Birth Date: October 24 1985
Birth Place: Liverpool
Birth Nation: England
Nationality: British
Position: ForwardAlso known as - Roonaldo
Wayne Rooney Rumours and Transfers
26 10 2007
Manchester United striker Wayne Rooney is confident new recruit Anderson can plug the gap vacated by the injured Paul Scholes.
Scholes is tipped to miss Saturday's clash with Middlesbrough - and possibly next weekend's summit meeting with Arsenal - with the knee injury he picked up in training prior to Tuesday's Champions League win against Dynamo Kiev.
But 19-year-old Anderson, a £17million summer signing from FC Porto, proved more than a capable understudy in Ukraine and is expected to get the nod to continue alongside either Darren Fletcher or John O'Shea, with Owen Hargreaves and Michael Carrick still out injured.
Team-mate Rooney is pleased Anderson is finally settling down and is confident he can flourish in Scholes' absence.
"Anderson has come in and done really well," said Rooney.
"A lot of people don't realise how young he is. But he has great confidence and belief in his own ability and has produced some good performances recently."
25 10 2007
Chelsea's Frank Lampard believes Didier Drogba is irreplaceable, and he has emphasised the importance of holding onto their star striker.
Drogba's recent revelations put his Blues future in doubt; however he has since expressed his regret at his comments and demonstrated his commitment on the pitch.
The Ivory Coast international netted the opener in the weekend victory over Middlesbrough, and then wrapped up the points in Chelsea's UEFA Champions League triumph over Schalke.
Lampard believes Drogba is the best in the business when it comes to playing as a lone striker, and he has urged the club to ensure he is happy at Stamford Bridge.
"It is important for Chelsea that he stays. Players like Didier you want alongside you," he told the Evening Standard.
"He makes his own decisions but when he is here and playing for us, even with all the controversy of the last week or two, he has put in two performances which show what he is all about. Didier is the best; it is as simple as that. There are different types of players, like Wayne Rooney, an absolutely fantastic, world-class player who comes off defenders and creates and scores. But as an out and out striker there is no one better than Didier. He has an all-round game with pace, power, is a team player, scores goals with his head and feet and holds the line. He is a great lad to have in the dressing room, will always fight to the end and the way he has played in the last 18 months there is no one better in world football."
25 10 2007
Zat Knight looks set to keep his place against Bolton after Martin O'Neill refused to blame him for the Manchester United defeat.
The Villa defender was not at his best as United ran out 4-1 winners at Villa Park last Saturday and was certainly at fault when Wayne Rooney nipped in to score the crucial equaliser.
However, O'Neill is refusing to blame his young defender and look certain to keep the faith for the trip to the Reebok Stadium this Sunday.
"Everyone will come in for criticism at certain stages," O'Neill revealed.
"I'm not going to go down the route of singling out any players. Everyone has a responsibility, every time you step on the pitch. In every Premier League game you play, you have a chance of doing well or playing poorly."
25 10 2007
Brian Laws was left reeling yesterday after seeing the spine of his Sheffield Wednesday team ripped apart.
The Owls manager was already struggling to come to terms with the long-term ankle ligament injury to star striker Francis Jeffers.
But in the aftermath of Tuesday night's home shocker against Scunthorpe United – which saw the Owls concede two goals for the fourth consecutive match and leaves them just one point off the bottom of the Championship after a quarter of the season – Laws was hit by another double blow.
First, centre-half Richard Wood, who was stretchered off against the Iron, has suffered a dislocated shoulder.
Then to cap a miserable week for Laws, Sunderland manager Roy Keane has ignored Wednesday's request to keep on-loan midfield general Graham Kavanagh for a second month as he wants him back on Wearside to help in their relegation battle in the Premier League.
"You always seem to pick up injuries when things aren't going well," said assistant manager Russ Wilcox.
"They are two key players. Everybody is important to the club, but these two are key players for us. You don't want to use injuries as an excuse but we have lost Richard Wood to a shoulder injury and we lost Francis Jeffers on Saturday. When things aren't going well you do seem to pick up injuries but we have enough in the squad to turn it around and we will just have to keep battling away."
In Wood, Kavanagh and Jeffers it is three players who formed the spine of Laws's team. One of Wednesday's main problems this season has been their lack of goals at Hllsborough.
They have scored just three times in six Championship games, including Deon Burton's penalty on Tuesday evening before he was substituted with concussion, and the other two scorers – Jeffers and Wade Small – are out injured.
Laws is hoping talks with chairman Dave Allen will allow him funds to bring in an on-loan striker to boost his firepower, but with performances from the Owls like the first 45 minutes against Sunthorpe, even strikers of the calibre of Wayne Rooney would struggle to get a sniff of goal.
Wilcox criticised his side's work-rate – usually a taboo issue when coaches moan about their players – and said the Iron had been more industrious than the Owls before the break.
"We looked like we worked harder in the second half, but you shouldn't be asking players to work harder, that should be just a natural thing," said the Owls No 2.
