CARROLL HAS POINT TO PROVE

Former Liverpool striker Andy Carroll has stated that he wants to prove a point for both England manager Roy Hodgson and his former manager at Liverpool – Brendan Rodgers. Carroll is the record signing for Liverpool at £ 35 million after he arrived from Newcastle United with a big reputation. He was signed by former Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson, but his successor, Brendan Rodgers, did not expect him to fit into his style at the club. Hence, Liverpool had to take a huge hit on the 24-year-old and sell him for just £ 15 million in the summer.

He spent the last season on loan at West Ham and he made the move permanent for this massive transfer fee. He is widely regarded as the next best striker with the England squad. Wayne Rooney is undoubtedly the star name, but many reckon that Carroll should be the next name on the squad for Brazil. As West Ham prepare to face Liverpool on Sunday at Upton Park, Carroll, who has once again regained his fitness after being injured for most of the first six months of the campaign, is expected to start. He says that he wants to prove his former managers that he is capable of scoring goals given the opportunity.

“There’s no bitterness about Liverpool at all. I moved to West Ham and I’m loving it. Apart from the injury setback everything has been great but I’m looking forward to playing Liverpool on Sunday. They’re on fire at the minute and they’re the team to beat. Hopefully we can do it. I think we’re all confident we’re safe now. We’ve taken 18 points from the last nine games and it would be great to keep the run going,” said Carroll.

The 25-year-old has scored just two goals in 10 appearances this season, but his contribution has been immense all over the pitch.

HODGSON BACKS ENGLAND

England manager Roy Hodgson has stated that he is confident that the team will do well at the upcoming World Cup 2014. The national team has failed to deliver expectations in the previous major tournaments. They have not won a World Cup since 1966. Even though the English are nowhere near enough to being considered as favourites, Hodgson believes that the team will have a good World Cup since he is seeing a lot of promising signs over the last few months. Hodgson himself has not spoken about England lifting the trophy, but he is confident of giving a good account in Brazil.

England have not managed to get past the quarter-finals of a major tournament in recent decades. Even reaching the semifinals will be considered as a great achievement for this team especially considering that there are several youngsters in the squad. The Golden generation of Steven Gerrard, Paul Scholes, and Frank Lampard is almost over. England will be up against Uruguay, Costa Rica, and Italy in the group stages. This is seen as one of the tough groups since Uruguay and Italy will be the favourites to qualify.

England recently achieved a positive result by winning their friendly match against Denmark whereas all other group opponents lost their friendly matches.

“I think everyone is excited by this tournament. I think everyone’s quite excited by the fact that this is an England team in transition at the moment and there are some very interesting players who could be involved. I think we will be very well supported, not only in Brazil but back here in England as well, wherever the games are being shown. So I’m sure the players will do their best and I’m very confident that we’ll come away from the tournament having given a good account of ourselves,” said the 66-year-old.

READY FOR THE CUP

The World Cup is once again set to visit a growing economy after it will be held in Brazil for the 2014 edition. The 2006 edition was viewed as a highly successful one, but that is not expected of the upcoming World Cup. This is due to the history of violence in Brazil – especially in the poorer parts of the country. The nation has also been troubled by an uprising against the government after the decision to spend millions and millions of money – given by the taxpayers – on improving the stadiums and not developing the infrastructure.

Brazil is vastly underequipped in terms of transportation and infrastructure and it was seen as the major areas that would get a much-needed overhaul as a result of this World Cup. Yet, the public have been astonished to see the government spending huge amounts of money in creating stadiums, which are unlikely to fill once the tournament is over. The Confederations Cup, which acts as a precursor to the World Cup, was marred by troubles involving the supporters. There was even a danger of the competition being called off as a result of the protests.

England manager Roy Hodgson says that England fans travelling to see the team take part in this tournament should take extra precautions to ensure their safety.

“As far as we [the team] are concerned we are going to have a lot of protection. It’s more for the fans that this is a larger concern. But I have great faith in the government, the local organising committee and FIFA. I have to say that I don’t want to suggest there is no reason for concern. Of course, there is. From my point of view I just have to be trusting in our security, the security of the Brazilian government and all the things that FIFA will do to make it secure for the fans and the players,” said Hodgson.

WALCOTT BLOW

England were left with a major blow with the news that Arsenal winger Theo Walcott was set to miss the World Cup after rupturing his anterior cruciate ligament in the match against Tottenham. As a result, he has been ruled out for the rest of the season. Walcott has been one of the important players for the England national team over the years, but the midfielder is yet to feature in the World Cup. He was taken to the 2006 World Cup as a surprise inclusion by Sven Goran Eriksson, but he did not play a match.

The subsequent tournaments have also been missed by the 24-year-old due to injury. He had to be carried off by a stretcher during the 2-0 win over Tottenham. He did not appear to be in serious pain, but the injury has proven otherwise. Roy Hodgson has admitted that this is indeed a major blow for the national team, who are not expected to win the World Cup. They are the same group containing Uruguay and Italy, which makes them third favourites to qualify for the knockout stages. Costa Rica are the other team in the group.

Walcott has been in fine scoring form for Arsenal since last season, but he has missed most of this campaign. He had only returned from a spell on the sidelines.

“It is such a shame that we have lost a player of his calibre for the World Cup. It is a blow for him personally, and for both Arsenal and England. Having worked with him for two years as England manager I know the character he has, and I know he will come back even stronger from this setback,” said Hodgson.

Despite this injury, sports rehabilitation experts have predicted that there is a chance that Walcott may get fit in time for the World Cup.

READY FOR THE DRAW

As the 32 qualified teams are preparing themselves for the draw that will be held on December 6 in a five-star Atlantic holiday resort in Brazil not everybody is expecting the tournament to go as planned with the 47 years old Brazilian Socialist Party politician and World Cup winner of 1994 Romari de Souza Faria concerned about the process in which it will be held.

‘FIFA are only here in Brazil for the money and to line their pockets,’ he told The Mail on Sunday. ‘Do FIFA care if Brazil has proper transport in the cities or a structural legacy? No. FIFA are just worried whether the stadiums will be ready on time.

‘Who rules in Brazil today? FIFA. They come, put on a circus, pay no tax and take the profit. The greatest benefit from the World Cup will not be left to Brazilian people, but to FIFA, to media groups, to sponsors and to contractors’.

‘I am not surprised that there were huge protests in the streets in the summer and I expect the same again. Our hospitals and schools are underfunded and there are huge social divisions, yet we are wasting billions of pounds of public money on mega-events, starting with the World Cup.’ Romario said.

The opening of the upcoming World Cup is scheduled to be in Sao Paulo on June 12 but an unfortunate event saw 2 construction workers dying after a crane toppled the stadium in the place that is supposed to be the inaugurational event which sets the tone for the remainder of the tournament.

Romario’s main worry is that Brazil will be spending money on football instead of where it should be spent on, its people. After all the preparations are completed the amount of money spent is expected to reach £7.6billion and with a country that has already experienced problems hosting events of this caliber, it really does come into mind if they will be ready to be at the eyes of the world by June 12th.

WATCH THE WOMEN

The largest ever UK audience watched the final of the Women’s Euro 2013 European Championships, with the match being screened on BBC1 whilst the rain smashed down across the whole of Britian, prompting many to stay indoors and stick the TV on.

The Germans won the match (taking an impressive sixth consecutive title) over a hard-working but less-than-magical Norwegian side.