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Mid-Day Ticker: Spain narrows roster, Madrid moving for Silva and more

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By AVI CREDITOR

Spain manager Vicente del Bosque has trimmed his World Cup roster down to 23, feeling confident enough to bring two of his injured stars to South Africa.

Fernando Torres and Cesc Fabregas, both nursing leg injuries that threatened their inclusions in this summer's tournament, were named in Spain's final roster, one that closely resembles the side that captured the Euro 2008 championship.

Those who did not make the final cut, though, include Marcos Senna, Santi Cazorla, Dani Guiza and Alvaro Negredo.

Spain, heavily favored to reach the final, has friendlies with Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Poland before contending with Switzerland, Honduras and Chile in Group H.

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

REAL MADRID CLOSING IN ON DAVID SILVA

After Barcelona got the ball rolling on the Spanish transfer market by inking striker David Villa, Real Madrid seems poised to counter with a move of its own.

Reports have Madrid closing in on signing Valencia's other superstar, David Silva, to augment a midfield that already fields the likes of Kaka and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Both Villa and Silva will play for Spain this summer, meaning that Barcelona and Real Madrid could have a combined 14 of La Furia Roja's 23 players at the World Cup.

VILLA REJECTS CITY'S BID FOR MILNER

James Milner enjoyed a fine season for Aston Villa, capturing PFA Young Player of the Year honors and cementing himself a spot on England's World Cup roster. For the time being, he is still Aston Villa's property.

The Villans reportedly rejected a £20 million bid from Manchester City for the star midfielder, who finished the season with seven goals and 12 assists and kept the team in the hunt for a spot in European competition for most of the season. 

City was attempting to acquire its second Villa midfielder in as many summers after signing Gareth Barry during last year's transfer window.

Milner said that he won't make any moves on the club level until after the World Cup is over.

SEVILLA CAPTURES COPA DEL REY

Atletico Madrid was denied its second piece of silverware after falling to Sevilla in the Copa del Rey final Wednesday night, 2-0.

Diego Capel and Jesus Navas scored bookend goals in the fifth and 90th minutes, respectively, as Sevilla defeated the Europa League champions and won its first trophy since 2007.

SAO PAULO MAKES LIBERTADORES SEMIS

Hernanes and Dagoberto each scored Wednesday night to give Brazilian side Sao Paulo a 2-0 win (4-0 aggregate) over Cruzeiro and a place in the Copa Libertadores semifinals.

Chivas de Guadalajara had already booked its place in the semifinals on Tuesday, and the other two spots will be decided Thursday night.

Defending champion Estudiantes faces a 1-0 hill to climb in its second leg against Internacional, and Universidad de Chile takes a 3-2 lead into its second leg against Flamengo.

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Surprised at any of Spain's selections? Think that signing David Silva puts Real Madrid over the top, or does Barcelona still have a decisive edge? Where do you hope Milner ends up? Who do you think will win Copa Libertadores?

Share your thoughts below.

Comments

  1. If Donovan is on the move, I really want it to be to the EPL. I know it can be debated all day but I really think in recent years that the EPL has truly become the best league in the world. Would do wonders for American soccer to have someone that high-profile a mainstay on an EPL side, and I think it would really open the door for lots of Yanks. I’d almost be sad if he went to Spain (mainly because I only have GolTV back in Miami and not here in Gainesville).

    Let’s just hope our boys impress in SA so that a handful or more of them are sought after by quality European clubs.

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  2. Donovan speaks fluent German? I’d imagine so with 3 loans in Germany but how about find a clip with him speaking it to confirm it. Michael Bradley however is fluent in Dutch. He did that on his own and I heard he speaks pretty good French and German. He ain’t no dummy.

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  3. LD’s blog:

    ” Unable to speak the language, and once again playing against much older competition, Landon wasn’t enjoying the experience.”

    well, he didn’t at the time. so no, he did not speak fluent german.

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  4. It’s kind of interesting what we see here. In England, there is much greater parity in the league than in Spain, but in England people complain that the teams aren’t “English” enough. In Spain, it seems the top two teams are trying to move towards fielding mostly Spanish (admittedly, Argentines seem to be an exception) line ups. Because they’re doing that, they have to buy up all the best players in the Spanish league, thus taking away from the parity of the league.

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  5. i do see your point, but i think with all the changes that are happening with valencia right now it could open the door for a player like him…assuming he has a strong world cup. as far as language barrier, won’t really be one since he speaks spanish. i think not having a language barrier played a large part in his success in england. and like dempsey said today at training, him and landon are use to more of a possession game with the influence of mexican and south american footy when they were young. who knows though…

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  6. Pires should know that Philadelphia is a great deal more lovely than Harrison, New Jersey. He should also be the subject of 1980s style Bounty Bowl, a la Louis Zendejas.

