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Wayne Rooney has been the focal point of the attack for the England team for some time, but the big debate is who should partner him? Several players have had a go – but it’s fair to say that no one has really made the position their own. Of course it’s not necessarily the case that there is one man for every occasion. However, let’s assume for now that we will be looking for one player to play with Rooney in the majority of the games.

I have always held the view that players should be picked on form and not reputation and I always prefer to see a striker who has a strong goal scoring record. I know this is not true of all managers, hence why we saw Emile Heskey playing at the 2010 World Cup.

The Contenders

Peter Crouch has been around the England set-up for some time and tends to always play well when selected; he has a very impressive England record scoring 22 goals in 42 caps. However, his Premier League form has been poor this season and he has only scored 2 league goals.

Andy Carroll has recently made that £35 million transfer from Newcastle to Liverpool and is still settling in at his new club and is also fighting back to full fitness following injury. Carroll has settled into life in the Premier League well and has scored 11 league goals. However, he is relatively new as an international player – but he did manage to score his first goal in the recent game against Ghana. His England record to date is 1 goal from 2 caps.

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Jermain Defoe has been another player that has been around the England set-up for some time and made a number of international appearances. His record for England is currently 15 goals from 45 appearances. In common with his Spurs teammate Peter Crouch, Defoe has also only scored 2 Premier League goals this season.

Darren Bent has consistently scored goals in the Premier League, but his appearances for the England team has been few and far between. To date his record for England reads 3 goals from 7 caps and in the Premier League this season, Bent has scored 11 goals.

The Verdict

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I am quite clear in my mind that all of the four players mentioned are natural strikers and can be clinical in front of goal. However, I mentioned at the top of this piece that players should be picked on form and not reputation; therefore I think Darren Bent and Andy Carroll should currently be ahead of the other two. If the next England game was tomorrow I would pick Darren Bent, because he has been playing Premier League football longer and has been very consistent. However, I would like to see Carroll given opportunities as well. Peter Crouch and Jermain Defoe should get themselves back in Premier League form in order to put themselves back in contention for a starting place with England.

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Spain coach Vicente Del Bosque has called on his players to carry on their good form and win Sunday's World Cup final.

After losing 1-0 to Switzerland in their first group game in South Africa, Spain went on to qualify for the last 16 by beating Honduras and Chile.

Since then they have edged past Portugal and Paraguay by a single goal before reaching the final with a 1-0 victory against Germany on Wednesday thanks to Carles Puyel's header.

Del Bosque is looking forward to Sunday's final against the Netherlands, saying:"All of our players were extraordinary – but we still have a match to play. We know Dutch football and it will be very tough in the final.

"From defence through to attack I think we played a great game.

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"We've got another game in front of us, let's see if we are able to control the ball. We're in good shape physically, so let's see if we can win."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

The FA have charged Liverpool striker Luis Suarez after investigating claims that he racially abused Manchester United defender Patrice Evra in the 1-1 draw between the sides at Anfield back in October.

The Uruguay international has pleaded his innocence since the French full backk made the claims over a month ago, and the English governing body have been reviewing the evidence.

The FA have revealed that Suarez has a case to answer, with a disciplinary sanction set to be handed down.

“The FA has today charged Liverpool’s Luis Suarez following an incident that occurred during the Liverpool versus Manchester United fixture at Anfield on 15 October 2011,” an official statement reads.

“It is alleged that Suarez used abusive and/or insulting words and/or behaviour towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra contrary to FA rules.

“It is further alleged that this included a reference to the ethnic origin and/or colour and/or race of Patrice Evra.

“The FA will issue no further comment at this time,” it states.

Liverpool have been quick to issue a statement of acknowledgment on behalf of the South American, who is currently returning from international duty.

“The club this afternoon received notification from the Football Association of their decision to charge Luis Suarez and will take time to properly review the documentation which has been sent to us,” reads a statement from Anfield.

“We will discuss the matter fully with him when he returns from international duty, but he will plead not guilty to the charge and we expect him to request a personal hearing.

“Luis remains determined to clear his name of the allegation made against him by Patrice Evra. The club remain fully supportive of Luis in this matter,” it concludes.

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Suarez’s incident was the first claim of racism in a month where a number of other cases in Premier League football have arose.

