Anticipation grows as to who will make the England team for the Olympics

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Britain’s first football team to appear in the Olympics since the year 1960 is being picked specially for this summer’s Olympic Games. David Beckham, one of prospective squad players that are allowed to be of any age, is still in contention for a place in the squad.

Stuart Pearce, the Olympic football team manager has shortened his player list from 191 down to just 80 since January. The 18 squad players names are expected to be announced by June.

Beckham, now a midfielder for Los Angeles Galaxy team, has previously expressed the desire to be part of the London Games team despite the fact that his England team career is effectively over. Former England captain, Beckham made 115 appearances for England. This is the most appearances of any outfield player for England, the last of which occurred in October 2009.

Britain hasn’t had a football team in the Olympics for over 50 years as Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales all feared losing FIFA independence. The federation has assured teams that their FIFA status will not be affected if they partake in the competition, although a combined team has still been blocked. Pearce is still hoping to include players from across the UK.

The 80-strong shortlist includes Liverpool’s Welsh striker Craig Bellamy, Gareth Bale, Tottenham’s winger, Scottish striker Stephen Fletcher who plays for Wolverhampton Wanderers and Chris Brunt, a midfielder for West Bromwich Albion.

Apart from David Beckham, there are another four English possible player’s names that have been disclosed. Joe Cole, Liverpool’s 30 year old midfielder on loan to Lille, Jack Butland, Josh McEachran and defender for Crystal Palace, Nathaniel Clyne are all still on the list.

Britain’s first women’s football team is also set to star in the London Games later this year. Both teams are going to be playing friendlies as warm-ups for the July 25th tournament start date.

 

Muamba could be returning to the pitch sooner rather than later

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Fabrice Muamba, the Bolton Wanderers’ midfielder could be playing football again within as little as six months, says a leading expert. Discharged from London Chest Hospital just yesterday, it’s been nearly a month since Muamba collapsed on the pitch and suffered from a cardiac arrest during the quarter-final FA Cup match against Tottenham.

78 minutes after Muamba suffered the cardiac arrest, Muamba, the international former England Under-21 star’s heart started beating again. Since then, he has made a remarkable recovery.

Within just two days, Muamba had started breathing independently, responding to questions and recognising his family members. A little over a two weeks later, it emerged that Muamba had been up and about, he’d been walking around in intensive care. The news that he’d been discharged has been accompanied by smiling pictures of Muamba next to two hospital doctors that had been caring for him after his attack.

A consultant cardiologist, Dr Richard Cooke, believes that it won’t be long before the football star is seen on the pitch again. “As long as his neurological recovery is complete, there’s no reason at all why he can’t resume playing professional football. Some footballers play, despite the fact they have defibrillators, it’s likely that Muamba will be one of them.”

“As his heart had stopped for so long, it’s an amazing thing to hear that they successfully managed to keep him alive. Of course, there is the concern that he could develop brain injuries but as long as there was adequate resuscitation then he should make a complete recovery.”

“It entirely depends on the amount of recovery he’s made already, and his recovery has been surprisingly good. It’s not too farfetched to think that he’ll be able to start playing football again.” The two clubs auctioned the football shirts that had been worn during the match, raising over £22,000 for London Chest Hospital and three other charities.

Mohammed Al Fayed takes the FA and Premier League to task

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Both the Premier league and the Football Association are pondering their next moves after Mohamed Al Fayed, the chairman of Fulham, launched a scathing attack on both bodies. The Egyptian businessman is demanding a review of the refereeing practice as well as the decision making process. He has written to the Premier League and the FA on behalf of all the football clubs and is seeking quick and decisive action.

Mr Al Fayed spoke out after Fulham suffered their recent 0-1 defeat at the hands of Manchester United, the game where Danny Murphy was knocked over a minute before the end but Michael Oliver, the 27 year old referee, waved away the claims for a penalty.

Al Fayed has become increasingly frustrated by the recent errors and inconsistencies that have occurred, as well as the whole way in which matches are officiated, as he believes that the decisions made on the pitch are all too readily accepted by the governing bodies of football.

In his statement, Al Fayed says the FA’s main problem in addressing the situation that currently exists is that it has too much power and there is no where else where decision makers, such as referees, escape all responsibility from having to admit blatant errors but the protesters are fined and charged with serious misconduct.

He added that the losses that clubs are suffering from such careless decisions are having a huge impact on them, and the consequences can be calamitous. He also feels that referees are far too easily influenced by the more powerful clubs and the individual, high powered owners, which calls into question both the integrity of the officials as well as the governing body that they report to.

Al Fayed is also urging the bodies to embrace video technology as he believes that in this aspect, English football is lagging behind the rest of the world

The Magpies are flying high in the Premier League

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Newcastle United are currently sharing equal points with Chelsea in the Premier League and together both teams are sitting in fifth place. Alan Pardew is hoping that the success of the team is going to mean they take another big step in European football in the near future.

The next match the team are going to be playing is on Saturday, when they face Wigan, a team who are already dangerously close to relegation. Newcastle recently beat Liverpool and if they win a point when they play Swansea, they are going to be able to overtake Liverpool in the league.

If the team manage to stay in fifth place or above then they are going to be guaranteed entry into the Europa League. This is something that Pardew has said he would be delighted to see.

Chelsea are managing to retain their position in the FA Cup as well as the Champions League although it is expected that their fixtures list, which is very intensive, is going to have a detrimental effect on their ability to play.

Pardew has commented, “I think we are going to be facing some very challenging matches in the future. Many of these are going to be at away venues where the team don’t tend to perform as well. We definitely have some difficult games ahead but I’m confident that if the team continue to play as they are then they will be able to get into the Europa league.”

It has been five seasons since Newcastle last played in the Europa League and it is something that fans of the football club are already dreaming of. Pardew continued, “Despite my hopes I know it is very important that we focus on the next game and not get lost in the potential future of the club. Fans can dream, but we focus on the next game.”

Neil Lennon hailed as the greatest manager ever in Scottish football

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Peter Lawwell has recently made the announcement that he thinks that Neil Lennon is the greatest manager that Scottish football has ever seen. Mr Lawwell is the Chief Executive of Celtic football club and he has stated that he feels the manager is so notable because he has so successfully put up with the various threats that have been made to his life over the past decade.

Mr Lawwell made the comment that he feels no one in the history of Scottish football has had to endure as much abuse as Mr Lennon has. He commented, “He has faced an extraordinary amount of pressure that no one should have to go through.

“It is a testament to his strong character that he can deal with these problems and continue to work in a completely professional manner. We are grateful to the police for all of the efforts they have made to protect him and I feel this in part is one of the reasons why he has just been able to get on and succeed.”

As well as being sent bombs through the post, Mr Lennon has also been attacked during sporting fixtures. Mr Lawwell continued, “Over the last two years the pressure has been particularly extreme as he has had to deal with different attacks from numerous different people.”

Mr Lennon commented, “These last few years have been a very difficult time for my family and I. I am very glad that it is all over with the arrest of the people who were responsible for mailing me nail bombs.

The police have been incredibly professional and I am grateful that they have successfully brought these individuals to trial. No one deserves attacks like this, they are disturbing and cowardly. I still feel privileged to hold the position of Celtic manager.”