Prandelli plans Balotelli, El Shaaraway pairing

Italy coach Cesare Prandelli has called on Mario Balotelli to form a strong partnership with fellow forward Stephan El Shaarawy.

Balotelli moved in January from Manchester City to Milan, where he will play alongside Italy team-mate El Shaarawy.

Prandelli welcomed the move ahead of Wednesday's friendly against the Netherlands in Amsterdam and believes it could be the start of something special for both Milan and Italy.

"I'm very happy that Balotelli has joined an Italian team," he said.

"He is calm, motivated and maybe we can control him better now he is playing in Milan.

"In August, we started to think about pairing Balotelli and El Shaarawy. We believed they could be an important partnership.

"El Shaarawy played against England in August when Mario wasn't playing, but in the last match against France we have seen that they have huge potential playing together.

"Right now we can't make definite choices, but this is certainly a great pairing."

El Shaarawy scored the only goal in Italy's 2-1 loss to France in November, while Balotelli played the full 90 minutes in an impressive display.

Prandelli believes Balotelli, who endured his fair share of controversies in England, can escape the spotlight in Italy with a new mindset.

"Balotelli has become a character that goes beyond his football career," he said.

"Everything that happens to him, it does not happen by chance, he is kind of a predestined guy.

"Right now everything is up to him and he should have the willingness to show only his football skills.

"He doesn't want to be a character. We have already talked about that aspect of him and tried to work on it.

"He should have the strength to make a name for himself with his performances on the pitch."

Cole to start against Brazil

England manager Roy Hodgson has confirmed Ashley Cole will win his 100th international cap by starting against Brazil on Wednesday.

The Chelsea defender, who made his debut in 2001, will mark a century of appearances for England at Wembley.

While the 32-year-old will feature in the starting 11 at Wembley, Hodgson said he would not take the captain's armband from Steven Gerrard for the game.

Hodgson also defended the controversial full-back.

"If you are an England fan and don't respect and love someone for what he's done, that's your problem," he said.

The 65-year-old also described the left-back as the 'most consistent player over last 10-12 years in our team ... he deserves to celebrate that."

Meanwhile, Hodgson is keen to see expectations surrounding midfielder Jack Wilshere lowered.

Wilshere has displayed impressive form for Arsenal in the English Premier League this season following his return from a long-term injury lay-off which saw him miss the entirety of the 2011/12 campaign.

The 21-year-old made his international comeback as a second-half substitute against Sweden in November.

Wilshere is now set for his first start for England since June 2011, leaving Hodgson wary over the expectation placed on his shoulders.

He told reporters: "Jack is a player who carries a huge weight of responsibility at a young age.

"I hope everyone is going to understand he is still a young man, he is 21 and still capable of playing in the under-21s, not that he will.

"I'm anxious in some ways and, while delighted with his form and the way he plays and sharing everyone's enthusiasm about his quality, I want to play it down a bit too."

Hodgson said his squad possessed several players that were capable of making a significant contribution to the national team's cause, and hopes that will prove to be the case.

"I wouldn't like to see him have to take a backward step because all of a sudden his name is being put forward as the saviour of the English football team. We've got other players too," he said.

"I'm hoping Jack's contribution, which will be a big contribution, will be matched by big contributions by the other players like (Wayne) Rooney, (Steven) Gerrard, (Frank) Lampard, (Ashley) Cole, (Glen) Johnson."

England players pay tribute to Cole

England captain Steven Gerrard believes left-back Ashley Cole deserves to be considered one of the country's all-time greats.

The Chelsea defender will become just the seventh member of England's 100 club when his side face Brazil at Wembley on Wednesday.

England manager Roy Hodgson has said Cole will start ahead of Leighton Baines to mark his 100th appearance.

Gerrard said Cole should be remembered as one of the all-time greats because of his consistency.

"I think he deserves to be in there," he said.

"I look at the players I played with throughout my career and I think he's been one of the most consistent."

Not one of Cole's 99 caps have come from the bench, while his 13-year international career has seen him compete at three World Cups.

England right-back Glen Johnson said the criticism of Cole throughout his career had been unfair.

"He's been in the set-up for such a long time, and he's been a key player and very consistent for many, many years," he said.

"I certainly don't feel he deserves some of the stick he sometimes gets."

England attacker Theo Walcott was full of praise for Cole and believes the 32-year-old is the kind of player needed in the national team set-up.

"He's massively important. He's very experienced, he's won many things. He's an absolute leader in that dressing room," the Arsenal star said.

"I've learned a lot from playing with him and playing against him as well. I might have had the better hand the last couple of times against him but we're good mates. We get on very well.

"A lot of players can look up to him as well because to get to 100 caps is an absolutely fantastic achievement.

"And I'm sure there's going to be a lot more people getting to that."

Balotelli won´t be missed at City, says Johnson

Liverpool right-back Glen Johnson has criticised Mario Balotelli after he exited Manchester City, saying the striker will not be missed.