By Gareth McKnight

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Real Madrid cut Barcelona’s lead in La Liga to four points with a 2-0 win over Hercules, while Valencia were stunned by Real Zaragoza.A brace to France international Karim Benzema ensured Real kept pace with the league leaders, who will look to restore their seven-point lead when they visit Sevilla on Sunday.Benzema’s brace was the perfect warm-up for an impending visit from former club Lyon, who carry a 1-1 aggregate into the second leg of their Champions League last-16 tie on Wednesday.Real, playing without injured superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, went ahead in the 24th minute when Alvaro Arbeloa pulled back his pass on the right for the waiting Benzema, who coolly disposed of the ball beyond Hercules goalkeeper Calatayud.The hosts had plenty of opportunities to extend their advantage before Benzema finally did so in the 56th minute, the Frenchman picked out by Angel Di Maria’s cross for his ninth goal of the season.Elsewhere, Valencia’s hopes of a top-three finish took a dent when they were humbled 4-0 at Real Zaragoza.Czech midfielder Jiri Jarosik put the hosts ahead in just the fifth minute, and Ander’s first goal since September put Zaragoza 2-0 up in the 40th minute.Things only got worse for Valencia after the break, beginning with a second caution to Lithuanian defender Marius Stankevicius in the 65th minute.Gabi converted from the penalty spot following that infraction, and the Spaniard added a second penalty 11 minutes later after Valencia substitute Albelda fouled in the area.Valencia are safe in third for the time being, but fourth-placed Villarreal can move within a point of them with victory over Sporting Gijon on Sunday.Finally, Atletico Madrid were held to a 2-2 draw at lowly Almeria, despite a brace to prolific Argentinean Sergio Castillo.Crusat and Henok Goitom nabbed goals for Almeria to deny Atletico, who provisionally move up to eighth with the point.

Germany legend Franz Beckenbauer has wasted little time in beginning the war of words with a "stupid" England ahead of their World Cup last 16 clash.

Beckenbauer, who was rebuked last week after claiming England had 'returned to the bad old days of kick and rush' under head coach Fabio Capello, has again made headlines with his outspoken comments.

He has labelled England "stupid" for failing to win Group C and therefore setting up a last 16 clash with their old foes in Bloemfontein on Sunday.

The Three Lions booked their place in the knockout round with a 1-0 victory over Slovenia on Wednesday, but the narrow margin of victory allowed the United States to nip in and win the group.

"A game like this should be a semi-final, not a last 16 game," he told Bild

"Stupidly, the English have slipped up a little by finishing second in their group."

Meanwhile, Beckenbauer, who won the World Cup as a player and manager with West Germany, has questioned the fitness of the England players following a long Premier League season.

He continued:"The English look a little tired. There is a good reason for that: the Premier League players have got to play far more games than their Bundesliga colleagues, including two national cup competitions.

"Therefore, when it comes to a World Cup or a European Championships, they are burnt out.

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"Our players, on the other hand, seem to be in a physically better condition.

"Of course we respect them, but we certainly don't fear them.

"England's first two appearances at the World Cup were paltry, but they improved against Slovenia."Subscribe to Football FanCast News Headlines by Email

Sky Sports commented recently on Newcastle United’s occupation of 4th place in the Premier League and belittled the unbeaten North East side along with the majority of the top-flight, by suggesting the Magpies had not really played anybody yet. Nice to know, what Sky Sports thinks of Tottenham  and Arsenal, who both have travelled to St James’ Park this season and returned to the capital, with just a point apiece.

Now if I work on the same premise as Sky, then surely it is Chelsea, who have flattered to deceive this term. The Blues only having played the one somebody in their eyes in Manchester United. A game the Stamford Bridge outfit lost! Level on points with Newcastle, Chelsea have had wins against newly-promoted Swansea and Norwich along with West Brom, Sunderland, Bolton and Everton. Drawn against Stoke and lost to Queens Park Rangers in last Sunday’s ill-disciplined affair. A performance, which sees Andre Villas-Boas’ team stranded at the bottom of the Fair-Play League or as I prefer to see it, firm favourites for the Foul-Play League.

