euro 2012 germany defense spotlight reliability mertesacker a question february ankle surgery

GDANSK, Poland - Questions have been raised about the reliability of Germany’s defense and the speed of its anchor, Per Mertesacker, whose match experience since February has been limited to two friendlies.

But coach Joachim Loew appears ready to take the risk with the center back for Germany’s European Championship opener against Portugal and its star forward Cristiano Ronaldo on Saturday.

EURO 2012: COMPLETE COVERAGE

Germany’s fans were horrified by the 5-3 loss to Switzerland in the first of the two warm-up games before Euro 2012, when Mertesacker looked more like the odd-man-out than the pillar of stability. Then Mertesacker got a new partner in central defense, Holger Badstuber, and things looked a lot smoother in the 2-0 win over Israel.

RANK 'EM: CREATE YOUR OWN EURO 2012 POWER RANKINGS

Mertesacker needed surgery after sustaining an injury to his right ankle playing for Arsenal in February.

Badstuber looked like the winner in the internal competition for a place in the central defense with Mats Hummels, who was Mertesacker’s partner against Switzerland.

Hummels won the German double and his team beat and outplayed Bayern Munich comprehensively in all three matches last season.

Badstuber’s statistics say he is one of the better passers among Bundesliga defenders and Loew likes his defenders to provide the first pass that will open up Germany’s attack. Hummels can produce long passes used by Borussia Dortmund but Loew prefers Bayern’s short-passing game.

“Whoever plays will know how to take responsibility,” Mertesacker said Wednesday. “We have many options. We’ve been together for a while and we know what the partner will be doing, which is the most important thing. We know the patterns.

“I’ve had good rehabilitation, it’s good to have had the two matches and I’ve had good feedback from my body,” he said. Mertesacker has been using a yoga teacher the Germans have brought in for the first time.

Asked to comment on his perceived lack of speed, Mertesacker said: “I always thought I was agile, but maybe it was hard to see because of my size (1.98 meters tall).”

Mertesacker said he knew it was a race against time to get fit for the tournament, “but I had great motivation.”

Badstuber said the competition for places in the starting 11 was great.

“Of course, everyone wants to play. The quality of the squad is very high, we have many positions that can be filled with equally good players. But overall we are a very close team,” Badstuber said.

On the flanks, Loew is expected to go with Bayern players, captain Philipp Lahm and Jerome Boateng — and both are likely to be out of position.

Lahm began the season in Bayern on the left back, then switched to his more natural right side. Loew has used Lahm on the left, for lack of an alternative, but he could return him to the right to confront Ronaldo on Saturday. Lahm did a good job covering Ronaldo in the Champions League semifinals against Real Madrid.

Boateng plays in the central defense in Bayern. But left back Marcel Schmelzer of Borussia Dortmund had a poor showing against Switzerland.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will be one Germany’s biggest assets, although he has not had an error-free season. He stopped Ronaldo’s penalty in the semifinal shootout in Madrid that went Bayern’s way.

Neuer says Bayern’s second straight season without a trophy will not be a factor.

“This tournament comes just at the right time. We have top defenders and the coach will make the right decision. We know we can spread the responsibility around, we know our job,” he said.

Loew does not neglect his defense, but his concept involves a risky plan based on a quick transition and swift, clever passing to get to the goal as fast as possible.

If Germany loses possession, its forwards start attacking immediately, helping to leave the defense unexposed and to alleviate any shortcomings it may have.

Source :  http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/euro-2012/euro-2012-germany-defense-spotlight-reliability-mertesacker-a-question-february-ankle-surgery-article-1.1090928#ixzz1xCaaDAxI

Read More

euro 2012 england striker jermain defoe leaves team death father

England striker Jermain Defoe has flown home from the squad's Euro 2012 training camp in Krakow following the death of his father, the Football Association confirmed Thursday.

Tottenham star Defoe, who only touched down in Poland with his England team-mates on Wednesday, will rejoin the squad at an unspecified date, the FA said in a brief statement.

"England striker Jermain Defoe has returned home to England this morning following the passing of his father overnight," the FA said.

"Jermain will re-join the England Euro squad in due course. There will be no replacement player called in.

"We would ask all media to respect Jermain and his family's privacy at this difficult time."

Defoe is regarded as England's reserve striker, with Danny Welbeck and Andy Carroll vying for a starting berth against France next Monday in Group D in the absence of the suspended Wayne Rooney.

