Samir Nasri has stated that his goal celebrations after he scored against England on Monday night were aimed at the French media.
The Manchester City attacking midfielder scored from range to square things up at 1-1, and wheeled away with a finger over his mouth as a silence sign.
The playmaker has confirmed that he was hitting back at his homeland critics, who have been sceptical over Les Bleus’ performances of late.
“That was at you,” he reportedly stated to reporters after the game, reported by The Guardian.
Nasri went on to state that he felt that his side had a good chance of making the knockout stages and that he was happy with his goal in the game.
“It’s nothing serious. A win would have made things better still, but I was happy with the goal. Joe Hart knows me from City, and knows I usually open my body up, so this time I closed it and aimed at the near-post.
“I’m confident in our ability to go through after this point. Our goal is to reach the quarter-finals, and we didn’t lose this game. We can be happy.
“We’ve made a lot of progress since all the mistakes at the 2010 World Cup: we are more mature now and we want to do something with this generation of players,” he concluded.
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According to the Mirror, Aston Villa have given Charles N’Zogbia a transfer ultimatum as the winger continues to stall over a move to Villa Park.
Villa boss Alex McLeish has made the Wigan Athletic winger his top transfer target after losing Stewart Downing to Liverpool.
The Scot met the £10 million asking price but the Frenchman continues to drag his feet over joining the Midlands outfit.
Villa are offering N’Zogbia £50,000 and McLeish is fears he may be getting messed around by the player for the second summer in a row.
McLeish wants to get the deal done and dusted before flying out to Hong Kong with the squad on Saturday, but both N’Zogbia and Wigan are seemingly holding out for more lucrative offers.
The events are unfolding in a similar fashion to last summer, when McLeish was Birmingham City boss, with the deal collapsing at the 11th hour Aston Villa have told the winger to make up his mind.
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The club have already started looking at alternatives should N’Zogbia decide a move to Villa Park isn’t for him.
Mile Jedinak’s second goal in as many matches helped Australia edge Bahrain 1-0 and qualify for the Asian Cup last eight as Group C winners.Jedinak produced a scintillating strike in the shadows of half-time to give the Socceroos the hard-fought victory in Asia’s flagship soccer tournament on Tuesday as South Korea’s 4-1 triumph over India failed to dislodge Holger Osieck’s side from the summit of the standings.
As expected, the Socceroos made three injury-enforced changes for their final group game, with David Carney (shoulder), Jason Culina (knee) and Luke Wilkshire (groin) still bearing the battle scars from their arduous draw with South Korea.
In their place, Matt McKay replaced Carney at left-back despite being more accustomed to playing a midfield role for A-League club Brisbane Roar, Jade North filled the void left by Wilskshire on the right side of defence, and Carl Valeri was a natural swap for Culina in the centre of the park.
For Bahrain, who needed all three points to stay alive in the tournament, attacking midfielder Faouzi Aaish, scorer in each of their two games to date, was suspended for the match.
Brett Emerton made an early drive at goal for the Socceroos but hooked his shot from outside the penalty area, while Bahrain showed attacking intent of their own as they sought to expose the incongruous McKay with a number of thrusts down the right wing.
The Socceroos struggled to construct the fluent passing exchanges they were afforded against minnows India, a task made doubly difficult by the wet conditions at Al-Sadd Stadium in Doha along with the high level of intensity employed by their opponents in defence.
Against the run off play, the lively Abdulla Fatadi broke beyond the Australian defence and offloaded to Ismaeel Abdullatif, but the man who netted four times against India could only clip the woodwork from a narrow angle.
Australia launched a counter of their own as Brett Holman put Harry Kewell through on goal, but the alert Mahmood Mansoor darted off his line to foil the striker’s shot.
Mansoor could do little to stop Jedinak in the 37th minute, however, as a burst from Emerton set the former Central Coast Mariners midfielder up to launch a powerful strike from the edge of the area that skidded off the soggy turf and into the back off the net.
It was Jedinak’s second ever strike for the Socceroos following his equaliser against South Korea, as he begins to add a penchant for scoring crucial goals to the defensive midfield traits that have seen him become a regular in Osieck’s side.
Jedinak almost repeated the dose two minutes later, this time launching another fierce drive from a free-kick that forced Mansoor into a smart save.
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Abdullatif nearly gave Bahrain the perfect start to the second half when he forced Mark Schwarzer into a lunging stop, while at the other end, Tim Cahill, whose usual aerial threat was lacking on the night, wasted an ideal opportunity to make it 2-0 when he uncharacteristically skewed his header wide despite having an empty goal to aim at.
The Socceroos sought to protect their fragile lead and were only able to do so thanks to the superb Schwarzer, who made a pair of clutch saves to deny Fatadi and Abdullatif, as Salman Sharida’s side pressed forward in search of the equaliser that would re-ignite their quarter-final hopes.
But that never came as Australia did just enough to earn the three points and set up a quarter-final clash against the runners-up from Group D.
With just one game left of the regular season Oxford United are still within an outside bet of the playoffs, but look more than likely to spend another year in League Two.
