Uruguay boss Oscar Tabarez has dismissed fears that the uncertainty surrounding Edinson Cavani's future at club level could have an adverse effect on the striker's performance against Brazil on Wednesday.
The
Napoli forward is understood to be nearing a move away from Stadio San
Paolo this summer, with Real Madrid, Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester
City and Chelsea all showing interest. However, Tabarez says the
talisman will put the speculation regarding his club future to one side
in a bid to aid his country's passage to the Confederations Cup final at
the expense of the Selecao. "This is about the private
life of a professional footballer. There is no lack of concentration
from Cavani," the coach told a press conference.
The
66-year-old went on to reveal how he predicted the star would soon
attract some of Europe's elite clubs, much to the annoyance of Napoli
president Aurelio De Laurentiis.
He added: "De Laurentiis got mad
at me two years ago when I said it was a matter of time before Cavani
would prove to be one of the world's best players - now he is top
goalscorer in Italy."
Meanwhile, the veteran trainer turned his
attentions toward Brazil and believes the two sides could serve up a
classic, while warning the Selecao of Uruguay's attacking options.
"Everybody's
worried about Brazil and their attack, but they have not yet faced a
team with an attack as powerful as ours," he added.
"But we
believe in what we've been working at for the past seven years and we
hope this match will be remembered as one of the greats." La Celeste's clash with Luis Felipe Scolari's men is due to kick off at 21:00 CET.
Around 100,000 people are set to take to the streets of Belo Horizonte to protest on Wednesday ahead of Brazil's Confederations Cup semi-final with Uruguay.
It
is just the latest in a number of demonstrations which have filled the
country's cities in recent days and, with it being a holiday in the
capital of Minas Gerais, authorities are expecting the largest turnout
so far.
The Public Ministry of the city had suggested the
semi-final be postponed out of fears for people's safety, but the police
have since guaranteed the public's welfare following the decision to
draft in reinforcements from Brazil's national guard. The march,
which is being organised by the city's residents and co-ordinated via
social networking platforms, is fuelled by the population's anger that
the government is ignoring its country's public service issues while
focusing its attentions on hosting of sporting events such as the World
Cup next summer - the cost of which is believed to be a source of much
of the hostility.
Wednesday's demonstration is designed to be a
peaceful protest, but its organisers have spread the word through social
networking sites as to what they expect people to wear, including: a
long-sleeved shirt, pants, gloves, goggles and with a handkerchief
covering their face.
Fifa president Sepp Blatter is expected to
be in attendance for the match, though it is not known whether or not
the increased security has been implemented due to his presence.
Brazil
striker Fred, who is expected to start against Uruguay, revealed how he
supports the protest and hopes the demonstration can pass without
incident.
"I'm in favour of the protests because the people
deserve better," he said. "It has to be done without violence and
vandalism though.
"I'm hoping it will be peaceful tomorrow, without confrontations with the police."
Uruguay captain Diego Lugano has stoked the flames ahead of his side’s
Confederations Cup semi-final against Brazil by labelling Neymar a
player who likes to con referees.
The 32-year-old also hit out at
the playing style of Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side in what was a
controversial press conference ahead of the clash in Belo Horizonte.
"Neymar is lightweight – he falls to the ground and fools the referee,” Lugano told reporters. “He can feign a foul and we must be watchful that nobody is fooled by his ability.
“The Chilean ref assignment is a coincidence. He will be under bigger pressure - I just hope he makes no mistakes.
"Brazil have abandoned their beautiful football style. They now hit people. They are a tough team and they are tactical.”
Uruguay
go into the all-South American clash as underdogs but Lugano remains
hopeful his side can cause an upset and go on to face either Spain or
Italy in the final.
He continued: "Our history shows we can fight well in tough matches. We have brought Uruguay's team back to where it should be.
“We have the right to dream of beating Brazil. They are evolving well, but we have the football that allows us to dream.
“We know each other well. We are proud to play this game against Brazil, plus potentially Spain or Italy."
Uruguay's
team bus was delayed getting to the press conference and the defender
was asked to comment on how well he felt Brazil's infrastructure had
coped with hosting the event one year from the World Cup.
Lugano said: "Brazil is a large country with lots of traffic in big cities, that's just the way it is. I respect that.
"We
have been well received here, although there were logistical issues in
Recife, with the training facilities far from the hotel."
Newly-appointed Real Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti has contacted Fabio Cannavaro about returning to the Bernabeu in a coaching capacity, according to the former defender's agent.
The
World Cup winner enjoyed a three-year spell in Madrid as a player and
Cannavaro's agent Enrico Fedele, claims the 54-year-old has already
enquired about his client's availability to accept a position on his
backroom staff. "There have been some telephone conversations," Fedele told Radio Kiss Kiss. "But I am not aware of any future decisions.
"Fabio wants to coach and get some experience behind a charismatic coach who knows how to handle a large squad.
The
39-year-old, who spent two years playing under Ancelotti during their
time at Parma, called time on his illustrious playing-career in July
2011 following a series of recurring knee injuries.