-Agence France Presse,

Source :  http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/euro-2012/euro-2012-england-striker-jermain-defoe-leaves-team-death-father-article-1.1091391#ixzz1xCa01GpE

Read More

The silent issue that could doom President Obama in 2012 election

There will be so many things to talk about with Obama vs. Romney from here to November, but the one that nobody will want to talk about very much in polite society, even in what has a chance to be the meanest presidential campaign for all times, is race.

It works against the President this time, in a big way.

Last time, there were just weren’t enough reasons for enough white voters to vote against the black guy, as much as they wanted to. This time there are plenty.

And please don’t believe a single poll on this issue.

If there is one great truth about polling in this country, at least when it comes to race, is that people lie through their teeth. Mostly because they don’t want to look like some lousy, scummy bigot — even talking to an anonymous voice on the telephone.

Of course this election will be about the economy, and Obama’s record on it, no matter how much broad-daylight looting of this country went on during the eight years of Bush-Cheney.

You want to know why George W. Bush is still the only living President with an approval rating under 50%? It isn’t just because of all the Americans killed and wounded in a war built on lies in Iraq. It is also because of the economy Obama inherited from him, one nobody wanted to touch with a stick at the time.

Oh, Obama ran against the Bush economy once. But won’t be able to do it again, even though he’s sure going to try. He has to run on his own record this time, on the economy, on jobs. Does Romney have a better plan? He does not. His plan, his platform — and the reason Obama is in huge trouble against him — is as simple as Romney sounds sometimes on the stump:

He’s not Barack Obama in 2012 the way Obama wasn’t Bush in 2008.

“There has only been one real plan from the Republicans, really for the last four years,” Mario Cuomo says. “Get rid of Obama. That’s it. Now they try to convince you that whomever you replace him with will be better, even though that should be an absurdly childish and stupid and perhaps even greedy notion.”

Still: This isn’t ’08 for Obama.

It means he’s not only NOT running against Bush, he is not running against old John McCain, a terrible candidate, or Sarah Palin.

When it was over four years ago, even people who didn’t want to vote for a black presidential candidate — but did in the end — congratulated themselves on America finally putting a black man in the White House.

It won’t work that way this time. Race won’t be the only issue, not in a world of these gas prices, not in an America with this kind of unemployment. But you better believe it will be a huge issue.

source : http://www.nydailynews.com/news/election-2012/silent-issue-doom-president-obama-2012-election-article-1.1091855

Read More

US military suicides rising, even as combat eases

WASHINGTON — Suicides are surging among America’s troops, averaging nearly one a day this year — the fastest pace in the nation’s decade of war.

The 154 suicides for active-duty troops in the first 155 days of the year far outdistance the U.S. forces killed in action in Afghanistan — about 50 percent more — according to Pentagon statistics obtained by The Associated Press.

The numbers reflect a military burdened with wartime demands from Iraq and Afghanistan that have taken a greater toll than foreseen a decade ago. The military also is struggling with increased sexual assaults, alcohol abuse, domestic violence and other misbehavior.

Because suicides had leveled off in 2010 and 2011, this year’s upswing has caught some officials by surprise.

The reasons for the increase are not fully understood. Among explanations, studies have pointed to combat exposure, post-traumatic stress, misuse of prescription medications and personal financial problems. Army data suggest soldiers with multiple combat tours are at greater risk of committing suicide, although a substantial proportion of Army suicides are committed by soldiers who never deployed.

The unpopular war in Afghanistan is winding down with the last combat troops scheduled to leave at the end of 2014. But this year has seen record numbers of soldiers being killed by Afghan troops, and there also have been several scandals involving U.S. troop misconduct.

The 2012 active-duty suicide total of 154 through June 3 compares to 130 in the same period last year, an 18 percent increase. And it’s more than the 136.2 suicides that the Pentagon had projected for this period based on the trend from 2001-2011. This year’s January-May total is up 25 percent from two years ago, and it is 16 percent ahead of the pace for 2009, which ended with the highest yearly total thus far.

Suicide totals have exceeded U.S. combat deaths in Afghanistan in earlier periods, including for the full years 2008 and 2009.

The suicide pattern varies over the course of a year, but in each of the past five years the trend through May was a reliable predictor for the full year, according to a chart based on figures provided by the Armed Forces Medical Examiner.

The numbers are rising among the 1.4 million active-duty military personnel despite years of effort to encourage troops to seek help with mental health problems. Many in the military believe that going for help is seen as a sign of weakness and thus a potential threat to advancement.

source : http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/military-suicides-rising-combat-eases-article-1.1091776

Read More