World Cup Fever

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England manager Gareth Southgate has challenged the current crop of players to garner valuable experience which would put them in good stead by the time the next World Cup arrives. The Three Lions was recently rewarded with a new contract after guiding the team to the semi-final stage of the previous World Cup in Russia and he has now set the benchmark for the squad to go and win the next global tournament in Qatar.

Speaking to reporters, Southgate said that the current squad needs to learn to make an impact in the big matches and he agrees with FA chief Martin Glenn’s comments about England winning the European Championship or World Cup in the near future, he said: “Martin’s point was right. What we set about with the junior teams was we want to be in and around semi-finals all the time — where you’re in the matches that give you a chance to have success and consistency. Consistently high performance is what we’ve got aim for. I think all sports teams have to gear towards that. Then you learn how to win those really big games, because you’re in there all the time and experiencing those moments of pressure. That’s what we want our players to have.”

Arsenal defender Laurent Koscielny had said that he felt nothing special after his compatriots went on to win the 2018 World Cup in Russia. The France international had suffered a serious Achilles injury in the lead up to the tournament and this witnessed him being only a spectator as Les Bleus won the World Cup for only the second time in their history.

Speaking to Nice Matin, Koscielny revealed that he had not followed much of France’s campaign as he was mostly focused on his rehabilitation program. He added that he felt nothing special following Les Bleus’ World Cup triumph, though he joined in for the celebrations in the dressing room, he said: “In truth, I didn't see many matches. I have being working on my rehabilitation from 9am to 1pm, and then from 4pm to 7pm.
“I saw the last half-hour of France-Peru and a few other games. When they were crowned world champions, I felt nothing special, but I was really happy for the players, the staff.It was nice, but it's not that I was enthusiastic. The trip was good for me, but it was also bad.The players were united, supportive, and mature. Living together for more than a month is not easy, they did it.”

It is reported that the New Zealand football team will be participating in a football tournament that will be held in India together with two other countries. Besides the host nation, the New Zealand team will be competing against Chinese Taipei as well as South Africa.

However, the participation in this tournament has yet to be validated by the Federation as they stated that they are still considering whether to send the team or not.

Everton defender Michael Keane is optimistic of reclaiming a spot with England for the summer World Cup despite being dropped from the previous set of friendlies. The centre-back had an average run of form following the turn of the year and this saw Gareth Southgate pick James Tarkowski ahead of him for the games against Netherlands and Italy.

Belgium head coach Roberto Martinez has opened the possibility of Radja Nainggolan featuring for the Red Devils at this summer’s World Cup finals in Russia. The 29-year-old has been seldom selected by Belgium since Martinez’s appointment in August 2016 amid speculation that the former Everton coach does not approve the midfielder’s smoking habits.

The secret to the glittering career of ex-Chelsea and Ghana legend Michael Essien has been revealed by one of his old teammates.

Derek Boateng who played alongside the powerhouse midfielder for their country at youth and senior levels he is not surprised by the fact the 34-year-old is still going strong playing in the Indonesian top flight side Persib Bandung.

Nigeria football Federation president Amaju Pinnick claimed that the failures of the African Cup of Nations was a key factor behind Nigeria only thing for the World Cup 2018. After having been unable to reach the African Cup of Nations in back-to-back editions, Nigeria were able to reach the World Cup 2018 in relatively comfortable fashion. These failures were a key factor in motivating the team higher positions and greater performances in the qualification campaign according to the president. Pinnick says that anymore failure for the national team would have been disastrous and the team were relatively happy to avoid this situation.

The Nigerian national team were able to finish top of their World Cup qualification group with a significant advantage over second placed Zambia and third placed Cameroon. Both these teams were considered as main challenges for Nigeria but the team ended the qualification campaign without any defeat in the six matches. There was further boost for Nigeria as they were able to get a 4-2 win over Argentina in a recent friendly match. Unlike some of the things that do not take part in many competitions between now and the World Cup, Nigeria have several matches lined up in the African Nations Championship in January.

Scotland manager Gordon Strachan has been dealt with a major blow with two players – Stuart Armstrong and Scott Brown – ruled out of the games against Slovakia and Slovenia.

Chris Coleman has claimed that he will consider starting with Joe Ledley if the player is fit enough to start the match. Ledley is without the club after deciding to leave Crystal Palace in the summer.