Germany
Germany coach Joachim Loew believes defending World Cup champions Spain still have what it takes to win the title and are “not past their prime”. He pointed out that Spain had two clubs in the Uefa Champions League final and one in the Europa League final and that the national team have won their last three tournaments – two European championships and one World Cup. No European team has even won the World Cup in South America and no team has repeated as champions in 52 years, since Brazil’s 1962 title. But Loew said: “Spain are still hungry to achieve the impossible” and have players who have been “playing at the highest level for a long time.”
England
England’s Wayne Rooney took a swipe at Cristiano Ronaldo when he said he felt no jealousy when his former Manchester United teammate won the Ballon d’Or as the world’s top player. “I’m not a player who needs that, like Cristiano Ronaldo,” Rooney said. “He has to have that and you admire him for having that. I’m more about winning things as a team. You can see how he is. He wants … his moment.”
Italy
Italy expect to train as planned at the Arena da Amazonia in Manaus despite concerns about the pitch at the jungle World Cup venue. Italy travel to Manaus today, a day before facing England in Group D. Italian delegation chief Demetrio Albertini said: “We’re not planning to change our schedule ... We knew there was some burnt grass due to the heat, but the colour of the grass doesn’t really matter.” Albertini said that an advance delegation was slated to check out the pitch but was held up by airport strikes in Rio de Janeiro. Groundskeepers were attempting to remedy the visibly dry, white stripes across the grass. Head groundsman Carlos Botella said on Wednesday, “Frankly, Manaus is in bad shape.”
Argentina
Argentina striker Gonzalo Higuain, fighting an ankle injury for the past month, is his team’s only major worry for their World Cup opener against Bosnia-Herzegovina at the Maracana on Sunday. In yesterday’s training session, Napoli striker Higuain was replaced by Paris Saint-Germain’s Ezequiel Lavezzi.
Inter Milan striker Rodrigo Palacio was also on the sidelines after suffering an ankle injury in the 3-0 warm-up win over Trinidad last week. Meanwhile, defender Ezequiel Garay said Argentina have no fear and will go on the attack at the World Cup. “We’re Argentina and we must start winning. We don’t fear anyone,” said Garay, who said the team would be focussing on supplying Lionel Messi.
Uruguay
Veteran Uruguay striker Diego Forlan was back in training yesterday following a stomach bug that kept him off the practice pitch the day before. Forlan, 35, stayed in the gym and missed both Uruguay training sessions on Wednesday after waking up with a “digestive problem”, the team said. The forward, who picked up the Golden Ball award for best player of the tournament at the last World Cup in South Africa, took part in stretching exercises and work with a ball alongside his teammates during the 15 minutes that training at the Sete Lagoas stadium was open to the media. Star striker Luis Suarez also trained but is not expected to be fit for tomorrow’s Group D opener against Costa Rica in Fortaleza.
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