England’s Stones calls Colombia ‘dirtiest team’ he’s faced
REPINO, RUSSIA » England defender John Stones described Colombia as the “dirtiest team I’ve ever come up against” and said his team’s ability to rise above the provocation is a sign of its growing maturity at the World Cup.
England won a penalty shootout Tuesday after a feisty, physical round-of-16 game finished 1-1 following extra time and with eight yellow cards handed out by the referee — tying for the most issued in any game in the tournament. Colombia’s players received six of them.
“I’ve never seen a game like this before and how they behaved,” said Stones, who has played five years in the Premier League and four years for England. “There were things that we’ve never experienced before.”
Among them, said Stones, was Colombia’s players surrounding and pushing the referee, head-butting Jordan Henderson and scuffing the penalty spot before Harry Kane’s second-half spot kick. Stones also highlighted a member of Colombia’s technical staff barging into Raheem Sterling as the players came off for halftime.
“It’s obviously their image and how they’ve represented their country,” Stones said Thursday. “We stuck to our game plan and never got involved in the brawl that they wanted. At the end of the day, they are on the plane back home.”
England’s players weren’t completely innocent, however, with Henderson getting booked and appearing to use his head to barge into an opponent. Argentina great Diego Maradona criticized American referee Mark Geiger and said the outcome of the game was a “monumental theft,” comments he apologized for Thursday after FIFA rebuked him.
Brazil: Danilo out with ankle injury
SOCHI, RUSSIA » Brazil right back Danilo is out of the World Cup after injuring his ankle in training.
The Brazilian soccer federation said Danilo suffered a ligament injury in his left ankle during the team’s training session in Kazan on Thursday, a day before Brazil plays Belgium in the quarterfinals.
The federation said tests confirmed the player will not be able to recover in time to play again during the tournament in Russia.
Nishino out as Japan’s coach
TOKYO » Despite leading his team to a thrilling and unexpected ride at the World Cup, Akira Nishino will not be back as Japan’s coach.
The Japan Football Association confirmed on Thursday that Nishino will not continue as coach of the national team when his term concludes at the end of July.
“We (the JFA) will not persuade Nishino to stay on the job as his term comes to an end.” JFA president Kozo Teshima told a media conference Thursday.