Hodgson Is Of The Mind To Give Terry And Rio Last Chance In This Summer's Finals

Roy Hodgson spoke with John Terry and Rio Ferdinand on Tuesday and has decided that only one can go to Euro 2012, according to ESPN sources.

Initial expectation was that the Chelsea captain would miss out on the European Championships, but reports have emerged claiming Ferdinand will be the man to miss out. Hodgson will name his squad at 1pm on Wednesday.

The exact nature of Hodgson's conversations are to remain confidential, but it appears it would be too tricky to integrate both players for the duration of the tournament given the circumstances of Terry's impending court case involving Rio's brother Anton.

Terry has already been stripped of the England captaincy, and while the FA made it clear to Fabio Capello that Terry cannot wear the armband, the catalyst for the Italian's departure, it would not block the centre-half being in the squad.
England coach Roy Hodgson names his 23-man squad for Euro 2012 on Wednesday ahead of the tournament in Poland and Ukraine.

His team are in a group alongside France, Sweden and co-hosts Ukraine. BBC pundits assess England's chances in the tournament, address the key issues that Hodgson faces and look at the other sides in the reckoning for Euro glory.

Former England winger Chris Waddle: "England are not fancied, and rightly so, and if they get out of the group they have done well. To win it they would have to play well and need a bit of luck.

Continue reading the main story“Getting out of their group will be a success for England”BBC pundit Robbie Savage"The only way England could win it is in a similar way to how Greece won it [at Euro 2004]. England have nothing to lose, even though we always build them up to say this is the year.

"Former coach Fabio Capello is second to none, but you can only work with the players you've got. If you don't have the quality of player you can organise teams to make them hard to beat and change tactics slightly."

Former Wales international Robbie Savage: "Getting out of the group will be a success. France are the dark horse of the competition and England will struggle against Sweden and the co-hosts Ukraine. Wayne Rooney is suspended for two games so England are without their talisman. Who is going to lead the line? Danny Welbeck? Daniel Sturridge?"

"At the 2010 World Cup in South Africa everyone pinned their hopes on Rooney. He was going to win us the World Cup and we were going to help him do it. Take that out of the equation and it becomes a team game. The selection of the team, especially if it's based on statistics, will be based on whoever is playing well at the time, and going forward as a group. France played well when they came to Wembley in 2010 , while a few years ago Ukraine were the only team in a qualifying group to beat us, so it's going to be tough, but I think coach Roy Hodgson will be able to get a good performance from the squad."

Former England defender Martin Keown: "I'm told Roy likes to work with shape almost religiously, every day he's doing that with players. But at a major tournament it is also about killing boredom too and that's down to the manager. You've got to have the right ambience between him and the players and he's got to know when the lads want to blow off steam.

"At the last tournament it was a big problem. Capello didn't really get it, maybe it was cultural. This tournament we've got an English chap, maybe he'll understand. We're social animals, the English, we might want to talk to each other now and again, I don't think Capello did that.

James: "Out in South Africa the facilities were second to none, we had everything we needed, but it was all in the same complex. We always had football pitches in the background, you never have the separation between work and relaxation."

Juventus Grabbed The Headlines As They Strode Over The Serie A Finishing Line To Be Crowned Champions

Juventus grabbed the headlines on Sunday as they strode over the Serie A finishing line to be crowned champions, their triumph owing much to a derby defeat for closest rivals AC Milan. Manchester City FC will be hoping to share Juve's elation next week after collecting an impressive three points at Newcastle United FC, while Paris Saint-Germain FC battled to victory in France and RSC Anderlecht claimed the Belgian title. UEFA.com recaps the action.

England
Manchester City took a major stride towards winning their first league title since 1967/68 by posting a 2-0 victory at Newcastle United FC, Yaya Touré scoring twice. That kept them ahead of Manchester United FC – 2-0 victors against Swansea City AFC – on goal difference with one game left this term. "I am excited because we're on the top, but it's not enough," commented City manager Roberto Mancini. "One week more and if we play like we did today, we have every chance of winning." There was joy for UEFA Champions League finalists Chelsea FC too as they edged Liverpool FC 2-1 in the FA Cup showpiece, Ramires and Didier Drogba scoring for the winners.

Spain
With the destiny of the Liga title decided, Josep Guardiola fell under the spotlight as he celebrated his final home game in charge of FC Barcelona. And his side provided a fitting tribute as Lionel Messi attempted to steal the attention by scoring each goal in their 4-0 triumph against RCD Espanyol to take his Liga tally to 50. "Lionel has hogged the limelight all season; I can't be jealous," said Guardiola. "I hope that in the future he continues doing as well." Meanwhile, champions Real Madrid FC came from behind to snatch a dramatic 2-1 victory at Granada CF.

