Sturridge to lead 3 Lions?
Daniel Sturridge hopes to secure a starting berth for England in their World Cup opener against Italy.
Sturridge continues to impress and was on target in the 3-0 friendly win over Peru at Wembley, and now has three in his last five international outings.
The Reds frontman hopes to face the Azzurri in Manaus on Saturday 14th June, saying;
“I am just here to work hard in training and in the games and show what I can do, which is the same for everyone else in the squad,” Sturridge told reporters.
“There are obviously certain players who have their spots nailed down, but in my mind I haven’t and I am working hard every day to continue to show what I can do.
“For me there are no guarantees in football and I will just work hard and not worry about which team the manager will pick.
“I will focus on what I can for the team and leave the decisions to the boss because that is what he does.”
Meanwhile, England legend Bobby Charlton insists under fire Wayne Rooney must be a starter for the Three Lions at the World Cup.
After a disappointing Premier League campaign with Manchester United and never having scored a goal at the World Cup finals before, questions abound on whether Rooney should start.
With England just over a week away from facing Italy, Charlton has taken time out to back Rooney to come good, saying:
“Wayne Rooney is the only one that comes to mind when you think of where our class players are coming from.
“Wayne Rooney will have to play. He’s just got that something extra.”
England’s opponents Italy have been hit by the loss of Riccardo Montolivo who broke a leg against the Republic of Ireland.
The 29-year-old AC Milan midfielder lasted eight minutes of the goalless draw before being stretchered off following an innocuous challenge from James Pearce.
Italy’s team medic Enrico Castellacci has since confirmed that Montolivo, who is a very experienced campaigner with 58 international caps, now faces an eight-week lay-off to recover from the injury and will miss the World Cup in Brazil.
“He has a fracture of the tibia. I’m waiting to see the radio graphical results before assessing everything, but more or less every tibia fracture needs surgery.
“There will be no World Cup for Montolivo, I’m so sorry for the boy. He will probably need around two months out.”
Prandelli, whose side has now gone six matches without winning face Luxembourg in Verona tomorrow in a final warm-up game said: “Montolivo is an important player for us.
“He has become in the past few years a reference player not only on the pitch but off it. Obviously, his team-mates are shocked.”
“Everyone got distracted by the injury,” he added. “It’s difficult to assess the game right now, we will do that once we return to Florence on Sunday.
“There were positives from this game but we wish there could have been more.”
Latest betting……
England are quoted 4/7 to qualify from Group D
Wayne Rooney is priced 50/1 in the leading goalscorer betting
Uruguay can be backed at 15/2 to reach the semi final
Uruguay are 18/1 to finish as runners-up and 28/1 to win the World Cup for the third time.
Italy are 6/4 to beat England in their Group D opener
England’s Three Lions are 11/8 to win.
Italy are 25/1 to to win the tournament outright
England can be backed at 33/1 to win the World Cup.
<<<<<Full World Cup Betting>>>>
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