Raheem Sterling has reportedly been handed a morale-boosting phone call from Pep Guardiola, but it looks increasingly likely Harry Kane will be the man to shoulder England’s scoring burden against Iceland.
Sterling has had a difficult time at Euro 2016, starting the first two group matches but repeatedly causing frustration with his end product.
That has not gone unnoticed by the travelling England fans, with Sterling dubbing himself ‘the Hated One’ on Instagram following the 1-1 draw with Russia and being audibly jeered from the stands before being withdrawn at half time against Wales.
It was reported on Friday night that incoming Manchester City manager Guardiola reached out to the 21-year-old player to lift his spirits, but that intervention seems unlikely to help him back into the starting XI for Monday’s last-16 clash in Nice.
Instead, manager Roy Hodgson is thought to be favouring a recall for Premier League golden boot winner Kane, goalless in 150 minutes at his first senior tournament.
The centre forward arrived in France as first-choice number nine but, like Sterling, made way at the interval against Wales and watched Daniel Sturridge and Jamie Vardy turn a 1-0 deficit into a 2-1 win.
The latter duo were given a chance to cement their partnership against Slovakia but drew a collective blank, and it was Kane who faced the media on Friday.
Also read:
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Ian Hawkey: From France to England to Spain, finding a best XI not so straightforward
He swept aside suggestions of burnout – hardly unreasonable given he has now played 63 matches since the start of 2015/16 and also went to last summer’s Under 21 European Championship – and declared himself ready to lead the line.
“I feel 100 per cent fresh, I feel sharp, I feel ready, so if called upon I’ll be going out there and giving 110 per cent,” he said. “I’ve had it before, a lot of people spoke last year when it was the Under 21s at the Euros. People said the same things then. I’m not tired.
“As a striker I want to score every game. I want to score two in every game.
“But it doesn’t always work like that. I’ll keep my confidence up and, if I’m playing on Monday, I’ll do my best to score and my best for the team, creating chances for others.
“I want to score goals, I want to win football matches. Hopefully, if called upon on Monday, I can do that, get on the scoresheet and win the game.”
Hodgson has mixed and matched his plentiful attacking options so far, with only Liverpool’s Adam Lallana starting all three matches in a forward position.
He was pictured with strapping around his right ankle after a closed training session, raising questions over his fitness to face Iceland but England have been known to wrap and ice minor knocks, too.
Chris Smalling was seen with similar bandaging on his knee on the verge of tournament but was never in any risk of missing a match.
England will continue preparations for Iceland at their Chantilly base on Saturday in another closed session, before flying Nice on the eve of the match where Hodgson will make his usual pre-match address.
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The Buckingham Murders
Starring: Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ash Tandon, Prabhleen Sandhu
Director: Hansal Mehta
Rating: 4 / 5
Jigra
Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
Know your cyber adversaries
Cryptojacking: Compromises a device or network to mine cryptocurrencies without an organisation's knowledge.
Distributed denial-of-service: Floods systems, servers or networks with information, effectively blocking them.
Man-in-the-middle attack: Intercepts two-way communication to obtain information, spy on participants or alter the outcome.
Malware: Installs itself in a network when a user clicks on a compromised link or email attachment.
Phishing: Aims to secure personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.
Ransomware: Encrypts user data, denying access and demands a payment to decrypt it.
Spyware: Collects information without the user's knowledge, which is then passed on to bad actors.
Trojans: Create a backdoor into systems, which becomes a point of entry for an attack.
Viruses: Infect applications in a system and replicate themselves as they go, just like their biological counterparts.
Worms: Send copies of themselves to other users or contacts. They don't attack the system, but they overload it.
Zero-day exploit: Exploits a vulnerability in software before a fix is found.
COMPANY PROFILE
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MATCH INFO
Uefa Champions League, last-16. first leg
Atletico Madrid v Juventus, midnight (Thursday), BeIN Sports
Afghanistan squad
Gulbadin Naib (captain), Mohammad Shahzad (wicketkeeper), Noor Ali Zadran, Hazratullah Zazai, Rahmat Shah, Asghar Afghan, Hashmatullah Shahidi, Najibullah Zadran, Samiullah Shinwari, Mohammad Nabi, Rashid Khan, Dawlat Zadran, Aftab Alam, Hamid Hassan, Mujeeb Ur Rahman.
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
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Company%20Profile
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How to protect yourself when air quality drops
Install an air filter in your home.
Close your windows and turn on the AC.
Shower or bath after being outside.
Wear a face mask.
Stay indoors when conditions are particularly poor.
If driving, turn your engine off when stationary.
Buy farm-fresh food
The UAE is stepping up its game when it comes to platforms for local farms to show off and sell their produce.
In Dubai, visit Emirati Farmers Souq at The Pointe every Saturday from 8am to 2pm, which has produce from Al Ammar Farm, Omar Al Katri Farm, Hikarivege Vegetables, Rashed Farms and Al Khaleej Honey Trading, among others.
In Sharjah, the Aljada residential community will launch a new outdoor farmers’ market every Friday starting this weekend. Manbat will be held from 3pm to 8pm, and will host 30 farmers, local home-grown entrepreneurs and food stalls from the teams behind Badia Farms; Emirates Hydroponics Farms; Modern Organic Farm; Revolution Real; Astraea Farms; and Al Khaleej Food.
In Abu Dhabi, order farm produce from Food Crowd, an online grocery platform that supplies fresh and organic ingredients directly from farms such as Emirates Bio Farm, TFC, Armela Farms and mother company Al Dahra.
Going grey? A stylist's advice
If you’re going to go grey, a great style, well-cared for hair (in a sleek, classy style, like a bob), and a young spirit and attitude go a long way, says Maria Dowling, founder of the Maria Dowling Salon in Dubai.
It’s easier to go grey from a lighter colour, so you may want to do that first. And this is the time to try a shorter style, she advises. Then a stylist can introduce highlights, start lightening up the roots, and let it fade out. Once it’s entirely grey, a purple shampoo will prevent yellowing.
“Get professional help – there’s no other way to go around it,” she says. “And don’t just let it grow out because that looks really bad. Put effort into it: properly condition, straighten, get regular trims, make sure it’s glossy.”
