HODGSON CONFIDENT GERRARD WILL STAY

Liverpool manager Roy Hodgson believes Steven Gerrard will be staying at Anfield after revealing that he has had "positive" talks with the club captain.

Having already lost Yossi Benayoun to Chelsea, Hodgson is focused on keeping Gerrard and Fernando Torres at the club, amid speculation that the pair could leave.

But the future appears bright for Liverpool fans, as Hodgson met with Gerrard and Jamie Carragher following his appointment last Thursday, with the talks going to plan according to the new Reds boss.

With Gerrard happy to stay, Hodgson must turn his attention to Torres when he returns from World Cup action, though the Liverpool boss is confident that he can convince the Spain striker to commit his future to the club.

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GERMANY 0 - SPAIN 1

Spain needed a 73rd minute goal from defender Carles Puyol to edge past Germany 1-0 on Wednesday and set up a World Cup final against Netherlands. Puyol climbed above the defence to head the winner from a Xavi corner and send Spain to their first World Cup final.

The Spaniards dominated most of the match but struggled to finish off a German side that was lacking their usual pace. European champions Spain dominated possession early on and needed only five minutes to carve out their first chance against a nervous German defence.

Spain forward Pedro, who started ahead of the misfiring Fernando Torres, played the ball for David Villa, who caught Arne Friedrich napping but could not beat keeper Manuel Neuer. With the Germans, who lost the Euro 2008 final to the Spaniards by the same score, boxed into their own half, Spain kept up the pressure, with Puyol heading an Andres Iniesta cross from the right narrowly over the bar after 15 minutes.

The Spaniards came agonisingly close in the 58th minute with a Pedro shot that forced a spectacular save from Neuer before Iniesta cut the ball across the face of goal a metre ahead of the sliding Villa. Germany remained on the backfoot and 17 minutes from time were punished when Puyol headed home the winner.

Spain will face Netherlands at Soccer City in Johannesburg on Sunday. The Dutch have been in the final twice before but have never won it so a new world champion is guaranteed.

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Anywhere… Everywhere… We'll Deliver! - NOBLE STAR

TORRES PROUD TO BE IN THE SEMI-FINAL

Spain striker Fernando Torres believes the best is yet to come from his team as they prepare to take on Germany. The European champions face the Germans in Durban on Wednesday in the semi-finals of the World Cup, a repeat of their final in Euro 2008.

Spain lost their first game in the competition to Switzerland but have since bounced back and beat Paraguay 1-0 in the quarter-finals on Saturday. Liverpool striker Torres, 26, admits he is proud to lead the line in Spain's first ever World Cup semi-final, and is expecting a tough game.

Torres has not been on best form this summer as the Liverpool forward is struggling for fitness after only recently recovering from an injury. His strike partner David Villa, meanwhile, has been firing in the goals and sits top of the scoring chart with five strikes to his name so far.

Torres is unconcerned by his recent dip but insists it is the results that count, not individual performances.

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Anywhere… Everywhere… We'll Deliver! - NOBLE STAR

GERRARD SLAMS NON-PLAYING OFFICIALS

England's World Cup captain Steven Gerrard has called for goal-line technology to be introduced to football.

The Three Lions were victims of a questionable decision in their last-16 encounter against Germany in South Africa when a potential equaliser from Frank Lampard was disallowed despite clearly crossing the line.

Gerrard really hope that the failure of the linesman to see Frank Lampard's goal will opens the debate up again about goal-line technology. Though, he can't understand why there is so much opposition to the goal-line technology because it is about decisions that can decide things as big as the World Cup. He fear that the decision will be made by people who don't play the game and who aren't affected by these mistakes.

UEFA experimented with extra officials behind the goals during the Europa League and, after experiencing that system with Liverpool,Gerrard believes a similar strategy should have been employed at the World Cup. He added that if there had been a linesman behind the German goal then maybe England would still be in the World Cup.

The Reds skipper also feels that players should have a larger influence in changes made to the rules.These decisions are made they are always made by officials, but they don't play the game.

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QF: SPAIN 1 - PARAGUAY 0

An 83rd minute goal from David Villa defeated a dogged Paraguay as Spain unconvincingly booked a World Cup semi-final tie with Germany.

Villa scored with seven minutes remaining at Ellis Park to save his country's blushes following an unusually lacklustre performance and send them to the last four for the first time in their history.

The winning goal came after Oscar Cardozo and Xabi Alonso both missed penalties, the latter following a re-take.

Spain head coach Vicente del Bosque name an unchanged starting XI, despite pressure to remove the mis-firing Fernando Torres. Chile, meanwhile, made six changes to the team which beat Japan on penalties. Among those alterations, forward trio Roque Santa Cruz, Lucas Barrios and Edgar Benitez all dropped to the bench.

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SPAIN 1 - PORTUGAL 0

David Villa's 63rd-minute strike gave Spain a 1-0 win over Portugal and sent the European champions into the World Cup quarter-finals.

