Madrid: Coach Vicente del Bosque recalled Fernando Torres along with fellow Chelsea teammate Juan Mata for Spain's warm-up matches ahead of the upcoming European Championship.
The struggling Torres had been dropped for Spain's most recent friendly, but the striker managed to make the squad after Chelsea won the Champions League on Saturday.
Torres said on Sunday that he had had the worst moments of his career with Chelsea this season and needed clarity about his future role with the London club.
The defending European champions began training on Monday for the tournament in Poland and the Ukraine without players from Barcelona and Athletic Bilbao, who will play in the Copa del Rey final on Friday....
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08:46 PM, May 21, 2012
Stockholm: Sweden will be without their most promising young striker for the European Championship, as John Guidetti will miss the tournament because of a thigh problem. Coach Erik Hamren announced a 23-man squad without any major surprises, but could find himself relying more than ever on Zlatan Ibrahimovic in attack because of injury problems. The 20-year-old Guidetti scored 20 goals in 23 games this season while on loan at Feyenoord...
11:58 PM, May 15, 2012
Barcelona: Barcelona defender Carles Puyol will undergo knee surgery, the Spanish league club said on Tuesday, set to rule the Spain international out of next month's European Championships. Puyol on Saturday finished Barcelona's 4-0 victory over Espanyol with discomfort in his right knee, and subsequent medical tests led the 34-year-old to opt for arthroscopic surgery. Barcelona said the surgery will be performed on Saturday and Puyol will need six weeks...
04:09 PM, May 08, 2012
Dublin: Ireland coach Giovanni Trapattoni picked his 23-man squad for the European Championships on Monday, leaving out James McCarthy so the midfielder can stay home with his seriously ill father. The Scottish-born McCarthy was likely to be included in the squad for the June 8-July 1 tournament in Poland and Ukraine but asked to be withdrawn from contention. "I have made the very difficult decision to withdraw my name from...
10:42 AM, May 08, 2012
London: France rightback Bacary Sagna will miss the European Championships after suffering a broken leg during Arsenal's 3-3 Premier League draw with Norwich City on Saturday. Sagna was carried off on a stretcher at the Emirates Stadium in the 32nd minute. The 29-year-old broke the same leg in October and was ruled out for three months of the current campaign. "It is a broken fibula, the same leg," Arsenal manager...
12:10 PM, May 07, 2012
Wembley, London: Roy Hodgson landed the top job in English football on Tuesday after a nomadic 36-year coaching career, with barely six weeks to prepare the team for the European Championships and win over some skeptical fans. Hodgson will leave his job at West Bromwich Albion after the season finale on May 13 to start a four-year England contract that also takes him through to the 2014 World Cup and...
07:51 PM, May 01, 2012
London: Roy Hodgson looks likely to become England coach in time for the European Championships " and his main rival for the role says that's fine with him. Tottenham's Harry Redknapp had been bookmakers' favourite to lead England since Fabio Capello quit in February, but the Football Association chose not to interview him and has instead begun talks with West Bromwich Albion's Hodgson. The 64-year-old Hodgson, who has won a...
06:05 PM, May 01, 2012
London: Roy Hodgson was unexpectedly approached about filling the England coaching vacancy on Sunday, with the well-travelled West Bromwich Albion manager opening talks about the job barely a month before Euro 2012 begins. The Football Association has overlooked Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, who had been considered the favourite by the bookmakers and fans for the job since Fabio Capello quit in February. Instead, a four-man FA committee has identified the...
04:25 AM, Apr 30, 2012
Ankara: Turkey has submitted a bid to UEFA to host the 2020 European Championships, the head of the country's football federation announced on Tuesday. Turkey is also bidding to stage the 2020 Olympics in Istanbul. UEFA president Michel Platini has previously said he would back the country to host Euro 2020 only if it loses the Olympic bid. The International Olympic Committee will vote on the 2020 Games in September...
