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England set up a crunch match with Germany in the last 16 on Sunday after Fabio Capello’s men registered their first win of the 2010 World Cup. Capello has been fairly rigid in his selection policy and stuck to his preferred 4-4-2 formation, but did bring in Jermain Defoe and James Milner who combined for the only goal. There was huge clamour from the media and England fans before the match to bring in Joe Cole, but the soon to be ex-Chelsea man didn’t make the starting line-up and was given just twenty minutes to show his worth. Manchester United’s Michael Carrick hasn’t made it anywhere near the first eleven and has practiced his bench warming duties out in South Africa. Obviously not at the forefront of Fabio’s plans, Cole and Carrick had a catch up on the bench, but what did they discuss, maybe Joe’s next club?

Leave your suggestions below…

Win a copy of Africa United, Steve Bloomfield’s enlightening portrait of the divided continent of Africa, told through one of the few things that unites it – football.

Today, no Premiership team is complete without a major African star – Drogba, Essien, Touré, Adebayor, and Kanu. Countless African players are now enriching English football and becoming household names.

For the first time, the World Cup is being hosted in Africa, and this wide-ranging and incisive book investigates Africa’s love of football, its increasing global influence and the build-up to the 2010 World Cup – the greatest show on earth. For more information, visit Steve’s blog at http://www.africa-united.co.uk/.

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And check out our Caption Competition Gallery for some inspiration and to see the winners so far.

Last week’s winner: Phil Davy – click here to see all entries

Internazionale striker Mario Balotelli has welcomed reports linking him with a summer switch to either Manchester City or Premier League rivals United.

Balotelli has spoken out after City boss Roberto Mancini declared an interest in signing him earlier in the week.

Mancini worked with the now 20-year-old striker during his time as Inter coach.

However, Balotelli has also reacted warmly to suggestions that United boss Sir Alex Ferguson is also an admirer of his talents.

“Roberto Mancini? He’s a great coach, I debuted in Serie A with him because he is a great friend,” he told Corriere dello Sport.

“If he and Ferguson want me, it means I’m not as bad as I thought.

“United is a great club. They have not seen the real Balotelli, for sure I need to learn and achieve more goals. I want to win the Golden Ball in 2011.

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“As for the future, I always say I don’t know.”

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Sunderland manager Steve Bruce has spoken of his devastation at losing goalkeeper Craig Gordon to a broken arm for the second time.

The Scotland international will miss the start of the new campaign after suffering a fresh break to the same arm he injured in a Premier League game in December last year which kept him sidelined for two months.

Gordon's latest setback came during a session at the club's pre-season training camp in Portugal.

"It was devastating – a complete freak accident," Bruce told the club's official website.

"It happened just when we had Craig at the top of his game and he will be a big miss for us.

"It's a big blow, but we will have to get over it. Every club has its knocks over the season.

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"Craig needs a bit of luck and we wish him well."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Sunderland are on the verge of bringing Ghana international John Mensah back to the Stadium of Light.

The 27-year-old Lyon star featured in 17 games for the Black Cats during an injury-ravaged 2009-10 season on loan with the club but manager Steve Bruce was impressed with what he saw.

Mensah went on to captain the Black Stars at the recent World Cup, featuring in four of their five matches in South Africa as they reached the quarter-finals.

When asked about the possibility of Mensah coming back to the club, Bruce said:"He's now in Paris picking up his visa, it's not signed but we're virtually there. He's such a good player that anyone who saw him here last year will know why I wanted him back.

"He was the outstanding defender at the World Cup and when he was here last year we were a better team with him in it."

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Meanwhile, former Sheffield United defender Matt Kilgallon is expected to join Middlesbrough on loan, with Bruce adding: "We're in talks with Boro as we speak but I don't want him to go permanently, it'll probably be a loan deal."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Blackpool chairman Karl Oyston has stood down with immediate effect, but will remain with the Premier League newcomers as acting chief executive for the time being.

The 43-year-old had been at the helm at Bloomfield Road for just over a decade.

A statement on the club's official website read:"Blackpool FC can confirm Karl Oyston has stood down as chairman and director of the Football Club with immediate effect.

"He will remain at Bloomfield Road as acting chief executive until the end of the season, or in the interim until a new chairman is appointed.

"During this time he will continue to work closely with the manager Ian Holloway on player recruitment and to oversee the continued development and reconstruction of the stadium.

"The club would like to emphasise that there will be no interruption in the recruitment of players or the work required on the stadium."

Oyston had recently spoken of his frustration in dealing with agents and offered to stand down.

He had said:"I'm not sure I have the right approach to be in this division. The more I speak to other people at other clubs, the more I realise I am a lone voice.

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"There was some support for things I did and said in the Championship, but there doesn't seem to be any in this division.

"Everyone else seems to subscribe to the way that business seems to be conducted and it is a way I find unacceptable, so we'll see."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Arsenal's joy at a 4-1 Carling Cup derby victory at Tottenham Hotspur was tempered by left-back Kieran Gibbs suffering a foot injury during extra-time at White Hart Lane.

The 20-year-old England international suffered a metatarsal problem last season and manager Arsene Wenger fears that the fresh setback could be a similar injury.

He said:"We have to check, that is the only disappointment of the night, because Gibbs had a very good game.

