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Mid-Day Ticker: Neville questions Capello, Barca eyes star duo and more

NevilleRiberyGetty

By AVI CREDITOR

Critics questioning a manager's selections for a World Cup roster is hardly uncommon this time of year, but one of England's strongest critics is one of the country's former stalwarts.

Manchester United's Gary Neville lobbed some questions at Fabio Capello's picks, saying that he should have chosen more than just Glen Johnson at right back and that it was a desperate move to try and lure Paul Scholes out of international retirement.

Neville, who expressed a bit of disappointment not to be included in the 30-man roster, also asserted that club teammate Wes Brown should be in the mix.

Here are a few more soccer stories to get you through the day:

BARCELONA TARGETS FABREGAS, VILLA

The Cesc Fabregas-to-Barcelona stories never cease to go back-and-forth, but the latest version has the Spanish champions adding both Fabregas and David Villa to the fold for next year's run.

Team vice president Rafael Yuste told a Spanish radio station that negotiations for Valencia's Villa are "progressing well."

Fabregas, meanwhile, has reportedly told Arsene Wenger that he wants to leave Arsenal for Barcelona.

Yuste maintains that both players have expressed their desires to come to Camp Nou this summer.

BENFICA RELEASES ROSTER FOR NORTH AMERICAN TOUR

Benfica will be bringing a decent squad to this side of the Atlantic Ocean for friendlies with the New England Revolution and Panathinaikos (in Toronto).

Though Paraguay's Oscar Cardozo, Argentina's Angel Di Maria and Brazil's Luisao and Ramires will not be on the roster, Javier Saviola will be suiting up for the Portuguese champions, along with the likes of David Luiz, Nuno Gomes and Weldon.

Benfica will play at Gillette Stadium on Wednesday before traveling to Canada to face their Greek opponents on Sunday.

BOATENG APOLOGIZES TO BALLACK

Kevin-Prince Boateng, whose FA Cup final tackle on Michael Ballack has prevented the German captain from competing in the World Cup, has apologized for his misstep, saying that it was "not intentional" and "pretty stupid."

Conspiracy theorists might claim that it was a calculated attack, considering that Boateng, who is half-German-half-Ghanaian, will play for Ghana, one of Germany's group-stage opponents. Boateng's half brother, Jerome, is on Germany's preliminary roster for the World Cup.

The storyline will undoubtedly be rehashed when Ghana and Germany meet on June 23 in their final match of the group stage.

LIPPI CUTS GROSSO

Fabio Grosso will not get the chance to reprise his 2006 World Cup heroics, as he's been cut from Marcello Lippi's preliminary roster.

Grosso, whose penalty kick clinched the World Cup for the defending champions, hadn't been in top form during his club season with Juventus, and he'll miss out on the trip to South Africa.

CAHILL GETS NEW EVERTON DEAL

Australian playmaker Tim Cahill signed a new four-year deal with Everton that will keep him at Goodison Park through the 2013-2014 season.

Cahill, who still had two years remaining on his contract, has been a mainstay in the Everton midfield since joining the team in 2004. Before he returns to the Toffees he'll try and guide the Socceroos through the treacherous Group D (Australia, Germany, Serbia, Ghana) in next month's World Cup.

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What do you think of Neville's comments? Would a Barcelona team with Fabregas and Villa unquestionably be the best in the world? Surprised that Grosso didn't make the Italian team?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. What do you think the odds are that Kevin Prince-Boatang(Ghana) get’s one good “shot” from a German player at the WC. I’m thinking pretty good.

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  2. Agreed. Rossi’s a dirty traitor in my book, and I can’t wish him any success (at least when he plays for Italy).

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  3. Toure has made noise about leaving. He wants to play more. I kinda suspect the main reason they play Busquets over him is the appeal of having as many La Masia players as possible on field. They played a lot of games with 7 of the 11 from the youth system. Certainly unique among top teams in Europe.

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  4. As a bonus, Madrid will lose their minds if this week all goes through as planned. IN: Cesc, Villa. OUT: Ibra, Toure, +cash to Arsenal, and Bojan/Jeffren +cash to Valencia??

