England squad for Ireland and Brazil friendlies - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Andy Carroll has been recalled to the England squad for upcoming friendlies against Republic of Ireland and Brazil, while Reading goalkeeper Alex McCarthy gets his first call-up to the senior set-up.
The Three Lions face Giovanni Trapattoni's men at Wembley on May 29th, before travelling to play the 2014 World Cup hosts at the renovated Maracana on June 2nd.
England faces a tough match this evening with a World Cup qualifier match against Montenegro inPodgorica.
Roy Hodgson has made six changes to his England side. It's a strong lineup today for England, so they can't have any excuses against a tricky Montenegro side who will be buoyed by a vocal home support.
Rio Ferdinand put in another brilliant performance for Manchester United this week in our 1-1 draw against Real Madrid.
The game comes following yet another snub from Roy Hodgson when England faced Brazil at Wembley.
Hodgson has laughably claimed that Rio's omission is purely down to "footballing reasons", not the fact that John Terry racially abused his brother and that Ashley Cole, according to the FA, lied to protect him.
Just what does Phil Jagielka tell fellow England substitute Kyle Walker that causes the Tottenham defender to get lost in thought. A few possibilities: 1. "Have you heard that Goran Popov has been diagnosed with TB?" 2. "I reckon Glen Johnson could comfortably play at international level for another six or seven years.
England 2-1 Brazil International Friendly 6th February 2013
Yes it was only a friendly and yes it really doesn't mean that much, but still, credit where credit is due England performed superbly on Wednesday night against an almost full-strength Brazil side (although where was Andre Santos?
England heroes who earned 100 caps - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
Representing your nation at any level is probably the best feeling one can ever bore in his heart. A sense of patriotism runs through the veins and the feelings cannot be expressed in any words or language.
It is even harder for the outsiders to fathom its true essence.
Here's a little stat for you: Ashley Cole has started in every single one of his 99 England games to date and, given that he's all set to win his 100th cap by starting against Brazil tonight, we have to mark that as a truly momentous achievement.
England v Brazil: Gerrard to partner up with Wilshere to face Ronaldinho - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
England v Brazil International Friendly Wembley Stadium, London, England Wednesday 6th Ferbruary, 2013 19:30 GMT
England will play their first international fixture of 2013 when the Three Lions will face footballing giants Brazil at the Wembley Stadium on Wednesday.
Wayne Rooney took the train journey down to London for tonight's friendly with Brazil as the perfect opportunity to hone his broadcasting skills. His England team-mates Leon Osman and Leighton Baines were the new Paxman's first victims. The interview starts very much like a Garth Crooks interview. But once Wazza's into the swing of things [.
Ashley Cole is set to become the seventh player to win 100 England caps after being named in the squad for next week's friendly with Brazil.
Cole would become only the seventh player to have reached 100 caps for England, joining Gerrard, Billy Wright, Bobby Charlton, Bobby Moore, David Beckham and Peter Shilton.
England squad for Brazil friendly announced - originally posted on Soccerlens.com
The Three Lions will play their first match of 2013 as manager Roy Hodgson has announced his 24-man England squad for Wednesday's friendly match at the Wembley Stadium against Brazil.
Chelsea left back Ashley Cole who missed out the game against Sweden in Stockholm through injury returns to the squad and could earn an historic 100th cap for the nation, should he be selected against the South Americans.
Moving away from the deadline day hoo-ha for just a second, Roy Hodgson has announced his England squad to play Brazil in next Wednesday's friendly at Wembley.
There are no major shocks, with the only noteworthy aspect perhaps being that Leon Osman will be allowed to have another crack at international football (though this time without the slightly unsettling rakish Movember 'tache) after making his England debut back in November of last year, playing the whole 90 minutes against Sweden in a 4-2 defeat, i.
Rafa Benitez to his credit has stuck by his rotation policy at the club and Thursday night was Chelsea's eleventh game in the last thirty three days. Juan Mata and John Terry were both on the bench next to Oscar that night and I expect all three to start this one.
