Domenech whittled his squad down

The 32-year-old Arsenal defender has been sidelined since aggravating a left calf injury on 31 March and was the first player to arrive at France's pre-finals training camp in the Alps on Saturday. He has been training individually with Les Bleus' physical trainer Robert Duverne and Domenech said he was enthused by his progress. Raymond Domenech revealed on Tuesday that his biggest concern surrounding the France squad prior to the beginning of the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa was the fitness of centre-back William Gallas. Should Gallas fail to prove his fitness in time, one option available to Domenech would be to move Jeremy Toulalan from defensive midfield into central defence, where he has played with distinction for Lyon this season.

Domenech would only admit that it was "possible" that Toulalan could be asked to play in central defence in one of France's pre-tournament friendlies and used the same word when asked if playmaker Yoann Gourcuff could be deployed in a deeper midfield role in front of the defence. France's first friendly game against Costa Rica in Lens takes place on 26 May. Domenech added that Gallas was France's only injury concern but conceded that captain and talisman Thierry Henry was low on confidence after an underwhelming season at Barcelona. The Catalan giants retained the Spanish title on Sunday but Henry, 32, made just 15 starts in the league and scored only four goals.

The FIFA World Cup begins on 11 June. Domenech on Monday whittled his squad down to 24 players, having originally named a provisional squad of 30, but he will have to leave out another player before submitting his final 23-man squad to FIFA by 1 June.

THE WORLD CUP'S GOLDEN AND SILVER BALL

THE WORLD CUPS GOLDEN AND SILVER BALLER

1982 SPAIN : PAOLO ROSSI, FALCAO

1986 MEXICO : DIEGO MARADONA, HARALD SCHUMACHER

1990 ITALY : SALVATORE SCHILLACI, LOTHAR MATTHAUS

1994 USA : ROMARIO, ROBERTO BAGGIO

1998 FRANCE : RONALDO, DAVOR SUKAR

2002 KOREA/JAPAN : OLIVER KAHN, RONALDO

2006 GERMANY : ZINEDINE ZIDANE, FABIO CANNAVARO

ARSENAL : CURRENT COACHING STAFF

The Arsenal's coaching staff

MANAGER : ARSENE WENGER

ASSISTANT MANAGER : PAT RICE

FIRST TEAM COACH : BORO PRIMORAC

RESERVE TEAM COACH : NEIL BANFIELD

YOUTH TEAM COACH : STEVE BOULD

GOALKEEPING COACH : GERRY PEYTON

FITNESS COACH : TONY COLBERT

PHYSIOTHERAPIST : COLIN LEWIN

CLUB DOCTOR : GARY O'DRISCOLL

KIT MANAGER : VIC AKERS

CHIEF SCOUT : STEVE ROWLEY

HEAD OF YOUTH DEVELOPMENT : LIAM BRADY

LASSANA DIARRA

Personal Identity Of Lassana Diarra

Full Name : Lassana Diarra

Date of Birth : March 10, 1985

Place of Birth : Paris, France

Height : 1.72 m (5 ft 7 1/2 in)

Playing position : Defensive Midfielder

Current Club : Real Madrid

Number : 10

Senior Career

2003-2005 : Le Havre

2005-2007 : Chelsea

2007-2008 : Arsenal

2008-2009 : Portsmouth

2009- : Real Madrid

National Team

2005-2006 : France U21

2007- : France

ARSENE WENGER pics

NETHERLAND'S MOST GOAL SCORED

The Netherland's footballer who have made most goals

1. Patrick Kluivert, 40 goals (1994-2004)
2. Dennis Bergkamp, 37 goals (1990-2000)
3. Faas Wilkes, 35, (1946-1961)
4. Abe Lenstra, 33, (1940-1959)
5. Johan Cruyf, 33, (1966-1977)
6. Ruud van Nistelrooy, 33, (1998- )
7. Beb Bakhuys, 28, (1928-1937)
8. Kick Smit, 26, (1935-1946)
9. Marco van Basten, 24, (1983-1992)

Mario Bolatti PROFILE

Mario Ariel Bolatti is an Argentine footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Serie A club Fiorentina and the Argentine national team. He was born February 17, 1985 in La Para, Cordoba, Argentine. He plays for Huracan for the Clausara 2009 upon recommendation from Porto teammate Lucho Gonzalez. On 18 January 2010 he was transfered to Serie A club Fiorentina.

