Monday gossip

Mon 10 Oct 2011, 8:49AM
Posted by Tim Oscroft

The prospect of the World and European champions rocking up to the "new" Wembley in a month's time does not faze Joe Hart in the slightest.



Spain will be in that there London village for a friendly in November, and England's number one is relishing the prospect, even in the wake of last Friday's game-of-two-halves draw with Montenegro.

Joe is widely quoted - must have stopped off for a chat in the mixed zone - and the Mail's version is this: "Fabio Capello may not relish the prospect of a fixture against Spain next month but his players insist England must prepare against the best ahead of Euro 2012.

"...The Italian manager would prefer different opposition but Joe Hart and Theo Walcott believe a duel with the Spanish at Wembley will be perfect preparation for Euro 2012.

"Hart said: 'We need to play teams like that because that's who we'll have to play in tournament football if, fingers crossed, we get through the group stages. That's the business end of the tournament. It's a chance to test ourselves at Wembley on a good pitch and the idea that it's a friendly will go straight out of the window. We're looking good at the moment, playing well and digging in to get results. It's a great vibe and a good place to be at the moment.'"

Looking around it's slim pickings on the City front, but we find that the Toure brothers both got onto the scoresheet to help the Ivory Coast qualify for the African Nations Cup. The Singapore Straits Times picks up off the wires: "Centre-back Kolo Toure put the 'Elephants' ahead on 70 minutes at Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium in Ivorian commercial capital Abidjan only for Dugary Ndabashinze to level for the 'Swallows' soon after.

"It was left to former Barcelona midfield 'enforcer' Yaya Toure to earn 1992 Cup of Nations champions Ivory Coast a sixth victory from six Group H outings with a goal three minutes into stoppage time."

And don't be thinking that just because there's 82 more days until the transfer window is officially Wide Open again, there's no talk of potential incomings. The Mail reckons we are in a three-way fight with Arsenal and Chelsea for the services of 15-year-old Real Madrid striker Jose Angel Pozo, and the Sun claims we are interested in American Brek Shea. He's dubbed a "wonderkid", but then is described as "the powerful Dallas winger, 21"...