It took us the half time interval to get our tempo going after conceding a goal just before half time but within 15 minutes or so from the re-start, this game was dead and buried and Chelsea head to Amsterdam to take on Benfica on Wednesday 15th May in the Europa League final!
It was always going to be one of those games tonight with Chelsea leading 2-1 after the first leg with two away goals scored.
Chelsea were facing a trip back to London with another draw after conceding a late goal. Fortunately for them, defender David Luiz had other ideas.
The Brazilian struck a free kick in the 94th minute through the opposition wall and into the net, giving Chelsea a thrilling 2-1 victory over FC Basel on Thursday night in Europa League semifinal action from Basel.
Chelsea face a potential defensive crisis this week with no first-team left back available after Ryan Bertrand has been struck down with a virus. Ashley Cole is still injured, so it may mean that Chelsea manager Rafa Benitez will give 18-year-old Nathan Ake a start against Rubin Kazan on Thursday in the Europa League quarter-final.
Chelsea will be going after history on Thursday when they host Russian hopefuls Rubin Kazan in their UEFA Europa League quarter-final first-leg tie.
Chelsea are trying to become the first British side to win all three major European club competitions. Previously the Blues have lifted the Cup Winners' Cup and Champions League.
Former Chelsea assistant manager Ray Wilkins says that Rafa Benitez is to blame for Ashley Cole's injury, which will keep the left back out of action for two weeks.
Here's what Wilkins said to talkSport during his interview with the radio station:
"[Ashley Cole] never played on Saturday at Southampton on Saturday, he plays 15 minutes against United and Danny Welbeck takes him on a run and he pulls his hamstring.
Chelsea defender Ashley Cole will miss up to two weeks of action for the Blues with a hamstring injury.
The English defender suffered this injury during Chelsea's FA Cup quarter-final replay match against Manchester United on Monday. The severity of the injury and the duration were confirmed by manager Rafa Benitez after the match.
A spectacular strike from Demba Ba saw FA Cup holders Chelsea to a 1-0 win over Manchester United in their quarter-final replay.
The Blues, who have lifted the trophy in four of the last six seasons, will now face Manchester City at Wembley in the semi-finals with another fixture added to an already hectic April schedule for Rafa Benitez's side.
Left back is a position that has been in high demand in recent years because there just isn't much depth at the position across world football. Paolo Maldini, Roberto Carlos, Nilton Santos and Giacinto Facchetti represent some of the best left-backs of all time and all of them typified the characteristics necessary to excel at the left fullback position: work rate, crossing, pace, attacking support and defensive aptitude.
Liverpool and Chelsea are to rival each other for Real Madrid left-back Fabio Coentrao. The Portuguese defender has been on Chelsea's radar for a while and could be a long-term successor to Ashley Cole. The Reds on the other hand are looking to dip their toes in the market, with manager Brendan Rodgers expected to be handed a £20m transfer kitty.
As holders of the FA Cup, Chelsea travel to Manchester this afternoon to take on United in the Quarter Final of the FA Cup. Having won the competition in four of the last seven seasons, Chelsea need a big performance to progress. Team News
After another woeful and second rate performance from "Rafa's Chelsea" the likes of Victor Moses, Ramires, Juan Mata, Gary Cahill, Cesar Azpilicueta, Demba Ba and Ashley Cole will all return to the starting eleven for this one.
Had it out with the players last weekend. Now I just have to stick it to the fans and the board to complete the manager's hat trick. Fingers crossed.
Time to go rogue. Paulo Ferreira and Yossi Benayoun in the starting XI. Stage five berserker. You f*** with me and you f*** with the best, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole!
I want to get the Chelsea fans opinions on this "report" that appeared at the weekend as it's one that I personally find hard to believe.
The report appeared in a couple of sections of the media yesterday and in the "Daily Mail" in particular but in saying that, we still need to look at the possibility of there being some substance in a surprising move by Chelsea if it is in fact true.
A Chelsea flag is waved during the UEFA Europa League Round of 32 second leg match (Photo by Ian Walton/Getty Images)
Chelsea make a crucial trek to Manchester to face off against last seasons English Premier League champions, Manchester City. The Blues need all the points they can get to maintain their third place spot in the EPL table as Tottenham continues to ride a fine run of form on their coattails.
