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Euro 2012

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Slightly off topic. Something that happened in Portugal's training camp:


Real Madrid and Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo has allegedly refused to sign an autograph to a 10-year-old girl wearing a Barcelona shirt.

In a letter published by Portuguese paper Record, Robert Filipe says that his daughter had decided to wear Barca's shirt for her club's training in Obidos.

However, the practice session was cancelled because of the Portugal national team's preparations for Euro 2012, and the 10-year-old decided to take the opportunity to watch the players in action - only to be ignored by the Seleccao's biggest star.

"When I went to pick her up, I did not find the happy and cheerful girl that I expected, but a sad one," Filipe explained. "When I asked her what was going on, she simply shrugged and said: 'Cristiano did not want to sign me an autograph because I am wearing Barcelona's shirt'.

"I did not know what to say. This is the shirt that she had put on to go to practice and that her mother had bought her when she visited Barcelona. It was the symbol of love and nothing else (had she visited Madrid the shirt would have obviously been different), and ended up causing her great sadness. My pain is to look at my daughter's eyes and see great disappointment in them and try to explain to a 10-year-old the reason a player of the national team, who she has been cheering for these last two weeks, going to every training session, had turned his back on her."
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Obviously a big fan of his, what with wearing a barca shirt who have no Portuguese players.

Go on CR7!
 
ROY HODGSON has admitted that he had a fall-out with Glen Johnson when they were together at Liverpool.

But the England manager has demonstrated that it’s now all in the past by making Johnson his first-choice right-back for the Euros.

Hodgson said: “Glen came to see me after reading some headlines and was upset because he felt that I hadn’t protected him.

“He felt I should have supported him but what I had done was give an honest answer to a question.

“I was asked at the time – was he playing like an England international right-back?

“And I said that he wasn’t. It was an honest answer.”

But Hodgson has underlined that he does rate Johnson, 27, by selecting him for the European Championships and sticking by him when his fitness was in doubt due to an infected toe.

That problem prevented the former Chelsea and Portsmouth full-back playing in Hodgson’s first match in charge – last weekend’s 1-0 win in Norway.

Manchester United’s versatile Phil Jones played at right-back, before being replaced two minutes from time by another Liverpool player, Martin Kelly – Johnson’s Anfield understudy.

It is also clear that Hodgson was happy with what he saw of Johnson’s form at the end of last season.
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SWEDEN’S Sebastian Larsson admits England have the “perfect” player in skipper Steven Gerrard.

Larsson, 26, is only six years younger than Gerrard, 32, but sees the Liverpool midfielder as his idol.

They are due to meet in Group D in Ukraine, with Larsson on the mend after a hernia operation.

And the Sunderland midfielder said: “I supported Liverpool as a boy – like my dad and brother.

“My favourite player when I was younger was Gerrard. He was amazing when he broke into the team – and he is still a top player.

“Stevie has got it all – he can attack, defend, tackle. In fact, he is the perfect all-round player.”
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spo03_8football_wea_271650a.jpg
 
Roy's managerial genius strikes again. Get out that motivation man YouTube clip...

"I have a team in my head that can do very well against France,” said Hodgson. “Whether we can beat them, I don’t know. They are 20 games unbeaten before playing Estonia [tomorrow night], so they obviously have something . . . if we have a bit of luck on our side, perhaps we can win it. But I don’t think we’ll go into the game as favourites.”
 
localny said:
Roy's managerial genius strikes again. Get out that motivation man YouTube clip...

"I have a team in my head that can do very well against France,” said Hodgson. “Whether we can beat them, I don’t know. They are 20 games unbeaten before playing Estonia [tomorrow night], so they obviously have something . . . if we have a bit of luck on our side, perhaps we can win it. But I don’t think we’ll go into the game as favourites.”
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He is SO motivational that it is unreal. Down play the expectations and viola, win or lose, he wins?
 
localny said:
Roy's managerial genius strikes again. Get out that motivation man YouTube clip...

"I have a team in my head that can do very well against France,” said Hodgson. “Whether we can beat them, I don’t know. They are 20 games unbeaten before playing Estonia [tomorrow night], so they obviously have something . . . if we have a bit of luck on our side, perhaps we can win it. But I don’t think we’ll go into the game as favourites.”
Click to expand...
Hahahaha. Unreal.
 
He may be English but former Liverpool favourite Robbie Fowler says Germany is his pick for Euro 2012.

The 37-year-old, who was in town to grace the Courts Football Carnival over the weekend, met over 200 fans in meet-and-greet session with fans on Sunday at Courts Megastore in Tampines.

The Liverpool legend and former England striker said, "If you look at the form at past tournaments, you can't deny that the Spanish have done really well. Holland are also playing good football and got to the 2010 World Cup final".