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It is no secret, that integral parts of the Chelsea team are starting to get on a bit. Frank Lampard and Didier Drogba probably being the two most noticeable in terms of age. However, Frank is the Blues’ top scorer in the league and Drogba gets my vote over Fernando Torres on any day that ends in Y. Summer signing Juan Mata looks a quality player and Ramires has been outstanding this season. Daniel Sturridge is showing real promise, while January arrival David Luiz is a central defender I really like the look of.

Chelsea have not become a bad team, but I can’t help thinking, that based on Sky’s definition of a nobody team, AVB’s boys have much sterner tests to come. Starting with their next fixture against a confident and rejuvenated Arsenal this weekend, who they will face without their tormenter-in-chief against the Gunners, Drogba. Jose Boswinga, will miss the Arsenal clash also, while Ashley Cole is already just a booking away from suspension and could quite probably miss the game with Liverpool should he see yellow in the near future.

A defeat to Arsenal and any sort of slip up against Kenny Daglish’s men could see Chelsea falling right off the pace at the summit of the Premier League. So what I would say to Sky is just perhaps reserve your judgement on Newcastle and we might all have a better idea of who are the pretenders and impostors come December 3rd, when Chelsea travel North to have a go at Alan Pardew’s side. On a final note, it’s strange how Sky, who have almost complete saturation of a league they describe as the best in the world, can dismiss the majority of it as rubbish. The fans pay your wages you imbeciles!!!!

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Rangers boss Walter Smith will field a strong side in their Europa League clash with Sporting Lisbon despite Sunday’s crunch match with Celtic.

Rangers trail their arch-rivals by five points on the Scottish Premier League table with two games in hand going into the trip to Celtic Park, but have the hosting of Sporting Lisbon on Thursday in the first leg of their round of 32 Europa League tie to get through first.

Smith hardly has the luxury of depth in his squad, but the former Scotland manager will not holding back for the meeting with the Portuguese heavyweights.

“It’s dead simple. Everyone keeps asking me this – you’ve got to win your games,” Smith said.

“If we put out a far weakened team or a reserve team, they lose the game and we put out a stronger team and they lose on Sunday, then you have lost two games.”

“You’ve got to try and win your games. It’s a silly circumstance for everybody to say you are involved in professional football and you don’t want to win a game. You’ve got to try and win the matches you are involved in.”

Sporting, like Rangers, have had financial issues inhibit their spending in the transfer market.

The similarities do not end there, with both clubs losing their top scorers in the January transfer window: Rangers sold Kenny Miller to Turkish side Bursaspor, while Sporting frontman Liedson was offloaded to Corinthians.

“If I look at the circumstances at the present moment, they are a little bit similar to ourselves in the sense that they look as though – from the outside – they have financial problems within their club,” Smith said.

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“They lost a couple of players in the (European) summer (and) like ourselves they lost their top goal-scorer … in the (January) transfer window.”

“So they have one or two problems getting a settled team at the present moment. If you look at all the problems we’ve had to endure over the last few years, both clubs are really in a very similar circumstance.”

1.Argentina have an embarassment of riches up front

Whilst Gonzalo Higuain may have grabbed the headlines (and the hastily awarded itv.com man of the match award), the impressive displays of his fellow attacking team-mates suggest that Argentina may have the best strikeforce at the World Cup. The way that Higuain managed to work in fluid synchronicity with the mesmeric Messi, industrious Tevez and tricky di Maria in a revolving quartet of creativity was a thing of pure beauty. Aside from the aforementioned foursome, Sergio Aguero managed to cap off an impressive 15-minute cameo with an assist, whilst treble-winning 30-goal hitman Diego Milito failed to even make it off the bench.

2.Players appear to be getting even stupider

A colleague of mine initially made this point on Tuesday in light of earlier World Cup events, but the petulant behaviour of Nigeria’s Sani Kaita must rank as the most idiotic act of stupidity that this tournament has seen so far. With his side 1-0 up against an anaemic Greece after 33 minutes, Kaita foolishly kicked out at Greece’s Vasilis Torisidis, in a move that ultimately cost his side three valuable points.

