Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is in a race to be fit for England’s World Cup opener against Italy after being injured in the team’s penultimate World Cup warmup match.
The Arsenal midfielder’s right knee was hurt in a challenge by Carlos Gruezo in the second half of a 2-2 draw against Ecuador in Miami Gardens on Wednesday.
After undergoing scans on Thursday, the English Football Association confirmed he “suffered a medial knee ligament.” No prognosis for his recovery time was given.
England’s World Cup campaign kicks off in nine days against Italy in Manaus, Brazil, and the team is still hopeful he could be in contention for a place in the matchday squad.
“Gutted to have picked up an injury yesterday,” Oxlade-Chamberlain wrote on Twitter. “I’m staying positive and getting to work with the medical team on recovery. Fingers crossed!”
Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes has said it was a bad idea for Brazil to spread the World Cup over 12 cities.
“We are a continental country, we are very big,” Paes said on Thursday. “We made a mistake. We should have fewer cities hosting the World Cup than we have.”
The World Cup starts in a week, but several of the 12 stadiums are still being finished, and work outside many continues with roads and sidewalks being put down, and sponsor and media areas still under construction.
Brazil is spending about US$11.5 billion (Dh42.24bn) on the World Cup with about $4 billion going to build or renovate 12 stadiums.
Fifa requires only eight venues for a World Cup, but Brazilian politicians decided to sprinkle the games across the country, building at least four new stadiums that are expected to be white elephants when the World Cup ends in Rio on July 13.
Paes said repeated delays have hurt the country’s image.
Spain will take top ranking into World Cup
Defending World Cup champions Spain will travel to Brazil as the No 1 team in the Fifa rankings, and the host nation will kick off as No 3.
Spain and Germany remain 1-2 in Fifa’s monthly standings, while Brazil leapfrogged No 4 Portugal. Algeria, at No 22, are the top-ranked in Africa and No 43 Iran head the Asian teams. Australia, No 62, are the lowest-ranked team at the World Cup. The UAE paid for their 4-3 friendly defeat to Armenia last week – the only game that qualified toward May’s ranking – as they dropped five places to 72nd.
Germany still limping
Germany’s World Cup injury problems are receding ahead of today’s friendly against Armenia, the team’s last game before departing for Brazil. Coach Joachim Loew says goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will not face Armenia “because we don’t want to take any risks”, but that he will be fit for Germany’s opener against Portugal on June 16. Neuer has been labouring with a shoulder injury. Loew says he expects both Philipp Lahm and Bastian Schweinsteiger to play some part. Lahm had an ankle injury while Bayern Munich teammate Schweinsteiger had a knee problem.
Friendlies do not matter, former Italy coach says after draw against Luxembourg
Former Italy coach Marcello Lippi, right, says fans should pay no attention to an embarrassing 1-1 draw with Luxembourg, saying that friendly matches “don’t count”. Luxembourg defender Maxime Chanot equalised with a header five minutes from the end of Wednesday’s match in Perugia, cancelling Claudio Marchisio’s opener and leaving the home side winless in seven matches. “Listen to me: these friendlies don’t count,” Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning coach said. “Friendlies played before big tournaments matter as much as football played in August. Don’t give too much weight to them.”
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England's all-time record goalscorers:
Wayne Rooney 53
Bobby Charlton 49
Gary Lineker 48
Jimmy Greaves 44
Michael Owen 40
Tom Finney 30
Nat Lofthouse 30
Alan Shearer 30
Viv Woodward 29
Frank Lampard 29
Some of Darwish's last words
"They see their tomorrows slipping out of their reach. And though it seems to them that everything outside this reality is heaven, yet they do not want to go to that heaven. They stay, because they are afflicted with hope." - Mahmoud Darwish, to attendees of the Palestine Festival of Literature, 2008
His life in brief: Born in a village near Galilee, he lived in exile for most of his life and started writing poetry after high school. He was arrested several times by Israel for what were deemed to be inciteful poems. Most of his work focused on the love and yearning for his homeland, and he was regarded the Palestinian poet of resistance. Over the course of his life, he published more than 30 poetry collections and books of prose, with his work translated into more than 20 languages. Many of his poems were set to music by Arab composers, most significantly Marcel Khalife. Darwish died on August 9, 2008 after undergoing heart surgery in the United States. He was later buried in Ramallah where a shrine was erected in his honour.
Final scores
18 under: Tyrrell Hatton (ENG)
- 14: Jason Scrivener (AUS)
-13: Rory McIlroy (NIR)
-12: Rafa Cabrera Bello (ESP)
-11: David Lipsky (USA), Marc Warren (SCO)
-10: Tommy Fleetwood (ENG), Chris Paisley (ENG), Matt Wallace (ENG), Fabrizio Zanotti (PAR)
Innotech Profile
Date started: 2013
Founder/CEO: Othman Al Mandhari
Based: Muscat, Oman
Sector: Additive manufacturing, 3D printing technologies
Size: 15 full-time employees
Stage: Seed stage and seeking Series A round of financing
Investors: Oman Technology Fund from 2017 to 2019, exited through an agreement with a new investor to secure new funding that it under negotiation right now.
How has net migration to UK changed?
The figure was broadly flat immediately before the Covid-19 pandemic, standing at 216,000 in the year to June 2018 and 224,000 in the year to June 2019.
It then dropped to an estimated 111,000 in the year to June 2020 when restrictions introduced during the pandemic limited travel and movement.
The total rose to 254,000 in the year to June 2021, followed by steep jumps to 634,000 in the year to June 2022 and 906,000 in the year to June 2023.
The latest available figure of 728,000 for the 12 months to June 2024 suggests levels are starting to decrease.
Pox that threatens the Middle East's native species
Camelpox
Caused by a virus related to the one that causes human smallpox, camelpox typically causes fever, swelling of lymph nodes and skin lesions in camels aged over three, but the animal usually recovers after a month or so. Younger animals may develop a more acute form that causes internal lesions and diarrhoea, and is often fatal, especially when secondary infections result. It is found across the Middle East as well as in parts of Asia, Africa, Russia and India.
Falconpox
Falconpox can cause a variety of types of lesions, which can affect, for example, the eyelids, feet and the areas above and below the beak. It is a problem among captive falcons and is one of many types of avian pox or avipox diseases that together affect dozens of bird species across the world. Among the other forms are pigeonpox, turkeypox, starlingpox and canarypox. Avipox viruses are spread by mosquitoes and direct bird-to-bird contact.
Houbarapox
Houbarapox is, like falconpox, one of the many forms of avipox diseases. It exists in various forms, with a type that causes skin lesions being least likely to result in death. Other forms cause more severe lesions, including internal lesions, and are more likely to kill the bird, often because secondary infections develop. This summer the CVRL reported an outbreak of pox in houbaras after rains in spring led to an increase in mosquito numbers.
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