"But you just can't afford to count the Germans out. Whenever there's a major tournament the Germans always do well. I understand there are a lot of Bayern Munich players in the side and they all looked weary towards the end of the season but I'm sure they will be well rested for the Euros. So they are my pick."

Incidentally, a Euro 2012 poll on Yahoo! Singapore also had Germany topping the list of favourites.

With the month-long Euro 2012 kicking on Friday (Sat morning, Singapore time), Fowler also was confident England would do well, despite a rash of injuries which have robbed the Three Lions of Gareth Barry, Frank Lampard and most recently defender Gary Cahill. Star striker Wayne Rooney is also out for the first two group games due to suspension.

Fowler said, "The thing with England is even with all the problems they have, they will always be there or thereabouts. I'm not talking about winning the tournament but they are always among the favourites with the bookmakers and fans.

"And the fact that the players come from the Premier League, which is the best league in the world, does not help in lifting the pressure from them," he added.

Turning his thoughts to a tumultous off-season which has seen Liverpool appoint a new manager in Brendan Rodgers, the former striker revered as "God" among the Kop faithful expressed hope that Rodgers would lead the Reds back to its former glory.

"I believe Rodgers will be great for Liverpool eventually. It's not going to be an easy start for him. He's going to walk in with his own ideas so he will probably need some settling in period," he said.

"His record at Swansea was brilliant and had them play the right way. And so we can look forward to a more attacking style of play under him and that's what all Liverpool fans want.

Fowler said he was sad to see Kop legend Kenny Dalglish leave.

"I love Kenny Dalglish as a person, a coach and a player. He's everything players and managers want to be. I would have kept faith in him and give him a little bit more time," he said.

"Liverpool have not won a trophy for years and he has come in and won the Carling Cup and nearly won the FA Cup final. So his record is not as bad as what people make out. I'm sorry to see him go but I can understand why the owners wanted a change," he added.

"The realistic target is definitely to better last season's finish. I'm not going to say Liverpool will finish fourth or even win the league.

"Last year we weren't good enough. At times, we played good football but there were times we were just poor. So let's hope they continue progressing and eventually get to where they want to be."

On his own future, Fowler said he feels he has one more year of good football left in him.

He revealed, "I know I'm 37 this year but I feel that I have one more year left in me. So I'm trying to find a club. I might or might not happen but I want to play one more year.

"As for whether I will manage Liverpool one day, I would say why not? Liverpool is a big part of my life and if I'm asked to go back in any capacity whether be it as a coach or ambassador, it would be something really special," he added.
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On the Hodgson thing, my guess is that that kind of outlook actually helped him get the job because the FA actively wanted someone who would dampen expectations down. His main job isn't so much to produce a winning England team now as to lay the foundations for future progress.
 
David Villa and Carles Puyol have declined the invitation extended to them by the Royal Spanish Football Federation to be with their team mates at the European Championship training camp in Poland.

In the last few days there has been speculation about whether both players, injured and therefore out of contention, but who have quite a lot of influence in the international team, should go and be part of the group with their team-mates in the competition.

Vicente del Bosque and his assistants have been against this idea throughout, although they are well aware of the influence of the two Barcelona players on their long-standing team mates in the Spanish team´s dressing room. The manager has always thought that taking them along in an official capacity is not a good idea for the group and that it is "something which might lead to comparisons and offence being taken", to quote his exact words.

They want to go on working to recover from their injuries and return as soon as possible, as first-choices, to the national team. Both will be fully supporting their team-mates throughout, but not interfering by being there on a day-to-day basis at training sessions and at the matches played by the side.

If Spain progresses through the tournament, as everyone believes they will, then it is certain that at some point the players will visit the team, invited by the federation, but just as a one-off, not to be there all the time.
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Judge Jules said:
On the Hodgson thing, my guess is that that kind of outlook actually helped him get the job because the FA actively wanted someone who would dampen expectations down. His main job isn't so much to produce a winning England team now as to lay the foundations for future progress.
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hmm, but they are better than this statement suggests and he can instill a good winning mentality in the team with a good tournament, plus I honestly don't see England qualifying for future tournaments under Roy. They should make the most of. But that's just me highly unappreciative view of the man.
 
localny said:
Roy's managerial genius strikes again. Get out that motivation man YouTube clip...

"I have a team in my head that can do very well against France,” said Hodgson. “Whether we can beat them, I don’t know. They are 20 games unbeaten before playing Estonia [tomorrow night], so they obviously have something . . . if we have a bit of luck on our side, perhaps we can win it. But I don’t think we’ll go into the game as favourites.”
Click to expand...


Ha this is exactly the sort of pre-game statements that Rafa4 always makes on xperteleven.
 
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