Tardelli confident over Given - Football
Published: 07 Jun 2012 - 20:17:47
Marco Tardelli insists goalkeeper Shay Given will be fit for Ireland's Euro 2012 opener against Croatia on Sunday.
Eyebrows were raised on Thursday morning when the 36-year-old went through a gentle work-out away from the main group at the Municipal Stadium in Gdynia. Given, who has been nursing knee and calf injuries as well as blistered feet, played just the first 45 minutes of Monday night's friendly in Hungary, his only football since the end of the Barclays Premier League season.
But assistant manager Tardelli said: "Shay rested because he knows his body. I think he is ready to play. Everything is good. He decides to work sometimes yes and sometimes no because he knows."
Given, Ireland's most-capped player, is a key member of Trapattoni's first-choice back five and the Italian would certainly want to be able to include his name as the first on his teamsheet for the clash with the Croatians in Poznan.
However, in Keiren Westwood, he at least has an able deputy and that will be a comfort as the nation waits anxiously for news of the Aston Villa man's fitness. Trapattoni and his players were back on the training pitch today after an unscheduled day off.
But amid suggestions that an approach from a delegation of players had prompted the alteration in the wake of comments from winger Aiden McGeady following the game in Budapest, Tardelli was adamant the decision came from the manager alone.
He said: "We decide sometimes if it is better to do training or not, and we had a feeling that it was better to stay off. All the decisions depend on the boss.
"The players need to recover after a tough season, but every day we will have training in the morning until the match."
Only three of Trapattoni's players - Given, Damien Duff and skipper Robbie Keane - have appeared in the finals of a major tournament before with Richard Dunne having travelled to the 2002 World Cup finals, but without getting on to the pitch. For that reason, Trapattoni's vast experience is proving crucial.
Tardelli said: "It is very important because he knows this kind of tournament, and it is very important to speak with the players. We also have players with lots of other experience, but he is the same man that was my coach."
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BJP chief gets an earful from RSS - deccanchronicle.com
RSS bigwigs reportedly gave BJP state president K.S. Eshwarappa an earful for his remarks that the BJP government rode to power in 2008 relying on money and caste power. The BJP chief had ignited a fresh controversy in the ruling party with loyalists of former CM B.S. Yeddyurappa—many of whom had shifted from the Congress and JD(S) to the BJP— expressing outrage over his remarks.
The BJP president had said that the Yeddyurappa government was formed by launching Operation Kamala with money and caste playing a prime role. With the BJP just having emerged from a severe crisis, RSS functionaries reportedly advised Eshwarappa to focus on balancing the interests of different groups instead of raking up controversies. Soon after the rebuke, Eshwarappa denied making the statement attributed to him.
Downing defiant after Liverpool nightmare - Football
Published: 07 Jun 2012 - 18:17:36
England winger Stewart Downing believes he has emerged a stronger player after being given a critical mauling during his debut season at Liverpool.
The 27-year-old was a controversial inclusion in Roy Hodgson's Euro 2012 squad after a difficult first year at Anfield which saw him contribute precisely zero goals or assists to Liverpool's league campaign.
Downing's difficulties have seen him become the butt of Internet jokes -- a Youtube compilation of his 2011/2012 highlights features a blank screen -- but the midfielder shrugs off the jibes.
"Criticism makes you stronger," the winger told reporters in Krakow on Thursday.
"You are always going to get criticised at a big club like Liverpool but it is a great club to play for.
"I thoroughly enjoyed my first season and I am sure we will be better next year."
Downing, who cost Liverpool £20 million last summer, often found himself in the firing line after a campaign that saw the club finish eighth.
The failure of Downing and other big-money signings ultimately cost manager Kenny Dalglish his job, with the Kop icon sacked last month before being replaced by Swansea's Brendan Rodgers.
However Downing believes Liverpool's eighth place finish did not reflect their form in general over the season.
"A lot has been said about Liverpool and the fact we didn't perform but we battered teams at Anfield at times," he said.
"I can think of one or two bad performances. Most of the time we were very unlucky.
"We just didn't have that killer instinct. The manager said there wasn't much you could say and that was probably right.
"But a lot of new players signed, we played in two cup finals and came away with a medal so there were a lot of positives to come out of it as well."
Downing, who could start for England in their Group D opener against France in Donetsk next Monday, is adamant that the Three Lions should have nothing to fear from Les Bleus despite their 21-match unbeaten streak.
"We don't fear them," he said. "France are a good team but so are we.
"We know their strengths and weaknesses. They are good going forward and have some great individual players.
