Sir Alex Ferguson ignites Wayne Rooney burnout fears

Sir Alex Ferguson has ordered Wayne Rooney to start protecting his precious talent after telling the striker that he has only himself to blame for aggravating an injury.

In a rare public criticism of the Manchester United forward, Ferguson said he was disappointed with Rooney for playing almost a full game for England against Egypt at Wembley on Wednesday, despite nursing a sore knee that could rule him out of the champions’ Barclays Premier League match away to Wolverhampton Wanderers today.

The injury has raised fears that Rooney is running himself into the ground just when England — in a World Cup year —...
Read full article

Injury ends Michael Owen’s season and World Cup hopes

Michael Owen laughed off suggestions that he was cursed on Sunday after he had limped off the Wembley turf during the Carling Cup final. The striker had cause to reassess his verdict yesterday when it emerged that a ruptured hamstring has ruled him out for the rest of the season and the World Cup.

The long and frenzied debate about whether Fabio Capello, the England manager, should take a gamble by including the Manchester United forward in his 23-man squad for this summer’s finals in South Africa ended yesterday, five days after the 30-year-old pulled up towards the end of the first half of United’s 2-1 victory against Ast...
Read full article

Jordaan gives England advice on 2018 bid

The man in charge of the World Cup has given England his advice on its 2018 bid.

2010 Organizing Committee chief executive Danny Jordaan said on Thursday that England's bid bosses should "work hard" during this year's World Cup, go and watch their team, and then try and convince the people that need convincing.

South Africa was awarded the World Cup after failing in its initial bid to host the 2006 tournament.

Jordaan added that "it makes sense for 2018 to be a Europe-only affair."

England faces competition from Australia, Japan, the United States, Russi...
Read full article

German federation, ex-referee settle dispute

The German soccer federation has reached a settlement with a former referee in a dispute over allegations of sexual harassment.

The former official - 63-year-old Manfred Amerell - sought an injunction preventing the federation from saying that he had sexually harassed several people in the past.

Amerell, who denies any harassment, quit the federation's refereeing committee and a post in Bavaria's regional federation last month.

The two sides reached a settlement on Thursday in which Amerell withdrew his application for an injunction and the federation was to give him affidavits in which f...
Read full article

Yanks give Bradley much to think about

If you happened to miss the first 70 or so minutes of Wednesday’s friendly between the United States and the Netherlands, you would have thought the Americans were a dangerous team capable of pushing a world power to the brink.

That first 70 minutes did happen though, and for a good portion of it the Dutch dominated possession, working the wings and making the American attack look lifeless by comparison.

The Netherlands didn’t create a bunch of dangerous chances, but they played well enough to expose weaknesses in the U.S. starting lineup. Their speedy wingers threatened and their central midfield controlled ...
Read full article