Anyone but England? The bitter truth about football rivalry in the UK

England interim boss Lee Carsley has revealed Harry Kane will not be in the starting line-up for Thursday's Nations League clash with Greece as his captain recovers from injury.

Kane suffered the knock in a collision while playing for Bayern Munich in their 3-3 draw against Eintracht Frankfurt last weekend.

The 31-year-old striker -- England's record goal-scorer -- has been unable to train with the rest of the squad since linking up on Monday.

Kane was limited to an individual training programme on Tuesday and Wednesday, with Carsley insisting he would not risk his fitness in the Group B2 tie at Wembley.

"Harry's nursing an injury, a small knock. Something that we won't take a chance with," Carsley told reporters on Wednesday.

Asked to clarify whether Kane will be on the bench, Carsley said: "We're not ruling him out yet of the game, but he won't start the game.

"Hopefully he'll be in contention then for Sunday against Finland but, again, time will tell. It's not something I think we should be rushing."

In Kane's absence, Manchester City defender John Stones will captain England for the first time on Thursday.

"It's a brilliant achievement for John. Something that he deserves. The amount of caps he's got, the experience he's got, the level of professionalism that he shows within the squad, the example he is to the younger players," Carsley said.

Ahead of his 82nd cap for England, Stones admitted it was a dream come true to lead his country at Wembley.

'An absolute honour'

"It's definitely everything that I could have dreamed of as a kid," the 30-year-old said.

"For my family to be able to see me walk out as England captain is a special moment and one I can't thank Lee enough for.

"To be walking out with the armband on is an absolute honour and a moment I will cherish forever."

Stones' City team-mate Jack Grealish could be sidelined against Greece after the winger sat out training on Wednesday.

"Jack just picked up a slight knock yesterday but our attitude would be we wouldn't gamble with any of the players," Carsley said.

Chelsea forward Cole Palmer was named England's men's Player of the Year this week in the latest milestone for the emerging 22-year-old, who already has six goals for the Blues this term.

Palmer is expected to continue his remarkable rise by making his first competitive England start on Thursday.

"Cole's in fantastic form," said Carsley, who enjoyed wins over Ireland and Finland in his first two games in charge in September.

"I think he's carried that into this week. He's such an exciting player, a player that I've worked with for four or five years now.

"Cole, along with a lot of the other attacking players, have put themselves into a great position to start the game tomorrow."

Greece boss Ivan Jovanovic said England are a more dynamic outfit than the side that reached the Euro 2024 final under Gareth Southgate, who quit after that painful 2-1 loss to Spain.

"Southgate did a lot for English football. However the style has changed slightly under Lee Carsley," he said.

"He has instilled a bit more of a possession-based style and the players have a bit more creative freedom.

"Wembley is a symbol of world football but the team is not here for tourism."

France winning the World Cup trophy in Russia, Chinese kitchen and bathroom appliance maker Vatti Corp is now in the spotlight -- it is time for the company to deliver on a bold promise. 

Vatti, as a sponsor for the French national soccer team, said a month ago that if France won the title at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, it would refund customers who made purchases of designated products between June 1 and July 3, based on invoice value.

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On Monday, the Guangdong-based company said it had started the promised refund process, after the marketing campaign helped it net total sales of about 1 billion yuan ($150 million) during the promotional period, a year-on-year increase of over 20 per cent.

The sales of designated products, such as dishwashers and water heaters, which were listed in the refund initiative, hit around 79 million yuan, with online sales accounting for 29 million yuan and offline sales standing at 50 million yuan.

Vatti said the company will afford the refund of sales through its own online store, and its distributors and retail partners will be responsible for refunding offline sales and third-party online sales.

Also, total costs of the refund only include manufacturing and promotional cost, which is less than the combined sales price of 79 million yuan, thus exerting little impact on the company's bottom line, the company added.

"We chose to launch such a campaign to support the French team because the temperament of the French team is very compatible with our passionate, smart and fashionable brand image," Vatti said in an interview with China Daily.

The shares of Vatti surged as much as 9 per cent by midday on Monday before the rise narrowed to about 4 perc ent at closing, when share prices stood at 15.18 yuan.

Ma Bing, a 33-year-old bank employee in Beijing, bought a dishwasher in June after seeing Vatti's advertising post on an elevator.

"Well, my wife has been asking for a dishwasher for a long time. I am also a big fan of the French team. The dishwasher saved me from my wife's nagging when I stayed up at night for football matches. It was a good deal," Ma said, adding he has registered the refund information at a Vatti online store.

Vatti is one of a number of Chinese companies that are cashing in on the World Cup. Their combined spending on advertisements for this year's tournament hit $835 million, $400 million more than the next biggest spender, the United States, and easily exceeding that of host country Russia, according to market-research company Zenith.

Liu Buchen, an independent expert in the home appliances industry, said it is good for Chinese companies to experiment with creative marketing campaigns, but more effort is needed to ensure that enterprises do deliver their promises and consumers' rights are protected.