To see United climb into the final playoff spot Crewe need to drop all three points when they welcome Aldershot to the Alexandra Stadium on Saturday and we need to win away at Port Vale.
Our promotion race was effectively ended when the U’s suffered a disappointing defeat to high flying Southend in a game which promised to be such a close encounter, but in reality was very one sided.
The Shrimpers, who had already secured a play-off place, dominated the first half scoring two decent goals and upstaging us in every department. It could have also been three if not for the goal line clearance from Michael Duberry. In the second period Oxford put up a bit more of a fight and started passing the ball around, having some more of the possession. Unfortunately they were unable to get anywhere close to scoring and the lack of striking options was clear to see with Scott Rendell the only fully fit attack-minded player.
However it was encouraging to see both Jon-Paul Pittman and Tommy Craddock play a part in the game as they continue their recovery from their respective injuries.
The trouble is that even if United were to find themselves in the playoffs come Saturday evening, they would be facing such an uphill task with such problems up front.
A brighter note from our last home game was the announcement of both the supporter’s player of the year and the player’s player of the year. It was very pleasing to see Andy Whing pick up the supporter’s award and shows just how much the Oxford faithful have changed their opinion of the inspirational midfielder since the start of the season. Ryan Clarke picked up the player’s accolade and you can see why having had another superb season between the sticks, which was unfortunately hampered by an injury in the Torquay game.
Deputy Wayne Brown came in and did really well but then in training also suffered an injury setback, meaning United had to get in an emergency loan. England under 19 ‘keeper Connor Ripley came in from Middlesbrough and did a decent job, even if the first goal was perhaps stoppable, and looks set to have a bright future in the game.
With just the away trip to Port Vale left in the normal season the rebuilding process can begin soon and it will be interesting to see how quickly manager Chris Wilder gets his business done this time round.
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Luis Suarez had looked lacklustre during the early stages of the Copa America but picked his form up to fire Uruguay into the final, with two characteristic finishes. He is now joint top of the scoring charts in the competition, and on the brink of becoming a national hero
Whilst his form in the Copa America will delight Liverpool fans, the result of his actions may not, as it delays his return to England even further. His efforts mean the earliest he will now return to the UK is just three weeks before Liverpool’s Premier League opener against Sunderland.
Suarez wasted little time in establishing himself as an Anfield favourite with a series of glorious performances after joining in January and was pivotal to the red’s turn around in fortunes last season. Should he bring success to his country, he will return to Merseyside brimming with confidence, but there is a small cause for concern over his long-term fitness.
After an intense summer, having played eight games for the national side, it is likely that Kenny Dalglish will want Suarez to have some rest and recovery time, which could push his return to Merseyside back even further, throwing his participation in the seasons opener into doubt.
The worry for Liverpool is that he will return jaded-both physically and mentally-after a summer without much time off. Lucas Leiva is another who has been in action at the tournament and will also return to Liverpool late. This shouldn’t worry Liverpool too much as they do have much better strength in depth than previous years, so should be able to cope should Suarez and Lucas not be fit for the opener. They will certainly not want to rush either player back and risk potential injuries or burnout in the long run.
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Suarez wouldn’t be the first to struggle after a heavy summer of matches. Javier Mascherano had a bad start to 2009 after returning from Argentina duty, and struggled for form in a Liverpool shirt for a while, complaining of tiredness, although he also wanted a move away from the red’s which probably affected his form as well.
It will be a long season for Suarez and Liverpool will want to look after their prize possession, to ensure they can get the best out of him. If that means giving him some time off at the start of the season to rest and recuperate and ensure he is in the best shape possible to face the vital season ahead, then surely that is what they will do.
City broke the deadlock in the 29th minute thanks to a goal from Yaya Toure but had to wait until the 73rd before putting the game to bed when Toure's shot struck the post before hitting Green and nestlising into the back of the net.
Adam Johnson made it 3-0 before James Tomkins grabbed a late consolation goal for the Hammers with a powerfull header.
Meanwhile, Alan Pardew's reign as Newcastle manager got off to the perfect start as the Magpies beat Liverpool 3-1 in the late kick off at St James' Park.
Kevein Nolan put Newcastle in front after 15 minutes before Dirk Kuyt's deflected shot levelled matters just after the break. However goals in the last 10 minutes from Joey Barton and Andy Carroll wrapped up the win.
Elsewhere Blackpool continued their fine season with a 1-0 win away at Stoke with DJ Campbell getting the only goal in an entertaining game.
Aston Villa eased their relegation fears with a 2-1 win over Midlands rivals West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park.
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Stewart Downing and Emile Heskey put Villa 2-0 in front before Paul Scharner pulled one back for the visitors at the death to set up a tense finale.
Everton and Wigan both remain in relegation trouble after fighting out a 0-0 draw at Goodison Park and so do Fulham who also had to settle for a goalless encounter at home to Sunderland.Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
Everton’s Leighton Baines is believed to have the option to move to Manchester United or Bayern Munich in the summer, after admitting an interest in leaving Goodison Park, according to Metro.
The left-back has been a solid performer for the Toffees over the last number of seasons, and as such has broken into the England international fold, with inclusion in the Three Lions’ Euro 2012 squad likely.