    But can Xavi, Iniesta, and Fabregas really all play together w/o a more defensive player in MF? Particularly with a smallish front line of Messi, Villa, and say, Pedro. Would Iniesta and Cesc have to platoon?

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  5. I don’t see how he sounds like a geezer. I’ve seen all these headlines about “Neville slams Capello decisions”, etc. The guy is just voicing an opinion. Personally, I think he makes a good point. He’s clearly stated he knew getting into the team would be tough, but that he’s more surprised Brown didn’t get called in or that another right back wasn’t added. I’d have to agree. What’s so crotchety about that?

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  6. not trying to troll or anything, but…everything u said are just excuses for the top teams, not to win. im pretty sure the darkhourse teams have some form of issues/problems they have to face along with every other team in the cup. just because were not as knowledgeableof those teams doesnt mean they should be feared…just my .02

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  7. Would be fun to watch Villa at Barca (he’s one of my favorite players to watch), I don’t think he adds too much to the team. His game is very much like what many other players on Barca already bring. If I were Barca I would try to have a go at Fernando Torres because he’d bring a different game with him than any of the players they have. Real Madrid is the team that should have made the move for Villa.

    (Having said that, it’ll be a lot of fun watching Villa, Messi, Iniesta and co doing their work together against opponents.

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  8. Serbia is a major darkhorse. So is Uruguay, in fact I picked them to win that group in my fantasy bracket. The African teams will be jacked up, hopefully Algeria not too much, so it’s hard to bet against them right off.

    It’s tough to see a situation in which either Spain or Brasil doesn’t reach the final. I could see Brasil going down against Netherlands in the knockout stage. I can’t wait for that Brasil match vs Portugal, though. That’s just world class sport.

    A lot of ‘motherland vs colony’ matchups this WC. Brasil v Portugal, England v USA, Spain v Honduras & Chile,…

    Should be awesome.

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  9. You have to also look at Work Permits. Cahill has an English father, so teams can take a chance on him. It is very hard for Americans to gain work permits unless they are USNT regulars, and most of those guys are already in Europe.

    Someone like an Edson Buddle for instance will prob have a hard time getting his work permit even tho he’s the leading scorer right now. He might eventually get it through appeals and what not but its not a given.

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  10. Cahill is a pretty dang solid player. I don’t disagree, but I think that there aren’t all that many, yet.

    I do think USA is getting better as a side–and a nation. More and more and more of our folks are making a go of it out in the world, more and more in an almost viable league here.

    It won’t be long, now, before we have more than a few starters in high-end leagues.

    Possibly by 2018/2022 we’ll be in the position of picking all of our starters from top level teams. Looking forward to that, especially considering who we had to chose from, say ’94!

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  11. I’ve always found it interesting that Cahill has been in the Premier League since 2004 and Donovan just got his first try there(or was it his 2nd?). I’ve got to think the US has a few players that are at the very least on par with Cahill.

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  12. I never understood by Iaquinta gets called in so much. Everytime I’ve seen him play he’s never really done much to impress me. Maybe he’s the ‘Brian Ching’ of Italy?

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  13. Gary Neville isn’t international quality anymore – but he’s right that it is desperate to bring back Carragher.

    There should have been another true RB on the 30 man England roster.

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  14. Think we’ll see a darkhorse finally take the cup this year. Germany just lost big time with Ballack out, Italy are too old to manage the tournament in altitude, France are just bizarre, Argentina are mismanaged,England’s hopes are on Rooney who can’t stay fit, Holland’s strike force is filled with bench warmers.

    I think Spain and Brazil are the only ones to fear and on a given day, they could both fall.

    I like the look of Serbia and think the African teams can do a damaging blow or two.

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  15. I think that cutting Grosso shows that there’s certainly going to be no favorites on that team, so looking at the other forwards, I’d guess that Rossi’s only has to prove himself.

    Although I’d rather not have him make it…

    Reply
  16. That picture looks like Ribery is battling for the ball with slightly-longer-haired Ribery.

    It’s. Freaking. Me. Out.

    Reply

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