"That was disappointing. Once we stepped up the tempo after the break, I thought we dominated the second half. We have got to perform better over 90 minutes. In the first half we never won a second ball, we couldn't just get any tempo, but in the second we won the second ball and that allowed us to play. It's very difficult as a coach or manager to put your finger on what went wrong. We just looked flat in the first half."
Of the three promoted clubs from League One, Wednesday have already lost to two at Hillsborough this season; Scunthorpe joining Bristol City in taking maximum points.
The third side, Blackpool, visit Hillsborough on Saturday and Laws will be desperate to avoid an unwanted hat-trick. It's a massive week for the club," admitted Wilcox.
One piece of good news for Laws, however, is that on-loan central defender Michael Johnson has agreed to stay at Hillsbrough for a further month.
Sheffield United manager Bryan Robson will today attend the launch of a special exhibition at Bramall Lane which celebrates the history of black footballers in Sheffield.
The event, which is organised jointly by the Blades, the "Football Unites, Racism Divides" campaign, and The Hub African-Caribbean Centre based in Sharrow, also includes the launch of a project named in honour of Robson's former West Brom team-mate Laurie Cunningham.
Cunningham, who died in a car accident in July 1989, became the first black player to represent England at international level when he scored for the under-21 side in a 1-0 win over Scotland at Bramall Lane 30 years ago.
23 10 2007
Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson admits the club are going to have to take care with the injury woes of Louis Saha.
The United striker - who has been plagued by injuries during his time at Old Trafford - will again be missing from Ferguson's squad for Tuesday's UEFA Champions League meeting with Dynamo Kiev.
Saha will miss United's trip to Ukraine with a knee injury sustained in the warm-up to the Premier League clash with Wigan earlier this month.
Ferguson has previously spoken of the difficulties in convincing Saha that he is fit to play, but the United boss now appears to be favouring a different approach.
"Louis got his injury in the Wigan game, now it's just a matter of taking it carefully," Ferguson told the Daily Mail.
"It's nothing different from our normal procedures with him. You'd like everyone fit. The starts of our last three or four seasons have been the same, disrupted by injuries. We've had to deal with it and this team are dealing with it very well."
Ferguson believes that his United side are well equipped to maintain their current run of positive form without Saha, after witnessing the increasingly impressive strike partnership between Carlos Tevez and Wayne Rooney.
"The important thing is to have the squad available and to cope with it, which I think we're doing," Ferguson added.
"This team are coming together and in Tevez and Rooney we have two exceptionally good players who are a real threat to defenders."
23 10 2007
Manchester United will be able to call on the services of Nemanja Vidic for Tuesday's Champions League clash with Dynamo Kyiv after the Serbian defender was passed fit to play in Ukraine.
The 26-year-old had been suffering the after-effects of the concussion he suffered against Wigan Athletic earlier this month but United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has been pleased with the defender's recovery.
"There won't be many changes from Saturday. Vidic will come in and we may make one other change, but that's all," confirmed the veteran boss.
Ferguson still has to decide whether to continue with the strike partnership of Wayne Rooney and Carlos Tevez after the duo impressed in Saturday's 4-1 victory at Aston Villa.
He added: "In Tevez and Rooney we have too exceptionally good footballers. They are both such strong players and a real threat to defenders. It makes them a real consideration for the game against Dynamo, their form's good enough, but there's the tactical part to consider. I'd have liked to have had Michael Carrick and Owen Hargreaves here. They're ideal European players. We don't have either of them, but we have good options. There's Paul Scholes, Anderson, Darren Fletcher and John O'Shea. We may go with three players in the middle, as we did in Lisbon (against Sporting). That's certainly a possibility. Whatever we do, the intention will be to try and win the match because the rewards are great for us. It's an important game for Kyiv. They'll be wanting to win the match and I expect them to have a go. We see it as an opportunity for us because Roma and Sporting Lisbon have a double header against each other."
22 10 2007
Italy are dominating the Golden Ball list of 50 candidates with eight players, while Spanish giants Real Madrid and Barcelona each contributed seven names on the list.