Aston Villa
In: Aleksandr Tonev (Lech Poznan, undisc), Jores Okobe (FC Nordsjaelland, £4m), Leandro Bacuna (Groningen, undisc),
Niklas Helenius (Aalborg, undisc), Antonio Luna (Sevilla, undisc)
Out: Calum Barrett, Joshua Barton, Courtney Cameron, Daniel Devine, Richard Dunne, Eric Lichaj, Andy Marshall (All released)
Cardiff
In: None
Out: None
Chelsea
In: Andre Schurrle (Bayer Leverkusen, undisc)
Out: Amin Affane, Yossi Benayoun, Abdul Deen-Conteh, Paulo Ferreira,
Hilario, Florent Malouda, Archange Nkumu, Ross Turnbull (All released),
Thibault Courtois (Atletico Madrid, loan), George Saville (Brentford,
loan)
Crystal Palace
In: None
Out: None
Everton
In: None
Out: Johan Hammar, Thomas Hitzlsperger, Sam Kelly, Jan Mucha (All released), Phil Neville (retired)
Fulham
In: Maarten Stekelenburg (Roma, £4m), Fernando Amorebieta (Athletic Bilbao, free), Derek Boateng (Dnipro, free)
Out: Chris Baird, Simon Davies, Mahamadou Diarra, Thomas Donegan,
Corey Gameiro, Georgios Karagkounis, James Musa, Richard Peniket, Mladen
Petric, Mark Schwarzer, Alex Smith, Csaba Somogyi (All released) Hull
In: George Boyd (Peterborough, free), Maynor Figueroa (Wigan, free), Curtis Davies (Birmingham, undisc)
Out: Andy Dawson (Scunthorpe, free), Danny East (Portsmouth, free), Sonny Bradley (Portsmouth, free)
Liverpool:
In: Kolo Toure (Manchester City, free) Luis Alberto (Sevilla, £6.8m), Iago Aspas (Celta Vigo, £7.7m)
Out: Danny Wilson, Tyrell Belford, Jamie Stephens (All released), Jamie Carragher (retired), Andy Carroll (West Ham, £15m)
Manchester City
In: Jesus Navas (Sevilla, £14.19m), Fernandinho (Shakthar Donetsk, £22m)
Out: Wayne Bridge (Reading, free), Filippo Mancini (Released), Ryan
McGivern (Hibernian, free), Roque Santa Cruz (Released), Kolo Toure
(Liverpool, free)
Manchester United
In: Guillermo Varela (Penarol, undisc)
Out: Reece Brown, John Cofie, Michele Fornasier, Luke Giverin, Luke
Hendrie, Luke McCullough, Gyliano Van Velzen, Freddie Veseli (All
released), Paul Scholes (Retired)
Newcastle
In: None
Out: Steve Harper, Yven Moyo, Danny Simpson (All released)
Norwich City
In: Javi Garrido (Lazio, undisc.), Ricky van Wolfswinkel (Sporting Lisbon, undisc)
Out: Marc Tierney (Bolton, free), Chris Martin (Derby, free), Tom
Adeyemi, Lee Camp, Olumide Durojaiye, George Francomb, Simeon Jackson,
Ramil Sheriff, Korey Smith, Elliott Ward (All released) Southampton
In: Dejan Lovren (Lyon, undisc.)
Out: Frazer Richardson, Danny Butterfield, Dan Seabourne, Ryan
Dickson, Ben Reeves, Sam Hoskins, Tommy Forecast, Alberto Seidi (All
released)
Stoke
In: None
Out: Michael Clarkson, Rory Delap, Matthew Gledhill, Jadan Hall,
Matthew Lund, Andrew Musungu, Carlo Nash, Jermaine Pennant, George Rigg,
Mamady Sidibe, Matthew Upson, Dean Whitehead (All released), Michael
Owen (Retired)
Sunderland
In: Valentin Roberge (Maritimo, free), Cabral (Basel, free), Modibo
Diakite (Lazio, free), Duncan Whatmore (Altrincham, undisc.), David
Moberg Karlsson (Gothenburg, £1.7m)
Out: Titus Bramble, Anthony Callaghan, Wade Joyce, Matt Kilgallon, Ryan Noble, Adam Reed, Ben Wilson (All released)
Swansea
In: Jose Canas
Out: Mark Gower (Charlton, freeP
Tottenham
In: None
Out: Jack Barthram, David Bentley, John Bostock, William Gallas, Jack Munns, Jake Nicholson (All released)
West Brom
In: None
Out: Marc-Antoine Fortune, Zoltan Gera, Gonzalo Jara, Romaine Sawyers, Jerome Thomas (All released)
West Ham
In: Adrian (Real Betis, free), Razvan Rat (Shakthar Donetsk, free), Andy Carroll (Liverpool, £15m)
Out: Carlton Cole, Jake Larkins, Gary O'Neil, Jack Powell, Jami Rafati, Eoin Wearen (All released)
Juventus have agreed a fee for Manchester City striker Carlos Tevez, according to Sky sources.