The controversial Italian was subject to one of the prolonged transfer sagas of the January window and eventually left on the last day of the month, moving to AC Milan for a fee believed to be around the 20-million-pound mark.

The 22-year-old had endured a tough first half of the season with the Citizens, managing a paltry return of three goals in 20 appearances as he struggled to feature ahead of Sergio Aguero, Edin Dzeko and Carlos Tevez.

Johnson, whose Liverpool side face Balotelli's old team tomorrow, clearly feels this was the right decision for Manchester City, as he voiced his belief that the other strikers at the club will produce on a more regular basis.

"No, I don't think City will miss Balotelli, they have got some fantastic players and they've got a lot of players who will score a lot more goals than Mario did. I'm sure they won't miss him too much," he told reporters.

"I'm not being disrespectful to the guy, everyone in the country knows what he's like. On his day, he can be a great player, but City have got other great players who do it a lot more often and score more goals than him."

Balotelli's discipline issues were well-documented during his time in England - he picked up 11 yellow cards last season - and Johnson also suggested that Balotelli had something of a propensity towards petulance.

"Mario winds himself up, you don't need to do too much as an opposition defender," he continued.

"We all have our faults, but Mario let his side down with silly red cards and stuff like that. He's a great player, but we didn't see that enough."

Serie A wrap: Juve back to winning ways

Serie A leaders Juventus won for the first time in four matches with a 2-1 success at Chievo on Sunday, while Napoli also triumphed.

Juve retained their three-point lead at the top with their road win, which came thanks to two first-half goals.

Striker Alessandro Matri scored the opener after 10 minutes to silence the home crowd in Verona.

And Swiss defender Stephan Lichtsteiner doubled the advantage three minutes before half-time to put Antonio Conte's side in the box seat for victory.

They were given some nervy moments in the second half though, as Chievo – who pulled a goal back through Frenchman Cyril Thereau seven minutes after the break – went in search of an equaliser.

But Juventus held firm to seal an important win that continued their breathing space over the second-placed Napoli.

The Naples-based club were comfortable 2-0 home winners over Catania at the Stadio San Paolo in front of 36,000 fans.

Slovakian Marek Hamsik scored the game's first goal after 31 minutes and Paolo Cannavaro also netted in the first half as Walter Mazzarri's side won all three points.

Lazio and Inter – third and fourth respectively – both lost as they lost further ground on the league's top two.

Genoa saw off Lazio 3-2 with substitute Marco Rigoni getting the winner in the fifth minute of injury time.

The winners had Lazio on the back foot after Marco Borriello and Andrea Bertolacci scored inside the first 25 minutes but they staged a second half fight back.

Sergio Floccari gave Lazio a lifeline with his goal on 59 minutes before Stefano Mauri's late penalty looked to have sealed a draw.

But Rigoni had other ideas, converting Andreas Granqvist's assist to send the home fans wild.

Bottom-placed Siena pulled off the surprise of the day with a 3-1 home win over Inter.

Innocent Emeghara, Alessio Sestu and Alessandro Rosina netted for the victors who moved to within goal difference of the second-from-bottom Palermo, who lost 2-1 at home to Atalanta.

Mancini will back United against Real

3 February 2013

Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini says he will support Manchester United 'with a red-and-white-flag' against Real Madrid.

Mancini has taken the unusual support if it means the Premier League leaders have to navigate a congested fixture list.

Sir Alex Ferguson's side travel to play Jose Mourinho's defending Liga champions in the last 16 of the Champions League on February 13, and a win would keep them on course for another historic treble - albeit with more games to overcome.

With Premier League champions City out of Europe and now focused on the FA Cup and hauling back the Red Devils, Mancini is hoping the extra pressure on United will allow his team to mount another comeback like last season.

"(Beating Real) would be another two games for them. I will go there and support them with a red-and-white flag," he told reporters.

"But playing Real is tough - they are one of the best in the world," he added. "Them and Barca. They have incredible players, fantastic history. It will be very hard for United to beat them because they are a really top club."

While City need to beat Liverpool with their game in hand over United on Sunday to go seven points behind Sir Alex Ferguson's men, Mancini recalls last year's title race as inspiration for this run-in, with the Citizens hauling back an eight-point deficit to win the league on goal difference with the last kick of the season.

"If we could do it last year when we were eight points behind with six games to go, it's not impossible that we can recover this with 14 games left.

"We could recover five or six points and still lose at the end but we'll do everything to win this championship. United have good experience but anything can happen right up until the last game.

"And we have a good memory of what happened last year. When you are seven points behind, it's difficult to recover but we're a good team and playing well. We've also started to work better with the defenders."

Mancini feels City are lacking goals this season, a problem which may be exacerbated by the sale of Mario Balotelli to Milan in the January transfer window.

"I don't know why they are not scoring as many. We're also missing Mario's goals. Last season, he scored 13 in the league and this season, he only got one.

"It's clear that we're missing seven, eight, nine goals and if we had got these, we probably would have four or five points more.

