Weekly Football News, June 17 2013
Pirlo majestic in 100th international for Italy
Andrea Pirlo crowned his century of caps for the Azzurri with a marvellous curling free-kick that had his team-mates as well the locals purring over his genius once again.
The 34-year-old's mastery in Italy's 2-1 win over Mexico in their opening round of the Confederations Cup was just another day at the office for the midfielder who continues to keep Italy ticking and whose presence back at the Maracana in 12 months' time will be vital for his side's chances.
"When you see Pirlo in action it's hard not to sit back and enjoy it. I know how that feels because I've been watching him for years," said Italy goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon.
"To cap it all, he topped it off with a pearl of a free-kick and when you put it all together, it's only natural to end up getting the crowd's support."
Owen admits to being 'compromised' at Liverpool
Former England striker Michael Owen has revealed that almost his entire career was compromised because of the debilitating hamstring injury he sustained at the age of just 19.
Owen, who retired from football at the end of the season after stints with Liverpool, Newcastle United, Manchester United and Stoke City in England and Real Madrid in Spain, admitted that one of his biggest achievements in football was remaining at the top level for so long despite having to constantly adapt his game.
"[I picked] up a very bad hamstring injury when I was 19 that compromised me physically for the rest of my career, and took away that explosive pace that was so important to my game," the 33-year-old told Fifa.com.
"The fact is, I was never the same player after that. Everyone always says 'no regrets', but at the back of my mind I do wish I hadn't been compromised so early in my career and been able to keep on playing the way I did during those first couple of years, taking players on, going at people with real speed.
"But once I lost that explosive pace, my game became a lot more about becoming that penalty box-type player and then, in later years, a kind of No. 10 - a link-up player."
Kinnear back at Newcastle
Joe Kinnear has returned to Newcastle United as the club's new director of football, four years after suffering a heart attack and being forced to stand down from his brief tenure as manager in a disastrous season that saw the Tynesiders relegated from the Premier League.
In a move that has raised eyebrows in some quarters, Kinnear admitted that he had yet to meet manager Alan Pardew but insisted that he had the competencies for the newly established role at the club which struggled last year after finishing fifth in Pardew's first full season in charge.
"I've been very fortunate in my life as a manager, I've been manager of the year three times and I've had a great football career, so I think I'm ideal for this situation," he said.
"I've been waiting for the opportunity to come back. I have turned down managerial jobs in the lower leagues, because I felt I'd gone past that and I wanted to get my teeth into something in the Premier League."
Neill: No-one's dancing the samba yet
Australia must overcome a depleted yet dogged Iraq side in Sydney tomorrow night to secure a top-two finish in Group B and a place in the World Cup finals in Brazil in a year's time.
But captain Lucas Neill has warned of complacency as the Socceroos bid to secure a place at their third successive finals.
Neill remembers only too well the embarrassing loss for Australia to eventual winners Iraq at the Asian Cup in 2007 as well as football's capacity to turn dreams into nightmares.
"We're making sure we don't get carried away because we know football can often be a dream-breaker," the Australia stalwart said.
"The atmosphere's been very low-key in a positive way. It's very calm. The manager and the senior players have made sure no one's talking about dancing the samba.
He added: "Nobody's in Brazil yet. We need one game, one win. Then, we can start thinking about all the dreams coming true."
Compiled by Marc Fox
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