- Golden Ball 2007 nominees:
Éric Abidal (Olympique Lyon, FC Barcelona)
Daniel Alves (FC Sevilla)
David Beckham (Real Madrid, Los Angeles Galaxy)
Dimitar Berbatov (Tottenham)
Gianluigi Buffon (Juventus Turin)
Fabio Cannavaro (Real Madrid)
Iker Casillas (Real Madrid)
Petr Cech (Chelsea)
Rogerio Ceni (Sao Paulo)
Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United)
Deco (FC Barcelona)
Mahamadou Diarra (Real Madrid)
Diego (Werder Bremen)
Didier Drogba (Chelsea)
Michael Essien (Chelsea)
Samuel Eto'o (FC Barcelona)
Francesc Fabregas (Arsenal)
Gennaro Gattuso (Milan)
Steven Gerrard (Liverpool)
Ryan Giggs (Manchester United)
Thierry Henry (Arsenal, FC Barcelona)
Zlatan Ibrahimovic (Inter)
Filippo Inzaghi (Milan)
Kaka (Milan)
Frederic Kanoute (FC Sevilla)
Miroslav Klose (Werder Bremen, Bayern Munchen)
Younis Mahmoud (Algharafa)
Paolo Maldini (Milan)
Florent Malouda (Olympique Lyon, Chelsea)
Lionel Messi (FC Barcelona)
Shunsuke Nakamura (Celtic Glasgow)
Guillermo Ochoa (America Mexico)
Andrea Pirlo (Milan),
Ricardo Quaresma (FC Porto),
Raul (Real Madrid)
Franck Ribery (Olympique Marseille, Bayern Munchen),
Juan Roman Riquelme (Boca Juniors, Villarreal)
Robinho (Real Madrid)
Ronaldinho (FC Barcelona)
Wayne Rooney (Manchester United)
Paul Scholes (Manchester United)
Clarence Seedorf (Milan)
Carlos Tevez (West Ham, Manchester United)
Luca Toni (Fiorentina, Bayern Munchen)
Kolo Toure (Arsenal)
Jose Fernando Torres (Atletico Madrid, Liverpool)
Francesco Totti (AS Roma)
Ruud van Nistelrooy (Real Madrid)
Robin van Persie (Arsenal)
David Villa (Valencia)
18 10 2007
UEFA will not investigate a controversial penalty awarded to Russia in its 2-1 victory over England in European Championship qualifying.
With England leading 1-0 in Wednesday's match at Luzhniki Stadium in Moscow, Spanish referee Luis Medina Cantalejo awarded the penalty in the 69th minute when Wayne Rooney fouled Konstantin Zyryanov.
Television replays suggested that the foul was just outside the area, and England coach Steve McClaren called the decision "an absolute disgrace'' after the match.
UEFA said Thursday that the penalty was a "factual decision" and did not result from a player trying to deceive the referee.
"It will not be investigated by UEFA," the body said in an e-mailed statement.
Russia substitute Roman Pavlyuchenko converted the penalty and scored again four minutes later to put England's chances of qualifying in jeopardy.
Russia can now advance to next year's tournament in Austria and Switzerland if it wins its final two games - at Israel on Nov. 17 and at Andorra four days later.
18 10 2007
Stand-in England captain Steven Gerrard accepted that he and his team-mates had to shoulder the blame for the 2-1 Euro 2008 qualifying defeat in Russia.
A Wayne Rooney volley had put England on course for a finals place, before a second-half Roman Pavlyuchenko double gave Russia the win and left Steve McClaren's side in danger of missing out altogether.
England's fate will now be sealed if Russia win in Israel and then see off minnows Andorra in their final two games.
Gerrard said: "I can't believe it is out of our hands, because we have worked so hard over the last five or six games to put ourselves in the driving seat and make ourselves favourites to go through. We went 1-0 up and you start believing you are nearly there, that you have got one foot in the finals, but football is a cruel game. Chances and decisions and mistakes turn football matches and that is what has happened, but for us not to make the finals will be unthinkable. As players and staff we've got to take the responsibility for that. However, it is important that we don't give up. We are waiting on other people to do us favours, but as players we've got to stick together, focus and believe to the end. Israel are capable of getting a result against Russia, but, with them not being able to qualify, it's certainly a difficult situation."
18 10 2007
Russia manager Guus Hiddink has reveaked that he briefed his players specifically to target England's defence because he felt it would wilt under pressure.
Guus Hiddink's substitutions and tactics helped Russia come from behind to secure a vital 2-1 win over England in their Euro 2008 qualifier in Moscow on Wednesday night.
The Russian victory took qualification out of England manager Steve McClaren's hands after they had led through Wayne Rooney and were looking comfortable with 20 minutes to go.
At that point, England were about to qualify and Russia were going out.
But a brace from substitute Roman Pavluchenko gave Russia the points and put them firmly in the driving seat to qualify with Croatia from Group E.
They must defeat Israel and Andorra in their two remaining fixtures to get through ahead of England, and Hiddink has revealed the tactics that swung last night's game - and the Group - decisvely in Russia's favour.
"We knew that in their [England's] defence, if you put pressure on them they are not used to that from the whole team and they might have problems," Hiddink told Sky Sports News.
"They went 1-0 up with a terrific goal from Rooney and that was a major setback, but the team came back well in the second half. The boys did it. We prepared them well in one week because this team had, and has, still got to learn a lot. We used the whole week to emphasise on tactics; how to play in general but also how to go specifically on England, their strong points and their weak points."
However Hiddink realises qualification for next summer's finals is not yet secured. He stressed that Russia could not afford to become complacent ahead of their crunch match with Israel, whose own hopes of qualification are already dead.
"It is a difficult game," warned Hiddink. "Israel are out, but nowadays in international football there is prestige and we will have a very difficult first step to make and then the second step [against Andorra]."
