Lukasz has Irons in fire
SWANSEA goalkeeper Lukasz Fabianski has confirmed he is waiting for the green light to join West Ham.
The Poland keeper, below, is expected to make a £4million move to the London Stadium following the Swans’ relegation from the Premier League.
And the 33-year-old explained that talks are ongoing. “Let’s wait for a while but I will not lie, there is something in it,” he said.
“We are working on things right now but I do not know when everything will be clear.
“I’m waiting patiently. If I leave, I will regret that it happened at the moment when we fell from the league.” JEROME BOATENG has made a plea for German unity after their shock defeat by Mexico and says the reigning world champions have yet to show up in Russia.
The Bayern Munich defender challenged Germany to show their true face against Sweden on Saturday after losing their opening game for the first time in 36 years.
The Germans were arguing among themselves afterwards, with defender Mats Hummels pointing the finger at his teammates for leaving the back four too exposed.
Hummels said: “Our security is not good. Jerome and I often stand alone. I often talk about it internally. But it doesn’t seem to be fruitful. If we play like this again, I’m worried.”
But his centre-back partner Boateng said: “We have to do a lot of things better, but as a team together. It doesn’t help to start laying the blame. We have to attempt to come out of this together.
“What’s important now is the next game. It’s really important that we win there and we show our face. And also show the character of this team.”
The Germans have made the semi-finals of the last four World Cups but they look a team between worlds. Ageing stars such as Thomas Mueller, 28, Sami Khedira, 31, and Hummels, 29, looked off the pace against Mexico, while Joshua Kimmich, 23, and Timo Werner, 22, both had nightmares.
Boateng said: “The disappointment is really big. We started the game very badly. We had to defend four or five counter-attacks in the first half. In the second half, it was better.
“We said before the game, the World Cup gets going right from the start. We just haven’t turned up. Every opponent gives everything and has a game plan. And we haven’t got to grips with it on the pitch.
“There were too many mistakes in the link-up play, in losing the ball. Four or five times one of us runs out, and no one says, ‘Man on’, or something like that. That can’t be the case.
“We already addressed it in team meetings for two or three days. We analysed it and despite that, we didn’t JAPAN have not had the best of preparations for the World Cup and news of an earthquake back home, along with a false alarm at their hotel, added to their worries on the eve of their opener against Colombia.
The four-time Asian champions, who also face Senegal and Poland, have undergone a turbulent 10 months since qualifying, culminating in them firing Bosnian manager Vahid Halilhodzic in April after a string of poor results. Former midfielder and technical director Akira Nishino was chosen to lead Japan in Russia, and has been in charge for just three games.
The team woke up yesterday to the news that Osaka, Japan’s secondbiggest metropolis, was hit by a magnitude 6.1 get it right on the pitch. It’s important that we assess that again.” The talk in the Mexican camp is somewhat different, with Javier Hernandez setting his sights on a return to Moscow and the Luzhniki Stadium for the final on July 15. The West Ham striker, below, helped set up Hirving Lozano’s winner, but afterwards played down the seismic victory. “I don’t think it’s historic because how’s it going to help us if we lose against Korea, against Sweden and we go home to Mexico? “We’re taking it calmly. The objective is to get to the World Cup final. So it’s a step, a very important step, an energy boost and a confidence boost. “We’ve worked for three years against everything, so we’re staying calm. It’s the World Cup. Nobody comes here to just win the first game.” Mexico could be dark horses in Russia after the way they carved open Joachim Low’s men time and time again on Sunday. And Hernandez claimed it all went according to plan. He said: “We know Germany’s style and we know that the success of their system is based on Toni Kroos’s legs, so our No1 priority was to neutralise him. “But it wasn’t just a case of trying to do that with him. It was my job to try to stop Mats Hummels, who’s their best defender on the ball, from playing his game. The aim was to disrupt their flow.” Mexico now face South Korea in Rostov this Saturday with another victory all but guaranteeing their knockout place. ❑ FIFA have opened disciplinary proceedings against Mexico after allegations of homophobic chants by their fans during their 1-0 win over Germany on Sunday.
For some time, Mexico fans have shouted insults at goalkeepers taking goal-kicks that gay rights groups argue is homophobic. The country has been fined over the slurs several times during World Cup qualifying. earthquake in the early hours, killing three people and injuring dozens.
“There were players who were a bit shocked and were concerned about relatives and family members,” said Nishino. This psychological impact is something I am a bit worried about. But we, the team staff, are consulting with them and hope they will settle down.” At about the same time as the earthquake, a hotel alarm went off, waking the players. Colombia talisman James Rodriguez, top scorer in Brazil in 2014 with six goals, is an injury doubt due to a calf problem.