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Home , Felipe Anderson, Jonny Williams, Mark Hughes, Neville Southall, Sergio Rico

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 10, 2015 SPORTS Another ‘massive night’ for Wales as Euros beckon

CARDIFF: “It’s a massive night for But while all of Wales is optimistic place. Blessed with talented players group matches, before exiting meekly world rankings and beat France 4-3 in a Welsh football” is a saying that strikes that the national side can take one of including , and a to Russia 1-0 in a two-legged playoff. friendly in Paris at the weekend, are fear into the hearts of the country’s bat- the 24 slots in the expanded tourna- precocious teenager called , For Welsh fans, Friday at last seems a rightly among the favorites to lift the tle weary fans dreaming of glory ment, no-one is taking anything for Wales seemed destined to return to the different prospect although, as ever, the title next year. because every one of those nights over granted because of so many past heroic World Cup for the first time in 36 years. squad is affected by withdrawals. However, they are not infallible, as the last 57 years has ended in failure. failures that have left Wales always so However, missing striker Hughes Regular starting defenders Ben Davies Wales, world-ranked 22nd, proved with They typically come around once, at near and yet so far. through suspension, an uncharacteris- of Tottenham Hotspur and West Ham a 0-0 draw in Brussels last year. Wales most twice, every decade, and the first There have been many excuses for tic error by goalkeeper United’s James Collins have been ruled have grown in confidence and stature since 2003 is fast approaching with their almost inevitable failure to reach and a heartbreaking penalty miss by out until next season along with young- since then and the absence of Belgium Wales set to face Belgium in a Euro another finals-poor managerial deci- Ian Bodin saw ’s sters Jonny Williams of Crystal Palace, captain coupled with 2016 top-of-the-table Group B qualify- sions, bad luck, perceived refereeing Romania win 2-1 and advance at Wales’ Wigan Athletic’s Emyr Huws and the fact that Marc Wilmot’s side conced- ing clash at the City Stadium on incompetence plus injuries and suspen- expense. Fulham’s George Williams. ed three second half goals to France, Friday. sions to key players at the most inop- Hughes was manager the last time But the squad remains strong and will give the likes of Bale and Aaron Both sides are level on 11 points portune moments. they failed to finish the job when Euro most of manager Chris Coleman’s play- Ramsey cause to believe they can cause from five games, with Belgium leading The notion that Wales have bottled it 2004 in Portugal was within reach. ers have pedigree, the visiting defence real problems. the group on goal difference. The pair on the nights that mattered took hold Giggs was then at his peak in a team, including the world’s most expensive If Coleman’s side do that then “a currently occupy the automatic qualifi- when Scotland effectively ended their featuring , player . massive night for Welsh football” would cation places for next year’s tourna- realistic hopes of qualifying for the and Simon Davies, who were among The dangerous Bale, despite his at last be a triumphant occasion. Unlike ment in France and Wales’s promising 1978 and 1986 World Cups. the top scorers in the qualifiers. troubles at Real Madrid, has been in other nights, this is not a do-or-die start has given the fans real hope that The heartache continued as they Wales won their first four games, imperious form for Wales and will earn match for Wales, with four matches to their team could reach a major finals for closed in on qualifying for the 1994 including a 2-1 win over Italy in Cardiff, his 50th against their strongest play, but the feeling is that if they win the first time since the 1958 World Cup World Cup in the United States when a before their form deserted them. They group rivals. on Friday they can go on to take a place in Sweden. win over Romania would have booked a failed to win any of their remaining four Belgium, who are second in FIFA’s in France. —Reuters Ghana scrape past Togo

