Keane lauds Irish spirit

Ireland’s record goalscorer, Robbie Keane, has suggested that the atmosphere within the camp under Giovanni Trapattoni is unrivalled.

The LA Galaxy forward says that he is very impressed by attitude that has been fostered under the Italian’s tenure, and expects it to help Ireland succeed at Euro 2012.

“It certainly does feel different this time,” Keane told the Irish Independent. “There has always been a great team spirit in the Irish camp, but for some reason this has been a little bit different.

“It’s the group of players, how well they get on with each other, it’s been brilliant. There have been no little niggles which you usually get in tournaments like this when you’re together for a long time.

“I mentioned before the Estonia game, that relaxed feeling we had before that game and it is very, very similar to now, to be honest.”

The Dubliner is fit and ready to get started at the tournament and he took the opportunity to praise the preparation of the Football Association of Ireland.

“I feel fine,” he said. “The last couple of weeks have been very good. We had the week in Malahide getting lads back together.

“Through that first week doing all the stuff we had to do outside of football, it’s been good that this week’s been fully concentrated on training.

“The lads are fit and sharp and on the training ground every day and I have seen that the sharpness of every player has been very good. This week now is where it starts.”

Ireland begin their Euro 2012 campaign against Croatia on Sunday.

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/keane-lauds-irish-spirit/95852/

Hazard denies attitude problem World Soccer Shop

Chelsea-bound Eden Hazard has dismissed concerns about his attitude and revealed he watches videos of other players to improve himself.

Hazard: Heading to Chelsea

The Lille playmaker, who has been courted by Europe's top clubs, revealed on Tuesday that he is to sign for Chelsea this summer despite rival interest from Manchester City and Manchester United.

Now 21, Hazard feels the time is right to leave French football behind and test himself at a higher level.

He admits he is far from the finished article, as he continues to study the games of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo, but he is confident he has the right attitude to succeed.

He said: "A lot of players watch videos of others. I'm not scared to say I watch videos of Messi and Ronaldo, I try and inspire myself from them.

"Great players inspire you. The best player I played with was Gervi (Gervinho).

"We didn't have the same qualities, but we both tried to make the difference. He taught me some things. He makes the right runs."

Hazard insists he has always given his all in an effort to be the best he possibly can be.

"I said I preferred playing rather than training. People interpreted that as me not wanting to work hard," Hazard added.

"That's false. I work seriously. It's helped me get to where I am now.

"Weight training and working on being explosive helped me gain a few yards of pace.

"Even when I was small I was stocky. Even if people pushed me I managed to stay on my feet."

Source : http://soccer365.com//news/european_news/general/17436/hazard_denies_attitude_problem