"We are disappointed because we lost two points against QPR but there are some games when you can attack for 100 minutes and you don't score."

Ronaldo delighted to face United

Real Madrid star Cristiano Ronaldo says he had a 'strong feeling' his side would face Manchester United in the Champions League.

The Portuguese attacker spent six years at Old Trafford, helping Sir Alex Ferguson's men to three English Premier League titles before moving to the Spanish capital.

Ahead of facing United in the last 16 of the Champions League, Ronaldo said he was looking forward to the tie.

"On the day of the draw I was out training and I had this strong feeling that we were going to get Manchester United," the 27-year-old told The Sun.

"And when the draw was made I was very happy. It's a tough match of course - Madrid and United are the two biggest clubs in the world and it's a real 50-50. It could go either way.

"Manchester was my home and still is in my heart. I love it. Because when people treat you very well you never forget that. And I will never forget United, the people who work there and the supporters.

"So I am so happy to be going back to Manchester."

Ronaldo warned his team-mates of the threat posed by United, who are 10 points clear at the top of the Premier League, and refused to pick a favourite between Ferguson and Jose Mourinho.

"Manchester United are the best team in England, they are great," he said.

"And they have a fantastic coach in Ferguson, I know that. But so have we in Mourinho. And he's my coach now so I obviously hope Mourinho wins.

"It's like comparing a Ferrari with a Porsche. Both are very good, very experienced and both like to win - and I mean to win everything."

Real Madrid face United at the Santiago Bernabeu in the first leg on February 13 before the return fixture at Old Trafford on March 5.

Afcon: Ivory Coast 1 Nigeria 2

Nigeria booked their place in the Africa Cup of Nations semi-finals with a hard-fought 2-1 win over the Ivory Coast on Sunday.

Cheikh Tiote had cancelled out Emmanuel Emenike's 43rd-minute opener just after half-time at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Phokeng, South Africa.

But Nigeria were not to be denied a last-four meeting against Mali as Sunday Mba struck a deflected winner 12 minutes before full-time.

Stephen Keshi's Nigeria made a bold start, unlike the nervousness that had characterised their dull group matches.

Chelsea forward Victor Moses was once again influential – his tenacity constantly causing problems for the Ivory Coast defenders.

Emenike was looking to recapture the form he showed against Burkina Faso, and he fired over from point-blank range in the first half.

With half-time approaching, Nigeria's enterprise eventually paid off after they won a free-kick 30 yards from goal.

John Obi Mikel touched the ball into the path of Emenike and the midfielder fired his shot over the wall and past Boubacar Barry, who perhaps should have done better.

But the Ivory Coast were on level terms just five minutes after the break as Tiote was left unmarked in the area, heading past Vincent Enyeama.

Both sides looked to attack after the equaliser and they created several opportunities, which went to waste.

Mba, included at the expense of the likes of Peter Odemwingie and Obafemi Martins, was to be the hero for Nigeria.

The 24-year-old ran at the Ivory Coast defence and sent a deflected shot up and over Barry in the 78th minute.

Keshi's side played out a nervy final 10 minutes as the Ivory Coast pushed forward, but they held on to deservedly progress.

West Brom slam Odemwingie conduct

 

West Brom have slammed Peter Odemwingie for his actions on Thursday after the striker arrived at Loftus Road to force through a move to QPR.

The Nigeria international turned up in west London despite no agreement being in place between the two clubs and was refused entry into QPR's stadium by club officials.

Odemwingie has attacked West Brom's fans and club chiefs recently on Twitter, but will remain at the Hawthorns until the end of the season at the very least.

West Brom chairman Jeremy Peace told the club's official website: "This evening's developments have brought a conclusion to what has been an unsavoury affair.

"As our sporting & technical director Richard Garlick has repeatedly said in recent days, we had no need or desire to sell our core players.

"The only way we would have considered letting Peter leave was if an acceptable offer was forthcoming and if we had found a suitable replacement at relatively short notice.

"Neither materialised and, in the end, the matter became a point of principle as much as anything.

"Peter has acted wholly unprofessionally. He must now accept the fact he remains under contract for a further 18 months and has to focus on his Albion commitments."

Arsenal secure Monreal signature

 

 

Arsenal have completed the signing of Malaga left-back Nacho Monreal, the Premier League club announced on Thursday.

Monreal passed a medical at the club's London Colney training base on Thursday after jetting into the capital and has agreed to sign a four-and-a-half year contract after an eight-million-pound transfer fee was agreed between the clubs.

Arsenal had centred their deadline-day sights firmly on Spain as manager Arsene Wenger made a late bid to shore up his leaky defence and add greater firepower to his attack.

However, the Gunners failed in their last-ditch pursuits for two other Spain-based players – Barcelona striker David Villa and Athletic Bilbao centre-back Fernando Amorebieta.

That means Monreal, who has won nine caps for Spain, is Arsenal's only signing of the January window.

He will provide competition for Kieran Gibbs, who suffered a thigh injury against Liverpool on Wednesday.