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    Ex-Premier League referee Mark Halsey slams decision to give Portugal penalty at World Cup against Uruguay as ‘shocking’

    PORTUGAL secured their place in the World Cup last-16 after a win over Uruguay.Bruno Fernandes scored the opener, although Cristiano Ronaldo is claiming it, before he converted a controversial late penalty to seal a 2-0 victory.
    Ex-Premier League referee Mark Halsey writes exclusively to Sun SportCredit: Getty
    The ref pointed to the spot for a handball against Jose Maria GimenezCredit: Getty
    Here former Premier League ref Mark Halsey explains why the spot-kick was the wrong call:
    Poortugal’s late penalty – awarded after a VAR intervention – against Uruguay was a shocking decision.
    Iranian referee Alireza Faghani pointed to the spot for a handball against Jose Maria Gimenez after he was nutmegged by Bruno Fernandes.
    This was a really poor call by the officials.
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    Uruguay defender Gimenez went to block the ball.
    But he was falling over and his arm was behind him to break his fall.
    He did not make his body bigger, it was not a deliberate act and the proximity was also a factor.
    This was not a clear and obvious error so I have no idea why VAR official Abdulla Al-Marri of Qatar even got involved.
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    Ref Faghani should have been stronger and stuck with his original decision.
    Even his body language after viewing the monitor suggested he did not want to give the penalty. 
    Fernandes’ spot-kick could be crucial in determining who qualifies from Group H after it sealed a 2-0 win.

    Luis Suarez and his teammates will now have to face a Ghana side intent on revenge in their final group game.
    Ghana sit second on four points from two games after the win over South Korea earlier.
    But Uruguay, who have one from their two outings so far, can overtake them with a win. More

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    Harry Redknapp: Gareth Bale is now arguably Wales’ best EVER.. but Kieffer Moore is World Cup 2022 secret weapon

    IT WAS easy to see why Gareth Bale got all the headlines after winning — and scoring — the penalty that earned Wales a point against the United States.I’d now rate him alongside John Charles as the greatest Welsh footballer of all time — and as someone who saw the Gentle Giant play, I never thought I’d say that.
    Gareth Bale has already made his mark on the World Cup for WalesCredit: Getty
    Harry Redknapp thinks he knows how Wales can make it through the groupCredit: Splash
    What a career he’s had — and what a dream he is for a manager. I know that as well as anyone after working with him at Tottenham.
    He’s very similar to Luka Modric in that they’re both family men, both great trainers, great attitudes, perfect role models… as is Harry Kane, I should point out.
    You’re never worried about picking up the paper and seeing pictures of any of them falling out of a nightclub or making the wrong sort of headlines.
    When he took the penalty against the US, there was no doubt where it was ending up.

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    It might sound obvious but what a striker of a football Gareth is.
    So Gareth scored the goal and got the spotlight… but he wasn’t the one who changed the game for Wales.
    That was Kieffer Moore, who came on at half-time and gave a perfect example of everything I say about the modern game — that the age of the big, bullocking centre- forward has gone.
    Years ago every team would have a Duncan Ferguson-type figure. A forward who’d put themselves about, be a real nuisance and was generally just a real handful.
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    And the centre-halves trying to cope with them obviously had to be big and strong as well to meet the challenge.
    If you were up against a 6ft 4in fella built like a brick outhouse, you would have to be a certain build yourself or you would just be bullied out of it.
    But the modern striker is all about movement, buzzing around, and the centre-backs changed accordingly. They got smaller as well — became more footballing defenders.
    So when Wales chucked Moore into the equation on Monday, suddenly they were a totally different team and the States really couldn’t cope.
    Kieffer Moore could be the answer to Wales’ World Cup hopesCredit: Reuters
    There was a focal point to the team, which allowed Bale to get forward and on the ball a lot more… and we saw what happened.
    Now, at 33, Gareth’s not running past opponents so much but popping up all over the pitch — and he only needs half a yard in that final third to get a shot away.
    As for Moore, I’ve seen a lot of him at Bournemouth this season and he wins virtually every header he goes for, whether it’s corners, free-kicks or long balls from the back.
    You play it up to him, he holds it up, backs into defenders and puts the fear of God up them because they’re simply not used to playing against blokes like him any more.
    These days everyone wants to be a No 10, strolling around the place, buzzing round feet.
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    Kieffer is a great throwback to the old-school strikers but the other night he was the one who changed everything for Wales.
    He might not have got the headlines his performance deserved — but I’m sure he got plenty off Gareth and the rest of the Welsh lads, because they’ve got a right chance now. More

