Germany
Germany midfielder Toni Kroos has no regrets about joining Real Madrid from Bayern Munich this summer.
Kroos, 24, left Bayern after rejecting their offer of a new contract beyond next summer, and he believes he made the right move. “I’ve done everything right. I’m 100 per cent satisfied,” he told the Bild am Sonntag newspaper. “In a worldwide standing, Real Madrid are a small step ahead of Bayern Munich. If I just think about my presentation at the Bernabeu, there were 20,000 fans there, even though I had never played a single second for Real. Something like that is inconceivable in Germany. In Spain, the football fans are more emotional about the game.”
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World Cup
Prince Ali bin Al Hussein, the Fifa vice president, maintains that it is important to award World Cups to countries that have not hosted them before, despite the controversy surrounding the decision to stage the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which, along with the 2018 vote in Russia, is currently being investigated by Fifa over allegations of corruption. Prince Ali, who is also president of the Jordan Football Association, said: “It’s very important to take it to different parts of the world. I’m a firm believer in that, so let’s just hope that if it’s done in the right way and everything is satisfactory in order to kick off, then let’s go for it, whatever the decisions are that come up.”
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Algeria
A piece of slate thrown from the stands killed Cameroon striker Albert Ebosse during his Algerian club JS Kabylie’s match with USM Alger last month, the Algerian Sports Minister said yesterday. “The piece involved is identical to objects found outside the stadium – it is a serrated piece of slate,” said Mohamed Tahmi, who said that it had been discovered on a building site close to the stadium. Tahmi said that work was taking place at the time of the match on August 23 and there were plenty of loose stones, rocks and other objects that could be used as projectiles on the site. The death of Ebosse, 24, who was struck by the slate as he walked from the pitch after the game, has led to the suspension of all football competitions in the country and JS Kabylie cannot play a home game until the end of the investigation.
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Spain
David Silva is confident Spain are well-equipped for success as they begin their bid for a third successive European Championships title tonight with a home game against Macedonia in Group C of the qualification stages for Euro 2016. Xabi Alonso and David Villa have retired from international football since Spain exited the World Cup in the group stages, but Silva said: “Very important players have left, but those of us who are here are important and the newcomers are, too.”
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England
England striker Danny Welbeck plans to use today’s opening Euro 2016 Group E qualifier against Switzerland to prove he is the man to lead the attack for country, and new club Arsenal. Welbeck, who joined the London side from Manchester United for £16 million (Dh95.6m) on transfer deadline day, said: “Every time you get on the pitch, it is an opportunity to show what you can do. Monday is an opportunity. I’ve never had a constant run in the team at No 9, but I have faith in my ability. I prefer 9.”
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