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If it wasn’t enough that Wayne Bridge has ruled himself out for selection in the England squad, Capello and the England team have been hit by another scandal. Ashley Cole is heading towards a messy divorce.
Fabio Capello is surely not a happy man, with one scandal after another being thrown into his face. He said in an interview to CNN:
“Yes. I am not lucky because I prefer the normal life and to speak about football, not personal lives. The next press conference will not be easy to speak about Egypt. A lot of questions will be about John Terry, Wayne Bridge and other things around their private life.”
It’s a tough situation for the Italian since he’s a stickler for discipline. He commented:
“When I met the players for the first time I told them they had to respect all the people that work with me, around us and the other players.”
“I want the respect at every moment. When we are eating, training, working, on the bus. Always.”
“I don’t understand why 25 or 26 people have to wait for one or two. It is about respecting the rules.”
Ashley Cole fractured his ankle in the match against Everton yesterday. This injury could keep the defender out for at least 3 months.
The injury could give Man City’s Wayne Bridge a chance in the England World Cup squad. Earlier, Bridge and Terry had been enfolded in a controversy which led to the latter being stripped of his captaincy.
Chelsea have a backup left-back in the Russian, Yuri Zhirkov. Another option could be Paulo Ferreira who can also play in this position.
Cole needs to get fit in time to be available for selection. The England World Cup campaign begins on June 12th against the United States.
The Japanese national team will begin preparations for their 2010 World Cup with a friendly against Venezuela on February 2.
Venezuela haven’t qualified for the Cup, but Japan manager Takeshi Okada feels it would be a good test as “teams from South America always approach matches wanting to win”. and also added that the game “will help toughen Japan up”.
Japanese players celebrate their goal
Right now Japan have no more friendlies in store, however, they will face China, Hong Kong and South Korea at the East Asian Championships in February.
Japan’s Asian counterparts- South Korea have left an option open to include veteran striker Ahn Jung-Hwan in next year’s World Cup.
Coach Huh has also stated that another veteran from the 2002 World Cup, Lee Chun-Soo may also get a chance. Huh said:
“Ahn Jung-Hwan and Lee Chun-Soo will not be ignore. They have much experience between them. The players are special assets to Korean football. They’re players who can adjust and do their share of work even if they are called upon later. They are still on the reserve list.”
Ahn, is famous for scoring a golden goal against Italy at the 2002 World Cup. Lee, also a key part of that South Korean team, currently plays his club football at Al-Nassr in Saudi Arabia.
FIFA have announced a disciplinary action against France captain Thierry Henry due to his handball incident which led to William Gallas scoring the winning goal against Ireland in their return leg play-off in Paris.
Aston Villa’s Dunne commented:
“It doesn’t affect me one little bit what FIFA will do with Thierry Henry. Whether he plays in the World Cup or not, I won’t be. Whatever FIFA do will probably be wrong anyway. From the moment the rules were changed for the play-offs, when the seedings were brought in, it was decided they wanted France through.”
Richard Dunne
He also added:
“It’s always the same way FIFA think about Irish football. Unless you are a massive country or have massive sponsorship you’re not going to be welcome. What’s this award that FIFA are going to give to Ireland? It is FIFA taking the mickey – give the Irish a plaque instead of going to the World Cup. It’s a sop. They can keep it. I would be very surprised if Robbie Keane, our captain, was going over to collect it.”
Irish Keeper Shay Given also admitted to the Daily Mail:
“I still feel angry about the whole thing. All the stuff from FIFA and Sepp Blatter – just rubbish. A couple of days ago Blatter said he’s spoken to Henry and how it wasn’t his fault, it was the referee’s. A couple of days on and FIFA say they’re going to look into Henry. To be fair to Thierry, he probably had the realisation at the end of the game that what he’s done is illegal. He’s cheated Ireland. I’m not saying he’s a cheat but what he’s done is illegal.”
