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Babel Out Of Euro 2008

Just days after being included in the final Dutch squad for Euro 2008 (kicking off this coming week), Ryan Babel has been forced to withdraw from Marco Van Basten’s side after tearing ankle ligaments in training earlier today. As a Liverpool fan I would be hoping there’s no long-term damage to Babel’s ankle given his performances for the club this season gone.

No replacement has yet been announced though is expected over the course of the weekend (or at least after the Welsh friendly game in Rotterdam).

Holland find themselves in Group C for this summer’s competition alongside France, Italy and Romania. Babel, however, will have to settle for watching the games from the stands. Here’s to a speedy recovery.

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Dutch Squad Announced For Euro 2008

Marco Van Basten knows he’s packing his bags after Euro 2008 but that’s not stopping the focus on Euro 2008 by any means, with Van Basten naming a strong side for next month’s competition.

Chelsea’s Khalid Boulahrouz misses the cut for the 23-man squad with the likelihood that Mario Melchiot will be well mended by the time the first game kicks off. It’s good to see Liverpool’s Ryan Babel and Dirk Kuyt confirmed in the squad, Kuyt making his way back into the international fold while Babel has had a relatively good debut season for the Reds. Celtic’s Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink should be firing on all cylinders too having lifted the Scottish league title recently.

The Holland boys can look forward to friendlies this week against Denmark (Thursday) and Wales at the weekend.

The Dutch squad in full for Euro 2008 reads as follows…

Goalkeepers: Edwin van der Sar (Manchester United), Maarten Stekelenburg (Ajax), Henk Timmer (Feyenoord)

Defenders: Wilfred Bouma (Aston Villa), Tim de Cler (Feyenoord), John Heitinga (Ajax Amsterdam), Joris Mathijsen (Hamburg), Mario Melchiot (Wigan Athletic), Andre Ooijer (Blackburn Rovers)

Midfielders: Ibrahim Afellay (PSV Eindhoven), Giovanni van Bronckhorst (Feyenoord), Orlando Engelaar (Twente), Nigel de Jong (Hamburg SV), Wesley Sneijder (Real Madrid), Rafael van der Vaart (Hamburg), Demy de Zeeuw (AZ Alkmaar)

Forwards: Ryan Babel (Liverpool), Klaas Jan Huntelaar (Ajax), Dirk Kuyt (Liverpool), Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid), Robin van Persie (Arsenal), Arjen Robben (Real Madrid), Jan Vennegoor of Hesselink (Celtic).

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250,000 Reasons For Germany Wanting To Win

The DFB (German Football Association) have announced that following talks with Michael Ballack, Bernd Schneider, Mirsoslav Klose and Jens Lehmann on Sunday, they will pay each member of the German squad up to €250,000 in bonuses and more.

Should Germany progress past the group stage, which they are expected to do, each man will receive a bonus of €50,000.

The bonus will rise to 100,000 if Germany reach the semi-final stages of Euro 2008.

Should Germany make the final, players will be guaranteed €150,000 - that payment coming if Germany lose. If Germany win the final in June, the players have been guaranteed €250,000 each.

The bonus payments, though small in comparison to what some of the squad earn in a week playing club football, might be enough to drive Germany past the group stage of the competition, something they’ve failed to two in their past two attempts. That said, they are still being tipped as favourites for the competition outright.

Germany play in Group B along with Poland, Croatia and Austria.

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Bruckner To Miss Czech Friendlies

The Czech football federation announced at a press conference yesterday that veteran manager Karel Brucker won’t be present at his side’s upcoming games against Greece and Poland due to illness.

A “high temperature with a suspicion of an inflammation of the lungs” is keeping the 68-year old at bay, according to Vlastimil Kostal, head of the football federation.

The Czech Republic play two games in quick succession this week, Greece on Tuesday and Poland on Wednesday as part of an international tournament in the run up to their Euro 2008 campaign.

The Czech Republic are drawn in Group A alongside Portugal, Switzerland and Turkey and kick off on June 7th against Switzerland.

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Trezeguet Wouldn’t “Bet A Euro” On Playing

David Trezeguet has said he wouldn’t “bet a euro” on appearing at Euro 2008 as he feels Raymond Domenech doesn’t have any faith in him.

Trezeguet currently leads the Serie A goalscoring charts with 15 goals to his name but Domenech has let his feelings speak through his tactical decisions of late, including the last World Cup where Trezeguet played no more than a bit part.

How strong the Juventus man’s opinion is was highlighted recently when he turned down two callups for France, first against the Congo and against Spain, both fixtures due this coming week as he felt he would be used on the ‘A’ team against Congo instead of the full team against Spain.