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    Ben Hunt: Classic races, huge crashes and juicy scandals… here are my F1 2022 season awards

    ANOTHER F1 season ends — and we have had excellent races and even better rows.Here, SunSport’s motor racing correspondent Ben Hunt dishes out his awards for the 2022 campaign…
    Max Verstappen won a record 15 races this seasonCredit: Getty
    BEST RACE
    British GP. The incident-packed race at Silverstone was a classic, from the Just Stop Oil protesters on the circuit to the massive smash for Zhou Guanyu.
    Carlos Sainz was a popular winner in the paddock.
    BEST DRIVER
    Max Verstappen’s 15 wins in a season is a new F1 record. Last year he scraped his first title in controversial circumstances, this time he smashed it.
    The Dutchman has been excellent. Yes, he has had a dominant car but he still had to deliver and has done so with few mistakes.
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    BEST BRIT
    George Russell took his maiden F1 victory in Brazil and finished the season in fourth place in the championship.
    Not bad for someone whom many had written off against a team-mate who is a seven-time world champion. He has not been outclassed by Lewis Hamilton.
    BIGGEST SHOCK
    Mercedes’ struggle caught everyone out. In pre-season testing they looked strong but a dreadful car design left them with bouncing problems, causing headaches for drivers  and  designers.
    They must do better over the winter with their car to have half a chance of fighting Verstappen next season.
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    Zhou Guanyu survived a horror smash at SilverstoneCredit: PA
    Lewis Hamilton has a nightmare season as he went a year without a win for the first timeCredit: Reuters
    BIGGEST CRASH
    Zhou’s smash at Silverstone was sensational. It was a miracle he survived and that is all thanks to the halo cockpit protection system.
    Mick Schumacher had a big shunt too in Saudi Arabia, which saw him airlifted to hospital for a check up.
    BIGGEST SCANDAL
    The cost-cap row rumbled on for four races. This dreary piece of F1’s giant rulebook sent the rumour mill wild.
    Accusations about leaks and how rival teams found out the details, plus all the lobbying, caused plenty of political tensions.
    BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
    Ferrari. The Italians designed the quickest car but were let down by poor reliability and dreadful mistakes, especially on their strategy.
    Team boss Mattia Binotto is fighting for his future but needs a new chief strategist.
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    BIGGEST EXCITEMENT FOR 2023
    The Las Vegas Grand Prix is going to be special. Packages for the showpiece are being priced up to $1million, with huge events planned around the weekend.
    It is the penultimate race of 24 — more than ever — with a further six sprint events on top. More

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    Richarlison wouldn’t make the England squad, Brazilians are always hyped but I think he’s no better than Callum Wilson

    HERE we go at last with the greatest show on earth and fingers crossed England will finally go all the way.I’ve no doubt they can but you do need a bit of magic to win a World Cup and I think Gareth Southgate has just the man for the job.
    Harry Redknapp writes exclusively for The SunCredit: Louis Wood
    He believes that Jack Grealish must start for the Three Lions against IranCredit: Getty
    Now it’s just a case of picking him and I have to be honest and admit I have my doubts as to whether that will happen.
    I’ve said before if Jack Grealish played for any other country, they’d build the whole team around him.
    But when it comes to England he struggles to even get in, from the start at least.
    Let’s be honest, England begin their tournament against Iran and, with all due respect, they shouldn’t give us any trouble.
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    So it is a chance to really get at them and show what fantastic attacking players we’ve got — which means Grealish MUST start for me.
    It is not just me who is a big fan of the Manchester City star either.
    I watched him against Chelsea in the League Cup this month and just wanted him to get the ball.
    And I remember speaking to Harry Kane and him telling me he loves to play with Jack because of those little balls he plays into the pockets around the box.
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    It’s those 15-yard passes when he backs in, turns and gets a shot off.
    That works with Harry so much and Grealish is the perfect man to provide the service.
    I always loved to work on that with every team I’ve had and Jack just loves making an angle and getting that ball into his feet.
    It might not be the first England partnership that springs to mind but it’s one I could see causing problems for any side in the world.
    And it should certainly cause plenty for Iran.
    Jack would always be one of the first names on my teamsheet but for some reason Gareth never seems to fancy him.
    I don’t want to see him coming on late in games to try and change them — I really want him on from the kick-off.
    Look, it’s Iran, so we will dominate the ball and we need players who can make a difference against a side that will sit in.
    We need matchwinners and players who can beat people and make things happen.
    And for me that means we need obviously Grealish.