Mexico completed their third win

Following wins over Senegal in Chicago and Angola in Houston, Mexico beat Chile in Mexico City thanks to Alberto Medina's 14th-minute goal. Mexico completed their third straight 1-0 win to keep their preparations for the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa on track. Any hopes Chile had of mounting a comeback effectively ended on the hour mark when Manuel Iturra was sent off just two minutes after coming on. Iturra was shown a straight red card for bringing down Andres Guardado from behind. Medina, who also scored the winner against Senegal after coming on as a substitute, received a pass from Cuauhtemoc Blanco on the edge of the box before firing home a left-foot shot.

WORLD CUP 1982 picture

MARADONA and HIS SQUADS

Fortunately for Maradona, leading at world level is only made more difficult when a manager tries to impose a model and he is with best suited for this work as all he has to do is get these talented squads to play at their best.
30 man players for Argentina is viewed below.

Goalkeepers: Sergio Romero (AZ Alkmaar), Mariano Andujar (Catania), Diego Pozo (Colon).

Defenders: Nicolas Otamendi (Velez Sarsfield), Martin Demichelis (Bayern Munich), Walter Samuel (Inter Milan), Gabriel Heinze (Marseille), Nicolas Burdisso (Roma), Fabricio Coloccini (Newcastle), Ariel Garce (Colon), Juan Insaurralde (Newell's Old Boys), Clemente Rodriguez (Estudiantes).

Midfielders: Jonas Gutierrez (Newcastle), Juan Sebastian Veron (Estudiantes), Jose Sosa (Estudiantes), Javier Mascherano (Liverpool), Angel Di Maria (Benfica), Javier Pastore (Palermo), Sebastian Blanco (Lanus), Maxi Rodriguez (Liverpool), Juan Mercier (Argentinos), Jesus Datolo (Olympiakos), Mario Bolatti (Fiorentina).

Strikers: Lionel Messi (Barcelona), Gonzalo Higuain (Real Madrid), Carlos Tevez (Manchester City), Diego Milito (Inter Milan), Sergio Aguero (Atletico Madrid), Martin Palermo (Boca Juniors), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Napoli).

FRANZ BECKENBAUER profile

He redefined the role of defender, listed the FIFA World Cup as captain in 1974, before feating back as a manager in 1990. He made his debut for Bayern Muenchen on the left wing, against FC St. Pauli on 6 June 1964. In only his first season in the local league, he handed the club achieve promotion to the Bundesliga. Franz celebrated his first International cup on 26 September 1965, aged 20, and went on to match in three FIFA World Cups. His second match in Mexico in 1970, was also memorable as he played in the semi-final against Italy with a displaced shoulder, carrying his injured arm in a sling. 1970 was a magnificient match. The fans were fanatical and stadium security wasn't quite so periodically in those days. The games in Mexico were colourul. The country laughed and football danced.
In 1974, he came as Beckenbauer's finest hour. He was playing in the position he reformated, as a libero behind the defence. He ruled the team from the back. It was in his usual habit to go forward, he could not stop himself. After their victory against the Netherlands, Beckenbauer became the first captain to lift the brand new FIFA World Cup trophy after Brazil had retained the Jules Rimet trophy in 1970.
He left Munich he had won every major honour with Bayern Munich.
Since he was playing his trade abroad, he was no longer considered for selestion by West Germany. In 1982, after the failure of Jupp Derwall at that year's UEFA European Championship, Beckenbauer was installed as West Germany's national team head coach. Winning the trophy as coach remains the pinnacle of Franz Beckenbauer's football career.

