Real Madrid's Ricardo Carvalho Abandons Portugal Training Camp Ahead Of Cyprus Clash..

Real Madrid defender has surprisingly walked out on his national team's preparations for their Euro 2012 qualifier, with reports of bust-up at end of Wednesday's training session.

Portugal have announced that defender Ricardo Carvalho has left their training camp without explanation ahead of the team's Euro 2012 qualifier with Cyprus on Friday.

The 33-year-old was selected by coach Paulo Bento to form part of his 23-man squad, but has decided to abandon the squad of his own accord, with his participation in their match on September 2 now in doubt.

"The player left the training camp on Wednesday, by his own initiative and without communicating that absence to the FPF or to the national coach," read a statement released by the Portuguese Football Federation.

However, Portuguese sports daily Record has since reported that an incident had boiled over during a training session on Wednesday involving the Madrid centre-back, who was bizarrely spotted leaving the camp in team-mate Fabio Coentrao's car.

As a result, Carvalho will not fly out with the rest of the squad to Cyprus, and possibly not add to his haul of 71 international caps.

Source : www.goal.com

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Liverpool Midfielder Joe Cole Joins Lille On Loan

LILLE, France (AP) -French club Lille has signed midfielder Joe Cole on loan from Liverpool for the rest of the season.

Lille confirmed the deal with the 29-year-old England international on its website Wednesday.

Cole struggled to break into the Liverpool team last season after being released by Chelsea.

"I needed to have a new challenge and to go abroad, and Lille gave me that opportunity,'' Cole said in quotes published in French on the club's website. "The football played by Lille reminds me of the one played by Barcelona. I'd like the club to win the league title again this season.''

Lille has boosted its attack lately after losing midfielder Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle and Ivory Coast forward Gervinho to Arsenal earlier in the transfer window.

The French defending champion also signed Poland striker Ireneusz Jelen on Tuesday on a one-year deal.

Cole won the Premier League title three times with Chelsea and participated in the last three World Cups with England.

"I'd like to get back in the England team. It's one of my goals,'' Cole said.

The attacking midfielder brings plenty of European experience to a Lille side eager to do well in the Champions League.

"The squad is young but I'm here to help the team and bring my experience,'' Cole said. "It's a great challenge for me. I'm going to discover a different style of football, which can only be positive.''

Cole featured for Chelsea when the London club reached the Champions League final in 2008.

Source : sportsillustrated.cnn.com

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[Video] - England Beat Ireland in Dublin - Manu Tuilagi and Delon Armitage Tries

Earlier in the week we took a look at the Manu Tuilagi tackle on David Wallace that resulted in injury, so today we'll have a quick look at the tries from the match for those who missed it, or just want to watch them again.

As you may have heard by now, Ireland lost their fourth match in succession as England came up trumps 20-9, with tries from Tuilagi and Delon Armitage, as well as some assured kicking from Jonny Wilkinson, proving the difference between the two sides.

Ireland have now slipped from fourth to eighth on the IRB World Rankings in the space of about a month, and while on paper they've still got a team who can do well in New Zealand, their form and injury problems will be a major concern.

England on the other hand have bounced back from a few poor performances, and with young Tuilagi in the midfield look to have reignited a few of their senior players, Mike Tindall included. He fed off the Samoan born center's energy and had one of his best games for England in recent times. In fact the whole side seemed to pick things up, just in time for their RWC departure.

"You want to win games and this is a tough place to come and win. It just demonstrates to us, if we ever have doubts, when we go and do what we talk about doing, it’s effective and we’re a pretty decent team," said coach Martin Johnson.

"There was lots not perfect about it but we did a lot of good things as well.

Source.

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