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TUESDAY, JUNE 10, 2014 England put faith in Rooney and youth ENGLAND Italy’s tough choice in quest for fifth WCup ROME: Italy go to the World Cup Leonardo Bonucci and Andrea phase,” Prandelli said a fortnight finals looking to equal the record of Barzagli and midfielders Andrea ago. hosts Brazil and lift the trophy for a Pirlo, Daniele De Rossi and Riccardo Italy will spend 10 days at their fifth time. Coach Cesare Prandelli is Montolivo are guaranteed places. Coverciano training camp near spoiled for top quality choice and An embarrassment of strikers Florence from May 19-29, and play knows his players have the techni- and offensive midfielders capable the Republic of Ireland in a friendly cal ability. The questions are over of scoring goals could give at Fulham’s Craven Cottage ground Italy’s temperament on the world Prandelli his biggest dilemma. on May 31. stage. Mario Balotelli is considered an Italy will be aiming for a long Italy comfortably topped their automatic starter, although the run at the World Cup in contrast to qualifying group but Prandelli’s inconsistent AC Milan striker-who their woeful defence of the trophy experiments searching for an has endured a testing season for in 2010 which saw them go out at attacking game led to a mish-mash the Rossoneri-has plenty of compe- the group stage. At the 2012 LONDON: After chastening experi- Hodgson has named a 23 man draw in Ukraine last September that of performances and much criti- tition. European Championships they ences at the last two World Cups, squad, with seven players on standby England would abandon attempts to cism. Prandelli can choose from fought all the way to the final, England are in Brazil with a new wave if any of those named are injured prior play out from the back against teams With the first Group D game Fiorentina’s Rossi, Roma’s Destro, including an impressive win over of youth supporting Wayne Rooney. to the June 2 deadline, with veterans who press high up the pitch. against England and tricky encoun- Torino’s Immobile, who has hit 22 the hotly-fancied Germans in the But there is much more caution Rooney, Steven Gerrard and Frank England’s most recent friendly, a 1- ters with Uruguay and Costa Rica to league goals this season, and veter- semi-finals, where they were beat- around this squad than for the ‘Golden Lampard included. But it is also 0 win over Denmark in March, saw follow, Prandelli still has tough an Antonio Cassano of Parma who en 4-0 by Spain. Generation’ that went to the 2006 marked by the arrival of teenagers Hodgson attempt to harness the decisions to make. He kept has fought his way back into con- The smart money would per- World Cup in Germany and lost on Luke Shaw and Raheem Sterling and momentum generated by Liverpool’s Giuseppe Rossi in the 30-man tention. Among the preliminary haps go on Prandelli opting for penalties to Portugal in the last eight. 20-year-old Ross Barkley. impressive domestic form. squad named Tuesday even squad surprises are Milan’s Ignazio youthful exuberance over experi- Four years later, things had Only six players have previous His starting XI contained no fewer though he is still recovering from a Abate, Napoli’s Christian Maggio- ence-especially with Italy based in regressed further as a side coached by World Cup experience. Out have gone than five Liverpool players, although four month layoff. who only returned to action last the humid north of the country Fabio Capello struggled through a the likes of Ashley Cole and Rio the positional fluidity characteristic of And Prandelli put off choosing week after three months recover- where the sticky conditions will straightforward group before crashing Ferdinand, rocks of the defence over Brendan Rodgers’s side was not appar- between rival strikers Ciro ing from a collapsed lung-and provide an extra challenge. 4-1 to Germany in the last 16. the past decade. ent. Immobile, the Serie A’s leading Verona’s Brazilian-born midfielder “We’ll go to Brazil feeling the England’s 1966 World Cup success England qualified as the unbeaten Hodgson can nonetheless draw sol- scorer, and Mattia Destro, naming Romulo. effects of a long, tough season, the frames the country’s perception of its winners of UEFA qualifying Group H, ace from the fact that his two key play- them both in the squad that will Prandelli said recently he had same as all the other nations,” said place in the global pecking order, and but they were given a reality check in ers, Gerrard and Rooney, are in top start a 10-day training camp next already decided most of the 23 Prandelli. “Our experience in the Football Association chairman Greg