    Richarlison would not get anywhere near Harry Redknapp’s England teamCredit: Rex
    I feel with the likes of Harry, Jack, Phil Foden and Bukayo Saka buzzing around —  not to mention Raheem Sterling and Marcus Rashford — we have some fantastic attackers.
    Everyone goes on about Brazil’s forwards but look at our stars and it’s amazing.
    Spurs’ Richarlison is in Qatar and might even be in Brazil’s team but I honestly don’t think he’d get in the England squad.
    He’s decent enough but I really don’t see him as any better than Callum Wilson, and certainly nowhere near Kane’s class. And there are a couple of others I’d probably have ahead of him as well.
    Because he’s Brazilian, everyone raves about him but I’m telling you our options are just as good.
    I only hope they prove it this time, because once we’re out of the group — and we will be, there’s not the slightest doubt about that —  I would fancy England against any team in a one-off match.
    Maybe we wouldn’t win nine times out of ten but there’s certainly no side we should be scared of.
    It does come down to the luck of the draw and the path you get through the tournament — but why shouldn’t it be England?
    I’d love to think this is our time again but if not I’ve a funny feeling it could be the Lionel Messi show.
    I just have a hunch he could take the World Cup by storm and — if it is not England — I’d probably just about go for Argentina.
    But that’s only if it isn’t England and hopefully this time it will be as we’ve waited long enough! More

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    Qatar ready for World Cup curtain-raiser, but you wouldn’t normally bother opening them for this underwhelming kick-off

