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Catastrophe If Italy Miss out on World Cup 2018, Claims Giampiero Ventura

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Italy national team coach Giampiero Ventura claims that it would be a disastrous to see Italy fail to reach the World Cup 2018.


This is now a distinct possibility with the team second in the group -containing Spain. It was always going to be a tough group with the two former world champions being pitted against each other, but Spain have been able to get their noses in front at the final stages of the qualification campaign. The loss suffered by Italy in the recent match against Spain proved to be the difference. Italy will be hoping that Spain dropped points in the remaining two matches – against Albania and Israel – while they take advantage of those slipups in their matches.

The 2006 world champions take on Macedonia and Albania in back-to-back qualification matches. Even if they only managed to make it to the play-offs, it is far from certain that Italy would reach the finals. Giampiero Ventura took over from Antonio Conte when the former Juventus manager decided to move to the Premier league. Continue reading Catastrophe If Italy Miss out on World Cup 2018, Claims Giampiero Ventura →

Chris Coleman Ready to Hand Ethan Ampadu a Debut

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Wales have decided to make a surprise inclusion for the upcoming World Cup 2018 qualifying matches against Austria and Moldova, as a youngster Ethan Ampadu is one of the names in the 25 man squad.


He is one of the latest young talents to make the switch to Chelsea, as he has decided to make West London his home from Exeter. The 16-year-old is not done 17 until September, but this will not prevent him from being one the sidelines for Welsh national team, according to Coleman. He says that every player capable of representing the national team will get a chance with Wales.

Coleman also denied that the inclusion of Ethan Ampadu is primarily in order to make him available for the Welsh team in the future. The centre back had been with Exeter throughout his career, but he is also capable of representing for England. The defender is also capable of playing as a defensive midfielder. He has signed a contract with Chelsea until the summer of 2019. Continue reading Chris Coleman Ready to Hand Ethan Ampadu a Debut →

Wilshere wants to play for England

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Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere wants to play for the national team again.


He said that it is an immense honor to represent your national team and that he is determined to get back into the team. He admitted that his form has not been really good as he was hindered by injury but he wants things to change this season.

Jack Wilshere spent the last campaign on loan to Bournemouth, and despite making an encouraging start to the season, his form rapidly declined, and he found himself spending some time on the bench. To make matters worst he was again injured and had to spend some time away from the training ground.

It appears that the player will be back at Arsenal this season and that he will have to fight for his place in an already congested Arsenal midfield.

Jack Wilshere said that he is not afraid of competition and that he will do his best to get back into the side. He said that with the World Cup coming up next year, it is important that he gets back into the England team and he feels that this will be an added motivation for him to train harder. Continue reading Wilshere wants to play for England →

Robert Snodgrass Still Confident of World Cup Qualification

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Scotland international Robert Snodgrass believes that his nation could still clinch automatic qualification to the World Cup, should they managed to beat rivals England in their next qualifier.


The neighbours face off against each other on June 10th with the Scots currently six points adrift of the Three Lions.

Manager Gordon Strachan was on the cusp of losing his job during the initial stages after a 1-1 draw against Lithuania was coupled with successive 3-0 defeats to Slovakia and England. However, Chris Martins’ last winner against Slovenia in March has given the Scots a slim chance of making it to Russia next year.

Snodgrass, who joined West Ham United from Hull City in the second half of the season, feels his nation could be back in the hunt for qualification if they surprise Gareth Southgate’s men at Hampden Park, he said: “That was our objective at the start. It wasn’t to just fight for second place. We created a lot of chances against England in November and we would never have done that if we didn’t believe. We want to get there automatically, we want to beat England and we want to kick on.” Continue reading Robert Snodgrass Still Confident of World Cup Qualification →

Bauza believes that Argentina will qualify

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Argentina former coach Edgardo Bauza believes that the team will make it to the World Cup despite their poor recent form.


Bauza has been sacked as the coach of Argentina some weeks back, and he believes that the team has enough quality to make it to Russia.

Bauza said that he is disappointed with the way things have worked out with the Argentinian team but he feels that they will be able to recover in time and make it to the 2018 World Cup that will be held in Russia.

Argentina has been in poor form during recent games and has been on a losing streak in matches against Paraguay, Brazil, and Bolivia. These successive losses have left them fifth in the qualifying table 11 points behind leaders Brazil. Continue reading Bauza believes that Argentina will qualify →