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  7. You could be right. It will be interesting to see how they evolve without their 2 most important players. Already they’re buying some guy from France. I’ll be there are a few more young Argentines on the way.

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  8. You may be right about this years team Luis, but a team that has lost David Villa and will soon lose David Silva…. will def be playing a different style next year

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  9. Donovan would not start at Valencia. Their playing style is a bit too technical for him. Way more individual play than he likes. He’s better off with Everton. Hard work, move the ball.

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  10. But it’s the competition that matters. Valencia and Sevilla were never a “lock” win for Real and Barca. If Luis Fabiano leaves Sevilla, then it is a total two-horse race.

    Lopsided leagues are not much fun. The EPL is going to be a race every year now that teams such as Man City and Tottenham are making serious inroads.

    I have to wonder how the recent European financial meltdown will affect the leagues over there, especially when all of the big clubs have massive debts. I can only imagine the fall-out if a team were to request a governmental bail-out.

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  11. Actually, they “modified” their rules so that they can poach Mexican-Americans here in the States. Apparently, if you were born in the USA or Mongolia, as long as one of your parents was born in Mexico, then you are Mexican. It’s in their constitution.

    I hate Guadalajara, too. However, they are miles ahead of most MLS teams in terms of youth academies, player development, and overall infra-structure.

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  12. Imagine if the Yankees decided they would only allow US born players to be on their team and then were quite proud about the fact that they were the only team that has only been “pure” for the last 100 years, not being tainted by foreigners, Chivas only lets Mexicans born in Mexico play for them, they even had a scandal when they found out one of their players was born in the US and came to Mexico at like 7 days old

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  13. ” friendlies with Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Poland” vs friendlies with the Czech Republic, Turkey and Australia…I think the US got the better of that threesome…though when your Spain, doesn’t really matter who you warm up against…

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  14. There was never any chance of any team besides Madrid or Barca winning it last year. Valencia won once maybe even twice in the early 2000’s but that was because Barca was struggling mightily.

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  15. I totally agree with you. Chivas has this twisted ultra-nationalist mindset. I was really pushing for Libertad to get that 3rd goal Tuesday night. So close, so close.

    VAMOS ATLAS!

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  16. As a Valencia fan, I really want to argue your point. But I’m not sure I can. Valencia has some solid veterans, but their younger talent has all gone in the last two years. Raul Albiol went to Madrid last year, now David Villa and David Silva. I hope management figures out how to deal with their money issues, because it’s never fun to see two of the most talented players in the world get sold because the club can’t afford to pay down their debts otherwise.

    Sad day for Los Che.

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  17. São Paulo looking strong, gonna be tough to be the tricolor in Morumbi, good to see a Mexican team in the mix, but i wish it weren’t Chivas, i hate Chivas with a passion, they are so rascist among other problems I have with them

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  18. La Liga is going to take a big hit next year. Was better when there were four or five teams that could potentially win the league; now there are only two. I don’t mind them buying players from outside Spain, but now Valencia is going to be awful.

    Of all the Real Madrid transfers, I am most excited about Canales. He could be the next superstar.

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  19. i do like that madrid are going after silva, but instead of money, i think they should look to trade some players as well as give cash. i’d be fine with handing them $ plus VdV and Gago, for example.

    However, I think Madrid, more than anyone else, need a player like Maicon. I could see Marcelo being used to make that happen. Good to know Madrid already has Canales to a contract, granted he will remain with Racing for another year. The only other player I’d like to see Madrid go after is Eden Hazard. And Hazard has said Arsenal or Madrid are the only places he’ll go. But Barca, reportedly, is going to bid on him as well.

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  20. i read that too, SO funny! i’m hopoing he doesn’t end up at NYRB too. becuase he said he wants to play with henry and that New York is a “beautiful city”. I think DCU should make a serious offer for him. 1. they need the help and 2. it would only make the trips to Philly that much more fun. DC has to be good enough for him, this city is incredibly nice.

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  21. In other hilarious news, Pires has some thoughts on Philly

    “[Philadelphia] is not very appealing to me,” the Frenchman told L’Equipe. “I don’t want to be difficult, but if I’m leaving to take my family far away, I prefer that it’s in a beautiful city.”

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  22. Yes, Senna was one of favorite players in that tournament, but even then he was the oldest on the pitch for Spain. Pleasantly surprised to see him called in for this, sad but unsurprised that he didn’t make the final roster.

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  23. Marco Senna out…Sergio Busquets in. Changing of the guard… Senna was outstanding in Euro ’08 and one of the (many) reasons Spain was so dominant. We’ll see how that works out.

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