NST Online: Sports
NST Online: Sports |
| Posted: 10 Jul 2011 09:07 AM PDT  Theo Walcott is looking forward to playing in front of thousands of Arsenal fans in Malaysia on Wednesday. The Gunners, making their first visit to the Far East in 12 years, will play Malaysia on Wednesday before going on to China for a match against Hangzhou Greentown on Saturday. Walcott, 22, said he is looking forward to playing in front of thousands of Arsenal fans in Malaysia and China.
"I'm really looking forward to the amount of support that's out there. I've heard rumours of 50,000 plus (fans) at an open training session, so that would be amazing! It's difficult for fans (in the Far East) to get to games, so hopefully, we can make the club proud." Walcott said Arsenal need to get off to a good start in the 2011-12 English Premier League, having been handed tough early assignments with trips to Newcastle and Manchester United and a home game with Liverpool besides their Champions League play-off in August.
He added: "A lot of teams look very strong now and it's not easy to win games home or away. But I'll be ready, I'm sure everyone else will be and I'm looking forward to playing football again."
Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said Spaniard Fabregas, who has announced his intention of wanting to join European champions Barcelona, sustained a muscle strain and did not travel with the Gunners' 23-strong squad, who flew out of London yesterday. Fabregas said on Twitter: "Sorry to all the fans in Asia that I won't be on the tour. After just returning from Indonesia, I know how special you all are. I'll make it up." Besides Fabregas, also missing from the Arsenal squad to Kuala Lumpur are unsettled striker Nicklas Bendtner, defender Emmanuel Eboue (nursing calf strain) and Ivorian striker Gervinho, who completes his STG12 million (RM60 million) move from French side Lille today. Instead, Arsenal have included Japanese wonderkid Ryo Miyaichi, 18, and teenagers Emmanuel Frimpong and Carl Jenkinson, who signed from Charlton last month. "The Premier League is very popular in Asia and Arsenal are a very popular team in Asia. Many of the players have never been there, so we are very excited about it. It is a good experience for the team," said Wenger. "We expect to give fun, pleasure and enjoyment to the people who come and watch us play." The squad -- Goalkeepers: Wojciech Szczesny, Vito Mannone; Defenders: Sebastien Squillaci, Johan Djourou, Kieran Gibbs, Carl Jenkinson, Laurent Koscielny, Thomas Vermaelen, Bacary Sagna; Midfielders: Andrey Arshavin, Ryo Miyaichi, Armand Traore, Theo Walcott, Alex Song, Jack Wilshere, Tomas Rosicky, Denilson, Aaron Ramsey, Emmanuel Frimpong; Forwards: Marouane Chamakh, Samir Nasri, Carlos Vela, Robin van Persie. Full Feed Generated by Get Full RSS, sponsored by USA Best Price. |
| Posted: 10 Jul 2011 08:21 AM PDT SINGAPORE: Australia's Diamonds won the 13th World Championships, defeating New Zealand Silver Ferns 58-57 in extra-time in a thrilling final at the Singapore Indoor Stadium yesterday. The match between the arch rivals went into extra time after the Diamonds clawed their way back to tie the game 46-46 at the end of regular time. Young shooter, Caitlin Bassett, was the heroine for the Diamonds when she slotted in a goal in the dying seconds to clinch victory for her team. The finalists booked their ticket to the final with convincing wins over England and Jamaica respectively in the semi-finals. -- Bernama |
| You are subscribed to email updates from NST Online: Sports To stop receiving these emails, you may unsubscribe now. | Email delivery powered by Google |
| Google Inc., 20 West Kinzie, Chicago IL USA 60610 | |
0 ulasan:
Catat Ulasan