JOHANNESBURG: Ghana coach Avram Former African Footballer of the Year Grant praised Bernard Mensah yesterday Adebayor is the star of the Sparrow Hawks after a goal by the debutant gave Ghana a and a consistent source of goals. But 1-0 victory over Togo in a 2017 Africa Cup recently appointed Belgian Tom Saintfiet is of Nations warm-up. the latest coach to have trouble with a star “ am happy with his performance, espe- recently given compassionate leave by cially his goal,” former Chelsea manager Tottenham to handle family problems. Grant said of the 20-year-old Record seven-time Cup of Nations title- from Portuguese club Vitoria Guimaraes. holders Egypt defeated Malawi 2-1 at Borg “Bernard is among the players I have El-Arab in another warm-up despite lacking been monitoring recently and I promise he the unavailable stars of leading clubs Al- will not be our last discovery. “The match Ahly and Zamalek. was a good experience and we are satisfied Ahmed Hassan Mekky tapped the ball with the outcome,” added the coach who into the net on 19 minutes after a defensive guided Ghana to second at the 2015 Cup of blunder and a powerful Mohamed El- Nations in Equatorial Guinea. Gabbas shot just after half-time doubled Mensah struck after 40 minutes at Accra the lead. John Banda halved the deficit Sports Stadium to win a friendly interna- midway through the second half of a tional dominated by Ghana against oppo- match staged behind closed doors owing nents lacking several key players. to post-Arab Spring security concerns. Tottenham striker All four teams host qualifiers this week- and France-based goalkeeper Kossi Agassa end with Ghana playing Mauritius in Accra, and midfielder Floyd Ayite refused to train Togo facing Liberia in Lome, Egypt meeting regularly with the squad last week and Tanzania in Borg El-Arab and Malawi tack- were dropped. ling Zimbabwe in Blantyre. —AFP

Preview leads Brazil at Copa

RIO DE JANEIRO: A resurgent Brazil are develop. He is making history in European determined to bury the memory of last football.” Neymar missed Sunday’s friendly year’s traumatic World Cup campaign as with Mexico but will reunite with the squad they prepare to regain their crown as the bristling with confidence after scoring the kings of South American football at the final goal for Barcelona in their 3-1 Copa America. Brazil’s challenge at the Champions League final defeat of Juventus World Cup on home soil was obliterated in on Saturday. Neymar’s late strike in Berlin a 7-1 semi-final mauling by eventual cham- was the final act of a superb season for the pions Germany, a result that was compared Spanish treble winners which saw him to the hosts’ infamous defeat to Uruguay in notch 39 goals. the climax of the 1950 tournament. believes Neymar’s goalscoring An emphatic 3-0 defeat to the performance in the Champions League Netherlands in the third place play-off only final augurs well for Brazil’s Copa America added to the mood of disarray surrounding campaign. in action in this file photo Brazil as the world’s most successful foot- “This is good for Brazilian football as a balling nation came to terms with its early whole, having a player scoring in the final exit. But fast-forward nearly a year, and and winning the Champions League,” Brazil are heading into the Copa America in Dunga said. While the core of the Brazil Butcher’s boy Nolito has Chile with renewed confidence after a squad is the same as the team torn asunder sequence of nine straight wins since the by Germany, Dunga has successfully blood- World Cup debacle under the guidance of ed several new players who could play a Costa Rica in his sights former captain Dunga. part in Chile. Dunga, who succeeded Luiz Felipe Shakhtar Donetsk midfielder Fred, Scolari, has overseen a steady return to Monaco defender Fabinho and Lazio’s MADRID: Celta Vigo forward Nolito has come north-western city of Leon. base outside Madrid. “It’s been a fantastic sea- winning ways since his reappointment. attacking midfielder Felipe Anderson all a long way since he earned 30 euros ($33.74) “I used to get up at eight thirty, I was at the son and this call-up has been the reward, I Brazil’s run of victories has included friendly featured in the win over Mexico on Sunday, a week as a butcher’s apprentice and should butcher from nine until two and in the after- hope to learn,” the 21-year-old added. With wins over Colombia, Chile, Argentina and which also saw ’s Philippe get a chance to show Spain coach Vicente del noon I trained in my village,” Nolito, now 28, five matches played, Spain are second in Euro France, with Mexico becoming the latest Coutinho score his first international goal Bosque what he can do in tomorrow’s friendly said in an interview with Marca sports daily 2016 qualifying Group C on 12 points, three victims in a 2-0 win in Sao Paulo on Sunday. for Brazil. “We are on the right track, though Dunga, who coached Brazil to their last we haven’t got anywhere as yet. We must against Costa Rica. published yesterday. “I was 15 years old and behind leaders Slovakia, who beat them 2-1 in Copa America win in 2007, believes the improve day by day individually and collec- The match is a useful opportunity for Del then I signed for Valencia,” he added. “I didn’t Zilina in October, and three ahead of third- form of star striker Neymar is one of the tively,” Dunga said. Bosque to experiment with Nolito and some get to cut any meat as those knives were dan- placed Ukraine. Belarus are a further five keys to the revival. Brazil open their Group C campaign of the other new faces in the squad ahead of gerous.” points behind in fourth. One of Dunga’s first acts last year was to against Peru in Temuco on Sunday before a Sunday’s Euro 2016 qualifier away to Group C In midfield, Sevilla pair Vitolo and Aleix Spain host Slovakia in September in a hand the captain’s armband to the showdown with Colombia on June 17 in rivals Belarus. Vidal are looking to cap a great season for the match that could decide who goes to the Barcelona forward, and the 23-year-old has Santiago, a rematch of their stormy World Spain have, in particular, been struggling Europa League winners with good perform- tournament in France next year as group thrived on the added responsibility. Cup quarter-final last year which saw to find a goal scorer to fill the shoes of record ances on the international stage. winners. Costa Rica are ranked 14th in the “It is not a surprise, but the statistics are Neymar suffer a fractured vertebra. marksman David Villa, who has not featured Goalkeeper Sergio Rico, another Sevilla world after their outstanding run to the there to show that when Neymar puts on They then face Venezuela on June 21. If since the 2014 World Cup. player, has been called into the squad for the World Cup quarter-finals in Brazil last the captain’s armband, he takes a step for- Brazil win Group C they will then face a Forwards Alvaro Morata, Paco Alcacer and first time and may be given a run-out. “It’s a year, when they were eliminated on ward,” Dunga said in March. quarter-final meeting with the runner-up Nolito will be keen to impress if handed a dream for me to represent my country,” Rico penalties by the Netherlands after the “He is a player who likes challenges. The from Group B, potentially either holders chance against the Central Americans in the said at a news conference at Spain’s training match ended 0-0. —Reuters more responsibility he has, the more he will Uruguay or Argentina. —AFP Bilic returns to West Ham

