Diego Costa is not the most popular player outside of Chelsea, but Manchester United's Wayne Rooney is a big fan of the controversial striker.
Costa has earned a reputation as something of a wind-up merchant due to his attempts to get under defenders’ skin.
Arsenal defender Gabriel was sent off earlier this season for clashing with the 27-year-old and he tried to provoke Ryan Shawcross during Chelsea’s defeat to Stoke City last weekend by grabbing the centre-back’s jaw before telling him rather impolitely that he had bad body odour.
Rooney admits there is something to admire about the Brazil-born forward’s antics, however.
Ahead of England's game against Spain in Alicante, Rooney revealed he thought Costa was the best player in the Premier League last season.
“I actually voted for him as player of the year last season because I think he was a huge player for Chelsea,” the England captain said of Costa, who scored 20 goals in his maiden season for the club.
“I think what Chelsea missed the season before was that fight up front and he gave them that and I strongly believe that’s why they became champions.
“Obviously it hasn’t gone as well as it did last season for him but I think he is a fantastic player.
“He’s a fighter and I think that’s part of his game and it’s going to be very difficult for anyone to ask him not to do that.
“I feel that’s in him – that fight. He thrives on that and that gets his teammates going as well.”
Roy Hodgson is also a fan of Costa, but he hopes Friday’s officials will punish the striker if he steps out of line in Alicante.
The England manager feels no need to speak to his players about keeping their cool in the face of Costa’s aggression, however.
“We give the players information about the opponents and their strengths, but we don’t go into that sort of detail where we say: ‘Be careful here’ because that would be teaching my grandmother how to suck eggs. Furthermore I’d be vilifying a player I have no reason to vilify,” Hodgson said.
“Costa for me is a good player, especially last year, he was very, very important to Chelsea.
“He is a very combative player but we have combative centre-halves and they will just have to deal with that situation.
“I wouldn’t dream of suggesting he’s going to try underhand methods. Let’s hope he doesn’t and if he does we’re just going to have to deal with it and hope the referee deals with it like they do every week in the Premier League.”
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From Zero
Artist: Linkin Park
Label: Warner Records
Number of tracks: 11
Rating: 4/5
Company%20Profile
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NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
Sukuk explained
Sukuk are Sharia-compliant financial certificates issued by governments, corporates and other entities. While as an asset class they resemble conventional bonds, there are some significant differences. As interest is prohibited under Sharia, sukuk must contain an underlying transaction, for example a leaseback agreement, and the income that is paid to investors is generated by the underlying asset. Investors must also be prepared to share in both the profits and losses of an enterprise. Nevertheless, sukuk are similar to conventional bonds in that they provide regular payments, and are considered less risky than equities. Most investors would not buy sukuk directly due to high minimum subscriptions, but invest via funds.
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
MATCH INFO
What: 2006 World Cup quarter-final
When: July 1
Where: Gelsenkirchen Stadium, Gelsenkirchen, Germany
Result:
England 0 Portugal 0
(Portugal win 3-1 on penalties)
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