Portugal were the only team left in the competition yet to concede a goal and were frustrating Spain in the much-anticipated second-round showdown between the Iberian neighbours.

But two substitutions just before the hour mark proved decisive, with Portugal losing their way after Hugo Almeida was hauled off for Danny while Spain burst into life after Fernando Llorente replaced a below-par Fernando Torres.

Within a minute, Llorente's point-blank header was saved by Portugal goalkeeper Eduardo while Villa fired wide.

Villa then broke the deadlock as he stabbed the ball past Eduardo at the second attempt for his fourth goal of the World Cup.

Llorente twice went close late on while Danny had a dangerous-looking shot blocked by Pique but moments later Portugal's hopes were over when referee Hector Baldassi gave Costa his marching orders for apparently lashing out at Capdevila.

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GERMANY 4 - ENGLAND 1

England were hammered 4-1 by Germany in the second round of the World Cup, but the spotlight fell on the officials after they missed an obvious equaliser for Fabio Capello's men just before half-time.

After Miroslav Klose and Lukas Podolski had put Germany 2-0 up early on, Matthew Upson got one back but then Frank Lampard's goal was ruled out after the ball bounced down off the bar, despite it landing a yard over the line.

When Lampard's effort went in, only for assistant Mauricio Espinosa to miss it, grainy images of England's controversial third at Wembley in 1966 immediately sprang to mind. To his total disbelief, Capello's celebrations of what would have been an equaliser were cut short. Everyone in the ground, except the men who mattered, knew what had happened.

Germany made the most of their good fortune to book a quarter-final place, with what turned out to be their biggest win over a rival they have not lost to in a major tournament since the 1966 final. For England, it was their joint-biggest ever defeat at a World Cup.

Klose and Podolski's first half-goals were doubled by a pair from the excellent Thomas Muller after the break. But no-one will be talking about them on the streets of England. Nor will they discuss a Matthew Upson header that brought the Three Lions back into it.

Eventually they might get round to the clear defensive deficiencies in a team Capello claimed was good enough to reach the final.

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Anywhere… Everywhere… We'll Deliver! - NOBLE STAR

 

THREE LIONS READY TO ROAR

England captain Steven Gerrard has backed Wayne Rooney to bag his first goal of the World Cup in Sunday's knockout clash against Germany.

The match in Bloemfontein will see the winner book a place in the quarter-finals of the tournament and Fabio Capello's team will look towards Rooney to fire them to glory after scraping through the group stages.

Rooney was widely-expected to continue his rampant goalscoring form for Manchester United in the event, but he has so far been unable to find the net and has looked sluggish as England seek to end their trophyless run in international football.

Gerrard, though, is confident the 24-year-old will finally find his form in time to inspire his team to victory against Germany.

 MANCHESTER UNITED    LIVERPOOL    STEVEN GERRARD  

Anywhere… Everywhere… We'll Deliver! - NOBLE STAR

 

SLOVENIA 0 - ENGLAND 1

England produced a vastly improved performance to beat Slovenia 1-0 and progress to the last 16 as Group C runners-up. The Three Lions needed to win after being held to disappointing draws by USA and Algeria in their opening two World Cup games, and responded with a dynamic display full of urgency and slick passing.

Two of the players brought into the side by Fabio Capello combined for the crucial goal on 22 minutes as James Milner delivered a superb cross from the right wing and Jermain Defoe provided the finishing touch.

England continued to dominate possession and carved out a number of good opportunities to double their advantage, with Samir Handanovic repelling Steven Gerrard and Wayne Rooney with athletic saves, and Defoe also flicking an effort wide.

Slovenia did carry a threat on the counter-attack and anxiety would have been spreading among England supporters as their team failed to take a more comfortable lead.

However, England stayed solid in defence and held on to the final whistle to make it through to the next round, with Slovenia dramatically bowing out as a result of USA's last-gasp winner against Algeria.

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ENGLAND IN A DO OR DIE MISSION

 

Fabio Capello says he never considered dropping John Terry after the defender's outburst, and insists confidence is high in the England camp as they prepare to face Slovenia in Wednesday's crunch match in Port Elizabeth.

England have had to deflect stories of rifts in the camp following newspaper speculation at the weekend and John Terry's press conference, when the former skipper claimed there would be frank words spoken at a team meeting.

Capello has since stated that Terry made a "big mistake" in that press conference, but insisted on Tuesday that he never considered dropping the former captain in order to punish him.

Captain Steven Gerrard, who described the game against Slovenia as "do or die'', claimed Terry's outburst is not affecting the players. Gerrard sympathises with the supporters and revealed the team are desperate to put on a better performance. He also denied that he and his team-mates had put pressure on Capello to pick Joe Cole in his team.

Capello also backed Wayne Rooney to up his game following recent criticism of his below-par performances, especially in the goalless draw with Algeria. The manager admitted it was possible he had made mistakes in England's opening two games but has called for his players to knuckle down and start battling.

 

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