Italy
Following nine years in the wilderness, Juventus reinstated themselves among the elite of Italian football by securing their 28th Serie A title. Mirko Vučinić's first-half strike complemented Michele Canini's own goal as Antonio Conte's side cruised to a 2-0 victory against Cagliari Calcio. "It's a fantastic feeling, a great joy after a wonderful year and an extraordinary season," said Conte. "The lads fully deserved this Scudetto and so do our great fans." Milan surrendered their title after a dramatic 4-2 defeat against arch-rivals FC Internazionale Milano. Diego Milito's solitary strike settled the season's first Derby della Madonnina and the predatory striker proved Milan's nemesis once more by scoring his third hat-trick of the season.

Germany
Champions Borussia Dortmund ended the Bundesliga season on a high as they signed off with a 4-0 defeat of SC Freiburg to end with a record 81 points, eight more than FC Bayern München, who consigned 1. FC Köln to relegation with a 4-1 away success. "This has crowned our season," said Dortmund coach Jürgen Klopp. "If we look back in 30 years, we can do so knowing that, so far, no other club has earned more points." Klaas-Jan Huntelaar finished top scorer with 29 strikes, two coming in FC Schalke 04's 3-2 win at SV Werder Bremen, while Hannover 96 secured seventh spot and a UEFA Europa League qualifying berth by downing 1. FC Kaiserslautern 2-1.

France
Paris Saint-Germain FC had to come back from two goals down to keep their Ligue 1 title hopes intact as they eked out a 4-3 success at Valenciennes FC, a result that took them ahead of Montpellier Hérault SC on goal difference – though their rivals boast a game in hand and visit Stade Rennais FC on Monday. "It was difficult at the start, but we came back quickly and never let go," said PSG goalscorer Nenê. "We really enjoyed ourselves playing and this was a huge win." There was frustration for Olympique Lyonnais, on the other hand, as their 1-1 draw with Stade Brestois 29 left them eight points shy of LOSC Lille Métropole in the final UEFA Champions League spot with three games to go.

Elsewhere
RSC Anderlecht are celebrating their 31st Belgian title after Guillaume Gillet's last-gasp penalty earned a decisive 1-1 draw with Club Brugge KV, their nearest challengers. Title euphoria is taking grip for WKS Śląsk Wroclaw as well thanks to their 1-0 win against Wisła Kraków on the final day of the Polish season, while AEL Limassol FC clinched their first Cypriot crown in 44 years. On the knockout front, FC Shakhtar Donetsk downed FC Metalurh Donetsk 2-1 to secure the Ukrainian Cup, Linfield FC lifted the Northern Irish Cup to seal their sixth domestic double in seven years and The New Saints FC completed the double in Wales.

UEFA Has Established Basic Medical Requirements For UEFA Competition Games

UEFA is introducing minimum medical requirements at UEFA competition matches from the start of the 2012/13 season. The minimum requirements, drawn up by the UEFA Medical Committee, were approved by the UEFA Executive Committee at its recent meeting in Istanbul.

UEFA's 53 member associations have been informed of the requirements, which are in line with UEFA's mission to ensure that hosts of UEFA matches provide players, match and team officials with a minimum standard of equipment and medical services to deal with accidents which might be life-threatening, or cause permanent injury.

The associations have been provided with a list of the requirements which will be mandatory for all UEFA competitions from next season. The list refers to pitchside medical equipment, ambulances, medical staff, emergency medical room equipment, pre-match information and pre-tournament information.

Certain requirements are already mandatory for all UEFA competitions, such as an emergency medical room in the stadium and the provision of stretchers, while others are mandatory for most of UEFA's competitions, for example the presence of an ambulance.

"The new requirements are designed to supplement these existing services and/or provide new services where gaps currently exist, and to ensure a standardised minimum service across UEFA competitions," UEFA said.

To help with funding the costs which relate to the new requirements, each of UEFA's member associations will be able to apply to use part of their existing funding from the HatTrick assistance programme to purchase medical equipment. They will also be entitled to loan equipment to regional associations or clubs hosting UEFA matches.

UEFA match officers will monitor compliance with the requirements, and failure to comply will result in disciplinary proceedings.

UEFA's Medical Committee has shown similar foresight in the area of football medicine by launching the UEFA Football Doctor Education Programme. The inaugural workshop in this programme was recently staged in Vienna, with 50 team doctors from UEFA national associations attending.

The main topic was emergency treatment of players - providing an overview of the general skills and knowledge needed by the modern team doctor in both theoretical lectures and practical sessions. The aim of the UEFA Football Doctor Education Programme is then to disseminate the knowledge at domestic level, encouraging the doctors to organise such workshops within their national associations.