Ashley Cole of Chelsea (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)
With Chelsea bringing home a 1-0 lead to London after their Europa League victory in Prague last week, the return fixture in the Round of 32 should be an interesting match. Stamford Bridge should be rocking as the Blues will seek to advance to the Round of 16 with a win or a draw on Thursday.
1. Jack Wilshere, it's good to have you back. He showed drive, commitment and technical ability so often missing in England performances. 2. On the flip side, you do find yourself constantly thinking he's about to get injured. We don't know how you cope on a weekly basis, Arsenal fans. 3. Not gutting much joy [.
Like a lot of Chelsea fans at the moment, I am looking into reasons as to why our form has been woeful of late and besides one other issue, for me it's a case of square pegs into round holes as far as Ryan Bertrand and Oscar are concerned. Both are being played out of position and despite the fact it's obvious, I am at a loss as to why Rafa Benitez keeps playing them there?
Chelsea visited Brentford in the 4th Round of the FA Cup on Sunday with hopes of securing passage to the final sixteen of England's fabled tournament. The day didn't go as planned, however, as Brentford took the lead just before halftime. The London side equalized in the second half, but once again, Brentford scored again to gain the advantage.
The Chelseacareers of the ‘old guard' are coming to a close, and as sad as it will be to see them leave, I wonder what the club's plans are for replacing them. Do we need to invest in new players for their positions or can we dip into our youth and loanees for a replacement? I shall consider Cech, Terry, Cole and Lampard; the situation is different for each of them.
Apart from Oriol Romeu, Rafa Benitez has virtually a full strength squad at his disposal now and it's time to evaluate our squad. Everyone has and is entitled to their own opinions and I am keen to find out from as many Chelsea fans as possible what they believe to be our strongest eleven.
For example, I was watching the "Weekend Review" on Chelsea TV last night and Jason Cundy made a good point about the two games coming up this week.
In case you withdrew from the world last week, Eden Hazard stomped on a ball boy during a game. He was duly shown a red card, sent off, and then twitter melted. However, lost in all the "holier than thou op-ed blog posts," a glimpse of the greatness of humanity filtered through the smog. I speak, of course, of teamwork.
Steven Gerrard has been named as the FA's 2012 Player of the Year after receiving more than 40 percent of the fans' votes. The Three Lions captain came ahead of Manchester United striker Danny Welbeck and Chelsea defender Ashley Cole in a year where he earned his 100th cap against Sweden. Gerrard said, "It's always special to have been recognized by the supporters for doing a good job.
Ronaldinho, who was named the best player in the world in 2004 and 2004, claims watching Eric Cantona is the first memory he has of English football, but that several other United players would have been good enough to play for any club they wanted.
"I remember seeing Eric Cantona play for Manchester United," he told The Daily Mail.
Sorry, Ashley. You're not Arsenal's best ever left back
Generally, I don't find too much to disagree with when I read another "All-Time Greatest Arsenal Team" list. I mean, it's hard to dispute the inclusion of talents like Henry, Bergkamp, Vieira and Fabregas. Sometimes my age means I get a little peeved when stars from bygone eras are constantly omitted, but then I'm fortunate to have seen players like Brady and Jennings actually playing for us.
Liverpool and England skipper Steven Gerrard spearheaded the Three Lions to only their fourth ever success over the samba stars of Brazil on Wednesday night. Both the midfielder, who earlier this week was named his country's Player of the Year, and right-back Glen Johnson completed the full 90 minutes as goals from Wayne Rooney and Frank Lampard sealed a famous 2-1 win at Wembley.
This was England's first win over Brazil since 1990, you have to see it to believe it! The Three Lions put in an all around great performance, the Chelsea players on the field played pivotal roles for their respective sides, showing us just why they are part of our star studded roster.
Before I go any further, I feel Jack Wilshere deserves some recognition for the way he dominated the midfield, wow he is some player!
