Greece vice-captain Kostas Katsouranis stressed there were no rifts in the squad ahead of the World Cup after publicly apologising to team mate Giannis Maniatis for a public bust-up while playing for their clubs.
The pair almost came to blows in controversial circumstances in a tense Greek Cup semi-final last month. PAOK midfielder Katsouranis, 34, was sent-off in the April 16 match against Maniatis’ Olympiakos.
“We have talked about it a lot and I think it was a mistake from all aspects,” Katsouranis said.
“As vice captain of the team and one of the most senior players, I think I have a large responsibility, I was in the wrong and I have explained this to Giannis.”
Cahill to lead Aussies in warm-up
Australia forward Tim Cahill will lead the Socceroos in today’s World Cup warm-up against South Africa in Sydney, with recently named captain Mile Jedinak still recovering from injury.
The 34-year-old striker, named vice-captain for the Brazil finals along with midfielder Mark Bresciano last week, will lead Australia for the first time in his 68th international.
“Tim’s leadership and the way he conducts himself in the group as a senior player has been impressive and with Mile not able to play against South Africa, Tim will captain the side,” coach Ange Postecoglou said.
Brailsford set for England chat
Roy Hodgson is expecting Sir Dave Brailsford to give a pep talk to his England squad this week ahead of the World Cup.
With the Group D opener against Italy less than three weeks away, Hodgson is hopeful that Brailsford, the man who has masterminded British cycling’s impressive rise, will speak to his squad to offer an insight on how to fulfil potential and seize the moment.
“We’re hoping Dave will come to St George’s and speak to the players alongside (psychiatrist) Steve Peters next week,” the England boss said. “Steve’s there because he’s working with us.
“Dave’s working hard and he’ll do his utmost to be there.”
Goalkeeper Burki joins Freiburg
Freiburg have completed the signing of Swiss goalkeeper Roman Burki from Grasshoppers.
The 23-year-old moves to the Bundesliga after beginning his career with Young Boys before moving to Grasshoppers on a permanent deal after a loan spell in Zurich. The length of the deal was not confirmed.
“The challenge of the Bundesliga excites me greatly and SC Freiburg enjoys, not least through the (Swiss) national players Admir Mehmedi and Gelson Fernandes, a good reputation in Switzerland,” Burki said.
Udinese line up Stramaccioni bid
Andrea Stramaccioni has emerged as the leading candidate to replace Francesco Guidolin as coach of Serie A side Udinese.
The 38-year-old Stramaccioni has been without a job since he was dismissed by Inter a year ago but reports in Italy said that the Friulani are keen to give the young mentor the chance to lead their team in the Serie A next season.
Guidolin moved to a technical role with Udinese last week and the Pozzo family are expected to table an offer to Stramaccioni this week.
One stumbling block for the move could be Stramaccioni’s pay demands but Udinese are confident to reach a deal.
Makelele leaves PSG to land Bastia job
Former France midfielder Claude Makelele will coach Bastia for the next two seasons, replacing the departing Frederic Hantz.
Makelele, who was assistant coach at French champions Paris St Germain, will sign his contract today, the Corsican club said.
The 41-year-old won 71 caps for France between 1995 and 2008, reaching the World Cup final in 2006.
He also won the 2002 Champions League with Real Madrid, a club he played for from 2000-03 before joining Chelsea, leaving the London club in 2008 with two Premier League titles.
Deulofeu given Spain call-up
Gerard Deulofeu has been rewarded for his impressive loan spell with Everton with a call-up to the Spain squad for their pre-World Cup friendly with Bolivia.
Coach Vincente Del Bosque was expected to trim his 30-man squad for Brazil down to 23 yesterday, but has instead opted to name 19 players for Friday’s match.
The Real and Atletico Madrid players selected in the provisional group earlier this month are omitted after Saturday’s Champions League final, with Del Bosque now going to wait until the June 2 deadline to finalise his squad.
Deulofeu is the main beneficiary of Del Bosque's delay, with the Barcelona midfielder now given the chance to position himself at the head of the queue in case of any unexpected pull-outs.