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SPORTS THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2013 England plod on towards samba party LONDON: England remain on course to qualify for process England’s only victories have come against Ukraine where the stage was set for him to take a The Daily Mail’s back page said England’s hopes next year’s World Cup finals but the tedious nature San Marino and Moldova with their other four game by the scruff of the neck in the way Paul of winning the group were “on a knife edge” and of their 0-0 draw in Kiev on Tuesday did little to sug- matches being drawn. Gascoigne once did. James Milner offered honest described the evening’s display as toothless. gest they will bring much fun to the party. Already there appears to be a presumption that graft while 35-year-old Frank Lampard, who was “Dull England labor the point” was the headline New FA chairman Greg Dyke caused a stir last England will beat Montenegro and Poland at home earning his 100th cap and missed a late chance, was on the back of the Times which suggested that week when he pretty much dismissed England’s next month to seal their place among the 32 nations single-paced and often peripheral alongside England’s “angst-ridden” qualifying campaign was chances of success in south America next year and heading to Brazil, but it could be a dangerous one, Gerrard. In attack, Rickie Lambert was forced to feed not a foregone conclusion. the boring draw against Ukraine offered little to con- given the obvious limitations of the squad. off scraps and will probably be relieved to get back The Telegraph summed up the mood with the tradict him. Captain Steven Gerrard endorsed man- In mitigation, Hodgson was without Wayne to Southampton whose creative department offer headline: “Road to Nowhere”. England should, and ager Roy Hodgson’s view that England “got the job Rooney against Ukraine while strikers Daniel far more than England’s. probably will, gain the points they need from the done” by avoiding defeat and so remaining in con- Sturridge (injured) and Danny Welbeck (suspended) Former England striker Gary Lineker, now work- next two matches at Wembley to join the samba trol of their Group H destiny. were unavailable. However, Sturridge and Welbeck ing as a television presenter, was at a loss to explain party next year but few will expect them to illumi- However, England’s fans were unlikely to spend are hardly established internationals and the fact 90 minutes of “action” miles away from the high- nate the tournament with the quality of their foot- yesterday chatting excitedly about solid defending, that their absence is so keenly felt underlines the octane play served up at Premier League grounds ball. “If they intend playing as wretchedly as this in gutsy draws or honest endeavor. paucity of attacking flair available to Hodgson when up and down the country every week. Brazil, they would be well-advised to keep their cars England, as expected, set out their stall not to he sits down to select his squads. “What happens to some of these players when in short-stay (parking) at Heathrow and keep the lose and, in that respect, it was mission accom- Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere, of whom one they pull on an England shirt?” Lineker asked. British engines running,” wrote the Telegraph’s football cor- plished but the fear remains that these days, against television commentator said last week against newspapers seemed undecided whether to applaud respondent. “On this dispiriting evidence, England even half-decent sides such as Ukraine, that is the Moldova: “When he goes down injured a nation the team for a gutsy rearguard action in Kiev or won’t get the ball off the kids on Copacabana beach, sum of the team’s ambition. So far in the qualifying holds its breath”, was virtually invisible against bemoan the lack of quality on display. let alone Spain or Brazil.” — Reuters Neymar inspires Brazil to friendly win over Portugal BOSTON: Brazil survived an early scare and some physical tackling to beat Portugal 3-1 in a friendly in Boston that confirmed their early sta- tus as one of the favorites to win the World Cup on home soil next year. The five-times world champions were inspired by Neymar, who had a hand in all three goals after Brazil had gone behind to an oppor- tunist strike from Raul Meireles. The young Barcelona striker was singled out by Portuguese defenders for some rough treat- ment early on but his passes led to goals for Thiago Silva, who headed home his corner kick, and Jo, who bundled the ball home from close range after Maxwell had pushed a Neymar pass across the front of goal. Between