LONDON: Former West Ham defender Slaven it was an easy choice.” “I remember West Ham as a special club,” Bilic returned as manager yesterday after Bilic played for West Ham in 1996-97, and Bilic said. “It is a great place to play and I felt like being convinced that the impending move went on to coach Croatia at the 2008 and I was at home. It is a big privilege and a big into London’s Olympic Stadium will make the 2012 European Championships. More recent- responsibility to now be manager.” Allardyce Premier League club more ambitious. ly, he has coached Lokomotiv Moscow and left after a dismal second half of the season The former Croatia coach signed a three- Besiktas. saw West Ham finish in 12th place.—AP year contract to replace , who left West Ham last month when the season ended amid an increasingly fraught relation- ship with fans. Beyond getting the team playing the brand of spirited attacking football sought by the owners, a key priority for Bilic will be ensuring West Ham is still a Premier League team for the 2016-17 season. That is when West Ham moves home across east London into the stadium used for the 2012 London Olympics, which is being turned into a 54,000- seat venue. In its final season at Upton Park, West Ham will be playing in the Europa League for the first time. “My first priority when choosing a club is to look at its ambitions,” the 46-year-old Bilic said on the club website. “(The owners) made clear that it is not only the fantastic new stadium we are moving into, but they showed their determination and ambition to make what is a big club even bigger. “I saw their determination and passion that they want to do that. That was the No. 1 rea- Barcelona’s Neymar celebrates in this file photo. son. I could feel that they really wanted me, so Slaven Bilic