Copyright: China Daily/ Asia News Network

Lee Carsley admitted he was relieved to end his reign as England interim boss with the stylish 5-0 rout of Ireland that sealed Nations League promotion ahead of Thomas Tuchel's arrival.

Shrugging off a lacklustre first half performance, England ran riot after the break at Wembley on Sunday to secure the victory they needed to return to League A.

Three goals in the space of five minutes and 36 seconds did the damage in Carsley's last game before Tuchel takes over on an 18-month contract from January 1.

Harry Kane opened the floodgates with a penalty conceded by Ireland defender Liam Scales, who was sent off for a second booking.

Anthony Gordon, Conor Gallagher, Jarrod Bowen and Taylor Harwood-Bellis all netted for the first time in an England shirt to ensure first place in Group B2 after five wins from six matches under Carsley.

"It'd be fair to say there's a bit of relief," Carsley said. "If we'd have spoken at the start of the campaign we'd probably have said you're expected to get promotion but it's difficult.

"No team has rolled over for us and let us just carry on. I've found it personally challenging and I know the staff have. It's good that we've finished the campaign with such a strong performance.

"We spoke about not only gaining promotion from the Nations League but to potentially increase the pool of players Thomas has got to choose from.

"The challenge now for the players that have been involved for the last three camps is to be in and around the next squad."

A giant 'thank you' to Carsley was displayed on the Wembley screens at full-time, when Football Association chief executive Mark Bullingham praised his work since replacing Gareth Southgate following the Euro 2024 final loss to Spain.

"He has selected some exciting new players and will be providing Thomas Tuchel and Anthony Barry with a very detailed handover," Bullingham said.

"The players have really enjoyed working with Lee and his team. They have made a real impact in their interim roles."

- 'Exciting times' -

Carsley plans to meet former Bayern Munich and Chelsea boss Tuchel to present him with information about the squad ahead of next year's World Cup qualifiers.

"I'm trying to put together, with the rest of the staff, a debrief on all three camps," he said.

"I will put together a document, then hopefully meet him and present what we think and what we've found. I'm looking forward to meeting him now in the next few weeks."

Carsley hands over the reins with England in good shape after he gave debuts to eight emerging youngsters to showcase the strength in depth available to Tuchel.

"It's a job that deserves an elite coach with a track record of winning and Thomas has got that. Exciting times ahead," he said.

After the disappointment of losing a second successive European Championship final under Southgate, England will begin the Tuchel era focused on winning the World Cup for the first time since 1966.

Tuchel has enjoyed success throughout a managerial career that includes Champions League glory with Chelsea and Harry Kane, who played under the German at Bayern, is looking forward to renewing their relationship.

"Thomas has a lot of players to choose from. A lot of young players that have come in and done well and some more experienced players that are injured and will be looking to come back so there's a good balance," he said.

Meanwhile, Ireland boss Heimir Hallgrimsson was furious with his team's capitulation.

"It was six minutes of madness. I just felt we lost our heads at that moment. After that, there was no way back," said Hallgrimsson, whose side face a Nations League relegation play-off.

"We kind of just gave up. Easy to stand outside and criticise the players but it was a crazy moment that killed everything. I'm kind of lost for words."

- Haaland fires Norway into League A -

Haaland was at his destructive best as Norway brushed aside Kazakhstan 5-0 to finish top of Group B3 ahead of Austria who were held to a 1-1 draw by Slovenia.

The Manchester City star broke the deadlock, pouncing on a rebound in the 23rd minute.

Haaland nodded in his 37th international goal 14 minutes later, before Antonio Nusa added a Norwegian third of a dominant first half.

Haaland completed his fourth treble for Norway with 19 minutes remaining, turning away from his marker on the edge of the area and finishing low into the bottom corner with his right foot.

Nusa scored again as Norway snatched automatic promotion from Austria, who conceded a late equaliser to Slovenia in Vienna.

Croatian President Kolinda Grabar-Kitarovic gave Russian President Vladimir Putin a Croatian soccer shirt with the name "Putin" printed on the back on Sunday, hours before Croatia play France in the World Cup final in Moscow.

Croatia has been caught up in soccer fever after the Balkan nation of 4.2 million people swept aside more fancied opponents to reach its first ever World Cup final, which Russia is hosting this year.

Grabar-Kitarovic has, herself, entered into the spirit of the occasion, travelling to Russia to watch matches and dressing in the colours of the national flag. Croatia knocked Russia's team out of the competition in the quarter-finals.

At a Kremlin meeting, Putin congratulated the Croatian president on the Croatian team's performance.

"I'm sure we will see a beautiful game today," he said. Grabar-Kitarovic thanked Putin for what she said was the successful organisation of the competition.

Putin presented her with a bouquet of flowers, while she gave the Russian leader the Croatian national shirt.

Russia was the target of almost 25 million cyber-attacks during the World Cup, President Vladimir Putin said, though he did not indicate who may have been behind the attacks.

"During the period of the World Cup, almost 25 million cyber-attacks and other criminal acts on the information structures in Russia, linked in one way or another to the World Cup, were neutralised," Putin said during a meeting on Sunday with security services. The comments were reported by the Kremlin on Monday.