Lescott ´gutted´ for Cahill

England defender Joleon Lescott says he is devastated for Gary Cahill after the Chelsea centre-back was ruled out of Euro 2012.

Cahill left the field at Wembley after colliding with goalkeeper Joe Hart following a push from Belgium’s Dries Mertens in England’s 1-0 victory on Saturday.

The former Bolton defender suffered a double fracture of his jaw and was consequently ruled out of the tournament, becoming the fourth player from Roy Hodgson’s squad to have to pull out of the competition.

Lescott replaced Cahill after 19 minutes and helped England record their second clean sheet under the tenure of their new manager. He now looks in prime position to partner John Terry in the heart of the defence against France on June 11.

The Manchester City defender revealed he was disappointment for his team-mate and believes Mertens should have been punished more severely than the yellow card he received.

Lescott wrote on his Twitter account: “Gutted to hear Gaz is ruled out.

“The challenge that caused it was more reckless and dangerous than most two-footed tackles so why only yellow?”

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/lescott-%c2%b4gutted%c2%b4-for-cahill/95848/

Croatia leave out injured Lovren

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic has had to leave injured defender Dejan Lovren out of his final Euro 2012 squad.

The Lyon centre-back has failed to recover from a foot problem he sustained in last month’s Coupe de France final success over Quevilly.

Lovren has also omitted Hajduk Split goalkeeper Goran Blazevic, Dinamo Zagreb defender Sime Vrsaljko and Dnipro attacker Nikola Kalinic.

Croatia play Norway in Oslo on Friday before heading for Poland, where they will kick off their European Championship campaign against Republic of Ireland on June 10.

The Croats, who qualified courtesy of a play-off win over Turkey, also have Italy and Spain in Group C.

Squad: Goalkeepers: Stipe Pletikosa (Rostov), Danijel Subasic (Monaco), Ivan Kelava (Dinamo Zagreb).

Defenders: Vedran Corluka (Tottenham), Josip Simunic (Dinamo Zagreb), Gordon Schildenfeld (Eintracht Frankfurt), Darijo Srna (Shakhtar Donetsk), Domagoj Vida (Dinamo Zagreb), Danijel Pranjic (Bayern Munich), Jurica Buljat (Maccabi Haifa), Ivan Strinic (Dnipro).

Midfielders: Luka Modric (Tottenham), Ognjen Vukojevic (Dynamo Kiev), Tomislav Dujmovi (Dinamo Moscow), Ivan Perisic (Dortmund), Ivan Rakitic (Sevilla), Niko Kranjcar (Tottenham), Milan Badelj (Dinamo Zagreb).

Strikers: Eduardo (Shakhtar Donetsk), Ivica Olic (Bayern Munich), Mario Mandzukic (Wolfsburg), Nikica Jelavic (Everton), Ivo Ilicevic (Hamburg).

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/croatia-leave-out-injured-lovren/95462/

Gourcuff given chop by Blanc World Soccer Shop

Midfielder Yoann Gourcuff and centre-back Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa have been left out of France's final 23-man squad for Euro 2012.

Gourcuff: Left out by Blanc

Coach Laurent Blanc made his final cut, ahead of his first major tournament in charge, with Gourcuff omitted just days after he played 75 minutes in the 3-2 friendly win over Iceland.

The Lyon midfielder, who has endured a season undermined by injury, left the pitch with France 2-1 behind before his replacement, Franck Ribery, levelled.

Defender Yanga-Mbiwa, who helped Montpellier to their first Ligue 1 title, also made way while striker Loic Remy had already been ruled out from the initial 26-man list due to injury.

Blanc included 12 France-based players in his squad, headed by skipper Hugo Lloris, while there are seven players from the Premier League including Manchester City's title winners Gael Clichy and Samir Nasri.

Final France squad for Euro 2012:

Goalkeepers: Cedric Carrasso (Bordeaux), Hugo Lloris (Lyon), Steve Mandanda (Marseille).

Defenders: Gael Clichy (Man City), Mathieu Debuchy (Lille), Patrice Evra (Man Utd), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Philippe Mexes (AC Milan), Adil Rami (Valencia), Anthony Reveillere (Lyon).

Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Newcastle), Alou Diarra (Marseille), Florent Malouda (Chelsea), Marvin Martin (Sochaux), Blaise Matuidi (Paris St Germain), Yann M'vila (Rennes), Samir Nasri (Man City).

Forwards: Hatem Ben Arfa (Newcastle), Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Montpellier), Jeremy Menez (Paris Saint-Germain), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich), Mathieu Valbuena (Marseille).

Source : http://soccer365.com//news/european_news/general/17354/gourcuff_given_chop_by_blanc

Chiellini ready for Spain opener

Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini has vowed to be fit in time for Italy’s Euro 2012 opener against Spain on June 10.

The centre-back picked up a thigh injury in Juve’s Serie A win over Atalanta earlier this month, and there were doubts about whether Chiellini would make a full recovery ahead of the tournament in June.

However, the 27-year-old has insisted that he will be cleared to play in Italy’s Group C opener against the defending European champions.

“Is there a risk that I will miss out on the Euros? Let’s not joke around. I will be ready in time,” Chiellini told Corriere dello Sport.

“If I don’t feature in the pre-tournament friendlies, that’s just a precautionary measure. I want to be ready to take on Spain, and I’ll make sure that I will be ready.”

Italy will also have to contend with Croatia and Republic of Ireland in Group C.

Source : http://www.soccernews.com/chiellini-ready-for-spain-opener/95088/