Croatian FA chief Vlatko Markovic is concerned that his country s Premier League-based stars have been targeted for rough treatment after Luka Modric suffered a broken leg playing for Tottenham.
Modric will miss Croatia s crucial World Cup qualifier against England at Wembley on September 9 after suffering the injury in a challenge with Birmingham s Lee Bowyer on Saturday.
Markovic was furious when he heard Modric would be out for two months as it brought back memories of the broken leg suffered by Arsenal striker Eduardo also against Birmingham in February 2008, which meant he was unavailable when Croatia faced England in Zagreb last September.
Markovic told The Sun: First Eduardo, now Luka Modric. This is horrible. I can only ask myself if it was really an acc…
Scotland manager George Burley believes his side can still qualify for the World Cup finals despite a goalless draw against Norway at Hampden.
The Scots have had a difficult start to their Group Nine campaign and sit on just four points from their opening three games following a defeat to Macedonia and a win in Iceland.
And with only five games remaining, two of them against group favourites Holland, Burley knows Scotland face an uphill battle to make it to South Africa 2010.
But he insists it is still possible. and says his side s away form will now be vital if they are to qualify for their first finals in 12 years.
It can still be done and we are going to battle all the way. We said before the game we were looking for three points but we have one, …
Manchester City director of football Txiki Begiristain hopes the club can reach the final four of the Champions League once more despite being handed a tough group assignment at Thursday s draw in Monaco.
Begiristain, coach Pep Guardiola and an ex-Barcelona contingent at City that now includes freshly signed goalkeeper Claudio Bravo will travel to Camp Nou on October 19 before a return match on November 1 in the middle of their Group C campaign.
City were knocked out in the last 16 by Barca in 2014 and 2015 before a more favourable route helped them to the semi-finals, where they were unable to get past eventual winners Real Madrid last time around.
Borussia Monchengladbach, who the Premier League side battled to a pair of victories against in last season s gro…
Celtic have announced the signing of Cristian Gamboa from West Brom.
The Costa Rica international joins the Scottish Premiership champions on a three-year deal and becomes Brendan Rodgers fifth signing of the transfer window.
Moussa Dembele, Kolo Toure, Scott Sinclair and Dorus De Vries have already completed moves to Celtic as they prepare for their Champions League campaign.
Rodgers side face Barcelona, Manchester City and Borussia Monchengladbach in Group C, while Gamboa could make his Celtic debut against Old Firm rivals Rangers on September 10.
Right-back Gamboa featured for Costa Rica in their run to the quarter-finals of the 2014 World Cup and has previously played for Fredrikstad in Norway and Denmark s Rosenborg and FC Copenhagen.
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There are several early game resources that you will want to get your hands on in V Rising. Most of these resources are able to be sourced rather easily, with the game giving you tutorials on how to acquire them. However, there is a smaller batch of materials that are more challenging to find on the map. Stone dust and stone brick are two such materials, which can be an issue when trying to expand your castle. The materials are a key ingredient in the crafting process of whetstones, which are, in and of themselves, a difficult resource to find throughout V Rising.
A majority of players will actually come across stone dust and stone brick fairly early on in V Rising. The resources can appear as a drop by knocking down stone pillars or other similar objects Come from Mikel Arteta insists he was not surprised by Mesut Ozil s energetic display against Chelsea, having been impressed by the Arsenal playmaker s willing performances in training. Ozil has long been criticised for a perceived lack of effort as Arsenal have struggled, with the World Cup winner struggling to hold down a regular position in the side. But although the Gunners collapsed to lose 2-1 to Chelsea at Emirates Stadium on Sunday, Ozil was at the centre of a much-improved performance in new head coach Arteta s first home game in charge. Arteta s aim now is to build a team that will bring the best out of Ozil, acknowledging he cannot win matches alone. That s what I m hoping, that he can sustain that level every three or four days, Arteta told reporters…
Jean Michael Seri would prefer a move to Serie A club Napoli over the Premier League, according to the Nice midfielder s agent.
Ivory Coast international Seri has impressed during his time in Ligue 1, with a proposed move to LaLiga heavyweights Barcelona falling through in August 2017.
Seri remained at Nice, making a total of 43 appearances across all competitions last term scoring twice and recording 10 assists.
He now looks set to leave the French club, however, and his agent Franklin Mala claimed Napoli is the ideal destination for the 26-year-old, who has been linked with a move to Chelsea, but insisted last season s Serie A runners-up must act swiftly.
We hope to have positive news from Naples in the next few hours, Mala told CalcioNapoli24 on Thurs…
Malmö FF opened the Swedish 2009 season with a 0-1 win at Häcken Göteborg, while Elfsborg and Hammarby held each other to a 1-1 draw.
The match between Häcken and Malmö almost went by without goals, but 23-year-old defender Miljan Mutavdzi finally broke the deadlock with just five minutes left to play.
Fans at Elfsborg Boras versus Hammarby didn t have to wait as long for a goal to be scored, as Emil Johansson put the away side ahead on 14 minutes. A converted spot kick from Stefan Ishizaki levelled the score shortly after the break.
Defending champions Kalmar FF begin their 2009 campaign at Gefle IF on Monday.
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Spanish giants Real Madrid are scheduled to tour the United States of America as they prepare for the 2009-10 season.
Major League Soccer side DC United confirmed that they will be playing a match with Madrid at FedExField in Landover, Maryland on August 9. Los Blancos are expected to face several other teams during their trip.
Madrid s arch rivals FC Barcelona, who won the Champions League on Wednesday, will also travel to the USA this summer. The Blaugrana are confirmed to face Los Angeles Galaxy and Seattle Sounders in August.
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Colombia will look to end a successful FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign on a good note when they take on Paraguay on Tuesday.
Jose Pekerman s side sit second in South American qualifying group and sealed their spot at next year s World Cup in Brazil with a stunning 3-3 draw against Chile on Friday.
Trailing 3-0 with just 25 minutes to go, Teofilo Gutierrez s strike breathed life into a Colombia side playing in front of their home fans in Barranquilla.
And two late Radamel Falcao penalties saw them claim an unlikely point to clinch qualification and spark wild celebrations as Colombia reached the World Cup finals for the first time since 1998.
Key to Colombia s qualification has been their terrific home form, which saw them win five matches in a row before the C…