    AFTER a dozen years of raging controversy over corruption, tragedies and hideous human-rights abuses, we finally get to the actual football.This may be a World Cup in a nation which is too small, played at the wrong time of year and in a culture alien to most of us.
    Qatar and Ecuador will meet in the World Cup curtain raiser at the Al Bayt StadiumCredit: Getty
    The 22nd World Cup gets underway in Qatar on SundayCredit: AP
    But, four weeks from now, that famous golden trophy will be lifted and champions will be crowned.
    Fifa’s increasingly-deranged boss Gianni Infantino — a man who staged a love-in with Vladimir Putin at the last World Cup — has been ordering us to concentrate on football rather than politics.
    So here we go then, at 4pm UK time, a curtain-raiser to the greatest sporting jamboree on Earth which you normally wouldn’t open your curtains to watch if it was being played in your back garden.
    Qatar, ranked 50th in the world, against Ecuador, 44th in the standings — two nations who possibly shouldn’t even be at the World Cup at all.
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    Hosts Qatar have never qualified for the finals, while their opponents have been up to their necks in bother over the eligibility of full-back Byron Castillo — an affair which almost saw them kicked out.
    And after this tournament, won by the Qataris under false pretences, was moved from summer to winter, this fixture was switched from Monday to Sunday in a World Cup that they are making up as they go along.
    At least the latest U-turn, the 11th-hour banning of alcohol inside stadiums — for rank-and-file supporters but not the corporate freeloaders, of course — could be seen as a minor triumph for human rights.
    Any beer lover will tell you that the inability to pay 12 quid for a Budweiser is a blessing rather than a curse.
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    To be in Doha in the build-up to this tournament is a deeply strange experience.
    This is a hastily-constructed, ultra-modern metropolis built around what was a small, traditional Arab city — at the cost of the lives of thousands of mistreated migrant workers — the skyscrapers as well as the tournament’s eight stadia, all within 30 miles of one another.
    But despite the cultural differences and the moral outrages, you can still discover pockets of World Cup fever.
    In central Doha, you will see thousands of locals walking around in replica Argentina shirts with Lionel Messi’s name and No 10 on their backs.
    As soon as their own team are dumped out — and Qatar are highly likely to follow South Africa as the only previous World Cup host nation to exit at the group stage — they will throw their weight behind Messi and Co.
    The little maestro’s move to Qatari-owned Paris Saint-Germain made sure of that.
    Downtown Doha is now starting to resemble the united-nations melting pot of previous World Cups — the Latin Americans, in particular, travelling in vast numbers as they always do.
    Scores of global TV companies have set up their studios in front of the Souq Waqif — the historic marketplace which gives their coverage a rare backdrop of authentic Arab culture in this marble-and-concrete jungle.
    Close by, dozens of soporific camels doze around.
    And at a neighbouring booth, tourists are invited to ‘Try On Qatari Dress — It’s Amazing!’
    But football fans must strive to find an oasis of western hedonism in this desert.
    On the 14th floor of a central hotel, there is an Irish bar serving Guinness at £15 a pint to supporters with deep pockets and raging thirsts from every corner of the globe.
    Qatar won the right to stage this World Cup, way back in 2010, thanks to Fifa corruption — with their crooked former boss Sepp Blatter recently admitting this had been a mistake due to the host nation’s inadequate size.
    As culture wars raged over migrant-worker deaths and the illegality of homosexuality in Qatar — as well as those beer prices — many who would normally follow England at major tournaments chose to stay well away.
    And that was before an appalling Qatari World Cup ambassador recently described homosexuality as a ‘damage of the mind’.
    These issues have completely overshadowed Qatar’s own footballing prospects.
    Their Spanish manager Felix Sanchez presides over a squad consisting entirely of players who compete in Qatar’s domestic league — and who have been frequently withdrawn from club matches to go on lengthy remote training camps.
    Sanchez said: “We consider ourselves very competitive and worthy of being here, even if the favourites, on paper, should be Ecuador.
    “We are a small country and have to work with what we’ve got. The players have spent long periods of time, making a massive sacrifice, being away from their families, outside of the country, to make sure we are as competitive as possible.”
    Given the brown-envelope culture which earned Qatar this World Cup, it was little surprise that Sanchez was asked about internet conspiracies suggesting Ecuador’s players had been offered bribes to throw Sunday’s opening match.
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    He replied: “There is a lot of dangerous misinform­ation on the internet but we have prepared for many years to prove we are strong and competitive.
    “Nobody will destabilise us, we are not affected by it and we are excited and motivated for this historic day.”
    The Al Bayt Stadium is ready to play host to the opening game of the World CupCredit: Getty More

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    Steven Gerrard was our leader in 2014, when we went out the energy drained from him, says Sun columnist Jack Wilshere

    JACK WILSHERE has made his peace with no longer being a player.Now coaching the Arsenal Under-18s, Wilshere has become fully immersed in the all-  consuming life of planning training sessions, analysing data, systems, man-management and picking the team.
    Jack Wilshire is part of The Sun’s World Cup panelCredit: Louis Wood
    He will be providing our readers with his analysis on England’s campaignCredit: Reuters
    He was, of course, one of the most gifted midfielders of this generation — before injuries cruelly cut short his career.
    So now Wilshere has become a Sun World Cup columnist, who will be giving readers the benefit of his knowledge from competing on the biggest stages for Arsenal and England and  learning the ropes as a fledgling coach at the Emirates.
    Still only 30, a fully-fit Wilshere would probably have been in Qatar. But he’s not bitter, he’s philosophical about how life has turned out.
    Yet Wilshere still looks back on his England career wondering what might have been, with a plea to the current squad to make this opportunity count.
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    Wilshere said: “In 2018 when I was watching the World Cup on TV I was thinking, ‘I should have been there.’ It was difficult viewing.
    “I was close to selection and fit when Gareth picked the squad — but I’d got an injury during one of the earlier camps, which would have been the chance to show him what I could do. I still feel I should have gone though. But I’ve accepted I’m finished with playing.
    “I’ve got my head around it, I’m just concentrating on coaching and loving it.
    “Earlier in the season we played Tottenham and I was sat thinking about the game and how we would play, then one of my coaches asked if I missed being out there playing and I actually realised that I didn’t.
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    “I don’t get that feeling any more. That’s credit to the Under-18 team I’ve been working with, they’re top, they give everything — they make me think and challenge me.
    “Arsenal are doing so well now and I’m there in the directors’ box with my boss Per Mertesacker.
     “We are talking about the game and what we need to do to get our Under-18 players to that level.
    “My thought process is completely different to when I was a player.”
    Wilshere recalls when he knew the game was up for him on the field.
    He had gone to Denmark to try and resurrect his career after spells at Bournemouth and West Ham — but realised he was kidding himself that he could recover and get back to being the midfielder he once was.
    Wilshere added: “If I’m honest my body completely gave up in Denmark, which was really frustrating. People were looking at me and I wanted to show them what I was about.