LOTHAR MATTHAUS

Lothar Herbert Matthaus is a German former footballer and now manajer, last managing Israeli club Maccabi Netanya. He was born 21 March 1961 in Erlangen, West Germany.
He won Euro 1980, and played in Euro 84, Euro 88, and Euro 1992. Maradona said about Matthaus, "he is very best rival I've ever had. I guess that's enough to define him" in his book Yo soy el Diego (I am the Diego).
Internationally, he won Euro 80 and also played 2 games at the 1982 World Cup, where West Germany reached the Final, losing to Italy 3-1. His immediate success in Serie A was a precursor to the national team which finally managed to triumph at the 1990 World Cup held In Italy. At the 1994 World Cup hosted by USA, he captained the team but now operated as sweeper. He scored a penalty in the quarter-finals, which was also his record tying 21st match, but the Bulgarians scored twice in three minutes to upset to defending champions. In his absent Germany won Euro 96 which was hosted by England. He became the second and tothis day he last player to appear on 5 different WorldCups, trying the record of Mexican goalkeeper Antonio Carbajal, and also setting a new record for World Cup game appearances with 22. His last official match for Bayern took place in Munich on 8 March 2000 and was a Champions League match against Real Madrid, which Bayern won 4-1.
His first job head coaching experience was at Rapid Vienna. On saturday 13 December 2003, right after finishing the final league match of the half season (0-1 win away at FK Zeleznik) before the winter break, Matthaus abruptly resigned his post at Partizan by addressing the players and club leadership in private. He apparently told them that he's doing so for personal reasons. Then the rumours proved true as he officially signed the contract in Budapest and also got introduced to the media gathered at the Kempinski Hotel Corvinus.
It became known on that occasion that his initial contract with Partizan that was finalized on 1 January 2003 included a base guaranteed part as well additional premium clauses giving him etween 5-10% from players transfers and shirt sponsorships (as well as champions League Bonus incentives).
After being drawn in a tough group with Sweden, Croatia and Bulgaria that goal locked increasingly difficult. Such improbable scenario failed to materialize and they ended up in fourth place with 14 points from 10 matches, well behind Croatia and Sweden who earned 25 and 24 points, respectively. The club even posted the bill on their website.
On 19 May 2006, only 2 months following the bizzare Brazilian episode, Matthaus was announced as coach of Red Bull Salzburg (formerly Austria Salzburg) for the upcoming 2006-07 season.
On 13 april 2008, it was announced that Matthaus signed with Israeli side Maccabi to coach the club from the beginning of the 2008-09 season. Matthaus said German clubs perceived him as being too much of a Bayern supporter and too closely linked with the influental Bild tabloid newspaper to give him a job.
His marriage ended in 1999. He then marry again, the ceremony was held in Las Vegas.

JOHN TERRY SCAN NEWS

The Chelsea Football Associate can confirm today's 12 May 2010 scan on John Terry's leg performed no breaks. As John's statement said, he expects to return to training tomorrow or Friday and play in the FA Cup Final on Saturday. He took a knock in training earlier today and went to hospital for a precaution scan on his right foot.

INTER KICK OFF SIENA PREPARATIONS

The Nerazzurri reported back for training this afternoon after two days break following their 4-3 victory over Chievo. Jose Mourinho's player kicked off their preparations for Sunday's final match of the Serie A season away to Siena with a 60-minute training session consisting of warm-up exercises, ball possession drills and tactical practice matches. Lucio and Wesley Sneijder were back in full training, While Ivan Ramiro Cordoba and Davide Santon trained aside.

WORLD CUP 2006 GERMANY

TEAM : 32
WHEN : 9 JUNE 2006 TO 9 JULY 2006
MATCHES : 64
GOALS SCORED : 147
--------------------------------------------
WINNER : ITALY
RUNNERS-UP : FRANCE
THIRD : GERMANY
FOURTH : PORTUGAL
ADIDAS GOLDEN BALL : ZINEDINE ZIDANE (FRANCE)
ADIDAS GOLDEN SHOE : MIROSLAV KLOSE (GERMANY)
THE BEST GOALKEEPER : GIANLUIGI BUFFON (ITALY)
BEST YOUNG PLAYER : LUKAS PODOLSKI (GERMANY)
FIFA FAIR PLAY AWARD : SPAIN, BRAZIL
THE MOST ENTERTAINING TEAM : PORTUGAL
--------------------------------------------
Italy won their fourth world crown in Germany, againsting France on penalties in Berlin. If Zinedine Zidane's red card was the end's defining image, Italy's triumph would be remembered as a team effort with ten different Azzuri players finding the net. It was also a special month for Germany, the goals of Miroslav Klose helping secure third place in a tournament memorable for the festival mood across the host country.

