sidelines with an ankle injury since October.

After returning to action for Man United, healed midfielder Tom Cleverley wants to stake a claim for a berth in England’s midfield for Euro 2012 and play for England’s interim boss, Stuart Pearce.

The 22-year old made his comeback in the first leg of United’s Europa League tie against Ajax last week.

After United soundely won 2-0 in Amsterdam with his help, Cleverley is sready to figure in the return leg at Old Trafford on Thursday.

“I’m just concentrating on tomorrow night and then Sunday for my club, but hopefully if I can get into some good form between now and the end of the season then I’d be more than happy to be involved in the Euros in the summer,” Cleverley said.

“It’s really good – it’s been massively frustrating to be out for that length of time, but I’m coming back, I feel 100 percent, and I’m looking forward to the end of the season.”

Cleverley is hopeful his past experience with interim England boss Stuart Pearce will stand him in good stead when the squad is selected.

“I’m not sure – you’d have to ask him,” he said.

“All I can do is play to my best ability when picked. I know Stuart Pearce well from the under-21s and he’s a good manager, so hopefully I’ll be involved.”

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Harry Redknapp, Tottenham Hotspur

Harry Redknapp Open to Euro 2012 Part-time Role

Stuart Pearce will manage England on a one-off basis in a February 29 friendly against the Netherlands, following last week’s shocking resignation of Fabio Capello.

Harry Redknapp seems to be the overwhelming favourite to succeed Capello – however he said that managing Spurs and England both full time would be “impossible”.

Redknapp says he would be able to juggle the two jobs on a short-term basis.

“Part-time? In the short term I think it’s possible for the European Championship,” said Redknapp.

“In the long term, it’s not possible to manage a club team and manage a national team. It’s difficult enough to manage in the Premier League without having to worry about managing the England team as well.

“You want to be watching England players play, you want to be watching the opposition. I think whoever they give the job to could only do the one job.

“Maybe for the Euros, it’s not such a problem, but once the Euros are finished and the new season starts in England, the manager has to be a Premier League manager — if it’s someone who manages in the Premier League — or the England manager.

“To do the two jobs, it would be impossible.”

FA chiefs met last week to compile a shortlist for the England vacancy, and said they could make a short-term appointment for the Euros before awarding the job on a long-term basis for the 2014 World Cup campaign.

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Fabio Capello

After 65-year-old Fabio Capello quit as England National Team coach due to talks with the FA over their decision to strip John Terry of the captaincy, Capello commented, “I didn’t run away, I left because there was a misunderstanding.”

“I felt great but sometimes you decide to leave.”

Capello insists he is not taking on a new role anywhere.

“In Italy, no. Absolutely not. Now I want to relax,” he said.

England’s next match is a friendly against the Netherlands on Feb. 29.

England players and other team managers had comments regarding Capello quitting …

Wayne Rooney – “Gutted Capello has quit. Good guy and top coach. Got to be english to replace him. Harry redknapp for me.”

Jack Wilshere – “Shocked about news on Fabio Capello… gutted to be honest, gave me my first cap and believed in me. He has shown great belief and trust in me so I can only thank him….massive influence on my career so far. Sad to see him go.”

Rio Ferdinand – “I think we need an English manager now, we don’t need anything else lost in translation….Harry Redknapp would be my choice by a distance.

Joey Barton – “No captain and no manager. 4 months from a major championship. What’s going on…….”

Michael Owen – “Don’t know if was just me but it never felt right in the first place knowing the England Manager was heading off after the Euros regardless.”

Glen Johnson – “Sad news to see Capello step down. Good man and a good manager.”

Kyle Walker – “Gutted to see Capello go, he put trust in me and gave me my first cap, just want to say a big thanks.”

Martin O’Neill – “If there is anybody to succeed Fabio Capello it is Harry Redknapp. (Redknapp) has earned the right to do so and I think Harry Redknapp will be the next England manager and he deserves to be so.”

Neil Warnock – “I’m delighted. I only saw them failing at the Euros with him. There’s nobody else other than Harry Redknapp [to replace him]. It’s a long time since England had a man everybody agrees with and who can get the best out of the team. He brings humour to the dressing room and that has been missing in Fabio’s time. It’s possible for Harry to do it part-time until then but that depends on Tottenham. [Euro 2012] with Harry will be something to look forward to.”

Alan Pardew – “Firstly as an Englishman, I am proud to be in that sort of frame, but it’s not for me and I will make that quite clear. I am not even in the running as far as I am concerned.”