Officials
from the two clubs met in London on Tuesday to hammer out the deal and
Tevez will now travel to Italy on Wednesday for a medical and to discuss
personal terms with the Serie A champions.
Juventus are set to pay a flat fee of around £10m for the 29-year-old
Argentina international with some additional bonus payments also
agreed.
City will now search for a replacement striker for Tevez - as they
have only Sergio Aguero and Edin Dzeko on their books - although
Napoli's Edinson Cavani is reportedly not one of their targets.
Tevez joined City from their local rivals Manchester United for £47m
on a five-year contract on July 14, 2009, and has since made 148
appearances for the club, scoring 74 goals.
Leyton Orient could be subject to a takeover by Napoli president Aurelio De Laurentiis, according to reports in Italy.
De Laurentiis apparently wants to follow in the footsteps of the
Pozzo family, who own Udinese and Spanish club Granada and last year
took over at Championship side Watford.
The Hornets were then controversially loaned a host of players from
the two clubs with the likes of Matej Vydra and Almen Abdi firing them
into the play-offs, where they were narrowly beaten by Crystal Palace in
the final.
According to the reports, De Laurentiis wants a similar tie-in with
Orient, where he could send Napoli's younger players to gain first-team
experience.
Orient confirmed there has been no contact from Italy, however, a
spokesman for the League One club added: "They are welcome to give us a
call if they want to."
Athletic Bilbao are closing in on the signing of Real Betis midfielder
Benat Exteberria on a five-year deal, according to reports in Spain.
Beñat played with the Spanish youth teams at under-17 level. He made his debut for the full side on 26 May 2012, playing 45 minutes in a 2–0 friendly win with Serbia in St. Gallen and thus becoming the first Betis player since Juanito to don the national team shirt, nearly four years later.
Former Croatia coach Slaven Bilic is in talks to become the new manager of Besiktas.
The Turkish club confirmed the news on their website, with Bilic set to be offered a two-year deal.
Besiktas director of football Zeki Onder Ozen and board member Ahmet
Nur Cebi have reportedly travelled to Zagreb to finalise a contract with
Bilic, whose contract at Lokomotiv Moscow was cancelled by mutual
consent last week.
"Slaven Bilic has started talks over the role of manager of the
professional football team," read a statement sent to the Istanbul Stock
Exchange and posted on the club's website.
Former Croatia, Everton and West Ham defender Bilic, 44, took charge of
Lokomotiv last summer but could only guide the club to ninth place in
the 16-team Premier League - their worst finish since 1991.
Newcastle midfielder Cheick Tiote is expecting no repeat of the
horrors of last season as he and his team-mates prepare to return to
work.
The Magpies will start to report back for pre-season training in
three groups from July 3 with Ivory Coast international Tiote among five
man given extended breaks after representing their respective countries
at the end of the domestic campaign.
But the 27-year-old is already raring to go as Alan Pardew's men
attempt to repair the damage inflicted by an intensely difficult
2012-13.
Tiote told the club's official website, www.nufc.co.uk: "Last season
was not the best for Newcastle. It was a hard season in the Europa
League and the Premier League - but we have had some time off to rest
now.
"It was really difficult for all the team, but when you see the season, the most important thing was just to stay in the Premier League.
"That's what we did and now we need to prepare and be ready for the
next season. When we look at last season, we cannot imagine to have the
same season as this next year, so I think it will be better."
Newcastle eventually dragged themselves safely over the finishing
line after a desperate fight against relegation, but 16th place was way
short of their expectations 12 months after they had forced their way
into the top five.
Injuries and the demands of a first European campaign in six years
took a heavy toll on Pardew's squad and prompted owner Mike Ashley to
invest a further £30million in January to secure Frenchmen Mathieu
Debuchy, Massadio Haidara, Mapou Yanga-Mbiwa, Moussa Sissoko and Yoan
Gouffran.
Nevertheless, the second half of the campaign proved testing, and the repercussions are still being felt on Tyneside.
The most significant consequence has been Ashley's controversial
decision to appoint former Magpies manager Joe Kinnear as director of
football and hand him a remit to oversee all football-related matters at
St James' Park, a move which in the eyes of many has seriously
undermined Pardew and chief scout Graham Carr.
Kinnear and Carr met yesterday to continue
their deliberations over the club's summer transfer dealings, and their
discussions were expected to continue today with Pardew hoping his
wish-list, which includes more proven Barclays Premier League experience
and less continental potential, will be catered for.
However, he will be equally keen to retain the services of his key
men with Yohan Cabaye and Hatem Ben Arfa among those players to have
been linked with moves away from the club this summer.
Ashley has proved in the past, with striker Andy Carroll the case in
point, that he is prepared to sell, but only at the right price.
France international Cabaye has been touted as a target for
big-spending Monaco, but any potential buyer would have to come up with
what Pardew has in the past described as "silly" money - that amounted
to £35million for Carroll - if they were to persuade the sportswear
tycoon to consider accepting a bid.
