SOCCER:A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Poland and Ukraine get the all clear
ALL EIGHT proposed venues in Poland and Ukraine will host matches at Euro 2012 as planned, Uefa confirmed yesterday.
Uefas project director Martin Kallen had said in a visit to Warsaw in May this year that Poland could host the tournament alone if Ukraine’s stadiums were not ready in time but such drastic action has now been ruled out.
“We feel that Ukraine is fully capable of doing the work (staging the finals),” Uefa president Michel Platini told a news conference yesterday.
“Therefore the executive committee has decided to split the finals equally between the cities in Poland and Ukraine (four and four). We are not going to change anything (from the original plan).”
Warsaw, Gdansk, Wroclaw and Poznan in Poland and Lviv, Kharkiv, Donetsk and Kiev will each host at least three group games.
Shoulder injury rules McCourt out of NI squad
PADDY McCOURT has lost his fitness battle yesterday and pulled out of the Northern Ireland squad to face Italy and the Faroe Islands in their Euro 2012 qualifiers. McCourt was named in the original group last week despite having a shoulder problem.
Manager Nigel Worthington included the Celtic winger in the hope he might make it against Italy and unlock the door with his skill.
However, not only will McCourt miss Friday’s match, he is also ruled out of the following one in Toftir a week tomorrow. It is the second withdrawal for Worthington as Blackburn-born midfielder Adam Barton is also ruled out.
Italy striker Alberto Gilardino and left back Luca Antonelli have been ruled out of their qualifiers against Northern Ireland and Serbia with injury. Coach Cesare Prandelli said Fiorentina midfielder Riccardo Montolivo had been left out of the squad because of an ankle complaint and had not been dropped unlike Juventus Fabio Quagliarella.
Fifa suspend Nigeria FA
FIFA yesterday suspended the Nigerian Football Federation due to government interference.
Fifa have become frustrated with events in the African country and yesterday acted, meaning the country’s national team will not be able to participate in qualifying for the African Nations Cup until the matter is resolved.
A Fifa statement read: “This decision follows the latest events linked to the NFF, such as the court actions against elected members of the NFF executive committee preventing them from exercising their functions and duties, the stepping down of the acting NFF general secretary on the instructions of the National Sports Commission, the decision of the Minister of Sports to have the Nigerian League start without relegation from the previous season, and the fact that the NFF executive committee cannot work properly due to this interference.
Nigeria won their opening African Nations Cup qualifier 2-0 against Madagascar.
Schweinsteiger out of qualifiers
MIDFIELDER Bastian Schweinsteiger will miss Germany’s qualifiers against Turkey and Kazakhstan after pulling out of the squad with an injury.
Schweinsteiger, who has 83 caps, was injured on Sunday in Bayern Munich’s 2-0 defeat at Borussia Dortmund, twisting his ankle. Germany, top of Group A, take on Turkey in Berlin on Friday and then play in Kazakhstan four days later.
Rangers striker to have operation
RANGERS striker Nikica Jelavic is to have an ankle operation and will miss “a number of matches” the Ibrox club have announced.
The Croatian striker suffered the damage in Saturday’s 2-1 win over Hearts at Tynecastle when he was clattered in the second half by midfielder Ian Black.
Jelavic was replaced by Kyle Lafferty and is now set to be sidelined for several weeks following the operation, which is a major blow for boss Walter Smith.
HIBERNIAN will now begin the search for a new manager as a matter of priority after announcing the departure of John Hughes yesterday. The Edinburgh club confirmed they had parted company with their manager by mutual consent as pressure on Hughes increased in recent weeks.
“The club will make no comment on any speculation regarding the appointment of a new manager, and will make any announcement via the club website,” a statement said.
Davies gets England call-up
KEVIN Davies has been included in the England squad for the Euro 2012 qualifier with Montenegro at Wembley next Tuesday.
His call-up confirms once again that Fabio Capello is unburdened by snobbery or preconceptions. The manager has turned to an uncapped 33-year-old whose club, Bolton Wanderers, are an unobtrusive 12th in the Premier League.
The forward sounded resigned to rejection when he spoke before the 2-2 draw with Manchester United 10 days ago. “I was in the expanded squad a couple of times, but even when a few players pulled out and I thought I had a chance, someone else got called up,” Davies said.
In eight matches this season, he has scored just once in open play, but that is not a consideration that matters to Capello who has a habit of returning to the notion of a target man when he considers his tactical approach.
Striker reinforcements for Spain
SPAIN coach Vicente del Bosque has been forced to call up attacking reinforcements for the Euro 2012 qualifiers against Lithuania and Scotland after seeing three players struck down by injury.
Since naming his 20-man squad last week, Del Bosque has seen Liverpool striker Fernando Torres (groin) and Barcelona winger Pedro (hamstring) injured on club duty last weekend, while Sevilla wide man Jesus Navas has a thigh problem.
With Barcelona playmaker Xavi and Arsenal’s Cesc Fabregas already missing, Del Bosque has turned to the Primera Division’s leading two teams Valencia and Villarreal to bolster his squad for the upcoming internationals.
Valencia striker Aritz Aduriz and winger Pablo Hernandez have been drafted in, while Villarreal playmaker Borja Valero and his fellow midfielder Bruno Soriano will now link up with three club-mates – Marchena, Santi Cazorla and Joan Capdevila.