Roberto Martinez – “We are all aware of what happened in the World Cup and everyone tries to highlight that, but the reality is the England team has shown an incredible progression since Fabio Capello arrived. In the qualifying games to the World Cup and the Euros you have seen a team that is capable of doing big things in big tournaments and I am sure Fabio Capello is going to get the credit he deserves once he is not in the job any longer.”

Antonio Conte – “I am saddened. I have great respect and admiration for Capello, a coach that has achieved important things. It’s a grave loss for England.”

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Euro 2012 – Fabio Capello Resigns As England Manager

After Fabio Capello won 28 matches, lost six and drew eight in his four year tenure with England – he has resigned as England manager, throwing the national team’s plans for the European Championship into turmoil.

Capello quit as England boss following a dispute over captain John Terry.

“We have accepted Fabio’s resignation, agreeing this is the right decision,” FA Chairman David Bernstein said. “We would like to thank Fabio for his work with the England team and wish him every success in the future.”

Bernstein publicly undermined Capello last week when he said he had not consulted Capello before demoting Terry from team captain. Terry is facing a criminal trial for allegedly racially abusing QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during a game in October.

Capello criticized the decision on Italian television, stating it was “absolutely” the wrong move.

Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, who has long been considered Capello’s potential replacement, was cleared by a British jury of tax evasion charges today.

England’s next match is a friendly against the Netherlands on Feb. 29.

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Paul Scholes, Man Utd and England

Euro 2012 Update

Paul Scholes is feeling fit and reportedly is considering playing for England in Euro 2012.

Scholes came out of retirement to play for Manchester United after recently “retiring” to coach for Man Utd after Sir Alex Ferguson decided there were ‘no negatives’ to bringing in somebody with such a proven record.

Scholes has not played for England since 2004.

When Capello picked his squad for the World Cup 2010 in South Africa he asked Scholes to join the squad, and reportedly he may be contacted ahead of this summer’s European Championship.

“I like being at home, but I was tempted,” said Scholes.

“Every hour I changed my mind. But in the end the thought of being away for six weeks made up my mind. I just don’t enjoy being away from home for long periods.

“That was why I stopped in the first place, after the Euro 2004 finals. Plus the fact that I didn’t feel I was playing very well.

“People said it was because I didn’t like being played on the left, but that wasn’t the case. I’d played on the left for United and scored a lot of goals one season from there.”

When asked if he will play in Euro 2012, he replied. “Who knows?”

“After two months’ training with the youth team I felt I could still play,” said Scholes.

“I ended up playing in some practice games and was getting fitter and fitter, so I went to see the manager.

“How did I feel? Scared. I wasn’t sure what sort of reaction I would get. I told the boss I wanted to play again, not necessarily for United – just play again.

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Alexandre Pato, AC Milan

Milan striker, Alexandre Pato is hoping to recover from a thigh injury in order to play for the first leg of AC Milan’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie against Arsenal FC on 15 February. The return leg of the Arsenal game will be played in London on 6 March.

Pato is a doubt for the San Siro leg of AC Milan’s UEFA Champions League round of 16 tie against Arsenal FC after being laid off for over three weeks.

The 22-year-old Brazilian strained his left thigh after scoring the extra-time winner in his side’s Coppa Italia round of 16 game against Novara Calcio.

Pato scored twice in three group stage matches this season.

The groups in the preliminary round of Euro 2012 are completed.

The format used by the EHF starts out with 16 teams and one of the two purposes of the group play is ‘simply’ to reduce the field down to 12.

Europe has about 10-12 really strong teams, so the weeding out of the more marginal teams does not often create much excitement.

The teams which advance bring with them the points from the games that they have played against each other, this means that every game means a lot even when teams already know they will will and advance.

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UEFA EURO 2012 Final Officials Named

The UEFA Referees Committee have appointed the 12 referees to handle the 31 matches of the UEFA EURO 2012 final tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

For the first time in the history of the UEFA European Championship, the referees will have added support thanks to a decision by football’s lawmakers, the International Football Association Board (IFAB), to allow the continuation of the experiment in the use of additional assistant referees. The full referee teams will be announced in January 2012.

