World Cup Briefs

MEXICO BUS BREAKS DOWN

Mexico's World Cup squad were forced to hail taxis to take them to training after their bus broke down in Santos.
The bus managed to pull up in front of the Mexico hotel but thereafter could not move, forcing the entire squad and coaching staff to disembark and call cabs to take them to their O Rei Pele training centre 4km away.
Veteran defender and captain Rafael Marquez saw the funny side, though, taking to Twitter to post a photo of himself and team-mates squashed into the back of a taxi.
"They've shrunk our bus hahahahah #totraininginataxi," the 35-year-old tweeted.
The bus malfunction didn't affect coach Miguel Herrera's plans, though, as his players still managed to start their training session on time at 10.30am local time (1330 GMT).

GERRARD STRUGGLES IN TRAINING

England captain Steven Gerrard managed only light training on Monday ahead of the World Cup as he struggled with what was termed as a minor groin strain.
Gerrard, 34, did only a few runs down the touchline as the main squad was put through a punishing schedule at the Urca military base in Rio de Janeiro.
The Liverpool midfielder went inside before the end of the session. England staff said it was a minor ailment and they had no doubt Gerrard would be ready for England's first Group D match against Italy on Saturday.
Gerrard missed half of England's 0-0 draw with Honduras on Saturday as a precaution.
England staff are gradually building up rehabilitation for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain as he recovers from a knee ligament injury suffered against Ecuador last week.
The 20-year-old Arsenal star took part in intense sprint workouts with a brace on his knee.

MESSI WON'T BE MAN-MARKED

Bosnia coach Safet Susic said Monday he didn't plan to man-mark Argentine superstar Lionel Messi for his side's first ever World Cup showdown on Sunday in the Maracana.
"We never put a player on another ... We have (Muhamed) Besic but putting him only on Messi wouldn't be very good," said Susic after a 5-1 warm-up win over a youth select from Brazilian outfit Santos.
Susic told reporters he preferred a zonal system and that whose job it would be to close Messi down would depend on where the Barcelona striker happened to be at any given time.
He did not give any hints as to his line-up, saying only that "everyone is ready to face Argentina."
Bosnia beat an under-21 Santos select on the island of Guaruja just off the coastal city of Santos in Sao Paulo state.

VAN PERSIE IN KITESURFING COLLISION

Robin Van Persie was never known as the sturdiest footballer, but he has never suffered a more bizarre injury than the one he managed in Rio this week.
The Manchester United forward had a freak accident with a kitesurfer while sauntering along Ipanema beach in Rio de Janeiro, escaping serious injury.
Van Persie and his Netherlands teammate Daryl Janmaat were left with "light scratches and headaches" after colliding with the kitesurfer, according to the Dutch Football Association.
With the World Cup just days away, the incredibly injury-prone Van Persie was fortunate not to have been injured further after the crash with the 30-year-old no stranger to the marble slabs of the treatment room.
The strange incident was described by Janmaat to Dutch news service NIS as "I almost got a kite on my head. There was a man kitesurfing and he fell on the very spot where I was."