ANDREAS BREHME biography

Andreas Brehme born 9 November 1960 in Hamburg, he is a German football coach and former football defender. He is best known for scoring the winning goal for Germany in the 1990 World Cup final against Argentina on a 85th minute penalty kick. Brehme began his career with the local side HSV Barmbeck-Uhlenhorst.
With his height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in), he played Left back, Left Wing-back, Left Midfielder. This below is about his senior club football career,
1981-1986 : FC Kaiserslautern
1986-1988 : Bayern Munich
1988-1992 : Inter Milan
1992-1993 : Real Zaragoza
1993-1998 : FC Kaiserslautern

His National Team debut,
1980-1981 : West Germany U21
1981-1984 : West Germany Olympic Team
1984-1994 : Germany

Teams Managed
2000-2002 : FC Kaiserslautern
2004-2005 : SpVgg Unterhaching
2005-2008 : VfB Stuttgart (Assistant)

WORLD CUP USA 1994

TEAMS : 24
WHEN : 17 JUNE 1994 TO 17 JULY 1994
FINAL : 17 JULY 1994
MATCHES : 32
GOALS SCORED : 141
------------------------------------
WINNER : BRAZIL
RUNNERS-UP : ITALY
THIRD : SWEDEN
FOURTH : BULGARIA
------------------------------------
ADIDAS GOLDEN BALL : ROMARIO (BRAZIL)
ADIDAS GOLDEN SHOE : OLEG SALENKO (RUSSIA), HRISTO STOICHKOV (BULGARIA)
YASHIN AWARD THE BEST GOALKEEPER: MICHEL PREUDHOMME (BELGIUM)
FIFA FAIRPLAY AWARD : BRAZIL
THE MOST ENTERTAINING TEAM : BRAZIL
------------------------------------
The United States staged a hugely successful 15th FIFA WorldCup that became the best attended in history and finished with Brazil celebrating their first world title since 1970. Forwards Romario and Bebeto were the Brazilians star performances while Roberto Baggio shone equally brightly for Italy despite his penalty miss thet concluded the first ever Final shoot-out. While sweden finished third, the undoubted surprise package were their fellow semi-finalists Bulgaria.

KAKA

Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite, commonly known as Kaka, born 22 April 1982, is a Brazilian football player who currently plays for Real Madrid and the Brazilian National Team. He began his footballing at the age of eight, when he started matching for a local club. By then, he also played tennis, and it wasn't until he moved on to Sao Paulo and signed his first professional contract with the club at the age of fifteen that he choose to still live on football. In 2003 he joined AC Milan for a free of 8.5 Million Euro. While at Milan, Kaka won the Balloon d'or and FIFA World Player of the Year awards in 2007. In addition to his contributions on the pitch, Kaka is known for his sociality work. In 2004, by the time of his appointment, he became the youngest ambassador of the United Nation's World Food Programme.

Kaka signed a contract at fifteen and led the Sao Paulo youth squad to Copa de Juvenil glory. 2005-2006 viewed Kaka score his first hat-tricks in domestic competition. On 9 April 2006, he scored his first Rossoneri hat-trick against Chievo, all 3 goals were scored in the second half, that's time where he joined AC Milan. Andriy Sevchenko's departure to Chelsea for the 2006/07 season allowed Kaka to become the focal point of Milan's offense as he alternated between the midfield and striker positions. Kaka added the Champions League tittle to his trophy case for the first time. He signed a contract extension through 2013 with Milan on February 29, 2008.

Kaka initially responded by telling reporters he wanted to grow old at Milan and dreamed of captaining the club one day.On 8 June, Milan and real Madrid confirmed Kaka has moved to the Bernabeu on a six year deal.

Kaka started in his first FIFA World Cup finals in 2006 and scored his first and only goal of the match in Brazil's 1-0 victory over Croatia in Brazil's opener, for which he was named Man of the Match. Kaka is a member of the Organization Atletas de Cristo (Athletes of Christ). Kaka's favourite music is gospel, and his favourite book is the Bible. Kaka is a follower of the evangelical Rebirth in Christ Church. He was sworn in as an Italian citizen on 12 February 2007. Kaka's best friend is Chivas USA midfielder and fellow Brazillian Marcelo Saragosa.