    “I could still see the pictures in my head but my body wouldn’t allow me to get round the pitch to react to those images. It was mainly my ankle but I had a few problems with my knee as well. Strangely, since I stopped playing my ankle and knee are starting to feel good. Now it’s my back which is giving me problems!”
    A World Cup brings back bitter-sweet memories for Wilshere.
    He was chosen by Roy Hodgson for the 2014 tournament in Brazil — but England were out after two games having lost to Italy and Uruguay.
    His experience tells him that it is vital England start well in their opener against Iran on Monday, otherwise the campaign can unravel very quickly and stress levels go through the roof.
    He remembers how the pressure affected Hodgson and the captain Steven Gerrard, who quit the national team.
    Wilshere said: “When I went off to the World Cup it was a dream come true.
    “Then I was given the No 7 shirt which was David Beckham’s, who was my hero growing up, and it couldn’t have been better. But I didn’t start the first game, I just came on as we lost to Italy.
    “Then I didn’t feature in the Uruguay defeat and, by the time I played in the third match against Costa Rica, we were already out. And we had prepared what I thought was so well for the Italy match.
    “We even went for warm-weather training in Portugal, wore big coats and bin bags to acclimatise for the humidity in Manaus, we put a lot of importance on that game.
    “But we were told to let Andrea Pirlo have the ball because, although he was a gifted player, his legs had gone. What a mistake that was. He was the best player on the pitch, we couldn’t get near him.
    “You could feel pressure building up after Italy — and could see the stress in the manager’s eyes. It’s tough being in the camp when it’s going wrong.
    Steven Gerrard’s mistake let Luis Suarez score and knockout England in 2014Credit: Getty Images – Getty
    “Then we lost the game against Uruguay that we couldn’t really afford to lose and Stevie G gave a goal away when he headed it on to Luis Suarez for their winner.
    “Like Beckham, Stevie G was an idol of mine, so to be in the same England World Cup squad as him was a big thrill — but I ended up feeling so sorry for him.
    “He was our captain and leader of the group. He had been fantastic with me but, after that game, the energy just drained away from him.
    “We were out and he’d given a goal away. He wasn’t really a loud type, he led by the examples he set.
    “Me, Danny Welbeck and Luke Shaw had watched him as one of England’s best players as we grew up. We looked up to him.
    “However, you could see in his demeanour that he was very low and it was tough to see your leader like that. He’d been through it before at World Cups and this was the end for him.
    “So my overriding feeling was I felt sorry for him, I really did. But that’s what tournaments like this can do to you.
    “All fans are focused on it, the pressures are huge — and starting well is so important to build momentum.
    “Hopefully for our captain this time it will be a happy story.
    “I don’t want to be writing about England disappointment, I want to be telling Sun readers how England won it.” More

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    Troy Deeney: England have World Cup 2022 squad capable of going all the way… but Southgate’s lack of Plan B a concern

