DE BRUYNE TELLS HAZARD TO STAY CALM
BRUSSELS: Belgium playmaker Kevin De Bruyne has advised teammate Eden Hazard to remain calm as he expects the Chelsea winger to be targeted aggressively by the opposition at the World Cup.
Hazard limped off with a dead leg after a series of heavy tackles in Belgium’s 4-1 win over Costa Rica in Monday’s warm-up game. “If you are good then people try to kick you,” De Bruyne said.
“You need to calculate what is coming. You try to stay calm as much as possible. Sometimes that isn’t easy but you just try.”
De Bruyne believes such situations can be used as an advantage. “Even if he (Hazard) gets kicked we get a free-kick, an advantage, and they get a yellow, so it is positive,” the 26-year-old added.
ARGENTINE PRISONERS GO ON HUNGER STRIKE
BUENOSAIRES:INMATES in an Argentine prison have begun a hunger strike to press authorities to repair the cable TV system so they can watch the World Cup.
“Cable television is an indispensable right for everyone deprived of their liberty,” according to a statement from nine inmates at Puerto Madryn jail some 1,300 kilometers south of Buenos Aires. “It hasn’t been working for three days. And we have decided not to receive any food until the problem is resolved,” the prisoners wrote.
The nine inmates also filed a legal suit to assert their rights.
RASHFORD SUFFERS INJURY SCARE
ST PETERSBURG: England forward Marcus Rashford has suffered a “slight knock” in the final training session before heading to the World Cup in Russia, manager Gareth Southgate said.
The 20-year-old Manchester United star will be hopeful of a starting spot in Southgate’s team after impressing in the warm-up games, including a long-range goal against Costa Rica.
“Marcus took a slight knock but nothing too serious so we will have a look at that ahead of tomorrow’s session which is open for everyone to see,” Southgate told British media.
Southgate has not yet decided on the starting lineup ahead of Monday’s World Cup opener against Tunisia, saying there are “one or two very close calls” which will be decided once training resumes in Repino.