GIANLUIGI BUFFON

Date Of birth : 28 January 1978

Place of Birth : Carrara, Italy

Height : 1,91 m (6 ft 3 in)

playing position: Goalkeeper

Current Club : Juventus FC

Club Career : Parma FC, Juventus FC

INTERNATIONAL CAREER

World Cup 1998, 2002, 2006

Euro 2000, 2004, 2008

1996 Summer Olympics

ROBIN VAN PERSIE

Robin van Persie born 6 August 1983, is a Dutch football player who plays for Arsenal for whom he is vice-captain and the Netherlands national team as a striker. In the national team he is occasionally deployed as a left/right winger as well. The son of 2 artists, Van Persie was encourage to follow in his parents footsteps. But he instead preferred football and joined SBV Excelsior's youth player. Disagreements with coach Bert van Marwijk culminated in a change of club and Van Persie moved to Premier League part Arsenal for 2.75 million PS in 2004. He assisted with the Netherlands qualification for the 2010 World Cup. He was frequently encouraged to become involved in the arts like his parents, but he gravitated toward football instead. His attitude made it impossible for him in the squad any longer so he will join the reserve part for the time already. During the January transfer window, the Eredvisie club opened negotiations with Arsenal, who were finding a long-term replacement for aging veteran Dennis Bergkamp. Van Persie spent most of his time on the bench during earlier side of the 2004-05 season, and made his competitive debut on 27 october by scoring arsenal's opening goal 2-1 League Cup win over Manchester City. He was an unused substitute in arsenal's first Champions League Final appearance, a 2-1 loss to Barcelona. His season ended early for the second time in his career on 21 January, whwn he fractured the fifth metatarsal in his right foot while celebrating his last equalizer in a game against Manchester United. Following a streak of 7 goals in 10 regular season matches, Van persie was partlined for 2 months with a knee injury suffered on International order. Van Persie opened his 2008-09 account on 31 August with brace in Arsenal's 3-0 league victory versus Newcastle United. On 24 February 2009, Van Persie scored an important penalty that earned Arsenal a 1-0 win against AS Roma in the Champions League round of 16 encounter, after he was fouled by defender Phillippe Mexes. The departure of Emmanuel Adebayor also meant that Dutchman was now the main striker in Wenger's 4-3-3 system. The jong Oranje failed to qualify for the 2004 tournament and Van persie didn't follow in the latter as he was already in the senior player for the world cup.

ARSENAL CHARITY BALL RAISES OVER 450,000 PS

Arsene Wenger, the Arsenal first team squad, Barbara Windsor, Dermot O'Leary and Matt Lucas together with a host of other celebrities and special guest attended THE GUNNERS World ball in aid of Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity last night at Emirates stadium. An exclusive auction helped to raise 380,000 PS towards a new Arsenal Lung function Unit at Great Ormond Street Hospital, and with ticket sales plus other donations the evening raised over 450,000 PS. It was a fantastic event and to raise over 450,000 PS has helped Arsenal surpass their season's target for the wonderful charity. There was a free-kick lesson with Cesc Fabregas which sold 12,000 PS. The new Arsena lung function Unit will be designed to help newborn babies right through to forces and will provide a modern and spacious environment in which to help children and their families.

TOTTENHAM DESERVE CHAMPIONS LEAGUE PLACE

Tottenham are in the Champions League on merit, according to Arsene Wenger. Arsenal's North London rivals wrote their spot in Europe's premier club competition for the first time ever with a midweek win over Manchester City. Spurs could yet pip Wenger's part to a place in The Champions League group stage if they win at Burnley on Sunday and Arsenal lose at home to Fulham. But at the very least they will form a qualifier in august and Wenger believes tottenham are worthy of their place among Europe's elite.

AOGO AND BADSTUBER COME FOR GERMANY

Hamburg defender Dennis Aogo and Bayern Munich youngster Holder Badstuber were surprise names in Germany coach Joachim Low's provisional 27-squads for the 2010 FIFA World Cup which was announced yesterdays.

WAYNE ROONEY IS READY

England legend Alan sheare is convinced Wayne Rooney will carry the burden of FIFA World Cup hoppy being heaped on his shoulders. Rooney has been awesome. Even the so-called weak link of his match, forming, has improved beyond all recognition-something for which Shearer has particular admiration. He has rised his match this season. In previous years the accusation has been that Wayne is a magnificient team player but has done too much work. Rooney has played on the greatest stage for Manchester United and is now delivering on a regular basis with England. Although Brazil and Spains are the favourites, Rooney doesn't discount England's chances-even if a few things will have to go their road before they can be crowned kings of the world.  Many teams that wins a major match needs luck, but if all they squads are fit and playing well, England have a very good chance.