"We hope we do not get bad news tomorrow morning.

"It is a metatarsal again, it is the one next to the one he had broken, the second one, so we hope we have good news, because that would be a massive blow to us."

Meanwhile, Wenger defended his approach to the competition, having often fielded a second-string side.

He added:"We have got a few reproaches that we did not take the competition seriously, it was a derby and to go out straight away for us would be difficult.

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"We have a momentum going and it was important not to interrupt it, also some players needed competition.

"If everybody is fit, I can go as well for this competition."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Blackpool boss Ian Holloway has dismissed suggestions of a dressing room bust-up at Chelsea.

The Seasiders were 4-0 down midway through last Sunday's Premier League defeat at Stamford Bridge following a first-half horror show.

They stemmed the tide in the second half but post-match reports suggested that several players had been involved in arguments at half-time.

Explaining the situation, Holloway admitted that he and several players were involved in heated discussions in the Stamford Bridge dressing room.

However, he has denied reports of a bust-up, saying:"Their egos were smarting. They didn't want to produce a first half like that but unfortunately they could do nothing to stop what Chelsea did to us.

"They had listened to me and it didn't go well so they thought they could say some things themselves. I soon put that right.

"I've got a proud group of lads who were smarting a bit. I had to shut them up and crack the whip a bit.

"For the second half I managed to calm them down, talk about what I felt, change the tactics and it worked, to some extent.

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"I had to hold my hand up and I took full blame because I told them to do something that didn't work at all.

"I haven't seen that before or had to make allowances to track full-backs before and I will never do that again."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

On-loan Barcelona midfielder Alex Hleb has dismissed suggestions that he is unsettled at Birmingham City.

Hleb, who spent three years in the Premier League with Arsenal, joined the Blues on a season-long loan in August.

During the recent international break the Belarus midfielder was quoted discussing his disillusionment with life at St Andrew's and the style of football Alex McLeish's side play.

However, Hleb insists he is happy at Birmingham and has no problems at his new club.

"I am very happy, really happy," he said."We have a very good coach. The team, the players – fantastic.

"Everything's good and I feel at home. I love it at Birmingham and I enjoy everything.

"Of course, we need to give a bit more in the games because we want to win, invest more, keep the ball more, score more, but we need to work hard on that.

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"From the first day, it felt as if I knew the players for a long, long time.

"I never thought I would settle so quickly but it's happened and I'm very happy."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Reports from Tuesday’s Daily Mail have suggested that Manchester United could have won the race to sign Standard’s Liege’s Steven Defour. The Belgian international has long been on Manchester United’s radar, and with the large transfer kitty Sir Alex Ferguson has now to work with it seems Defour could be a Manchester United player as early as January.

Steven Defour has indicated that he is now ready to leave Standard Leige and with Sir Alex Ferguson sending the player a latter after his injury last season it seems Old Trafford is his likely destination.

‘I know that Manchester United are closely monitoring my situation. There hasn’t been any official contact yet though.

‘I’ve been sidelined for quite a while due to injury, but I’m playing at a high level again. The chance that I’ll leave the club is rather big if I continue to play like I currently do.” The Mail reported.

Could the signing of Defour be the start of the rebuilding work at Manchester United and begin to appease Wayne Rooney and his criticism for Manchester United’s ambition. Without a doubt Defour is a very talented young player. United need to strengthen in the centre of midfield – last season proved that. Anderson hasn’t fulfilled his potential at Old Trafford and Michael Carrick has looked lost in the games he has played this season. Will Owen Hargreaves ever play for Manchester United again? Added to this, Paul Scholes’ time at Manchester United is coming to an end, Sir Alex Ferguson needs to strengthen in this area.

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Defour would offer Manchester United a lot. For starters he is young and ambitious. The midfielder is very good on the ball and looks to open defences up. United need positive ball players in the middle of midfield and Defour’s presence would be a great asset. As well as his ball skills, the Belgian is a decent tackler and competes well in midfield, and would suit the Premier League.

Defour would be a good signing for Manchester United, but do they have to look at buying players with proven pedigrees at this time. With so many key players leaving Old Trafford in the next 18 months, can Ferguson rely on players with good potential to fill the void. Obviously Manchester United will have to buy more than just Defour, but it would not be a bad start. Wayne Rooney’s comments have put the spotlight on Sir Alex Ferguson’s transfers. There is no doubt that United will buy big at some time, whether it is in January or the summer. That should not distract Manchester United from buying players with huge potentials like Defour. Manchester United should always be looking to unearth young talent from all over the world. Defour should be at the top of United’s list on potential and value.

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Birmingham City boss Alex McLeish has refused to get carried away by his side's lowly standing down in the relegation zone in the Premier League.

The Blues have won just twice in 13 league games so far this season, but McLeish is still confident of an upturn in fortunes and a move away from potential danger.

He told the club's official website:"I don't think we can ever say we're going to be in the top ten and safe every single season, because we're still developing as a Premier League team.

"I don't like to use the word relegation and certainly not at this particular juncture. It's far too premature.

"The media like to spin it a little bit and we accept that as part of the game. We've got to show our mettle and steel against that kind of situation.

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"But we've got plenty of points to play for and we're in a half decent position, although we'd like to be further up the table."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email