Newz Forum: SOCCER: Football News 30/03/04

St even Gerrard was on Tuesday appointed England captain for the Euro 2004 warm-up friendly against Sweden in Gothenburg on Wednesday night.The Liverpool skipper, 23, will pull on the national team armband on the night he wins his 22nd cap for his country.

England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson opted for midfielder Gerrard ahead of Middlesbrough centre-back Gareth Southgate and Chelsea defender John Terry.Eriksson was forced to search for a new captain following the withdrawals through injury of first-choice David Beckham and his stand-in Michael Owen.


Shaun Wright-Phillips England dream is alive after he overcame injury and trained with his new international team-mates on Tuesday morning ahead of Wednesday's friendly in Sweden.The Manchester City wide man, battling calf and ankle niggles sustained in Saturday's goalless draw with Fulham, revealed on Monday night he would be "gutted" if injury forced him to miss out on his senior national team debut in Gothenburg.But the signs looked good on Tuesday as he took part in a full work-out with the other 24 players in Sven-Goran Eriksson's squad at Arsenal's London Colney training headquarters near St Albans.


Roma boss Fabio Capello has put Europe's major clubs, including big-spending Chelsea, on alert that he is ready for a move.The former Real Madrid boss, linked with the Stamford Bridge job now Sven-Goran Eriksson has signed a new contract to coach England, has openly admitted his interest in moving abroad.




Leeds United's on-loan Cameroon midfielder Salomon Olembe is attracting interest from a number of British clubs, according to the player's agent.Willie McKay is due to discuss with Leeds their plans regarding four of his players who are on loan at Elland Road, namely Olembe, Didier Domi, Lamine Sakho and Zoumana Camara.Leeds have option-to-buy clauses on the quartet who all joined the club last summer on season-long deals. However, it is almost certain they will all be released at the end of the campaign.



French midfielder Emmanuel Petit has called time on his Chelsea career by admitting that he has no intention of staying at the club next season.The 33-year-old says he has been unsettled at the club since the arrival of billionaire owner Roman Abramovich.




American businessman Malcolm Glazer has said he has "no current intention" of making an offer for Manchester United. The owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers has been linked with a takeover since he increased his stake to 16.69%.That made him the second largest shareholder after Irish billionaires John Magnier and JP McManus.Also on the Manchester United news an independent report says fans who stand at Manchester United's Old Trafford ground are at risk as barriers are not designed to hold them back.The report, commissioned by Trafford Metropolitan Borough Council, said a major incident could not be ruled out at the 67,500-capacity ground.Fans in the top tiers of the ground are most at risk, the report added.



[Edited on 30/3/04 by TRD]

Manchester United will dump 5million flop Fabien Barthez at the end of the season.Amid the announcement of a 32% rise in pre-tax profits to 26.8million and confirmation that American billionaire Malcolm Glazer that he has 'no current intention' to buy the club, United also revealed that Barthez's contract will be cancelled at the end of the season.The French World Cup winner is currently on loan at Marseille but was due to return to Old Trafford in the summer to see out the final two years of his contract.Instead, it has been decided to sever all ties with the eccentric goalkeeper, a move that, including a hefty pay-off for the player, will cost United 5million.




Steven Gerrard revealed his pride at being made England captain for the friendly in Sweden as he set his sights on emulating his central midfield role models - Patrick Vieira and Roy Keane.Vieira and Keane both captain their club sides, just as Gerrard has started to do this season at Liverpool, with Sven-Goran Eriksson paying tribute to the increased maturity of the 23-year-old.Indeed, when David Beckham and Michael Owen were both ruled out of Wednesday's game in Gothenburg, it was Gerrard to whom he turned as the stand-in skipper.




Michael Chopra scrambled a last-minute equaliser as England's Under-21 team shared four goals with their Swedish counterparts on Tuesday afternoon.England were given a first-half lead by Crewe striker Dean Ashton - his second goal in two starts - and could have extended their advantage before half-time.Sweden looked the more threatening in the second period and appeared to have snatched victory thanks to goals from Per Nilsson and Johan Anderson.But Chopra spared Darren Ambrose's blushes in the dying seconds after his Newcastle team-mate had shot over from point-blank range in the 89th minute.