England Captain Rio Ferdinand Backs Chelsea's Joe Cole To Make Fabio Capello's Final Squad

England skipper Rio Ferdinand has backed Joe Cole to make Fabio Capello's World Cup squad after his exciting cameo against Japan.



Cole, 28, played a pivotal role in yesterday's 2-1 victory after coming on as a second half substitute. The Three Lions had laboured in the first half, but Cole's introduction as a foil to Wayne Rooney sparked the turnaround.

Despite not playing for England in 20 months, the utility attacker did not look out of place as he grabbed his 53rd cap. Manager Capello will name his final 23-man squad on Wednesday and Cole now looks set to be on the plane for South Africa.

Speaking to reporters, England skipper Ferdinand was impressed by Cole's contribution off the bench.

"I would say Joe Cole made the biggest impact but all the substitutes made impacts in different ways," Ferdinand noted.

"All of them were very lively and they gave us a bit more drive and forcefulness.

"That is what you need going into a tournament. You need players who can make an impact off the bench."

World Cup 2010: Philipp Lahm Confirmed As Germany Captain

Germany's coach announced via press conference on Friday that Philipp Lahm will lead the Germany team in South Africa.


After Michael Ballack's injury , Philipp Lahm was generally regarded as the best at his position and also Miroslav Klose will be the vice-captain.

Germany Coach Joachim Loew: “After the loss of Michael Ballack, this is now a more important role”

Germany plays against Hungary over the weekend and Lahm will lead out in that encounter if selected.

Last Tickets Released For Public Sale

90% Per cent of World Cup 2010 tickets have been sold and the remaining will be released tomorrow.

There are still around 90.000 tickets of the World Cup 2010 and there re going to be released tomorrow at 9:00 CET and there 're available for public for all of the World Cup matches including the final, the opening game and the two semi-finals.
In total there are around 160,000 tickets still available to the public from the current sales channels.





FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke talked about the sales at a press conference:

“For the final there are only about 800 tickets left, but for other matches it’s up to a few thousand. The target is to reach about 97 or 98%, which would correspond with the figures from the past FIFA World Cups and this would make us very happy"

Diego Maradona

World Cup 2010: Diego Maradona seems happy after Argentina's friendly with Canada

Diego Maradona, Argentina's coach said that he was happy after Argentina's friendly match against Canada. Argentina easily won the Canada team with a 5 - 0 score.

"I am encouraged that we made people happy. What I value most from the players is the desire they have to prove they can do this and much more," he said, as quoted by Spanish publication AS.

"The Argentine people can be calm because we have good players that we can put on the team, when the time is right."

Julio Cesar

Brazil's Julio Cesar Wants To Win World Cup 2010 After Inter Treble

Inter's and Brazil's Goalkeeper Julio Cesar has his next target at World Cup 2010 after completing a historic treble with Inter this season.

Julio Cesar: "I'm here to complete this festival, after winning the treble with Inter I even want to finish up by winning the World Cup with Brazil"

The former Flamengo star has met up with his Selecao team-mates in Curitiba and they will meet with Brazil president Lula before leaving to begin preparations at their training base in South Africa.

Julio Cesar: "We have been given the opportunity to join the [Brazil] team once they arrived in South Africa, but I preferred to do it now"

Esteban Cambiasso

World Cup 2010: Esteban Cambiasso - I Did Everything In My Power To Make Argentina Squad

Treble winner left to reflect in international wilderness.

Esteban Cambiasso: "I tried my utmost to be in the national team, but unfortunately I was not picked”

Inter's midfielder Esteban Cambiasso was dissappointed at his interview for being left out of Argentina's squad.

Esteban Cambiasso: “I was disappointed, but that's it. There is no point thinking about what happened, we shouldn’t think about the past.”

Cambiasso's last appearance with Argentina was with Spain in November and despite enjoying a breathtaking season at the heart of an Inter side that won an unprecedented treble this season was unable play his way back into Maradona’s thoughts.

Esteban Cambiasso: "“Now we must support those who are there, hopefully they will give some joy to the country"

Are you ready for the biggest event of the year?!!

Are you ready to watch the best players all over the world taking place in the same event?I guess you all made your plans about the World Cup , because if you haven't you must do it now because 15 days from now we will have the biggest event getting started!!!
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