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27 Sports Thursday, November 14, 2019 Sterling sanction casts shadow as England aim to seal place at Euro 2020 Raheem left to defend himself from all of the haters LONDON: England’s plan to celebrate their 1,000th helped ease the feud and the 24-year-old has international by qualifying for Euro 2020 in serene remained with the squad to train. style against Montenegro at Wembley today has been “I always have to find the right solution for the ripped up by Gareth Southgate’s decision to drop group and that’s a very difficult line,” said Southgate Raheem Sterling. on Tuesday. “We have a very good understanding of The Manchester City winger was involved in a the way that we have worked over the last couple of physical confrontation with Liverpool defender Joe years, which has brought us a lot of togetherness that Gomez at England’s training base on Monday as emo- is still there. tions spilled over from the highly-anticipated Premier “We are a united group. Now we have to turn our League clash between the two clubs on Sunday. focus onto the football. We have a hugely important Sterling has been the star of a qualifying campaign qualifier to reach a European Championship.” dominated by off-field issues where the Three Lions Sterling has since apologised to Gomez and the rest have largely let their football do the talking on it. Bar a of the squad. shock defeat to the Czech Republic last month, the “I am man enough to admit when emotions got the World Cup semi-finalists have shown why they will be better of me,” he said in an Instagram post. “Me and among the favourites to win a first major tournament Joe Gomez are good, we both understand it was a five in 54 years next summer. to 10-second thing... it’s done, we move forward and Sterling has scored eight of his side’s 26 goals in six not make this bigger than it is.” games as he has blossomed into one of the world’s Sterling could even return to action as soon as best players for club and country since failing to find Sunday when Southgate’s men travel to Kosovo. his best form at the World Cup 18 months ago. He has England will hope there is nothing riding on that also been a leading figure as England have stood up to match for them as a point against the side ranked the racist abuse suffered by a number of players in 61st in the world today will be enough to guarantee Montenegro and Bulgaria. qualification. One of Southgate’s strengths since taking charge Even in Sterling’s absence, Southgate is blessed three years ago has been to foster a unity in the with an array of attacking talent including Harry Kane, camp, far removed from the club-aligned cliques that Jadon Sancho and Marcus Rashford that should con- hampered the chances of talented England sides of tinue England’s free-scoring form. the past. But Southgate’s action has been criticised by some Raheem Sterling That now faces its biggest test as the bubbling for bringing a private incident into the public eye and rivalry between Liverpool and City threatens to spill putting Sterling under more scrutiny as a result. “Why the haters that had had their keyboards turned off due continue getting the best out of Sterling. over. Southgate’s first instinct was reportedly to send this couldn’t be handled internally?” said former to him becoming a very worthy ambassador for the The question remains what lasting impact the Sterling home, but the intervention of senior players, England defender Rio Ferdinand. English game.” If England’s long wait to win a major developments of the last two days will have on their principally Liverpool captain Jordan Henderson, “Now Raheem is left to defend himself from all of tournament is to come to an end, Southgate needs to relationship going forward. — AFP ple around me... I wanted to retire from football, not be He won a third La Liga with Atletico Madrid in his Villa retires after forced to retire from football,” he said. one season there in 2013-14 after leaving Barcelona. Villa will become an investor in Queensboro FC, a After leaving Atletico, Villa embarked on a successful new franchise based in the New York district of spell in Major League Soccer for New York City, 19-year career Queens that will play in the second tier of US foot- where he scored 80 goals in 124 appearances. Asprilla reveals ball. “Even though I will no longer be on the pitch, I Villa was New York City’s first-ever signing and his TOKYO: Star striker David Villa, Spain’s top goalscor- will continue to be involved in football in other ways haul included the first goal scored at Yankee Stadium drug trafficker’s er, yestrdayp announced he will retire next month, and will continue to contribute to the football in an opening home victory over the New England ending a glittering career in which he won the World world,” he said. Revolution. At Vissel Kobe, he played alongside fellow Cup, European Championships and Champions Villa played in three World Cups and was a member Spanish legend Andres Iniesta and German striker offer to kill League. of the Spanish side that lifted the trophy in 2010 and Lukas Podolski but the presence of the ageing foreign The 37-year-old Vissel Kobe striker said he will call won the European Championships in 2008, though he stars has done little to bring success to the ambitious rival player it a day at the end of the 2019 J-League season after a missed out on the 2012 triumph through injury. He Japanese club. 19-year career that took in Barcelona, Atletico Madrid scored 59 times for Spain, a national record. Vissel Kobe are currently languishing 10th in the J- and Valencia while accumulating 98 caps for his coun- His club honours include the 2010-11 Champions League after 31 games — the same position they fin- BOGOTA: Former Newcastle United forward try. “I have decided to end my professional career and League, the 2011 UEFA Super Club, 2011 Club World ished last year. Villa has scored 12 goals in 26 appear- Faustino Asprilla has claimed a drug trafficker that I have decided to retire,” Villa told reporters in Cup and two La Liga wins in 2010-11 and 2012-13 with ances for Vissel. He is expected to play three more J- offered to murder ex-Paraguay goalkeeper Kobe, his voice occasionally breaking with emotion. Barcelona. Villa scored the third goal for Barcelona at League matches as well as semi-finals and finals of the Jose Luis Chilavert after an on-field clash “I’ve been thinking about this for a long time. This is Wembley in the 3-1 win over Manchester United in the Emperor’s Cup. His retirement ceremony will be on between the South American pair. the result of discussions I had with my family and peo- 2010-11 Champions League Final. December 7, the day of his last J-League game. —AFP Speaking in a documentary about his life, due to be screened at the end of the week, the former Colombia international said the extraordinary offer came in 1997. That was just three years after defender Andres Escobar was gunned down in his home city of Medellin Resurgent Dutch on cusp of by suspected drug cartel members after scor- ing an own goal at the World Cup that year. Euro 2020 and return to big time “But you’re mad! What will happen to Colombian football? It’s not possible. No, no, PARIS: A thrilling crop of young players over Armenia last time out opening a no!” was Asprilla’s response, the 50-year-old has Euro 2020 in its sights as the five-point gap between them and their told the documentary makers. Asprilla and Netherlands prepare for a return to the third-placed opposition. Chilavert had both been sent off during a big stage, while Teemu Pukki’s Finland That win all-but guaranteed them a World Cup qualifier in Asuncion — won 2-1 are on the brink of their first ever major spot in their first major tournament, and by Paraguay — ahead of the 1998 tournament. tournament. Pukki’s fame in his homeland is such that Afterwards, Asprilla says he received a Ronald Koeman’s side need just a draw in September, after a discussion on cli- phone call from Julio Fierro, described by at Northern Ireland on Saturday to guar- mate change at the Elysee Palace in Paris, Colombia’s attorney general’s office as a drug antee a spot at their first international Finnish President Sauli Niinisto handed trafficker. Fierro invited him to a hotel in tournament since coming third at the his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron Asuncion along with fellow former Colombia 2014 World Cup. The Dutch had been in a Pukki replica shirt. international Victor Hugo Aristizabal. the doldrums since then until the arrival “There are two games left and it’s in There, Fierro was waiting for them “with 10 early in 2018 of Koeman, with the once their own hands,” said Finland coach people, drunk, and with pure Paraguayan mighty Oranje missing out on the previ- Markku Kanerva. France are among sev- women.” “We were annoyed because we’d lost ous European Championship and last eral big hitters also a hair’s breadth away when the man arrived (and said) ‘we need you year’s World Cup in Russia.