Posts Tagged ‘Carrick’
Football: Michael Carrick is ruled out of the England squad because of a foot injury
• James Milner called into squad as replacement
• Cole pledges to silence England boo-boys
Michael Carrick has withdrawn from the England squad for the World Cup qualifiers against Kazakhstan and Andorra with a foot injury. The Manchester United midfielder reported to the England team hotel last night and was assessed by the side’s medical staff before being released for treatment. James Milner, a member of the Under-21 squad for this month’s European Championships in Sweden, has been called up as a replacement.
Ashley Cole, meanwhile, intends to replicate his Chelsea form on the international stage to try to win over those England fans who have barracked him at Wembley. The full-back, who became the first player since the 1890s to claim a fifth FA Cup winners’ medal on Saturday, has benefited this season from being pain-free in his ankle after carrying an injury first suffered while at Arsenal during his first two campaigns at Stamford Bridge. A mistake against the Kazakhs last October led to the visitors’ goal in England’s 5–1 win, prompting a section of the home support to boo Cole’s every touch thereafter.
Events off the pitch have also harmed his reputation but Cole is confident he can win over the doubters. “Everyone knows it wasn’t about football, so there is nothing I could do,” he said.
“I feel like I am enjoying my football the most I have for a while, and if I play well then I will change people’s minds. It’s life, isn’t it? I don’t think I was the worst player on the pitch in that match, but there you go. I hope it turns now. I will get on with it and, hopefully I will change a few minds.I just want to win things, and to win something with England.
If I score the winning goal for England at the World Cup maybe they will like me again. There are times when you don’t like playing football, just as you wouldn’t like any job, and there were certainly times when I didn’t enjoy it. But I feel fit now. This is the best I’ve felt, at Chelsea and at Arsenal.I have played in the Premier League with a smile on my face, and I hope to do that too with England.”
Cole underwent surgery to repair the ankle injury and, over the course of this campaign, he has steadily regained his best form. “I’ve got two ankles I can run on, that’s the reason I’m playing well,” added the full-back. “I can run up and down again and I can kick the ball again. That’s the difference.
When I first came to Chelsea I couldn’t kick the ball and it was pointless me playing really. But I tried to play through the pain for the manager who bought me [Josée Mourinho].
The Fifa president, Sepp Blatter, has approved the deal for exclusively English football teams to represent Great Britain at the London 2012 Olympics. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland gave Fifa their agreement to take no part in the Olympics and for England to make up Team GB. The way is now clear for the British Olympic Association to announce that England will represent Team GB in the men’s and women’s tournaments.