11:18 PM, Apr 18, 2012
Madrid: Spain coach Vicente del Bosque has signed a contract extension after having previously been offered a new two-year deal. The 61-year-old told Onda Cero radio on Tuesday that he had "renewed" his deal with the Spanish federation, and though he did not divulge the length of the new agreement, Del Boque is expected to stay on until after the 2014 World Cup. A two-year contract would enable him to...
06:03 AM, Apr 18, 2012
London: Injured midfielder Jack Wilshere ruled himself out of contention for the European Championships on Monday, robbing England of one of their most creative players for the tournament in Poland and Ukraine later this year. The 20-year-old Wilshere hasn't played at all this season after injuring his right ankle on international duty last June. Medical tests in January then showed he had a stress fracture in his right heel. "Gutted,...
06:01 PM, Apr 17, 2012
London: Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has distanced himself from the vacant England manager's post, saying on Monday he is happy at White Hart Lane and hinting that the national job would be too frustrating. The 65-year-old is favourite to be named as the successor to Fabio Capello after the Italian quit last month, with both fans and media trumpeting the Spurs boss as the man to lead England at...
02:25 PM, Mar 13, 2012
London: At least three managers are on the England shortlist and the Football Association could appoint Fabio Capello's successor as soon as next month, without conducting a job interview. Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp is the leading contender to lead England into the European Championships in June, but the FA is now willing to allow its new coach to start after the tournament if that is a deal-breaker. The FA seemed...
03:05 PM, Mar 06, 2012
London: The FA will put off naming a permanent England manager until close to the end of the season, general secretary Alex Horne told reporters on Friday. He said the FA had drawn up a shortlist of candidates to fill the role which opened up when Fabio Capello resigned last month, but would not make an imminent appointment to avoid disrupting the clubs' campaigns. "We've got a list. It's a...
11:24 PM, Mar 02, 2012
London: The head of the English Football Association has hailed Harry Redknapp's "amazing" work at Tottenham while saying the vacant national team job is best suited to an older coach. Following Fabio Capello's sudden resignation on Wednesday, the 64-year-old Redknapp is the main contender to lead England at the European Championships in four months. Amid an outpouring of support from England players for Redknapp, though, the FA has avoided anointing...
04:11 PM, Feb 12, 2012
London: While "flattered" to be linked with the vacant England coaching job, Harry Redknapp said on Friday his focus remains on Tottenham's pursuit of Champions League qualification - until an approach is made. With the European Championships only four months away, Redknapp is the leading contender to replace Fabio Capello as England coach. But with no certainty that Redknapp can be lured from Tottenham, English Football Association executives met on...
07:36 PM, Feb 10, 2012
London: Fabio Capello quit suddenly as England coach on Wednesday in a dispute over captain John Terry, throwing the national team's preparations for the European Championships into turmoil. The Italian, whose contract was due to expire after Euro 2012, resigned during an hour-long meeting with Football Association executives at Wembley Stadium after four years in the job. The drama unfolded hours after Tottenham manager, Harry Redknapp, who has long been...
08:36 AM, Feb 09, 2012
London: Just like before the 2010 World Cup, a dispute revolving around John Terry is unsettling England's preparations for a major tournament. But this time, rather than acting as a unifier, Fabio Capello has been accused of exacerbating tensions ahead of the European Championships. And the coach may have breached his lucrative contract as a result. Capello's authority appears to have been undermined by his employers when Terry was fired...
11:28 PM, Feb 06, 2012
Rome: Four months before he is due to coach England at the European Championships, Fabio Capello publicly criticized his employers on Sunday for going against his wishes and removing John Terry as captain. Terry was stripped of the armband by the English Football Association on Friday, two days after his trial for racially abusing an opponent was scheduled to be held after the European Championships. Capello told Italy's state broadcaster...
04:10 PM, Feb 06, 2012
London: Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere is no nearer to returning from his long-term ankle injury after what manager Arsene Wenger says is "setback" on his road to recovery. Reports suggest the 20-year-old could be ruled out for the remainder of the campaign, coming as a major blow to the Gunners' Champions League hopes as well as England's Euro 2012 chances. Wenger says Wilshere "had a little setback which is under...
02:55 AM, Jan 28, 2012