3.Individual mistakes can be decisive

Due to the short nature of international tournaments, the damaging effect of mistakes can be far crueller than those committed in domestic leagues. Yesterday we saw three players’ unfortunate gaffes directly lead to goals. Argentina’s ponytailed centre-back Martin Demichelis’ defensive error allowed Lee Chung-Yong to nip in and score an unlikely goal for South Korea. Nigeria’s Vincent Enyeama, whose performances up until the 71st minute of yesterday’s game had made him an early contender for player of the tournament, failed to control a tame shot and provided Vasilis Torosidis with the opportunity to net the winning goal for Greece. France centre-back Eric Abidal’s failure to stay in line with the rest of his defence allowed Mexico forward Javier Hernandez to beat the offside trap and coolly slot the ball past Hugo Lloris.

4.Sacre bleu!

France are bad. Really bad. Although yesterday’s limp display was an ever so slight improvement upon their showing against Uruguay, it is clear that there are deep problems existing within the French camp. On the brink of an ignominious first-round elimination, France deservedly lost to a well-drilled Mexico side. Raymond Domenech’s side looked disjointed and unimaginative, failing to create any clear chances and displaying a woeful lack of fluency. Although the players must share the blame, questions must be asked of the much-maligned outgoing manager, who has woefully mismanaged an undeniably talented group of footballers.

5.The boot-iful game

For some of the world’s biggest companies, the World Cup is an unbelievable platform for product placement. Whilst watching the three games yesterday, I couldn’t help but notice the ridiculous number of players wearing the same orange and silver Nike boots (apparently the boot in question is known as the “Mercurial Vapor Superfly II”). Having been alerted to their prevalence during Argentina v South Korea, I decided to tally up the number of players wearing them in the day’s subsequent games; Greece v Nigeria & France v Mexico featured no less than twenty (yes, TWENTY) players sporting said boots. According to Nike statistics, 40% of all players at this summer’s World Cup are wearing them.

Given that Carlos Tevez and Georgios Samaras were spotted wearing them, it seems as though they’re suited to both excellent and completely rubbish footballers alike.

Follow me on twitter at www.twitter.com/zarifrasul

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Click image below to see a gallery of the Brazilian babes at the World Cup

QPR continued their superb start to the season with a comprehensive win over Wolves at Molineux to send Neil Warnocks side up to ninth in the Premier League.

Skipper Joey Barton opened his account for the R’s with a goal in the eight minute which was quickly followed by a strike by Alejandro Faurlin leaving the Wolves fans speechless.

DJ Campbell completed the scoring after half time to put a smile on manager Neil Warnocks face as his side made it four points in six days after Monday’s 0-0 draw with Newcastle.

The visitors were quick out of the blocks with Shaun Wright-Phillips clearly relishing his new role at the club. He was afforded room to run at the Wolves defence all afternoon and was heavily involved in the opening goal.

As the home side’s defence backed off he laid the ball into Barton’s path and the former Newcastle midfielder had no hesitation in lashing the ball past Wayne Hennessey from the edge of the area.

Faurlin doubled that lead two minutes lated crashing a 20-yard effort into the top corner with Hennessey unable to keep it despite getting a hand to the ball.

Mick McCarthy’s side responded well and captain Karl Henry struck the post amid protest for a penalty whilst Stephen Ward went close after he found some space in the Rangers area.

But they never managed to make the breakthrough and a Barton inspired away side as DJ Campbell wrapped up victory with three minutes left.

[divider]

The goals are flying in around the Football League today and it took no fewer than 10 minutes for the six Goaldash numbers to come flying in.

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Are you in the money? Have you won a Million? Check the Goaldash numbers below:

Harry Redknapp said Tottenham will need a miracle to make the top four this season and he won’t be wrong if the North Londoners have to persist with this strike-force, which wasted gilt edged chances in what proved to be a one-sided game for the large part.

Chance after chance went begging and Holloway won’t believe his luck after Spurs had three shots cleared off the line, as well as finding his goalkeeper in inspired form. Tottenham to be fair created enough chances to win three games tonight and Harry Redknapp will be ruing this missed opportunity to move into the top three. The 3-1 victory certainly flattered the hosts, but that will prove little consolation to the travelling Tottenham faithful who made the journey tonight.

So how do Tottenham fans feel about tonight and what are the five things we learnt about Spurs tonight?