    GARETH SOUTHGATE has picked a squad capable of going all the way at the World Cup this winter.But my main concern is what to do if Plan A isn’t working?
    Southgate’s squad is capable of winning the tournamentCredit: EPA
    All but James (standing far left) will be going to Qatar to play for EnglandCredit: Reuters
    SunSport’s Deeney has picked the team he thinks Southgate will select to face Iran
    Southgate’s system has taken England to a level we’ve not seen for a long time at the last two tournaments.
    But what if that comes unstuck late on in a game?
    In England squads of old there would always be a Peter Crouch figure — or even Rickie Lambert —  who could come on and be the focal point for a late bombardment.
    We’ve got some incredible crossers of the ball in Kieran Trippier and Trent Alexander-Arnold, but there isn’t really anyone for them to hit when England need to mix things up.
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    I for one certainly don’t want to see Harry Kane battling for headers, he needs to be the one having the ball knocked down to him so he can finish.
    I fear they’ll just keep playing passes slowly forward and get the midfielders and wing-backs into attacking positions, even if it’s not quite working.
    James Maddison
    There was always going to be a lot of noise around James, whether he was in Southgate’s squad or not.
    It might have been three years since his one and only cap for England, but he HAD to be part of this group.
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    England’s 26-man squad for the World Cup
    I can’t see him starting many games, if any, but he could be the maverick that England need when things get tough.
    He’s got bags of self-belief — and he and Jack Grealish are two players who you just need to give the ball to and let them do what they do.
    Some teams will back off and ask England to try and break them down.
    That is where he will make a difference and get into those little pockets of space as he does for Leicester.
    He is the sort to try a difficult pass or a 30-yard shot, he might even bend a crucial free-kick into a top corner.
    He’s a wonderful option to have off the bench, a great asset if we’re chasing the game or struggling to break through.
    Maddison has been drafted in for the World Cup after his unstoppable formCredit: PA
    Ivan Toney
    I thought Southgate would only take two out-and-out strikers.
    If things go to plan then only one of them, Kane, is really going to be playing, but I would still have liked to see Toney get in there.
    He offers some thing different, he could have been that physical presence needed for a different approach.
    Ivan isn’t a physical presence in the old sense — he’s not a big lump like me — he can still run, still play and do all required from a modern-day No 9.
    But he’s also got the know-how from playing in the lower leagues and could rough people up a bit.
    He’s also arguably the best penalty taker in the Prem. I thought we may have learned our lesson a bit from the Euros last year.
    If we’re going to end up with penalties, instead of throwing Marcus Rashford on at right-back late on, why not Ivan?
    He is used to taking high-pressure penalties. I wanted him there for a shootout.
    Toney has missed out with Kane being the only out-and-out striker in the squadCredit: Getty
    Conor Coady
    One person I am pleased to see going to Qatar is Coady.
    Just like at the last Euros, he might not even get on the pitch at all in the Middle East, but he is such a good character to have around the squad.
    Similar to Jordan Henderson, he is a fantastic leader.
    I dealt with both of them a lot during the captains’ meetings during the pandemic. Whenever you’re around Conor he is a calming influence.
    Everton loan defender Conor and Jordan know what is required of the fringe players.
    There’s the first 11 and ultimately you need 10 or 11 cheerleaders, to push them daily and make sure they’re at the peak of their powers.
    On-loan Everton ace Coady is on the plane, being picked over Fikayo Tomori and Marc GuehiCredit: Getty
    Midfield is key
    Most of the starting XI is decided. I would say eight or nine starters, barring injury, are nailed on.
    I’d build my team around Declan Rice and Jude Bellingham. Those two could be the midfield pairing for ten years.
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    The back five is straightforward, Trippier and Luke Shaw are my wing-backs  with Kyle Walker (who was England’s best player at Euro 2020 last summer), John Stones and Harry Maguire making the three.
    Either side of Kane is where you can move things around, with great options in Bukayo Saka, Phil Foden, Raheem Sterling or Mason Mount.
    Rice and Bellingham could be England’s midfield for the next decadeCredit: Kevin Quigley-The Daily Mail More

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    Harry Redknapp: James Maddison one of my two favourite Prem players… in ANY other country he’d be on plane to World Cup

