Fabio Capello knows his final England World Cup squad but won’t divulge it until Tuesday’s deadline. Italy’s Marcelli Lippi still needs to cut five players, while Germany’s Joachim Loew has to decide whether or not to take six strikers to South Africa.
Although some of the 32 World Cup teams have already named the 23 players they hope will help win the trophy, others are holding out until the last minute.
Capello revealed after his team’s lucky 2-1 victory over fellow qualifier Japan on Sunday that he now knew the 23 he wanted to carry England’s hopes. He just wasn’t going to say who they were.
“You have to wait until June 1,” he said after the game in the Austrian city of Graz.
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Honduras in need of a few extra shirts
Honduras: Honduras faced some problems exchanging shirts at the end of it’s last friendly match because the central American country is travelling without enough extra equipment. Team general manager Osman Madrid said the problem arose after Thursday’s 2-2 draw with Belarus in Villach, Austria, when a Belarus Federation official asked to exchange shirts. — AP
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Xavi confident of Spain’s run at the Worlds
Schruns, Austria: Barcelona midfielder Xavi Hernandez says Spain heads to the World Cup in a similar state of mind to the one it had when it won the 2008 European championship. Xavi says that although there are new players involved and a new coach in charge, the “good feeling” in the squad is the same as it was two years ago. The extra experience in top-level competitions should help Spain at the Worlds, Xavi said. — AP
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Germany suffer Westerman blow ahead of Cup
Berlin: Germany international defender Heiko Westermann has been ruled out of the World Cup because of a broken foot, the German football federation announced on Sunday.
The 27-year-old Schalke 04 player injured himself during Germany’s 3-0 friendly win over Hungary.
His injury is the latest blow for Germany who are already without captain Michael Ballack and midfielder Christian Traesch.
— AFP