EURO 2012 FINAL REFEREES

Çakιr Cüneyt Turkey
Eriksson Jonas Sweden
Kassai Viktor Hungary
Kuipers Bjorn Netherlands
Lannoy Stéphane France
Oliveira Alves Garcia Pedro Proença Portugal
Rizzoli Nicola Italy
Skomina Damir Slovenia
Stark Wolfgang Germany
Thomson Craig Scotland
Velasco Carballo Carlos Spain
Webb Howard England

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Fri, Jun 8 Russia Vs Czech Republic Tickets – Municipal Stadium, Wroclaw, Poland
Sat, Jun 9 Netherlands Vs Denmark Tickets – Metalist Stadion, Kharkiv, Ukraine

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Zlatan Ibrahimovic, Sweden

Euro 2012 Draw – Update

After the Euro 2012 draw for the group stage in Poland and the Ukraine took place – Germany, the Netherlands and Portugal will battle in the first round, Spain clashes with Italy, and England fights France.

Group Stage Draw

Group A: Poland, Czech Republic, Greece, Russia

Favorites: Russia and Poland

Russia will host the 2018 World Cup and has drawn the easiest of the four groups. Premier League duo Andrei Arshavin and Roman Pavlyuchenko will play for Russia. Poland will feature Arsenal’s Wojciech Szczesny and Borussia Dortmund pair Robert Lewandowski and Jakub Blaszczykowski.

Group B: Netherlands, Denmark, Portugal, Germany

Favorites: Germany, Netherlands.

Germany is reportedly the pre-tournament favorite with top players, Mesut Ozil, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose. The Netherlands will feature Dutchman Klaas-Jan Huntelaar. Cristiano Ronaldo will be vital to Portugal along with Nani and Joao Moutinho. Denmark’s striker Nicklas Bendtner is in top form this season.

Group C: Spain, Ireland, Croatia, Italy

Favorites: Spain, Croatia.

Spain was perfect in qualifying. The reigning World Cup and European championship winners have an advantage. Xavi, Andres Iniesta, David Silva, Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas will feature along with striker David Villa who scored seven goals in qualifying. Croatia’s Luka Modric and Milan Badelj should be formidable.

Group D: Ukraine, France, Sweden, England

Favorites: England, Sweden.

Fabio Capello will bring Wayne Rooney to the European championships despite the striker’s three-game ban. If Samir Nasri and Franck Ribery are fit, France could be a force. Sweden’s Zlatan Ibrahimovic is fit. Ibrahimovic helped dispatch England in international friendly match between England and Sweden at Wembley Stadium on November 15, 2011 in London, England. Andriy Shevchenko and Andriy Yarmolenko will play for Ukraine.

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Wayne Rooney, England and Manchester United

Euro Stars Out of Olympics

England players who take part in this summer’s Euro 2012 tournament in Poland and Ukraine will not be selected to play for Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics.

Great Britain’s Olympic football team will be denied England’s best players after Stuart Pearce announced that no one involved in Euro 2012 will be considered for selection for the London 2012 Games.

Both Manchester United’s Wayne Rooney and Jack Wilshere have been among the Englishmen to have expressed an interest in appearing at the Olympics.

Stuart Pearce, who had not initially ruled anyone out, described it as “a sensible football decision”.

Pearce said: “We have had discussions as we come now to notifying the long list of the players who could potentially be selected and it is important to make clear what we have agreed regarding England players who will be at Euro 2012.

“We have agreed that any player who boards the plane to the European Championship in Ukraine and Poland will not be considered for selection to Team GB.

“It’s a sensible football decision when you consider the demands on players, and it now leaves no room for doubt for players and their clubs about next summer and the two major tournaments.”

Arsenal’s Arsene Wenger and Manchester United’s Sir Alex Ferguson have said it would be too much for players to play in both tournaments.

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Harry Redknapp

Current Red Lions boss Fabio Capello steps down at the end of next summer’s 2012 European Championship.

Reportedly, Spurs manager Harry Redknapp is one of the top contenders to be the next boss of the England National Team when Capello leaves. However Harry Redknapp is not interested in replacing Fabio Capello as England manager ‘at the present time’.

The Spurs are top-four challengers in the English Premier League and are playing in the UEFA Champions League under Redknapp as well.

Responding to a question regarding Redknapp’s future at the Spur’s Annual General Meeting on Tuesday, Tottenham Director Daniel Levy said: “Harry has 18 months left on his contract.

“We have had a conversation that says as far as Harry is concerned, he is very happy here and that he doesn’t particularly want to consider England at the present time.

“We will worry about that situation if it arises in the summer.”

Spurs are riding high in the Premier League table once again this season, with a run that brought 10 wins from 11 outings seeing them surge up the standings.

They did come unstuck away at Stoke in their last top-flight fixture, but Levy believes the club should still be setting their sights on the ultimate prize.

“I hope we have a great season and that we can finish in the top four or, who knows, maybe even higher.”

“We want first.”

UEFA EURO 2012 TICKETS

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