However, it is believed that the defender is ready for a new challenge, and is drawing a raft of suitors with his combative defending and excellent delivery going forward.
United are in the market for a long-term successor to Patrice Evra, whilst left-back has been a position of difficulty for Bayern this season, who have had to play versatile midfielder David Alaba there to fill a gap.
It is thought that the cash-strapped Merseysiders would accept an offer in the region of £15 million for the defender, but are in no rush to sell as he has three years left on his contract at the club.
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Corinthians recovered from an early shock to defeat Vasco da Gama 2-1 on Wednesday, holding on to their three-point lead in Brazil Serie A.Veteran midfielder Juninho Pernambucano turned back the clock in his first appearance for Vasco in 10 years, scoring from a free-kick in the second minute to the delight of the away fans.
But their joy would be short-lived as Corinthians midfielder Ralf found the net in the 22nd minute, blasting a long-range effort from a rebound for his first goal since May 2010.
Corinthians were in no mood to take an evenly balanced game into the break and kept pressing for a second goal, which they eventually found in the 42nd minute off the boot of Paulinho.
The midfielder gathered the ball at the edge of the area, dribbled around a defender and shot inside the far post to put the hosts ahead.
They were lucky to hold that margin at half-time, though, as Corinthians goalkeeper Julio Cesar pulled out a magnificent save to deny another trademark free kick from former Lyon and Brazil midfielder Juninho.
In spite of their best efforts, the Copa do Brasil winners could not find an equaliser and slumped to back-to-back losses for the first time this campaign.
They fall to 10th on the Serie A table with 11 points from eight matches. Corinthians, meanwhile, have a new challenger to their throne as Sao Paulo fell 1-0 at Flamengo.
Dario Bottinelli was the hero, with the Flamengo midfielder finding the net in the 71st minute to ensure his club would replace Sao Paulo in second.
Flamengo have taken full points in their last three matches and are yet to lose this campaign, a feat only seconded by Corinthians.
After a promising start, Sao Paulo have now lost their past three to fall four points behind Corinthians in third place.
Fourth-placed Internacional have drawn level on points with Sao Paulo following their third win in a row, this time with a 1-0 result over bottom-placed Atletico Paranaense.
Continuing their winning run, 19-year-old midfielder Oscar scored for his third-straight game to hand Inter the win over Paranaense, who are anchored to the bottom of the table with seven losses from eight games.
Second-bottom Avai continued their slow crawl towards safety with a 2-2 draw at home to Bahia, while Gremio’s up-and-down fortunes continued with a 2-0 loss at Cruzeiro and Ceara toppled Atletico Mineiro 3-0.
Manchester City head coach Roberto Mancini has again warned winger Adam Johnson to ignore the hype that has surrounded him in recent months.
The 23-year-old has sprung to prominence after breaking into the England set-up, but Mancini has concerns over Johnson's focus on the job in hand.
He told reporters:"England is like Italy. When a young player plays five games very well all the newspapers say 'oh this Adam Johnson is a fantastic player'.
"When you are young you read the newspapers and think 'I am the top, I am the top'.
"But Adam Johnson is a young player and doesn't understand the game very well. I think he can improve a lot more if he thinks more when he plays.
"He's a good player, but he's just 23 years old, he's played 20 games in the Premier League and it's impossible to think of him now as a top player.
"For this, he must work, he must think, he must work for the team – not two dribbles, two crosses. In a top team you need more.
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"If you're only doing two dribbles you can't be the best player on the pitch. You must do dribbling, score a goal, you must defend, you must help your team-mates.
"There is more expected of him."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email
The FA have announced that Mario Balotelli will not face any further disciplinary action after a number of reckless challenges in Manchester City’s 1-0 defeat to Arsenal on Sunday.
The Italy international was sent off in the last minute after a rash challenge on Bacary Sagna, but escaped punishment for a high tackle on Alex Song in the first half.
The FA, despite calls from the media for Balotelli to be punished, have decided that no action will be taken against the City forward.
“Retrospective action in relation to the incident involving Mario Balotelli of Manchester City and Alex Song of Arsenal, which occurred in the 20th minute of Sunday’s game, will not be taken,” an FA statement confirmed.
“Where at least one of the officials has seen the coming together of players retrospective action is not taken, regardless of whether they have seen the full extent of the challenge.
“Retrospective action can only be taken in scenarios where none of the match officials saw the players coming together. The normal scenarios in which retrospective action is taken are for ‘off the ball’ incidents.
“Retrospective action was introduced for off the ball incidents where there was no contest for possession and could not be deemed to be re-refereeing an incident.
“In agreement with FIFA, this is how ‘not seen’ incidents are dealt with retrospectively in England. It is a policy that is agreed with all football stakeholders,” the statement concluded.
Meanwhile, Mirror Football have reported that AC Milan and Inter are ready to battle it out to bring Balotelli back to Italy in the summer.
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The troubled forward has been identified as the man to lead an Inter revival, whilst the current Serie A champions are eager to freshen up their attacking options due to Alexandre Pato’s drop in fitness and form; both are ready to splash £20 million on Balotelli.