those two scores, the former Santos player scored a bril- EGYPT: Egypt’s Ahmed Fathy (right) runs with the ball during the FIFA 2014 World liant individual goal that started when he ran at Cup qualifying football match between Egypt and Guinea. — AFP defenders from 40 yards out and culminated with an unstoppable shot from inside the penal- ty box. Egypt beat Guinea, “The important thing is not to react to the provocations and the professional fouls,” he said when asked about the elbows and kicks repeat- Algeria defeat Mali edly aimed at him. The game was the biggest test for Brazil since CAPE TOWN: Egypt ensured they finished mistake would not set the tone for Egypt’s they demolished world champions Spain to win the group phase of Africa’s World Cup qual- performance as he steered home an the Confederations Cup in July. ifiers as the only team with a 100 percent equaliser in the 38th minute after Guinea They made just one change from the side FOXBORO: Neymar No. 10 of Brazil traps the ball against Portugal in the second half during the winning record as they came from a goal failed to clear a free kick from Mohamed that beat Australia 6-0 last weekend with international friendly match at Gillette Stadium. — AFP down to beat Guinea 4-2 in El Gouna on Aboutrika. Maxwell replacing Marcelo, who dropped out quishing control after Thiago Silva’s equaliser in automatically for next year’s tournament as Tuesday. Guinea were reduced to 10 men early in because of injury. Portugal were without the the 24th minute. Both sides noticeably lowered hosts and continue their preparations with Their Group G triumph was followed by the second half when defender Kamil injured Cristiano Ronaldo. Brazil started shakily the tempo after halftime and the game petered friendlies against South Korea and Zambia next a 1-0 home victory for Algeria over Mali as Zayatte was sent off and Aboutrika con- but soon recovered and never looked like relin- out amid a slew of substitutions. Brazil qualified month. — Reuters they confirmed their dominance in Group verted from the penalty spot. H. Both Algeria and Egypt had already Guinea, who finished second in Group G secured their progression to the final phase and were already out of World Cup con- Patchy Italians look to of African qualifiers and now await tention before Tuesday’s match, were not Monday’s draw for the playoff matches fea- done, however, and equalised just before turing 10 teams. the hour mark through Seydouba Soumah. A 51st minute strike from El Arabi The teams were level heading into the final Soudani ensured victory for Algeria in Blida 10 minutes but goals from Mohamed Salah recreate spirit of 2006 and 15 points out of a possible 18 in their and Amr Zaki as the clocked ticked down group. were enough for Egypt to secure a sixth But their efforts were bettered by the group win. ROME: Four-times World Cup champions Italy Napoli’s Lorenzo Insigne is promising but “This team is special because it had to start Egyptians despite a comical own goal in Egypt and Algeria join Burkina Faso, have booked a place at the 2014 finals in has struggled to impose himself so far. from nothing and now we’re among those the opening four minutes when English- Cameroon, Cape Verde Islands, Ethiopia, Brazil with two games to spare but even their Prandelli seems to have bad luck with defend- teams that can win,” said Roma midfielder De born defender Adam El Abd, on his com- Ivory Coast, Ghana, Nigeria and Senegal in smooth qualification could not gloss over the ers. After losing both first-choice fullbacks Rossi, who was part of that World Cup-win- petitive debut, miscued a clearance and the decisive round of matches over the patchy displays throughout the team’s cam- Ignazio Abate and Luca Antonelli during the ning team. the back spin beat his own goalkeeper. next two months to decide Africa’s repre- paign. win over Bulgaria, he saw late call-up Manuel The Azzurri have been in something of a Captain Hossam Ghaly ensured the early sentatives in Brazil.— Reuters The Azzurri traditionally struggle in qualifi- Pasqual leave the field on a stretcher bleeding transition ever since then, with many in Italy cation but Tuesday’s 2-1 victory over the from the head after an ugly clash with Czech unconvinced by the team and in particular Czech Republic allowed them to clinch their striker Libor Kozak. the young players coming through. place in Brazil with ease as they moved seven Italy’s displays are not yet at the level of the “We played on equal terms with Brazil and Spain scramble points ahead of second-placed Bulgaria in Germans or the Dutch, who dominated their Argentina and we got to the final against Group B.