Fergie’s fear over referee for England
TURKISH referee Cuneyt Cakir will take charge of England’s World Cup semi-final against Croatia tomorrow.
The 41-year-old officiated Barcelona’s 2015 Champions League final 3-1 win over Juventus and oversaw the Holland versus Argentina lastfour clash in Brazil four years ago.
Cakir also refereed Sir Alex Ferguson’s last match in the Champions League in 2013, provoking the Scot’s anger after sending off United’s Nani for a high tackle in the last-16 defeat to Real Madrid.
Ferguson, who opted not to attend his mandatory post-match press conference, said it was ‘hard to keep faith’ after the decision.
Prior to the match he had told his backroom staff he was concerned Cakir had a tendency to send off players of English-based teams having dismissed seven, but never any from teams playing against them. JOHN Stones says a proven strength in adversity has united the England squad ahead of their World Cup semi-final against Croatia in Moscow tomorrow.
Celebrity endorsements and millionaire wages mask the reality that Stones and the majority of his team-mates had to overcome significant battles to reach the professional game at all.
In the case of City’s Stones it meant being held back and told to prove himself in lower-age teams before he was finally handed his first professional contract with Barnsley in 2011.
Stones said: “I’ve been through some tough patches when I was younger - when I was 14 or 15 I had to play with the age below and it took its toll.
“I had to stick at it but I never gave up and stopped believing in myself.
“People don’t realise they might see that everything is going in one direction but when you’re younger there’s a lot of things that happen and a lot of adversity to overcome.”
Stones believes the remarkable bond which has been forged within Gareth Southgate’s squad - with the encouragement of the manager has also proved crucial in defying pre-tournament expectations reach the last four. “We’ve worked hard on getting to know each other off the pitch and creating that togetherness and understanding with each other,” added Stones. “He (Southgate) has been a big part of that and wanting us to spend an extra 10 minutes getting to know each other and creating a bond that you don’t normally get with everyone spending so much time at your club - and for me that’s been a massive factor. “I’ve been there going out to the pubs to watch England back in the day and it’s surreal to see everyone doing that. “We’re putting the smile back on people’s faces and making them feel proud about England again.” John Stones to