Italy’s Gattuso announces his retirement from national squad after World Cup

AP Azzuri midfiellder, Genaro Gattuso plans to retire from international football after the World Cup.

Italy stalwart Gennaro Gattuso said Saturday he planned to retire from international football after the South African World Cup.

The 32-year-old midfielder was instrumental in the Azzurri’s World Cup victory four years ago. But he has been struggling with a knee injury and was often relegated to the bench by his club A.C.Milan during the past season.

“Wearing this jersey is the most beautiful thing there can be,” Gattuso told reporters at Italy’s training grounds in Centurion. “But when you are nearly 33 years old it is right to make room for youngsters.” However, while confirming that he would be “done with Italy” after the World Cup, the midfielder said he dreamt of one day leading the Azzurri as their coach.

Gattuso, an energetic defensive midfielder known as “ringhio” (growl) for the way he lashes at his opponents, first played for Italy in 2000. He has been capped more than 70 times since but is not assured of a place when Italy take on Paraguay in their Group F clash on Monday.

2010 FIFA World Cup Stars-Lionel Messi

Come June 11, 2010, and the world will witness the greatest sporting action in the world - the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
The euphoria and animosity among fans will be back!
It'll be a tussle among various countries to stamp their supremacy and soccer aficionados will flock the grounds to root for their favourite stars.
With the countdown to the FIFA World Cup in South Africa having already begun, we take a look at the star campaigners who will enthrall many with their mesmerising skills:
Lionel Messi
Widely regarded as the best player in the world, Messi is the current holder of both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA World Player of the Year.
The Barcelona star is in red-hot form having scored four goals in a match for the first time in his career in April this year against Arsenal in the Champions League.
At the age of 19 in 2006, he became the youngest player to turn out for Argentina in the World Cup and scored a goal against Serbia. Messi was also part of the Argentine gold medal winning team in the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
Coach Diego Maradona has already anointed Messi as his successor and will hope that he can reproduce his club heroics for Argentina.

2010 FIFA World Cup Stars Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo Ronaldo's value was vividly demonstrated when Real Madrid shelled out a whopping 80 million pounds to acquire him from Manchester United, making him the most expensive player in football history.
He is a former winner of both the Ballon d'Or and the FIFA Player of the Year. Ronaldo scores an astonishing number of goals for a midfielder, even becoming the first winger to scoop the European Golden Shoe in 2007-08.
Not above gamemanship, in the last World Cup he intervened with the referee to get his United teammate Rooney sent off and then winked slyly at the bench.
 will be keen to make amends in South Africa for having failed to trouble the scorers in seven qualifying games.

CASTROL FIFA WORLD CUP™ PREDICTOR

Two of the world’s most passionate footballing nations, Spain and Brazil, are favourites to go head to head in the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ Final according to the Castrol Predictor. While Spain seem to be most bookmakers’ favourite, the Castrol Predictor shows that they actually have only a 16.1% chance of glory and are second favourites behind the five time winners Brazil, with a 23.6% chance of success.

View team chances of winning the FIFA World Cup™
Castrol’s analysis shows that the best placed teams to qualify from Group G, the so called ‘Group of Death’, are Castrol Predictor tournament and group favourites Brazil (91.7%) and Portugal (52.4%). Carlos Queiroz’s men cannot afford to be complacent as they are almost inseparable from their group rivals and African favourites Ivory Coast, who have a 50.5% chance of reaching the last 16.
The Castrol Predictor measures past team and player performance and works out the attack and defence ratings of each nation. Then, by simulating the tournament more than 100,000 times and taking into account the draw groupings, Castrol has calculated each team’s chances of progression through the FIFA World Cup™ group stages and ultimately, of winning the world’s most famous trophy.
Castrol has applied the same expertise they apply to the development of their oils to create the Castrol Predictor, using objective analysis and highly advanced technology to offer unique insights into winning performances.
Castrol Ambassador Marcel Desailly says: “I am surprised that the Castrol Predictor shows Brazil as favourites because I really thought Spain were the team to beat this time. I will be hoping that my home nation Ghana does better than predicted as the Castrol Predictor only gives them a 0.2% chance of success! It’s great being able to look at the teams’ predicted success in this way and I’m sure it will be a talking point for football fans everywhere."

World Cup 2010 stadiums where England will be playing in Group C

England will play at Royal Bafokeng Stadium in Rustenburg, Green Point Stadium in Cape Town and Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium in Port Elizabeth after being draw in Group C at the World Cup 2010 draw in Cape Town, South Africa on Friday evening.

Match 1: England will face USA at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg

Match 1: England will face USA at the Royal Bafokeng Stadium, Rustenburg Photo: GETTY IMAGES

Match 2: England will face Algeria at Green Point Stadium, Cape Town Match 3: England will face Slovenia at Nelson Mandela Bay Stadium, Port Elizabeth

Ryan babel

Roberto Fabian Ayala

Adriano Leite Ribeiro

REAL MADRID

NATIONAL TEAMS

MANCHESTER UNITED

STEVEN GERRARD

ALESSANDRO DEL PIERO,PAVEL NEDVED,FRANK LAMPARD