    ASSUMING the hospitals aren’t full of broken England players, we are entering a big week for Gareth Southgate.The Three Lions manager names his 26-man squad for the World Cup on Thursday.
    James Maddison has been in exceptional form for some time now and Harry Redknapp is a big fanCredit: Reuters
    Maddison’s only England cap came back in 2019Credit: AFP or licensors
    Right now, it’s a wonder he will fill the team coach with so many players going down injured – such a dilemma for managers of both clubs and country.
    It’s natural that players with World Cup hopes will have the tournament on their minds, even though their only concern is the next Premier League match – and rightly so.
    Trying to pick a squad is almost as exhausting as a training session in the Qatar heat.
    England seem blessed in some positions but recent fitness issues leave Southgate down to the bare bones in others.
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    Defence is a nightmare in particular. I was so sorry to see Ben Chilwell become the latest casualty, with his hamstring injury playing for Chelsea, and I wish him a speedy recovery.
    As a manager, I always loved exciting, attacking players who can do the unexpected. Footballers with a touch of the artist within.
    It’s why I am such a huge fan of James Maddison. Him and Jack Grealish are two of my favourite midfielders.
    But Maddison, in particular, I feel especially sorry for. He is playing well in a struggling team this season at Leicester.
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    Six league strikes tells you he still has his eye for a goal and his drive for the team is impressive.
    In any other country, a player like Maddison would be on the plane to the World Cup without a moment’s hesitation.
    He is a clever player but, unfortunately for him, there are a lot of them around at present.
    Grealish, Phil Foden, Bukayo Saka, Mason Mount – not all exactly the same, but all players who can unlock opposition teams.
    Given the nature of international football these days and maybe a little to do with the conditions despite air-conditioned stadiums – there will be a lot of tight games.
    Grealish, Maddison and the others will be needed more than ever to make a breakthrough.
    Up front we are in good shape. Harry Kane, barring a disaster, is clearly the leader of the dressing room. In terms of out-and-out strikers I’d also take Ivan Toney and Callum Wilson.
    Wilson, I know, had his injury problems but he is in great form at the moment.
    Sun Columnist Redknapp would love Maddison to go to the World CupCredit: PA
    Redknapp has been massively impressed by Jude Bellingham captaining Dortmund and 19Credit: Getty
    Sure, it’s a gamble taking him and he hasn’t played for England for three years. But at every tournament there seems to be a surprise player who comes from nowhere into the reckoning.
    Putting him and Brentford’s Toney alongside Kane would be the perfect trio to choose from. All three are experienced penalty-takers, too.
    With those close games coming, it would be an asset for Southgate to be able to bring on three experienced penalty-takers. Instead of having to rely on rookies such as Jadon Sancho and Saka to cope with that pressure like they did last summer at the Euro 2020 final.
    In midfield, I am such a fan of Jude Bellingham. To be captain of Borussia Dortmund at 19 tells you a lot of what this boy is about.
    What a few weeks this lad could have. I am so looking forward to seeing his maturity up against the best in the world.
    The rest of the midfield picks itself but I would take James Ward-Prowse. What a club player he is. A proper midfielder, as I would say. A great all-rounder who should be at a top-six club.
    In defence, we are so short it’s a case of every man standing coming along.
    By the way, I can’t understand the debate about Trent Alexander-Arnold. He can look vulnerable to a ball inside him, or to balls at the back post. But it’s nothing that 20 minutes extra a day wouldn’t solve.
    At Portsmouth I had similar issues with Glen Johnson. He relied so much on pace that his positioning sometimes went out of kilter.
    Alexander-Arnold is just the same — but reset him and he can be a huge asset to the squad.

    MEMORIES OF RONNIE
    Hereford fans paid tribute to Ronnie Radford ahead of their FA Cup first round tieCredit: PA
    IT was so sad to hear about the passing of Ronnie Radford this week.
    His stunning goal against Newcastle in the 1972 FA Cup should be cherished forever as an iconic moment in the competition.
    That was the third round of course and, in the fourth, West Ham went to Edgar Street fearing another upset. I was playing for the Hammers at the time.
    We drew 0-0 there and the replay would make for a great quiz question. Due to an energy crisis, much like today’s, the replay was not under the lights in midweek but played on a Monday lunchtime to save us putting on the floodlights at Upton Park.
    There was also a three-day week in operation at the time so more than 42,000 people squeezed into Upton Park and on the roof of the flats behind the old North Bank. What an image that was.
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    Geoff Hurst had little time for the romance of the Cup — sticking a hat-trick past Hereford.
    But what a performance from Ronnie and the Hereford lads. God bless. More