There are plenty of players who would give their left leg to represent their country at the European Championships, so why Trezeguet is carrying on in this manner is beyond me. Sure enough, it can be hard to change Domenech’s mind, if you’ve had a falling out with him you’re a marked man, but one would have to question Trezeguet’s overall drive to play any part of the French lineup.

Quoted on Saturday he said he “would have gone to the end of the world 10 years ago, but not now at 30, after everything I have done and continue to do.”

Such a pity too…

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Ballack Back In The German Fold

Michael Ballack has been included in the German squad to face Austria next week.

Out of international action and contention since last March, Ballack has been plagued by injury in recent months. While he hasn’t exactly starred for Chelsea either, he did make the field last night scoring against Reading.

His goal too helped Chelsea to extend their unbeaten league run at Stamford Bridge to a massive 75 games.

German coach Joachim Loew insists that Ballack is a key part of Germany’s plans for success in Euro 2008, though I still feel he needs to up his game a notch in England, especially with Germany tipped for first place in this summer’s competition.

Germany’s regular back four are all out of action for next week’s friendly and as a result, Loew is set to hand debuts to both Jermaine Jones and Heiko Westermann.

Germany are drawn in group B alongside Austria, Poland and Croatia.

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Clubs Will Get Cash Compensation For Euro 2008

UEFA have announced that clubs who will have players on international duty at Euro 2008 will be compensated financially.

The packaged outlined earlier in the week will see clubs paid €4,000 for each day a player is involved in the latter stages of the tournament. The same rule will also apply to the World Cup in 2010 and beyond.

The cash is to be shared between any club a player has been with in the two years prior to the tournament. E.g. in the case of Fernando Torres, compensation would be due to both Liverpool and Atletico Madrid, whereby come the World Cup compensation would be due strictly to Liverpool.

The package was revealed at the launch of the European Club Association (which replaces the fabled G14) and sees UEFA putting aside an estimated €43.5m for Euro 2008 and a further €55m for Euro 2012 while FIFA have set aside €76m to cover the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

In the same announcement it was also revealed that the African Cup Of Nations will move closer to a summer date when the tournament (on at the moment) comes around in 2016.

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Mexes Backing Italy For Euro 2008?

He’s not exactly a regular fixture in the French side for Raymond Domenech but Phillipe Mexes is backing Italy to come out of the ‘Group Of Death’ and go on and win the European Championship this summer.

Mexes would be a starter in almost any European side but he’s only played international football for France on eight occasions, largely due to his controversial move to Roma.

If France are to make a claim for the trophy I genuinely think that Domenech should be considering Mexes for his squad for the summer tournament, if not, it will likely take a change of manager to get Mexes back in the fold for France at a major tournament.

Controversies aside (if you can say that), Mexes thinks that Italy “are going to do the double, like France did in 1998 and 2000″, Italy looking as strong as ever after they beat France in the World Cup final in Germany in 2006. Of course, all that depends on what France and Holland have to say, both of whom can stop Italy coming out of the group stage.

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Serkan Won’t Play For Germany, Prefers Turkey

Serkan Çalık has decided his national future lies with Turkey. Despite having been born in Germany and having played for Germany at U21 level, Serkan has declared his future lies with Turkey.

Last summer Serkan moves from Rot-Weiss Essen, signing for Galatasaray. His ambition now is “to play for Turkey at senior level”. While he’s enjoyed some time on the pitch with the U21, he has told the Germany FA that his future lies away from his birth nation.

While the news might disappoint German fans of Serkan, the Turkish FA should be happy. Turning 22 in March, the striker has scored twice in the Turkish league this season in eleven games, while also featuring in Galatasaray’s UEFA Cup run, scoring once so far and helping Galatasaray to the last 32 of the competition.

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Lehmann Going To Euro 2008

Jens Lehmann had been in doubt about his position at Euro 2008 but not any more, or so it seems.

It was reported in the last few weeks that the Arsenal stopper, who has lost his place in the first team to Almunia, would consider leaving London and returning to Germany in search of first team football.

But he need not worry with German coach Joachim Loew quoted as saying “he has proven his worth. He can handle pressure in an excellent manner and is a leading player within the squad.” While he would rather Lehmann to be seeing more first-team action, Loew has virtually assured both Lehmann and Timo Hildebrand of their places in Austria and Switzerland.

Whatever happens in the run up to Euro 2008 it looks ever more likely that Lehmann will leave the Gunners at the end of the summer, despite showing no major signs of slowing down in his performance. If anything, the move is as much for his family as it is for his playing career with the hope of settling down somewhere long term.

Lehmann will hopefully be joined by Torten Frings who is set for a Bundesliga comeback in February.

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