November when losses to Chile and form. A prolific campaign with week. players he would take to Brazil. “In Confederations Cup showed us Dyke had to backtrack after suggest- Germany at Wembley saw them regis- Liverpool has seen Daniel Sturridge ing last September that the team ter back-to-back home defeats for the emerge as the clear choice to partner On paper, the team backbone is my head, I already have 18 or 19 that we need 23 athletes who have stood no chance of winning in Brazil. first time in 36 years. Rooney, while goalkeeper Joe Hart has there. Goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, players for sure. The others will be the ability to recover quickly from Manager Roy Hodgson, who suc- December’s World Cup draw only overcome a mid-season wobble that defenders Giorgio Chiellini, evaluated during our preparation one game to the next.” —AFP ceeded Capello shortly before Euro served to further dampen expecta- momentarily cost him his place in the 2012 — where England reached the tions. England were paired with Italy Manchester City team. quarter-finals-has been obliged to toe and Uruguay, both of whom are cur- In defence, Phil Jagielka and Gary ITALY a line between pragmatism and rently above them in the FIFA rank- Cahill have established themselves as cheery optimism. ings, and Costa Rica, prompting ‘Group Hodgson’s first-choice centre-back “We won’t fear anybody and in the of Death’ headlines in British tabloids. pairing. In midfield Arsenal’s Jack same way we will respect everybody. Hodgson has been eager to Wilshere has recovered from the hair- The players will be desperate to do improve England’s control of posses- line foot fracture he suffered against well,” he said. sion - a historic weakness - but pace in Denmark, while the emergence of “We all know the result everybody forward areas remains their key asset. young midfielders such as Adam wants and that’s to repeat 1966. We all They were dominated in possession Lallana, Barkley and Sterling has soft- know that’s not going to be easy, but terms by both Chile and Germany, ened the absence through injury of it’s great to be there trying to do it.” while Hodgson suggested after a 0-0 Theo Walcott. —AFP COSTA RICA Suarez, Cavani may not be enough for Uruguay MONTEVIDEO: The twin talents of qualifying campaign which saw them “He’s come up through the Under- Luis Suarez and Edinson Cavani will finish fifth in the South American 20s team and we introduced him to ensure that 2011 Copa America cham- standings. the senior team in 2008,” Tabarez told pions Uruguay have one of the most Had it not been for the heroics of reporters during a get together of potent strike forces at the World Cup Suarez during the qualifying cam- World Cup coaches in Brazil earlier finals. paign, Uruguay might even have this year. “Since then he’s evolved a Costa Rica plot 1990 repeat But while the two-time World Cup struggled to reach the play-off. lot, both in terms of his game and his winners are certain to cause problems Time and again the Liverpool strik- competitive attitude. Maybe it’s SAN JOSE: Having landed themselves a very aggressive. Champions League and also scored a for Group D rivals Italy, England and er rescued his country-most notably because of the problems he’s had in nightmare group at the World Cup, “Uruguay are tough, with very delicate chip in Costa Rica’s last friendly Costa Rica, the South Americans will with two goals in the crucial 2-1 victo- England. He’s come through difficult Costa Rica hope a blend of tactical sta- accomplished forwards, and England game - a 2-1 win at home to Paraguay. be anxious to shore up a suspect ry over Peru in Lima last September- times. He’s got a strong head.” Suarez’s bility and technical effervescence will have a faster, more vertical game, with- However, they will sorely miss defence. and he finished the South American international strike partner Cavani enable them to pull off a shock in Brazil. out as much precision.” Everton wide player Bryan Oviedo, who The 2010 semi-finalists leaked 25 qualifiers as top scorer with 11 goals. believes his team-mate is in the per- The Central American minnows Pinto has a reputation for producing has failed to recover well enough from a goals during 16 qualifying games, Tabarez believes that Suarez, infa- fect frame of mind for the World Cup. excelled in qualifying, finishing second tactically well organised teams and he is distressing double leg fracture in an FA where the lack of pace of skipper mously sent off in the 2010 World Cup “When I speak with him now, it behind the United States in the final also blessed with some gifted forward Cup game against Stevenage in January.