"It will be a tough game but it is a great opening match for us to play and we are confident we can get a result against them."
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Lauryn Hill charged over income tax returns - BBC News
Hip-hop star Lauryn Hill has been charged with willfully failing to file income tax returns in the US.
Authorities say the singer earned more than $1.6 million (£1.03m) during the three years that she failed to file returns.
US prosecutors said her main source of income during the period 2005 - 2007 was royalties from her music and films.
Hill, who has not yet commented on the charges, is scheduled to appear in court on 29 June.
According to court papers, the 37-year-old owns and operates four corporations - Creations Music, Boogie Tours, LH Productions 2001, and Studio 22.
Hill was the only female member of rap group The Fugees, whose album The Score achieved worldwide success in 1996.
Two years later, she released her debut solo album - The Miseducation Of Lauryn Hill - to wide critical acclaim. It remains her only studio album to date.
The singer also appeared alongside Whoopi Goldberg in Sister Act 2: Back in the Habit.
She has six children and now rarely makes public appearances.
Facebook opens app store - San Jose Mercury News
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook has opened an app store that has a new twist -- it offers millions of users a new central marketplace for games and programs available through the popular social networking service, along with recommendations and names of friends who have already checked those programs out.
The social networking company, working to expand its revenue base beyond online advertising, launched its new App Center on Thursday.
The idea builds on a concept that's worked well for Apple, Google, Amazon and other online giants. Facebook will offer about 600 apps to start, including games, music and other entertainment programs, in a centralized site that users can reach through a link on their Facebook homepage, or through their Facebook app on an Android or Apple smartphone.
While users can search for any apps in the store, Facebook's Doug Purdy promised that users will also find a selection tailored to the interests they express on Facebook through their activities and "likes," along with information about which Facebook friends are also using those games or other programs.
Analysts said that's a powerful selling point. "People are always interested in what their friends are up to," said Ray Valdes, a social networking expert at the Gartner tech research firm, who noted that other app stores don't have the ability to provide that information.
Facebook executives, at an unveiling event for reporters and analysts, also
stressed that the new App Center is designed to make it easy to download apps on smartphones and mobile devices, on which increasing numbers of people are using the networking service.The new App Center should also help independent app developers compete with bigger companies like Zynga, which makes some of Facebook's most popular games. Valdes said big developers currently have an advantage in being able to use their existing games to promote new ones. A central marketplace will presumably give smaller developers a chance for more exposure, which could also help Facebook lessen its dependence on a few big developers for revenue.
While Facebook makes most of its money from advertising, the company has said it hopes to increase income from Facebook Credits, an online currency that users can purchase and then redeem for virtual goods and other items related to various games and apps. Facebook takes a 30 percent processing fee for those transactions, which contributed about $557 million of the company's $3.7 billion in revenue last year.
Contact Brandon Bailey at 408-920-5022; follow him at Twitter.com/BrandonBailey
Advocaat's two big calls - UEFA
Dick Advocaat said he has "a full squad to choose from" as Russia held their final training session before Friday's UEFA EURO 2012 game against the Czech Republic.
The 64-year-old gave very little away and also commented that the team "aren't feeling nervous" ahead of their opening game. There had been injury concerns about Igor Akinfeev, Roman Pavlyuchenko and Marat Izmailov, but all three seemed to move easily and without any noticeable problems.
The vast majority of the Russia team picks itself, but there are two positions that will give the Dutchman something to think over tonight. Perhaps the toughest is who will play in goal, with Akinfeev and Vyacheslav Malafeev two candidates who have both had to overcome adversity in recent times.
Fifteen months ago, Malafeev lost his wife in a car crash and was left to care for his two children alone. However, rather than let himself be overcome by grief, the FC Zenit St Petersburg keeper produced the form of his life and excelled for both the national team and his club in the UEFA Champions League.
Dick Advocaat addresses his squad during training on Thursday
The other quandary for Advocaat is who to play on the right-hand side of attack, with Alan Dzagoev, the incumbent, up against Izmailov. Dzagoev was Russia's joint top scorer in qualifying, but the 21-year-old only recently recovered from a broken bone in his foot and is now under pressure from a rejuvenated Izmailov. The Sporting Clube de Portugal winger is no stranger to injuries himself, though he has battled back to full fitness and was impressive in his country's warm-up games after six years in the international wilderness.
It's a nice headache for Advocaat to have going into the game with the Czech Republic and he has the luxury of knowing that whoever he chooses is likely to cause their opponents a number of problems.
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